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
Following months of speculation on its ability to buy new assets, Canadian miner Hudbay Minerals (TSX, NYSE: HBM) announced today it has completed the acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Mason Resources (TSX:MNR) it did not already own. Each common share was bought at a price of C$0.40.The transaction was closed for about C$31 million, as Hudbay took over the remainin...Read More
SASKATCHEWAN - UEX Corporation has released the maiden resource estimate for its 60% owned Christie Lake uranium joint venture. JCU (Canada) Exploration Co. is the 40% owner of the project located 9 km northeast of and along strike of the McArthur River uranium mine in the Athabasca Basin.The project is still in the early stages, and the drill holes were widely spaced, but the inferred resource is...Read More
The exploration camp at the Christie Lake uranium property. (Image: UEX Corp.)SASKATCHEWAN - UEX Corporation has released the maiden resource estimate for its 60% owned Christie Lake uranium joint venture. JCU (Canada) Exploration Co. is the 40% owner of the project located 9 km northeast of and along strike of the McArthur River uranium mine in the Athabasca Basin.The project is still in the earl...Read More
RAPAPORT... HRD Antwerp will open a diamond-jewelry grading laboratoryin Dubai's Almas Tower through a partnership with retailer Stargems Group. The center, which will be HRD's first such lab in the MiddleEast, will be located within the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) FreeZone, the gemological group said Wednesday. HRD and Stargems signed a memorandum of understanding inwhich the lab...Read More
RAPAPORT... Global jewelry sales increased 4% in the third quarter, drivenby growth in North America, according to market research by Alrosa. Sales in North America rose 4% despite concerns over theUS-China trade war, the Russian miner said Wednesday. Revenue in the Asia-Pacific region, including India andsoutheast Asia, rose 3% amid a continued expansion of national retailers acrossmainland...Read More
RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds has recovered two large diamonds within a 24-hour period at its Let??eng mine in Lesotho, the company said Wednesday. The high-quality stones are white, type IIa diamonds weighing 101 carats and 71 carats, it added. The 101-carat stone is the 14th diamond over 100 carats the miner has found this year, a record for the company. Last year, Gem Diamonds unearthed eight...Read More
It was a great year for Africa-focused Gem Diamonds (LON:GEMD), as the company recovered a record number of huge precious stones from its flagship Let??eng mine in Lesotho.With the two latest, a high quality 101 carat and 71 carat white Type IIa diamond, both recovered within a 24-hour period, the number of stones over 100 carats dug up at the mine reached a record 14, the company said Wednesday...Read More
Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were mostly higher at the close of trading on Wednesday December 19, reflecting a continued retreat in the dollar index The three-month copper price climbed 0.7%, ending back above $6,000 per tonne. In a quiet trading day, 16,200 lots of copper changed hands. In supply-side news, judges earlier this week ordered the reopening of Sterlite Copper's Tut...Read More
Hong Kong-based jewellery giant Chow Tai Fook is the latest industry heavyweight to join De Beers' pilot of its end-to-end diamond blockchain program called Tracr, which aims at clearing the supply chain of imposters and conflict stones.Chow Tai Fook's participation will further extend the platform's reach into the Asian diamond sector, particularly in Greater China, the world's No. 1 diamond pr...Read More
RAPAPORT... Baselworld and Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie inGeneva (SIHH) will take place back-to-back from 2020 in an attempt by theirorganizers to reinvigorate interest in the shows. SIHH, which is usually a January event, will instead runfrom April 26 to 29 in Geneva, while Baselworld will begin immediatelyafterward, from April 30 to May 5. That show is usually scheduled for Ma...Read More
RAPAPORT... De Beers has expanded its blockchain initiative into theAsian retail sector by signing up Chow Tai Fook, the largest diamond jeweler inthe region. Chow Tai Fook's participation will enable De Beers to extendthe reach of the Tracr diamond-tracking program into greater China and thewider Asian market, the companies said Wednesday. "Authenticity, provenance and traceability are increasin...Read More
Diamond miner De Beers sold $540-million worth of diamonds in the tenth sales cycle of this year, bringing its total sales for the year to about $5.39-billion.The most recent sight yielded the strongest results for a final sales event in at least three years and compares with $455-million worth of diamonds sold in cycle ten of 2017 and $422-million sold in the same period of 2016.AdvertisementThe...Read More
(IDEX Online) - HRD Antwerp has signed a partnership with Dubai-based jewelry retailer Stargems to certify its jewelry inventory through the establishment of a diamond jewelry grading lab. The cooperation agreement will ensure the transparency and authenticity of each jewelry piece, the sides said in a statement. As a result of the collaboration, HRD Antwerp will open its first diam...Read More
The knock-on effect of Section 232 tariffs imposed by the United States in March this year on imports of steel and aluminium has been swift and dramatic.In retaliation, the European Union, Canada and Turkey swiftly imposed their own safeguard measures; the Eurasian economic zone is set to do so soon.But this trade war poses in particular a threat to the Middle East-North Africa region, which is cu...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Gem Diamonds Limited has announced the recovery of high quality 101 carat and 71 carat white Type IIa diamonds. They were recovered within a 24-hour period at the Let??eng mine in Lesotho, the highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond mine in the world, the miner said. The recovery of the 101-carat diamond brings the total recoveries at Let??eng during 2018 to a re...Read More
(IDEX Online) - The Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group is joining the Tracr?,,? end-to-end diamond industry blockchain traceability platform being developed by the De Beers Group in collaboration with key industry stakeholders. Chow Tai Fook joins a range of other leading businesses from across the diamond value chain in piloting the next generation asset-tracking platform powered by blockchain...Read More
Aluminium market participants in the United States and Europe expect further downward pressure on premiums and London Metal Exchange prices following the US Treasury Department's announcement that sanctions against UC Rusal will be removed.Sanctions were imposed against Rusal in April, followed by several extensions of general licenses that allowed companies additional time to wind down their...Read More
The tin premium in Europe held firm on Tuesday December 18, but remains elevated amid continued Indonesian export delays, while quiet market conditions and a closed import window kept US and Chinese premiums flat week on week. Europe awaits Indonesian export resolution Reduced output caps domestic US market Chinese premiums steady amid seasonal lull European premiums remain elevated d...Read More
Comex copper prices rebounded on Wednesday morning in the US ahead of the Federal Reserve's decision on whether to raise or maintain interest rates.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 2.40 cents to $2.6885 per lb. Earlier, the contract hit a low of $2.6930 per lb, its weakest since November 14.While the...Read More
Delivery of close to 20,000 tonnes of zinc onto the London Metal Exchange has eased the tightness in the cash/three-month spread, boosting Southeast Asian premiums in the week ended Tuesday December 18 while European and Chinese premiums continued to stay under pressure; lead premiums were flat across various markets on little spot interest. China's zinc premium fell with deals for 2019 long-term...Read More