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

Tales in monetary voodoo, try this for a spin … We play with the money system at our peril. On Thursday, British MPs are to debate money creation, including so-called "helicopter money". This is supposedly the first time parliament has debated such matters since 1844. Back then, it didn't work out so well. Much debated but little understood, money creation is one of those fiend...Read More

Swiss National Bank's Zurbruegg Repeats Opposition to Gold Vote … Vote Would Force SNB to Maintain a Minimum of 20% of The Assets … A member of the Swiss National Bank governing board reiterated opposition to an upcoming vote that would require it to hold a fifth of its assets in gold, saying it would impede the central bank's ability to conduct monetary policy. In text of a sp...Read More

Despite some recent reversals, there is evidence that globalisation is on the march again … For most of the 1990s and 2000s, it seemed almost inevitable that the world would become ever more integrated and borders ever less bothersome. The crash of 2008, which spread havoc around the world faster than any previous financial crisis, called that assumption into question. Headlines about the wo...Read More

Wal-Mart Promises Organic Food for Everyone … Buoyed by the improving economy and Americans' belief that they can eat themselves healthy, sales of organic food are booming again. The growth in sales of organic products in the U.S., food and nonfood, had slowed to 4.6 percent in 2009 but has since rebounded. Sales rose 11.5 percent in 2013, to $35 billion, according to the Organic Trade A...Read More

Despite some recent reversals, there is evidence that globalisation is on the march again … For most of the 1990s and 2000s, it seemed almost inevitable that the world would become ever more integrated and borders ever less bothersome. The crash of 2008, which spread havoc around the world faster than any previous financial crisis, called that assumption into question. Headlines about the wo...Read More

Wal-Mart Promises Organic Food for Everyone … Buoyed by the improving economy and Americans' belief that they can eat themselves healthy, sales of organic food are booming again. The growth in sales of organic products in the U.S., food and nonfood, had slowed to 4.6 percent in 2009 but has since rebounded. Sales rose 11.5 percent in 2013, to $35 billion, according to the Organic Trade A...Read More

Japan's Warning to the World … Japan's renewed descent into recession – its sixth in the past two decades – comes with an urgent if obvious warning to the U.S., Europe and the rest of the developed world: Don't let this happen to you. Japan's famously stagnant economy may not be all that unique. True, Japan's predicament is exceptionally difficult. Extraordina...Read More

With focus elsewhere, GOP Congress shows little interest in blocking pot legalization in D.C. … Looming over the District's historic decision this month to legalize marijuana has been another mandate that voters delivered on Election Day: A Republican majority on Capitol Hill with the power to interfere with the measure when it goes to Congress for review. But congressional Republicans a...Read More

Japan's Warning to the World … Japan's renewed descent into recession – its sixth in the past two decades – comes with an urgent if obvious warning to the U.S., Europe and the rest of the developed world: Don't let this happen to you. Japan's famously stagnant economy may not be all that unique. True, Japan's predicament is exceptionally difficult. Extraordina...Read More

With focus elsewhere, GOP Congress shows little interest in blocking pot legalization in D.C. … Looming over the District's historic decision this month to legalize marijuana has been another mandate that voters delivered on Election Day: A Republican majority on Capitol Hill with the power to interfere with the measure when it goes to Congress for review. But congressional Republicans a...Read More

Diamonds and gold sales continue to finance conflict in chaos-ridden Central African Republic, which has illegally exported an estimated 140,000 carats worth $24 million this year despite international efforts to clamp down on illicit trade.While tensions appeared to have eased in the nation's capital Bangui after several days of a standoff between former rebels and international peacekeepers, a U...Read More

Time for a 'melt-up': the coming global boom … Get ready for a "melt-up." Back in mid-October, as stock markets around the world plunged faster than at any time since 2011, many investors and economists feared a meltdown. But with the U.S. economy steadily expanding, monetary and fiscal policies becoming more stimulative in other parts of the world and the autumn season for...Read More

Putin Is Hoarding Gold To Prepare For Economic War … Russia's central bank added to its reserves of bullion in the third quarter, according to the latest report from the World Gold Council. Russia has taken advantage of lower gold prices to pack the vaults of its central bank with bullion as it prepares for the possibility of a long, drawn-out economic war with the West. The latest resea...Read More

Time for a 'melt-up': the coming global boom … Get ready for a "melt-up." Back in mid-October, as stock markets around the world plunged faster than at any time since 2011, many investors and economists feared a meltdown. But with the U.S. economy steadily expanding, monetary and fiscal policies becoming more stimulative in other parts of the world and the autumn season for...Read More

Putin Is Hoarding Gold To Prepare For Economic War … Russia's central bank added to its reserves of bullion in the third quarter, according to the latest report from the World Gold Council. Russia has taken advantage of lower gold prices to pack the vaults of its central bank with bullion as it prepares for the possibility of a long, drawn-out economic war with the West. The latest resea...Read More

G-20 Plans $2 Trillion Growth Boost to Uneven Global Economy … Group of 20 leaders agreed to take measures that would boost their economies by a collective $2 trillion by 2018 as they battle patchy growth and the threat of a European recession. Citing risks from financial markets and geopolitical tensions, the leaders said the global economy is being held back by lackluster demand, according...Read More

The Pipeline From Hell: There's No Good Reason to Build Keystone XL … No lasting jobs, no cheaper gas, and a chance to kill off one-fourth of U.S. farmland and maybe the planet. Why are both parties going all out to get such a crappy deal? The Senate will vote Tuesday on whether to authorize the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. The Republican-led House approved the initiative Fr...Read More

G-20 Plans $2 Trillion Growth Boost to Uneven Global Economy … Group of 20 leaders agreed to take measures that would boost their economies by a collective $2 trillion by 2018 as they battle patchy growth and the threat of a European recession. Citing risks from financial markets and geopolitical tensions, the leaders said the global economy is being held back by lackluster demand, according...Read More

The Pipeline From Hell: There's No Good Reason to Build Keystone XL … No lasting jobs, no cheaper gas, and a chance to kill off one-fourth of U.S. farmland and maybe the planet. Why are both parties going all out to get such a crappy deal? The Senate will vote Tuesday on whether to authorize the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. The Republican-led House approved the initiative Fr...Read More

EU finance chief to announce capital market plan in 2015 … The EU's new financial services commissioner will set out his plans for a pan-European capital market by the middle of next year, aiming to reduce companies' reliance on banks and help revive the bloc's fragile economy. Jonathan Hill said on Thursday (7 November) he was seeking to create an integrated market for raising m...Read More