Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) dropped marginally in the first half of February after traders purchased nearby tonnages from mines at increasingly competitive levels and smelters eased off buying ahead of New Year holidays in Asia. The Metal Bulletin copper concentrates index dropped by 3% to $69.50 per tonne/6.95 cents per lb from $71.60/7.16 cents at the end of J...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close on Thursday February 15, with only aluminium prices falling. The three-month copper price briefly breached the $2,200 per tonne mark before retreating - but closed $19 per tonne higher. It has closed in positive territory every day this week. "We think that both LME and Comex speculators have got too bearish in their p...Read More
Comex copper prices failed to maintain momentum in morning trading on Thursday February 15 after hitting a multi-week high earlier in the week, with the complex now in consolidation mode. Copper for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 1.55 cents or 0.5% to $3.2205 per lb. The contract had been on a three-day rally. "The base metals complex enjoyed a st...Read More
Portfolio manager John Stephenson says that while there is plenty to keep investors up at night these days, equity markets still remain the best relative alternative in a world of expensive alternatives. Markets will continue chugging higher in the coming year, he says, and picks a tech stock, a mining stock and an oil and gas stock that will perform well.Markets have been hitting new highs, with...Read More
The Fed added $11 billion to its SOMA account for the week ending yesterday. It purchased $11 billion in mortgage securities directly from banks. This injects $11 billion into the banking system. Cash is "high powered" money, meaning it can be leveraged 10x (banks need to hold 10% in reserves against "high powered" money. $11 billion is $110 billion of leverage for the banks to use for activities...Read More
The current "debt ceiling" has been suspended until March 2019. The current amount of Treasury debt outstanding is $20.681 trillion. It has been estimated that the amount of Treasury outstanding by March 2019 will be as high as $22 trillion. U.S. Government has, for all intents and purposes, operated without a constraint on debt issuance since 2013:Beginning in 2013, Congress has taken to temporar...Read More
South32 recorded a 87% year-on-year increase in earnings before interest and tax (Ebit) for the half year to December 31, 2017 at its South Africa Manganese division. The division generated $86 million from revenues of $228 million compared with $175 million for the same period the year before. The miner's Australia Manganese division recorded Ebit of $299 million, up 44% year on year, while reven...Read More
The South African rand approached a three-year high against the US dollar on Thursday February 15 following the resignation of President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday, after nine years in charge.The rand was trading at 11.67 to the dollar at 13.55 London time on Thursday, after closing at 11.82 on Wednesday. Cyril Ramaphosa, the multi-millionaire businessman and former lawyer and activist, has been swor...Read More
Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) dropped marginally in the first half of February after traders purchased nearby tonnages from mines at increasingly competitive levels and smelters eased off buying ahead of New Year holidays in Asia. The Metal Bulletin copper concentrates index dropped by 3% to $69.50 per tonne/6.95 cents per lb from $71.60/7.16 cents at the end of J...Read More
In the first week of December we visited the Eastside and Bolo projects in Nevada, owned by Allegiant Gold (AUAU.V).Read More
Untested cobalt mineralization from outcrops at the Modum Project 75 km west of Oslo, Norway. Source: Boreal Metals Corp.Under the terms of the purchase and sale, Boreal has issued to EMX 1,324,181 common shares of Boreal, bringing EMX's equity stake in the junior to 19.9%. EMX will have the right to participate pro-rata in future financings at its own cost in order to maintain its 19.9% interest...Read More
Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX:WEED) reported a surprise profit in its third quarter along with a 123% revenue surgeSmallCapPower | February 15, 2018: Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX:WEED) Wednesday reported robust YoY revenue growth of 123% to $21.7 million for the third quarter ended December 31, 2017, driven by domestic sales across all products along with record Germany sales of $1 million in t...Read More
Manganese flake prices climbed to a fresh multi-month high this week on a continued supply squeeze with the Lunar New Year holiday expected to disrupt supply further. Metal Bulletin assessed the manganese flake in-warehouse Rotterdam price at $2,075-2,220 per tonne on Wednesday February 14, up 1.8% from the previous assessment. The last time manganese flake prices climbed to that level was in...Read More
EMX Manager Johannes Holz??pfel marking location of a historic drill hole at the Slattberg Project, Sweden. Source; Sienna Resources Inc.The Slattberg cobalt-nickel-copper project, located 25 km northeast of Falun, now consists of three exploration licenses covering 12,733 acres and at least 16 historic mines, the company said.Sienna is aiming to position itself at the forefront of the battery met...Read More
Diamond drill core from holer SE-01 at Adamera's Cooke Mountain Project in Ferry County, northeastern Washington State. Source: Adamera Minerals Corp.Adamera Minerals Corp. [ADZ-TSXV] said Wednesday February 14 that early stage drilling at its Cooke Mountain Project in northeastern Washington State has intersected a thick mineralized zone with both semi-massive and disseminated sulfides over a 120...Read More
Turkish steel producers have continued their deep-sea scrap purchases for March, market participants said on Thursday February 15.Steel mills in the country booked three deep-sea cargoes from various locations at comparatively higher prices, sources told Metal Bulletin.On Thursday, a steel mill in the Izmir region booked a US cargo, comprising 30,000 tonnes of HMS 1&2 (80:20) at $353 per tonn...Read More
Aluminium scrap prices in the United Kingdom fell this week, following the aluminium price's February decline on the London Metal Exchange.Group 1 pure 99% litho on a delivered consumer works basis fell to ?1,400-1,450 ($1,949-2,018) per tonne on Wednesday February 14, from ?1,420-1,470 per tonne a week earlier.This marks the first decline for the grade since late November 2017, and touched...Read More
Comex copper prices failed to maintain momentum in morning trading on Thursday February 15 after hitting a multi-week high earlier in the week, with the complex now in consolidation mode. Copper for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 1.55 cents or 0.5% to $3.2205 per lb. The contract had been on a three-day rally. "The base metals complex enjoyed a st...Read More
Metals prices on the London Metal Exchange are generally firmer this morning, Thursday February 15, with the complex up by an average of 0.5%. Nickel leads with a 1.9% gain to $14,240 per tonne and tin prices lag with a 0.1% decline, while the rest are showing gains of between $0.50 and $20 per tonne, with copper prices up by 0.3% at $7,183 per tonne.With the Lunar New Year break underway, volume...Read More
What kind of fake news is most damaging? Is it the kind that puts out a conspiracy theory with no evidence? Or is it a headline story that can easily be debunked, designed to ride a wave of viral clicks which only lasts hours or days?Those aren’t the most dangerous types of fake news. The real problem is when trusted mainstream media sources roll out a propaganda campaign. And that happens b...Read More