The Second Standing Committee of Macau's Legislative Assembly has begun discussing the proposed law for the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) to come in effect in the city as of October of this year. To make the October deadline, the KPCS law will need to be ratified by the Legislative Assembly before August 15, before it adjourns for a long recess, the president of the Commi...Read More
Leo Schachter (1924), a prominent diamantaire and founder and owner of Leo Schachter Diamonds, passed away on May 11, 2019. He established Leo Schachter Diamonds in New York in 1952. The company became a global leader in the midstream, from diamond manufacturing to jewelry setting. The Israeli branch of the firm belonged to the country's top exporters since the early 1980s. As second generat...Read More
Junior miner Lucara Diamond Corp reported its results for the quarter ended March 31, 2019. The company said that with respect to all mining and processing activities it recorded the best quarter in the Karowe mine's history. It recovered 132,336 carats, achieving a recovered grade of 15.9 carats per hundred tons processed. Among these were a 240-carat top white gem and a 223-carat high white...Read More
Chile's Compa???-a de Acero del Pac?-fico (CAP) posted a nearly 50% year-on-year decline in first-quarter iron ore shipping volumes due to the suspension of iron ore at the Puerto Guacolda II port, the steel and iron ore producer said last week.CAP was forced to halt operations at the Puerto Guacolda II port, in Huasco, a city in Chile's Atacama Region, after a deadly accident...Read More
Vale plans to invest around $2.5 billion in iron ore dry processing during the next five years in a move that is estimated to switch 70% of output to this method, the Brazilian mining company said on Monday May 13.Over the past 10 years, capital expenditures in Brazil aimed at reaching this goal have totaled $17.5 billion, Vale said. Roughly 60% of the miner's production is currently dry, usi...Read More
ArcelorMittal has discontinued operations at a blast furnace in the city of Divin??polis, in Brazil's south-eastern state of Minas Gerais, which produced pig iron.The blast furnace was stopped on May 8, the company said. The equipment was being leased by ArcelorMittal and will now be returned to the owner, which will decide about future operations, the company said.ArcelorMittal had been operating...Read More
White Gold Corp a force in Yukon as exploration drive reaps dividendsSPONSOREDwhite gold corpQuality emerges at Galan's blue-chip lithium addressSPONSOREDgalan lithiumAltech ticks boxes on path to production SPONSOREDaltech chemicals"It's not regulation that fails, it's [the industry] as engineers and operators"SPONSOREDsrk consultingForum's first drill hole at the project la...Read More
The depreciation of the Turkish lira has continued to drive the prices for domestic ship scrap and auto bundle scrap in opposite directions over the past week, sources said on Monday May 13.All four steel producers in the Izmir region have reduced their buy prices for domestic shipbreaking scrap by $10 per tonne over the past seven days.Three steel mills cut their buy prices for the material to $2...Read More
Seaborne iron ore pellet transaction volumes and prices remained robust in the week ended Friday May 10, while the corresponding figures for iron ore concentrate remained weak.PelletsThe weekly Fastmarkets MB 65% Fe Blast Furnace Pellet Index was $128.58 per tonne cfr China on May 10, up by $0.40 per tonne from a week earlier.A cargo of 64% Fe Indian Jindal pellet traded at $121-122 per tonne cfr,...Read More
Seaborne iron ore prices softened on Monday May 13 amid weaker steel markets and an appreciation of the United States dollar against the Chinese yuan.MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index: $96.10 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1.14 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Pilbara Blend Fines Index: $94.78 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $1.14 per tonne. MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index-Low Alumina: $99.92 per tonne cfr Qingdao, down $0.58 per...Read More
Delegates at the Singapore Exchange's (SGX) annual Iron Ore Week welcomed the SGX's multiple iron-ore derivative contracts launched over the last decade, saying that each contract served specific market requirements, Fastmarkets heard."Iron ore quality depends a lot on geological factors and, unlike copper, it is not a homogenous [product] so therefore it makes sense to have different derivatives...Read More
The seaborne coking coal market maintained its upward momentum on Monday May 13 on steady demand for the steelmaking raw material outside of China.A June-loading cargo of branded materials was traded at $211.50 per tonne fob Australia on trading platform Global Coal during the day, market sources said.A July-laycan cargo of premium mid-vol hard coking coal was also sold at $203 per tonne fob Austr...Read More
Domestic prices for rebar in eastern China dipped on Monday May 13 amid high selling interest among stockists. Domestic Eastern China (Shanghai): 4,040-4,080 yuan ($592-597) per tonne, down 10 yuan per tonneNorthern China (Beijing): 3,910-3,960 yuan per tonne, unchangedSellers in eastern China lowered their prices slightly to secure more sales in an effort to destock. Many stockists are worried th...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week-long period to Friday May 10.ChinaThe Chinese silicon export market's price range tightened with downstream buyers refusing to pay higher prices amid bearish sentiment. Concurrently, dip-buying and tight upstream supply boosted the low end of the range. The biggest producer in northern China has halted around hal...Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia and Europe for the week-long period to Friday May 10.China The Chinese domestic antimony price fell significantly on an increase in supply after almost all the private antimony producers in Lengshuijiang city resumed their production after the May Day holiday (May 1-4). Chinese antimony suppliers cut their offers last week to encourage sales in a weak mar...Read More
U.S. equity index futures moved lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 55 points in pre-opening trade. Index futures responded to a stalemate on trade between the U.S. and China. The Shanghai Composite lost another 1.21% to 2903.71.Crude oil gained $0.78 to $62.44 after two Saudi oil tankers were attacked near the Strait of Hormuz.Prudential Financial (PRU $101.27) is expected to open l...Read More
The lack of any last minute breakthrough in US-China trade talks has led to risk-off this morning, Monday 13 May, with money moving into haven assets.Lack of a US-China trade deal prompts risk-off European equities follow Asian equities lower, US treasury yields weaken Base metals In line with the escalation in trade tensions between the United States and China, most of the three-month base metals...Read More
Alba Minerals (TSX-V:AA) announced that it entered into an agreement with Journey Exploration to acquire all of its issued and outstanding share capital.The logic behind the buyout is that Journey holds a 100% interest in five prospective vanadium and uranium properties in Colorado and Utah.Yellow Circle mine workings. Photo by Alba Minerals.According to Alba, the projects are in and adjacent to t...Read More
Where to live is one of the biggest decisions retirees face. Should you keep the family home? Downsize to a smaller property? Or, rid yourself of homeownership altogether and rent? By the time many of us retire we've become so accustomed to owning a home that the idea of renting might never cross our mind. Since 1990, however, homeownership has declined among 55-64 year-olds, and experts expect th...Read More
The following is a release by London-based consultancy Metals Focus upon the publication of "Platinum & Palladium Focus 2019," its flagship annual report on the platinum group metals (PGM) market, which features comprehensive historical supply and demand statistics for 2010-2018, and a detailed 2019 forecast. For more information and to purchase a copy, visit www.metalsfocus.com.Palladium is forec...Read More