Gold has big year in 2020 and outlook for this year robust. Learn about monetary expansion and gold future prices.Read More

The gold futures price reached US$1,767/ounce this week before retreating, which was the second time it has surpassed US$1,760 in the past two months, marking some of gold's highest levels in several years.Read More

Sentiment improving as US consumers gain confidence following Biden election win. China strong with robust Singles' Day sales. E-commerce driving growth as jewelers invest in multi-channel platforms and adjust to remote selling strategies. De Beers values 2019 diamond jewelry demand +0.7% at $79B; estimates 1H 2020 US sales -40%, China -45%, India -30%. Christie's Geneva sells $37M (89% by lot). S...Read More

RAPAPORT... The pandemic didn't stop Alibaba from recording sales growth this Singles' Day, with the Chinese e-commerce giant enjoying a sharp rise in activity on its platforms during the week and a half running up to the shopping bonanza.Gross merchandise volume rose 26% to CNY 498.2 billion ($74.1 billion) during an 11-day campaign between November 1 and 11 compared with the same period in...Read More

RAPAPORT... Petra Diamonds is investigating allegations that security guards at its Williamson deposit in Tanzania carried out deadly violence against local artisanal miners.At least seven deaths and 41 assaults have taken place at the Williamson mine since Petra acquired it in 2009, according to a report UK-based nonprofit RAID released Thursday. Some of the alleged victims had entered land...Read More

RAPAPORT... Alrosa expects to maintain production at its current low levels next year, aiming to reduce inventories that built up during the pandemic.The Russian miner is discussing a production plan of 28 million to 30 million carats for 2021, which the board will consider next month, it said Thursday. Alrosa ended the third quarter with 30.6 million carats in its safes, up 41% year on year,...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A human rights watchdog claims seven people have been killed and 41 injured by security staff at Petra Diamond's Williamson mine, in Tanzania.It alleges there has been a catalog of "killings and brutal assaults" involving local artisanal miners since Petra acquired the deposit from De Beers in 2009. The government of Tanzania holds a 25 per cent stake in the mine.The report by...Read More

RAPAPORT... E-commerce sales in the US rebounded this week following an initial dip in spending after the presidential election, according to Adobe Analytics.On November 8, consumers spent $2.5 billion online, an increase of 26% year on year, Adobe noted Wednesday. The following day, sales climbed 24% year on year to $2.4 billion, and soared 27% on November 10 to reach $2.5 billion.Those figures r...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The largest vivid purple-pink diamond ever to appear at auction has sold for a record $26.6m.The ultra-rare 14.83-carat, internally flawless, oval-cut The Spirit of the Rose (pictured) went to an anonymous phone bidder yesterday at Sotheby's Geneva.It was cut from a 27.85-carat clear pink rough stone unearthed at Alrosa's Ebelyakh deposit in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia...Read More

RAPAPORT... Alrosa's Spirit of the Rose has achieved the highest price for any purple-pink diamond, selling to an anonymous bidder for nearly $27 million at Sotheby's Geneva.The oval modified brilliant-cut, 14.83-carat, fancy-vivid-purple-pink, internally flawless, type II stone, named for the famous Russian ballet, sold for $26.6 million, beating its low estimate of $23 million. The diamond, whic...Read More

In the closing session of this year's International Ferroalloys, which was held virtually November 9-11, Fleur Ritzema, global minors, ores and alloys editor at Fastmarkets, and Fastmarkets' analysts Amy Bennett and Robert Cartman summed up the key market drivers for the rest of 2020 and beyond. Steel Financial stimulus from China could provide an enormous boost to its domestic consumption - espec...Read More

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northern Europe increased again day on day on Thursday November 12, supported by tight supplies, sources have told Fastmarkets.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at ?,?525.00 ($618.95) per tonne on Thursday, up by ?,?0.50 per tonne from ?,?524.50 per tonne on Wednesday.The index was also up by ?,?13.66...Read More

Scoped for growth: Nevada Copper shifts into production modeSPONSOREDnevada copper corp.The company said this week's "holing" had opened up the first two high grade, drift-and-fill mining blocks, totalling 10.6 million tonnes at 6.78% copper near the centre of the deposit.The second set of connection drives was expected to hole by June 2021, opening up an additional high-grade and medium-grade min...Read More

Scoped for growth: Nevada Copper shifts into production modeSPONSOREDnevada copper corp.Nova said it would acquire the existing NSR on the copper-nickel-platinum group metals project for up to US$6 million in cash and shares.Nova also yesterday announced a "best efforts" C$10 million raising at $1.45 per share and said it was also looking to list in the US.Scoped for growth: Nevada Copper shi...Read More

Two-time Vale president Eliezer Batista diesLeadershipLook beyond market approach to project valuations: van ZylLeadershipPantoro bullish on bigger production profileSPONSOREDpantoro limitedGenesis opens new chapter at UlyssesSPONSOREDgenesis mineralsShares in the company soared 2,750% from a March low to a 12-month high at C62c per share before retreating to 20c, which capitalises it at $13 milli...Read More

Greenland-centerd commodity developer Bluejay Mining on November 10 announced a deal giving global mining group Rio Tinto the option to buy into its Enonkoski junior nickel project in Finland.Rio Tinto has the option to acquire up to 75% of the Enonkoski project before the end of this decade, with an investment of as much as $20 million.Stage one of the scheme would allow Rio Tinto to take on 51%...Read More

Scoped for growth: Nevada Copper shifts into production modeSPONSOREDnevada copper corp.The month before South32 had wrapped up its over-the-top US$1.Read More

Key data from Fastmarkets' pricing session in Shanghai on Thursday November 12.Key drivers Increased supply from Aluminum Corp of China's (Chalco) Huasheng alumina refinery put additional downward pressure on prices in an already weak market. China's alumina market has been oversupplied since July, while...Read More

With China outperforming the rest of the world in its economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, the country has an increasing need to secure strategic materials and commodities, market participants told Fastmarkets.The disruptions to international trade amid all the headwinds derived from the Covid-19 pandemic have identified the vulnerabilities in the global supply chain. The nationwide and...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month aluminium and copper prices increased from Wednesday's close on Thursday November 12 morning, with the rest of the complex subdued on market concerns of a slow economic year-end and expectations the United States will enter a new wave of Covid-19 cases.LME three-month copper gained 0.5% over the morning, reaching $6,920 per tonne, while aluminium made a small...Read More

German steelmaker Salzgitter is to supply heavy steel plate for the Saint-Brieuc wind-power project off the French coast, the company said on Thursday November 12.Two subsidiaries of Salzgitter - Ilsenburger Grobblech and Salzgitter Mannesmann Grobblech - will deliver 50,000 tonnes of thermomechanically rolled plates for the offshore wind farm being built by Spanish group Navantia.The plate will b...Read More

Flat steel re-roller and coated coil producer Al Ghurair Iron & Steel, based in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, was now offering hot-dipped galvanized coil at $850 per tonne for orders to be produced in February, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday November 12.The price for the material, which is of 1mm thickness with 275g per square meter zinc coating, was $50 per tonne higher than the company's...Read More