The silver miners may be struggling now, but silver-mining profits are set to explode higher. Here's why...by Adam Hamilton of Zeal LLCThe major silver miners have rallied higher on balance in recent months, enjoying a young upleg. That's a welcome change after they suffered a miserable 2018. Times are tough for silver miners, since silver's prices have languished near extreme lows relative to...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly higher at the close of trading on Monday April 1, supported by strength in both the Chinese and United States' manufacturing data despite continued market concerns over the health of the global economy. Despite reported strength from the manufacturing sector, US retail sales were weaker than expected in February at -0.4%, down from...Read More

The US copper price built on Friday's momentum with the base metals complex receiving a boost from strong Chinese manufacturing data on Monday April 1.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by 1.25 cents to $2.9520 per lb. Overnight, the Chinese official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 50.5 in March, beating the exp...Read More

The weakness in the seaborne coking coal spot market persisted on Monday April 1 with participants anticipating further price decreases."End users are staying by the sidelines mostly because the market is still in a downtrend. This, coupled with the short-term uncertainties in the coke market, means seaborne coking coal prices will not get too much support," a...Read More

China's Ganfeng Lithium Co said on Monday it would spend $160 million to boost its ownership stake in an Argentina lithium project with Lithium Americas Corp, part of a plan to solidify its access to the white metal used to make electric vehicle batteries. The deal, which must still be approved by shareholders, will see Ganfeng boost its ownership in a joint venture that controls the Argentina pro...Read More

Vancouver's Teck Resources and Japanese partner Sumitomo Metal Mining and Sumitomo Corp. have closed their $1.2-billion transaction giving Sumitomo a 30% indirect interest in the Quebrada Blanca copper project.The Quebrada Blanca property is 240 km southeast of Iquique at an elevation of 4,400 metres.Teck received the final permit to go forward with a $4.7-billion expansion at the mine and mill in...Read More

ArcWest Exploration (TSXV: AWX) closed today the 100% acquisition of the Sparrowhawk property near Smithers, in the western Canadian province of British Columbia.In a press release, the Vancouver-based miner explained that it decided to go ahead with the purchase because the property is adjacent to two significant porphyry copper-gold deposits, including Glencore Canada's Bell and Granisle mines a...Read More

As consumer inventories of cobalt start to run low, their metal restocking alone is unlikely to establish a floor in ailing prices, such is the believed extent of the surplus, according to Fastmarkets' market sources. Trader and consumer buying returned to the cobalt market in earnest last week for the first time in the best part of a year, but the restocking does not signal the beginning of a ret...Read More

With the international cobalt metal market falling rapidly between December 2018 and February this year, the arbitrage between the international and Chinese cobalt metal price has gradually turned in favor of Chinese imports. As a result, Chinese buyers have been considering increasing their shipments of cobalt metal since February with an expectation international cobalt prices are close to botto...Read More

Vancouver-based UEX Corporation has shared the third set of assays from the winter drill program at its West Bear cobalt-nickel property in the eastern part of the Athabasca Basin.The company said that 14 of the 20 assays exceeded the cobalt equivalent grade of 0.023% or more.Highlights from the results include hole WBC-063, which intersected 4.5 metres averaging 0.11% cobalt and 0.49% nickel from...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Monday April 1 that are worth another look.The United States has challenged European Union proposals to label titanium dioxide and cobalt as carcinogens on free-trade grounds. As consumer inventories of cobalt start to run low, their metal restocking alone is unlikely to establish a floor in ailing prices, such is the believed exte...Read More

Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco) has become the world's second-largest aluminium producer - overtaking Russian aluminium producer UC Rusal - by increasing output to 4.17 million tonnes, Fastmarkets understands.Rusal produced 3.75 million tonnes of aluminium last year.Chalco's 15.5% year on year output increase came amid a "complicated and fickle market environment," chairman Lu Dongliang said...Read More

Andrew Green has been promoted to executive director of the International Zinc Association (IZA), the trade group said on Monday April 1. CHICAGO - Andrew Green has been promoted to executive director of the International Zinc Association (IZA), the trade group said on Monday April 1. Green is a 20-year veteran of the zinc industry and was involved in...Read More

Nornickel, one of the world's top nickel producers, has announced plans to develop a mining project and nickel concentrator in its home country, Russia, to help it to achieve a projected 15% increase in nickel and copper production by 2025, Fastmarkets has heard.The company will invest 90 billion roubles ($1.37 billion) between now and 2023 in an attempt to develop the South Cluster mining project...Read More

Codelco's own refined copper output totaled 1.68 million tonnes in 2018, compared with 1.73 million tonnes in the previous year, the Chilean company said on Friday March 29 in its earnings report. Falling copper content in mined ore was one of the main reasons why overall production by the state-owned group reached 1.81 million tonnes during the year, below 1.84 million tonnes in 2017, according t...Read More

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were predominantly higher at the close of trading on Monday April 1, supported by strength in both the Chinese and United States' manufacturing data despite continued market concerns over the health of the global economy. Despite reported strength from the manufacturing sector, US retail sales were weaker than expected in February at -0.4%, down from...Read More

RAPAPORT... Retail sales of jewelry and other luxury items declined inHong Kong in February, impacted by weakened consumer sentiment and the timingof the Lunar New Year. Revenue from jewelry, watch, clocks and other valuable giftsfell 10% year on year to HKD 7.25 billion ($923.1 million) for the month, the municipality'sCensus and Statistics Department reported Monday. Sales in all retailcate...Read More

The US copper price built on Friday's momentum with the base metals complex receiving a boost from strong Chinese manufacturing data on Monday April 1.The copper price for May settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by 1.25 cents to $2.9520 per lb. Overnight, the Chinese official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 50.5 in March, beating the exp...Read More

RAPAPORT... Hong Kong-based jeweler Chow Sang Sang saw a 13% rise insales in 2018, amid improved consumer sentiment and a spike in gold demand inthe first half of the year. Group sales came to HKD 18.81 billion ($2.40 billion) forthe year, as revenue from jewelry retail increased 18% to HKD 17.13 billion($2.18 billion). Proceeds from other businesses, including property, fell 21%to HKD 1.68 b...Read More

Copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) for Asia Pacific continued to drop in the second half of March in the absence of Las Bambas output, while Chinese smelters are prepared to accept significantly lower spot TCs for the second quarter this year. Fastmarkets' spot copper concentrate index for Asia Pacific was calculated at $66.7 per tonne/ 6.67 cents per lb on March 25, d...Read More