The recent economic reports show that the current coronavirus crisis will be bigger than the Great Recession. What does it imply for the gold market? US Economic Data Paints a Gloomy PictureThis week was full of new reports about the US economy. And guess what, I don’t have good news… First of all, let’s start with the update about the weekly initial unemployment benefits. In no...Read More

Import prices for flat-rolled steel were either stable or higher in South America during the week to Friday May 15, with Chinese mills presenting more expensive offers while customer interest remained lackluster amid lockdowns due to Covid-19."There were no consultations for potential imports in the past few weeks in Brazil," a trader source said. "I call clients and they don't even want to listen...Read More

Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the session ended Friday May 15.China The UG2 chrome ore market rose once again after Chinese alloy producers with low stocks accepted higher offers. Import charge chrome prices moved up on supply tightness affecting availability. Domestic ferro-chrome spot prices climbed up on bullish sentiment following increases in...Read More

Most secondary aluminium alloy prices in the United States, including the benchmark A380.1, edged down on Thursday May 14, with producers expecting a slow recovery in demand despite automakers restarting production this month.Fastmarkets assessed aluminium alloy A380.1, delivered Midwest at 66-67 cents per lb on May 14, narrowing downward by a penny from 66-68 cents per lb one week...Read More

The stainless sector in the United States and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region will consume 13% less nickel this year, while that in China will fall by just 4% versus 2019, according to Nornickel. Nornickel expects the stainless sector - the key end market for nickel - in the US to log a 13% drop in demand for the metal this year, far exceeding the 6% global decline vers...Read More

The US Midwest aluminium premium declined on the high end of its range on Friday May 15, with participants valuating the premium lower while demand in this market remains frail.Fastmarkets assessed the aluminium P1020A premium, ddp Midwest US at 8-9.5 cents per lb on Friday, down by a half-cent on the top end of the range from 8-10 cents per lb previously, where the premium had held since April 24...Read More

Engineering consulting and management practice Zimile Consulting Engineers intends to diversify into the mining sector and believes that it is equipped and skilled to deliver quality service, says Zimile Consulting Engineers COO Fergus Feltman.“Given the scale and nature of work that the company has done over the years for other sectors, Zimile Consulting Engineers seeks to offer value-addin...Read More

The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to lead to another casualty: the mega mine. The volatility created by crises like Covid-19 is adding a layer of uncertainty to the development of large-scale projects that take a decade or more to progress and are highly capital intensive, according to Tom Albanese, the former chief executive officer of Rio Tinto.This means that mining projects are likely to be deve...Read More

The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange fell by 0.54% to close at $5,181.50 per tonne on Friday May 15.All the base metals remained under pressure on Friday and despite copper reaching an intraday high of $5,272 per tonne, it failed to maintain momentum and closed below the $5,200-per-tonne threshold with a turnover of just under 14,000 lots.Total copper stocks stood at 278,750 t...Read More

Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) on the spot market were now at their lowest level for the past eight months.Fastmarkets' copper concentrates TC index, cif Asia Pacific, dropped to $49.60 per tonne/4.96 cents per lb on Friday May 15. This was the first time the index has dipped below $50 per tonne/5 cents per lb since September last year.The index was calculated at $50.40...Read More

Hot-rolled coil prices in the United States inched up after small-volume deals at higher prices were reported to Fastmarkets, while most market participants indicated pricing had not changed much week on week.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US, was calculated at $24.69 per hundredweight ($493.80 per short ton) on Friday May 15, up by 1.7% from $24.28 per cwt a day earlier...Read More

Prices for cold-rolled and galvanized steel sheet in the United States held steady while market participants gauged the impact of North American automakers resuming production and the pace of rebound in other steel-dependent manufacturing.Two sheet mill sources said the recent round of price increases has mostly been accepted even though some distributors were slow to restock. For that reason, Jun...Read More

Domestic prices for ferrous scrap in Italy have jumped over the past month due to low scrap collection in Europe, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday May 15.Fastmarkets' monthly price assessment for steel scrap, No E8 (thin new production steel scrap), domestic, delivered mill Italy was ?,?240-250 ($259-270) per tonne on May 15, up from ?,?210-230 per tonne in the middle of April. The assessment is...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe have been under downward pressure from limited demand, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday May 15.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?411.88 ($444.86) per tonne on Friday, down by ?,?1.45 per tonne from ?,?413.33 per tonne on Thursday.Friday's index was calculated based on "workable" prices and...Read More

The prices of hot-rolled coil exports from India increased by $20-25 per tonne in the week ended Friday May 15 because most mills have filled their order books for the month of June, Fastmarkets has heard.Indian mills expect domestic demand to increase in the coming weeks because the Covid-19-related lockdown was being gradually eased across the country.The price of steel HRC (commodity), export,...Read More

Asiamet said approval from the governor of Central Kalimantan was an important step towards securing the forestry borrow-to-use permit it needs from Jakarta.Asiamet's executive chairman, Tony Manini, said the governor's recommendation was "very timely and while the value of this work is often under-estimated, the receipt of key approvals and permits serves to significantly de-risk and add substant...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesRio Tinto owns a 33.5% indirect interest in Oyu Tolgoi through its 50.8% shareholding in Turquoise Hill, which holds 66% of the project in joint venture with the Mongolian government.Read More

Seven ways the resources sector can survive the COVID-19 crisisSPONSOREDproudfootCardinal heading down familiar gold roadSPONSOREDcardinal resourcesSarama right in the middle of big exploration, corporate build-upSPONSOREDsarama resources Exore excels in Cote d'IvoireSPONSOREDexore resourcesEditor's Note: Mining Journal is making some of its most important coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic fre...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesDrilling at the high-grade Hod Maden project in Turkey returned a spectacular hit of 85.3m at 84.3 grams per tonne gold and 6.8% copper from 19m (using a 2.Read More

Hopes that the global economic engine fires up on the first attempt may be asking a lot given second waves of Covid-19 infections emerging, and the fact global leaders are not pulling together is not helping underlying sentiment this morning, Friday May 15, with US President Donald Trump at loggerheads with China. On the economic front, data out of China supports our view that the supply side of t...Read More