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

The cost of mining gold for the world's top producers dropped more than 7% in the first three months of the year as most companies ignored the metal price's spike and continued efforts to straighten out their books, a new report shows.According to data compiled by SNL Metals & Mining, the top 17 publicly listed gold companies that reported all-in sustaining costs (AISC) produced the metal at a w...Read More

Afghanistan has deployed security forces to ensure that insurgents fighting to overthrow the government do not benefit from illegal mining of lapis lazuli, the semi-precious blue stone once coveted by Egyptian pharaohs.Illegal extraction of lapis lazuli and other minerals is fuelling the rise of the Taliban in a once peaceful corner of the country.The move comes only a few days after anti-corrupt...Read More

Carrapateena in South Australia is shaping up as a major copper-gold project. In a statement last month, the proponent (OZ Minerals) made clear its commitment to the project. The ore-production rate is to be increased over what was previously planned; work on a decline will commence next month (mining will be underground); and final processing will take place at Whyalla, a regional city approxima...Read More

The copper price was hammered down on Tuesday as a rise in warehouse stocks convinced traders that end-demand in China has not materially improved despite Beijing's economic stimulus.In late New York trade July copper, the most active contract, fell 3.4% exchanging hands for $2.0450 a pound ($4,508 a tonne), more than wiping out Friday's rebound and pushing the metal back into the red for 201...Read More

The World Bank is downgrading its 2016 global growth forecast to 2.4% from the already sluggish 2.9% pace projected in January.According to the latest update by the institution, exporting emerging market and developing economies have struggled to adapt to lower prices for oil and other key commodities, and this accounts for half of the downward revision.Growth in these economies is projected to ad...Read More

Central Africa Republic will be allowed to resume diamond exports after a three-year ban that tried preventing armed groups from financing one of the bloodiest conflicts the region has seen in recent years by illegally selling local gems.The partial lifting of the export ban follows a deal between CAR's government and producers brokered by the United Arab Emirates last March. It will initially ap...Read More

Some of China's resource companies feel they have been misled by investment-seeking Canadian governments about just how difficult it is to establish successful mines in Canada, Ottawa's ambassador to Beijing has warned.That sour note may help to explain declines in Chinese investment in Canada in favour of the United States, and serves as a backdrop to recent diplomatic jousting between the two c...Read More

We have Hillary all wrong: Americans hate a politician of the press' imagination. To her detractors, she’s either a bloodless automaton or the devil incarnate. Is it any wonder that she’s guarded? -SalonThis article posted at Salon suggests that much of the criticism aimed at Hillary occurs because she is not a man.As best we can tell, if we are properly following the article, Hillary'...Read More

‘Take that order and throw it the hell out’: Trump reportedly rails against campaign staff for telling surrogates to stop attacking judge ... Donald Trump advised prominent campaign surrogates to go after journalists who ask questions about a Trump University lawsuit and encouraged them to defend him against criticism of his comments about the US district judge presiding over the case....Read More

3 Signs of a Recession Janet Yellen Is Ignoring ... The Fed Chair's upbeat speech glossed over key warning signs. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen was upbeat on Monday in a speech at The World Affairs Council, where she largely dismissed the negative implications of Friday's jobs report, which showed that the U.S. economy added just 38,000 new jobs, the worst monthly reading in nearly six years....Read More

We have Hillary all wrong: Americans hate a politician of the press' imagination. To her detractors, she’s either a bloodless automaton or the devil incarnate. Is it any wonder that she’s guarded? -SalonThis article posted at Salon suggests that much of the criticism aimed at Hillary occurs because she is not a man.As best we can tell, if we are properly following the article, Hillary'...Read More

‘Take that order and throw it the hell out’: Trump reportedly rails against campaign staff for telling surrogates to stop attacking judge ... Donald Trump advised prominent campaign surrogates to go after journalists who ask questions about a Trump University lawsuit and encouraged them to defend him against criticism of his comments about the US district judge presiding over the case....Read More

3 Signs of a Recession Janet Yellen Is Ignoring ... The Fed Chair's upbeat speech glossed over key warning signs. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen was upbeat on Monday in a speech at The World Affairs Council, where she largely dismissed the negative implications of Friday's jobs report, which showed that the U.S. economy added just 38,000 new jobs, the worst monthly reading in nearly six years....Read More

Canadian miners Goldcorp (TSX:G), (NYSE:GG) and Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.A & TCK.B) (NYSE:TCK) are moving ahead with their new $3.5 billion mine in Chile's Atacama region, with a pre-feasibility study expected to be ready by the second half of 2017.The $3.5 billion mine will mean lower costs and improved capital efficiency - before joining El Morro and Relincho, the estimated costs for each proj...Read More

After four years of depressed prices for most commodities, especially gold, iron ore, coal, copper and oil, the end of the bear market seems closer than ever as raw materials continue to outperform bonds, currencies and equities.Based on the Bloomberg Commodity Index, which tracks returns from 22 raw materials, everything from soybeans to diamonds have experienced an important recovery this year.O...Read More

Former chief executive officer of the London Metal Exchange Martin Abbott is trying to set up an alternative metals-trading platform to existing venues.Brokers are said to be unhappy with the exchange's new fees as well as the sense that the LME is moving away from its traditional metals trading roots.The move, reports Bloomberg, follows months of talks with brokers and other concerned parties a...Read More

Trump ... said he thinks the jobless rate is close to 20 percent and not the roughly 5 percent reported by the Labor Department. And, of course, Crudele reported, anyone who buys the 5 percent figure is a "dummy," according to Trump. This, in a nutshell, is typical of the usual economic conspiracy theories we have discussed in the past. -BloombergGood for Trump.The jobless numbers are actually par...Read More

What is memetic warfare and how it threats democratic values? ... One of the contributors of Defense Strategic Communications journal issued by NATO Stratcom COE, Jeff Giesea defines memetic warfare as "competition over narrative, ideas, and social control in a social-media battlefield. One might think of it as a subset of 'information operations' tailored to social media. Information operat...Read More

Washington to Moscow: Stop Targeting al-Qaeda in Syria – You’ll Kill Our Moderates! ... The Associated Press is reporting this afternoon that the Obama Administration has requested that the Russians cease and desist from bombing al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front in Syria because Washington’s “moderate” rebels are fighting together with al-Qaeda in Syria and any attack on a...Read More

U.S. Set to Approve Moon Mission ... Commercial Space Venture Startup proposes to land payload of scientific gear on lunar surface some time next year. -Wall Street JournalSo now private trips to the moon are to take place.And yet, there is plenty of controversy regarding moon trips.A few years ago, various Chinese officials demanded a formal investigation into claims that the US even went to the...Read More