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

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 556 points, or 1.7%, to 32,920.46, and the S&P 500 lost 82 points or 2.1%, over the week to 3,852.4.The top value gainer this week was Natural Resource Partners LP which closed US$2.55 per share higher on Dec. 16 at US$45.55 apiece. The company's share price is riding high (up 50% over the past 12 months) amid a generally depressed natural resources sector. Th...Read More

A lot of the story about the collapse of FTX has been filled in over the past month, culminating with the arrest and pending deportation to the United States of the FTX mastermind Samuel Bankman-Fried.Actually, "mastermind" may be giving Sam too much credit. He appears to be a garden-variety, even boring fraud who simply stole customer money and used it to buy real estate and pay off politicians.T...Read More

The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index retreated by 1.36 points or 0.2% over the Dec. 12-16 trading period to end at 576.26. Los Andes Copper lost 45 ? to $13.50 over the period after the company said Dec. 9 it was being taken to court over environmental concerns about exploration drilling from 2007 to 2017 on its Vizcachitas project 120 km north of Santiago, Chile. Los Andes said it is fully commit...Read More

Cypress Development advances Nevada lithium project towards productionSPONSOREDcypress development corpCanada's NexGen eyes large-scale uranium productionSPONSOREDnexgen energyUranium revival takes off as reality hits on energy, geopoliticsSPONSOREDAustralia, normally a safe jurisdiction, has joined the attacks on mining, with a twist.Read More

Newcrest Mining (TSX: NCM; ASX: NCM) announced on Monday that its chief executive officer Sandeep Biswas is retiring from the role effective immediately, after eight years at the helm of Australia's top gold miner, but will stay as an advisor until March 2023.Chief financial officer Sherry Duhe, who joined the company in February, will step in as interim chief executive while a global internal...Read More

Month on month output grew 10%, with 477,000t produced. Production out of Codelco's mines slipped over the year.Read More

(IDEX Online) - India's polished diamond exports dropped during November to their lowest point this year, down to $1.25bn.Foreign sales have mostly been declining since the 2022 peak in March, of $2.20bn, although there was a notable bounce in September.Sales in November were down just over four per cent year-on-year, but by almost 34 per cent compared with October $1.89bn, according to figur...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Fugitive jeweler Mehul Choksi, accused of a $1.8bn fraud against the Punjab National Bank (PNB) is facing additional charges totalling another $800m.India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has lodged a fresh FIR (first information report) detailing allegations against Choksi, 62, his three companies - Gitanjali Gems, Gili India and Nakshatra Brands - and their directors....Read More

(IDEX Online) - Four men arrested during a jewelry raid at a s JCPenney store may be linked to a series of heists that netted $1.5m.The suspects were apprehended as they smashed display cases with hammers to steal diamond jewelry at the at the CoolSprings Galleria, in Franklin, Tennessee, USA.Police say one suspect pepper-sprayed an employee and another tried to grab an officer's gun.There ha...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Manufacturers in Surat says business is down by as much as 40 per cent as the ongoing war in Ukraine depresses markets in the US and Europe.Demand in China, where an easing of Covid restrictions has led to a spike in cases, is also weak. It usually accounts for a round a third of India's diamond exports.Many workers in India's cut-and-polish capital have had their wages c...Read More

My critics sometimes accuse me of being a communist, of all things.I must say, the irony of being accused of being a communist by many of these people is incredibly rich.That's because the policies I advocate in my writings are far, far more "free market" than any of theirs.I find my critics hide behind the slogan of free market capitalism, while practicing something entirely different - crony cap...Read More

For years, Brazil was overlooked as a favourable mining jurisdiction within South America. But what's recently become apparent is that times are changing. The countries that were once deemed as go-to options are now experiencing civil unrest and political instability. While these countries no longer attract the investment dollars they once did, Brazil is emerging as a mining destination of choice....Read More

North America's oldest silver miner, Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL), is set to consolidate its position as the continent's primary silver leader. It is working to increase U.S. output by 20% and to become the most prominent Canadian silver producer by year-end.The 130-year-old company's CEO, Phil Baker, told the recent Canadian Mining Symposium in London that the 1.2 billion oz. silver market is growing...Read More

Panama's government has ordered First Quantum Minerals (TSX: FM) to halt operations at its Cobre Panama copper mine after it failed to agree terms for a new contract with the Canadian miner.The move, unusual among Latin American countries, came after First Quantum missed a Wednesday night deadline to ink a new royalty deal that has been in the works since September 2021.The miner said on Friday...Read More

On December 9, the U.S. military made major headway in its effort to catch Russia and China, who have long outpaced us in cutting -dge weapons development. Indeed, while our two main geopolitical adversaries have already deployed hypersonic weapons - missiles that travel more than five times the speed of sound - the Pentagon has been trapped in the testing phase. Until now, it seems. Because la...Read More

Rio Tinto now fully owns Turquoise Hill, which has a 33% stake in Oyu Tolgoi. Turquoise Hill shares will cease trading. The deal was approved by Turquoise Hill shareholders in December 2022.Read More

EnCore Energy (TSXV: EU; OTCQB: ENCUF) has won a court challenge to its US$32 million Dewey-Burdock uranium project in South Dakota. The Oglala Sioux Tribe and watchdog group Aligning for Responsible Mining wanted a United States appeals court to review its decision in August approving the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) licence for enCore to mine uranium at the project about 150 km south...Read More

Cypress Development advances Nevada lithium project towards productionSPONSOREDcypress development corpCanada's NexGen eyes large-scale uranium productionSPONSOREDnexgen energyUranium revival takes off as reality hits on energy, geopoliticsSPONSOREDPresident Laurentino Cortizo called an Extraordinary State Cabinet meeting after talks with First Quantum ended without an agreement being reached.Read More

Robex Resources (TSXV: RBX) was set to restart operations at its Nampala gold mine in Mali after a trespasser was killed on Thursday and work was halted temporarily, the company said. A crowd of artisanal miners intruded onto the open-pit site in the West African country's south and encountered security, the company said in a news release. One other person was injured in the incident, Robex said...Read More

Investors with an interest in iron ore know what that means because the Simandou project in Guinea has long threatened to destabilise the iron ore market and potentially crash the price of the steelRead More