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

I continually remind gold investors, whether in bullion or mining shares, not to get too euphoric when gold rallies and not to get too depressed when the dollar price retreats. Gold is still the best form of money and proves valuable to investors over time. This is true whether inflation or deflation prevails.The key for investors is to stay focused on the long-term attributes of gold and not get...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The rough diamond market appears to have bottomed, said Petra, as it announced a 20 per cent hike in like-for-like prices at its October tender.The UK-based miner sold a total of $58.7m, a 45 per cent increase on the $40.5m it achieved for a similar number of carats at its previous tender.It said like-for-like prices were up by around 20 per cent and average per carat prices were u...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Lucapa says it has sold four diamonds from the Lulo mine, in Angola, for a total of $17m.The Type II gems, with a combined weight of 609 carats, achieved an average $28,000 per carat at tender.The Australian miner, which holds a 40 per cent stake in the alluvial deposit, said it was a very positive result.It said a 208.78 carat diamond fetched the highest price, although it did not...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A guest at the five-star Ritz Hotel, in Paris, has been reunited with her $800,000 diamond ring, after it was found in a vacuum cleaner bag.The owner, an unnamed Malaysian businesswoman, contacted police on Friday (8 December) after it disappeared from a table while she went out shopping at Place V?(C)ndome. She returned at around noon and found the ring was missing.The immediate s...Read More

(IDEX Online) - De Beers is facing $100m of cuts to its annual overheads in the face of ongoing weak demand for diamonds.Parent company Anglo American said in an investor update on Friday (8 December) that the company has been loss-making in the second half of this year but was positioning itself for an expected bounce in demand.Despite early signs of a recovery, Anglo American's chief execut...Read More

(IDEX Online) - India's diamond industry is to lift the voluntary ban on rough imports that was brought in on 15 October to stabilize the price of polished diamonds.The two-month suspension had shown "a positive impact" on prices, said the GJEPC (Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, as it announced the ban would end on 15 December.IDEX's Polished Price Index, the best indicator o...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Vladimir Putin's press secretary has dismissed G7 sanctions on Russian diamonds as "hardly news".Dmitry Peskov (pictured) told reporters that Russian companies had been preparing for introduction of Western sanctions against its diamonds that were announced last Wednesday (6 December)."The sanctions on diamonds are hardly news," he said, according to a report by Tass, the stat...Read More

Ever hear of a guy called J.D. Haltigan? Well, here's what he said:"We are at an inflection point, a threshold, where weak, brittle, effete personality structures are a threat to human civilization."He's right. But let's face it, those are the very structures that are running the country these days. "Toxic masculinity" is certainly not one of their character traits.So here we are now in a Second C...Read More

The November unemployment report came out this morning, reporting that the U.S. economy added 199,000 jobs last month.The consensus estimate was about 185,000, so it was a "beat." The unemployment rate was reduced to 3.7%, down from October's 3.9%.Of course, it's entirely possible that the numbers will be adjusted downward in the months ahead. But for now, we can call it good news.What does today'...Read More

The United States economy is enduring a phenomenon not witnessed since 1933 during the hellsent deeps of the Great Depression.Is it a frightful omen of lean times... a straw swaying in the wind... a looming menace?We do not know. Yet we hazard it rates an inquiry.An inquiry, incidentally, the mainstream financial press will not afford it.What is it? Answer anon.Let us first direct our gaze brief...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The G7 nations finally announced sanctions on Russian diamonds yesterday (6 December) as part of a series of new measures aimed at restricting funds for its war against Ukraine."We will introduce import restrictions on non-industrial diamonds, mined, processed, or produced in Russia, by January 1, 2024, followed by further phased restrictions on the import of Russian diamonds proce...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Prices of rough rubies have more than doubled in the last two years, said Gemfields as it announced results of its latest sealed-bid auctions.The UK-based colored gems miner achieved an average $290 per carat earlier this month, compared to $132 in December 2021.Gemfields sold all 97 lots of mixed-quality rough rubies from the Montepuez mine, in Mozambique, in a series of seven onl...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A jeweler from Denver, Colorado has been shot dead in what is understood to be the US's first industry homicide this year.Peter Damian Arguello was found deceased at his store, Peter Damian Fine Jewelry & Antiques, in Wheat Ridge, after what police say was a "possible armed robbery" on Wednesday 29 November.Officers found a red Chevy Silverado pickup truck, believed to be...Read More

Do you own a 401(k) retirement account? Do you own an Individual Retirement Account (IRA)?Gobs of Americans own either or both oftentimes both.Let us assume you are among them.How well have these retirement accounts done you these past 2 1/2 years?How much have they expanded your wealth?Here we refer not to nominal wealth but to "real wealth."That is, nominal wealth subtracted by the inflation...Read More

(IDEX Online) - After eight months of consecutive decline, US watch and jewelry sales came within a whisker of positive growth in October.Year-on-year change for the month was -0.7 per cent, according to the latest Department of Commerce figures. That's the most encouraging performance since an increase of 2.2 per cent in February. Every other month since October 2022 has seen a contraction i...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A huge 133.03 carat fancy vivid yellow diamond sold yesterday (5 December) for $5.5m, above its pre-sale estimate of $4m to $5m, at Sotheby's New York.The gem, described as coming from "an important private collection", led the Hollywood-themed live Magnificent Jewels auction.The VS2 cushion modified brilliant-cut gem sold for $36,083 per carat. In its pre-sale analysis the Fa...Read More

(IDEX Online) - De Beers is preparing to stockpile more unsold diamonds after this week's sight in Gaborone.It is expected to offer sightholders smaller allocations than usual, with rough prices showing no sign as yet of picking up, and to hold onto more stock as a result. "We build up stocks of those because we are confident that over time the diamond price will increase and we will be...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Signet Jewelers yesterday (5 December) announced a 12 per cent drop in Q3 revenue to $1.4bn, in line with its expectations.Bridal, which has historically accounted for almost half of Signet's sales  is still suffering the post-Covid lag, but the company is forecasting Q4 sales of $2.4bn to $2.6bn as holiday spending drives up revenue.In Q2 the company - which numbers Kay...Read More

(IDEX Online) - After more than 18 months of relentless decline, the IDEX Polished Price Index finally showed its first increase with a hike of 1.06 per cent in November. The industry could be witnessing the first green shoots of recovery. The holiday season is driving an increase in consumer demand, which is pushing prices up prices at last.India's voluntary ban on rough imports, an upstream...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Sales of watches, jewelry, clocks and other luxury goods surged again in Hong Hong during October, driven largely by a huge post-Covid influx of tourists.Total spend for the category during the month was US$652m (HK$5.1bn), and increase of over 27 per cent on September, which in turn saw an increase of over 27 per cent on August. Figures since January show a 55 per cent increase ye...Read More