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

Turkey won't apologize for downing Russian warplane, Erdogan says … Turkey will not apologize for downing a Russian fighter jet it says violated Turkish airspace near the Syrian border, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an exclusive CNN interview Thursday in Ankara. "I think if there is a party that needs to apologize, it is not us," he said from the Turkish capita...Read More

Blockchain technology could reduce role of banks, says BIS … Blockchain technology could reduce the role of intermediaries such as banks and settlement houses, the Bank for International Settlements – or "the central bankers' central bank" – said in a report on Monday. Blockchain technology – or distributed ledger technology, as many financiers prefer to call...Read More

Turkey won't apologize for downing Russian warplane, Erdogan says … Turkey will not apologize for downing a Russian fighter jet it says violated Turkish airspace near the Syrian border, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an exclusive CNN interview Thursday in Ankara. "I think if there is a party that needs to apologize, it is not us," he said from the Turkish capita...Read More

Blockchain technology could reduce role of banks, says BIS … Blockchain technology could reduce the role of intermediaries such as banks and settlement houses, the Bank for International Settlements – or "the central bankers' central bank" – said in a report on Monday. Blockchain technology – or distributed ledger technology, as many financiers prefer to call...Read More

Along with the rest of the base metals complex tin enjoyed a nice bump on Thursday on speculation that Chinese miners are getting serious about production cuts and Beijing may start stockpiling metals to make the most of low prices.Tin gained nearly 2% to trade just under $15,000 on Thursday, recovering from a low of $14,200 a tonne hit earlier this week. The metal is still trading down more than...Read More

Party like it's 2008On Thursday, base metals rebounded from financial crisis levels hit earlier this week on speculation of output cuts in China, hopes a new program of stockpiling by the state and a possible probe by Beijing into short-selling by Chinese hedge funds.In New York trade on Thursday copper for delivery in March gained more than 2% to $2.09 per pound. On Monday the red metal hit i...Read More

Rio Tinto's (LON:RIO) decision on its long-delayed expansion of the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia is likely to be affected by the current slump of the metal, which hit a fresh six-year low this week.The world's-second biggest miner, which began production from an open pit of Oyu Tolgoi over two years ago, has not finished lining up financing for the $5 billion expansion, Reuters rep...Read More

The depth of a bull market speaks to the size of the recovery and Rick believes that this bear market could be one for the history books. But when will the bear end?The depth of a bull market speaks to the size of the recovery and Rick believes that this bear market could be one for the history books. But when will the bear end?Watch Interview with Rick RuleTalking points from this week's intervie...Read More

Sell gold because of Draghi? Bank President Mario Draghi has been promising to pursue inflation with a vengeance. He recently vowed to "do what we must to raise inflation as quickly as possible." Draghi's efforts, which have driven down the euro, have somehow been taken by Wall Street as a great opportunity to sell gold. That's ridiculous. – CNBCDominant Social Theme: Whate...Read More

Remembering Woodrow Wilson's racism isn't enough. It's much easier to condemn one man's racism than to confront the institutional and cultural racism that haunts our nation. – USA Today OpinionDominant Social Theme: Racism needs to be opposed in all its forms. If people want to clump together, they should be forcibly separated.Free-Market Analysis: What is racism? USA Today i...Read More

Sell gold because of Draghi? Bank President Mario Draghi has been promising to pursue inflation with a vengeance. He recently vowed to "do what we must to raise inflation as quickly as possible." Draghi's efforts, which have driven down the euro, have somehow been taken by Wall Street as a great opportunity to sell gold. That's ridiculous. – CNBCDominant Social Theme: Whate...Read More

Remembering Woodrow Wilson's racism isn't enough. It's much easier to condemn one man's racism than to confront the institutional and cultural racism that haunts our nation. – USA Today OpinionDominant Social Theme: Racism needs to be opposed in all its forms. If people want to clump together, they should be forcibly separated.Free-Market Analysis: What is racism? USA Today i...Read More

It's hard to find an analysis of the mining and minerals sector that offers even a glimpse of a brighter future.A new report by consultants McKinsey & Company takes a fresh look at the industry and finds much of today's doom and gloom is misplaced.The study suggests that the steadily deteriorating quality of accessible resources combined with the current cuts in new mine investment, will likely sq...Read More

Anglo American sold the Mantos Blancos copper mine in Chile (pictured) earlier this year.Shares in Anglo American (LON:AAL), the second-worst performer in the FTSE 100 after Glencore this year, plummeted Wednesday, after HSBC downgraded it to 'reduce' from 'hold' and highlighted the miner's precarious cash flow situation may force it to cancel its dividend.The diversified miner's stock closed down...Read More

El Morro and Relincho projects are located approximately 40 km apart in Chile's Atacama region. (Image from archives)Canadian mining giants Goldcorp (TSX:G), (NYSE:GG) and Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.A & TCK.B) (NYSE:TCK) have finished combining their respective El Morro and Relincho projects in Chile.The projects, located approximately 40 kilometres apart in Chile's copper-rich Atacama region, are...Read More

The Fed is About to Make Life Harder For Big Banks … It's considering changes to its annual stress test. The Federal Reserve administers stress tests to the largest U.S. banks each year to see how they would fare in a hypothetically turbulent economy. The regulator is expected to make those tests more difficult to pass. No changes have officially been proposed but, as the New York Times...Read More

NATO urges calm after Turkey downs Russian jet … NATO and UN urge a de-escalation in tensions between Ankara and Moscow after Turkish planes shot down Russian jet. … NATO has called on Turkey and Russia to show restraint as tensions rise in the wake of the downing of a Russian jet near the Turkey-Syria border. The Russian warplane was shot down for violating Turkish airspace on Tuesday...Read More

The Fed is About to Make Life Harder For Big Banks … It's considering changes to its annual stress test. The Federal Reserve administers stress tests to the largest U.S. banks each year to see how they would fare in a hypothetically turbulent economy. The regulator is expected to make those tests more difficult to pass. No changes have officially been proposed but, as the New York Times...Read More

NATO urges calm after Turkey downs Russian jet … NATO and UN urge a de-escalation in tensions between Ankara and Moscow after Turkish planes shot down Russian jet. … NATO has called on Turkey and Russia to show restraint as tensions rise in the wake of the downing of a Russian jet near the Turkey-Syria border. The Russian warplane was shot down for violating Turkish airspace on Tuesday...Read More

Study shows copper price fall matches previous down-cycles going back to 1975, but expect a long painful slog before a sustained recoveryIt's been a brutal November for copper which despite a nice bump on Tuesday is down more than 10% during the month.In New York on Tuesday copper gained 2.5% to $2.06 a pound after coming dangerously close to dropping through $2.00 on Monday, the lowest since Mar...Read More