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

Illegal mine in Colombia's Choco province. (Image from archives)A sudden boom in illegal gold mining in Colombia is fuelling human trafficking and forced labour in and around mines loosely connected to paramilitary groups, drug traffickers and leftist guerrillas, according to Aljazeera.In an in-depth report, the news outlet reveals that small-scale miners are being forced out at gunpoint or extort...Read More

Chile's Escondida, the world's largest copper-producing mine. (Image courtesy of BHP Billiton)More than 18,600 km from Beijing, in copper-rich northern Chile, beleaguered miners are barely coping with the impact of China's economic slowdown.The situation is worse than many think, according to the country's mining industry group Consejo Regional Minero de Coquimbo (Corminco), which represents some...Read More

What percent of Canada's minerals are produced in Manitoba? How much mineral potential does the province have?Learn about this, as well as mining's contributions to Manitoba in wealth and safety.Courtesy of: Visual CapitalistPresented by: Mining Association of ManitobaMining in Manitoba had humble beginnings. Settlers of the province needed non-metallic raw materials, and began to extract salt fro...Read More

Fed to hike at every meeting in 2017 … RBC chief economist Tom Porcelli forecasts … Markets are indicating about a 75 per cent chance of a US rate increase next month, the first in almost a decade. An interest rate increase by the United States Federal Reserve on December 16 is almost a "foregone conclusion" and the central bank looks set to lift rates at every second meeting...Read More

More than 30 "White Student Union" pages created on Facebook in last week … The creation of an "Illini White Student Union" Facebook page that surfaced Nov. 18 in response to a "Black Student Solidarity Rally" at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign gained national attention, but apparently it's just the tip of the iceberg. Over the last week, at l...Read More

Fed to hike at every meeting in 2017 … RBC chief economist Tom Porcelli forecasts … Markets are indicating about a 75 per cent chance of a US rate increase next month, the first in almost a decade. An interest rate increase by the United States Federal Reserve on December 16 is almost a "foregone conclusion" and the central bank looks set to lift rates at every second meeting...Read More

More than 30 "White Student Union" pages created on Facebook in last week … The creation of an "Illini White Student Union" Facebook page that surfaced Nov. 18 in response to a "Black Student Solidarity Rally" at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign gained national attention, but apparently it's just the tip of the iceberg. Over the last week, at l...Read More

Large scale futures investors like hedge funds or so-called managed money have entered an unprecedented bearish position towards commodities markets.According to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly Commitment of Traders data, five weeks of selling has seen 13 of the 24 commodities tracked pushed into net short positions.Those include the major commodities like crude oil, gasoline, go...Read More

The expansion of the definition of indigenous communities' benefited Quechua-speaking highland groups.A recent decision by Peru's government to require mining companies to carry out prior consultation with indigenous communities is set to further complicate the investment climate at a time when the sector is struggling as a result of low prices and a slowdown in investment. On 12 November, Deputy...Read More

Immersive Technologies has been providing analytics and reporting to identify operator training needs tied directly to Los Bronces site objectives. This in turn provided focus for simulator based training activities which precisely targeted and closed performance gaps. The site has had early reports of 25% reduction in body up ground speeds, 60% reduction in overspeeds and 62% reduction in service...Read More

After five trying years, RAB Capital Founder and President Philip Richards sees the light at the end of the tunnel. In this interview with The Gold Report, he argues that a continued zero-interest-rate policy from the Fed will be good for gold and silver, while continued quantitative easing will be good for base metals. Many fine mining companies now trade at deep discounts relative to their NPVs,...Read More

Doctor copper, can no longer be viewed as a leading indicator, in fact, a name change might be in order. A change of name from Dr Copper to deadbeat copper might in order, given its dismal record over the years. After the financial crisis of 2008-2009, the economy, the stock markets and copper parted ways; while the markets and the economy trended higher, copper plunged into an abyss, and it is...Read More

The United States Has To Lead … Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta thinks the United States has not provided strong enough leadership in the battle to defeat ISIS. "I think the U.S. has to lead in this effort because what we've learned a long time ago is that if the United States does not lead, nobody else will," Panetta told Chuck Todd on NBC's "Meet the Press.&...Read More

Syrian refugees are not a threat to U.S. … The fact that one of the Paris terrorists was posing as a Syrian refugee has caused some to ask whether one of the lessons of the Paris attacks is either to end or to "pause" accepting Syrian refugees into the States. The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill Thursday to pause the relatively small number of Syrian refu...Read More

The United States Has To Lead … Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta thinks the United States has not provided strong enough leadership in the battle to defeat ISIS. "I think the U.S. has to lead in this effort because what we've learned a long time ago is that if the United States does not lead, nobody else will," Panetta told Chuck Todd on NBC's "Meet the Press.&...Read More

Syrian refugees are not a threat to U.S. … The fact that one of the Paris terrorists was posing as a Syrian refugee has caused some to ask whether one of the lessons of the Paris attacks is either to end or to "pause" accepting Syrian refugees into the States. The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill Thursday to pause the relatively small number of Syrian refu...Read More

Aerial view of the Batu Hijau copper and gold mine.Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM) were barred from exporting copper and gold concentrate from its operations in Indonesia in September, but the company is now free to resume exports again.The export licence forDenver-based Newmont's local unit, PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, was suspended because the company failed to meet government stipulations for d...Read More

Image from archives.While commodities are mired in the worst slump in a generation and all the market wants to hear is that the worst is already over, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) warns prices may fall even further.Unless demand picks up or more miners cut output, prices for raw materials are set to stay low for years, or worse, continue to drop, it said in a note on Thursday, FT.com reports (subs. req...Read More

Gold has traditionally had a "safe haven" role as a store of value during periods of market volatility, including those spurred by global events. But this role has been surpassed in the past year as investors focus, almost solely, on the timing of an interest rate rise by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Because gold doesn't pay interest and costs money to hold, it becomes less competitive...Read More

'Spider in web' mastermind of Paris attacks killed in raid … The suspected Islamic State mastermind of the Paris attacks was among those killed in a police raid north of the capital, France confirmed on Thursday, bringing an end to the hunt for Europe's most wanted man. Authorities said they had identified the mangled corpse of Belgian national Abdelhamid Abaaoud from fingerprint...Read More