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 Green New Deal so-called evidently cannot endure elevated interest rates.Barron's:Solar and wind projects, and new electric-vehicle plants, demand heavy upfront investments... With the cost of corporate debt doubling in the past two years, from 3.2% to 6.4%… it's a bad time to be taking out new loans to finance capital projects. "It was an industry whose economics rested on low rates...Read More

(IDEX Online) - India's polished diamond exports for October were down 25 per cent on September, and down 33 per cent on the same month last year, according to the latest figures from the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). But there is no monthly breakdown of rough imports to indicate how much manufacturers are abiding by a voluntary two-month ban which started on 15 O...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Brilliant Earth, the US-based "ethical jeweler", saw a slight rise in its Q3 sales but a significant drop in net income as is battled ongoing "industry headwinds".Net sales were up 2.5 per cent year on year to $114.2m, but net income was down 65 per cent to $2m, the company said in its Third Quarter 2023 Results. Gross profit increased 9.7 per cent to $66.8m due to a 17 per cent in...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Residents of a picturesque Spanish town are protesting over Diamond Foundry plans to install 40-metre high towers to power the $850m lab grown factory it is building there.They are largely in support of the factory itself, which will create 300 jobs and ultimately produce 10m carats a year of single-crystal diamond chips, as well as traditional gem quality diamonds.But they oppose...Read More

This week, my interview with German economist, gold expert, and author Thorsten Polleit hit the Paradigm Press YouTube Channel.We talked about everything from the deindustrialization of Germany... how socialism has taken hold in America... why the powers that be want a one-nation totalitarian money system... and why gold miners aren't your best investment when gold reaches where Thorsten predicts...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The UAE has taken over chairmanship of Kimberley Process (KP) for a second time, promising "a year of delivery", despite a chaotic plenary in Zimbabwe that ended last week without the usual end-of-session communique."Our work in the Kimberley Process holds greater significance than ever before," said Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman and CEO of Dubai Multi Commodities Center (D...Read More

(IDEX Online) - De Beers rough diamond sales crashed to just $80m during cycle 9 as demand virtually evaporated.That's the lowest figure since it started reporting Sight totals in 2016, down 60 per cent on cycle 8 and down 82 per cent on cycle 9 last year.Al Cook, De Beers CEO, said: "Macro-economic challenges continue to affect the diamond sector. The retail recovery in China remains slow.&n...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A diamond merchant reported his own 16-year-old son to police in Surat, India, for allegedly stealing polished gems worth over $62,000. According to a report filed to police, the boy stole six packets of polished diamonds, with a total weight of 269 carats. He then sold them for a tiny fraction of their real value, just $300, so he could buy an iPhone. The father, who runs a diamo...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Hammer-wielding thieves threatened security staff during a raid on a diamond store in Canada.Security guards converged on White Carat Co. Diamonds, at the Bramalea City Centre shopping mall, in Brampton, Ontario, after reports of display cases being smashed.One of the three masked raiders climbed onto a counter and appeared ready to swing a hammer at the guards, in surveillance vid...Read More

The United States House of Representatives has assented to a resolution that will keep the government in funds through Jan. 19.More Democrats voted yay than Republicans voted yay though the bill was Republican-proposed.The Senate will approve it. The president will sign it.And so Republicans will get their guns. Democrats will get their butter...Both will get their pork...And the American taxpay...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Earrings featuring a pair of exceptionally large fancy vivid orange-yellow diamonds, weighing 12.20 carats and 11.96 carats are to be sold at Christie's New York.The California Sunset Diamonds carry an estimate of $7m to $12m. Both stones are oval mixed-cut and natural color. The larger of the two is VVS2 clarity, the smaller is VS1.Each earring has an additional two white dia...Read More

Today we're considering the real environmentthat determines economic conditions.It has nothing to do with short-term data, Fed policy, conventional economic models or other factors most economic commentary focuses on.Instead, it has to do with the "trilemma," identified in the 1960s by economist Robert Mundell.Mundell identified three critical policy variables that nations face: the central bank p...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Lucara says it has revised down its revenue guidance from the Karowe mine, in Botswana, for this year by around a fifth, following the abrupt termination of its sales agreement with HB Antwerp.The Canadian miner is forecasting sales of $160m to $190m, down from $200m to $230m, due to the timing of forthcoming sales of specials over 10.8 carats, which account for around 65 per cent...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Tiffany is launching a limited-edition collection of diamond-accented silver Pokemon characters, priced from $1,290 to $29,000.It's a collaboration with contemporary artist Daniel Arsham, who reimagines everyday objects as archaeological discoveries from an imagined future.The collection features six characters from the Japanese media franchise of video games, animated series...Read More

As stocks continue to explode off their October lows, powerful rallies are rippling through the markets, triggering some much-needed FOMO amongst the unwashed masses.If you're one of the unfortunate souls who loaded up on bearish bets into this face-ripper, you'll need to perform some evasive maneuvers to limit your losses as the melt-up rally accelerates into the holiday shopping season.Fortunate...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Mountain Province (MPD) says it will cut costs, suspend the underground expansion of its Gahcho Kue mine in Northwest Territories, Canada, as it announced a Q3 net loss of CAN$13.4m (US$9.7m).The company blamed a downturn during the quarter, with major diamond producers significantly cutting their sales and Indian manufacturers adopting a voluntary two-month ban on rough purchases...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Sotheby's Geneva brought in an above-estimate $46.5m from its Magnificent Jewels auction, but withdrew one of its star attractions - a 94-carat Paraiba tourmaline - shortly before the event.Biggest highlight of the 158-lot auction was the Love Stone (pictured), a 103.62-carat fancy intense yellow VS2 cushion modified brilliant-cut diamond that sold for $2.48m.But the Blue Lago...Read More

This article is not a lesson on banking (I don't want to put you to sleep!).But it's important to understand some basic banking rules in order to realize why the current banking crisis, which began in March, isn't over.Let's start with what's called mark-to-market accounting. It's critical when it comes to determining asset prices and stock prices in particular.The concept of mark-to-market accoun...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A white glove sale of Viennese imperial and royal jewelry that was rediscovered earlier this year in a German bank safe sold for a total of $10.7m at Sotheby's Geneva.All 207 lots were sold, achieving more than three times the overall pre-sale low estimate.Sotheby's described the collection as extraordinary, "spanning two centuries of European history charting the fates,...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The week-long Kimberley Process plenary in Zimbabwe ended in conflict and chaos yesterday (Saturday 11 November), primarily over Russia's use of diamond revenue to fund its war in Ukraine. KP Civil Society Coalition (KPCSC) the observer group of mostly African diamond-producing countries, walked out of talks that dragged on until 2am, saying it had lost confidence in the discu...Read More