Global Energy Metal (OTCMKTS:GBLEF) CEO Mitchell Smith says the firm has significantly increased its cobalt footprint in Australia as it unveiled a deal to buy the district scale Mt. Isa cobalt projects.Smith says the real importance of this is it opens the opportunity to create a scalable cobalt district in the Mt. Isa region.  Meet Wolf Minerals, Thor Mining PLC, Rainbow Rare Earths Limited...Read More

Royal Road Minerals (CVE:RVR) CEO Tim Coughlin tells Proactive Investors that the company's most intense exploration activity right now is at its Golden Triangle Project in Nicaragua, where he says some "pretty exciting" discoveries have led the focus away from vein-style mineralization and on to what he says may be the source of those veins.Coughlin also says Royal Road will focus its drill atten...Read More

(Reuters) - The U.S. Interior Department will hold the largest lease sale in American history in the offshore Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, in a major test of the oil industry’s appetite for federal acreage being offered by the Trump administration.The auction of more than 77 million acres (31.2 million hectares) - an area twice the size of Florida - is part of an effort by President Donald T...Read More

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - German conglomerate Bayer won EU antitrust approval on Wednesday for its $62.5 billion buy of U.S. peer Monsanto, the latest in a trio of mega mergers that will reshape the agrochemicals industry.The tie-up is set to create a company with control of more than a quarter of the world’s seed and pesticides market.Driven by shifting weather patterns, competition in grain exp...Read More

While the programming behind algorithmic trading is still in relative infancy, these computerized systems are more likely to increase volatility in metals trading than reduce it, Lord Copper muses. A few weeks ago, fellow Metal Bulletin columnist Martin Hayes wrote about the dramatic fall in the prices of financial assets since the turn of the year. Stock markets across the world have given b...Read More

LONDON, (Reuters) - British factory orders lost further momentum this month but remained healthy by historic standards, a survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed on Wednesday.The CBI’s factory order book balance fell to +4 in March from +10 in February, its lowest since October and below all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists that had only pointed to a modest drop to...Read More

(Reuters) - Cheerios cereal maker General Mills Inc (GIS.N) cut its full-year earnings forecast due to a sharp increase in freight and commodity costs, driving its shares down 9 percent in premarket trading on Wednesday.The Minneapolis-based company, which owns the H??agen-Dazs and Betty Crocker brands, said it would try to strengthen next year’s earnings by improving its distribution networ...Read More

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) on Wednesday imposed a penalty of HK$4.5 million ($573,526) on UBS Group AG’s (UBSG.S) securities unit in Asia for failure to put in place “effective controls” for some client trading activities.During an investigation in 2016, the SFC said UBS Securities Asia failed to provide the watchdog with compl...Read More

BERLIN (Reuters) - The panel of economic advisers to the German government slightly raised its growth forecast for Europe’s largest economy on Wednesday but warned that a spiral of protectionist measures could damage the robust upswing.The five economists who advise the German government on policy said they expected gross domestic product to grow by 2.3 percent this year, up 0.1 percentage p...Read More

Zinc and lead trader Monika Zientara and aluminium trader Christian Hermetschweiler have resigned from Switzerland-based TMT Metals, Metal Bulletin has learned.The resignations follow that of senior aluminium trader Arefe Khosravi, who left TMT Metals late last year and recently joined Tiberius Group to drive a return to base metals trading. TMT Metals declined to comment on the latest resign...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange closed higher across the board on Wednesday March 21 after the dollar weakened slightly. The three-month copper price staged a recovery back toward the $6,800 per tonne support level. The red metal has come under pressure in recent days following easing supply concerns. Aluminium and nickel price remained rangebound, both closing marginally higher wh...Read More

Comex copper prices bounced back on Wednesday March 21 ahead of the conclusion of the US Federal Reserve meeting with the dollar experiencing a bout of weakness. Copper for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up 0.75 cents or 0.3% to $3.0455 per lb. Yesterday, the contract hit a three-month low. "Today, the Fed concludes its two-day policy meeting which....Read More

While the programming behind algorithmic trading is still in relative infancy, these computerized systems are more likely to increase volatility in metals trading than reduce it, Lord Copper muses. A few weeks ago, fellow Metal Bulletin columnist Martin Hayes wrote about the dramatic fall in the prices of financial assets since the turn of the year. Stock markets across the world have given b...Read More

US Dollar tumbles across the board despite Fed hike.  Gold up almost 2%, having best day in months.  Federal Reserve raises rates as expected, upgraded economic outlook.  The US Dollar dropped sharply across the board after the Fed meeting. It accelerated the slide after Fed Chairman Powell press conference. The weak USD pushed Gold sharply to the upside.  The metal is having...Read More

Fed press conference is now live. The $1330 is still a line in the sand. The FOMC is considered dovish by the market. Gold is trading at around 1324 as the Federal Reserve hikes rates by 25bp as expected.  The Fed expects to hike only 3 times this year opposed to the 4 expected by the most hawkish market participants. 3 more rate hikes are expected in 2019 and 2 more in 2020.  The...Read More

They both get stronger from this merger.Large resources and development projects are undervalued.The future potential makes them a good risk/reward stock. Alio Gold (NYSE:ALO) announced a merger with Rye Patch Gold (OTCQX:RPMGF) this week. This is one of the most ideal mergers that I have seen from a shareholder standpoint. Both companies were trying to become a solid mid-tier producer. This combi...Read More

A 25bp rate hike is priced in by the market as the focus is on the dot-plot. Gold bulls attempt to break $1320 ahead of FOMC.   Gold is trading at around 1319.50 up 0.64% on Wednesday so far as the market is awaiting the end of the two-day FOMC meeting which will likely provide the market with the confirmation of a 25 bp rate hike. The market will pay attention if whether or not the FOMC st...Read More

Gold (XAU/USD) could drop to $1,286 (ascending weekly 50-MA) if the Fed revises higher its neutral rate. The options market is bearish on gold The XAU/USD one-month 25 delta risk reversals are being paid at 0.525 XAU puts - level last seen in late December. Also, the chart shows a head-and-shoulders breakdown,  meaning the implied volatility premium for XAU puts (sell gold) will likely cont...Read More

   •  A modest USD retracement helps build on overnight rebound from 2-1/2 week lows.   •  The pace of further Fed rate hikes in 2018 should help determine the near-term trajectory. Gold gained some fresh positive traction on Wednesday and has now recovered a major part of previous session's slide to over 2-week lows.  The precious metal continues t...Read More

Domestic prices for steel beams have inched down across Europe although market participants expect to see mills raise their offer prices in the coming week after ferrous scrap prices increased.Prices for ferrous scrap in Italy increased by ?,?30 ($37) per tonne in March, while those in Germany rose by around ?,?20 per tonne."I expect to see some movement [in prices] because these guys can't keep r...Read More