By Clive MaundThe 6-month chart for GDX shows it completing what looks like a Head-and-Shoulders top at a quite a high level, and with this morning's drop it could soon break down from the pattern leading to a potentially steep drop.On the 13-month chart for GDX we can see that there is plenty of room for it to drop, and the minimum objective in the event of it breaking below nearby support is...Read More

By Avi GilburtRarely do you enter a market environment when the fear is as palpable as it was in the middle of March of this year. The world was coming to an end based upon most of what I was reading. And, as we were approaching the market lows (and even all throughout the 45%+ rally we just experienced), many continued to call for further crashes with many targets being noted at 1800, 1600, and...Read More

Strengths? The best performing precious metal for the week was palladium, up 0.77 percent. ETFs added 241,076 troy ounces of gold to their holdings on Monday, bringing net purchases for the year to 17.2 million ounces, according to Bloomberg data. Total gold held by ETFs rose 21 percent this year to 100.2 million ounces - the highest level since June 2019. However, on Thursday th...Read More

By: Ira EpsteinGold needs to get above $1729 to swing the trend, the August gold contract. Supports around $1688 then towards $1,660s:Read More

There will be short covering in gold if it rises today and till Thursday. In my view, most people are waiting to buy gold @1650. If gold prices manages to trade over $1700 till Thursday, then laggards will start to invest and gold price could be easily break past $1800. Bond yields, stocks and commodities can all rise at the same time. Free money supply is the key reason. Positive economic growt...Read More

The LME three-month copper price was higher at the close on Tuesday June 9, breaching nearby resistance at $5,700 per tonne against strong turnover, while selling pressure saw nickel futures fail to finish above $13,000 per tonne. Copper's outright price on the London Metal Exchange closed at $5,774 per tonne on Tuesday afternoon, climbing from an intraday low of $5,676 per tonne, while turno...Read More

Seaborne iron ore prices eased on Tuesday June 9 amid announcements from the Dalian Commodity Exchange of efforts to stamp out market rumors and strengthen regulation. Fastmarkets iron ore indices 62% Fe fines, cfr Qingdao: $104.60 per tonne, down $1.07 per tonne 62% Fe low-alumina fines, cfr Qingdao: $107.30 per tonne, down $1.35 per tonne 58% Fe fines high-grade premium, cfr Qingdao: $93.39 per...Read More

China's domestic hot-rolled coil prices weakened amid fluctuating futures on Tuesday June 9, while importers asked to pay lower after Indian mills tweaked the specifications of their cargoes offered to the country.DomesticEastern China (Shanghai): 3,630-3,650 yuan ($513-516) per tonne, down 20 yuan per tonneA Shanghai-based trader said prices tracked the fluctuations in the futures market during t...Read More

The latest forecasts from Fastmarkets' team of analysts are ready to view.As we anticipated, rebar prices in Eastern China (ex-warehouse basis) rose in May, coming within 0.6% of our forecast. Strong demand at home meant that Chinese producers were largely absent from the export market, maintaining their offers near $450 per tonne, while import prices into Singapore were set near $400 per tonne cf...Read More

A summary of base metals premiums from across the globe for the week to Tuesday June 9.Please click...Read More

Pinos Altos mine Credit: Agnico EagleOTTAWA - Miners Agnico Eagle Mines and Cameco are this year's recipients of the Mining Association of Canada's (MAC) Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) Excellence Awards, which recognize innovative sustainability projects focused on community engagement and the environment.The TSM encourages mining companies to meet the demand for minerals, metals and energy prod...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe were largely stable day on day on Tuesday June 9 even as demand remained slow, sources told Fastmarkets.Market participants believe that domestic prices are close to a bottom and that European mills could announce a rise in offer prices after the European authorities make a final decision in the safeguard review case at the end of this month.Fastmarket...Read More

The LME three-month copper price was higher at the close on Tuesday June 9, breaching nearby resistance at $5,700 per tonne against strong turnover, while selling pressure saw nickel futures fail to finish above $13,000 per tonne. Copper's outright price on the London Metal Exchange closed at $5,774 per tonne on Tuesday afternoon, climbing from an intraday low of $5,676 per tonne, while turno...Read More

Brazilian base metals producer Nexa Resources will reopen part of its zinc, lead and silver Atacocha unit in Peru following a local decree that regulated medium-sized mining companies can return from a Covid-19 quarantine, the company said on Monday June 8. Open-pit mine San Gerardo, part of the Atacocha unit, is expected to resume operations in mid-June, Nexa said. However, the Atacocha undergrou...Read More

RAPAPORT... BlueRock Diamonds has sold a parcel of rough for $700,000 in a private sale, noting that the average realized price was approximately 15% below pre-pandemic levels.The miner sold 2,400 carats from its Kareevlei mine in South Africa at an average price of $290 per carat, the miner said Monday. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the company's rough garnered an average price of $410 per...Read More

RAPAPORT... Signet Jewelers' net loss increased to $190.4 million in the first fiscal quarter as the company closed all its stores for most of the period due to the coronavirus pandemic.That figure compares with a loss of $10 million during the same period a year ago, the retailer, which owns Kay, Jared and Zales, reported Tuesday. The company began closing locations in late March.Revenue dec...Read More

RAPAPORT... Tiffany & Co. reported a strong rebound in its operations in mainland China during April and May, after Covid-19 lockdowns resulted in heavy first-quarter losses for the jeweler. "While sales in key markets like the US and Japan were down significantly during the first quarter, our business performance in mainland China, which was the first market impacted by the virus, is ind...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month nickel price declined in the morning on Tuesday June 9, with its price falling from a morning low of $13,100 per tonne, while a sizable delivery of 10,000 tonnes of zinc ingots into LME-registered warehouses pressured the galvanizing metal's underlying price.LME nickel's outright price was recently at $12,880 per tonne, down by over $200 per tonne from a spike...Read More

RAPAPORT... Angola plans to create a diamond hub and exchange to help streamline sales and marketing of the rough the country produces.The hub will include an Angolan Diamond Bourse (ADB), a gemological academy and a technological research center. It will be located within a free-trade zone, Angola's Ministry of Mineral Resources and Petroleum (MIREMPET) said Monday. Angola is one of the worl...Read More

Despite a mixed picture this morning, Tuesday June 9, generally strong uptrends are underway in most of the base metals. The exception is the infrastructure heavy-weight zinc, although the galvanizing metal is also widely used in the auto industry, which may be why it is lagging behind. Asian-Pacific equities are for the most part stronger this morning, led by a 2.53% gain in the Australian ASX 20...Read More