The world's largest low-grade iron ore producer has confirmed that it will bid for two blocks at what is considered the world's largest untapped high-grade ore resource, a move that reiterates what the industry has been saying over the past few years - that demand for green iron ore or high-grade ore is a structural change in the making."Following the release of information at a public meeting hel...Read More

The London Metal Exchange's mission to create more transparency in stock levels may not be popular with the whole market but it is a big step toward fixing key issues with the exchange, sources told Fastmarkets. The LME is expected to implement a series of reforms in 2020 that will make big changes to warehousing after it launched a market consultation in July this year. Extending the queue-b...Read More

Market analysts are preparing their predictions for base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange ahead of LME Week 2019, but the recent volatility in LME nickel prices and spreads is proving an obstacle to price forecasting for the fourth quarter of the year.Trading houses and research analysts are giving ever wider ranges, seemingly not knowing whether to err on the side of their bear or bull...Read More

The three-month tin price on the London Metal Exchange was higher at the close of trading on Thursday October 24, climbing by more than 1% amid low turnover while nickel futures maintained upward momentum over the afternoon.Tin's outright price on the LME closed at $16,775 per tonne on Thursday, a climb of 1.2% on the day with just 241 lots of metal exchanged. This was among the metal's lowest tra...Read More

The London Metal Exchange's mission to create more transparency in stock levels may not be popular with the whole market but it is a big step toward fixing key issues with the exchange, sources told Fastmarkets. The LME is expected to implement a series of reforms in 2020 that will make big changes to warehousing after it launched a market consultation in July this year. Extending the queue-b...Read More

One of the largest producers of metallurgical coal expects rising steelmaking capacity in India and Southeast Asia as well as constraints on investments in steelmaking coal capacity to be the long-term drivers of the market.Fastmarkets indicesPremium hard coking coal, fob DBCT: $152.40 per tonne, unchangedPremium hard coking coal, cfr Jingtang: $164.07 per tonne, unchangedHard coking coal, fob DBC...Read More

Indian companies fillingfinal orders ahead of Diwali. Manufacturing slowing before the festival withfactories closing until late November. Steady demand for select categories buttraders struggling to sell unwanted items. Markets quiet in Israel, Antwerp andNew York following Jewish holiday period. De Beers inventory up in 3Q due toweak rough demand and despite production decline -14% to 7.4M cts....Read More

RAPAPORT... Rare pink diamonds from Rio Tinto's Argylemine in Australia will lead the upcoming Hong Kong Jewels and Jadeite auction atPhillips next month. The collection comprises 16 jewelry pieces,each incorporating stones from the Argyle deposit, which is the only knownsource of pink diamonds and is due to close next year. Chief among these willbe a ring that can be converted into a pair of...Read More

RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies expects to register a "nominal" netprofit for the third quarter, as sales of mapping machines for small diamonds increasedamid a lessening of the midstream inventory crisis. The manufacturer of equipment for the diamond tradeforecast revenue of $14 million, representing 20% growth versus the $11.7million sales it reported for the same period a year ago. White t...Read More

RAPAPORT... US retail sales are forecast toincrease by up to 5% this holiday season, while e-commerce spending could jumpby 18%, Deloitte said Tuesday. The predictions, initially outlined in the consultingfirm's annual holiday retail forecast, published last month, were reiterated inits latest holiday retail survey report, released earlier this week. Deloitte expected overallholiday retail s...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Firestone Diamonds plc sold 168,612 carats of diamonds during its first quarter ended September 30, 2019, realizing $10.6 million and an average per carat price of $63. This compares to the sale of 177,521 carats in the fourth quarter of 2019, which generated $12.7 million and an average per carat price of $71.The fall in revenue came despite the sale of a 37-carat fancy pink...Read More

RAPAPORT... Production at the Gahcho Ku?(C) mine failed to meet MountainProvince's expectations in the third quarter, as bad weather led to themining of lower-grade ore. Ore from the asset yielded 1.7 carats of rough diamonds pertonne in the three months ending September 30 - 28% lower than the same perioda year ago. Total output fell to 1.5 million carats versus 1.8 million in 2018,even as t...Read More

(IDEX Online) - De Beers is shining a light on how it grades and tests rare fancy colored diamonds with a series of interactive hands-on demonstrations at Christie's auction house in London. The demonstrations are part of Christie's "Rare Treasures of the Earth" exhibition of exceptional fancy color diamonds and gemstones and will be conducted by De Beers Group Institute of Diamonds...Read More

Tiffany & Co. is offering a $112,000 advent calendar as one of 12 gifts in the luxury retailers first ever holiday catalog. Other gifts in the catalog includes a custom-made Tiffany Blue motorcycle created with Indian Motorcycle Co., a solid sterling silver greenhouse and a trip through Kenya that features an 11-day safari through the Samburu National Reserve.For those who want a unique design...Read More

RAPAPORT... Christie'swill collaborate with De Beers to stage a museum-quality exhibition in London aimed ateducating the public about the science of diamonds, the auction house said. Thefive-day event, focused on fancy-color diamonds as well as rare rocks andminerals, will feature a range of interactivedemonstrations. Led by experts at De Beers Group Institute of Diamonds,these will encompas...Read More

RAPAPORT... Jewelry sales declined at Indian retailer TitanCompany after a hike in gold prices dampened consumer appetite. Revenue for the category dropped 2% year onyear in the second fiscal quarter ending September 30, Titan reported in arecent trading update. Salesslumped in July, before picking up in August and September as the companyintroduced promotions to attract customers. "The divisionwi...Read More

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The first motion of the world’s largest hydrogen-powered mine haul truck is scheduled for mid-2020, with testing continuing at Anglo American Platinum’s Mogalakwena mine until the end of the year.This climate-positive development by London- and Johannesburg-listed Anglo American will be open to the mining industry as a whole and not just the comp...Read More

The global economy has been transfixed by the China-United States trade war that came to the fore in the second quarter of 2018. When the trade war started, market participants hoped that an agreement would be reached by the time of the US mid-term elections in November 2018. But that date came and went without a deal. Fastmarkets then said there was a race against time before either a trade deal...Read More

Aim-listed Vast Resources has signed the documents for a $15-million finance facility to fund its operations in Romania and Zimbabwe.The company signed the binding conditional bond issue deed with UK-based fund Atlas Capital Markets.AdvertisementThe Atlas facility offered full funding to reach production at the Baita Plai polymetallic mine, in Romania, and at the Chiadzwa Community diamond concess...Read More

Trade wars, slowing economic growth, Brexit... the storm clouds are gathering for metals markets around the world.Issues around the new protectionism, born of geopolitical competition, look unlikely to be resolved any time soon.To help you navigate these markets, Fastmarkets provides the quality data and market intelligence that producers, traders, consumers - everyone, in fact, involved in the bu...Read More