With the supply/demand balance moving in favor of miners, the outlook for uranium stocks is the brightest it has been in years, according to McAlinden Research Partners. SUMMARY: Uranium has been enjoying a stealth bull market due to the coronavirus outbreak. Temporary mine closures to slow the spread of the virus at production facilities have triggered an unexpected supply squeeze, sending the pr...Read More

A summary of Brazilian mining company Vale's financial results for the first quarter of 2020.In brief Pro forma adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) down by 26% year on year due to depreciation of Brazilian Real.Net income of $239 million, compared with a net loss of $1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2019. Investments totaled $1.12 billion, up by...Read More

A summary of Latin American steel group Ternium's financial results for the first quarter of 2020.In brief Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) down by a third year on year due to restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Net loss of $19.40 million, compared with a net profit of $224.90 million in the first quarter of 2019. Higher sales volumes in Mexico, Te...Read More

BHP is consulting with relevant stakeholders on options to increase its licensed iron ore export capacity to over 290 million tonnes per year from Hedland, the shipping hub in Western Australia, it told Fastmarkets on Tuesday April 28.Tim Day, BHP acting asset president for Western Australia iron ore, said BHP's focus remains on reaching 290 million tonnes per year in the medium term, but improvem...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday April 29 that are worth another look.Export prices for Japan-origin plate and structural (P&S) grades of ferrous scrap rose by ?500 ($5) per tonne week on week on April 29, with tighter supplies over recent weeks keeping the values up, sources have told Fastmarkets.Brazilian mining company Vale expects to find a potential invest...Read More

Malaysia Smelting Corp (MSC), the world's second-largest tin exporter, has resumed production following a hiatus related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the company told Fastmarkets."At the moment, MSC has commenced its smelting and mining activities and is operating at approximately 50% capacity," company spokeswoman Mei-Lynn Keow said.MSC had been under a Malaysian government lockdown that began on Ma...Read More

This week Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called out "mismanaged" states, suggesting that the federal government should not be responsible for bailing out states that had poorly managed budgets before the coronavirus pandemic brought business activity to a halt, triggering a deep recession.Mnuchin's comments echoed those of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who earlier said that he w...Read More

By Hubert Moolman 29 April 2020 It is reasonably well known that many Roman emperors debased their currency (coinage). This was a very bad practice, since it is really a reflection of the debasement of the value of the kingdom (empire or country); going from a honest and just society to a corrupt and unjust society. One of the reasons (effects) of debasing the currency was the transfer of wea...Read More

Things appeared normal, and then everything changed...By: Gary Christenson, The Deviant InvestorU.S. COVID-19 official cases on March 7: 338.U.S. COVID-19 official cases on April 28: over 1,000,000, if you believe the Johns Hopkins numbers. Exponential growth in sickness, debt, and expenditures are "killers."The economic, emotional, and physical scars from the virus will torture us for a long ti...Read More

Craig Hemke, TF MetalsIn the annual forecast that we issued back in January, we wrote that "out-sized gains" would likely be coming for the mining shares in 2020. Well...so far, so good.Let's start as we often do, with a look back at some of the previous posts on this topic. First, here's a link to an interview on the TD Ameritrade Network that was recorded on December 18, 2019. Below that is a...Read More

Dave Kranzler, Mining Stock JournalAnd this could usher in the "suddenly" moment: "The president of the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) called for a new super-sovereign currency to offset the global dominance of the U.S. dollar, which he predicted would decline long term, while gold prices rally." - Reuters, April 28, 2020Chris Marcus of Arcadia Economics and I discuss the potential of a Comex...Read More

Ira EpsteinGold's daily chart shows a pattern of an inside consolidation defined by the short-term swing lines..Read More

I expect some more additional stimulus measures today. Federal Reserve will copy its counter parts of bank of Japan and bank of England on additional stimulus measures. European central bank meeting tomorrow will have least impact on gold and silver. It can impact Euro versus the US dollar and Euro versus the Yen. In the month of May more and more nations will allow factories and businesses to f...Read More

Brazilian mining company Vale expects to find a potential investor to exit its South Pacific nickel asset Vale New Caledonia (VNC) in the next one to two months, base metals director Mark Travers said in a conference call on Wednesday April 29.The company confirmed it was looking to divest from the business in December last year, while talks with interested parties began in November, Travers added...Read More

A summary of Brazilian mining company Vale's financial results for the first quarter of 2020.In brief Pro forma adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) down by 26% year on year due to depreciation of Brazilian Real.Net income of $239 million, compared with a net loss of $1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2019. Investments totaled $1.12 billion, up by...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday April 29 that are worth another look.Export prices for Japan-origin plate and structural (P&S) grades of ferrous scrap rose by ?500 ($5) per tonne week on week on April 29, with tighter supplies over recent weeks keeping the values up, sources have told Fastmarkets.Brazilian mining company Vale expects to find a potential invest...Read More

The Covid-19 pandemic may well provide Freeport-McMoRan with a silver lining it had never expected. The US copper producer is discussing with the government of Indonesia what should be done with the planned smelter in the Gresik region in the province of East Java. It has been forced to delay the completion timeline of December 2023 for the plant, due both to Covid-19-related disruptions to the wo...Read More

When the oil price fell into negative price territory at the start of the week ended April 24, it fueled fears that a similar situation could materialize in metals. The good news for users of the London Metal Exchange is the exchange's delivery mechanism that makes it virtually implausible, while its contract structure makes it even more unlikely. Here's why. The reason the West Texas In...Read More

Last month, analysts started warning that oil prices could fall below zero. On Monday April 20, they did.The May futures contract for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil fell as low as minus $37.63 per barrel, the first time ever that the price of the commodity has entered negative territory. By contrast, the June WTI contract is trading at around $20 per barrel, marking the biggest perce...Read More

The three-month copper price on the LME was higher at the close of trading on Wednesday April 29, staying firmly above nearby support levels despite only average turnover, while tin futures showed some weakness over the afternoon. Copper's outright price on the London Metal Exchange closed at $5,273 per tonne on Wednesday afternoon, climbing from an intraday low of $5,197 per tonne, while turnover...Read More