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

A more than twenty-five fold jump in investment in fewer than 10 years. That's how fast China is gaining control over Africa's mining industry. And Beijing's push is not ending any time soon. China General Nuclear Power Corporation's Husab uranium mine in Namibia. Source: Contractor's camp by Namspace.netChina's growing economy is thirsty for sustainable supplies of mineral resources. Despite bei...Read More

Co-President Kelvin Dushnisky (right) took over as president of the company in August, as the world's largest gold producer restructured management to boost efficiencies. (Image: Screenshot of a Barrick video, via YouTube)Canadian Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX) announced Tuesday early results of its plan to buy back up to $1.15 billion of its own debt, as the Toronto-based miner continues to deleve...Read More

Oyu Tolgoi, a copper-gold mine in the South Gobi region of Mongolia, approximately 550 km south of the capital Ulaanbaatar, holds one of the largest undeveloped high-grade copper deposits in the world. (Image courtesy of Oyu Tolgoi LLC)Rio Tinto (ASX, LON:RIO) secured Tuesday a multi-billion agreement to finance a huge expansion of its giant Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold open pit mine in Mongolia and sa...Read More

The Canadian Mining Eye index declined 17% during Q3 2015, compared to a 4% gain in Q2 2015. The Canadian Mining Eye index underperformed the S&P/TSX Composite index which slipped 9% during the quarter. The London Metal Exchange index (LMEX) declined 9% over the quarter.The S&P/TSX Composite Metals and Mining index witnessed a significant plunge of 26% due to extremely bearish sentiment during the...Read More

Taking The Temperature Of The U.S. Economy. Is It Healthy? … Seven years ago, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to zero. David Greene talks to David Wessel of the Hutchins Center at the Brookings Institution about what impact this has had on the economy. – NPRDominant Social Theme: After so much time at the zero bound it's time to hike.Free-Market Analysis: This transcript fro...Read More

Francois Hollande is more popular than ever. So why is his party still losing? … François Hollande has not been a particularly lucky president so far. Saturday might have been a high point for the troubled politician: Under his leadership, delegates from all over the world agreed to a new climate treaty to stop global warming. – Washington PostDominant Social Theme: Hollande is...Read More

Taking The Temperature Of The U.S. Economy. Is It Healthy? … Seven years ago, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to zero. David Greene talks to David Wessel of the Hutchins Center at the Brookings Institution about what impact this has had on the economy. – NPRDominant Social Theme: After so much time at the zero bound it's time to hike.Free-Market Analysis: This transcript fro...Read More

Francois Hollande is more popular than ever. So why is his party still losing? … François Hollande has not been a particularly lucky president so far. Saturday might have been a high point for the troubled politician: Under his leadership, delegates from all over the world agreed to a new climate treaty to stop global warming. – Washington PostDominant Social Theme: Hollande is...Read More

A $4 billion finance package for the expansion of Rio Tinto's (LON:RIO) Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia is likely to be approved this week in Ulan Bator, the capital.Operator Turquoise Hills (TSE, NYSE:TRQ), which owns 66% of the massive project in the Gobi Desert, has long forecast that the deal will be signed before the end of 2015. But, according to the Australian Financial Review...Read More

Sudbury, ON (December ?EUR< 14, 2015) - Canada's Ultra-Deep Mining Network (UDMN) continues to make strides in solving the challenges that impact resource extraction in ultra-deep (below 2.5km) environments launching new Call for Proposals and Network Members share the stage highlighting their innovative solutions and commercially viable products.The $46 million NCE business-led network, now in it...Read More

Codelco's Chuquicamata is the world's largest open pit copper mine.The world's biggest copper miner, Chile's Codelco, will continue reining in costs next year rather than curbing output to navigate a slump in prices that are hitting fresh six-year lows almost daily, the company's chief executive Nelson Pizarro has said.In a weekend interview with local newspaper El Mercurio (in Spanish), Pizarro...Read More

Ian Ball brings us Abitibi Royalty Search, an online platform where mining companies in need of financing can easily submit geological data on their projects for consideration. In the mining sector above average capital allocation yields above average results.The bottleneck in efficiency is in equipment provider innovation. Ian sheds light on our current position in the commodity market cycle, he...Read More

Millrock Resources (MRO - TSXV) is a mineral exploration company following the prospect generator business model. That means Millrock generates exploration targets and finds deeper pocketed partners to pay for the expensive stuff like helicopter rentals and drilling, while Millrock usually retains a project interest, and earns money for managing the work programs.A lot of successful mining investo...Read More

Larry Kudlow: I've Changed. This Is War. Seal the Borders. Stop the Visas … A hardline shift from an immigration reformer. I know this is not my usual position. But this is a war. Therefore I have come to believe there should be no immigration or visa waivers until the U.S. adopts a completely new system to stop radical Islamic terrorists from entering the country. A wartime lockdown. An...Read More

Is ISIS Simply A "Saudi Army In Disguise"? … Something major missing. In recent weeks I have been increasingly unsatisfied by the general explanations about who is actually pulling the strings in the entire Middle East plot or, more precisely, plots, to the point of reexamining my earlier views on the role of Saudi Arabia. – New Eastern OutlookDominant Social Theme: The House...Read More

Larry Kudlow: I've Changed. This Is War. Seal the Borders. Stop the Visas … A hardline shift from an immigration reformer. I know this is not my usual position. But this is a war. Therefore I have come to believe there should be no immigration or visa waivers until the U.S. adopts a completely new system to stop radical Islamic terrorists from entering the country. A wartime lockdown. An...Read More

Is ISIS Simply A "Saudi Army In Disguise"? … Something major missing. In recent weeks I have been increasingly unsatisfied by the general explanations about who is actually pulling the strings in the entire Middle East plot or, more precisely, plots, to the point of reexamining my earlier views on the role of Saudi Arabia. – New Eastern OutlookDominant Social Theme: The House...Read More

Diamond sorting in Kimberley, South Africa late 1800s. Source: Miningartifacts.orgOn Tuesday Anglo-American announced a "radical portfolio restructuring".Radical indeed.The company with roots going back more than a hundred years to South Africa's gold and diamond fields said it would cut around 85,000 employees, or almost two-thirds of its workforce.That's up significantly from the already eye-wat...Read More

Seafloor exploration equipment. (Image courtesy of Nautilus Minerals)Canadian seafloor miner Nautilus Minerals (TSX:NUS) said Friday it has scored a fresh offtake deal for its upcoming deep-sea operation off the coast of Papua New Guinea with Chinese smelting company Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group.The new agreement replaces the previous three-year contract that would have seen Nautilus supply...Read More

Clock ticks on Swiss banking secrecy … Many Swiss believe banking secrecy cannot be sustained … Switzerland is facing mounting pressure finally to abandon its long tradition of banking secrecy. The United States has already told the Swiss government it expects Swiss banks to provide the US authorities with automatic information about US clients. Now the European Union is demanding the...Read More