From a current-technicals standpoint, the silver stocks are looking better than the gold stocks these days!by Adam Hamilton of Zeal LLCThe silver miners' stocks are looking interesting. While they really lagged silver's surge on gold's bull-market-breakout rally last summer, their upleg since remains intact. Gold stocks' own upleg peaked in early September. And silver itself remains wildly u...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday February 7 that are worth another look.Prices in Southeast Asia's steel billet market have tumbled last week amid speculation that Chinese billet importers could annul contracts on the grounds of virus-related force majeure.China has halved tariffs on a slew of US-sourced metals and minerals including copper cathodes and rare ear...Read More

RAPAPORT... Grib Diamonds has started buying rough in Angola, as a new company structure has enabled it to diversify beyond its one mine in Russia.The Antwerp-based company, which markets most of the Grib deposit's diamonds, is looking to source goods from a broader range of locations.Grib Diamonds is now a subsidiary of AGD Diamonds, which operates the site in the Arkhangelsk region, whereas...Read More

RAPAPORT... Polished-diamond imports to Hong Kong declined 13% in 2019 according to data from the Diamond Federation of Hong Kong, China. Polished imports fell 17% in the fourth quarter, the official figures showed. The decline reflected a slowdown in the diamond market amid weak consumer sentiment and social unrest in the municipality.  Hong Kong Trade Data for 2019Read More

RAPAPORT... A court has awarded a limited victory to De Beers' synthetic-diamond production unit in a patent dispute with Singapore-based grower IIa Technologies.IIa infringed an Element Six patent related to diamond material that's usable for lab-grown diamond jewelry and industrial applications, according to a High Court of Singapore judgment Friday. However, another Element Six patent for...Read More

RAPAPORT... Botswana's diamond trade took center stage in the newest episode of a documentary highlighting sustainability in the fashion industry.The Fashionscapes films were created by Livia Firth, wife of actor Colin Firth, and cofounder and creative director of sustainability and communications consultancy Eco-Age. A screening of the film, which Firth created together with director Andrew...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Reports in the Indian press highlight the worry that many diamond traders are feeling about the effects of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. While there have been isolated incidents of the disease in India, most people are more worried about the effects on the country's diamond trade - especially in Surat.According to the media, the Surat industry could face losses of around R...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The High Court of Singapore has ruled that IIa Technologies has infringed on an Element Six patent for proprietary synthetic diamond products and their method of manufacture (Singapore patent number 115872).The patent relates to the production of material that can be used in lab-grown diamond jewelry and in optical applications such as infrared spectroscopy and high-power laser opt...Read More

"Zimbabwe gold mine collapse leaves at least 2 dead, 20 trapped in illegal operation: state media https://t.co/mVHi3camap"Read full newsRead More

Eagle Mine. Image by Victoria Gold Corp.As it ramps up the Eagle gold mine in Canada's Yukon Territories, Victoria Gold has announced a C$5 million flow-through financing, intending to issue 572,659 flow-through shares at C$8.73 each. It has the option, exerciseable until closing, of issuing an additional 114,532 shares for proceeds of C$1 million. Closing is expected around Feb. 25 with the secu...Read More

Rubicon Minerals' Phoenix gold project in Ontario's Red Lake camp. Credit: Rubicon Minerals. Rubicon Minerals has announced an C$8 million flow-through bought deal, upsized from C$6 million previously, led by Cormark Securities. Rubicon will now issue 5.6 million common shares at C$1.43 per share with the underwriters having the option to purchase up to an additional 694,000 flow-through shares,...Read More

$5.7 billion...That's how much money Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) short sellers lost in just two days.To put that in perspective, that is more money than the Dallas Cowboys - America's most valuable sports team - are worth.On Monday, people betting against the electric car giant lost $3.1 billion. That same day, Elon Musk, the charismatic CEO of the company, made himself $4.4 billion.Tuesday was like a la...Read More

Credit: BeMetals Since B2Gold launched BeMetals two years ago as a base-metals-focused junior, the company has picked up a development-stage zinc-silver project in southwestern Idaho, called South Mountain.Originally floated in early 2018 on the early-stage Pangeni copper project in Zambia, BeMetals wanted to add more advanced-stage base metal projects to its portfolio, and in early 2019 acqui...Read More

Ganfeng Lithium now has a 51% stake in the Cauchari-Olaroz project in Argentina. Image courtesy of Lithium Americas Corp Vancouver-based Lithium Americas has entered into definitive agreements with China's Ganfeng Lithium to alter the ownership structure of their joint venture (JV) company Minera Exar, the holding company for the Cauchar?--Olaroz lithium brine project in Jujuy, Argentina.Pursuant...Read More

Credit: Outotec Outotec has added two new flotation solutions to its product line, the TankCell s-Series flotation units and the CellStation, an intelligent solution for controlling the air feed and pulp level in flotation cells.Outotec TankCell s-Series flotation units are standardized units based on Outotec's proven TankCell e-Series solution. The company says the units provide superior metallu...Read More

The London Metal Exchange three-month lead price closed at its lowest level since May 2019 on Monday February 10, dipping below the key $1,800-per-tonne support level, while nickel futures struggled to breach resistance against thin trading volumes. Lead's underlying price on the LME closed at $1,796 per tonne, with its price action slipping from an intraday high of $1,825 per tonne while turnover...Read More

Chinese multi-metal company Jingchuan Group produced the first batch of nickel chloride from its newly-commissioned high-end nickel salt project on Sunday February 9.The size of the first nickel-chloride yield was not stipulated but the resultant material constitutes part of the group's efforts to ramp up battery-grade nickel production for the much-lauded electric vehicle (EV) boom, according to...Read More

Bob Moriarty ArchivesFeb 10, 2020There are times I want to grab the average investor by the stacking swivel and give them a good hard shake. While the shares are up about 35% since the first of the year, they took a 15% tumble on Friday when the company announced the first deep hole. Strong investors in Irving should wave at the weak hands and remind them to not let the swinging door bang them on...Read More

Nickel producers in Indonesia continue to operate at full capacity amid China's ongoing Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, but concerns that logistical delays will exacerbate the already poor projections for material demand in 2020 loom large, participants say.Indonesia-based nickel producers including Chinese stainless steel giant Tsingshan and domestic producer PT Antam have confirmed to Fastmarkets th...Read More

Metso, which has concluded its acquisition of Canadian mobile aggregates equipment supplier McCloskey and will wrap up its mining merger with Outotec in a few months, reported 15% higher sales, year-on-year, of EUR3.63 billion and a 5% bump in orders to EUR3.69 billion for 2019, with operating profit also up 11.6% at EUR474 million.The December quarter was solid with sales 7% higher yoy at EUR914...Read More