Iron ore prices slid on Thursday February 22 but stayed above $78 per tonne cfr China with market participants still on the sidelines despite returning from their Chinese New Year break. Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $78.20 per tonne cfr Qingdao Daily change: down by $0.23 per tonne Month-to-date average: $76.92 per tonne Metal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium Index Today: $61.56 per tonn...Read More

- Russia increased its holdings to 1,857 tons, topping the People's Bank of China's 'reported' 1,843 tons- Russia surpasses China as 6th largest holder of gold reserves - after U.S., Germany, IMF, Italy and France- Turkish central bank added 205 tons "over 13 consecutive months" - Commerzbank- Meanwhile, Russian ally Venezuela is launching a new gold-backed cryptocurrency next weekRussia has...Read More

China's domestic rebar prices remained the same as before the country's Chinese New Year break on Thursday February 22 amid thin trading. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,860-3,920 yuan ($608-618) per tonne, unchanged Northern China (Beijing): 3,950-3,990 yuan per tonne, unchanged Very few traders were offering rebar on the first working day after a weeklong holiday. Most market participants h...Read More

China's ferrous futures tumbled during the morning trading session on Thursday February 22 with sentiment cooling continually in the opening hours after the country returned to work after a weeklong Lunar New Year holiday.Futures closing prices - morning session Shanghai Futures Exchange May rebar: 3,860 yuan ($608) per tonne, down 78 yuan per tonne May hot-rolled coil: 3,924 yuan per tonne, down...Read More

Peter KrauthSilver is a wonder material – for sheer versatility, there's no competition in the precious metals.They may call it the "poor man's gold," but it's critical to industry and beyond.As the metal with the highest conductivity, silver has become indispensable to electronics and high-tech energy. Silver paste is used in 90% of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, the most common ty...Read More

SHANGHAI, Feb 22 (SMM) – Nonferrous metals futures saw mixed trading as China reopens after the week-long holiday with SHFE lead, nickel and copper up slightly while aluminium slid over 1%. Both tin and zinc also edged down.In the ferrous complex, both coking coal and coke went up while rebar was down 1.7% and hot-rolled coil slipped 1.4%.Copper: SHFE copper came off from highs registered ea...Read More

Core logging at Dumont, the world's largest undeveloped cobalt and nickel sulphide reserve. Image: RNC MineralsInvestors piled into Cobalt 27 Capital Corp (TSX-V:KBLT) and RNC Minerals (TSX:RNX) on Thursday after the companies entered into a royalty deal on all future nickel and cobalt production at RNC Minerals' Dumont project in Quebec in a deal worth $70 million.Shares in Toronto-based Cobalt...Read More

If US President Donald Trump approves Section 232 recommendations made by the country's Commerce Department, it could threaten the European steel market with export reduction and the growth of redirected import flows, sources told Metal Bulletin.The decision, however, might also allow European exporters to sell increased quantities of long steel products into the US market, should President Trump...Read More

High expectations for next week's Hong Kong show as dealers maintainfirm prices for RapSpec A2+ diamonds, and jewelry sales improve during ChineseNew Year. Indian market cautious, with banks expected to tighten lending amid$1.8B fraud claim against Nirav Modi and Gitanjali. Rough trading steady ascutters increase production to fill polished shortages. De Beers2017 earnings -21% to $528M, revenue -...Read More

Unfavorable weather conditions in Queensland, Australia have left buyers of seaborne coking coal anxious about how they might affect supply, though some services on the state's coal rail network have been restarted following recent disruptions.Some sections of the Goonyella line in the Central Queensland Coal System were re-opened to traffic on Thursday February 22 following track inspections this...Read More

(IDEX Online) - De Beers' total revenue declined by 4% to $5.8 billion (2016: $6.1 billion) - as expected, given the benefit of strong midstream restocking in the first half of 2016, the miner reported.   The average realized rough diamond price decreased by 13% to $162/carat (2016: $187/carat) mainly owing to a lower value mix; this was partly offset by an 8% increase in consolidated s...Read More

The Namibian mining sector hasbecome more investor friendly than South Africa, as the country hasclear policies that have been consistently applied, explains Sandton-based lawfirm Webber Wentzel partner Jonathan Veeran. Namibia has four policies governingmining and mineral prospecting: the Minerals Policy of Namibia, the Minerals Prospecting and Mining Act of 1992, the Minerals Development Fund of...Read More

Taiwan saw a 25% year-on-year increase in ferrous scrap imports in December, according to the territory's customs agency.The island imported 236,058 tonnes of ferrous scrap during that month, 46,570 tonnes higher than the 189,488 tonnes it took in a year earlier, data from its Customs Administration...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Everledger has announced the Diamond Time-Lapse Protocol, formed by the integration of the Diamond Time-Lapse initiative by Dharmanandan Diamonds, onto its existing diamond provenance traceability blockchain platform.   The Diamond Time-Lapse Protocol engages everyone along the diamond supply chain including miners, dealers, manufacturers, retailers and consumers, to create an...Read More

Apple has been experimenting with ways to recover cobalt from its lithium-ion batteries and to use recycled cobalt. The company says it could potentially recover 550 kilograms of cobalt from every 100,000 iPhone 6 devices it recycles. Now there are reports it's looking to secure cobalt directly from miners, marking a further move by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to ensure certainty of ra...Read More

The De Beers Group of Companies’ innovation division, De Beers Technologies South Africa (DebTech SA), has developed a novel density measurement system that can provide process plants with fast and accurate data on the material density profiles of particle samples. The availability of this data, in turn, can facilitate timeous plant adjustments that make for better plant performance and high...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The Cedex.com Initial Coin Offering (ICO) has been able to raise a substantial amount while still in the private sale stage ahead of its public pre-sale stage.   A media report in Finance Magnates spoke of $20 million as having been raised.   Ronen Priewer, founder of Cedex.com, told the site: "We have raised a very significant amount to this point. The early sale to priv...Read More

RAPAPORT... De Beers expects its production to hit a high point in 2018 as anumber of its mines approach the end of their life span, CEO BruceCleaver told Rapaport News. The company expects production of 34 million to 36million carats in 2018, up from the 33.5 million carats it unearthed last year.However, output will then slide to 32 million carats in 2019 and 2020, he said. The decline is due t...Read More

The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange was the only base metal to close in positive territory on Thursday February 22, with the rest of the complex caught in a sell-off. "Through the afternoon sessions, and with the US dollar lower again, upward momentum was maintained and some prices recovered broadly to yesterday's levels." Sucden Financial noted. Copper dipped as low as $7,00...Read More

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) - Global diamond miner De Beers has set a production target of as high as 36-million carats for 2018.In its 2017 results announcement the Anglo American subsidiary reported a production guidance of 34-million carats to 36-million carats, which compares with 33.45-million carats produced in 2017.Advertisement"Improving global macroeconomic conditions remain supp...Read More