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

Historians of the future, flash-frying peccary testicles and mesquite pods over their campfires, will wonder at how the archetypal Shining City on a Hill of America's storied yesteryear got transformed into the roach motel that our country has become on the threshold of 2024.Will they be as stupidly bewildered as, in our time, the faculty at Harvard, the editors of The New York Times or the direct...Read More

The political left that I came to know in college that one that rallied around free speech, reason over faith, fairness to all and peace seems to have evaporated completely.I barely recognized what's replaced it. Truth is, I cannot make heads or tails out of any of it. It seems like this chaotic assembly of seemingly random biases, all shoved together in a package like a grab bag of the bizarr...Read More

Is this the year of the 493?The 493? Here we refer to the 493 stocks of the S&P 500 the 493 stocks not named Apple, Microsoft, Google, Tesla, Nvidia, Amazon or Meta.These are the seven wagon-pullers that have hauled the stock market to present extremes.The S&P 500 galloped 24% last year under their behemoth influence.The remaining 493 lagged far behind them.Mr. Michael Lebowitz of Real I...Read More

Share this articleVANCOUVER - Silver Storm Mining Ltd. [TSXV-SVRS); OTCQB-SVRSF; FSE-SVR], formerly Golden Tag Resources Ltd., reported further drill results from its Phase 1 diamond drilling program at the company's 100%-owned La Parrilla Silver Mine Complex in Durango Mexico. Results from the four holes within this release are from the Quebradillas mine.Highlights: Hole Q-23-020 intersected the...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Watch and jewelry sales in the US have finally turned a corner, the US Department of Commerce, rising by 3.2 per cent in November after nine months of consecutive decline.We saw movement in this direction in October, when sales were down by just 0.2 per cent, indicating that demand is picking up, and the economy is showing signs of stabilizing.There is, however, conflicting news fr...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The EU has sanctioned Alrosa and its CEO Pavel Marinychev, almost two years after Russia invaded Ukraine."In line with the diamond ban we have introduced with the 12th package of sanctions, the EU today lists Alrosa, the largest diamond-mining company in the world and its CEO," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrel said yesterday (3 January) on X, formerly Twitter. "This is part of...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Diamond traders in Surat are reportedly buying a $3.6m private jet to ferry international buyers to the city's newly-opened bourse.There are currently no direct flights between Surat and Mumbai, India's financial hub, and the journey by road takes at least six hours.The vast $355m Surat Diamond Bourse (pictured) finally opened last November, increasing pressure for a quic...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A pear-cut 6.01-ct diamond submitted for grading at an IGI lab was found to be a lab grown impostor.It had the GIA laser inscription of a genuine natural diamond and was a close match for its carat weight, physical spread, and primary qualities.But it was soon revealed to be a CVD lab grown by gemologists in Tel Aviv."Everyone in our industry must be vigilant," said Tehmasp Printer...Read More

The minutes from the Fed's December FOMC meeting were released today. They revealed that the Fed believed rate hikes were no longer likely, but that it wouldn't be lowering rates in the near term.The December minutes revealed that the Fed's target rate is "likely at or near its peak for this tightening cycle."Fed officials also "judged that the current stance of monetary policy was restrictive and...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Exports of Swiss watches surged during November to their "highest-ever monthly level" with sales of almost CHF2.5bn ($2.95bn).That's a growth of 3.1 per cent compared with the previous month, according to new figures from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry Exports (FHS).It represents a year-on-year increase for January to November of 7.7 per cent.The most significant r...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The Jaipur Jewellery Show (JJS) attracted 50,000 visitors from India and beyond.Organizers said there were more than 1,000 booths at the B2B & B2C event which took place from 22 to 25 December at the Novotel Jaipur Convention Centre.Vipul Shah GJEPC chairman said the upcoming Gem Bourse in Jaipur would make India a key global hub in the gem and jewelry sector."The theme for the...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Enhanced grading reports for jade, one of the priciest gemstones, have been launched by GIA.It says its new Jade Report provides greater depth and clarity and includes the type of jade (A, B or C) as well as the species - nephrite or jadeite.The commonly-used trade term "Fei Cui" will be listed in the comments section when appropriate with the explanatory note stating that "Fei Cui...Read More

In 2023, we saw the outbreak of a banking crisis (that isn't over), a new Middle East war break out in Gaza, two states ban Trump from the ballot in the 2024 elections and the mainstreaming of AI, among other things.All I can say is strap in, because 2024 is setting up to be even more chaotic than 2023. That's right, 2024 will be more tumultuous and shocking than 2023. Let's first address the elec...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Police in New York have arrested a man suspected of a string of armed robberies, including a $375,000 jewelry heist.Federal prosecutors say Franco Alexander Peraza Navas, 30, has been charged with "a wanton spree of at least two gunpoint carjackings and six gunpoint robberies and attempted robberies."He is accused of the raid on a jewelry store on on 103rd St. in Queens. Prosecutor...Read More

(IDEX Online) - It's a new year, and there's a new direction of travel.The IDEX Polished Price Index is finally on the increase after a long and steady decline from its post-Covid peak in March 2022.The last two months of 2023 saw the first green shoots of recovery. In December, for the first time in almost two years we saw an increase in month-on-month prices for all sizes up to 5.0-cts...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Rounds showed further signs of a recovery during December, although fancies fared less well. There is a general sense that prices are bottoming out after almost two years of relentless decline and that the general trend now will be upwards.Holiday spending in the US was a little disappointing, down 2.0 per cent year on year, but the overall direction of travel seems to be positive....Read More

(IDEX Online) - The "biggest ever" IIJS Signature will be inaugurated in Mumbai on Friday (5 January 2024).Organizers are expecting 25,000 trade visitors, up from 20,000 at the same show last year.This year they say there will be over 1,500 exhibitors and 3,000 stalls, compared with 1,300 and 2,500 in 2022.The majority of visitors are from India, although an expected 1,000 or more will be coming f...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Russia says it will carry on exporting diamonds, regardless of the G7 sanctions that come inti force tomorrow (1 January).Finance Minister Anton Siluanov (pictured), on a visit to Beijing, told the news agency Tass: "All these restrictions introduced (by Western countries), they affect not only us alone but also those who introduced them. "Exports of diamonds will continue. We...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Canadian miner Lucara has announced the latest in a series of extensions to the finance facility that is funding the underground expansion of its Karowe diamond mine, in Botswana.In July it said it expected the cost of the project to increase by 25 per cent from $547m, the original estimate, to $683m. Underground production is now expected to start in the first half of 2028, r...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The plane that crashed last Wednesday (27 December) in Canada's Northwest Territories was flying workers to build the winter road that supplies Ekati, Diavik, and Gahcho Kue diamond mines with vital supplies from February to March every year.Canada's Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the accident, involving a 49-year-old Air Tindi de Havilland DHC-...Read More