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

The new head of the Federal Reserve: Dove ascendant … Janet Yellen will stick to her predecessor's expansionary policies … an uphill slog awaits. For most of the past few years, monetary policy has urged the economy on while dysfunctional fiscal policy has held it back. Barack Obama's decision to nominate Janet Yellen to succeed Ben Bernanke as the Fed's chairman in Februar...Read More

Breaking BRIC piggy banks … Since 2009 the word "austerity" has not been too far away from the lips of finance ministers across the globe. Deficits and debt-to-GDP ratios around the world surged due to the financial crisis, and it was felt that they were fast becoming unsustainable. Once the immediate danger of the global recession passed politicians across the globe rushed to redu...Read More

Debt Ceiling: China Calls for World to Be 'De-Americanised.' Chinese government mouthpiece says 'Pax Americana' has failed on all fronts … Xinhua calls for de-Americanised world. China's official news agency has called for the creation of a "de-Americanised world", saying the destinies of people should not be left in the hands of a hypocritical nation with a dys...Read More

World top bankers warn of dire consequences if U.S. defaults … Three of the world's most powerful bankers warned of terrible consequences if the United States defaults on its debt, with Deutsche Bank chief executive Anshu Jain claiming default would be "utterly catastrophic" … "This would be a very rapidly spreading, fatal disease," Jain said on Saturday at a co...Read More

Debt Ceiling: China Calls for World to Be 'De-Americanised.' Chinese government mouthpiece says 'Pax Americana' has failed on all fronts … Xinhua calls for de-Americanised world. China's official news agency has called for the creation of a "de-Americanised world", saying the destinies of people should not be left in the hands of a hypocritical nation with a dys...Read More

World top bankers warn of dire consequences if U.S. defaults … Three of the world's most powerful bankers warned of terrible consequences if the United States defaults on its debt, with Deutsche Bank chief executive Anshu Jain claiming default would be "utterly catastrophic" … "This would be a very rapidly spreading, fatal disease," Jain said on Saturday at a co...Read More

A bomb attack Sunday morning derailed a train used by Colombia's biggest coal producer Cerrejon to transport goods to Puerto Bolivar reports Reuters.Cerrejon did not say how long the railway that carries more than 30 million tonnes per year will be out of commission but port exports and mining operations would continue.It is the third such bomb attack on Cerrejon infrastructure - a joint ventur...Read More

Obama's national debt rate on track to double … President Obama likes to say that raising the nation's borrowing limit "won't add a dime" to the federal debt, but he neglects to mention that the government already has borrowed the equivalent of more than 60 trillion dimes since he took office. When Mr. Obama became president in January 2009, the total federal debt stood...Read More

UK fracking ambitions threatened by EU warning over methane emissions. The EU authorities have opened a new front in efforts to clamp down on shale gas, warning that the carbon footprint from methane emissions may be high enough to call into question the whole future of fracking in Europe. – UK TelegraphDominant Social Theme: Without Brussels, would the world burn up?Free-Market Analysis: Th...Read More

Obama's national debt rate on track to double … President Obama likes to say that raising the nation's borrowing limit "won't add a dime" to the federal debt, but he neglects to mention that the government already has borrowed the equivalent of more than 60 trillion dimes since he took office. When Mr. Obama became president in January 2009, the total federal debt stood...Read More

UK fracking ambitions threatened by EU warning over methane emissions. The EU authorities have opened a new front in efforts to clamp down on shale gas, warning that the carbon footprint from methane emissions may be high enough to call into question the whole future of fracking in Europe. – UK TelegraphDominant Social Theme: Without Brussels, would the world burn up?Free-Market Analysis: Th...Read More

Factional conflicts have the power to destroy empires – and republics … Bitter fights in Washington are making the US economy look much worse than it is. The US Founding Fathers abhorred factions. The 10th Federalist Paper by James Madison in 1787 is a study of how to defend the fledgling republic against the dangers of organised zealotry, the curse that blighted earlier republics in w...Read More

Why I'm Very Happy About Janet Yellen … President Barack Obama plans to nominate Janet Yellen as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. In doing so, he will promote the pre-eminent policy economist of her generation to the role of the most powerful central banker in the world. Yellen is quite simply more qualified for the job than any of her predecessors … Tonight, I feel...Read More

Factional conflicts have the power to destroy empires – and republics … Bitter fights in Washington are making the US economy look much worse than it is. The US Founding Fathers abhorred factions. The 10th Federalist Paper by James Madison in 1787 is a study of how to defend the fledgling republic against the dangers of organised zealotry, the curse that blighted earlier republics in w...Read More

Why I'm Very Happy About Janet Yellen … President Barack Obama plans to nominate Janet Yellen as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. In doing so, he will promote the pre-eminent policy economist of her generation to the role of the most powerful central banker in the world. Yellen is quite simply more qualified for the job than any of her predecessors … Tonight, I feel...Read More

With Alcoa (AA) kicking off earnings season this week, investors will be keeping a close eye on the results of their favorite commodity stocks. On Tuesday, the largest U.S. aluminum producer reported a profit of $24 million in the third quarter - a significant uptick from the $143 million loss reported a year ago. Revenues for the company came in at $5.765 billion, beating analyst estimates of $5....Read More

Carter: Middle class today resembles past's poor…Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday that the income gap in the United States has increased to the point where members of the middle class resemble the Americans who lived in poverty when he occupied the White House.Carter offered his assessment of the nation's economic challenges Monday at a Habitat for Humanity construction sit...Read More

Britain must stay in the EU, says Nissan boss … Carmaker says threat of European Union import tariffs could be an "obstacle" for Nissan if Britain exits the single market. Nissan employs 6,400 people at the Sunderland car plant … One of the UK's most important foreign investors, the Japanese car-giant, Nissan, has said that Britain's membership of the European Union...Read More

Carter: Middle class today resembles past's poor…Former President Jimmy Carter said Monday that the income gap in the United States has increased to the point where members of the middle class resemble the Americans who lived in poverty when he occupied the White House.Carter offered his assessment of the nation's economic challenges Monday at a Habitat for Humanity construction sit...Read More

Britain must stay in the EU, says Nissan boss … Carmaker says threat of European Union import tariffs could be an "obstacle" for Nissan if Britain exits the single market. Nissan employs 6,400 people at the Sunderland car plant … One of the UK's most important foreign investors, the Japanese car-giant, Nissan, has said that Britain's membership of the European Union...Read More