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

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

UN Votes Wednesday on Tough New North Korea Sanctions ... The U.N. Security Council votes Wednesday on a resolution that would impose the toughest sanctions on North Korea in two decades. -APNorth Korea is the target of yet more negotiated sanctions and the mainstream media won't provide many articles that question them.The propaganda is thick here. North Korea fights no wars with its adversaries...Read More

UN Votes Wednesday on Tough New North Korea Sanctions ... The U.N. Security Council votes Wednesday on a resolution that would impose the toughest sanctions on North Korea in two decades. -APNorth Korea is the target of yet more negotiated sanctions and the mainstream media won't provide many articles that question them.The propaganda is thick here. North Korea fights no wars with its adversaries...Read More

Already high bankruptcy and default rates in mining & metals and oil & gas will only accelerate this year as the prolonged downturn in commodities begin to spill over into other sectors.Overall, global speculative-grade corporate defaults will increase by more than 30% in 2016 and reach the highest level since 2009, says Moody's Investors Service in a new report.And 2015 already saw close to a do...Read More

Beleaguered miner and commodity trader Glencore (LON:GLEN) unveiled Tuesday the extend of the damaged caused by the current mining downturn, logging an annual loss of $8 billion and $5.8 billion of charges.The company, the second-worst performer in the FTSE 100 last year, reported a net loss of $4.96 billion compared with net profit of $2.3 billion in 2014, as the price of its key commodities - in...Read More

The Canadian province of Saskatchewan has been chosen the most attractive jurisdiction for mining investment in the country, and the second best worldwide, a new study published Tuesday shows.According to the latest annual global survey of mining executives by the Fraser Institute, the potash and uranium-rich province leads the way for the second consecutive year. The jurisdiction is perceived a...Read More

Sustainability holds key in green quest for China ... With the Chinese economy slowing down, it is possible to predict that the country’s policymakers would still have their eyes trained on economic development for a not-so-bad GDP growth, rather than sustainability matters, say experts, but applaud environmental steps taken. -China DailyHere's an article in China Daily treading carefully as...Read More

Sustainability holds key in green quest for China ... With the Chinese economy slowing down, it is possible to predict that the country’s policymakers would still have their eyes trained on economic development for a not-so-bad GDP growth, rather than sustainability matters, say experts, but applaud environmental steps taken. -China DailyHere's an article in China Daily treading carefully as...Read More