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

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

Brazil's Vale (NYSE:VALE) on Thursday announced it will shutter its nickel smelting and refining operations in Canada's Manitoba province in 2018.The operations were originally set to end this year, but the government stepped in to extend work for at least another three years reports Reuters.Mining and milling at the Thompson mine will continue and the Rio de Janeiro-based company said it will fin...Read More

Chart by Preqin.Year to date the mining sector has raised a miserable $400 million down from a high of $4.6 billion just three year ago, according to data compiled by Preqin released today.The research firm looked at private equity-style funds targeting assets in energy (including oil and gas); agriculture and farmland; metals and mining; and timberland and water.The decline in mine financing fro...Read More

The once obscure Baltic Dry Shipping Index came to prominence at the start of the Chinese-led commodity supercycle around a decade ago.The London-based Baltic Exchange tracks the cost of moving commodities along more than 50 routes around the world.With China's emergence as the dominant trading economy in the world the index became one of the go-to barometers.China now controls the global trade in...Read More

The biggest declines in sales were in construction in Latin America (-41%) and in the resources industry in Asia (-37%).Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), the world's No.1 heavy machinery maker, put another nail in the mining industry's coffin after reporting that its sales declined again in October, marking the 35th straight month of sustained drops.The Peoria-based firm's performance is often seen as a gau...Read More

Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold's Grasberg mine is the world's largest gold mine and third largest copper mine.Indonesia has began investigating claims that senior officials demanded to be granted a 20% stake in Freeport-McMoRan Indonesia in return for an extension of the parent company's rights to operate in the country.According to Jakarta Globe, the minister of energy and mineral resources, S...Read More

Most of the low-cost gold producers are fairly valued, says Michael Curran, managing director and mining analyst with Beacon Securities, so he's heading down-market to the advanced development opportunities and early-stage explorers that he thinks could become low-cost producers. Sure there is risk, as Curran explains in this interview with The Gold Report, but the reward could come via either a t...Read More

Legendary investor Jim Rogers joins EM's Global Advisory Board … Iconic founder of the Quantum Fund to advise leading emerging markets focused financial and corporate communications agency. EM, the leading emerging markets focused financial PR and IR consultancy, is delighted to announce that world-renowned investor Jim Rogers has agreed to join its Global Advisory Board … Tom Blac...Read More

Legendary investor Jim Rogers joins EM's Global Advisory Board … Iconic founder of the Quantum Fund to advise leading emerging markets focused financial and corporate communications agency. EM, the leading emerging markets focused financial PR and IR consultancy, is delighted to announce that world-renowned investor Jim Rogers has agreed to join its Global Advisory Board … Tom Blac...Read More

ChuquicamataIt's been a brutal November on copper markets with a only one up day of trading since the start of the month. Just over the last week the price has fallen more than 7%.In New York on Wednesday the copper price dropped to a low of $2.0670 or $4,560 a tonne, the lowest since March 2009 and down 27% so far this year.Copper traded below today's level for seven months at the height of the g...Read More

Work at Carmen de Andacollo copper mine, located in Chile's north-central region of Coquimbo. (Image from archives)Canadian mining giant Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.A, TCK.B), (NYSE: TCK) has decided to cut 1,000 jobs, or around about 9% of its global workforce, through a combination of layoffs and attrition as part of a plan to reduce spending next year by $650 million.The Vancouver-based company, t...Read More

Today's chart is all about perspective.See all YTD asset prices together in one place, and get perspective on the true collapse that has occurred in commodities this yearCourtesy of: Visual CapitalistThis chart from Macquarie puts the year in perspective for commodity investors. It covers various asset classes including equities, FX markets, bonds, and commodity prices, and charts them YTD in ter...Read More

French President François Hollande was quick to declare a state of emergency in the wake of Friday's bloody terror attacks in Paris. But what does the "etat d'urgence" mean for the country and its citizens as they go about their daily lives? The state of emergency measures are set out in a 1955 law and are designed to be used in "cases of imminent danger resulting fro...Read More

Saudi Wahhabi dilemma in spotlight after Paris attack … Saudi Arabia's harsh religious tradition is seen by many outsiders – and some Saudi liberals – as a root cause of the international jihadist threat that has inflamed the Middle East for years and struck in Paris last week. However, while Riyadh has cracked down hard on jihadists at home, jailing thousands, stopping hundr...Read More

French President François Hollande was quick to declare a state of emergency in the wake of Friday's bloody terror attacks in Paris. But what does the "etat d'urgence" mean for the country and its citizens as they go about their daily lives? The state of emergency measures are set out in a 1955 law and are designed to be used in "cases of imminent danger resulting fro...Read More

Saudi Wahhabi dilemma in spotlight after Paris attack … Saudi Arabia's harsh religious tradition is seen by many outsiders – and some Saudi liberals – as a root cause of the international jihadist threat that has inflamed the Middle East for years and struck in Paris last week. However, while Riyadh has cracked down hard on jihadists at home, jailing thousands, stopping hundr...Read More

Since May, the metal has lost around 25% of its value, due to the increasing strength of the US dollar and weaning demand in China.Copper prices extended losses on Tuesday, hitting a fresh six-year low as the terror attacks in Paris added to concerns about the global economy that have caused a month-long selloff.On Tuesday morning, the red metal dropped to below $4,600 per tonne on the London Meta...Read More

The next time a mining company decides against dry-stacking as a too-costly alternative to tailings ponds, its directors and shareholders may want to consider what a tailings pond breach could cost companies like Imperial Metals Corp. (TSX:III) or BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE:BHP).Up until November 5, the August 4, 2014, tailings pond failure at Imperial's Mount Polley copper mine had been the worst su...Read More

US Fed likely to tighten before year end … The US Federal Reserve is on track to raise rates before year end, with a pick-up in economic activity and positive dialogue emerging from the central bank – Investor DailyDominant Social Theme: The economy is booming. Hike, hike, hike. It's all we can do.Free-market Analysis: The tightening talk is picking up. Principal Global Investors m...Read More