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

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

Republicans want to control, not end, the Fed … The Republicans' latest plan to rein in the Federal Reserve is, to damn it with the faintest of faint praise, their smartest yet. But it's still nowhere near convincing. It might be hard to believe, but Republicans weren't always so suspicious of the Fed's efforts to revive the economy. As Paul Krugman points out, you only have...Read More

Federal government moves to reduce sentences of 46,000 drug offenders … The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted Friday to slash the sentences of 46,000 inmates serving time for drug offenses, the latest move by federal officials to ease decades-old policies that have clogged the nation's prisons. If the decision is not blocked by Congress, nearly half of federal prisoners incarcerated for d...Read More

Republicans want to control, not end, the Fed … The Republicans' latest plan to rein in the Federal Reserve is, to damn it with the faintest of faint praise, their smartest yet. But it's still nowhere near convincing. It might be hard to believe, but Republicans weren't always so suspicious of the Fed's efforts to revive the economy. As Paul Krugman points out, you only have...Read More

Federal government moves to reduce sentences of 46,000 drug offenders … The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted Friday to slash the sentences of 46,000 inmates serving time for drug offenses, the latest move by federal officials to ease decades-old policies that have clogged the nation's prisons. If the decision is not blocked by Congress, nearly half of federal prisoners incarcerated for d...Read More

The Robot Economy and the Crisis of Capitalism: Why We Need Universal Basic Income … The material prosperity that capitalism has wrought is the product of technology, as well as markets (and social norms and state institutions). Markets enhance the efficiency of allocation of resources – such as human labour – between competing projects, while technological innovations enhance th...Read More

The truth is, you've never had the 'right to be forgotten' … A recent ruling by Europe's top court has given its people a "right to be forgotten." Google and other search engines must now delete "inadequate, irrelevant, or no longer relevant, or excessive" information from search queries when a European individual requests it, even when the info is true. &...Read More

The Robot Economy and the Crisis of Capitalism: Why We Need Universal Basic Income … The material prosperity that capitalism has wrought is the product of technology, as well as markets (and social norms and state institutions). Markets enhance the efficiency of allocation of resources – such as human labour – between competing projects, while technological innovations enhance th...Read More

The truth is, you've never had the 'right to be forgotten' … A recent ruling by Europe's top court has given its people a "right to be forgotten." Google and other search engines must now delete "inadequate, irrelevant, or no longer relevant, or excessive" information from search queries when a European individual requests it, even when the info is true. &...Read More

Google likely trillion dollar company … Google has the potential to hit a trillion-dollar market cap in the next 10 years, according to one technology investing leader. Jim Breyer, founder and CEO at Breyer Capital and a partner in Accel Partners, expects the search engine giant to join Facebook in gobbling up smaller companies and continuing to grow rapidly. "The environment we're...Read More

Proof that the point of the IRS 'scandal' was to cut the IRS budget … It was obvious almost from the inception of the ginned-up IRS "scandal" that its goal was to intimidate the agency into allowing bogus nonprofits to funnel cash into election campaigns. That's exactly what happened, as is shown by an exhaustive study by the Center for Public Integrity. – LA Time...Read More

Google likely trillion dollar company … Google has the potential to hit a trillion-dollar market cap in the next 10 years, according to one technology investing leader. Jim Breyer, founder and CEO at Breyer Capital and a partner in Accel Partners, expects the search engine giant to join Facebook in gobbling up smaller companies and continuing to grow rapidly. "The environment we're...Read More

Proof that the point of the IRS 'scandal' was to cut the IRS budget … It was obvious almost from the inception of the ginned-up IRS "scandal" that its goal was to intimidate the agency into allowing bogus nonprofits to funnel cash into election campaigns. That's exactly what happened, as is shown by an exhaustive study by the Center for Public Integrity. – LA Time...Read More

CNBC's Rick Santelli Was Embarrassed on Live TV for Being Wrong About the Economy. But He's Hardly Alone … CNBC's Rick Santelli, often credited with inspiring the Tea Party movement, made news Monday for yet another outburst on air. He repeated his usual rant against the Federal Reserve's loose monetary policy, prompting CNBC senor economics reporter Steve Liesman to unleash...Read More

In Australia, Shinzo Abe Astutely Handles History … Abe showed that he understands how the past must be handled in order to further important strategic goals. Like the NATO leaders at Normandy, Abe followed the playbook for reconciliation." Japan's premier Shinzo Abe has a reputation for policies and gestures that are offensive to World War II victims, but his recent speech to the A...Read More

CNBC's Rick Santelli Was Embarrassed on Live TV for Being Wrong About the Economy. But He's Hardly Alone … CNBC's Rick Santelli, often credited with inspiring the Tea Party movement, made news Monday for yet another outburst on air. He repeated his usual rant against the Federal Reserve's loose monetary policy, prompting CNBC senor economics reporter Steve Liesman to unleash...Read More

In Australia, Shinzo Abe Astutely Handles History … Abe showed that he understands how the past must be handled in order to further important strategic goals. Like the NATO leaders at Normandy, Abe followed the playbook for reconciliation." Japan's premier Shinzo Abe has a reputation for policies and gestures that are offensive to World War II victims, but his recent speech to the A...Read More

Inequality Is Forcing US Towns To Try Scandinavia-Style Taxation — And It's Working … The New York Times travel section, not known for its frugality, recently warned readers about the sticker shock of a Scandinavian vacation. "Prices do mean that unless money is no object, you'll need to modify expectations," the piece advised. In Norway, a burger and fries at a fast...Read More

The CIA spying scandal and the disintegration of American democracy … Last Thursday, the US Department of Justice quietly announced that it would not launch a criminal investigation following the revelation in March that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had spied on the staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee. News of this decision—which concerns one of the most significant con...Read More

Inequality Is Forcing US Towns To Try Scandinavia-Style Taxation — And It's Working … The New York Times travel section, not known for its frugality, recently warned readers about the sticker shock of a Scandinavian vacation. "Prices do mean that unless money is no object, you'll need to modify expectations," the piece advised. In Norway, a burger and fries at a fast...Read More