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

According to a recent EY report, financial distress among mining and metals companies is expected to shape merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the sector in 2016, with divestments picking-up pace on the back of volatility and uncertainty on the timing of a recovery."The value and volume of Canadian deals was at a 10 year low in 2015," says Bruce Sprague, EY's Canadian Mining & Metals Leader....Read More

Escondida, the world's largest copper-producing mine. Image courtesy of BHP BillitonCopper mining companies operating in Chile, the world's top producer of the industrial metal, have begun bringing contractors in-house and bracing for salary hikes ahead of a pro-worker reform bill, which on track to be approved this month.Miners are not happy about the upcoming legislation because they believe it...Read More

Trump's rise disturbs world media ... As the U.S. woke up Wednesday to the news that Donald Trump had triumphed in a majority of the states up for grabs in the Super Tuesday contests, the wider world also woke up to the prospect of a man whom some consider a demagogue occupying the world’s most powerful political office … – Financial ExpressThe mainstream media is filled with...Read More

The latest World Exploration Trends report from SNL Metals & Mining reveals that the global exploration sector continues to struggle against strong market headwinds. The analysis showed a 19% decline in worldwide nonferrous metals exploration budgets in 2015 compared with the previous year, as well as the lowering of the sector's aggregate market capitalization to levels not seen since early 2009....Read More

Canada plans to experiment with giving people unconditional free money ... Finland and the Netherlands have already shown their interest in giving people a regular monthly allowance regardless of working status, and now Ontario, Canada is onboard. - Tech InsiderFor years we've written how the "basic income" is statist propaganda expressed in monetary terms.Love your state and the support it provid...Read More

Minnesota is on its way to developing its first copper-nickel mine, with the state's Department of Natural Resources deciding last week to approve a complex environmental analysis of the project.In its final environmental impact statement on the proposed copper, nickel and cobalt mine, the agency called the 3,000-plus page environmental impact statement "adequate", thus concluding the state's envi...Read More

John W. Whitehead is an attorney and author who has written, debated and practiced widely in the area of constitutional law and human rights. In 1982, he established The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties and human rights organization whose international headquarters are located in Charlottesville, Virginia (www.rutherford.org). Whitehead has won many honors as a result of his freed...Read More

John W. Whitehead is an attorney and author who has written, debated and practiced widely in the area of constitutional law and human rights. In 1982, he established The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties and human rights organization whose international headquarters are located in Charlottesville, Virginia (www.rutherford.org). Whitehead has won many honors as a result of his freed...Read More

Frenzied investors piled into the metals and mining sector on Friday as a rally on commodity markets led many to believe the market has reached a bottom after more than three years of declines.On the Comex market in New York copper for delivery in May climbed as much 4.3% to $2.3040 a pound or some $5,078 a tonne before paring some of those gains. Up 7% on the week it's copper's best weekly perfo...Read More

Peru's economy expanded at the fastest pace in almost two years in the fourth quarter of 2015, and it is expected to keep growing this year, driven by surging mining output that is set to offset sluggish investment.According to a new study published this week by BMI Research, the South American nation will see real GDP growth accelerate in 2016, as its extractive sector will remain among the stron...Read More

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) is selling its stake in the copper and gold Timok project in Serbia to Canadian Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN), for as much as $263 million.The largest listed copper miner is the current project operator and holds a 55% interest on it, while Lundin holds the remaining 45%.The transaction adds to Lundin's $1.8 billion acquisition in 2014 of a controlling stake in Freeport's C...Read More

The missing piece from the economic recovery has finally materialized. Median household income, adjusted for inflation, is now higher than it was before the recession that began at the end of 2007, according to new data published by Sentier Research. -YahooSo incomes are rising again. Presumably, this is supposed to mean that the "recovery" is becoming stronger in the US.This economic propaganda c...Read More

The missing piece from the economic recovery has finally materialized. Median household income, adjusted for inflation, is now higher than it was before the recession that began at the end of 2007, according to new data published by Sentier Research. -YahooSo incomes are rising again. Presumably, this is supposed to mean that the "recovery" is becoming stronger in the US.This economic propaganda c...Read More

Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation is eliminating at least 1,300 jobs at two companies it controls in Democratic Republic of Congo as a result of extremely low copper prices.The job cuts, which may increase to 1,800 if the metal prices don't recover, will affect its Boss Mining unit and subcontracting firm Congo Cobalt, Bloomberg reported.The layoffs may increase to 1,800 if copper prices don...Read More

In the middle of a heated battle against my jetlag yesterday, I finally decided to exercise the nuclear option and turn on CNBC in order to stay awake.I figured someone would say something completely ridiculous, and it would get my blood boiling enough to power through the next couple of hours.Within minutes I saw a top economist for Moody's (one of the largest rating agencies in the world) saying...Read More

“Europe’s deep economic malaise is the result of “deliberate” policy choices made by EU elites, according to the former governor of the Bank of England.” -UK TelegraphOne of the world's most important central bankers, Mervyn King, has finally decided to tell the world what we've been reporting for years: Europe's agonizing depression is deliberate.The creation and the...Read More

In the middle of a heated battle against my jetlag yesterday, I finally decided to exercise the nuclear option and turn on CNBC in order to stay awake.I figured someone would say something completely ridiculous, and it would get my blood boiling enough to power through the next couple of hours.Within minutes I saw a top economist for Moody's (one of the largest rating agencies in the world) saying...Read More

“Europe’s deep economic malaise is the result of “deliberate” policy choices made by EU elites, according to the former governor of the Bank of England.” -UK TelegraphOne of the world's most important central bankers, Mervyn King, has finally decided to tell the world what we've been reporting for years: Europe's agonizing depression is deliberate.The creation and the...Read More

Chilean state-owned copper miner Codelco, the world's top producer of the industrial metal, said Wednesday oversupply is likely to last through this year and next, bringing prices down again to around $2 to $2.10 a pound.After that, chairman Oscar Landerretche expects the market to swing to a deficit of 50,000 to 100,000 metric tons in 2018, with the shortfall expanding to 300,000 to 400,000 tons...Read More

Pascua-Lama has been shut since 2013. (Image courtesy of Barrick Gold)Canada's Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX), which recently regained its status as the world's most valuable producer of the precious metal, has began a "drastic revision" of its mothballed Pascua-Lama project in South America.According to Chilean news outlet El Pulso (in Spanish), the company's President Kelvin Dushnisky revealed tha...Read More