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

Companies proclaim water the next oil in a rush to turn resources into profit … Mammoth companies are trying to collect water that all life needs and charge for it as they would for other natural resources … "Is now the time to buy water?" enquired the email that showed up in my inbox earlier this week. Its authors weren't worrying about my dehydration levels. Rather, the...Read More

Is the Fed fueling a giant stock market bubble? … Not only has the S&P 500 fully recovered from the financial crisis, it's a staggering 30% higher than the peaks of the Internet and housing bull markets. But is this really the case? With unemployment still above 6%, how could we find ourselves in the throes of yet another brewing catastrophe? Didn't investors and analysts learn...Read More

Chief Ebola doctor in Sierra Leone has contracted the deadly disease … The "national hero" chief doctor leading the fight against the deadly Ebola virus outbreak in Sierra Leone has himself been infected with the disease, the president's office has announced …The virus has mortality rates of up to 90 per cent. – UK IndependentDominant Social Theme: Ebola is spreadin...Read More

Is the Fed fueling a giant stock market bubble? … Not only has the S&P 500 fully recovered from the financial crisis, it's a staggering 30% higher than the peaks of the Internet and housing bull markets. But is this really the case? With unemployment still above 6%, how could we find ourselves in the throes of yet another brewing catastrophe? Didn't investors and analysts learn...Read More

Chief Ebola doctor in Sierra Leone has contracted the deadly disease … The "national hero" chief doctor leading the fight against the deadly Ebola virus outbreak in Sierra Leone has himself been infected with the disease, the president's office has announced …The virus has mortality rates of up to 90 per cent. – UK IndependentDominant Social Theme: Ebola is spreadin...Read More

Greenspan says bubbles can't be stopped without 'crunch' … Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has always been a student of the economy. Since the financial crisis, he's become a student of human nature. Sitting in his office with a view of the Washington Monument in the distance, Greenspan is eager to share the insight distilled in his recent book, "The Map a...Read More

And minder makes three: For White House interviews, it's never just one-on-one … When NBC News White House reporter Chuck Todd conducts background interviews with government officials these days, he and his source usually aren't the only ones in the room or on the call. Typically, there's a third party: A representative of the White House's press staff monitors the conversati...Read More

Greenspan says bubbles can't be stopped without 'crunch' … Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has always been a student of the economy. Since the financial crisis, he's become a student of human nature. Sitting in his office with a view of the Washington Monument in the distance, Greenspan is eager to share the insight distilled in his recent book, "The Map a...Read More

And minder makes three: For White House interviews, it's never just one-on-one … When NBC News White House reporter Chuck Todd conducts background interviews with government officials these days, he and his source usually aren't the only ones in the room or on the call. Typically, there's a third party: A representative of the White House's press staff monitors the conversati...Read More

Liberal party looks to legalize medical marijuana in Colombia … Colombia's Liberal Party will support a new bill to legalize medical marijuana in the country, local media reported … The move was announced by Liberal Party (Partido Liberal) Senator Juan Manuel Galan, who explained that the bill would open the door for the use of currently illicit marijuana for medicinal uses, Colomb...Read More

'Obama hates business' is an idiotic distraction. Also: It's wrong … What's gnawing at me is this throwaway line in an editorial from the Economist about the very real problem of slower macroeconomic growth. In reference to an alleged spate of "anticompetitive regulations," the magazine labeled President Obama "…the least business-friendly president for d...Read More

Liberal party looks to legalize medical marijuana in Colombia … Colombia's Liberal Party will support a new bill to legalize medical marijuana in the country, local media reported … The move was announced by Liberal Party (Partido Liberal) Senator Juan Manuel Galan, who explained that the bill would open the door for the use of currently illicit marijuana for medicinal uses, Colomb...Read More

'Obama hates business' is an idiotic distraction. Also: It's wrong … What's gnawing at me is this throwaway line in an editorial from the Economist about the very real problem of slower macroeconomic growth. In reference to an alleged spate of "anticompetitive regulations," the magazine labeled President Obama "…the least business-friendly president for d...Read More

China's terrifying debt ratios poised to breeze past US levels … The China-US sorpasso is looming … The sorpasso may instead be the ominous moment when China's debt ratios overtake the arch-debtor itself … A a new report from Stephen Green at Standard Chartered argues that China's aggregate debt level has reached 251 per cent of GDP, as of June. – UK TelegraphDo...Read More

Americans hate Congress. They will totally teach it a lesson by not voting … Americans are angry at Congress – more so than basically ever before. So it's time to throw the bums out, right? Well, not really. In fact, Americans appear prepared to deal with their historic unhappiness using perhaps the least-productive response: Staying home. – Washington PostDominant Social The...Read More

China's terrifying debt ratios poised to breeze past US levels … The China-US sorpasso is looming … The sorpasso may instead be the ominous moment when China's debt ratios overtake the arch-debtor itself … A a new report from Stephen Green at Standard Chartered argues that China's aggregate debt level has reached 251 per cent of GDP, as of June. – UK TelegraphDo...Read More

Americans hate Congress. They will totally teach it a lesson by not voting … Americans are angry at Congress – more so than basically ever before. So it's time to throw the bums out, right? Well, not really. In fact, Americans appear prepared to deal with their historic unhappiness using perhaps the least-productive response: Staying home. – Washington PostDominant Social The...Read More

The dollar's 70-year dominance is coming to an end … Within a decade, greenback's could be replaced as the world's reserve currency … The dollar's hegemony continues to be cemented by the operations of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Founded at Bretton Woods, they're both Washington based, of course, and controlled by America, despite some Francophon...Read More

Strange Bedfellows: … Silicon Valley Techies Like Conservative Senator Rand Paul … There's a new app in Silicon Valley — conservatarianism. It's the app that conservative Senator Rand Paul is pushing. He wants to join forces with local techies. But how can technology and liberty flourish side by side? Paul's answer, "shrink government." … Recent polls...Read More

The dollar's 70-year dominance is coming to an end … Within a decade, greenback's could be replaced as the world's reserve currency … The dollar's hegemony continues to be cemented by the operations of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Founded at Bretton Woods, they're both Washington based, of course, and controlled by America, despite some Francophon...Read More