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

The 50 most violent cities in the world … Latin America holds the undesirable distinction of having the most cities on the Mexico Citizens Council for Public Security's annual ranking of the world's most violent cities. Of the 50 cities on the list, 41 are in Latin America, including 21 in Brazil. – Business InsiderDominant Social Theme: Brazil? A showplace of Western economic...Read More

The sharp sell-off in the stock market has some of Wall Street’s top strategists recommending to clients that they buy. “With the S&P 500 down 11.7% from its all-time high (2,130 in May 2015), investors are questioning whether a bear market is in the offing,” RBC chief equity strategist Jonathan Golub said on Tuesday. “History shows that sell-offs of 20% or more rarely...Read More

The 50 most violent cities in the world … Latin America holds the undesirable distinction of having the most cities on the Mexico Citizens Council for Public Security's annual ranking of the world's most violent cities. Of the 50 cities on the list, 41 are in Latin America, including 21 in Brazil. – Business InsiderDominant Social Theme: Brazil? A showplace of Western economic...Read More

Slag tapping at Glencore's Sudbury Nickel Smelter. Image: GlencoreNickel was the worst performer in a pretty sorry commodities field in 2015. The steelmaking ingredient lost just shy of 42% of its value last year.What makes nickel's dismal year even more disappointing is that following Indonesia's ore ban at the outset of 2014, the stars seemed to align for the metal and analysts rushed to its de...Read More

Freeport McMoRan's Grasberg is the world's largest gold mine and third largest copper operation. (Image from archives)Shares in Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) rallied Tuesday morning even though the diversified US miner and oil producer reported a fourth-quarter loss bigger than the one logged in 2014.The stock was up more than 3% to $4.07 at 10:45 am ET, but it has dropped almost 40% since the star...Read More

The Fed’s phony mandate … How many times have we heard top Federal Reserve officials solemnly invoke the Fed’s “dual mandate” as the be-all, end-all justification for their monetary policy decisions? … But the so-called dual mandate was not exactly written in stone, it turns out. Rather, it has survived as a disturbing legislative artifact from some 40 years ago...Read More

The Fed’s phony mandate … How many times have we heard top Federal Reserve officials solemnly invoke the Fed’s “dual mandate” as the be-all, end-all justification for their monetary policy decisions? … But the so-called dual mandate was not exactly written in stone, it turns out. Rather, it has survived as a disturbing legislative artifact from some 40 years ago...Read More

Fears of a hard landing in China have investors seeing redChinese leaders in October outlined the direction of the world's second largest economy over the next five years.The country's 13th five-year plan running from 2016 - 2020 calls for "medium-high economic growth" and doubles-down on a long-stated commitment to "double 2010 GDP by 2020".The 2020 GDP goal would require annual growth rates of 6...Read More

Pushing bullish bets up a few barsWith weakness returning to equities and oil on Monday, gold futures trading in New York attracted brisk buying from investors eager for alternatives amid all the market turmoil.In afternoon trade gold for delivery in February, the most active contract, was exchanging hands for $1,106.60 an ounce, up more than $10 compared to Friday's close. Thanks to safe haven...Read More

Sarcheshmeh copper complex, operated by the National Iranian Copper Industries. (Image courtesy of NICICO)Iran's full-re-entry into the world energy market upon the lifting of sanctions has hurt oil prices further, sending them below the psychologically significant $30-a-barrel level last week.The question in everyone's mind now is how Iran's incursion into the mining industry will affect an al...Read More

Construction of a concrete batching plant at Skouries mine. (Image courtesy of Eldorado Gold)Canada's Eldorado Gold (TSX: ELD) (NYSE:EGO) said Monday it expects to write down the value of its assets in Greece by US$1.2 billion-US$1.6 billion, after it halted majority of its operations at one of its four projects in the European country.The Vancouver-based company has been at odds with the Greek go...Read More

Norway’s biggest bank DNB calls for the end of cash … Could Oslo become Europe’s first cashless capital? … Norway’s largest bank has called for the country to go totally cashless over fears of illegal activity. – UK Independent via Times of IndiaDominant Social Theme: Let’s focus on the bank runs while we build our cashless society.Free-Market Analysis: H...Read More

Who Organised the Attacks of January and November 2015 in Paris? … According to the official version, the attacks of January and November 2015 in Paris were sponsored by Al-Qa??da in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP)-for the execution of the editors of Charlie-Hebdo-and by Daesh for all the others. - VoltaireNet via LewRockwell.comDominant Social Theme: Don’t look at the man behind the curtain...Read More

Norway’s biggest bank DNB calls for the end of cash … Could Oslo become Europe’s first cashless capital? … Norway’s largest bank has called for the country to go totally cashless over fears of illegal activity. – UK Independent via Times of IndiaDominant Social Theme: Let’s focus on the bank runs while we build our cashless society.Free-Market Analysis: H...Read More

Who Organised the Attacks of January and November 2015 in Paris? … According to the official version, the attacks of January and November 2015 in Paris were sponsored by Al-Qa??da in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP)-for the execution of the editors of Charlie-Hebdo-and by Daesh for all the others. - VoltaireNet via LewRockwell.comDominant Social Theme: Don’t look at the man behind the curtain...Read More

Not even Chuquicamata, the world's largest open pit copper mine, seems to be able to rescue Chile at the moment. (Courtesy of Codelco via Flickr)Resilience in the copper industry, its producers and investors, continues to be tested this year, as the metal price has touched fresh lows, falling last week to $1.95 per pound, a price last seen in May 2009, and analysts don't see a clear end to China's...Read More

The London Metal Exchange is in talks with the World Gold Council and five banks about the possibility of introducing futures contracts on gold and standardized central clearing, according to two people familiar with the matter.The talks are exploratory and there's no time frame for a decision on the contract, which would be for delivery in London, said the people, who asked not to be identified b...Read More

The top five mining companies and three of the world's biggest energy groups are among the hundreds the hundreds of mining and energy firms that Moody's placed on review for a credit downgrade. (Image: Screenshot via TheDollarVigilante | YouTube)BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Anglo American and Vale are among the dozens of mining and energy firms that Moody's placed on review for a credit downgrade on F...Read More

Work at the now halted Pascua-Lama gold, silver and copper project. (Image from archives)Canadian Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX), the world's largest producer of the metal by output, brought some fresh bad news to investors late Thursday as it warned expected to book up to $3 billion in impairment charges amid continued weakness in gold prices.The Toronto-based miner has had a rough time in the Lati...Read More

Should foreigners who allege human rights abuses against a Canadian company operating in a foreign land have their case heard in a Canadian court?Such arguments are currently being heard in a Vancouver court. The case involves Vancouver-based mining company Nevsun and three employees from Eritrea.In their notice of civil claim, the employees say they "were subjected to cruel, inhuman and degradin...Read More