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

Sukari gold mine, located 700 km from Cairo.London and Toronto-listed gold miner Centamin (LON:CEY) (TSX:CEE) said Monday its long-dragged dispute with Egyptian authorities over its flagship Sukari gold mine is likely to settle before the end of the year.The Alexandria-based company, which is Egypt's largest gold producer, is betting on the new government to pass an investor-friendly law that wil...Read More

IRS lost emails by official in tea party probe … The Internal Revenue Service said Friday it has lost a trove of emails to and from a central figure in the agency's tea party controversy, sparking outrage from congressional investigators who have been probing the agency for more than a year. The IRS told Congress Friday it cannot locate many of Lois Lerner's emails prior to 2011 beca...Read More

EU Eco Chief Threatens British Press Over Opposition to EU Energy Directives … The EU's energy commissioner has threatened politicians and journalists who campaign against his eco-policies, accusing them of stirring "anti-EU sentiment" and warning them that their opposition to his EU energy-savings directives will "not be taken lightly." Günther Oettinger, a Germ...Read More

IRS lost emails by official in tea party probe … The Internal Revenue Service said Friday it has lost a trove of emails to and from a central figure in the agency's tea party controversy, sparking outrage from congressional investigators who have been probing the agency for more than a year. The IRS told Congress Friday it cannot locate many of Lois Lerner's emails prior to 2011 beca...Read More

EU Eco Chief Threatens British Press Over Opposition to EU Energy Directives … The EU's energy commissioner has threatened politicians and journalists who campaign against his eco-policies, accusing them of stirring "anti-EU sentiment" and warning them that their opposition to his EU energy-savings directives will "not be taken lightly." Günther Oettinger, a Germ...Read More

The New Nihilism Threatens GOP's Growth …Cantor's defeat signals deep problems for a party being pushed further to the right by the antigovernment wing. Before nonagenarian Rep. Ralph Hall lost his seat in a Republican primary in Texas, no incumbent had been defeated in primaries this year, leading to the dominant press and pundit narrative: The Republican Empire Strikes Back. Oops....Read More

DEA obstructs research into medical marijuana: report … Study says agency should not be in charge of scheduling drugs or giving access to drugs for medical research … The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has maintained marijuana's classification as a harmful drug with no medical benefits despite scientific evidence to the contrary, a new report said, adding that the agency has...Read More

The New Nihilism Threatens GOP's Growth …Cantor's defeat signals deep problems for a party being pushed further to the right by the antigovernment wing. Before nonagenarian Rep. Ralph Hall lost his seat in a Republican primary in Texas, no incumbent had been defeated in primaries this year, leading to the dominant press and pundit narrative: The Republican Empire Strikes Back. Oops....Read More

DEA obstructs research into medical marijuana: report … Study says agency should not be in charge of scheduling drugs or giving access to drugs for medical research … The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has maintained marijuana's classification as a harmful drug with no medical benefits despite scientific evidence to the contrary, a new report said, adding that the agency has...Read More

Japan to keep printing money for years to come, so learn to enjoy it … The Bank of Japan will have to mop up the entire issuance of public debt for years to come, covering the budget deficit with printed money … The Bank of Japan is still showering the economy with money, buying $75bn of bonds each month … There are no one-way bets in global finance, but Japan's stock market...Read More

What Does Cantor's Defeat Mean? Nobody Knows … Every political pundit in the country is, right now, writing about what House majority leader Eric Cantor's defeat in today's Republican primary means. But how sure can we be that we know what it means? Essentially none of the pundits, including me, had any inkling that he was going to lose — let alone lose, as he did, by a lar...Read More

Japan to keep printing money for years to come, so learn to enjoy it … The Bank of Japan will have to mop up the entire issuance of public debt for years to come, covering the budget deficit with printed money … The Bank of Japan is still showering the economy with money, buying $75bn of bonds each month … There are no one-way bets in global finance, but Japan's stock market...Read More

What Does Cantor's Defeat Mean? Nobody Knows … Every political pundit in the country is, right now, writing about what House majority leader Eric Cantor's defeat in today's Republican primary means. But how sure can we be that we know what it means? Essentially none of the pundits, including me, had any inkling that he was going to lose — let alone lose, as he did, by a lar...Read More

The French are right: tear up public debt – most of it is illegitimate anyway … As history has shown, France is capable of the best and the worst, and often in short periods of time. On the day following Marine Le Pen's Front National victory in the European elections, however, France made a decisive contribution to the reinvention of a radical politics for the 21st century. On tha...Read More

Rising markets eating into demand for gold in India … Indian stock markets shine bright, gold's glitter fades in 2013 … Even though gold has gradually lost appeal among global investors since 2013 – amid a compounding consensus view that a decade-long bull run in the yellow metal may be over – a weaker rupee and restrictive import policies have ensured that, in India, t...Read More

The French are right: tear up public debt – most of it is illegitimate anyway … As history has shown, France is capable of the best and the worst, and often in short periods of time. On the day following Marine Le Pen's Front National victory in the European elections, however, France made a decisive contribution to the reinvention of a radical politics for the 21st century. On tha...Read More

Rising markets eating into demand for gold in India … Indian stock markets shine bright, gold's glitter fades in 2013 … Even though gold has gradually lost appeal among global investors since 2013 – amid a compounding consensus view that a decade-long bull run in the yellow metal may be over – a weaker rupee and restrictive import policies have ensured that, in India, t...Read More

The newly elected president of the World Diamond Council, Edward Asscher, put a chill Tuesday on the movement to expand the scope of the Kimberley Process and so cover general human rights abuses, stating the trade body should focus exclusively on diamonds proceeding from conflict zones.Speaking at the Intercessional Meeting of the Kimberley Process In Shanghai, Asscher said he supported increas...Read More

Report: IRS Sent Database Containing Confidential Taxpayer Information to FBI … The Internal Revenue Service may have been caught violating federal tax law: In October 2010, the agency sent a database on 501(c)(4) social-welfare groups containing confidential taxpayer information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to documents obtained by a House panel. The information was tra...Read More

World stock markets up near record high; low yields help Reuters … Global equity markets edged higher on Monday, boosting a gauge of world stock performance to near an all-time high, as low interest rates bolstered sentiment even as U.S. Treasury yields rose. Wall Street's Dow industrials and benchmark S&P 500 closed at all-time peaks, with the latter rising to its seventh record cl...Read More