The three-month lead price on the London Metal Exchange continued to climb into the closing session on Monday May 11, climbing by more than 1.6% to its highest level in three weeks, while steady buying in zinc futures kept the galvanizing metal's forward price above nearby support levels. The lead price closed at $1,671.50 per tonne on Monday afternoon, its highest closing price since April 20, wh...Read More
One of the top primary silver mining companies is now breaking even producing silver. Here are the details...by Steve St Angelo of SRSrocco ReportOne of the top primary silver mining company's is now breaking even producing silver. Pan American Silver just released its Q1 2020 Report surprising analysts by posting a net loss of $77 million. However, if we go by the company's "Adjusted Earnings...Read More
China's domestic rebar prices weakened on Monday May 11, with downstream buyers taking a wait-and-see approach following futures losses in the afternoon.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,480-3,510 yuan ($492-496) per tonne, down by 20-30 yuan per tonneA Shanghai-based trader said trading activity in the spot market thinned during the day in comparison with last week, with sentiment dampened by t...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices were largely stable on Monday May 11 amid slower port trading activity, while the market saw a solid premium for June delivery cargoes and good demand from Chinese mills. Fastmarkets iron ore indices62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $88.61 per tonne, up $0.01 per tonne. 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $91.18 per tonne, up $0.26 per tonne. 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, c...Read More
A uranium hexafluoride cylinder at Cameco's conversion facility in Port Hope Credit: CamecoONTARIO - Cameco has announced that it is resuming production at the uranium hexafluoride (UF6) plant within its Port Hope conversion facility and its Blind River refinery in Ontario. The two operations are planned to restart the week of May 18 and ramp up to full production by the week of May 25.On Apr. 8,...Read More
Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have moved down slightly day on day on Monday May 11 amid a slow market, sources told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was ?,?420 ($454.99) per tonne on Monday May 11, down by ?,?0.83 per tonne from ?,?420.83 per tonne on Thursday May 7. The index is down by ?,?3.13 per tonne week o...Read More
RAPAPORT... US retail demand will recover slowly, with economic growth expected to bounce back in the second half of the year, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF)."Getting back to work or shopping in a pre-virus manner is difficult to predict at this time, with households likely to tiptoe back in rather than making an immediate return to the lives they experienced before," said...Read More
RAPAPORT... First place is usually something to strive for, but being the number-one target for cyberattacks that steal customer data is not a distinction retailers want. As jewelers move increasingly toward online offerings, their private information becomes less secure, while hackers become more sophisticated in their retrieval methods. The retail sector had a higher number of data breaches...Read More
A second wave of Covid-19 infections will hit the global commodities markets even harder than the initial outbreak, market sources told Fastmarkets on Monday May 11.Five new infections have surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan where the outbreak first came to light, while 11 new cases have been recorded in Shulan city in Jilin province. And in the South Korean capital Seoul, the authori...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lucapa Diamond Company has recovered a 171-carat, gem-quality diamond from its Lulo alluvial mine in Angola.The stone is the miner's 15th over 100 carats from Lulo to date, and the second in that size category this year, following the discovery of a 117-carat stone in January. The new find is also the fourth largest ever recovered from the site, the company said Monday. Lucapa retrieve...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Lucara has been forced to re-think a major expansion of its Karowe mine in Botswana after COVID-19 left it with first quarter losses of $3.2m. That compares with a profit of $7.4m for the same three months last year. The Canada-based miner has continued full production throughout the coronavirus crisis at Karowe, a mine famed for exceptional type IIA diamonds, and for having p...Read More
RAPAPORT... A Canadian court has ordered the Rio Tinto subsidiary that manages the Diavik mine to release inventory belonging to Dominion Diamond Mines it had been holding as a guarantee for missed payments.Diavik Diamond Mines (DDMI) has certain rights to extra shares in the mine if Dominion goes bankrupt with outstanding debts to the company, the court said earlier this month. However, DDMI...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers has launched an online platform to sell its rough diamonds. It's offering its registered buyers a new opportunity in a market severely weakened by COVID-19. De Beers' third Sight of the year , in March, was canceled and the fourth, in May, was virtually wiped out by travel restrictions. The new "Buy platform" allows users to search and buy in four categories - ve...Read More
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diversified major Rio Tinto has introduced Covid-19 testing at its Diavik diamond mine, in the Northwest Territories, in Canada, as an additional precautionary measure to protect employees and community members.The miner said over the weekend that not-for-profit public health experts GuardRX have installed an on-site laboratory at Diavik to conduct a testing progra...Read More
RAPAPORT... The Young Diamantaires group is planning to become a more structured organization, with regional chapters and an online networking platform for registered members, its founder told Rapaport News. The initiative of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) has expanded since it launched in 2016 as a small club that met at trade shows to discuss the sector's future. With close...Read More
(IDEX Online) - A spectacular asscher-cut Golconda five-carat diamond ring by Harry Winston has been sold at auction.It was valued at $600,000 but the price, paid by an unnamed online buyer from New Orelans, Louisiana, USA, was not disclosed. The 5.06 carat stone, graded by GIA as internally flawless, D-color, and type IIa, was described by sellers as the "ultimate diamond". The ring was made by t...Read More
TSX-listed Lucara Diamond Corporation has posted a net loss of $3.2-million, or $0.01 a share, for the quarter ended March 31.This compares with a net income of $7.4-million and earnings a share of $0.02 apiece reported for the quarter ended March 31, 2019.AdvertisementLucara explains that a decrease in total revenue had a significant impact on the quarter’s results.“The first tender f...Read More
RAPAPORT... Lightbox, De Beers' lab-grown diamond jewelry brand, has delayed commissioning its new facility in Portland, Oregon, by a few months due to the COVID-19 pandemic."The building itself and plant infrastructure [are] already complete, and we are now in a phase of installing and commissioning the deposition equipment," Lightbox CEO Steve Coe said in an email to Rapaport News. "To ensu...Read More
Gold royalty company Franco-Nevada will fund up to $150 million of Solgold's Alpala project in Ecuador, the mine operator said on Monday May 11. The net smelters returns (NSR) agreement includes an initial $100 million to Solgold which will pay a perpetual 1% NSR interest. The total amount could increase by $50 million and to a 1.5% NSR interest rate within eight months. NSR is the amount of reven...Read More
US Midwest aluminium premiums have slumped in reaction to the ramifications of the spread of Covid-19. The US aluminium market has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and is expected to remain challenged for much of this year. The extent of the impact will depend upon factors including how long it will take for demand from the major end-use markets to recover and what the mills' supply response...Read More