Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were for the most part weaker again this morning, Thursday March 7.With the exception of tin that was up by 0.5% and aluminium that was little changed, the rest of the complex were down between 0.2% for lead and 1.4% for nickel. Copper was off by 0.4% at $6,428 per tonne, compared with $6,455 per tonne at Wednesday’s close, while nic...Read More

Domestic stainless steel prices in China maintained their upward trend over the past week on higher nickel prices and strengthening demand.Fastmarkets MB's domestic price assessment for benchmark 304 stainless cold-rolled coil in the major market of Wuxi was 15,100-15,500 yuan ($2,249-2,309) per tonne including value-added tax for the week ended Wednesday February March 6, up 400 yuan per tonne fr...Read More

U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 3 points in pre-opening trade.Index futures turned positive after the European Central Bank announced additional funding for European banks. Index futures were virtually unchanged following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for Weekly Jobless Claims was 225,000 versus 226,000 last week. Actual was 223,...Read More

Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dipped slightly during morning trading on Thursday March 7, with nickel leading the losses. However, copper bucked the trend amid a positive outlook for the red metal.SHFE base metals prices showed slight losses this morning, pressured by the stronger dollar, which was at 96.86 this morning at 10.20am Shanghai time.This compares with the dol...Read More

Global zinc premiums have been little changed over the past week with a worsening Chinese import arbitrage distorting the marketplace for the world's largest base metals consumer, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday March 6. European zinc premiums near October 2010 lowUS markets stable with lead and zinc demand healthyChinese markets suffering from arbitrage window. Northern European zinc premiums stay...Read More

South African state power utility Eskom has received approval for power price increases of 22.7% over the next three years, and on the same day warned of a high risk of load shedding.Eskom, which has 420 billion rand ($29.53 billion) of debt, can increase electricity prices by 9.41% in 2019/20 and by 8.1% and 5.2% respectively in the two subsequent years, according to a decision by South African e...Read More

Stagnant spot activity continued to weigh on the cobalt sulfate price in China, with spot offer prices marching lower in the mid-week assessment on Wednesday March 6 amid persistent selling pressure. Fastmarkets assessed the Chinese cobalt sulfate, basis 20.5% Co market price at 57,000-60,000 yuan ($8,491-8,938) per tonne on March 6, down by 3,000-4,000 yuan per tonne or 5.6% from 60,000-64,000 yu...Read More

Fastmarkets summarizes six hot topics that will likely dominate discussions during the 20th Asian Ferro-alloys Conference in Hong Kong on March 10-12.What might weigh on the minor metals markets in 2019? This year's conference kicks off on Sunday March 10 with a minor metals briefing day, and no doubt participants in those respective markets will be eager to discuss whether stocks of metals such a...Read More

Fed up with the hardships of snow and ice in the colder regions of the U.S.? Does spending a few months in Florida, Arizona, or other Sunbelt states every winter sound enticing? If so, the snowbird lifestyle could be just what you're looking for. But before you toss that snow shovel in the trash, there are challenges and additional expenses you should consider. The Upfront Cost...The most obvious...Read More

Today my objective is simple...I want to show you why packing up your portfolio and getting out of the stock market during scary stretches is a really, really bad idea.As you'll see, time in the market is the key, not timing the market.However... I realize this is easier said than done.Therefore, in addition I'll also be giving you a top quality stock that will position your portfolio to profit in...Read More

First Vanadium (TSXV: FVAN; US-OTC: FVANF) has calculated a new and improved resource estimate for its 4.6 sq. km Carlin vanadium project, 10 km south of Elko, Nevada. The project lies in the Carlin gold trend, a 20-minute drive from the town of Carlin.The new resource estimate replaces and upgrades one from 2010.The project now contains 24.16 million indicated tonnes grading 0.615% V2O5 for 303 m...Read More

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dropped in on the annual convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada in Toronto on March 5, 2019, for a sit-in interview conducted by outgoing PDAC president Glenn Mullan.Glenn MullanIn this unabridged 20-minute interview, Justin and Glenn touch on topics including technological innovation, sustainable mining practices, federal regulato...Read More

After completing its phase two and three drill programs at its flagship Cauchari lithium project in Jujuy, Argentina, Advantage Lithium (TSXV: AAL; US-OTC: AVLIF) has more than doubled the project's resource. Based on its new measured and indicated resources, the company says Cauchari is now Argentina's second largest development project.Based on the updated resource, the project now contains 1.8...Read More

OceanaGold (TSX: OGC) has grown the indicated resource for its Martha underground project at its Waihi gold mine in New Zealand by 136% and inferred resources by 97%."Over the past two years, we have made prudent investments in extensively drilling out the mineralized structures beneath the Martha open pit," Mick Wilkes, OceanaGold's president and CEO, notes in a statement. "Since that time we ha...Read More

After completing its phase two and three drill programs at its flagship Cauchari lithium project in Jujuy, Argentina, Advantage Lithium has more than doubled the project's resource. Based on its new measured and indicated resources, the company says Cauchari is now Argentina's second largest development project.Based on the updated resource, the project now contains 1.8 billion measured and indica...Read More

"Tshisekedi would be a relatively positive figure for mining investment"SPONSOREDverisk maplecroftAlkane maps own path to world-class critical metals producerSPONSOREDalkane resourcesWestern Atlas drill-ready in NunavutSPONSOREDwestern atlas resourcesGlobal Atomic's 'transformational discovery' changes everythingSPONSOREDglobal atomic corpMining Journal spoke to Benchmark Min...Read More

A push by the world's biggest gold miners to get even bigger will likely have a knock-on effect among their competitors, adding new vigor to an industry that failed to inspire investor support in 2018.The megamerger mania now underway for Newmont Mining Corp., Barrick Gold Corp. and Goldcorp Inc. is likely to result in some of their assets being sold, helping to diversify portfolios for other mine...Read More

The electric vehicle (EV) revolution has galvanised battery metals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel - and now the tiny tin market is becoming aware that it, too, might be a beneficiary.The International Tin Association (ITA) has just released a report on the use of tin in lithium-ion batteries. The headline takeaway is that this additional use beyond soldering and packaging could generate a dema...Read More

Zimbabwe will scrap a law that denies foreign platinum mining companies control of their operations in the country, the mines minister said on Thursday.It's part of continued review of (the) Zimbabwe is open for business mantra."Foreign platinum and diamond miners have been restricted to only 49 percent ownership of their Zimbabwe operations by the black economic empowerment law introduced during...Read More

Part 2 In gold exploration, high-grade discoveries excite the market. This is because retail investors expect a high-grade deposit, if it ever becomes a mine, to be more profitable. But a closer look at high margin projects shows that high grade isn't always king. In the first part of this series, we drilled down, pun ...Read full newsRead More