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
The uranium market has significantly struggled since the Fukushima accident in 2011, which caused the nuclear power industry to retrench.Uranium was trading at US$70 per pound before Fukushima and has traded precipitously down since then, hitting US$19.60 at one point in 2017. At those levels, some analysts estimate 95 per cent of uranium mines are underwater cost-wise.Fortunately, thanks to a cou...Read More
The Turkish steel producers skipped the first day of the week without any deep-sea bookings, while prices were little changed, sources said on Monday January 14.Turkish mills have booked some deep-sea cargoes in the past week from US and Baltic Sea suppliers at around $280 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20) to replenish their stock levels. However, the weakness in finished steel markets w...Read More
Comex copper prices softened Monday morning in the United States amid new evidence that the trade war is hurting the Chinese economy.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange declined 3.10 cents to $2.6310 per lb. In December, Chinese trading activity declined as part of the ongoing trade war with the US. The trade balance rose to $395 bil...Read More
RAPAPORT... Indian industry bodies are stepping up measures to prevent owners of bankrupt diamondcompanies from starting a new business before clearing their debts. The country's TradeDisciplinary Committee (TDC) could ban such new firms fromcarrying out business on the premises of member organizations, it said in a notice December 21.That would effectivelyprevent them from operating wit...Read More
RAPAPORT... Israeli exploration company Shefa Yamim has identified a newmineral while examining gemstones it had unearthed in the country. The miner has named the material carmeltazite, as it discoveredit on Israel's Mount Carmel, and its major chemical components are titanium,aluminum and zirconium, Shefa Yamim said last week. The mineral exists insidethe miner's Carmel sapphires, a type of...Read More
The significant diamond sector reforms being enacted by the President of Angola, His Excellency Joao Lourenco, to grow investment into the Angolan mining sector, will take another major step forward this month as the inaugural competitive bid sale of large and premium-quality diamonds from the high-quality Lulo diamond mine takes centre stage in the Angolan capital of Luanda.This commitment is nec...Read More
RAPAPORT... Angola will this month host its first diamond sale under newrules designed to improved transparency and prices.Sodiam, a state-owned diamond-marketing company, will offerseven large stones from Lucapa Diamond Company's Lulo mine, including a46-carat pink and six white diamonds ranging from 43 to 114 carats. The Angolan government approved reforms last year that willopen sales to a wide...Read More
RAPAPORT... Alrosa noted strong sales in December as buyers sought goodsto replenish their stocks. Proceeds increased 38% year on year to $328.7 million, theminer said Friday. Rough-diamond sales rose 42% to $323.7 million, whilepolished revenue dropped 47% to $5 million, according to Rapaport calculations. Sales value was also 20% higher than in November due to a "flexiblepricing policy, aga...Read More
Russia's Alrosa (MCX:ALRS), the world's top diamond producer by output, is returning to Zimbabwe after almost two years, as the company continues to expand in Eurasia.The miner will develop exploration and extraction operations in the country as long as it counts with support of the government, it said on the eve of talks in Moscow between Zimbabwe's President and Vladimir Putin.Alrosa opened an...Read More
MOSCOW – Russian diamond giant Alrosa has set up a subsidiary in Zimbabwe to begin mining operations there, it said on Monday, more than two years after it shelved plans to expand into the southern African country.Alrosa, the world's largest diamond producer by output, started conducting geological exploration in Zimbabwe in 2013 but dropped the licences it held there in 2016 d...Read More
Commodity derivatives trader Jo Harmendjian has left his role in the base metals team at Societe Generale and has joined Switzerland-based investment management firm, Tiberius Group, Fastmarkets has learned. Harmendjian began his career in financial derivatives for Groupe Credit Agricole, working closely with fixed income as a sales and portfolio analyst, before moving to Paris to join...Read More
The first competitive bid sale of large and premium-quality diamonds from the Lulo diamond mine will take place on January 31, 2019, in the Angolan capital of Luanda.According to a press release issued by Australia's Lucapa Diamond (ASX:LOM), owner of a 40% stake in the prolific mine, the stones for sale will the first diamonds offered in a competitive process under the new diamond marketing polic...Read More
RAPAPORT... Richemont's jewelry sales increased 9% in the third fiscal quarter,as strong growth in the Asia Pacific region offset weakness in Europe and the Middle East. Jewelry proceeds from Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpelsrose to EUR 1.99 billion ($2.28 billion) in the three months ending December31, Richemont reported Friday. Sales at its watchmaker brands, including Piagetand Vacheron C...Read More
Diamond processing technology specialist DebTech is supplying its X-ray diamond recovery technology to Newfield Resources’ Tongo diamond mining project, in Sierra Leone.DebTech is collaborating with project house Paradigm Project Management on the project.AdvertisementDebTech’s mature sorting technology is a dependable solution for the highly efficient recovery of diamonds from a varie...Read More
In an interview with the Sunday Mail, the Chief Executive Officer of state-owned Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company, Moris Mpofu, revealed that the company plans to invest $32 million in exploration projects this year.Such projects involve reopening mines in Chiadzwa, home to the Marange diamond fields, and other parts of the country, as well as launching new operations in the Save River floor...Read More
Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were collectively lower during morning trading on Monday January 14, weakened by poor economic data from China at a time when global trade uncertainty continues to dampen risk appetite. Worst affected, zinc's three-month price was down by just over 1% this morning, falling to an intraday low of $2,455.50 per tonne despite a continued drawdown in LME stocks,...Read More
The arbitrage for copper, aluminium, zinc and nickel imported into China on Monday January 14*Copper -$49.20 (-333.53 yuan) Aluminium -$325.72 (-2,208.06 yuan) Zinc $166.48 (1,128.58 yuan) Nickel -$169.76 (-1,150.80 yuan) *Metal Bulletin calculates the physical arbitrage for import into China daily by using SHFE front-month and LME...Read More
TSX-, Nasdaq- and Botswana Stock Exchange-listed Lucara Diamond Corporation on Thursday recovered a 127 ct, top white gem-quality diamond from its Karowe diamond mine, in Botswana.Since mining started at Karowe in 2012, the company has recovered 129 diamonds in excess of 100 ct, including 12 diamonds larger than 300 ct.Advertisement“The recovery of this latest, high-value diamond attests to...Read More
Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part weaker this morning, Monday January 14, following the release of weak Chinese trade data.Three-month tin was the only LME base metal in positive territory with a 0.4% gain, while aluminium was little changed and the rest were down between 0.7% for nickel and 1% for zinc - with copper off by 0.8% at $5,911 per tonne....Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were broadly down during Asian morning trading on Monday January 14, with weakness in US equity markets last Friday denting investors' risk appetite.Tin and nickel shrugged off the weakness experienced by their peers in the early session on Monday, rising by 0.5% and 0.6% respectively. Nickel has found support against a backdrop of tightening sup...Read More