The AOCE and WB have moderate overall forecasts for the metals in 2025 inline with IMF forecasts for a decline in economic growth and inflation, although we see the probability of a stagflationary scenario as still reasonably high.Read More

The past year was a difficult one overall for the metals, with the main standouts to the upside being a geopolitical risk-driven gain in gold, a China-driven rise in iron ore and a surge in uranium on broadening global support for nuclear power (Figure 1). A jump in global interest rates to near two-decade highs saw recession fears persist all year, and while one still did not actually eru...Read More

This year the post-global health crisis boom was brought to an end by a surge in inflation to forty-year highs, a major rise in global interest rates in an attempt to curb the rising prices and surging geopolitical risk after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While precious metals held up reasonably well as markets turned to them as a risk hedge, by Q2/22 the higher interest rates put an end t...Read More

Chile is the world leader in copper production, at 28.5% of the total in 2020, and this looks set to continue, with the country having the largest global reserves, at 23.0% of total. It is also the global leader for molybdenum, which is often found along with copper, and is a major lithium player, holding 51.1% of global reserves. Read More

Newfoundland has become a gold exploration hotspot over the past few years, with the sector seeing some of its strongest activity ever. While the province remains a small contributor to Canadian gold production, it has a substantial mineral industry well supported by the government, focused on iron ore, copper and nickel, and the surge in exploration suggests that gold output from the...Read More

Nevada is the core of the U.S. gold output, accounting for by far the majority, at 75.4% on average for the past year. The state looks set to remain a dominant player in U.S. gold, as it accounts for 49% of total U.S. reserves, with Alaska slightly ahead with 51% of reserves, but just 8.6% of current production. The U.S. accounts for 6.1% of global gold output, making Nevada one of the largest gol...Read More

The Golden Triangle in northwestern British Columbia has historically been a major site of Canadian gold production, beginning as early as the mid 1800s. There was a wave of production in the 1990s which cooled as the gold price declined, but larger scale production resumed in 2017, and the area has seen surging exploration interest over the past year, given that the region has some of the largest...Read More

In this report we outline the Quebec gold mining industry, including its major producers, and a survey of many of the junior miners focused on the province. Quebec accounts for 34% of Canadian gold production (second to Ontario, with 44%) and remains a major focus for both producers and junior miners.Read More

Red Lake has been one of the most prolific gold mining districts in Canada and the world, with exploration having started in the 1920s, and production, which began in the 1930s, continuing to the present day. The district is known for the high grade of its gold, its infrastructure, and strong institutional support, given the long history of mining in the area.Read More

Just when it seemed like the storm had passed, Elon and President Trump are at each other’s throats again.And like last time, the fight coincides with the Big Beautiful Bill (BBB), which may soon eliminate federal programs which benefit Tesla.As it currently stands, the $7,500 credit on electric vehicles (EVs) is set to expire at the end of September (according to the Senate version of the b...Read More

The US Senate worked through the weekend on the "Big Beautiful Bill." The goal was to pass it quickly to ensure the House will then pass it and send it to President Trump's desk before the July 4th holiday.However, disagreements among Republican Senators over reductions in spending on programs including Medicaid and food stamps as well as language in the bill eliminating "clean energy" tax credits...Read More

Happy 1st of July. The year is now half over, and we've had five and one-third months of President Trump 2.0. His opponents wanted him in jail; instead, he's in the White House.Donald Trump mugshot, Fulton County Sheriff's Office. Courtesy New York Times.Are you tired of winning yet?Odds and Ends, and Important Economic NumbersWill we see a Big, Beautiful Bill this week, or not? Beats me, but I su...Read More

Jim Rickards' latest appearance on Steve Bannon's WarRoom show is a must-watch. Today we'll discuss a few highlights then link to the full interview.Jim talks in depth with Steve about a number of hot-button and controversial topics. The Supreme Court bombshell, Iran, immigration, and even Jim's time working with the CIA.The conversation starts out with Jim and Steve discussing the American intell...Read More

Stocks aren’t climbing a wall of worry.Instead, they're standing atop the wall, arms swinging overhead in triumph, while exuberant pikers chisel away souvenir bricks with their tiny hammers.Sounds like fun, but someone's bound to get hurt.The Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) hit a new all-time high today, and the S&P 500 (SPY) is within 1% of doing the same.Meanwhile, bombs are dropping. Tariff deadline...Read More

My wife and I just finished season 1 of Landman on Paramount+. The show stars Billy Bob Thornton as a hard-nosed oil executive in West Texas.It's well worth watching, as long as you don't mind graphic content.Despite its cruder moments, the show is entertaining. Plus, it's rare to see the oil business portrayed in a major TV show, let alone in a balanced manner.Source: Cowgirl MagazineThe show sat...Read More

Roughly 3,000 years ago, some tinkering pyromaniac discovered he could make wrought iron using a crude furnace.Thanks to this unknown genius, civilization would never be the same. The Iron Age lasted from 1200 BC to 550 BC.Agriculture, toolmaking, and warfare all leapt forward.Despite the impact of this breakthrough, iron technology evolved slowly. The blast furnace, which allowed iron to be melte...Read More

In the old days, The City didn't sleep because there was so much to do. Nowadays, it doesn't sleep because it's worried about how to pay its bills.Libertarians and economists of the Austrian School variety are wont to say, "Capitalism's profits pay for socialism's follies."But let's get off our high horses for a moment and consider this: New York City housing has become so unaffordable for today's...Read More

In the 1800s, when feuds reached a certain point they were settled by pistol duel.Each man was armed with an identical smoothbore black powder pistol.Common dueling distance was 20-30 feet. Duelists either fired simultaneously, or flipped a coin to determine who shot first.Sometimes the man who fired first would intentionally miss. This was known as deloping . It was a gesture of peace.For example...Read More

Amid the global chaos, something strange is happening with stocks....They're up.In Israel, for example, the stock market has soared to all-time highs. The iShares Israel ETF (EIS) is up a whopping 53% over the past year.This is despite the fact that the country has been devastated by Iranian missile strikes. Its Haifa port has sustained unknown damage, but based on the fact that there's a media bl...Read More

Wars go on and on... until they don't. But first, wars tend to grow, and then they grow out of control. Romans had their god of war, Mars, who was considered a fickle entity. To old Romans, there was no way to predict what Mars wanted from mankind, certainly not on fields of battle. But usually, it was a stiff bill.God of War, Mars. Courtesy Hermitage, St. Petersburg.Another ancient way to frame t...Read More

Artificial intelligence is set to bring about a shift similar in magnitude to the two major industrial revolutions.Here in the U.S., and throughout much of the world, OpenAI remains dominant in the field. Its ChatGPT AI platform has built a commanding lead.But which company is OpenAI the biggest threat to? Most people would say Google, because ChatGPT has become a better alternative for many of us...Read More

Power costs are set to surge across the country, and utilities are warning of potential brown-outs.Here in Maryland we just received a letter warning about sticker-shock when our electricity bills arrive this summer.This is incredibly frustrating, because the situation could have easily been avoided.For too long, subversive forces in our country have actively harmed power generation, resource extr...Read More

The Alaska Petroleum Reserve is a 23 million acre area rich with petroleum and mineral resources.In 2024, Joe Biden tried to make it impossible to drill and mine there.As its name implies, the Petroleum Reserve was created to support America's energy independence and economy.But with the stroke of a pen, Biden attempted to nix all future development.Now, the Trump administration is unlocking this...Read More

There was a time when nations at least pretended to seek moral clarity before marching to war. Today, with the drums pounding louder for a U.S. confrontation with Iran, I'm wondering if anyone in Washington even remembers or ever learned the Catholic Church's "just war" doctrine.Because if they had, they'd know we're nowhere near satisfying it.The Original Red LineThe idea that war can be mora...Read More

At the 2016 Republican Presidential primary debate, Donald J. Trump dressed down Jeb Bush like a misbehaving child.After having already dubbed him as "low-energy Jeb", at this debate Trump attacked the former Florida governor for defending his brother's war in Iraq. He called the invasion a "big, fat mistake".Trump loudly called out the GOP establishment, repeatedly reminding viewers how "they lie...Read More

Early last week, I had a strange feeling. Something wasn't right. Indeed, something was wrong with the overall feel of the world: "A disturbance in the Force," to borrow a line from Star Wars.I logged into a trading account and sold about half of a position that I own in a tech company. Then I used the funds to buy physical silver, plus shares in a couple of up-and-coming junior gold-silver explor...Read More

On March 20, President Trump signed an executive order "Eliminating Information Silos." The order directed heads of federal agencies to make sure officials designated by the president "have full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, data, software systems, and information technology systems."The executive order did not attract much attention until it was more recently revealed that...Read More

Ballistic missiles zipping into major cities. Sabotage teams on the prowl behind enemy lines. Drones buzzing menacingly above foxholes.Oil refineries ablaze. Ammo depots bursting into mini-mushroom clouds. Air defense systems exploding spectacularly.The world has never seen war footage like this.Clearly the conflicts between Israel and Iran, and Russia and Ukraine, are heating up.But strangely, so...Read More

The phrase "trump card" can be traced back to 15th century English card games."Trump" is a variation of triumph, so a trump card is one with the potential to win a game.In this trade war, China's triumph card is undoubtedly rare earth elements (REEs) and the magnets that are made with them. As we have discussed previously, China has a near-monopoly on many of the critical REEs.Things reached a tip...Read More