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

Are gold prices and interest rates joined at the hip? Based on recent market action, it would appear the answer is: yes.A major rally in gold is now underway. Gold moved from $1,831 per ounce on Oct. 6 to $2,091 per ounce on Dec. 1, a 14.1% rally in just eight weeks and a new all-time high price for gold.Gold has pulled back to $2,037 as of today, but that's not surprising given its previous surge...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Walmart has announced a huge expansion of its lab grown offering which will see them account for 30 per cent of the diamond fashion and bridal jewelry sold across its 2,800 US stores.Walmart is the second biggest-grossing jeweler in North America (after Signet) with total watch and jewelry sales of $3.38bn in 2022. Its lab grown sales have increased 600 percent year-on-year. I...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Sales of watches, jewelry, clocks and other luxury goods surged again in Hong Hong during October, driven largely by a huge post-Covid influx of tourists.Total spend for the category during the month was US$652m (HK$5.1bn), and increase of over 27 per cent on September, which in turn saw an increase of over 27 per cent on August. Figures since January show a 55 per cent increase ye...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Long-awaited EU sanctions on Russian diamonds will also cover lab growns, according to an Agence France Presse (AFP) report.The ban, due to come into force on 1 January 2024, would apply to "non-industrial natural and synthetic diamonds as well as diamond jewellery," according to the text of a proposal adopted by the European Commission, which the Paris-based news agency says it ha...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Star Diamond says it will acquire full ownership of the Fort a la Corne project being developed in Saskatchewan, Canada, after Rio Tinto agreed to transfer its 75 per cent interest.Rio Tinto says it is pulling out because its global exploration program is now firmly focused on metals and minerals to support the energy transition.The two companies have previously been tangled in leg...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Rio Tinto said it was delighted with the results of its first Beyond Rare Tender of polished pink and red diamonds from Argyle, in Australia, and yellow stones from Diavik, Canada, though it declined to reveal any prices.Sinead Kaufman, chief executive of Rio Tinto Minerals, said only that the results reflected the global demand for highly collectible natural colored diamonds.The f...Read More

As I'm sure you know by now, Henry Kissinger died last week at the age of 100. He leaves a complex legacy, which is certainly understandable because he operated in a complex geopolitical environment.But Henry Kissinger was a master strategist and political scientist. With his recent passing, I thought I'd retell the story of one of his most brilliant plans, and explain how it relates to the demise...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Win a pair of one-carat diamonds that were grown in a lab from taco shells.That's the bizarre prize in a contest by the Mexican-style fast food chain Taco Bell.The taco shell diamonds were lab-grown in a process that took over a year, at a top-secret location, says the company, and are offered as a pair of best friends' necklaces."Diamonds are forever, and so are friends....Read More

(IDEX Online) - Winning bidders from a $42m sale of watches by Christie's Geneva last month have been warned their timepieces are now trapped in a legal dispute between the auction house and the seller.A Rolex GMT-Master worn by Marlon Brando in the 1979 Vietnam epic, Apocalypse Now, sold for $3.99m and a Philippe Dufourd 1992 minute repeating grande and petite sonnerie fetched $4.46m. T...Read More

Defining the middle class is a perpetually popular parlor game because it’s well-known that the foundation of widespread prosperity is a broad-based middle class and a sturdy ladder of social mobility that enables those below the middle class to work their way up to middle-class security.The topic is also a perennial favorite because the middle class is losing ground. By basic measures of in...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Rounds and fancies both showed some signs of improvements during November, following on from the early signs of a possible recovery that we saw in October. After two years of relentless decline there finally seems to be at least a glimmer of hope. Diwali is behind us, but Christmas and Hannukah are approaching and sales are picking up as we enter peak season. Jewelry, together with...Read More

The answer to the question "Will they ever admit to being wrong?" is of course: no. I'm speaking in particular of the architects of the lockdown and mandate policies that wrecked the rights and liberties of billions worldwide.Now they want to pretend like it never happened or that someone else is responsible. And they do this even as they hammer out policies and treaties that normalize that exact...Read More

"Absolutely disgraceful piece," says one reader Donald J. not Donald J. Trump.Donald refers to yesterday's reckoning... in which we detailed the freshly deceased Hank Kissinger's postmortem encounter with St. Peter.That encounter concluded poorly for Mr. Kissinger. St. Peter denied him entry into Paradise.And this evidently wrung Donald's gizzard.Donald does not inform us why our piece was...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Lucara is forecasting a revenue increase of at least 30 per cent next year after cutting its 2023 prediction earlier this month.The Vancouver-based miner said it would be using it sales channels to maximize revenue and generate consistent cash flow.In September it ditched a 10-year deal with HB Antwerp to sell the +10.8-ct stones that account for around 65 per cent of its revenue,...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The Natural Diamond Council (NDC) has unveiled its first male cover star.Actor Taylor Zakhar Perez is cast as the Diamond Cowboy in a two-minute video and in an interview and photoshoot promoting diamond jewelry for men. He follows in the footsteps of actresses Lily James and Ana de Armas and supermodel Karen Elson, who have all promoted natural diamonds in high-profile advert...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A one-off ring set with 291 diamonds from Australia's iconic Argyle mine is being offered for sale, with a US$590,000 price tag.It features a pair of matching 0.75 carat  oval modified brilliant fancy vivid pink diamonds (SI2/SI1), and 285 round brilliant cut fancy purplish pink and fancy intense purplish pink diamonds (total weight 2.11 carats). There are also four...Read More

We note that Mr. Hank Kissinger, age 100, has paid his debt to nature.Thus he has put in appearance before St. Peter, heaven's gate minder.Being a man of the Judaic faith, he was rather startled to find himself there. Yet there he was.And so he requested entry.We have obtained a transcript of their conversation, revealed herein.HANK: Hello, St. Peter. The Grim Reaper finally came for me. Can you b...Read More

"American Taxpayers Are Now Slaves to Interest Payments."So the Heritage Foundation informs us. More from which:Interest on the federal debt is now so immense that it's consuming 40% of all personal income taxes. The largest source of revenue for the federal government is increasingly being devoted to just servicing the debt, not even paying it down.Forty percent of all personal income taxes!How d...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A huge 133.03 carat fancy vivid yellow diamond is to be sold loose by Sotheby's New York, with an estimate of $4m to $5m.The VS2 cushion modified brilliant-cut gem will lead the Hollywood-themed live Magnificent Jewels auction on 5 December. The gem is described as coming from "an important private collection", but the name of the owner is not disclosed.The sale features...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Diamond factories have finally re-opened in Surat after a record 36-day closure for Diwali.But many are still working well below full capacity as global demand remains low.Manufacturing units in the city closed earlier than usual on 21 October for what is traditionally a 20-day break. But they didn't return until Monday 27 November."There is a momentum found in the market...Read More