The AOCE and WB have moderate overall forecasts for the metals in 2025 inline with IMF forecasts for a decline in economic growth and inflation, although we see the probability of a stagflationary scenario as still reasonably high.Read More

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

(IDEX Online) - Price drops dominated yet again among rounds during December, but there price increases among fancies, as consumers opted for lower-priced goods. Manufacturers in Surat reportedly working at just half capacity.  Consumer demand remains depressed, with pre-Christmas spending down 5.4 per cent year-on-year, according to the latest Mastercard SpendingPulse report. And inflation s...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Plans to develop the huge Bunder diamond mine in India, with a potential yield of 34m carats, are facing opposition from environmental groups.Local residents claim the revival of mining activity at Buxwaha, in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, will destroy forest land, cost jobs, displace tribal populations and damage the environment.Rio Tinto leased the site from the state gove...Read More

Copper Mountain Mining (TSX: CMMC; ASX: C6C) has shut its mine in southern British Columbia as it works with authorities to repel a ransomware attack.The shutdown is a preventative measure as Copper Mountain assesses the extent of the attack on its systems at the mine and its corporate offices in Vancouver, the company said in a news release on Thursday.There was no immediate word on damage, any...Read More

Share this articleVANCOUVER - Kenadyr Metals Corp. [KEN-TSXV; KNDYF-OTC; KM0-FSE] entered into a binding arrangement agreement, dated December 29, 2022, to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Karus Gold Corp. by way of a plan of arrangement.Karus Gold, a private company, controls a dominant 1,000 km2 of claims in in the prolific Cariboo Gold District of central British Columbia. The clai...Read More

Global Battery Metals (TSXV: GBML) says it will stop exploring for nickel, copper and platinum group metals at its Sawyer camp in northern Michigan and instead focus on lithium projects in Ireland and Utah. The Vancouver-based company completed two 300-metre scout drill holes and a borehole/surface electromagnetic survey at the camp, located on the peninsula between the Great Lakes of Michigan a...Read More

Surging demand for battery metals is offsetting increased costs to build PolyMet Mining's (TSX: POM) copper-nickel project in northeastern Minnesota, according to new estimates. Developing the first phase of the NorthMet open-pit operation about 100 km north of the Lake Superior port of Duluth is forecast at US$1.2 billion in an updated feasibility study released Friday. That's greater than a qua...Read More

Two employees of B2Gold (TSX: BTO) in Mali were killed Thursday when their bus was attacked in an armed robbery, the miner says. The incident occurred when the bus under police escort was transporting workers from the Fekola gold mine to Bamako, the capital of the west African country. They came upon a robbery in progress about 75 km west of the city, the company said in a statement."Security for...Read More

A team of researchers has discovered at least two minerals never before seen on earth in a 15-tonne meteorite found in Somalia - the ninth-largest meteorite ever found.The two minerals, with a potential third mineral under consideration, came from a single 70-gram piece that was sent to the University of Alberta for classification. "Whenever you find a new mineral, it means that the geological co...Read More

Osisko Gold Royalties (TSX: OR; NYSE: OR) is offering Metals Acquisition (NYSE: MTAL.U) US$75 million in funding to help it purchase the CSA copper mine in Australia from Glencore (LSE: GLEN). Metals Acquisition will be able to draw on the US$75 million, which is from a copper stream on the mine, to help pay for its US$1.1 billion takeover of the site about 700 km northwest of Sydney, Osisko said...Read More

Venezuela President Nicol??s Maduro says the army must do a better job stopping environmental destruction caused by unregulated mining. Maduro, leader of the ostracized South American country since 2013, made the comments in a national year-end TV address. It was just days after Titanic actor Leonardo DiCaprio criticized the regime for allowing state-sanctioned gold mining to accelerate the loss...Read More

The mayors of five municipalities in northern Colombia's Cesar mining corridor want the government of President Gustavo Petro to phase out mining operations with a smooth transition into other industries instead of an abrupt halt.About 90% of the corridor's economy is based on mining and related activities.The mayors expressed concern regarding Petro's stance on mining, according to local media, p...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The holiday season saw a 5.4 per cent drop in year-on-year jewelry sales in the US, despite a growth in overall spending of 7.6 per cent.Shoppers opted to spend their dollars on eating out - restaurants raked in 15.1 per cent more than in 2021, according  to Mastercard SpendingPulse's report on US retail sales across all payment types.Spending on clothes also rose, by 4.4...Read More

South Star Battery Metals (TSXV: STS; OTCQB: STSBF) says its Santa Cruz graphite project in eastern Brazil is on track to complete construction and commissioning by December next year.Most large machinery has been contracted and the initial offices are to be completed by early January at the site in Bahia state about 670 km south of its capital, Salvador, the company said in a news release this we...Read More

The diamond industry was one of the winners as the world economy rebounded from the effects of the pandemic. Consumer demand for diamond jewelry grew last year, while supply remained constrained.This year, the $80 billion industry saw more turmoil as cutters, polishers and traders hunted for ways to keep buying from Russia - Russian miner Alrosa (MCX: ALRS) accounts for about a third of global rou...Read More

2022 taught gold investors a very important lesson: The value of the U.S. dollar influences gold prices much more than inflation data.In fact, gold pretty much ignored rising U.S. inflation in 2022, despite prices increasing at their fastest levels in four decades.The beginning of 2022 started off strong for gold.Driven by a general rally in commodity prices stemming from geopolitical conflict bet...Read More

Anglo American (LON: AAL) wants to reuse water in a pipeline hundreds of kilometres long used to transport iron ore from its Minas Rio operation in Brazil in what could be the country's largest conservation project of its kind. The 529-km pipeline running east from Concei????o do Mato Dentro municipality in southeastern Brazil to the port at S??o Jo??o da Barra may carry as much as 0.3 cubic metr...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa says it expects to find more diamonds in Yakutia and beyond, which could take total reserves to an estimated 1.1bn carats.It also says rough production for 2022 is expected to total 35.5m carats, an increase on earlier forecasts of 34.3m.Russia's state-controlled miner, currently sanctioned by the US, says the most promising new territories are the north of Yakutia, in...Read More

First Quantum Minerals (TSX: FM) says production is continuing normally at its giant copper mine in Panama after the head of the Canadian miner flew down to restart talks with the government this week while a care and maintenance deadline looms. Panama President Laurentino Cortizo has given the miner until Jan. 6 to mothball the Cobre Panama copper mine unless talks begun again this week under a...Read More

Our TNM Drill Down features highlights of the top gold assays of the past week. Drill holes are ranked by gold grade x width, as identified by our sister company Mining Intelligence.Projects in Australia and Canada led drilling results for the period of Dec. 16 - 22.Red 5 (ASX: RED) earned the week's top grade x width at its Darlot project in the Yilgarn area 850 km northeast of Perth, Australia....Read More

(IDEX Online) - Contemporary artist Pablo Lucker has chosen the surface of a diamond as the "canvas" for his latest work.He used a laser to create a series of heart designs on the table of 12 one-carat stones, and a "crown jewel" of 2.75-carats.Lucker partnered with high-end jewelers Trophy by Gassan (both are based in Amsterdam) for what is being described as the smallest work of art on a diamond...Read More