The past year was a difficult one overall for the metals, with the main standouts to the upside being a geopolitical risk-driven gain in gold, a China-driven rise in iron ore and a surge in uranium on broadening global support for nuclear power (Figure 1). A jump in global interest rates to near two-decade highs saw recession fears persist all year, and while one still did not actually eru...Read More

This year the post-global health crisis boom was brought to an end by a surge in inflation to forty-year highs, a major rise in global interest rates in an attempt to curb the rising prices and surging geopolitical risk after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While precious metals held up reasonably well as markets turned to them as a risk hedge, by Q2/22 the higher interest rates put an end t...Read More

Chile is the world leader in copper production, at 28.5% of the total in 2020, and this looks set to continue, with the country having the largest global reserves, at 23.0% of total. It is also the global leader for molybdenum, which is often found along with copper, and is a major lithium player, holding 51.1% of global reserves. Read More

Newfoundland has become a gold exploration hotspot over the past few years, with the sector seeing some of its strongest activity ever. While the province remains a small contributor to Canadian gold production, it has a substantial mineral industry well supported by the government, focused on iron ore, copper and nickel, and the surge in exploration suggests that gold output from the...Read More

Nevada is the core of the U.S. gold output, accounting for by far the majority, at 75.4% on average for the past year. The state looks set to remain a dominant player in U.S. gold, as it accounts for 49% of total U.S. reserves, with Alaska slightly ahead with 51% of reserves, but just 8.6% of current production. The U.S. accounts for 6.1% of global gold output, making Nevada one of the largest gol...Read More

The Golden Triangle in northwestern British Columbia has historically been a major site of Canadian gold production, beginning as early as the mid 1800s. There was a wave of production in the 1990s which cooled as the gold price declined, but larger scale production resumed in 2017, and the area has seen surging exploration interest over the past year, given that the region has some of the largest...Read More

In this report we outline the Quebec gold mining industry, including its major producers, and a survey of many of the junior miners focused on the province. Quebec accounts for 34% of Canadian gold production (second to Ontario, with 44%) and remains a major focus for both producers and junior miners.Read More

Red Lake has been one of the most prolific gold mining districts in Canada and the world, with exploration having started in the 1920s, and production, which began in the 1930s, continuing to the present day. The district is known for the high grade of its gold, its infrastructure, and strong institutional support, given the long history of mining in the area.Read More

(IDEX Online) - De Beers suffered a drop in revenue of almost 36 per cent in 2023, down from $6.6bn to $4.3bn.It blamed a rise in polished diamond inventories, increases in inflation and interest rates, macro-economic challenges an the rising supply of lab growns.The UK-based miner expects industry conditions to remain challenging in the short term. But the long-term outlook is favorable, it says...Read More

Yesterday's reckoning flustered the fish... fluttered the dovecotes... and enflamed the hornets.We insinuated that Donald Trump if elected may not prove the dictatorial he is purported to be.That is because the governmental construction is against it. This belief runs contrary to opinion abundant in mainstream circulation.Certain readers even believe we blew a bugle for Mr. Trump.Here is reade...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Anglo American is to cut 3,700 jobs in its platinum division after profits plunged. It blames "macroeconomic uncertainty", and a 35 per cent fall in price of platinum group metals (PGM), which are used in catalytic converters as well as jewelry (electric cars don't use catalytic converters).Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) profits for 2023 were down 71 per cent to ?586m...Read More

Share this article VANCOUVER -Equinox Gold Corp. [EQX-TSXV, EQX-NYSE] has released its production guidance for 2024 saying it expects to produce between 660,000 to 750,000 ounces this year at an all-in sustaining cost of US$1,630 to US$1,740 per ounce.Equinox Gold operates entirely in the Americas. It has seven operating gold mines located in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil. The company is currently i...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) says it is still pursuing its fight against the so-called Belgian Plan, which would route all G7 diamonds through a single entry point in Antwerp.The newest phase of sanctions on Russia diamonds (over 1-ct, cut and polished anywhere) is due to be implemented on 1 March, although details of how it will operate have yet to be made public...Read More

(IDEX Online) - GIA says it has expanded its new verification service - aimed at combating "cloned diamond" fraud - to all its labs.The Report Confirmation Service was launched last month in New York to identify lab growns being submitted for regrading as natural diamonds.GIA says the service is now available at all locations. It will accept walk-in and courier submissions, will turn around loose...Read More

$60 billion for Ukraine... $14 billion for Israel...$8 billion for Taiwan and Indo-Pacific allies… $9.1 billion in humanitarian aid to Gaza.Shovel in some sundry billions for sundry purposes... and the American taxpayer goes upon the hook for a $95.3 billion bill.Here you have, in summary, the "emergency spending" bill passed Tuesday by the United States Senate.And here you have, in summary,...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Lucara yesterday (21 February) announced the recovery of a 320-carat diamond from its Karowe mine, in Botswana, together with a 111-carat stone, and two +50-carat stones.The Vancouver-based miner has now recovered 330 +100-ct diamonds since the mine began commercial production in 2012.The 320-carat recovery is described as "a stunning, gem-quality, top light brown diamond". The oth...Read More

(IDEX Online) - GIA has, for the first time, opened a grading lab in Dubai.It will offer its services to over 1,150 diamond companies at the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC).The move follows GIA's closure of its Antwerp lab in July 2022, which was deemed to be economically unviable.It reflects "Dubai's status as a global hub for business," said DMCC in a statement.The new GIA lab op...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Petra saw sales slide by 10 per cent during the second half of 2023 amid ongoing uncertainty in the diamond market.The UK-based miner said prices had now bottomed, but the recovery may be slower than first thought. "Petra has reacted swiftly to diamond market uncertainty, taking steps to improve resilience through ongoing cost and capital optimisation," said CEO Richard Duffy....Read More

Despite the Wall Street happy talk about the Federal Reserve winning the battle against inflation, that battle has not been won.Headline CPI (the kind Americans actually pay, not constructs like "core" and "super-core") was 3.4% in December. That compares to 3.1% in November and 3.0% last June (the January numbers will come out tomorrow).In other words, inflation is not gone and may even be on the...Read More

The January inflation numbers came out this morning, and they weren't good for Wall Street.The consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.1% in January. That's a decrease from December's 3.4%, but it exceeded consensus estimates of 2.9%.Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose 3.9% on an annualized basis, which is unchanged from December. But the consensus estimate was 3.7%. Core inflation also...Read More

The mainstream view is that recession is caused by economic-financial factors. The mainstream view is wrong, for recession is ultimately caused by Wetware 1.0 human nature.Human nature our innate attraction to windfalls and something-for-nothing, our ability to habituate to extremes and normalize counterproductive dynamics manifests as economic-financial factors, but these are effects, not c...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Gem Diamonds is enjoying a reversal in its fortunes after recovering it third +100-ct stone of 2024 - a high-quality 113-ct Type IIa diamond.In the whole of 2023 the UK-based miner recovered a total of just five +100-cts stones, well down on its its long-term average of eight a year.In January Gem recovered two diamonds - weighing 129-cts and 295-cts - from the Letseng mine, in Les...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Jewelry belonging to Steve McQueen's first wife, Neile Adams, sold at auction for just over $200,000 at Bonhams' California Jewels sale.Leading the sale was a platinum ring (pictured) set with a a 3.80-carat old European-cut diamond. McQueen, best known for The Great Escape in 1963, bought it for himself, then decided it would suit his wife better, so he gave it to her.It...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The growth in Swiss watch exports slowed in January after ending 2023 on a high.Foreign sales increased by 5.5 per cent in December, following on from the "highest-ever monthly level" of exports in November, at almost CHF2.5bn ($2.95bn).January's sales were CHF1.9bn ($2.16bn), a year-on-year increase of 3.1 per cent."While the growth in Swiss watch exports continued to slow, i...Read More

Historians of the future, gathered round their campfires poaching armadillo tail-flaps in their own shells, will harken back to the wondrous day in 2024 when they could watch and compare two heads of great nations present themselves to the world for assessment.There was Mr. Putin of the land called Russia, calmly discoursing in fine detail on a thousand years of his country's history. And there wa...Read More

As a scribbler we are at times spoiled for choice. Today is one such time.Yesterday the Supreme Court of the United States commenced proceedings into Colorado's ruling barring Mr. Trump from the ballot...Yesterday the United States Department of Justice issued an official report bringing into vast question the sitting president’s cognitive competence...Yesterday the same president met th...Read More

Yesterday's reckoning drew a fulsome mail...We suggested the United States economy was not a "real" economy. We suggested that it was, instead, a "fake" economy...And that government data-manglers sketch false scenes of economic vigor.Certain readers took... exception.For example: Reader J.B. believes we trained our cannons unjustly upon the Biden administration:It can’t be true under a...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Lucara's on-off deal for HB Antwerp to sell its specials from the Karowe mine, Botswana, is back on again.The Canadian miner yesterday (18 February) announced details of a 10-year deal that is very similar to the one it abruptly ended last September.Lucara was less than a year into a 10-year agreement when it pulled the plug, accusing HB of "a material breach of financial comm...Read More