Mr. Dan Stuart reportsJUGGERNAUT COMMENCES 2018 SURFACE EXPLORATION PROGRAMJuggernaut Exploration Ltd. has initiated its surface exploration programs on both its Empire and Midas properties in preparation for the inaugural drilling program.On the Midas property the program has been designed to test the King Solomon zone high-grade bedrock gold and polymetallic mineralization that was defined durin...Read More

By Richard Murphy via Tax Research UK blogThe FT has reported this morning that:Debt at UK listed companies has soared to hit a record high of ?390bn as companies have scrambled to maintain dividend payouts in response to shareholder demand despite weak profitability.They added:UK plc's net debt has surpassed pre-crisis levels to reach ?390.7bn in the 2017-18 financial year, according to analy...Read More

Indonesia has extended a short-term operating permit for Freeport McMoRan's (NYSE:FCX) vast Grasberg copper-gold mine until the end of July, while discussions over granting the government a majority ownership in the operation are finalized.Coal and Minerals Director General Bambang Gatot Ariyono told The Jakarta Post that the extension had been given based on four key issues that still needed fine...Read More

(Kitco News) - A farmer in Ireland hit the jackpot while working his field, unearthing gold artifacts that could date back to as far as the Bronze Age.The round gold objects, which are four inches in diameter, are too big to be rings and too small to be bracelets. Experts from the Donegal County Museum believe that the artifacts were used as some sort of currency during the Bronze Age.Farmer Norma...Read More

Henry NichollsAMESBURY, England (Reuters) - Two British citizens are critically ill after they were exposed to Novichok, the same nerve agent that struck down a former Russian agent and his daughter in March, Britain’s top counter-terrorism officer said on Wednesday.The pair, a local 44-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man, were hospitalized after being found unwell on Saturday in Amesbury,...Read More

French engineering group Assystem is to conduct site characterisation and impact studies for Saudi Arabia's first nuclear power plant under a contract from the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KA-CARE). The contract was awarded recently following an international call for tenders launched by KA-CARE.Assystem said the services to be provided under the contract include site charac...Read More

Boss Resources has launched a three-phase restart strategy for the Honeymoon uranium project in South Australia, which it acquired in December 2015. The company said today it has de-risked the project commercially and technically, and has already begun work on the first phase of the programme which will take it to the point where it is ready to resume production.Phase 1 of the restart strategy inc...Read More

* Euro/dollar stays in tight range in light trading* U.S. public holiday keeps some traders on sidelines* Yuan bounces off 11-month low after Tuesday’s PBOC comments* Graphic: World FX rates in 2018 tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVhBy Tommy WilkesLONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - The euro fell on Wednesday as weaker confidence in the euro zone overshadowed better-than-expected data on business activity, while con...Read More

LONDON (Reuters) - The pound rose on Wednesday after a survey showing Britain’s dominant services industry gained momentum last month fuelled expectations of a Bank of England interest rate rise this summer.After a sluggish start to 2018, the British economy is showing tentative signs of a recovery with surveys this week for the manufacturing, construction and services sectors beating expect...Read More

LONDON (Reuters) - Euro zone business growth accelerated in June, offering encouragement to the European Central Bank to tighten policy, but optimism among purchasing managers was at its lowest ebb since late 2016, a survey found.Faster growth across the currency union, alongside rising price pressures, will reassure ECB policymakers who last month said the bank would shut its hallmark bond purcha...Read More

CALGARY/LONDON (Reuters) - Brent oil rose on Wednesday, driven higher by a threat from an Iranian commander and a drop in U.S. crude inventories for the second week in a row.The price rose above $78 a barrel after an Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said he was ready to prevent regional crude exports if Iranian oil sales were banned by the United States.The most-active Brent LCOc1 futures co...Read More

Zinc prices on the London Metal Exchange fell by more than 3% at the close of trading on Wednesday July 4, with the absence of US trading expediting a broad downtick in metals prices. The continuation of growing trade concerns has facilitated market inactivity, and in turn, a broad decline in the complex, while a pullback in global equity markets and a fall in the Chinese yuan has added to bearish...Read More

NEW YORK/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China’s embattled ZTE Corp (0763.HK) has received a temporary reprieve from the U.S. government to conduct business needed to maintain existing networks and equipment as it works toward the lifting of a U.S. supplier ban.ZTE (000063.SZ), which makes smartphones and networking gear, was forced to cease major operations in April after the United States slapped it...Read More

If gold reaches more than US$1,377.50 per ounce, seasonal analyst Don Vialoux says: "Every analyst on the street is going to be yelling: 'We're finally reaching the next secular cycle for gold!'" How should you take advantage of the coming gold and gold stocks' season in the sun?The sun is shining hot, long and bright lately (for the most part) and for analyst Don Vialoux, it signals the imminent...Read More

Jonathan Berchole has joined BNP Paribas to develop a physical metals trading book and help expand the bank's existing financing business, Metal Bulletin learned on Wednesday July 4. Berchole joined the bank in London this month as head of physical trading, having left Mercuria Energy...Read More

GENEVA (Reuters) - Trade barriers being erected by major economies could jeopardize the global economic recovery and their effects are already starting to show, the World Trade Organization said on Wednesday in a report on trade restrictions among G20 nations.“This continued escalation poses a serious threat to growth and recovery in all countries, and we are beginning to see this reflected...Read More

New Century Resources has cut its third-quarter forecast for the Century Mine zinc tailing project in Queensland, Australia, but said it remains on track for first production in August. At an investor roadshow the company said the expected output for August to September 2018 was now 4,000 tonnes of zinc metal, rather than the 13,000 tonnes it forecast late last y...Read More

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's finance ministry said on Wednesday it will not fire the first shot on implementation of tariffs in a trade dispute with the United States.The ministry, in a statement, said it would not implement its tariffs on U.S. goods set to take effect on July 6 before the United States imposes its tariffs on Chinese goods.Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk Disclaimer: The views...Read More

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union countries will discuss and likely vote on Thursday on measures proposed by the European Commission to curb steel imports into the bloc, EU sources said.The Commission has proposed a combination of a quota and a tariff to prevent a surge of steel imports that is threatened, notably since the United States imposed levies on incoming steel and aluminum.The quota wo...Read More

* Trade war worries drag world stocks lower, yuan steadies * Fed June minutes due Thursday, payrolls due Friday (Updates throughout)By Marcy Nicholson and Maytaal AngelCALGARY/LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - Gold rose to a one-weekhigh on Wednesday, extending the prior session's rebound from aseven-month low, helped by a softer U.S. dollar and smolderingtrade policy tensions, though the prospect of the...Read More