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

Canadian junior Strongbow Exploration Inc (CVE:SBW) announced Friday it has successfully completed water treatment trials at the South Crofty tin mine in Cornwall and is now working on an application to the UK Environment Agency for a mine waste permit.Strongbow says the application was expected to be filed within one month and permits could be issued before the end of the summer. The Vancouver-...Read More

Around 1,300 unionized employees at Freeport-McMoRan's (NYSE:FCX) Cerro Verde copper mine in Peru went back to work on Friday, effectively putting and end to a 18-day strike that halved the mine's output.The workers, who went on strike on March 10 demanding special benefit payments to protect their incomes against a downturn in the metal prices, as well as better working conditions, signed an agr...Read More

Vedanta Resources' (LON:VED) chief executive Tom Albanese is leaving the Indian mining conglomerate in August and return to the US in a personal move aimed at spending more time with his family.Albanese's departure comes on the heels of former Anglo American CEO Cynthia Carroll's exit, who left Vedanta last month.The company's executive chairman, Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal, would be leading...Read More

(Repeats with no changes to text. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)By Clyde RussellSINGAPORE, March 31 (Reuters) - The rally in commodity prices last year is starting to filter through to higher spending by miners, but the nature of how they are loosening the purse strings betrays the view that companies are still cautious about the outlook.Mining servi...Read More

(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)By Clyde RussellSINGAPORE, March 31 (Reuters) - The rally in commodity prices last year is starting to filter through to higher spending by miners, but the nature of how they are loosening the purse strings betrays the view that companies are still cautious about the outlook.Mining service providers are generally one of...Read More

Mar 31 (Reuters) - Below are the ratings awarded by Credit Analysis and Research Ltd. (CARE) for local debt instruments as of March 30, 2017. COMPANYINSTRUMENTRATINGAMOUNT MOVEMENT(RS.MLN) ------------------------------ --------- SHORT TERM RATINGS: ------------------- Adcc Infocad LtdST Bk FacCARE A3600Revised fromCARE A3+ (enhanced from Rs.55.00crs) Balaji Multiflex Pvt LtdST Bk FacCARE A1+17Rea...Read More

Walmart and Amazon have surely benefited from government protectionism, but the economy is still free enough to promote competition which ends up benefiting consumers.Back in 2011 Walmart invested in pricing tools, realizing that Amazon was doing better. Amazon has algorithms which search the internet for the lowest prices, and then set their products to that price. Generally even when the lowest...Read More

Walmart and Amazon have surely benefited from government protectionism, but the economy is still free enough to promote competition which ends up benefiting consumers.Back in 2011 Walmart invested in pricing tools, realizing that Amazon was doing better. Amazon has algorithms which search the internet for the lowest prices, and then set their products to that price. Generally even when the lowest...Read More

Argentina's San Juan province has ordered Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX) to halt operations at its Veladero mine following the decoupling of a pipeline carrying gold and silver solution on the leach pad Tuesday night.In a brief statement issued Thursday evening, Barrick said authorities had restricted the addition of cyanide to the Veladero mine's heap leach facility pending the verification that re...Read More

Chile's Escondida copper mine, the world's largest, has named Brazilian Mauro Neves as its new president, following a historically long 43-day strike at the operation that ended last week with the parts failing to reach a wage deal.Escondida - responsible for about 5% of the world's total copper output - failed to produced more than 120,000 tonnes of the red metal due to the historically long 43...Read More

Lawmakers in El Salvador, Central America's smallest nation, have passed a law that bans all mining for gold and other metals, making the country the world's first to impose such a broad prohibition on the extraction of minerals, environmentalists and human rights groups said.The ruling, aimed at protecting the nation's allegedly quite fragile environment, comes after a long-dragged dispute over...Read More

Investing.com - Gold prices edged lower for a third straight session on Thursday, adding to their decline from a one-month high reached at the start of the week as the dollar strengthened amid expectations for more U.S. interest rate hikes this year.Comex gold futures dipped $3.20, or around 0.3%, to $1,250.50 a troy ounce by 3:00AM ET (07:00GMT). Meanwhile, spot gold was down $2.50 at $1,251.10.G...Read More

If you are flying a jet, and approaching a thunderstorm, is it better to go through the thunderstorm, or to fly above it, safely out of range? The thunderstorm exists, and is dangerous; you cannot change that. But what you can change is how you interact with that storm, and therefore how it affects you. Avoiding the danger still requires recognizing the storm, to understand it’s scope, and t...Read More

If you are flying a jet, and approaching a thunderstorm, is it better to go through the thunderstorm, or to fly above it, safely out of range? The thunderstorm exists, and is dangerous; you cannot change that. But what you can change is how you interact with that storm, and therefore how it affects you. Avoiding the danger still requires recognizing the storm, to understand it’s scope, and t...Read More

A fresh incident has been registered at Barrick Gold's (TSX, NYSE:ABX) Veladero mine in the San Juan province of Argentina in what is the third issue affecting the operation in less than 18 months.According to Osvaldo Lima, the provincial government spokesman, a pipe carrying a "rich mixture" of gold and rocks came lose on Tuesday night, local paper La Nacion reports (in Spanish), without offerin...Read More

An undeniable and ongoing rebound in commodity prices could take global mining spending in exploration up to as much as $21 billion by 2025, a level of funding last seen in 2012 according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, but which is necessary to sustain the industry's growth.While prognosticating that far into the future can inevitably lead to inaccuracies, Stan Wholley, President for the Ameri...Read More

* Formal Brexit process begins* Sterling under pressure* Stocks regain footingBy Jamie McGeeverLONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Wednesday, following Wall Street's late surge, while sterling was the biggest loser on major currency markets ahead of the formal triggering of Britain's exit process from the European Union later in the day.Prime Minister Theresa May will notify EU Co...Read More

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - European shares edged higher on Wednesday as Britain was set to formally trigger divorce proceedings with the European Union it joined in 1973.The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX was 0.2 percent higher by 0820 GMT, with modest gains driven by broker upgrades and results.Markets were muted as investors awaited details on the two parties' negotiating positions ahead...Read More

Investing.com - Gold prices edged lower during European morning hours on Wednesday, pulling further away from its strongest level in a month as investors braced for formal Brexit procedures to be triggered by the U.K. government later in the day.British Prime Minister Theresa May is set to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty later on Wednesday, formally beginning the two-year process of exitin...Read More

(Adds company news items, futures)March 29 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening up 24 points on Wednesday as Britain submits formal notice of its intention to leave the European Union, according to financial bookmakers, with futures FFIc1 up 0.4 percent ahead of the cash market open.* SAGA: British over-50s travel and insurance company Saga Plc SAGAG.L reported a 5.6 percen...Read More