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

Fed's Fischer Says Economy May Merit Liftoff Later This Year … Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said the U.S. economy may be strong enough to merit an interest-rate increase by year end, while cautioning that policy makers are monitoring slower domestic job growth and international developments in deciding the precise timing of liftoff. At the Federal Open Market Committee&#...Read More

Here's what $66 gets you in Medellin … Last night after a flurry of legal meetings and property tours throughout the day, I had drinks with a Canadian real estate developer who set up shop here in Medellin a few years ago. Medellin's mountainous geography constrains growth, and this is likely going to heavily influence prices over the long term. So for now, this place is one of the m...Read More

The sun also risesOver the past week crude oil prices have jumped 13%, platinum is up 8%, copper 4.8% and industrial metals 5.2% on average after double digit gains for zinc. Aluminum gained more than 5% over the week while benchmark iron ore price advanced by the same margin.Even after including more modest advances for the agricultural sector (cocoa is the sole commodity that lost value) it's...Read More

Glencore will temporarily suspend operations at Lady Loretta and reduce production at George Fisher and McArthur River operations, the company announced on Friday.ABC News reports that 242 workers will lose their jobs at Lady Loretta Mine while while 224 positions will be lost from George Fisher, and 69 at the McArthur mine.The closures gave zinc a bump. The Wall Street Journal says zinc rose 6.7%...Read More

For conscious shoppers at Whole Foods, it was a nightmare to learn that the company had US prison labor in its supply chain. After more than a year of negative publicity culminating in protests outside of its stores in Houston, Texas, Whole Foods announced last week that it will stop sourcing foods that are made with prison labor. Happy ending? Not so fast.Corporations like Whole Foods need to be...Read More

For conscious shoppers at Whole Foods, it was a nightmare to learn that the company had US prison labor in its supply chain. After more than a year of negative publicity culminating in protests outside of its stores in Houston, Texas, Whole Foods announced last week that it will stop sourcing foods that are made with prison labor. Happy ending? Not so fast.Corporations like Whole Foods need to be...Read More

Image by Rawhead RexGFMS Thomson Reuter's closely watched annual base metals review and outlook contains some stark warnings for copper miners.The industry has made progress to reduce costs - since the first quarter of 2014 average cash costs have dropped by $303 a tonne according to GFMS calculations.Over the same period the price of copper is down by $998 a tonne. And since the end of the June q...Read More

Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold's Grasberg mine is the world's largest gold mine and third largest copper mine.Copper and gold giant Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) was trading higher Thursday afternoon after the company announced that Indonesia has promised the company to extent the mining contract for its giant Grasberg mine beyond 2021.The approval will include "the same rights and the same level...Read More

Peru's government declared martial law in parts of its southern highlands last week after protests against the $7.4 billion Las Bambas copper mine, owned by a consortium led by China's MMG Ltd. resulted in at least three deaths. (Image via Twitter @NewsRevo)Social conflicts and red tape have caused the delay of $21.5 billion worth of mining projects in recent years in Peru, one of the world's lar...Read More

If the Defense Department, the CIA, and our largest corporations can be hacked, certainly 50 states and over 3,000 separate county systems are no match for individuals or nation states that might want to influence the outcome of elections. This is particularly true because nowadays things in the world of electronics and elections are as complex as ever. Even if we are casting our ballots on the In...Read More

If the Defense Department, the CIA, and our largest corporations can be hacked, certainly 50 states and over 3,000 separate county systems are no match for individuals or nation states that might want to influence the outcome of elections. This is particularly true because nowadays things in the world of electronics and elections are as complex as ever. Even if we are casting our ballots on the In...Read More

Legendary financier Carl Icahn came to an agreement with Freeport McMoran to install two new directors on its board.Icahn's firm owns approximately 100 million shares of FCX common stock, which represents approximately 8.8% of FCX's outstanding shares.News of the deal sent Freeport-McMoran up 9.97% to $13.01.Andrew Langham and Courtney Mather have been appointed to FCX's Board of Directors. With...Read More

Morgan Stanley sees a sharp reversal in commodities with prices rising nearly 20% by 2017 making mining stocks historically attractiveInvestors returned to the metals and mining sector in a big way on Wednesday after an analyst report called a bottom in the commodities rout.On the Comex market in New York copper for delivery in December climbed 1.7% to a three-week high of $2.3960 or $5,280 a tonn...Read More

Polysole LV1250 and Traverse TF4000 Have Successfully Passed the USDA BioPreferred Program's Stringent Independent Certification ProcessVancouver, BC - Solegear Bioplastic Technologies Inc. (TSX-V:SGB) announces today that it has earned a USDA Certified Biobased Product and Packaging Label for its Polysole LV1250 injection molding bioplastic verifying its 85% bio-based content. Solegear's TF4000...Read More

Four in 10 Americans say they have "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of trust and confidence in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly. This ties the historical lows on this measure set in 2014 and 2012. Prior to 2004, slight majorities of Americans said they trusted the mass media, such as newspapers, TV and radio.Americans' confidence in the media...Read More

Four in 10 Americans say they have "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of trust and confidence in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly. This ties the historical lows on this measure set in 2014 and 2012. Prior to 2004, slight majorities of Americans said they trusted the mass media, such as newspapers, TV and radio.Americans' confidence in the media...Read More

Brett Kolankowski told The Whigg.com that he is delighted to be working as a bus driver after his mining engineering degree from Queens University didn't quite work out.The Mississauga resident looked for a career in his field, but said jobs were hard to come by within the slumping mining industry. Kolankowski saw an ad for bus drivers and decided to "give it a shot." He told the Whigg that he is...Read More

Bristol Bay is one of the world's richest salmon runs. Image published by Emma Forsberg under Creative Commons license.The Environmental Protection Agency didn't respect proper permitting procedures and relied on hypotheticals when preventing the mine from proceeding after invoking section 404(c) last year, concludes a report released today.Development of the Pebble Bay Mine has been stymied due t...Read More

The drying up of equity and debt markets coupled with new lows in cash reserves have pushed Canada's junior mining industry to the brink says PwC's annual report on the TSX Venture's top 100 junior mining companies.According to report, now in its ninth year, juniors raised $514 million in equity financing in 2015, down 25% from last year, while debt financing fell 27% to $278 million over the sa...Read More

Freeport McMoRan has been mining copper, silver and gold at Grasberg in remote Indonesia since the 1970s. In terms of reserves, Grasberg is still the richest deposit on the planetCopper and gold giant Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) was trading higher as much as 6.7% on Tuesday with already more than 28 million shares in the owner of the iconic Grasberg exchanging hands by midday.The Phoenix-based com...Read More