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

Voters in Switzerland have narrowly approved a rightwing proposal to curb immigration. It imposes limits on the number of foreigners allowed in and may signal an end to the country's free movement accord with the European Union. The initiative was approved by just 50.3% of the votes and was passed by a majority of cantons. The move by the Swiss People's Party – known for its anti-for...Read More

The booming marijuana industry attracts enthusiasts and entrepreneurs … Working from a small booth on the fringes of a trade show packed with thousands of enthusiasts, Sean Donahoe says these are heady times to be in the marijuana business. "In a gold rush, you sell picks and shovels,'' says Donahoe, deputy director of the California Cannabis Industry Association. The young orga...Read More

Voters in Switzerland have narrowly approved a rightwing proposal to curb immigration. It imposes limits on the number of foreigners allowed in and may signal an end to the country's free movement accord with the European Union. The initiative was approved by just 50.3% of the votes and was passed by a majority of cantons. The move by the Swiss People's Party – known for its anti-for...Read More

The booming marijuana industry attracts enthusiasts and entrepreneurs … Working from a small booth on the fringes of a trade show packed with thousands of enthusiasts, Sean Donahoe says these are heady times to be in the marijuana business. "In a gold rush, you sell picks and shovels,'' says Donahoe, deputy director of the California Cannabis Industry Association. The young orga...Read More

The End of American Exceptionalism … From the moment Barack Obama appeared on the national stage, conservatives have been searching for the best way to describe the danger he poses to America's traditional way of life. Secularism? Check. Socialism? Sure. A tendency to apologize for America's greatness overseas? That, too. But how to tie them all together? … Newt Gingrich publis...Read More

Foreign Office caught asking Spanish press to undermine Scottish independence … The Foreign & Commonwealth Office has again been accused of meddling in the referendum, after it emerged that the British Embassy in Madrid has been urging newspapers in Spain to publish criticisms of Scottish independence. A letter published this month in the Tenerife News included a request from Simon Mont...Read More

The End of American Exceptionalism … From the moment Barack Obama appeared on the national stage, conservatives have been searching for the best way to describe the danger he poses to America's traditional way of life. Secularism? Check. Socialism? Sure. A tendency to apologize for America's greatness overseas? That, too. But how to tie them all together? … Newt Gingrich publis...Read More

Foreign Office caught asking Spanish press to undermine Scottish independence … The Foreign & Commonwealth Office has again been accused of meddling in the referendum, after it emerged that the British Embassy in Madrid has been urging newspapers in Spain to publish criticisms of Scottish independence. A letter published this month in the Tenerife News included a request from Simon Mont...Read More

Reagan's true legacy: The Tea Party … Tea Party Challenging the status quo is the correct condition of American conservatism. At the end of the American Revolution, Benjamin Rush, who had signed the Declaration of Independence, vowed that though the war with Great Britain was over, the Revolution would go on. The stirrings of original American conservatism were found in such sentiments....Read More

"F*** the EU": Top State Dep't official's phone call to U.S. ambassador in Ukraine leaked online. I'd call it a bombshell, not because of what's being said but because we're able to listen to it at all. The identities of the speakers haven't been officially confirmed but Jay Carney didn't deny when asked that this is Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nulan...Read More

Reagan's true legacy: The Tea Party … Tea Party Challenging the status quo is the correct condition of American conservatism. At the end of the American Revolution, Benjamin Rush, who had signed the Declaration of Independence, vowed that though the war with Great Britain was over, the Revolution would go on. The stirrings of original American conservatism were found in such sentiments....Read More

"F*** the EU": Top State Dep't official's phone call to U.S. ambassador in Ukraine leaked online. I'd call it a bombshell, not because of what's being said but because we're able to listen to it at all. The identities of the speakers haven't been officially confirmed but Jay Carney didn't deny when asked that this is Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nulan...Read More

Coming to a Post Office Near You: Loans You Can Trust? … The poor pay more, and that's one of the reasons people get trapped at the bottom of the economic ladder. But it doesn't have to be this way. In the same remarkable report this week, the OIG explored the possibility of the USPS offering basic banking services – bill paying, check cashing, small loans – to its custom...Read More

Simon Jenkins … apologised to the Germans for the forthcoming "avalanche of often sickening Great War memorabilia, largely at their expense. It will be the British at their worst: sanctimonious, self-congratulatory, worshipping at the tomb of the unknown, awful German." The war was nothing more than a pointless grinder, churning millions of bright young men into fertiliser for the...Read More

Coming to a Post Office Near You: Loans You Can Trust? … The poor pay more, and that's one of the reasons people get trapped at the bottom of the economic ladder. But it doesn't have to be this way. In the same remarkable report this week, the OIG explored the possibility of the USPS offering basic banking services – bill paying, check cashing, small loans – to its custom...Read More

Simon Jenkins … apologised to the Germans for the forthcoming "avalanche of often sickening Great War memorabilia, largely at their expense. It will be the British at their worst: sanctimonious, self-congratulatory, worshipping at the tomb of the unknown, awful German." The war was nothing more than a pointless grinder, churning millions of bright young men into fertiliser for the...Read More

Emerging markets risk repeating eurozone blunder of synchronised tightening. Where have [we] seen this screenplay before? A string of countries tighten policy at the same time – some drastically – in order to prevent capital flight and show investors how tough they can be. Turkey, South Africa, and India all raised rates last week. Brazil and Indonesia did so before. Chile, Peru, Hunga...Read More

Justice Antonin Scalia says World War II-style internment camps could happen again … Justice Antonin Scalia predicts that the Supreme Court will eventually authorize another wartime abuse of civil rights such as the internment camps for Japanese-Americans during World War II. – WashingtonExaminerDominant Social Theme: Whatever is happening is fully justified and in the best interests o...Read More

Emerging markets risk repeating eurozone blunder of synchronised tightening. Where have [we] seen this screenplay before? A string of countries tighten policy at the same time – some drastically – in order to prevent capital flight and show investors how tough they can be. Turkey, South Africa, and India all raised rates last week. Brazil and Indonesia did so before. Chile, Peru, Hunga...Read More

Justice Antonin Scalia says World War II-style internment camps could happen again … Justice Antonin Scalia predicts that the Supreme Court will eventually authorize another wartime abuse of civil rights such as the internment camps for Japanese-Americans during World War II. – WashingtonExaminerDominant Social Theme: Whatever is happening is fully justified and in the best interests o...Read More