Key data from the Wednesday March 21 pricing session in Europe.Ferro-titanium 70% (max 4.5% Al), $ per kg, delivered duty-paid in EuropeTodayPreviousChange to midpoint of rangeMidpoint % change4.655.3-0.075-1Titanium scrap turnings, unprocessed (max 0.5% Sn) $ per lb, cif European ports Titanium scrap turnings, unprocessed (0.5-2% Sn), $ per lb, cif European ports...Read More

Indonesia's state mining holding company, PT Inalum, expects to reach an agreement soon on bank financing to buy a controlling stake in the local unit of Freeport McMoran Inc, the holding company's chief executive said on Wednesday.Indonesia and Freeport have agreed in principle that the U.S. miner would divest 51 percent of its local unit with funding provided by Inalum for the purchase of the ri...Read More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is in talks with the European Union, Argentina and Australia on granting possible exemptions to steel and aluminum tariffs, Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told the House Ways and Means Committee in a hearing on Wednesday.Lighthizer said that talks with South Korea over any possible exemption would be carried out within the context of existing trade...Read More

RAPAPORT... Increases in cyber theft and smash-and-grab robberies are contributing to higher crime levels in the US jewelry industry, the Jewelers' Security Alliance (JSA) saidin a report last week.The total number of jewelry crimes reported to the JSArose 12% to 1,394 in 2017, with smash-and-grabs climbing 15%.Cybercrime groups are growing in sophistication and becoming savvier,the JSA noted...Read More

Canada-listed Fura Gems (TSX-V:FUR), a new gemstone mining and marketing company headed by the former COO of Gemfields (LON:GEM), has kicked off initial production at its Coscuez emerald mine in Colombia.The early output of 1,720 carats of emeralds, including 826 carats of top quality ones, was achieved through a bulk-sampling program carried out within eight weeks of the completing the acquisiti...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Crimes committed against U.S. jewelry firms reported to the Jewelers' Security Alliance (JSA) increased by 12% to 1,394 in 2017 from 1,245 in 2016, according to the JSA's Annual Crime Report for 2017.   Total dollar losses from crimes committed against U.S. jewelry firms decreased by 0.4% to $72.1 million in 2017 from $72.4 million in 2016.   In 2017 JSA recorded a l...Read More

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed BlueRock Diamonds has raised about £500 000, before expenses, through the issue of 33.33-million shares of 1p each. Each new share issued will be accompanied by a warrant to subscribe for a further new share at a price of 3p.AdvertisementBlueRock will use the larger part of the proceeds to develop and expand its mining activities, which...Read More

RAPAPORT... The Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT) has appointed MichaelKaplan as chairman, replacing Todd Wolleman, the group said last week. Kaplan (pictured) has been involved in the JBT for 20 years,and was previously first vice chairman of the board. "We are very excited to have Mike as our chairman and lookforward to his oversight and guidance," said JBT president Richard Weisenfeld."Mike br...Read More

(Kitco News) - Gold pricesare modestly higher in early U.S. trading Wednesday, on some short covering bythe shorter-term futures traders. A weaker U.S. dollar index today is alsoaiding the precious metals market bulls. Many markets are quieter ahead oftoday’s U.S. interest rate decision. April Comex gold futures were last up $3.20an ounce at $1,315.10. May Comex silver was last up $0.04 at $...Read More

Russian miner Alrosa (MCX:ALRS), the world's top diamond producer by output, has unveiled its synthetics detector, aimed at cracking down on dishonest suppliers that mix lab-made stones with mined diamonds.The portable machine, named ALROSA Diamond Inspector, screens polished diamonds and jewellery, identifying synthetics as well as treated stones or simulants.Alrosa expects the detector's rela...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Sales of fine jewelry and fine watches rose by 6.3 percent in the U.S. market in January 2018, when compared to the same month a year ago, as the graph below illustrates.   Sales were an estimated $8.5 billion, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Commerce Department following the holiday season but ahead of Valentine's Day.   The sales rise in January was l...Read More

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened little changed on Wednesday as traders moved cautiously ahead of an expected Federal Reserve interest rate hike, while a drop in Facebook Inc’s (FB.O) shares on privacy concerns again weighed on the technology sector.The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 7.71 points, or 0.03 percent, to 24,734.98. The S&P 500 .SPX lost 2.56 points, or 0.09 percent,...Read More

RAPAPORT... Retail sales of gold, silver and jewelry in China increasedin the first two months of 2018, the nation'sdata department said. Total revenue for the category rose 3% year on yearto $80.4 billion (CNY 509 billion) in January and February, the National Bureau of Statistics of Chinasaid in a statement Monday. Retail sales of all consumer goods increased 10%,while online sales climbed 37%....Read More

Mills across Europe producing hollow steel sections have continued this week to be largely unsuccessful in raising their prices for tube products because many producers are in need of bookings, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday March 21."They've been trying for several weeks, but they've been unsuccessful. If they don't get orders, they can't raise their prices, and they are all in urgent n...Read More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates at its first policy meeting under Chairman Jerome Powell and may signal more hikes are coming in response to tax cuts and government spending that could further stoke a robust U.S. economy.The U.S. central bank projected late last year that it would lift rates three times in 2018, but some investors believe the fiscal s...Read More

RAPAPORT... The International Gemological Institute (IGI) will open anew screening facility for detecting laboratory-grown stones at the SantacruzElectronic Export Processing Zone (SEEPZ) in Mumbai, the grading organization said Tuesday. The center - which IGI claims is the first of itstype in SEEPZ - will enable companies in the jewelry-manufacturing hub toassure customers a stone is natural...Read More

Mining Journal caught up with Cochrane on the sidelines of the event to talk more in depth about his views on investing in these metals.Read More

Sean Smith, chief executive of Eden Research PLC, explains the technology behind its range of naturally-derived pesticides and why winegrowers in France, Spain and Italy are giving rave reviews to Mevalone, its grape fungicide.Work is already underway to get approval in the US as well as Australia New Zealand and South Africa, he says.Another product, Cedroz meanwhile is under development to...Read More

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday sharply criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to introduce tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and warned Washington that the European Union was ready to take countermeasures if necessary.“We consider these tariffs unlawful,” Merkel told lawmakers in the Bundestag lower house of parliament, adding that Germ...Read More

(Kitco News) - The gold market pushed to a two-week high, posting its best gains since last month’s equity market meltdown as the Federal Reserve disappointed U.S. dollar bulls after projecting only three rate hikes this year, according to some analysts.The gold market is trading just down from session highs, benefiting from the fact that the Federal Reserve is in no hurry to raise interest...Read More