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

More Hole in the ozone layer is finally ‘healing’ ... Chlorine reacting with these beautiful stratospheric clouds over Antarctica is the cause of the hole in the ozone layer (Cynthia Spence/NSF) The ozone hole over Antarctica is finally “healing” almost 30 years after the world banned the chemicals responsible for its creation, researchers say. – ABCSo the Ozone hol...Read More

Review: 'Bush,' a Biography as Scathing Indictment ... If Mr. Bush eventually gets a more sympathetic hearing by history, as he hopes, it will not start with Jean Edward Smith's "Bush," a comprehensive and compelling narrative punctuated by searing verdicts of all the places where the author thinks the 43rd president went off track. -New York TimesThis review of a biography of Bush tracks some of...Read More

Nobody who knows the status of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s server is talking. ... The FBI interviewed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for many hours on Saturday morning. On Saturday afternoon CNN Senior Producer Teddy Davis tweeted “Sources tell CNN’s Evan Perez: expectation is that there will be announcement of no charges in Clinton email probe w/in next...Read More

Gold eases off near two-year high, silver crosses $21/oz ... Gold slides to two-week low as Brexit fears abate ... Gold eased off a near two-year high, while silver breached the $21 level for the first time since July 2014 in highly volatile trade on Monday, prompted by a burst of short-covering in China. – BloombergGold and silver are having great runs now that the monetary manipulation h...Read More

More Hole in the ozone layer is finally ‘healing’ ... Chlorine reacting with these beautiful stratospheric clouds over Antarctica is the cause of the hole in the ozone layer (Cynthia Spence/NSF) The ozone hole over Antarctica is finally “healing” almost 30 years after the world banned the chemicals responsible for its creation, researchers say. – ABCSo the Ozone hol...Read More

Review: 'Bush,' a Biography as Scathing Indictment ... If Mr. Bush eventually gets a more sympathetic hearing by history, as he hopes, it will not start with Jean Edward Smith's "Bush," a comprehensive and compelling narrative punctuated by searing verdicts of all the places where the author thinks the 43rd president went off track. -New York TimesThis review of a biography of Bush tracks some of...Read More

CNN and MSNBC confirm Hillary Clinton will not face any charges in email inquiry ... Hours after Hillary Clinton held her long awaited interview with the FBI in the name of helping its investigation of a Romanian email hacker, which the media has routinely and willfully misreported as being an "investigation of Clinton" for the past year, MSNBC is now finally reporting the obvious: she'll face no...Read More

If the City has truly found humility, it can still be useful to Britain ... Some figures in the financial services industry are almost starting to sound contrite. Given the trade surpluses they generate, it's tempting to listen ... The City is nervous about Brexit. – GuardianThis article is telling us that post-Brexit, London's City is “remorseful” about how it has acted. Or at...Read More

CNN and MSNBC confirm Hillary Clinton will not face any charges in email inquiry ... Hours after Hillary Clinton held her long awaited interview with the FBI in the name of helping its investigation of a Romanian email hacker, which the media has routinely and willfully misreported as being an "investigation of Clinton" for the past year, MSNBC is now finally reporting the obvious: she'll face no...Read More

If the City has truly found humility, it can still be useful to Britain ... Some figures in the financial services industry are almost starting to sound contrite. Given the trade surpluses they generate, it's tempting to listen ... The City is nervous about Brexit. – GuardianThis article is telling us that post-Brexit, London's City is “remorseful” about how it has acted. Or at...Read More

The president of France has launched a scathing attack on Republican candidate Donald Trump, saying relations between the US and Europe would be complicated if the New York tycoon wins the White House. In comments that were surprisingly outspoken for a sitting head of state about another country's political candidate, Fran??ois Hollande urged Democrats to work to ensure the victory of Hillary Cl...Read More

Silver scores biggest weekly jump in almost 3 years ... Silver futures logged their largest weekly climb since 2013 Friday, hitting a nearly 22-month high as the U.S. dollar softened and investors continued to search for safety. -MarketWatchUsually the mainstream media provides us with a variety of propaganda that distorts the truth.But there was little in the way of distortion yesterday when gold...Read More

The president of France has launched a scathing attack on Republican candidate Donald Trump, saying relations between the US and Europe would be complicated if the New York tycoon wins the White House. In comments that were surprisingly outspoken for a sitting head of state about another country's political candidate, Fran??ois Hollande urged Democrats to work to ensure the victory of Hillary Cl...Read More

Silver scores biggest weekly jump in almost 3 years ... Silver futures logged their largest weekly climb since 2013 Friday, hitting a nearly 22-month high as the U.S. dollar softened and investors continued to search for safety. -MarketWatchUsually the mainstream media provides us with a variety of propaganda that distorts the truth.But there was little in the way of distortion yesterday when gold...Read More

Heavily populated options strikes can affect a stock's trajectoryOptions trading can be tricky, and anticipating which stocks will move in what direction can seem like witchcraft to those who don't know what to look for. Options players are always on the lookout for clues about where and how to invest, and the best options traders know where to look for data that can help them rake in the wins. O...Read More

Output at Chile's Escondida, the world's largest copper mine, fell in the first three months of 2016 causing profits to sink 47% to $265 million compared to the same period last year, among weak prices for the industrial metal.The mine, co-owned by BHP Billiton (57.5%) and rival Rio Tinto (30%), produced 265,597 tonnes in the period, or 23% less than the 347.125 tonnes it generated in Q1 2015, C...Read More

Mining giant Rio Tinto (LON, ASX:RIO) has given away a 54% stake in a Papua New Guinean copper and gold mine, which has reserves estimated to be worth $51 billion.The decision to hand back the shares in its subsidiary Bougainville Copper Limited (ASX:BOC) to an independent trustee, follows a company review of the asset that was triggered by the Bouganville government's pressure to restart mining...Read More

The claim that Hillary is innately dishonest is simply accepted as a given. It is an accusation and conviction so ingrained in the conversation about her that any attempt to even question it is often met with shock. And yet here's the thing: it's not actually true. -AndrewTobias.comWe are told by Andrew Tobias that Hillary was actually the most truthful candidate (of either Party) in the 2016 elec...Read More

Tomorrow never comes: neglecting the nuclear force ... In 2014, following several high-level embarrassments, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel ordered two enterprise-level reviews of nuclear forces. Remarking on their findings, Hagel said, "the internal and external reviews I ordered show that a consistent lack of investment and support for our nuclear forces -over far too many years - has left us...Read More

German orthodoxy stands on the way of Eurozone recovery argues the billionaire … Billionaire and philanthropist George Soros told the European Parliament on Thursday that Brexit "unleashed" a financial crisis akin to the 2007-2008 Lehman Brothers meltdown. European thingGeorge Soros has been launching broadsides against Brexit during the past week, and this one, above, seems to be in line...Read More