Metal Bulletin has extended the consultation period regarding its proposal to discontinue its weekly domestic China pig iron price. During the initial consultation period, which ended Friday January 19, Metal Bulletin received feedback from the market that indicates the need for further engagement on the proposal regarding the discontinuation of the price. The extended consultation period will end...Read More

Gains in China's futures market gave seaborne iron ore prices a boost on Friday January 19. Metal Bulletin's 62% Fe Iron Ore Index Today: $76.75 per tonne cfr Qingdao Daily change: Up by $1.88 per tonne per tonne Month-to-date average: $76.65 per tonne Metal Bulletin's 58% Fe Premium...Read More

Prices for both iron ore fines and lumps picked up on Friday January 19 amid an uptick in the futures market. Key drivers China's ferrous futures, having trended downward since Thursday night, surged across the board on Friday afternoon. The benchmark iron ore contract ending the day 1.6% higher than the previous day's settlement price. A futures trader in Beijing attributed the rebound to technic...Read More

Buyers of seaborne coking coal are waiting on the sidelines in anticipation of lower prices in the weeks ahead. Offers for premium hard coking coal hovered around $230 per tonne fob Australia on Friday January 19, sources told Metal Bulletin. Bids were around $30 per tonne below these offers, they added. A few index-linked offers were also heard during the day, amid the prevailing wide spread betw...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were trading higher across the board on Friday January 19, supported by fresh cancellations of LME stocks and the weakening dollar.The three-month zinc price set a ten-year high this morning of $3,438 per tonne. 24,175 tonnes of metal was freshly cancelled today from LME-listed warehouses in New Orleans.On-warrant stock levels of zinc in the US port...Read More

China domestic rebar prices strengthened again on Friday January 19 on gains in the futures and billet markets. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 3,800-3,850 yuan ($591-599) per tonne, up 20-40 yuan per tonne Northern China (Beijing): 3,820-3,850 yuan per tonne, up 20-30 yuan per tonne Rebar futures as well as billet prices rose during the day, which pushed up spot prices for the long steel produ...Read More

Sherritt International has proposed a $115 million offering of shares and share purchase warrants tied to the price assessments of the physical, spot cobalt market published by Metal Bulletin. Each unit in the offering comprises one common share and one half of a common share purchase warrant tied to an "applicable cobalt reference price," the Canada-based cobalt and nickel producer said this week...Read More

Ex-Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, who served a one-year prison term on charges related to the deadliest US mine disaster, is now officially running for the U.S. Senate in West Virginia.Blankenship kicked off his campaign Thursday night with a town hall meeting for voters in which he vowed to support President Donald Trump's pro-coal stance with "actions."Blankenship kicked off his campaign Thu...Read More

Canada's RosCan Minerals Corporation (TSXV: ROS) announced this week that as it explores for gold potential at the Dormaa Project in Ghana, it is also assembling a sizeable contiguous land package in the gold prospective Birimian rocks of western Mali.In a press release, RosCan explained that it has entered into a Letter of Intent with Touba Mining SARL to acquire a 100% interest in the 56 sq. km....Read More

An overview of the minor metals markets and the reasons for any price moves.Read More

Shares in GoldStone Resources (LON:GRL) jumped Friday after the gold miner announced it had began a project to potentially reopen the Akrokeri mine in Ghana, which has been shuttered for over a century.The old underground mine is located within the Akrokeri prospecting licence held by GoldStone, about 1.5 km south of two proposed pits. It was shut down in 1909, due to a high inflow of water.In t...Read More

The following Metal Bulletin minor metals prices changed on Friday January 19:Bismuth MB China domestic, yuan/tonne: 69,000-71,000 yuan per tonne from 69,000-70,500 yuan Chromium MB free market alumino-thermic, $/tonne: $8,050-8,350 per tonne from $8,000-8,300 Cobalt MB free market high grade, $/lb: $37.00-38.05 per lb from $37.00-38.00 Cobalt MB free market low grade, $/lb: $36.75-37.40 per...Read More

An overview of China's minor metals markets in the week of January 15-19 and the reasons for any price moves.Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange are stronger across the board this morning, Friday January 19, with the complex up by an average of 0.6%. Aluminium prices ($2,262 per tonne) saw the biggest increases with a 0.8% gain and lead is the laggard with a 0.4% gain ($2,616 per tonne), while copper prices, at $7,125 per tonne, are up 0.7%. Volume has been high with 11,182 lots traded as of...Read More

International metals group Liberty House is to make an "unconditional and comprehensive offer" for French speciality steelmaker Asco Industries (Ascometal) ahead of the cutoff time on Friday January 19 that was set by a court in eastern France, it said on deadline day.Liberty House declined to disclose the value of its bid, but noted its intention to invest "?,?300 [$366.62 million] over five year...Read More

China's domestic stainless steel prices continued to trend downward over the past week amid high selling interest coupled with soft demand. Metal Bulletin's assessment of prices for benchmark 304 stainless cold-rolled coil in the major market of Wuxi was 14,500-15,200 yuan ($2,256-2,365) per tonne including VAT for the week ended Thursday January 18, down 200 yuan per tonne a week earlier. Steel.....Read More

https://www.bloomberg.com/Diamonds are set to slump further, according to a hedge fund whose bet on marijuana made it the world's best performer in 2016.Prices of the precious gem may slump as much as 10 percent this year as it loses appeal with younger consumers and faces challenges from synthetic alternatives, said Singapore-based Ben Cleary, who co-manages the $500 million Tribeca Global Natura...Read More

Import prices for containerized heavy melting scrap (HMS) in Taiwan showed some signs of softening this week on increased supply.Metal Bulletin's price assessment for imports of United States-origin HMS 1&2 (80:20) into Taiwan was $348-360 per tonne cfr for the week ended Friday January 19, widening downward by $2 per tonne from a week earlier.Sellers continued to offer cargoes at $360 per tonne c...Read More

VRIC 2018 top picks predictions - Marin Katusa, Rick Rule, and Frank HolmesThe Vancouver Resource investment conference kicks off on Sunday morning with Marin Katusa, Rick Rule, and Frank Holmes giving out 3 top picks each.Here are my predictions for the top picks.Marin Katusa - Blackbird Energy (BBI.V) , Equinox Gold (EQX.T), GoldMining (GOLD.v), Northern Dynasty (NDM.T)?Rick Rule - EMX Royalty (...Read More

Recently, Russian television network RT extensively quoted me in a series of articles about the US Government's gold reserves. The RT articles, published on the RT.com website, were based on a series of questions RT put to me about various aspects of the official US gold reserves. These gold reserves are held by the US Treasury, mostly in the custody of the US Mint. The US Mint is a branch of th...Read More