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

Anyone bullish on precious metals should consider silver instead of gold. The white metal tends to see far more volatility, which is an advantage for traders in an up-trending market. Plus, silver prices are still playing catch-up with gold based on historical price analysis. To profit from the phenomenon, investors should consider buying the iShares Silver Trust (SLV - Get Report) exchange-tr...Read More

As the broad market continues to ride its best year-to-date performance in more than two decades, investors who haven't been paying close attention may be surprised to discover that 2019 has also been a stellar year for gold. While gold isn't having quite the historic run that we're seeing in equities so far this year, it's not for lack of performance - metal prices simply surged higher faster,...Read More

Drilling by Archer Exploration Limited (ASX:AXE) has confirmed 'particularly encouraging' copper and gold mineralisation at its Blue Hills Copper Project in South Australia.The recently completed Rotary Air Blast (RAB) geochemical drilling program at the project comprised 226 holes for 2,661m, providing a first pass test of previously identified soil geochemical anomalies. It intersected strong an...Read More

BENGALURU, June 14 (Reuters) - Gold prices inched lower on Thursday as the Federal Reserve forecast two more U.S. rate increases this year after raising rates on Wednesday, although lingering worries over trade tensions between Washington and Beijing prevented steeper losses.FUNDAMENTALS* Spot gold XAU= was down 0.1 percent to $1,298.61 per ounce at 0047 GMT. It touched an over one-week low at $1,...Read More

June 19 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 4 points lower at 7,627 on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers.* ANGLO AMERICAN: Miner Anglo American Plc AAL.L clinched hundreds of permits this month to explore for copper in a remote part of northern Brazil, Brazilian authorities said, as the growing electric vehicle market and a scarcity of shovel-ready mining projects...Read More

(Repeats June 26 column with no changes to the text. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)* Chilean copper production: https://tmsnrt.rs/2KnTcZ7By Andy HomeLONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - Copper has fallen almost nine percent in price over the last couple of weeks.In London three-month copper CMCU3 was this morning struggling to hold the $6,700 level, a chart a...Read More

* Asian shares hit 9-month lows as trade worries intensify* U.S. oil prices hit 3 1/2-year high as supply seen disruptedBy Hideyuki SanoTOKYO, June 28 (Reuters) - Asian stocks slumped to nine-month lows on Thursday on growing worries the U.S. administration's approach to trade is harming global economic growth even as it appeared to be modifying its approach to curb Chinese investments in U.S. tec...Read More

(Repeats June 26 column with no changes to the text. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)* Chilean copper production: https://tmsnrt.rs/2KnTcZ7By Andy HomeLONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - Copper has fallen almost nine percent in price over the last couple of weeks.In London three-month copper CMCU3 was this morning struggling to hold the $6,700 level, a chart a...Read More

(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)* Chilean copper production: https://tmsnrt.rs/2KnTcZ7By Andy HomeLONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - Copper has fallen almost nine percent in price over the last couple of weeks.In London three-month copper CMCU3 was this morning struggling to hold the $6,700 level, a chart area last breached in early April.Copper has been cau...Read More

OPEC’s production-cutting deal had set the stage for the oil market in 2017, but base metals prices hinge on policy coming out of China.Industrial metals continue to see support from strong Chinese buying and the reflationary trade that followed Donald Trump’s election victory.However, analysts at J.P. Morgan think prices have run ahead of fundamentals, with the exception of zinc.The o...Read More

TORONTO — Nickel prices have jumped almost 40 per cent since bottoming out in January, yet most miners of the steelmaking metal are still bleeding cash at a rapid rate.Canadian nickel miner Sherritt International Corp. noted this week that more than 60 per cent of global output is losing money on a simple cash margin basis. Once capital spending and other costs are added in, the actual perce...Read More

After many months in the gutter, two of the world’s least-loved metals are enjoying an honest-to-goodness turnaround.Zinc and nickel are both soaring this summer after recovering from shocking depths early in the year. Zinc touched US$1.00 a pound on Thursday for the first time since mid-2015, while nickel jumped to a nine-month high of US$4.73 a pound. Zinc is up 48 per cent from its Januar...Read More

It feels like a lifetime ago, but only five months have passed since investors thought Canada’s two biggest copper miners were at risk of collapsing.In mid-January, Teck Resources Ltd.’s long-term notes traded as low as 38.5 cents on the dollar. Meanwhile, the debt of First Quantum Minerals Ltd., one of its chief rivals, traded between 40 and 45 cents. The mining industry was drowning...Read More

Well, that rally didn’t last long. BMO Capital Markets analyst Jessica Fung pointed out on Tuesday that copper prices have given back all of their gains so far from 2016. Prices rose as much as 7.5 per cent before they started to slip in March.And Fung said further declines are a strong possibility in the short term. She noted that June is typically a weak month for copper prices, the U.S. d...Read More

Commodity prices have finally risen to the point that miners can start new development projects, but the rally in metals prices also brings higher costs for producers.Both operating and capital costs tend to climb sharply during cyclical rallies for metals. However, some companies have proven more adept than others at generating returns in the face of this challenge.Stephen D. Walker, head of glob...Read More

The plunge in commodity prices has forced many mining companies to sell assets or metal streams to boost their liquidity. But their work is far from finished.TD Securities analysts Greg Barnes and Craig Hutchison studied the liquidity of base metal miners and found that if prices remain low, liquidity will become “extremely tight” for many of them by the end of 2017, if not sooner.&ldq...Read More

Falling base metal prices are putting major pressure on producer balance sheets, especially for those miners that are carrying a lot of debt. Canaccord Genuity analyst Peter Bures is among those cautioning investors to be very careful in this sector right now.“With producers feeling the squeeze of over-levered balance sheets amidst a backdrop of significantly lower commodity prices, we belie...Read More

With safety issues increasing the likelihood of a work stoppage at Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold Inc.’s Grasberg project in Indonesia, coupled with a strike set to begin Nov. 10 at the Antamina mine in Peru, the probability of a deficit in the copper market has significantly risen.Estimates suggest that these two labour disruptions could remove 84,000 tonnes of mined copper supply throu...Read More

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and Lundin Mining Corp. have enough nickel exposure to provide investors with an opportunity to benefit from higher prices, but there are plenty of ways they differ.Neither company faces the risks associated with excessive nickel exposure since the primary focus of both companies is copper, but Tom Meyer, a mining analyst at CIBC World Markets, noted First Quantum&rsquo...Read More

Base metal stocks have been battered in recent months as commodity prices declined, regardless of their quality. Buying them after a sell-off is a risky proposition, so Raymond James analyst Alex Terentiew waded through the muck to determine which ones have been punished unfairly.He evaluated the stocks from a number of angles, including a sensitivity test to see how they would withstand a prolong...Read More