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
Several hundred activists were arrested Monday afternoon during a sit-in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to call for action on voting rights and campaign finance reform. The mass civil disobedience, part of a week-long Washington protest known as Democracy Spring, aimed to demonstrate the depth of grassroots frustration at a political system that, participants said, is tilted toward the wealthy a...Read More
Several hundred activists were arrested Monday afternoon during a sit-in on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to call for action on voting rights and campaign finance reform. The mass civil disobedience, part of a week-long Washington protest known as Democracy Spring, aimed to demonstrate the depth of grassroots frustration at a political system that, participants said, is tilted toward the wealthy a...Read More
Geoscience BC is releasing the results of an innovative tree-top sampling program led by Noble Exploration Services Ltd. The study looked at whether trace amounts of metals found in spruce trees could lead prospectors to the next big mineral discovery. As part of the TREK project, a total of 421 side-branch samples, comprising one kilogram of twigs and needles, were systematically collected near...Read More
Chile's Codelco, the world's No.1 copper producer, has scrapped its plan to build a new mine at its El Salvador division and, instead, will extract the riches from the nearby Inca deposit by gradually expanding the current pit."While plans to expand Salvador, known as the Rajo Inca project, have not even reached pre-feasibility stage, the company has already decided that it's not building a new mi...Read More
Revenge of the Vikings - Iceland Will Create Its Own Money ... Iceland is taking the money back from the clutches of the private fractional reserve lending cartel. It's happened before in history, and with great success, but it has also prompted a violent backlash from the elites ... - 21st Century WireUsually we comment on the elite propaganda of mainstream media reports, but we've always mad...Read More
Revenge of the Vikings - Iceland Will Create Its Own Money ... Iceland is taking the money back from the clutches of the private fractional reserve lending cartel. It's happened before in history, and with great success, but it has also prompted a violent backlash from the elites ... - 21st Century WireUsually we comment on the elite propaganda of mainstream media reports, but we've always mad...Read More
Imperial Metals (TSX:III) has announced Huckleberry Mines has recalled 44 of the 85 employees that had been laid off from its open-pit copper mine near Houston, British Columbia, in January.The company, which has a 50% stake in Huckleberry Mines, had said at that time the 260-person workforce was being reduced due to low copper prices. In February, it put all other employees on notice, telling the...Read More
The World Bank sided with Crystallex over the Venezuela government and awarded the Canadian gold miner on Tuesday US$1.202 billion plus interest for the unlawful expropriation of Crystallex's investment in its Las Cristinas mining project.In 2011 Crystallex filed the arbitration request with the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. During the same year the compa...Read More
Careful handling these minerals.911 Metallurgist and Mining Examiner compiled a infographic showing seven minerals that can be harmful if not handled properly.See the full list here.See the full list here.Read More
Chile-focused copper miner Antofagasta Plc (LON:ANTO) announced Friday that Diego Hernandez is retiring as chief executive of the company and will be succeeded by Ivan Arriagada effective immediately.Arriagada took the helm of operating unit Antofagasta Minerals in February last year, at the same time as Hernandez moved from that role to run the parent company, owned by the Luksic family, one of C...Read More
Lundin Mining Corp., the base-metals company founded by the billionaire Swedish Lundin family, likely has one or two more acquisitions in its future - but is in no rush to get there."We'd like to have five or six operating mines that all have a decent life and a decent quality," Chief Executive Officer Paul Conibear said in an interview this week from the company's Toronto headquarters. "We ha...Read More
The world is dotted with states and territories that make a specialty of providing services whose purpose is to facilitate ways to hide assets … Not all of what they do is illegal but so much of it is that the whole system needs changing. - Transparency International Press ReleaseThe so-called Panama Papers stolen from the Mossack Fonseca law firm specializing in shell companies has caused...Read More
The world is dotted with states and territories that make a specialty of providing services whose purpose is to facilitate ways to hide assets … Not all of what they do is illegal but so much of it is that the whole system needs changing. - Transparency International Press ReleaseThe so-called Panama Papers stolen from the Mossack Fonseca law firm specializing in shell companies has caused...Read More
Last week Glencore announced plans to invest more than $1.1 billion in its Mopani copper complex in Zambia over the next two years.The investment, which will help improve the mine's operational efficiency and extend its life, is credit positive for the Southern African nation because it will help drive growth says ratings agency Moody's.Glencore's expansion and upgrade plan for 75%-owned Mopani wi...Read More
Canada has released a final version of its rules governing extractive sector transparency, which forces all publicly listed local miners to report payments including taxes, royalties, fees and production entitlements of $100,000 or more to governments both home and abroad.The Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act, which came into force in June last year, requires large Canadian oil, gas and...Read More
Workers at Freeport-McMoRan's (NYSE:FCX) Cerro Verde copper mine in Peru will begin Friday a 48-hour strike to protest what they describe as the near disappearance of their profit-sharing bonus this year.The Arizona-based company, which own a majority stake in the mine, has informed workers they are scheduled to receive an average bonus of $146 (483 soles) this year based on 2015 profits, down fro...Read More
The $1 Trillion Short Underlying Stocks’ Spring ... Short interest reaches highest level since 2008 despite gains … Level is contrarian bullish, sets up powerful rally, says BofA ... A funny thing has happened in the U.S. stock market, where rather than loosen their grip bears have grown ever-more impassioned. They've sent short interest to an eight-year high and above $1 trillion, by...Read More
The $1 Trillion Short Underlying Stocks’ Spring ... Short interest reaches highest level since 2008 despite gains … Level is contrarian bullish, sets up powerful rally, says BofA ... A funny thing has happened in the U.S. stock market, where rather than loosen their grip bears have grown ever-more impassioned. They've sent short interest to an eight-year high and above $1 trillion, by...Read More
While global copper production was up 3.5% in 2015, Chinese output declined.At 1.66 million tonnes, China's mine production accounts for 8.7% of global supply of just over 19 million tonnes last year. That contrasts with Chinese demand for the metal which is expected to grow to 46% of worldwide copper consumption by 2018.China is the world's number two producer but is likely to be overtaken by Per...Read More