Nickel's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange was higher during morning trading on Thursday July 11, building on Wednesday's gains above the $13,000-per-tonne threshold amid a continued drawdown on LME stocks. The metal's futures price reached an intra-morning high of $13,140 per tonne, with some 2,700 lots of nickel exchanged as of 8:55am London time. Total LME inventories continue to s...Read More
Although rate cut expectations encouraged the London Metal Exchange three-month base metals prices to move higher yesterday, they have started to weaken in early trading today, Thursday July 11, and been unable to attract follow-through buying. In his prepared remarks, Federal Reserve Chairman Gerome Powell last night noted that uncertainties since the June FOMC meeting continued to dim...Read More
Diamond tradeseasonally slow with concerns about weak demand and low profit. Oversupplycontinues despite drop in rough buying. Producers raising rough inventory as 1Hsales slump and mine production remains steady. Alrosa 1H sales -32% to $1.8B.Kimberley Process reports 2018 global rough production +3% to $14.5B, volume-2% to 148.4M cts. Indian government raises gold import duty from 10% to 12.5%an...Read More
Nickel premiums in China continued to fall in the week ended Tuesday July 9 on import arbitrage losses, while the traditional summer slowdown kept premiums in Europe and the United States unchanged. Chinese premiums continue adjusting back down after recent peaks.European premiums not swayed by falling three-month nickel price on the London Metal Exchange.US premiums hold, although low end of rang...Read More
Base metals prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly up in morning trading on Thursday July 11 amid US dollar weakness following dovish comments by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, while nickel rallied on reports of a possible ore ban by Indonesia.The dollar index dipped by 0.07 to 96.98 as at 9.50am Shanghai time. "The US dollar is on the back foot after Federal Reserve Chair Po...Read More
Sentiment weak amid slow trading, tight liquidityand squeezed profits. Foreign buyers trying to take advantage by pushing fordiscounts. Domestic buyers cautious. Steady interest in 1 ct., G-J, SI goods.Strong gold demand supported jewelers in June, but rise in import duty to 12.5%expected to curb sales. RoundRead More
RAPAPORT... Rough prices slumped for Stornoway Diamond Corporation inthe second quarter, as market weakness dented demand for the miner's range ofgoods. The average price of the company's sales slid 18% to $76 percarat in the three months ending June 30, compared with $93 per carat a yearago, it said in a statement Wednesday. Sales value grew 57% to CAD 47 million ($36million), driven by an 89% ju...Read More
RAPAPORT... Michael Hill will hand out between AUD 10 million ($7million) and AUD 25 million (just under $17.5 million) to compensate retail employeesin Australia, after discovering it had been underpaying them. The jeweler had been wrongly applying the pay rates mandatedby the Australian government's General Retail Industry Award document, itadmitted in a statement Wednesday, following a review....Read More
RAPAPORT... Cue the sentimental music and emotive narration, Forevermark has launched a marketing campaign for its first bridal collection. The campaign, titled "I Take You, Until Forever," aims to depict the ups and downs of marriage, including the jokes, arguments, surprises and the small moments that go unnoticed, explained director Geej Ower. The two-minute film, which went live on variou...Read More
RAPAPORT... Marie-Chantal Kaninda, executive director of the WorldDiamond Council (WDC), was named as one of the 100 most influential women inAfrica by Forbes Afrique.Kaninda, who joined the WDC in March 2017, was noted forher work to further the interests of individuals and communities involved inAfrica's mining sector, the WDC reported Tuesday. Her r?(C)sum?(C) includes serving as chiefadviser f...Read More
RAPAPORT... LDC, a jewelry manufacturer based in East Providence, RhodeIsland, has acquired precious-metals caster First Casting Company. First Casting was founded by Jerry Traficante and his wife,Susan, in 1980, with the couple continuing to run the company, according to itswebsite. Operating out of Johnston, Rhode Island, it offers casting in preciousand non-precious metals. The business will fu...Read More
The market for flat-rolled steel imports into the United States has remained broadly quiet and uncompetitive, but foreign products could become attractive once again in the wake two rounds of domestic mill increases announced over the past two weeks, market participants said."My focus had been international, and now it's completely dead," one mill source commented.Hot-rolled coilFastmarkets' ...Read More
There are many mining and exploration opportunities in Southern Africa, with exploration work growing as more mining companies are focusing on the region, says South African airborne geophysics technology provider Spectrem Air GM Louis Polomé. In the next ten years, remote sensing in terms of geophysics, will play a critical role in the exploration of Southern Africa, for which geological d...Read More
Salzgitter Flachstahl, a flat steel subsidiary of German steelmaker Salzgitter, plans to build a hot-dipped galvanizing (HDG) line with capacity for 500,000 tonnes per year, the company said on Thursday July 11.The new production facility will be intended to supplement the company's existing capacities."This project is a key component in the strategy of the Salzgitter Group that focuses on qualita...Read More
The Angolan government is makingpreparations for setting up the country’s new National Minerals Resources Agency, the country’s State Secretary for Geology and Mines, Jânio Corrêa Victor, stated recently. The new agency will take over the role of minerals and mining rights concessionary from State-owned mining companies. This is part of the Angolan government’s policy...Read More
Greenland shines brightly in the rare earth spotlightSPONSOREDgreenland mineralsBlack Rock readies for race to graphite productionSPONSOREDblack rock miningE25 powering towards Butcherbird PFSSPONSOREDelement 25'When top miners commit to an aspiration, that does trickle down'SPONSOREDdeloitteThe country's economy is again riding a production boom for key commodities, principally iron ore a...Read More
Quality emerges at Galan's blue-chip lithium addressSPONSOREDgalan lithiumThe controversial project, which has faced significant community opposition and delays since 2010 including protests during which people have been killed, is due to commence production in 2022, although Southern said it would not start construction until it had support from local communities."Southern Peru Copper reitera...Read More
Ukraine's largest producer of long steel, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, is performing hot tests of one of two new continuous casting machines, designated CCM No2 and CCM No3, the company announced on Thursday July 11."The machine will be put into operation in the third quarter of 2019," the company said in a recent release, adding that the second new CCM will be ready by the end of the year.The constr...Read More
Stornoway Diamonds, the operator of Quebec’s first diamond mine, has told shareholders that weak conditions in the rough diamond market continue to persist, with CEO Patrick Godin saying on Wednesday that further decreases in pricing were observed during the second quarter of the year.The company, which operates the Renard mine, sold 460 832 ct in two tender sales, netting gross proceed...Read More
Quality emerges at Galan's blue-chip lithium addressSPONSOREDgalan lithium"Our review has reconfirmed the acquisition price we paid," OZ CEO and managing director Andrew Cole has told analysts.Read More