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

A European army is exactly what the EU and UK needs Whether or not Donald Trump wins the US presidency, American sentiment is for the Europeans to do much more to help themselves ... Under Nato Euope’s defences remain incomplete and necessitate US involvement - UK IndependentGeorge Orwell's 1984 is coming to pass.It is not enough that the US has faux face-offs with Russia and China. Now...Read More

A European army is exactly what the EU and UK needs Whether or not Donald Trump wins the US presidency, American sentiment is for the Europeans to do much more to help themselves ... Under Nato Euope’s defences remain incomplete and necessitate US involvement - UK IndependentGeorge Orwell's 1984 is coming to pass.It is not enough that the US has faux face-offs with Russia and China. Now...Read More

A new report by BMI Research forecasts the global mining project pipeline will continue to narrow in 2016 and 2017 as low metals and mineral prices force miners into further cost cuts and lower capital spending.However, a handful of countries are set to continue to make significant investment into both brownfield and greenfield projects, bolstered by a combination of low production costs, high-gr...Read More

Unionized workers at Sibanye Gold's (JSE:SGL) (NYSE:SBGL) Kroondal platinum mine in South Africa began Friday an indefinite strike over transport, bonuses and safety pay.The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), the country's platinum industry largest union, wants the company to provide miners with transportation and increased safety, as many members have been attacked after wo...Read More

Gold on Track for Eighth Losing Session U.S. GDP data revision seen bolstering case for interest-rate increase ... Gold prices edged lower Friday, on pace for an eighth straight losing session, amid mounting evidence of improving economic growth in the U.S. that would strengthen the case for an interest-rate increase. -Wall Street JournalGold went up by 16 percent in the first quarter of 2016 an...Read More

After almost a century of making cars and selling them in more or less the same way, automakers (and others) are getting the sense that the business of automotive transportation might be about to change radically. Here's Toyota executive Shigeki Tomoyama on the Uber deal: "Ridesharing has huge potential in terms of shaping the future of mobility." – BloombergSoon it may become much more d...Read More

Katie Couric Regrets 'Poor Decision' to Insert Pause in Gun Documentary Interview ... Katie Couric is upset that an eight-second pause inserted into an interview she did with gun rights activists in the documentary "Under the Gun" has drawn criticism. – TheWrapYahoo’s Katie Couric has just released an anti-gun documentary with a manufactured pause that mocks pro-gun interviewees. Thi...Read More

Gold on Track for Eighth Losing Session U.S. GDP data revision seen bolstering case for interest-rate increase ... Gold prices edged lower Friday, on pace for an eighth straight losing session, amid mounting evidence of improving economic growth in the U.S. that would strengthen the case for an interest-rate increase. -Wall Street JournalGold went up by 16 percent in the first quarter of 2016 an...Read More

After almost a century of making cars and selling them in more or less the same way, automakers (and others) are getting the sense that the business of automotive transportation might be about to change radically. Here's Toyota executive Shigeki Tomoyama on the Uber deal: "Ridesharing has huge potential in terms of shaping the future of mobility." – BloombergSoon it may become much more d...Read More

Katie Couric Regrets 'Poor Decision' to Insert Pause in Gun Documentary Interview ... Katie Couric is upset that an eight-second pause inserted into an interview she did with gun rights activists in the documentary "Under the Gun" has drawn criticism. – TheWrapYahoo’s Katie Couric has just released an anti-gun documentary with a manufactured pause that mocks pro-gun interviewees. Thi...Read More

Australia's Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) is a mining services company supplying a wide range of services including remote site power and aerodrome services, plant processing and crushing, pipeline design, port logistics and sales.The Perth-based company has operated BC Iron's 7mtpa Iron Valley mine in the central region of the Pilbara since August 2014. Ore is transported to Port Hedland and Minera...Read More

Vancouver, BC - Kincora Copper Limited (the "Company", "Kincora") (TSXV:KCC) is pleased to announce it has reached agreement providing for the merger of two Kincora subsidiaries with Ibex Land Mongolia LLC and Ibex Mongolia LLC ("Ibex"), entities indirectly controlled by High Power Exploration Inc ("HPX").The transaction will result in a consolidated landholding of over 1,500km2, the majority of t...Read More

The Olympic Dam is the fifth largest copper mine in the world, and the No.1 uranium deposit. (Image courtesy of BHP Billiton)World's largest miner BHP Billiton (ASX, NYSE:BHP) (LON:BLT) has made a bold bet on copper and it's starting by finding a way to boost output for the red metal from its Olympic Dam, Australia's biggest underground mine, even before a proposed and long-awaited mega-expansion...Read More

Canadian seafloor miner Nautilus Minerals (TSX, LON:NUS) posted Thursday upgraded mineral resource estimates for its underwater mining project in the Eastern Pacific, off the coast of Mexico, which shows the venture is much richer than originally thought.The project's inferred mineral resource base went up from 410 million tonnes to 685 million tonnes (wet).According to the updated estimate, th...Read More

WikiLeaks releases latest documents from TISA negotiations ... The classified annex to the draft “core text” of the Trade in Services Agreement is part of what is being secretly negotiated by the U.S., EU and 22 countries. The website WikiLeaks released on Wednesday classified documents from the Trade in Services Agreement, or TISA, which is a huge trade agreement being negotiated in...Read More

The Fed’s Amazing Self-Fulfilling Forecast ... The Federal Reserve's track record of economic forecasting is a lot better than many observers recognize. It might also offer some insight into the central bank's approach to managing the recovery. -BloombergThis Bloomberg article makes the point that the Federal Reserve is competent.Worrisomely, such articles tend to appear at the top of the...Read More

WikiLeaks releases latest documents from TISA negotiations ... The classified annex to the draft “core text” of the Trade in Services Agreement is part of what is being secretly negotiated by the U.S., EU and 22 countries. The website WikiLeaks released on Wednesday classified documents from the Trade in Services Agreement, or TISA, which is a huge trade agreement being negotiated in...Read More

The Fed’s Amazing Self-Fulfilling Forecast ... The Federal Reserve's track record of economic forecasting is a lot better than many observers recognize. It might also offer some insight into the central bank's approach to managing the recovery. -BloombergThis Bloomberg article makes the point that the Federal Reserve is competent.Worrisomely, such articles tend to appear at the top of the...Read More

A study of private capital in the resources sector by industry tracker Preqin finds significant growth since the global financial crisis in the debt fundraising market with 54 funds closed since 2010 raising more than $29bn.According to Preqin which tracks 1,520 funds active in natural resources investment around the world, at the moment there are 32 unlisted natural resources funds in the ma...Read More

10,000 meters of core drilling could extend Deep Kerr block cave resource 800 meters to the southTORONTO, (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Seabridge Gold (TSX:SEA) (NYSE:SA) today outlined its 2016 exploration plans at its 100%-owned KSM Project in northwestern British Columbia. The program calls for 10,000 meters of core drilling designed to expand by as much as 800 meters the block cave shapes that confine t...Read More