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) - A grieving son was appalled when he learned that a funeral home had taken the fingerprint of his dead mother - and passed it to a jewelry company.Mark Cady-Archilla received an email from a US company called Legacy Touch, offering to sell him a pendant with the fingerprint of his mother Jacqueline Cady as a personalized keepsake.He challenged Allen-Summerhill Funeral Home in DeLand...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Exports of Swiss watches to China, the second biggest market globally, surged in October.They were up by over 24 per cent a possible indication that the long-awaited post-Covid recovery is finally here. By contrast they were down 5 per cent in September.The US, the world's number one market for Swiss watches, turned a 6.4 per cent drop in September into a 5 per cent increase i...Read More

How do the wars in Ukraine and Gaza impact global economic growth and the U.S. economy in particular?Both wars are ongoing and cataclysmic impacts may yet be felt. Here's where events stand at the moment. Let's start with the war in Ukraine...From a strategic perspective, the situation in Ukraine resembles a smaller-scale version of the situation in Europe in late 1944. At that point, the Allies h...Read More

(IDEX Online) - India's two-month voluntary ban on rough imports is stabilizing diamond prices, says the industry body GJEPC.Its figures for October, published last week and capturing the first two weeks of the moratorium, show a drop of less than 1.4 per cent from $1.033bn to $1.019bn.But that doesn't tell the full story, says says Dolly Choudhary, director of promotions and marketing a...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The impact of the war between Israel and Hamas on both rough and polished diamond prices in India will be "slight, but manageable" according to the Crisil ratings agency.  Israel's own diamond industry saw rough imports plunge 75 per cent in October, in the aftermath of the Hamas massacre that claimed 1,200 lives.But Israel accounts for only 1.9 per cent of India...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Rihanna wore a $700,000 Jacob & Co diamond watch on a neck choker in June.Now she's come up with another improbable place for a timepiece. Her ankle. The Barbadian singer, 35, wore a customized Jacob & Co watch on a three-strand bracelet with 155 round and emerald-cut diamonds (total carat weight over 70 carats) to the Las Vegas Grand Prix. It is valued at $400,00...Read More

In normal times we reflect upon the splendid gluttony of the American Thanksgiving we just experienced, the fellowship of family and friends, with gratitude and remembrance of overcoming ordeals past.This year, though, we were a bit preoccupied with ordeals to come, and that nip in the November air conjures rumors of approaching hardship and cruelties we have no idea how we might overcome.These ar...Read More

It was dark and drizzly outside, and chilly in the way that only Hamburg can be, considering how the strong, damp North Sea wind whips up the Elbe River valley.I saw the Intercity Express (ICE) train at a distance, as it curved around the final bend into the station and pulled up along the platform.Helpfully and with characteristic thoroughness the online Deutsche Bahn scheduling app informed...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A customer at a Tiffany & Co store in Singapore has been accused of switching a $237,000 diamond ring for a worthless fake.He diverted a worker's attention to other rings in the store, at The Shoppes, at Marina Bay Sands, and made the swap, according to Singapore police.She called security after realizing the texture of the replica price tag was unlike the original.Wu Youq...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB) finally opened on Tuesday (21 November) almost three years late.The $355m bourse (pictured) was originally supposed to open in January 2020, according to the SDB website. That was put back by September 2021, to 2022 and then to April of this yearIt has officially been recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest office building in existence (7....Read More

(IDEX Online)  - European Union diplomats have slammed the Kimberley Process over its failure to act against Russia.They said its inability to reach agreement on the issue "casts a shadow on its ability to stay fit for purpose and address challenges affecting its core mandate".The KP plenary at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, ended earlier this month without a final communique, and with a walkout b...Read More

Due to professional obligations we take aboard an overplus of daily "information."Some of it perhaps more than some of it sorts into the "conspiratorial" category.For example: the theory that space lasers set Maui on fire.For example: the theory that the Rothschilds ordered Kennedy shot dead.For example: the theory that the Twin Towers were knocked down not by shanghaied airplanes but by pre-p...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Jewelers have donated 210 pieces, from elegant vintage diamond rings to striking contemporary necklaces, to be auctioned for charities helping Israeli victims of the war with Hamas.The lots include iconic names such as Tiffany & Co., Bulgari and Cartier, together with David Morris, Rainbow K, David Yurman, Marie Lichtenberg and other contemporary brands.The Precious Israel...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A buyer is being sought for Canadian diamond miner Stornoway, after it filed for bankruptcy protection last month. The company has suspended operations at Renard, the first and only diamond mine in Quebec province, and laid off most of its 500-strong workforce.Deloitte Corporate Finance Inc. announced today (22 November) that it was conducting the sale and investment solicitat...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Vladimir Putin's press secretary yesterday (20 November) warned that EU sanctions on Russian diamonds would have a "boomerang effect".He insisted countries that boycotted Russian gems would suffer more than Russia itself. Dmitry Peskov (pictured) told reporters: "As a rule, it turns out that a boomerang effect is partially triggered: the interests of the Europeans themsel...Read More

Almost 10 years ago, I sat in a secure conference room at the Pentagon and explained to a group of U.S. national security officials from the military, CIA, Treasury and other agencies that the overuse of the U.S. dollar in financial warfare would eventually drive countries away from using dollars in international transactions for fear that they could become the next target of U.S. displeasure.I sa...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Lightbox, the De Beers lab grown company, has signed exclusive supply deals with two jewelry brands.It is collaborating with US-based Roseate, which specializes in South Seas and Tahitian pearls, and Hong Kong-based The Future Rocks, a "future-forward" brand that explores the use of new materials."Roseate and The Future Rocks are incredible creative and commercial partners who offe...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The global market for lab grown diamonds will almost double in the coming decade, according to new research published today (21 November), as they incorporated into a range of products beyond traditional jewelry.Sales of $10.8bn in 2022 will increase to $20.6bn by 2032, driven by increasing disposable income and women's changing lifestyles, says Indian market research company...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The pearl necklace worn by Audrey Hepburn in the 1953 movie Roman Holiday has been pulled from auction, without explanation, by Christie's Geneva.It follows another unexplained withdrawal, that of the Blue Lagoon tourmaline (estimate $1.44m to $2.44m) from a Sotheby's Geneva auction earlier this month.The Hepburn choker-style pearl necklace, set with cabochon sapphires, w...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Lucapa today (20 November) said it was pausing plans to revive the Merlin mine in Australia, amid the ongoing decline in diamond prices.The Perth-based miner bought the mothballed deposit (pictured), in a remote part of Northern Territory, Australia, for $6m in December 2021.At the time it estimated annual production at 153,000 carats, generating a total projected revenue of $1.14b...Read More