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

Put buying hasn't been relatively popular on GLD Gold-tracking exchange-traded fund (ETF) SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) is trading up 0.2% today at $148.15, as the coronavirus concerns push some investors to gold. In the meantime, options trading has picked up, with puts trading at six times the expected pace today.The most popular contracts by far are the April 135 and 140 puts, where more than 156,000...Read More

Calls are tremendously popular today, but have been for a whileThe shares of L Brands Inc (NYSE:LB) are up 4.3% to trade at $24.60 this morning, after CNBC reported the retailer was in talks with private equity firm Sycamore Partners about selling its Victoria's Secret brand. Although the specifics of the deal are unclear at the moment, an announcementcould come as soon as this week. L Brands s...Read More

QSR shares have moved past resistance from the 50-dayRestaurant Brands International (NYSE:QSR) is one stock on the rise this morning, thanks toa well-received earnings report. The company posted a top- and bottom-line beat, thanks mostly to strong chicken sandwich sales from Popeyes. The firm's CEO Joe Cil also told investors that the company plans to "invest behind our leadership in the fast-gro...Read More

Vancouver, BC - IsoEnergy Ltd. (TSX-V: ISO | OTCQX: ISENF) is pleased to report two new intersections of strong radioactivity in initial drill holes of the winter drilling program at the Hurricane zone. The Hurricane zone is a new discovery of high-grade uranium mineralization on the Company's 100% owned Larocque East property (the "Property") in the Eastern Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan...Read More

Coronavirus concerns remain the top focus for investorsIt's shaping up to be a slow start to the trading day for U.S. stocks, with Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures trading below fair value this morning. Coronavirus fears continue to linger, hitting global markets overnight, and pressuring futures on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX), as well. With earnings season slowing...Read More

Now is a good time to hedge stock positions after volatility decreased sharply "More volatility could be ahead, with the VIX closing the week (and the month) above the 18 area .... VIX technical pattern that stands out to me at present is similar to the early May through first half of July 2019 action - seen in the chart immediately below, in which a trendline connecting lower highs (similar to Au...Read More

Metso, which has concluded its acquisition of Canadian mobile aggregates equipment supplier McCloskey and will wrap up its mining merger with Outotec in a few months, reported 15% higher sales, year-on-year, of EUR3.63 billion and a 5% bump in orders to EUR3.69 billion for 2019, with operating profit also up 11.6% at EUR474 million.The December quarter was solid with sales 7% higher yoy at EUR914...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Over the past 10 years, fancy color diamond prices have increased 77 percent. That's according to newly released information from the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF).  Tracking the Fancy Color Diamond Index for the past decade shows that the price of pink diamonds has increased 116 percent, blue diamond prices have risen 81 percent and yellow diamond prices ha...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company, SI, a member insurer of the Jewelers Mutual Insurance Group, has earned its 33rd consecutive A+ Superior financial strength rating from insurance rating and information source A.M. Best Company.The rating references Jewelers Mutual's strong risk-adjusted capitalization, operating results and liquidity. A.M. Best also considered Jewelers Mutua...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Russian diamond miner Alrosa has announced that it will hold four auctions in 2020 in New York for rough diamonds weighing over 10.8 carats.The first auction will take place on February 18-28 with results announced in the beginning of March. The following auctions are scheduled for May 11, July 20 and November 16. "In general, each auction attracts up to 100 companies from dif...Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesState copper company Codelco, the grand dame of copper producers, is increasingly showing the signs of age as production fell 5.6% in 2019 to 1.Read More

Artemis all set thanks to unique approachSPONSOREDartemis resourcesPrevious feasibility work on Baimskaya suggests copper production of 250,000tpa and 400,000 ounces of gold per annum is on the cards - or 330,000tpa copper equivalent - which is an improvement of moreRead More

Miner and commodities trader Glencore (LSE: GLEN) has signed a five-year deal to supply South Korean battery manufacturer Samsung SDI with up to 21,000 tonnes of cobalt amid an expected boom in demand for the metal.The agreement will see the Swiss firm send the equivalent of 45% of its 2019 cobalt production, or about 63% of its expected total output for 2020, to Samsung.Glencore produced 46,300 t...Read More

Copper production in Chile, the world's No. 1 producer of the metal, dropped by 44,000 tonnes, or almost 0.8%, last year compared to 2018, amid a perfect storm of falling ore grades at the largest deposits, water scarcity and operational issues.The country's copper commission Cochilco said Codelco, the state-owned giant, was the miner most affected by ageing mines, as its production declined by 5....Read More

Uncertainty over the coronavirus outbreak - which has sickened 43,103 people in 25 countries and left 1,018 people dead (all but two of them in mainland China) - has economists and analysts trying to calculate the economic impact of the disease on commodities, trade and supply chains and global economic growth.UBS economists expect the current coronavirus outbreak, which originated at a market in...Read More

Cardinal heading down familiar gold roadSPONSOREDcardinal resourcesSarama right in the middle of big exploration, corporate build-upSPONSOREDsarama resources Exore excels in Cote d'IvoireSPONSOREDexore resourcesCase study: platform financeSPONSOREDminexiaThe same questions were asked here last November when it was pointed out that while Barrick had performed well since it merged with Randgold...Read More

Synthetic diamond producer Element Six, part of De Beers Group, has welcomed the successful conclusion of its patent infringement lawsuit against a Singaporean diamond producer.The High Court of Singapore found that the Singaporean diamond producer had infringed an Element Six patent for proprietary synthetic diamond products and their methods of manufacture.AdvertisementThe patent relates to the...Read More

The market has been clear in rewarding companies that have high-grade, scalable gold assets and the treasury to explore them.Mawson Resources (TSX: MAW) (OTC: MWSNF) checks all those boxes, has approximately $5 million in the bank, has five rigs turning, is on its way to a resource estimate targeting 3 million gold ounces, and just made an entry into a massive new Fosterville-like land package in...Read More

Since B2Gold (TSX: BTO; NYSE: BTG) launched BeMetals (TSXV: BMET) two years ago as a base-metals-focused junior, the company has picked up a development-stage zinc-silver project in southwestern Idaho called South Mountain.Originally floated in early 2018 on the early-stage Pangeni copper project in Zambia, BeMetals wanted to add more advanced-stage base metal projects to its portfolio and in earl...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Reports in the Indian press highlight the worry that many diamond traders are feeling about the effects of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. While there have been isolated incidents of the disease in India, most people are more worried about the effects on the country's diamond trade - especially in Surat.According to the media, the Surat industry could face losses of around R...Read More