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

On Sunday, Reservoir Minerals announced it has agreed to be acquired by Nevsun Resources. Adrian Day shares his initial thoughts on the deal.Reservoir Minerals Inc. (RMC:TSX.V, 6.96) announced it has agreed to be acquired by Nevsun Resources Ltd. (NSU:TSX; NSU:NYSE.MKT), which operates the high-grade copper-zinc Bisha mine in Eritrea. Nevsun has a cash balance of US$438 million. Under the terms of...Read More

Environmentalists are up in arms against Nova Scotia's - Canada's biggest Atlantic province - new Mineral Resources Act as they say the legislation won't do enough to prevent mining on privately protected lands, or address concerns about quarries.The act, also known as Bill 149, is the first overhaul of the current rules since 1990 and it was written to support responsible mineral resource m...Read More

Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), the No. 1 listed copper miner, is cutting its oil and gas workforce by 25% as it struggles to reduce its over $20 billion debt.The US miner loss in the first three months of the year - Freeport's sixth straight quarterly loss - nearly doubled due to limited demand for some of its main commodities, including copper.Freeport expects to post a charge of about $40 million...Read More

Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B)(NYSE:TCK) reported Tuesday better-than- expected first quarter results, as Canada's largest diversified miner cut costs to offset the impact of weak steelmaking coal, copper and zinc prices.The Vancouver-based company, the No.1 producer of steel-making coal in North America, said overall profit increased 38% to Cdn$94 million (about $74 million), or 16 cents a share, in...Read More

Canada's Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX), the world's largest producer of the precious metal by output, swung to a loss in the first three months of the year, as asset sales impacted production and realized gold prices fell.The Toronto-based miner, however, reported quite a progress in terms of cutting its debt and reducing costs, trimmed debt by US$842 million since January. The figure puts Barrick...Read More

Canada's Eldorado Gold (TSX:ELD) (NYSE:EGO) has signed an agreement to sell its 82% stake in the Jinfeng mine in China to a wholly-owned subsidiary of China National Gold Group for US$300 million in cash.The Jinfeng mine is expected to generate 95,000-105,000 ounces of gold this year, as the operation transitions fully into the underground.The company's president and CEO Paul Wright said China N...Read More

Barack Obama and the end of the Anglosphere ... When supporters of the Vote Leave campaign sketch out a future for Britain outside the EU, they often point to the Anglosphere of English-speaking nations - bequeathed by Britain's imperial past. So Barack Obama's intervention in Britain's EU referendum last week was a potentially devastating moment for the Brexit campaign. - Financial TimesThis fasc...Read More

White House poised to release secret pages from 9/11 inquiry ... The Obama administration will likely soon release at least part of a 28-page secret chapter from a congressional inquiry into 9/11 that may shed light on possible Saudi connections to the attackers. -APWe've run a number of stories on the disintegration of Saudi Arabia but Western attacks against the House of Saud keep on coming.In...Read More

For the next two days, the Committee that controls the world will be huddled in the ivory tower known as the Eccles Building in D.C. There, ten people will tediously examine the data, look at the forecasts, and weigh options for an economy with a GDP of $17 trillion, a population approaching 320 million, and an official national debt of over $19 trillion.This committee with unlimited, unquestioned...Read More

Barack Obama and the end of the Anglosphere ... When supporters of the Vote Leave campaign sketch out a future for Britain outside the EU, they often point to the Anglosphere of English-speaking nations - bequeathed by Britain's imperial past. So Barack Obama's intervention in Britain's EU referendum last week was a potentially devastating moment for the Brexit campaign. - Financial TimesThis fasc...Read More

White House poised to release secret pages from 9/11 inquiry ... The Obama administration will likely soon release at least part of a 28-page secret chapter from a congressional inquiry into 9/11 that may shed light on possible Saudi connections to the attackers. -APWe've run a number of stories on the disintegration of Saudi Arabia but Western attacks against the House of Saud keep on coming.In...Read More

For the next two days, the Committee that controls the world will be huddled in the ivory tower known as the Eccles Building in D.C. There, ten people will tediously examine the data, look at the forecasts, and weigh options for an economy with a GDP of $17 trillion, a population approaching 320 million, and an official national debt of over $19 trillion.This committee with unlimited, unquestioned...Read More

Nevsun Resources Ltd. (TSX:NSU) has acquired Reservoir Minerals Inc. in a deal worth US$365 million, the companies announced April 24.The consolidation of the two Vancouver-based companies has created a 100% ownership in the upper zone of the Timok Copper Project in Serbia, which had previously been owned by Reservoir and Freeport McMoRan Inc. As well, the combined company will fully own the cash-...Read More

World-class insights firm, Deloitte, recently released a report on the mining industry trends of 2016. In addition to highlighting the emerging trends, this report and other reports from leading organizations within the industry - such as the International Council on Mining & Metals (ICMM) - note some significant issues mining companies are facing. Leading issues include the volatility of the comm...Read More

Canada's Barrick Gold (NYSE, TSX:ABX), the world's largest producer of the precious metal by output, may be announcing Tuesday a significant shift of business focus towards shareholder returns, as former fund manager and current business performance chief, Catherine Raw, assumes as the firm's new chief financial officer.Most shareholders hope that Catherine Raw persuades management to stop prizing...Read More

2016 Campaign's Populist Tone Rankles America's CEOs ... Chief executives at big American companies are increasingly frustrated by the populist tone of the presidential campaign, and concerns are mounting in boardrooms and corner offices that anti-business rhetoric may solidify even after the November election. – Wall Street JournalThis Wall Street Journal article makes the point that Trum...Read More

Washington Launches Its Attack Against BRICS ... Washington is now disposing of the reformist President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff ... In Brazil, Washington has used corruption insinuations to get President Rousseff impeached by the lower house. Evidence is not necessary, just allegations. It is no different from "Iranian nukes," Saddam Hussein's "weapons of mass destruction," Assad's "use of che...Read More

2016 Campaign's Populist Tone Rankles America's CEOs ... Chief executives at big American companies are increasingly frustrated by the populist tone of the presidential campaign, and concerns are mounting in boardrooms and corner offices that anti-business rhetoric may solidify even after the November election. – Wall Street JournalThis Wall Street Journal article makes the point that Trum...Read More

Washington Launches Its Attack Against BRICS ... Washington is now disposing of the reformist President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff ... In Brazil, Washington has used corruption insinuations to get President Rousseff impeached by the lower house. Evidence is not necessary, just allegations. It is no different from "Iranian nukes," Saddam Hussein's "weapons of mass destruction," Assad's "use of che...Read More

Freeport McMoRan Inc. is considering selling a minority stake in its portfolio of copper mines, sources familiar with the matter said, one of the options on the table as the company scrambles to slash its $20-billion (U.S.) debt load.Continue reading at The Globe and Mail Image of Freeport McMoRan's Grasberg mine in Indonesia, viewed from space. Courtesy of NASA via Wikimedia Commons.Read More