Samsung SDI, South Korea's leading battery maker, has unveiled plans to recycle cobalt from used mobile phones and develop lithium-ion batteries with minimum content of the metal, or no cobalt at all, as a way to offset soaring prices for the silver-grey commodity.Carmakers are scrambling to secure supply of cobalt, a key ingredient in lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles, which pric...Read More

Russia's Ambassador to Iran, Levan Dzhagaryan, announced Sunday that his government offered some support so that the Middle Eastern country revamps the Fordow nuclear facility, located near the northern city of Qom.In an interview with Russia's news agency TASS, Dzhagaryan said a delegation from the state-run nuclear agency Rosatom visited the Iran and discussed "certain practical aspects of the p...Read More

Acacia Mining (LON:ACA), Tanzania's No.1 bullion producer, has scrapped its 2017 dividend after a long-running dispute with the government of the East African nation cost the company $700 million in annual loss.The company, majority owned by Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX), also said its gold output would drop in 2018 as a result of the ongoing ban on exports of metal concentrate, which represent...Read More

Australia's Lucapa Diamond (ASX:LOM) announced that, for the first time, workers at its 70% owned Mothae mine in Lesotho have recovered diamondssourcedfromresidualmaterialandkimberlitestockpiles.In a press release, the company explained that the gems were recovered through theexisting bulk sampling plant and infrastructure at Mothae, which has been refurbished ahead of schedule as part of a previo...Read More

Suncor Energy (TSX:SU), Canada's second-largest oil and gas producer, is buying Mocal Energy's 5% stake in the Syncrude joint venture for $730 million (roughly Cdn$920 million), and said it's also acquiring an interest in an offshore project in the Norwegian Sea.As a result of the first deal, expected to close in the first quarter, Suncor's share in Syncrude rises to 58.74% from 53.74%. The other...Read More

Toronto-based Bold Ventures announced today that it has acquired two separate claim groups located within the Georgia Lake Area Pegmatite field in Ontario. The two properties are the Jean Claim Group and the Barbara Claim Group. The first one consists of eight claims comprising 94 units covering an area of approximately 1,504 hectares, while the second one consists of two claims comprising 32 unit...Read More

Mining bitcoins requires a great deal of computing power which in turn needs a lot of electricity to solve the mathematical puzzles that reward miners with cryptocurrency.China and South Korea have already banned bitcoin mining due to problems with a lack of control over fraud and money laundering, and in China's case, concern over the amount of power that the activity sucks from the electricity g...Read More

Eighteen people have been killed in Venezuela at an illegal gold mine following clashes with security forces.On Sunday Associated Press reported that there was a confrontation in Bolivar state between an armed gang that was threatening wildcat miners. The army then travelled to the Cicapra mine to try and control the area. No soldiers were among the dead.AP stated:It was the most violent incident...Read More

A uranium deposit in Western Australia under development by Cameco (TSX:CCO, NYSE:CCJ) will not be held up by conservationists who oppose it.Last week the Conservation Council of WA lost an appeal against the Yeelirrie project's approval by the WA Supreme Court. In his judgment, Chief Justice Wayne Martin dismissed the CCWA's contention that environmental approval by the former WA Environment Min...Read More

https://www.reuters.com/MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia's top coal hauler, Aurizon Holdings Ltd, is on course for a showdown with the world's biggest coal exporters after a regulator capped the revenue it can charge at A$1 billion ($783 million) less than the company sought.BHP Billiton, Glencore, Anglo American, Peabody Energy and others face cuts of nearly a tenth of their coal export volu...Read More

Gold is still a solid investment in a diversified portfolio, says Axel Merk of Merk Investments.Axel Merk is the Founder, President, Portfolio Manager, and CIO at Merk Investments LLC. He is an expert on qualitative research and macroeconomic trends. Mr. Merk is also an expert on macro trends, hard money, international investing, and on building sustainable wealth, and he is a pioneer in the use o...Read More

Robert Shiller is an American economist, academic, and best-selling author. He currently serves as a Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University and is a fellow at the Yale School of Management's International Center for Finance. Mr. Shiller has been a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) since 1980, was Vice President of the American Economic Association in...Read More

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) - ASX-listed Lucapa Diamond Company has announced its first diamond recoveries from the Mothae kimberlite mine, which it owns in partnership with the government of Lesotho.The largest of the diamonds recovered in the first rest run was 6.6 ct.AdvertisementThe diamonds were recovered through the existing bulk sampling plant and infrastructure at Mothae, which has bee...Read More

RAPAPORT... De Beers' joint venture with the Namibian government is seekinga buyer for its Elizabeth Bay operation, as the miner diverts resources to its marineprojects. Namdeb closed ElizabethBay between 2009 and 2011, when it revived it and gave it a projected lifespanof four years. While the mine is expected to continue to produce diamonds through 2019, itsoutput does not meet De Beers' needs....Read More

RAPAPORT... Alex and Anihas filed a countersuit against Sterling Jewelers, claiming the retailer breached a supply agreement between the two companies, according to court filings.In August 2015, the companies entered into anagreement whereby Sterling would purchase Alex and Ani merchandise to sell insome of its Jared stores. But Sterling, a division of Signet Jewelers, struggled tosell all the goo...Read More

The early-February sell-off in London Metal Exchange base metals seems to have run its course for now, but it may have not been as extreme as it could have been, ironically because of the growing influence of computerized trading systems.At the end of December last year, copper traded as high as $7,291.50 per tonne, and was pretty much maintained at solid levels comfortably above $7,000 for the fi...Read More

RAPAPORT... Alex and Anihas filed a countersuit against Sterling Jewelers, claiming the retailer breached a supply agreement between the two companies, according to court filings.In August 2015, the companies entered into anagreement whereby Sterling would purchase Alex and Ani merchandise to sell insome of its Jared stores. But Sterling, a division of Signet Jewelers, struggled tosell all the goo...Read More

Vista Gold Corp. (TSX: VGZ; NYSE-AM: VGZ) has completed a new prefeasibility study on its 100% owned Mt Todd gold project in Australia's Northern Territory that shows the project has the capacity to become the country's fourth largest gold mine.Vista acquired the project, located 250 km southeast of Darwin, in 2006, already decked out with infrastructure. Since then it has tripled the resource and...Read More

The early-February sell-off in London Metal Exchange base metals seems to have run its course for now, but it may have not been as extreme as it could have been, ironically because of the growing influence of computerized trading systems.At the end of December last year, copper traded as high as $7,291.50 per tonne, and was pretty much maintained at solid levels comfortably above $7,000 for the fi...Read More

The early-February sell-off in London Metal Exchange base metals seems to have run its course for now, but it may have not been as extreme as it could have been, ironically because of the growing influence of computerized trading systems.At the end of December last year, copper traded as high as $7,291.50 per tonne, and was pretty much maintained at solid levels comfortably above $7,000 for the fi...Read More