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) - 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

(IDEX Online) - De Beers and the Botswana government will work together to find more diamond deposits, after both sides agreed a 10-year deal in June."Most of our mines are ageing, and therefore, we need to look beyond Botswana if we want to continue generating wealth for this country," said Lefoko Maxwell Moagi, Botswana's minister of minerals and energy.He was speaking at the annual Natural...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) - Debswana, the joint venture between De Beers and the Botswana government, has started using solar power at its diamond mines as part of a pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.President Mokgweetsi Masisi said solar energy and biodiesel were now being used at the Jwaneng, Orapa, Letlhakane and Damtshaa mines.A grid-tied solar photovoltaic (PV) plant has already been providing...Read More

Make Argentina Great Again MAGA!Political outsider Javier Milei won Argentina's presidential election last night, in a development that's shocked the world.Though his policy prescriptions are different than Trump's in many respects, Milei is basically the Argentinian version of Donald Trump because of his anti-establishment, "drain the swamp" rhetoric.You can liken Milei's election to Trump's 20...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Jewelry salespeople in the US are being warned of a surge in out-of-store attacks, on the road, at gas stations and in parking lots.Four gang members armed with a crowbar and a hammer, deliberately crashed into a car on the I 10 freeway in Los Angeles and stole merchandise while the victim, a dealer from Hong Kong, kneeled with his hands in the air.The Jewelers' Security Allia...Read More

(IDEX Online) - India's voluntary ban on rough imports has yet to have an impact, with month-on-month purchases for October dropping by less than 1.4 per cent.The two-month moratorium, aimed at stabilizing prices, was brought in by the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) and other industry bodies.Imports for October were $1.019bn, GJEPC said in response to an IDEX Online inqui...Read More

A nation can only take so much corruption, crime and unreality."We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality," said Karl Rove, veteran blobster and adviser to George W. Bush, when he uttered those fateful words. Even political junkies forget the rest of what he said:And while you're studying that reality judiciously, as you will we'll act again, creating other new realities,...Read More

The old FedEx envelope was clever, a work of art even, optimistic and colorful, signifying speed and progress.What a beautiful contrast to the plainness of the U.S. Postal Service. For years, I can recall dropping off these treasures and paying maybe $10 to assure their delivery across the country, even the world. For me, it was a fabulous symbol of an improved life, living proof that progress was...Read More

Val-d'Or, Que. - Look towards the horizon from the viewing tower at Parc Belv?d?re in Val-d'Or, Que., and it's just visible where a new kid on the block wants to move in and open the golden valley's next mine.Explorer and developer O3 Mining (TSXV: OIII; US-OTC: OIIIF) plans to turn its Marban Alliance project into a producing mine by 2027, CEO Jose Vizquerra said during a recent site visit. Marba...Read More

This week, my interview with German economist, gold expert, and author Thorsten Polleit hit the Paradigm Press YouTube Channel.We talked about everything from the deindustrialization of Germany... how socialism has taken hold in America... why the powers that be want a one-nation totalitarian money system... and why gold miners aren't your best investment when gold reaches where Thorsten predicts...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Brilliant Earth, the US-based "ethical jeweler", saw a slight rise in its Q3 sales but a significant drop in net income as is battled ongoing "industry headwinds".Net sales were up 2.5 per cent year on year to $114.2m, but net income was down 65 per cent to $2m, the company said in its Third Quarter 2023 Results. Gross profit increased 9.7 per cent to $66.8m due to a 17 per cent in...Read More

(IDEX Online) - India's polished diamond exports for October were down 25 per cent on September, and down 33 per cent on the same month last year, according to the latest figures from the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). But there is no monthly breakdown of rough imports to indicate how much manufacturers are abiding by a voluntary two-month ban which started on 15 O...Read More

The Green New Deal so-called evidently cannot endure elevated interest rates.Barron's:Solar and wind projects, and new electric-vehicle plants, demand heavy upfront investments... With the cost of corporate debt doubling in the past two years, from 3.2% to 6.4%… it's a bad time to be taking out new loans to finance capital projects. "It was an industry whose economics rested on low rates...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Residents of a picturesque Spanish town are protesting over Diamond Foundry plans to install 40-metre high towers to power the $850m lab grown factory it is building there.They are largely in support of the factory itself, which will create 300 jobs and ultimately produce 10m carats a year of single-crystal diamond chips, as well as traditional gem quality diamonds.But they oppose...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Hammer-wielding thieves threatened security staff during a raid on a diamond store in Canada.Security guards converged on White Carat Co. Diamonds, at the Bramalea City Centre shopping mall, in Brampton, Ontario, after reports of display cases being smashed.One of the three masked raiders climbed onto a counter and appeared ready to swing a hammer at the guards, in surveillance vid...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A diamond merchant reported his own 16-year-old son to police in Surat, India, for allegedly stealing polished gems worth over $62,000. According to a report filed to police, the boy stole six packets of polished diamonds, with a total weight of 269 carats. He then sold them for a tiny fraction of their real value, just $300, so he could buy an iPhone. The father, who runs a diamo...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The UAE has taken over chairmanship of Kimberley Process (KP) for a second time, promising "a year of delivery", despite a chaotic plenary in Zimbabwe that ended last week without the usual end-of-session communique."Our work in the Kimberley Process holds greater significance than ever before," said Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman and CEO of Dubai Multi Commodities Center (D...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Earrings featuring a pair of exceptionally large fancy vivid orange-yellow diamonds, weighing 12.20 carats and 11.96 carats are to be sold at Christie's New York.The California Sunset Diamonds carry an estimate of $7m to $12m. Both stones are oval mixed-cut and natural color. The larger of the two is VVS2 clarity, the smaller is VS1.Each earring has an additional two white dia...Read More

The United States House of Representatives has assented to a resolution that will keep the government in funds through Jan. 19.More Democrats voted yay than Republicans voted yay though the bill was Republican-proposed.The Senate will approve it. The president will sign it.And so Republicans will get their guns. Democrats will get their butter...Both will get their pork...And the American taxpay...Read More