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

Rio Tinto, the world's number two miner in terms of revenues, suffered the same fate as many of its peers on Wednesday with a downgrade by Moody's Investor Services.The credit ratings agency downgraded the senior unsecured ratings of Melbourne-based Rio and its subsidiaries one notch from to Baa1 from A3 with a negative outlook.Moody's said the downgrade reflects its view "that there has been...Read More

Copper prices fell the most in two weeks in London, as investors' worries over China's deepening economic slowdown and collapsing oil prices dampened sentiment across commodities markets.The London Metal Exchange's three-month copper contract fell as much as 1.4%, the most since Feb. 10, to $4,580 a metric ton and was at $4,591.50 by 12:11 p.m. on the London Metal Exchange. Other industrial metals...Read More

EU referendum: Leaving EU a ‘leap in the dark’ says Cameron ... The prime minister says his only agenda is what is best for the country ... David Cameron has warned that leaving the European Union “could hurt working people for years to come”, as he put the case for staying in the EU to MPs. He said the choice was between an “even greater Britain” by staying in,...Read More

EU referendum: Leaving EU a ‘leap in the dark’ says Cameron ... The prime minister says his only agenda is what is best for the country ... David Cameron has warned that leaving the European Union “could hurt working people for years to come”, as he put the case for staying in the EU to MPs. He said the choice was between an “even greater Britain” by staying in,...Read More

Ontario, Canada's second largest province, has become one of the of the country's main mining districts where it takes the longest to obtain exploration permits, a new report released Tuesday shows.According to a survey of mining executives by the Fraser Institute, growing wait times for permits across Canada, and particularly in Ontario, add to the cost of exploration and may ultimately hinder t...Read More

HPV Sharply Reduced in Teenage Girls Following Vaccine, Study Says ...The vaccine for human papillomavirus, a cause of cervical cancer, has proved effective, but immunization rates remain low ... A vaccine introduced a decade ago to combat the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer has already reduced the virus's prevalence in teenage girls by almost two-thirds, federal researchers...Read More

HPV Sharply Reduced in Teenage Girls Following Vaccine, Study Says ...The vaccine for human papillomavirus, a cause of cervical cancer, has proved effective, but immunization rates remain low ... A vaccine introduced a decade ago to combat the sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer has already reduced the virus's prevalence in teenage girls by almost two-thirds, federal researchers...Read More

BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) cut its dividend for the first time since 1988 years on Tuesday, becoming the latest company to do so in a sector struggling with the worst slump in commodity prices in a decade and high debt loads.In a statement, the world's biggest mining company saw its first-half underlying profits tumble 92% coming in way below expectations at $412 million for the 6 months to end Dece...Read More

Investors piled into to the metals and mining sector in a big way on Monday after a strong start to the Chinese new year commodities demand and a rally on the country's stock markets.On the Comex market in New York copper for delivery in May climbed 2.5% to $2.1325 a pound or $4,700 a tonne. The red metal is up more than 10% from a six-year low hit mid-December. Other industrial metals also ga...Read More

Retail sales in Canada fell 2.2% in December from November on a seasonally adjusted basis, but not adjusted for inflation, to C$43.2 billion ... But just because retail demand is crummy doesn't mean that retail prices can't power higher. Stagflation comes to mind. Now happening before our very eyes. And forget deflation, however much central bankers bandy the term about like a cudgel to justify th...Read More

Retail sales in Canada fell 2.2% in December from November on a seasonally adjusted basis, but not adjusted for inflation, to C$43.2 billion ... But just because retail demand is crummy doesn't mean that retail prices can't power higher. Stagflation comes to mind. Now happening before our very eyes. And forget deflation, however much central bankers bandy the term about like a cudgel to justify th...Read More

The Casino project in the Canadian Yukon Territory passed a major milestone last Thursday with the announcement that the project will move to a higher level of environmental assessment.In a press conference, Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) said it will send the copper-gold project, considered to be Yukon's largest mine, for its highest level of review. It's the fi...Read More

Ratings agency's have got it in for the mining sector where all companies are struggling with low commodity prices and many have to cope with high debt loads.Within the last few weeks Moody's Investor Services cut the ratings of seven large miners. Two majors - Anglo American and Freeport McMoRan - were cut to below investment grade for the first time.Moody's took Freeport McMoRan down a full fo...Read More

When the worst collapse of commodity prices in nearly two decades finally ends, mining companies left standing probably will have more robots on their side.Automated drills and driver-less trucks are among the new technology already employed by some of top mining companies, including BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO). But a new study by BMI Research says that miners, big and small, ar...Read More

The article in question, about DeMarcus Cousins showing support for embattled head coach George Karl, was published February 13 … Now when you click on the article on Amico Hoops, it immediately redirects you to Sactown Royalty … it’s probably a lesson learned for Amico’s site. Just because you throw a link up at the bottom doesn’t mean you can just take someone else&...Read More

The article in question, about DeMarcus Cousins showing support for embattled head coach George Karl, was published February 13 … Now when you click on the article on Amico Hoops, it immediately redirects you to Sactown Royalty … it’s probably a lesson learned for Amico’s site. Just because you throw a link up at the bottom doesn’t mean you can just take someone else&...Read More

Dramatic daily moves in the U.S. dollar, gold prices and the larger markets are pointing to a global banking collapse that will send resource prices higher in 2016, according to 321gold.com founder Bob Moriarty. In this interview with The Gold Report, he shares his insights on how mining equities will react and five names he is watching.The Gold Report: Last year at this time we talked about the S...Read More

Mining scene newcomer and BHP spin-off South32 (ASX, LON, JSE:S32) may soon make an offer for Anglo American's (LON:AAL) stake in their manganese joint venture, if the price was right.South32 indicated negotiations had already started. "We have a good relationship with our joint venture partner and they've communicated their intentions," the company said in a statement sent to Reuters.Samancor...Read More

Since its peak in 2012, mining capital expenditures has decreased almost 25%. Greenfield and brownfield development has decreased in aggregate by 43%, while sustaining capex has gone down 34%. Intuitively, the decline is more prominent in growth spending, as companies are simply just trying to survive, resulting in major project delays and deferrals across the globe.During the last major bear ma...Read More

Starbucks CEO warns the U.S. presidential elections are turning into a 'circus' … CEO Howard Schultz criticized the presidential candidates for making 'bombastic attacks' without 'respect' for each other. He warned the run-up to the U.S. election had 'turned into something none of us has ever seen before… almost a circus.' – Daily MailThe outspoken...Read More