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

US accuses Moscow of 'dangerously' worsening Syria war … The United States said that Russia's air war in Syria had "dangerously exacerbated" the conflict, accusing Moscow of seeking to bolster President Bashar al-Assad's regime instead of targeting jihadists. Washington's latest broadside against Russian intervention in Syria came as government troops, emboldene...Read More

Teck plans to reduce the workforce at Highland Valley Copper by six per cent.United Steelworkers local 7619 says it was informed of the cuts by Teck on Thursday. Cuts will take place next year.Highland Valley Copper employs approximately 900 people, nearly half of them living in Kamloops.Non-union contractors will feel the brunt of the labour reductions.In its recent quarter Teck Resources (NYSE...Read More

Copper moved back into a bear market with a sharp decline on Thursday with year to date losses now topping 20%.On Thursday in New York trade December copper gave up 3.1% hitting a day low of $2.2505 a pound ($4,960 a tonne). In August copper fell to a six year low of $4,888 a tonne.The red metal's latest leg down is blamed on worse-than-expected manufacturing data from Germany, the world's...Read More

Codelco's Chuquicamata copper mine, Chile. (Image courtesy of Codelco)While miners, analysts and media worldwide remain focus on the difficulties the sector is facing and the uncertain outlook for a turnaround in the near term, those in Latin America has managed to remain optimistic, a new report shows.According to a study by international law firm Dentons, in association with the Mining and Inve...Read More

The Rio Algom mine closed in 1992. The pit - 1.5 kilometres long, 0.5 km wide and 60 metres deep - was then flooded, with runoff directed to a tailings pond for treatment. (Image by Fred A. Hatfield | Flickr Commons)Canada's Avalon Rare Metals (TSX:AVL), until now mostly known for its incursion in the rare earths market, says it's quite advanced on a $1.3 million work program in South-western Nova...Read More

Marijuana grows causing blackouts, power company says … Dozens of people in Northeast Portland lost power amid the sizzle of summer because of marijuana. Two indoor grows in the same area overloaded the circuits, causing an outage for about 200 customers. That was one of seven outages from grows that's hit Pacific Power since July. – Oregon LiveDominant Social Theme: We'll buy...Read More

The multi-state military training exercise known as Jade Helm 15 is done. There did not turn out to be any FEMA camps populated with anti-Obama patriots plucked from their homes by American special forces. Desert regions of the United States do not seem to have been turned over to ISIS or Russia in an attempt by the government to something-something-something … Still, it's a shame one-th...Read More

Marijuana grows causing blackouts, power company says … Dozens of people in Northeast Portland lost power amid the sizzle of summer because of marijuana. Two indoor grows in the same area overloaded the circuits, causing an outage for about 200 customers. That was one of seven outages from grows that's hit Pacific Power since July. – Oregon LiveDominant Social Theme: We'll buy...Read More

The multi-state military training exercise known as Jade Helm 15 is done. There did not turn out to be any FEMA camps populated with anti-Obama patriots plucked from their homes by American special forces. Desert regions of the United States do not seem to have been turned over to ISIS or Russia in an attempt by the government to something-something-something … Still, it's a shame one-th...Read More

Image: Screenshot from Global TV.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau launched a new era in Canada federal politics Wednesday as his majority Liberal government took office and a cabinet of political veterans and rookie MPs was sworn in.One of them was Winnipeg businessman and Liberal South Centre MP, James Car (64), who became the country's new Minister of Natural Resources.He'll have to deal with touc...Read More

Glencore's CEO Ivan Glasenberg is trying hard to reassure nervous investors and creditors that the company can cope with its hefty debt load amid the latest commodities rout.Shares in debt-laden Glencore (LON:GLEN) climbed on Wednesday after the mining and commodities giant said it is turning it around faster than expected following a series of asset sales, production cuts, and a key silver strea...Read More

Image of workers at GJ property from Skeena Resources.Skeena Resources Limited (TSX.V: SKE) ("Skeena" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of a 100% interest in the GJ property (the "GJ Property") from majority owner Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TCK) ("Teck") and its 49% joint venture partner, NGEx Resources Inc. (TSX: NGQ) ("NGEx"). T...Read More

IMF signals renminbi set for inclusion in SDR basket … International Monetary Fund representatives have told China that the renminbi is likely to join the fund's special drawing rights (SDR) basket of reserve currencies … The renminbi's inclusion in the SDR basket will help spur China to accelerate financial reforms and economic opening up and catalyze yuan liberalization, acco...Read More

Obama weighs expanding background checks through executive authority … Speaking at the White House on Thursday evening, a visibly frustrated and emotional President Obama remarked on the deadly shooting at a community college in Oregon … In response to the latest mass shooting during his presidency, President Obama is seriously considering circumventing Congress with his executive auth...Read More

IMF signals renminbi set for inclusion in SDR basket … International Monetary Fund representatives have told China that the renminbi is likely to join the fund's special drawing rights (SDR) basket of reserve currencies … The renminbi's inclusion in the SDR basket will help spur China to accelerate financial reforms and economic opening up and catalyze yuan liberalization, acco...Read More

Obama weighs expanding background checks through executive authority … Speaking at the White House on Thursday evening, a visibly frustrated and emotional President Obama remarked on the deadly shooting at a community college in Oregon … In response to the latest mass shooting during his presidency, President Obama is seriously considering circumventing Congress with his executive auth...Read More

Chile's state-owned copper giant Codelco's announcement today of another round of layoffs is just the latest sign of an industry under stress. Copper has recovered from six-year lows struck late August on the back of supply cuts by major producers but at around $2.30 a pound or $5,000 per tonne on Tuesday there isn't much breathing room for producers.The latest estimates by the Lisbon-based Intern...Read More

Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) announced on Tuesday a deal to acquire a portion of future silver output from Glencore's (LON:GLEN) Antamina copper mine in Peru for $900 million cash.As part of the streaming deal, Silver Wheaton will make ongoing payments of 20% of the spot price for silver for every ounce of metal delivered.Silver Wheaton will receive from Glencore an amount equal to 33.75% of the Anta...Read More

Codelco's chief executive Nelson Pizarro says the "painful, but necessary" move has not affected production.Codelco's chief executive Nelson Pizarro is following through with his promise of cutting costs "to the bone" as the Chile-owned miner announced it has cut almost 3,900 jobs, including contractors, in response to low prices and weak demand.Until now, the world's top copper producer had only...Read More

Construction at Eldorado's Skouries gold and copper mine.**UPDATED**Shares in Canada's Eldorado Gold (TSX:ELD) (NYSE:EGO) spiked Monday and were trading around 3.7% higher mid-day in Toronto yesterday, after Reuters reported that Greece's top administrative court had annulled a government decision that suspended the miner's operations in the country's north.The news were later denied by the co...Read More