Euro-Crisis Hope Confidence in European Banks Is Returning … There is cause for hope in Southern Europe. New numbers indicate that trust is returning to banks located in countries that have been hit hardest by the euro crisis. But even as discrepencies in the Continent's Target2 payment system shrink, danger still lurks. The turning point came almost exactly four months ago. On Sept. 6,...Read More
Yesterday morning here over a latte and a croissant–Kurfuerstendamm Ecke Schlueterstrasse–I got my ear bent by someone telling me that Israel and Western countries are now worried about the fate of 50 metric tons of uranium secretly stashed away in Syria. Reflecting for a couple of minutes after clicking off my cell, I strongly suspected that I was not the sole recipient of that messag...Read More
Sunday Interview: Sir Evelyn de Rothschild: 'To be rather abrupt, I don't think there's been a great change since 2008' One of the great City veterans and scion of the financial dynasty, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild tells Andrew Cave why banking culture needs to be reformed if lenders are to regain public trust. Veteran investment banker Sir Evelyn Rothschild is far from convinced that...Read More
A bill to register gold and silver coins: It had to come. It has been introduced in Illinois, the most anti-gun state in the USA. … Creates the Precious Metal Purchasing Act. Provides that a person who is in the business of purchasing precious metal shall obtain a proof of ownership, create a record of the sale, and verify the identity of the seller. Provides that a person who is in the busi...Read More
Politics makes a comeback … Prepare for the revenge of politics. For the past few decades, the quants – mathematicians, physicists and technologists – and their younger brothers, the economists, have been in the ascendant. With their mathematical models and their ability to crunch vast quantities of data, they have shaped the way businesses understand the world and operate within...Read More
LRA poaching ivory as Kony hunt intensifies … Lord's Resistance Army rebels are killing elephants for ivory to raise cash as an international hunt for their leader intensifies, diplomats and activists said. While nations believe they have LRA chief Joseph Kony on the run in the jungles of Central Africa, the Ugandan-origin rebels are still causing deadly chaos in several countries. The L...Read More
Euros discarded as impoverished Greeks resort to bartering … Communities set up local currencies and exchange networks in attempt to beat the economic crisis … It's been a busy day at the market in downtown Volos. Angeliki Ioanitou has sold a decent quantity of olive oil and soap, while her friend Maria has done good business with her fresh pies. But not a single euro has changed h...Read More
Only days after the Egyptian authorities announced they will boost the mining industry in the country, a 400 kg shipment of Centamin's (LON:CEY), (TSX:CEE) gold was prevented from leaving the nation, at least until the company receives a permit from the national petroleum ministry, reports Ahramonline.The Alexandria-based company, which is Egypt's largest gold producer, had a similar problem in O...Read More
In an effort to invite investment, grow revenue and expand the country's overall economy, Egypt has announced that is considering "offering a number of international bids for mineral exploration sites, particularly for gold," reports local paper Al-Shorfa.But the goal won't be an easy one to achieve and not exactly for a lack of resources. In fact, Egypt has a long mining history, with evidence of...Read More
AN ISLAND IN THE PHILIPPINES - John Felderhof looks much thinner than when we first met at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in 2010.The weight loss could be from the heat and humidity of the Philippines, where the 72-year-old lives in a house with a single beaten-up air conditioner in his bedroom.Or it could be the stress of writing his memoirs - a project he started...Read More
Early in 2012, the Law Society of Upper Canada convicted Toronto securities lawyer Joe Groia of "incivility" during his defense of John Felderhof against quasi-criminal charges laid by the Ontario Securities Commission of insider trading and issuing false or misleading information. (Felderhof was never charged with a criminal offence.) The geologist hired Groia in 1997, the trial began in 2000, an...Read More
Critical Elements is a rare earth mining company whose flagship project, ROSE tantalum and lithium deposit, is located in the ...Read More