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

Mad Latvia defies its own people to join the euro … EU finance ministers have just given the go-ahead for Latvia to join the euro in January 2014. No matter that the latest SKDS poll shows that only 22pc of Latvians support this foolish step, and 53pc are opposed. This is a very odd situation. The elites are pushing ahead with a decision of profound implications, knowing that the nation is n...Read More

A new era of central banking and the next crisis … The new Bank of England governor Mark Carney has probably just about settled into his office in his first week at the helm of the Bank of England. He's taking over at a time when there is a big change in the Bank's remit to control credit as well as consumer prices. It's the end of targeting just inflation for central banks. But,...Read More

Consumer debt is soaring. That's good news (for now). …This particular data series is jumpy, and there are broader and more reliable measures of consumer debt (particularly those that include mortgages), such as these quarterly numbers prepared by the New York Fed. But even if the May consumer credit numbers overstate the pace at which Americans are escalating their borrowing, it fits wi...Read More

Lots of Conservative Party members prefer Ukip's policies … A study into who might change allegiance – and why – makes uncomfortable reading for the Conservative leader David Cameron. Nigel Farage represents something of a fatal attraction for a significant number of traditionally Tory voters. Polls conducted in the run-up to Ukip's local election surge suggested that som...Read More

Mad Latvia defies its own people to join the euro … EU finance ministers have just given the go-ahead for Latvia to join the euro in January 2014. No matter that the latest SKDS poll shows that only 22pc of Latvians support this foolish step, and 53pc are opposed. This is a very odd situation. The elites are pushing ahead with a decision of profound implications, knowing that the nation is n...Read More

China and America's related, but inverse, dilemmas… As protests sweep the developing world and Europe struggles through an austerity hangover, China and the U.S., relative to their peers, look like the best in class. They are both comfortable with their modest growth rates (compared to their norms of the past decade), and insulated from the kind of social unrest we are seeing in Egypt, T...Read More

Gold set to shine again in recovery from worst quarterly drop in 113 years … Could there be a ray of light in sight for the goldbugs? Those with a bullish view on the metal have certainly had that faith challenged in recent months. Gold posted its worst quarterly performance in more than a century for the three months to the end of July, analysts at Macquarie calculate. Specifically, the met...Read More

Winds of change blowing through UK energy as world's biggest offshore wind farm opens. After the world's largest wind farm was opened in the Thames Estuary, its developer tells Emily Gosden why the naysayers are wrong. Benj Sykes is none too familiar with the red-throated diver. "I wouldn't know one if it sat on my head," he confesses. "I'm not a twitcher, I'm af...Read More

The new enemy of the planet … are humble tea bags really doing untold damage? … As the new Bank of England chief's wife attacks them, are humble tea bags really doing untold damage? Mark Carney's wife has criticised teabags as a waste of paper The UK is the second-largest tea market in the world, and Ireland is the first … Diana Carney, Mark Carney's wife, says teabag...Read More

'A Toxic System': Why Austerity Still Isn't Working in Greece … Despite drastic austerity measures, a new Greek debt haircut looks unavoidable. The old system has proven resistant to reform and billions in emergency aid hasn't been enough to turn things around. After making a lot of money manufacturing swimming pools, Stelios Stavridis has redirected his entrepreneurial talen...Read More

China and America's related, but inverse, dilemmas… As protests sweep the developing world and Europe struggles through an austerity hangover, China and the U.S., relative to their peers, look like the best in class. They are both comfortable with their modest growth rates (compared to their norms of the past decade), and insulated from the kind of social unrest we are seeing in Egypt, T...Read More

Gold set to shine again in recovery from worst quarterly drop in 113 years … Could there be a ray of light in sight for the goldbugs? Those with a bullish view on the metal have certainly had that faith challenged in recent months. Gold posted its worst quarterly performance in more than a century for the three months to the end of July, analysts at Macquarie calculate. Specifically, the met...Read More

Winds of change blowing through UK energy as world's biggest offshore wind farm opens. After the world's largest wind farm was opened in the Thames Estuary, its developer tells Emily Gosden why the naysayers are wrong. Benj Sykes is none too familiar with the red-throated diver. "I wouldn't know one if it sat on my head," he confesses. "I'm not a twitcher, I'm af...Read More

The new enemy of the planet … are humble tea bags really doing untold damage? … As the new Bank of England chief's wife attacks them, are humble tea bags really doing untold damage? Mark Carney's wife has criticised teabags as a waste of paper The UK is the second-largest tea market in the world, and Ireland is the first … Diana Carney, Mark Carney's wife, says teabag...Read More

'A Toxic System': Why Austerity Still Isn't Working in Greece … Despite drastic austerity measures, a new Greek debt haircut looks unavoidable. The old system has proven resistant to reform and billions in emergency aid hasn't been enough to turn things around. After making a lot of money manufacturing swimming pools, Stelios Stavridis has redirected his entrepreneurial talen...Read More

It Looks Like Everyone Owes Bernanke A Big Apology … Since the day the rally began in early 2009, basically they've always been wrong. The economy since the bottom has been characterized by steady, underwhelming improvement, and the only time the market has dived has been during periods when it looked like the economy might falter (most notably right after the 2011 debt ceiling brouhaha)...Read More

Bank of England new governor Carney makes fans in first week At the end of his first week at the Bank of England, Mark Carney appears to have impressed the markets, economists, and even a group of determined female protestors. Since the new governor got his feet under the desk on Monday morning, the FTSE 100 has risen around 6%. Economists welcomed the moves towards "forward guidance", o...Read More

Egypt needs elections, not generals … Mohamed Morsi's one-year rule of Egypt was disastrous. He ruled by fiat, alienated potential allies and failed to stabilize the country's spiraling economy. But a military coup is not an answer to Egypt's problems. It will exacerbate, not ease, Egypt's vast political divide. The Egyptian military's primary interest is maintaining its...Read More

The events that led to the Egyptian army's removal of President Mohamed Morsi confronted the military with a simple choice: intervention or chaos. Seventeen million people on the street is not the same as an election. But it is an awesome manifestation of people power. The equivalent turnout in Britain would be around 13 million people. Just think about it for a moment. The army wouldn't i...Read More

It Looks Like Everyone Owes Bernanke A Big Apology … Since the day the rally began in early 2009, basically they've always been wrong. The economy since the bottom has been characterized by steady, underwhelming improvement, and the only time the market has dived has been during periods when it looked like the economy might falter (most notably right after the 2011 debt ceiling brouhaha)...Read More