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

The Libertarian Fantasy … In the latest Times Magazine, Robert Draper profiled youngish libertarians — roughly speaking, people who combine free-market economics with permissive social views — and asked whether we might be heading for a "libertarian moment." Well, probably not. Polling suggests that young Americans tend, if anything, to be more supportive of the case fo...Read More

Karl Marx was right — at least about one thing … While the steady or slightly accelerating global growth rates predicted by the IMF is the most likely outcome, it may not be achievable because of three imbalances: social, geographical and demographic. These seem deeply embedded in the structure of global capitalism today. They are weakening demand, creating excess savings and driving t...Read More

Fools at the Fire … In the heat, in the still gloaming, we set up camp near a snowbank across from a glacier and a symphony of waterfalls. North Cascades National Park, a few hours' drive from Seattle, can always be counted on as a compress to the rest of the country's fever. Then, out of the park a few days later, down the valley to the arid east, it seems as if half of Washington S...Read More

Karl Marx was right — at least about one thing … While the steady or slightly accelerating global growth rates predicted by the IMF is the most likely outcome, it may not be achievable because of three imbalances: social, geographical and demographic. These seem deeply embedded in the structure of global capitalism today. They are weakening demand, creating excess savings and driving t...Read More

Fools at the Fire … In the heat, in the still gloaming, we set up camp near a snowbank across from a glacier and a symphony of waterfalls. North Cascades National Park, a few hours' drive from Seattle, can always be counted on as a compress to the rest of the country's fever. Then, out of the park a few days later, down the valley to the arid east, it seems as if half of Washington S...Read More

Has the 'Libertarian Moment' Finally Arrived? … "Let's say Ron Paul is Nirvana," said Kennedy, the television personality and former MTV host, by way of explaining the sort of politician who excites libertarians like herself. "Like, the coolest, most amazing thing to come along in years, and the songs are nebulous but somehow meaningful, and the lead singer kills h...Read More

Medical Marijuana, Physicians, and State Law … As Massachusetts prepares to implement its new medical-marijuana law, agents of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have reportedly visited at least seven Massachusetts physicians at their homes or offices and told them they must either give up their DEA registration or sever formal ties with proposed medical-marijuana dispensaries...Read More

Has the 'Libertarian Moment' Finally Arrived? … "Let's say Ron Paul is Nirvana," said Kennedy, the television personality and former MTV host, by way of explaining the sort of politician who excites libertarians like herself. "Like, the coolest, most amazing thing to come along in years, and the songs are nebulous but somehow meaningful, and the lead singer kills h...Read More

Medical Marijuana, Physicians, and State Law … As Massachusetts prepares to implement its new medical-marijuana law, agents of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have reportedly visited at least seven Massachusetts physicians at their homes or offices and told them they must either give up their DEA registration or sever formal ties with proposed medical-marijuana dispensaries...Read More

Charles Koch: How to Really Turn the Economy Around … For years, Washington politicians have said that our economy is turning the corner. They said it in 2011, in 2013 and again last week — every time they report a quarter with 4% economic growth. But each time, the economy has turned sluggish again. Like most Americans, I am deeply concerned about our weak economic recovery and its ef...Read More

Washington Post Worries That Global Warming Could Make Ebola Worse … In a wildly speculative Tuesday editorial, the Washington Post worried that global warming "could" make the spread of the Ebola virus worse as time goes on. In its August 5 Capitol Weather Gang blog post, the Post helpfully reported that Ebola is "out of control" and then goes on to wonder: "Could c...Read More

Charles Koch: How to Really Turn the Economy Around … For years, Washington politicians have said that our economy is turning the corner. They said it in 2011, in 2013 and again last week — every time they report a quarter with 4% economic growth. But each time, the economy has turned sluggish again. Like most Americans, I am deeply concerned about our weak economic recovery and its ef...Read More

Washington Post Worries That Global Warming Could Make Ebola Worse … In a wildly speculative Tuesday editorial, the Washington Post worried that global warming "could" make the spread of the Ebola virus worse as time goes on. In its August 5 Capitol Weather Gang blog post, the Post helpfully reported that Ebola is "out of control" and then goes on to wonder: "Could c...Read More

Twitter Africa: The Richest Region For Young Workers And Consumers … Africa does not have the wealth that has piled up on the North American and European continents over many centuries. But it does have something richer regions now lack: lots of young people. While other continents have aging populations, Africa is giving birth to a new generation of consumers and workers. Sub-Saharan Africa...Read More

A New Report Argues Inequality Is Causing Slower Growth. Here's Why It Matters … Is income inequality holding back the United States economy? A new report argues that it is, that an unequal distribution in incomes is making it harder for the nation to recover from the recession and achieve the kind of growth that was commonplace in decades past. The report is interesting not because it o...Read More

Twitter Africa: The Richest Region For Young Workers And Consumers … Africa does not have the wealth that has piled up on the North American and European continents over many centuries. But it does have something richer regions now lack: lots of young people. While other continents have aging populations, Africa is giving birth to a new generation of consumers and workers. Sub-Saharan Africa...Read More

A New Report Argues Inequality Is Causing Slower Growth. Here's Why It Matters … Is income inequality holding back the United States economy? A new report argues that it is, that an unequal distribution in incomes is making it harder for the nation to recover from the recession and achieve the kind of growth that was commonplace in decades past. The report is interesting not because it o...Read More

There's No Defense for Today's Income Inequality … Our political discourse today is riven by the issue of inequality. Some commentators embrace inequality as an inevitable byproduct of free markets. Others say inequality is greatly overstated. Both claims are harmful and deceptive … Americans simply do not have equal opportunities. This is more than an ethical or social issue:...Read More

Why We Should Remember Tonkin … Fifty years later, Americans still don't understand … Based on the writings of Le Duan, the Politburo's First-Secretary and the man truly running North Vietnam throughout the war, we can see that the party leader had no wish to confront a flood of U.S. ground troops … Beyond mourning for the millions dead, massive destruction, savage fighti...Read More

There's No Defense for Today's Income Inequality … Our political discourse today is riven by the issue of inequality. Some commentators embrace inequality as an inevitable byproduct of free markets. Others say inequality is greatly overstated. Both claims are harmful and deceptive … Americans simply do not have equal opportunities. This is more than an ethical or social issue:...Read More