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

Bitcoin Foundation's Shrem Charged in Silk Road Drug Case … Two men tied to the illicit online market Silk Road, including Bitcoin Foundation Vice Chairman Charlie Shrem, were charged by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara today in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court. The vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation was charged by federal prosecutors with conspiring to launder more than $1 m...Read More

Tony Blair says that religious extremism has become the biggest source of conflict around the world. Tony Blair has reignited debate about the west's response to terrorism with a call on governments to recognise that religious extremism has become the biggest source of conflict in the world. Extremist religion is at root of 21st-century wars, says Tony Blair … – UK GuardianDominant...Read More

Bitcoin Foundation's Shrem Charged in Silk Road Drug Case … Two men tied to the illicit online market Silk Road, including Bitcoin Foundation Vice Chairman Charlie Shrem, were charged by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara today in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court. The vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation was charged by federal prosecutors with conspiring to launder more than $1 m...Read More

Tony Blair says that religious extremism has become the biggest source of conflict around the world. Tony Blair has reignited debate about the west's response to terrorism with a call on governments to recognise that religious extremism has become the biggest source of conflict in the world. Extremist religion is at root of 21st-century wars, says Tony Blair … – UK GuardianDominant...Read More

HSBC imposes restrictions on large cash withdrawals … Some HSBC customers have been prevented from withdrawing large amounts of cash because they could not provide evidence of why they wanted it, the BBC has learnt. Listeners have told Radio 4's Money Box they were stopped from withdrawing amounts ranging from £5,000 to £10,000. HSBC admitted it has not informed customers of...Read More

HSBC imposes restrictions on large cash withdrawals … Some HSBC customers have been prevented from withdrawing large amounts of cash because they could not provide evidence of why they wanted it, the BBC has learnt. Listeners have told Radio 4's Money Box they were stopped from withdrawing amounts ranging from £5,000 to £10,000. HSBC admitted it has not informed customers of...Read More

China loses its allure … Life is getting tougher for foreign companies. Those that want to stay will have to adjust … For the past three decades, multinationals have poured in. After the financial crisis, many companies looked to China for salvation. Now it looks as though the gold rush may be over. – EconomistDominant Social Theme: China is finished. Goodbye. Better look to the...Read More

Seven reasons why the Arab uprisings are eclipsing western values … This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall — an event that led Francis Fukuyama to predict the end of history and the beginning of universal western liberal values. It is three years since the Arab uprisings threatened to upend the Middle East and North Africa. Many at that time pre...Read More

China loses its allure … Life is getting tougher for foreign companies. Those that want to stay will have to adjust … For the past three decades, multinationals have poured in. After the financial crisis, many companies looked to China for salvation. Now it looks as though the gold rush may be over. – EconomistDominant Social Theme: China is finished. Goodbye. Better look to the...Read More

Seven reasons why the Arab uprisings are eclipsing western values … This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall — an event that led Francis Fukuyama to predict the end of history and the beginning of universal western liberal values. It is three years since the Arab uprisings threatened to upend the Middle East and North Africa. Many at that time pre...Read More

Crippled eurozone to face fresh debt crisis this year, warns ex-ECB strongman Axel Weber … Ex-Bundesbank head Alex Weber expects fresh market attacks on eurozone this year and economist Kenneth Rogoff says the euro was a "giant historic mistake." … A top panel of experts in Davos has poured cold water on claims that the European crisis is over, warning that the eurozone remai...Read More

Wall Street adviser: Actual unemployment is 37.2%, 'misery index' worst in 40 years … Don't believe the happy talk coming out of the White House, Federal Reserve and Treasury Department when it comes to the real unemployment rate and the true "Misery Index." – Washington ExaminerDominant Social Theme: There's nothing wrong with the US economy that the coming r...Read More

Crippled eurozone to face fresh debt crisis this year, warns ex-ECB strongman Axel Weber … Ex-Bundesbank head Alex Weber expects fresh market attacks on eurozone this year and economist Kenneth Rogoff says the euro was a "giant historic mistake." … A top panel of experts in Davos has poured cold water on claims that the European crisis is over, warning that the eurozone remai...Read More

Wall Street adviser: Actual unemployment is 37.2%, 'misery index' worst in 40 years … Don't believe the happy talk coming out of the White House, Federal Reserve and Treasury Department when it comes to the real unemployment rate and the true "Misery Index." – Washington ExaminerDominant Social Theme: There's nothing wrong with the US economy that the coming r...Read More

IMF Raises Global Outlook as Advanced Nations Accelerate … The International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for global growth this year as expansions in the U.S. and U.K. accelerate, and urged advanced economies to maintain monetary accommodation to strengthen the recovery. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: The IMF speaks and the world listens.Free-Market Analysis: When did IMF utte...Read More

All that glitters: Century-old gold benchmark faces overhaul … Gold-fixing refers to a ritual dating back to 1919 in which banks speak by phone from a couple of minutes to more than an hour about buying and selling gold. … Banks are considering an overhaul of London's century-old gold benchmark used by miners, jewellers and central banks to buy, sell and value the precious metal, a...Read More

IMF Raises Global Outlook as Advanced Nations Accelerate … The International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for global growth this year as expansions in the U.S. and U.K. accelerate, and urged advanced economies to maintain monetary accommodation to strengthen the recovery. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: The IMF speaks and the world listens.Free-Market Analysis: When did IMF utte...Read More

All that glitters: Century-old gold benchmark faces overhaul … Gold-fixing refers to a ritual dating back to 1919 in which banks speak by phone from a couple of minutes to more than an hour about buying and selling gold. … Banks are considering an overhaul of London's century-old gold benchmark used by miners, jewellers and central banks to buy, sell and value the precious metal, a...Read More

Obamacare At 'Significant' Risk of 'Death Spiral,' Economist Warns … Economist John Goodman, who warned last October that Obamacare could plunge into a "death spiral" if not enough young, healthy people signed up for coverage, says that danger is now "significant" following news that the Obama administration failed to hit its young adult enrollment target....Read More

Ex-DEA agent jumps jobs to join marijuana investment firm … In a decade with the Drug Enforcement Administration, Patrick Moen rose to supervise a team of agents busting methamphetamine and heroin rings in Oregon – before giving it all up to join the nascent legal marijuana industry in nearby Washington state. In November, the former federal drug agent quit his post to work for a marij...Read More