The AOCE and WB have moderate overall forecasts for the metals in 2025 inline with IMF forecasts for a decline in economic growth and inflation, although we see the probability of a stagflationary scenario as still reasonably high.Read More
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
Speculative traders abandon gold in latest week ... Gold prices fell Monday, moving in the opposite direction of the U.S. dollar, which soared after comments by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen last week indicated an interest-rate hike could come this summer. -MarketWatchToday, gold prices have been clinging to around $1,200 against the dollar. It is becoming increasingly obvious...Read More
Over 450 Writers, Including Stephen King And Michael Chabon, Sign Petition Against Trump … Pulitzer and National Book Critics Circle winners call out Trump's "nativism and bigotry." -Huffington PostThis is an amazing effort considering the many things that writers could complain about when it comes to the US.But it is Donald Trump that seems to have aroused these writers.Published on Lit...Read More
Economists overwhelmingly reject Brexit in boost for Cameron ... Poll shows 88% of 600 experts fear long-term fall in GDP if UK leaves single market, and 82% are alarmed over impact on household income. -GuardianOnce again, economists remind us that that their profession is at least a questionable one.Presumably healthy economies are based in private competition not public regulation. Economi...Read More
Ap-Norc Poll Finds Bare Confidence In Government, Elections ... Few Americans have much confidence in the U.S. political system, the government in general, or in either political party. Most say they’re interested in the 2016 presidential election, but they also feel frustrated, helpless and even angry with the way the election is going, a poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public...Read More
A European army is exactly what the EU and UK needs Whether or not Donald Trump wins the US presidency, American sentiment is for the Europeans to do much more to help themselves ... Under Nato Euope’s defences remain incomplete and necessitate US involvement - UK IndependentGeorge Orwell's 1984 is coming to pass.It is not enough that the US has faux face-offs with Russia and China. Now...Read More
A European army is exactly what the EU and UK needs Whether or not Donald Trump wins the US presidency, American sentiment is for the Europeans to do much more to help themselves ... Under Nato Euope’s defences remain incomplete and necessitate US involvement - UK IndependentGeorge Orwell's 1984 is coming to pass.It is not enough that the US has faux face-offs with Russia and China. Now...Read More
A new report by BMI Research forecasts the global mining project pipeline will continue to narrow in 2016 and 2017 as low metals and mineral prices force miners into further cost cuts and lower capital spending.However, a handful of countries are set to continue to make significant investment into both brownfield and greenfield projects, bolstered by a combination of low production costs, high-gr...Read More
Unionized workers at Sibanye Gold's (JSE:SGL) (NYSE:SBGL) Kroondal platinum mine in South Africa began Friday an indefinite strike over transport, bonuses and safety pay.The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), the country's platinum industry largest union, wants the company to provide miners with transportation and increased safety, as many members have been attacked after wo...Read More
Gold on Track for Eighth Losing Session U.S. GDP data revision seen bolstering case for interest-rate increase ... Gold prices edged lower Friday, on pace for an eighth straight losing session, amid mounting evidence of improving economic growth in the U.S. that would strengthen the case for an interest-rate increase. -Wall Street JournalGold went up by 16 percent in the first quarter of 2016 an...Read More
After almost a century of making cars and selling them in more or less the same way, automakers (and others) are getting the sense that the business of automotive transportation might be about to change radically. Here's Toyota executive Shigeki Tomoyama on the Uber deal: "Ridesharing has huge potential in terms of shaping the future of mobility." – BloombergSoon it may become much more d...Read More
Katie Couric Regrets 'Poor Decision' to Insert Pause in Gun Documentary Interview ... Katie Couric is upset that an eight-second pause inserted into an interview she did with gun rights activists in the documentary "Under the Gun" has drawn criticism. – TheWrapYahoo’s Katie Couric has just released an anti-gun documentary with a manufactured pause that mocks pro-gun interviewees. Thi...Read More
Gold on Track for Eighth Losing Session U.S. GDP data revision seen bolstering case for interest-rate increase ... Gold prices edged lower Friday, on pace for an eighth straight losing session, amid mounting evidence of improving economic growth in the U.S. that would strengthen the case for an interest-rate increase. -Wall Street JournalGold went up by 16 percent in the first quarter of 2016 an...Read More
After almost a century of making cars and selling them in more or less the same way, automakers (and others) are getting the sense that the business of automotive transportation might be about to change radically. Here's Toyota executive Shigeki Tomoyama on the Uber deal: "Ridesharing has huge potential in terms of shaping the future of mobility." – BloombergSoon it may become much more d...Read More
Katie Couric Regrets 'Poor Decision' to Insert Pause in Gun Documentary Interview ... Katie Couric is upset that an eight-second pause inserted into an interview she did with gun rights activists in the documentary "Under the Gun" has drawn criticism. – TheWrapYahoo’s Katie Couric has just released an anti-gun documentary with a manufactured pause that mocks pro-gun interviewees. Thi...Read More
Australia's Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) is a mining services company supplying a wide range of services including remote site power and aerodrome services, plant processing and crushing, pipeline design, port logistics and sales.The Perth-based company has operated BC Iron's 7mtpa Iron Valley mine in the central region of the Pilbara since August 2014. Ore is transported to Port Hedland and Minera...Read More
Vancouver, BC - Kincora Copper Limited (the "Company", "Kincora") (TSXV:KCC) is pleased to announce it has reached agreement providing for the merger of two Kincora subsidiaries with Ibex Land Mongolia LLC and Ibex Mongolia LLC ("Ibex"), entities indirectly controlled by High Power Exploration Inc ("HPX").The transaction will result in a consolidated landholding of over 1,500km2, the majority of t...Read More
The Olympic Dam is the fifth largest copper mine in the world, and the No.1 uranium deposit. (Image courtesy of BHP Billiton)World's largest miner BHP Billiton (ASX, NYSE:BHP) (LON:BLT) has made a bold bet on copper and it's starting by finding a way to boost output for the red metal from its Olympic Dam, Australia's biggest underground mine, even before a proposed and long-awaited mega-expansion...Read More
Canadian seafloor miner Nautilus Minerals (TSX, LON:NUS) posted Thursday upgraded mineral resource estimates for its underwater mining project in the Eastern Pacific, off the coast of Mexico, which shows the venture is much richer than originally thought.The project's inferred mineral resource base went up from 410 million tonnes to 685 million tonnes (wet).According to the updated estimate, th...Read More
WikiLeaks releases latest documents from TISA negotiations ... The classified annex to the draft “core text” of the Trade in Services Agreement is part of what is being secretly negotiated by the U.S., EU and 22 countries. The website WikiLeaks released on Wednesday classified documents from the Trade in Services Agreement, or TISA, which is a huge trade agreement being negotiated in...Read More
The Fed’s Amazing Self-Fulfilling Forecast ... The Federal Reserve's track record of economic forecasting is a lot better than many observers recognize. It might also offer some insight into the central bank's approach to managing the recovery. -BloombergThis Bloomberg article makes the point that the Federal Reserve is competent.Worrisomely, such articles tend to appear at the top of the...Read More