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

Carney Has Already Proven Himself a Great Communicator … Mark Carney avoids trap that caught Ben Bernanke at the Fed Bank of England monetary policy committee takes cue from governor as interest rates and quantitative easing stay on hold … Bank of England governor Mark Carney is nothing if not a fast learner. Last month Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke illustrated how panicky the...Read More

Horror Film as Neocon Fantasy … In 2013 it would be politically incorrect to portray white conquerors mowing down non-whites (although that's still sometimes okay to do with Muslims), so we turn to the undead as a stand-in for the unwashed hordes who threatened us in the days of yore. Zombies are convenient, of course, because they are not necessarily specific to any particular race or c...Read More

As Mark Carney arrives at the Bank of England, are we seeing the end of QE? … Mark Carney votes for the first time on the Monetary Policy Committee … will be a seminal decision, albeit one the rest of the country won't discover until the minutes are published on July 17. The new Bank of England Governor has to choose whether to follow his predecessor Sir Mervyn King and call for mo...Read More

Reddit, Mozilla, WordPress, and others plan July 4 protest against NSA surveillance A large coalition of civil rights and privacy groups and potentially thousands of websites will stage protests on the Fourth of July to protest surveillance programs at the U.S. National Security Agency. As part of the Restore the Fourth campaign, many website members of the 30,000-member Internet Defense League pl...Read More

A failure to care about the public's money … There has been a breach of governance at the BBC that has 'put public trust at risk' – a serious charge that urgently needs addressing … Over the past three years, 150 managers received a total of £25 million in severance payments – and 10 of the most senior executives accounted for more than £5 million of...Read More

Wonkbook: Is this the laziest Congress ever? On Monday, simply by doing nothing, they allowed the interest rate on student loans to double, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. That might be permissible if they were busy with more important things, like inventing a cure for cancer that's also a source of endless clean energy. But they're not even working this week. The 112th Congress passed 22...Read More

The Origin Of 'The World's Dumbest Idea': Milton Friedman … No popular idea ever has a single origin. But the idea that the sole purpose of a firm is to make money for its shareholders got going in a major way with an article by Milton Friedman in the New York Times on September 13, 1970. As the leader of the Chicago school of economics, and the winner of Nobel Prize in Economics...Read More

Katie Couric isn't happy about gossipy new direction for 'Katie,' say insiders … A planned shift to more gossip on 'Katie' does not sit well with star Katie Couric, say insiders. Katie Couric's talk show, "Katie," is taking a turn in the wrong direction — according to her, anyway. Confidenti@l has learned the syndicated daytime show will be "gossi...Read More

As Mark Carney arrives at the Bank of England, are we seeing the end of QE? … Mark Carney votes for the first time on the Monetary Policy Committee … will be a seminal decision, albeit one the rest of the country won't discover until the minutes are published on July 17. The new Bank of England Governor has to choose whether to follow his predecessor Sir Mervyn King and call for mo...Read More

Reddit, Mozilla, WordPress, and others plan July 4 protest against NSA surveillance A large coalition of civil rights and privacy groups and potentially thousands of websites will stage protests on the Fourth of July to protest surveillance programs at the U.S. National Security Agency. As part of the Restore the Fourth campaign, many website members of the 30,000-member Internet Defense League pl...Read More

A failure to care about the public's money … There has been a breach of governance at the BBC that has 'put public trust at risk' – a serious charge that urgently needs addressing … Over the past three years, 150 managers received a total of £25 million in severance payments – and 10 of the most senior executives accounted for more than £5 million of...Read More

Wonkbook: Is this the laziest Congress ever? On Monday, simply by doing nothing, they allowed the interest rate on student loans to double, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. That might be permissible if they were busy with more important things, like inventing a cure for cancer that's also a source of endless clean energy. But they're not even working this week. The 112th Congress passed 22...Read More

The Origin Of 'The World's Dumbest Idea': Milton Friedman … No popular idea ever has a single origin. But the idea that the sole purpose of a firm is to make money for its shareholders got going in a major way with an article by Milton Friedman in the New York Times on September 13, 1970. As the leader of the Chicago school of economics, and the winner of Nobel Prize in Economics...Read More

Katie Couric isn't happy about gossipy new direction for 'Katie,' say insiders … A planned shift to more gossip on 'Katie' does not sit well with star Katie Couric, say insiders. Katie Couric's talk show, "Katie," is taking a turn in the wrong direction — according to her, anyway. Confidenti@l has learned the syndicated daytime show will be "gossi...Read More

Why China's Economy May Be Heading for a Crash … Empty apartment developments stand in the city of Ordos, Inner Mongolia. China's central bank sent global markets reeling when it attempted tighten credit and rein in the country's shadow banking system. But the consequences of China's credit binge may just be getting started, and experts say there could be more pain to come fo...Read More

Obama Calls for New Partnership With Africa … The streets were lined with people as President Obama's motorcade departed from the airport in Tanzania, on Monday … After receiving the most ecstatic welcome of his weeklong trip to Africa, President Obama on Monday called for a new partnership with the continent, one that would help sustain its recent run of tremendous economic growth...Read More

India turns down Snowden asylum request … India said Tuesday that it had refused an asylum request from fugitive US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden, joining Poland in publically rebuffing him as he seeks an exit from a Moscow airport. "Our embassy in Moscow did receive a communication dated 30 June from Mr Edward Snowden. That communication did contain a request for asylum," fo...Read More

7 killed in Afghan attack on NATO firm … Bombings and other violence have been on the rise in the Afghan capital in recent weeks … Militants blew up a suicide car bomb at the gate to a NATO compound Taliban took responsibility for attack 7 people killed, several wounded … Afghan militants armed with explosives and firearms attacked a NATO compound just outside of Kabul early Tues...Read More

Gold Rises Most in Nine Weeks as Physical Demand Climbs … Gold prices advanced the most in nine weeks as demand for coins, bars and jewelry rebounded following the record quarterly plunge. – BloombergDominant Social Theme: Gold is so 'last year.'Free-Market Analysis: The puzzling thing about the decline in the price of gold relative to dollars is that there is demand for the ph...Read More

Why China's Economy May Be Heading for a Crash … Empty apartment developments stand in the city of Ordos, Inner Mongolia. China's central bank sent global markets reeling when it attempted tighten credit and rein in the country's shadow banking system. But the consequences of China's credit binge may just be getting started, and experts say there could be more pain to come fo...Read More