The AOCE and WB have moderate overall forecasts for the metals in 2025 inline with IMF forecasts for a decline in economic growth and inflation, although we see the probability of a stagflationary scenario as still reasonably high.Read More

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

… America's top banker says we can't prevent economic bubbles, only contain the damage Fed chair Janet Yellen won't be shutting down the party … There is a debate raging over whether or not the tech industry is entering another bubble. The massive valuations being earned by startups with little to no business model and the hordes of eager investors willing to back apps like...Read More

Americans' confidence in all three branches of the U.S. government has fallen, reaching record lows for the Supreme Court (30%) and Congress (7%), and a six-year low for the presidency (29%). The presidency had the largest drop of the three branches this year, down seven percentage points from its previous rating of 36%. These data come from a June 5-8 Gallup poll asking Americans about their...Read More

The top five zinc miners are head and shoulders above the average miner.The average zinc annual production in 2017 at all publicly-traded mines, including mines where zinc is a byproduct, was 79 kilotonnes while the top five averaged nearly five times the output at 373 Kt.Total publicly-traded mines reporting zinc output in 2017 was 96.Data is annual zinc production reported by publicly-traded com...Read More

John Zogby: 'Is it all over for Obama?' … President Obama is suffering from down in the dumps approval ratings. President Obama's approval numbers are in the cellar, a new Quinnipiac University survey just dubbed him the worst president in six decades, so maybe it's no surprise that analyst and pollster John Zogby is asking: "Is it all over for him?" – Washing...Read More

John Zogby: 'Is it all over for Obama?' … President Obama is suffering from down in the dumps approval ratings. President Obama's approval numbers are in the cellar, a new Quinnipiac University survey just dubbed him the worst president in six decades, so maybe it's no surprise that analyst and pollster John Zogby is asking: "Is it all over for him?" – Washing...Read More

Class V shares would grant their owners extraordinary voting powers, akin to the 10 votes per share that Google, GoPro or Facebook Class B shares carry. But unlike B shares, this would only last for a defined period, say 10 years. In that sense, they would resemble voting options that need to be exercised before they expire. After a decade, Class V stock would simply convert into regular Class A c...Read More

9 answers about Facebook's creepy emotional-manipulation experiment … Facebook's explosive study on user feelings and the newsfeed reads like something straight out of a bad sci-fi movie. There's "emotional contagion." Dire ethical qualms. The cold, thoughtless manipulation of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable humans by the oppressive Facebook machine. It's terrif...Read More

Class V shares would grant their owners extraordinary voting powers, akin to the 10 votes per share that Google, GoPro or Facebook Class B shares carry. But unlike B shares, this would only last for a defined period, say 10 years. In that sense, they would resemble voting options that need to be exercised before they expire. After a decade, Class V stock would simply convert into regular Class A c...Read More

9 answers about Facebook's creepy emotional-manipulation experiment … Facebook's explosive study on user feelings and the newsfeed reads like something straight out of a bad sci-fi movie. There's "emotional contagion." Dire ethical qualms. The cold, thoughtless manipulation of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable humans by the oppressive Facebook machine. It's terrif...Read More

Central Bankers, Worried About Bubbles, Rebuke Markets … An organization representing the world's main central banks warned on Sunday that dangerous new asset bubbles were forming even before the global economy has finished recovering from the last round of financial excess … The organization also had harsh words for corporations, which it said were not taking advantage of booming...Read More

Obama plans to go it alone on immigration reform … With Republicans refusing to take up a bill, the president says he will move forward with executive actions … President Obama announced Monday that in the absence of congressional action, he plans to move forward with his own executive actions to address the long-stymied issue of immigration reform … Obama, as he has done in the...Read More

Central Bankers, Worried About Bubbles, Rebuke Markets … An organization representing the world's main central banks warned on Sunday that dangerous new asset bubbles were forming even before the global economy has finished recovering from the last round of financial excess … The organization also had harsh words for corporations, which it said were not taking advantage of booming...Read More

Obama plans to go it alone on immigration reform … With Republicans refusing to take up a bill, the president says he will move forward with executive actions … President Obama announced Monday that in the absence of congressional action, he plans to move forward with his own executive actions to address the long-stymied issue of immigration reform … Obama, as he has done in the...Read More

Dawn of the Age of Oligarchy: the Alliance between Government and the 1% … Thanks to their cozy relationship with the Obama administration, a new class of super-wealthy oligarchs keeps getting more powerful while the country's middle class shrinks. When our current President was elected, many progressives saw the dawning of a new epoch, a more egalitarian and more just Age of Obama. Inst...Read More

Six Months of Legal Marijuana And Colorado Has More Cash And Less Crime … With the passage of Amendment 64 in November 2012, Colorado made history and became one of the first two states to approve legal regulation of the cultivation, manufacture and sale of marijuana for adults 21 and over. Colorado has become a proving ground to demonstrate the positive impacts of regulation instead of proh...Read More

Dawn of the Age of Oligarchy: the Alliance between Government and the 1% … Thanks to their cozy relationship with the Obama administration, a new class of super-wealthy oligarchs keeps getting more powerful while the country's middle class shrinks. When our current President was elected, many progressives saw the dawning of a new epoch, a more egalitarian and more just Age of Obama. Inst...Read More

Six Months of Legal Marijuana And Colorado Has More Cash And Less Crime … With the passage of Amendment 64 in November 2012, Colorado made history and became one of the first two states to approve legal regulation of the cultivation, manufacture and sale of marijuana for adults 21 and over. Colorado has become a proving ground to demonstrate the positive impacts of regulation instead of proh...Read More

Worldwide zinc production swooned between 2015 and 2017 dropping 23 per cent.According to Mining Intelligence, zinc production by publicly-traded mining companies in 2015 was 9,769 kilotonnes. After the rug was pulled out from under base metals mid-decade and mines were closed, worldwide zinc production declined and totaled 7,592 kilotonnes in 2017.The top five countries for zinc production in 201...Read More

Bank of England cracks down on mortgages … Mark Carney outlines measures to keep lid on housing market at the Bank's Financial Stability Review … The Financial Policy Committee (FPC), which is in charge of financial stability, stressed that – while household indebtedness did not pose an "immediate threat" to the economy – it wanted to stem an increase in the n...Read More

The war on drugs is lost – legalise the heroin trade … I did not believe it before I went to Afghanistan. But it's now clear that prohibition is no answer to this deadly scourge … – Editorial by William Patey/UK GuardianDominant Social Theme: Let us regulate drugs worldwide. The UN can do it.Free-Market Analysis: Our attention was first drawn to this apparent dominant s...Read More