Warren Buffett may be the best investor of all time. But one thing he’s never liked is gold.“Gold gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head,” he said in a 1998 at Harvard University.Apparently, he c...Read More

Sep 03, 2020 Guest(s): Peter Hug Global Trading Director, Kitco Metals With holidays and families preparing for the fall, there are not that many traders, which leads to all sorts of volatility, said Peter Hug, head of Kitco's precious metal division. Hug spoke to Kitco News on Wednesday when October gold futures traded down $35.40 to $1,935.40. "During the last week of August, leading up to Lab...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday September 3 that are worth another look.A month ago, Eric, a steel importer based in eastern China, was pricing hot-rolled coil imports 20-30 yuan ($3-4) per tonne below the market average to secure orders. Now, he...Read More

Three-month prices for base metals on the London Metal Exchange were mostly lower at the close of trading on Thursday September 3, with positive unemployment data and services data from the United States doing little to stop an equities-led decline across the complex.A 4% downturn in LME nickel futures led that decline, and nickel's outright price on the LME was the laggard over Thursday afternoon...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of base metals analysts are ready to view, including an upgrade to our aluminium price forecasts.Aluminium: Price forecasts raisedWe correctly expected the macro reflationary theme to raise the prices for all base metals but, with it being the base metal with by far the weakest fundamentals, we had expected the price of aluminium to underperform relative...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday September 3 that are worth another look.A month ago, Eric, a steel importer based in eastern China, was pricing hot-rolled coil imports 20-30 yuan ($3-4) per tonne below the market average to secure orders. Now, he...Read More

President Mike Romanik said the explorer was "very pleased" Sprott had agreed to invest about $6.5 million, which would increase the high-profile investor's stake to 19.9%.First Majestic would subscribe for $700,000 worth of the shares on offer, resulting in a holding of about 16.4%.The placement was priced at $1.40 per share.Silver Dollar had listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange in May afte...Read More

Chile produced 462,000 tonnes of copper in July 2020, a 5.1% year-on-year drop from 486,800 tonnes with several operations halted, notably Codelco's, national copper commission Cochilco said on Wednesday September 2.Despite the lower production in July, the year-to-date output for the country was still up year on year after seven months. Chile produced 3.29 million tonnes in January-July 2020, up...Read More

China's domestic stainless steel prices have risen for a tenth week amid a strengthening nickel market and good downstream demand.The three-month nickel contract on the London Metal Exchange ended Wednesday September 2's official trading session at $15,671 per tonne, up by $594 per tonne (3.9%) from $15,077 per tonne a week earlier.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for nickel pig iron, high-gra...Read More

Vancouver, BC - IsoEnergy Ltd. (TSX-V: ISO | OTCQX: ISENF) is pleased to report new intersections of strong uranium mineralization in the initial drill holes of the summer campaign at the Hurricane zone. The Hurricane zone is a recent discovery of high-grade uranium mineralization on the Company's 100% owned Larocque East property (the "Property") in the Eastern Athabasca Basin of Saskatche...Read More

"The company disagrees with numerous grounds outlined in the ruling dismissing the application for judicial review handed down by Deputy Chief Justice Kandakasi in the National Court today, and intends to urgently appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court," Barrick Niugini said yesterday.The company had suspended the mine in April after the government refused its 2017 application to extend Porgera's...Read More

After a consultation period, Fastmarkets has amended the frequency of its cobalt hydroxide index, min 30% Co, cif China to weekly. The cobalt hydroxide index, min 30% Co, cif China was published on the last working day of the month until the end of July, and has been published fortnightly since August 7. Fastmarkets has seen a sustained increase in spot activity for fixed-price, prompt cobalt hydr...Read More

Turkish steel mills have continued their deep-sea scrap purchases for September-October shipments at higher prices, sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday September 3.A steel mill in Northern Turkey booked a Baltic Sea cargo comprising 10,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $300 per tonne, 13,000 tonnes of shredded at $305 per tonne and 4,000 tonnes of bonus at $310 per tonne cfr late on Wednesday.Anot...Read More

China's latest amendment to its solid waste law took effect on Tuesday September 1 and its stricter enforcement of solid waste import rules could push up downstream aluminium alloy prices, market participants told Fastmarkets. The new law, aiming to have zero waste imports, not only set legal requirements for solid waste importers but also claims carriers will hold joint liability for smuggling so...Read More

Markets were mixed this morning, Thursday September 3, with the base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange generally firmer, albeit in fairly light volumes.Markets are still underpinned by the prospect of more stimulus from the United States, once Congress can agree on a figure, but some of the metals are starting to look a bit tiredChina's Caixin services purchasing managers' index (PMI) at...Read More

Orocobre has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Prime Planet Energy Solutions (PPES) for the long-term supply of battery-grade lithium carbonate and hydroxide, the Australia-based lithium miner said on Friday August 28.The MoU entails the supply of as much as 30,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), starting from 2021, for use in PPES' battery production supply chain. PPES...Read More

Chinese battery materials producer GEM has signed an eight-year nickel and cobalt supply contract with Indonesia's Halamahera Persada Lygend (HPAL), starting from 2021.This procurement scheme, seen by Fastmarkets, specifies eight-year totals for battery-grade nickel and cobalt raw materials, with nickel content totalling no less than 74,400 tonnes and no more than 178,560 tonne...Read More

Mackenzie Scott is now the richest woman in the world.With a net worth of $62.4 billion, the former wife of Jeff Bezos is so rich her wealth exceeds the GDP of Slovenia.This is what my cousin calls "fu*k you" money.I'm not quite so crass, but let's face it - if you had $62.4 billion, there's nothing you wouldn't be able to do.I was thinking about this last night.Thinking about what I'd do with all...Read More

After a consultation period, Fastmarkets has amended the frequency of its cobalt hydroxide index, min 30% Co, cif China to weekly. The cobalt hydroxide index, min 30% Co, cif China was published on the last working day of the month until the end of July, and has been published fortnightly since August 7. Fastmarkets has seen a sustained increase in spot activity for fixed-price, prompt cobalt hydr...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Thursday September 3 that are worth another look.A month ago, Eric, a steel importer based in eastern China, was pricing hot-rolled coil imports 20-30 yuan ($3-4) per tonne below the market average to secure orders. Now, he...Read More