Las Bambas copper mine in Apur?-mac, Peru. (Image courtesy of Minera Las Bambas). Producers across South America, where the bulk of the world's copper is produced, have halted or cut back operations and slowed construction projects due to restrictions caused by coronavirus.Hong Kong-listed MMG said on Thursday that operations at its Las Bambas mine, with expected production in the 360kt range for...Read More
There is a lot of blame to throw around these days, but I want to focus on one place in particular.It isn't President Trump, who can't get through a several-minute speech without his staff having to quietly correct him after press briefings.It isn't the federal government, which can't get its act together and is leaving too much up to a fragmented state and local response.And though I have a serio...Read More
Altonorte anodes port of Antofagasta, Chile. Image: Glencore Copper was trending lower again on Friday, a day after staging a spectacular comeback from levels last seen during the global financial crisis more than a decade ago.Copper trading in New York was pegged at $2.132 a pound ($4,700 a tonne) in afternoon trade, on track for a weekly decline of nearly 14% and the lowest close since early 20...Read More
Cerro Moro gold-silver mine in Argentina. (Image courtesy of Yamana Gold) Yamana Gold (TSX: YRI; NYSE: AUY) announced on Friday a temporary, partial demobilization of its workforce at its gold-silver Cerro Moro mine in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, in response to the government's declaration of mandatory social isolation to combat the spread of covid-19.Until March 31, the day the mandatory sel...Read More
AbCellera has already identified 500 potential antibodies that could potentially used to treat Covid-19 patients. A Vancouver biotech company that specializes in antibody discovery has partnered with American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY) to develop a new drug for the treatment and prevention of the Covid-19 virus.The private biotech developed what it calls a rapid pandemic...Read More
Pure Gold Red Lake mine site. Credit: Pure Gold Mining Pure Gold Mining (TSXV: PGM) announced on Friday that the company is closely monitoring the Covid-19 pandemic and has implemented preventative measures at both the Pure Gold Red Lake mine site as well as corporate offices to safeguard the health of its employees."Though there have been no confirmed or suspected cases of Covid-19 in Red Lake,...Read More
The mid-tier gold miners' stocks have been annihilated with COVID-19 fears infecting traders' sentiment. They crashed with gold getting hammered on extreme gold-futures selling! With blood in the streets, the buy-low opportunities are phenomenal. The fundamentally-superior mid-tier gold miners have epic upside potential during gold's next upleg. This key sector just reported outstanding Q4'19 resu...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Fastmarkets' copper concentrates treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index retreated during the week to Friday March 20 from its one-year high, reflecting expectations about falling supply from South American producers.A weekly brief on the Fastmarkets' copper concentrate index: The copper concentrate TC/RC index, cif Asia Pacific was calculated at $66.70 per tonne/6.67 cents per lb on Friday, d...Read More
The copper price closed below $5,000 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange, having traded no higher than $4,938 per tonne earlier on Friday March 20.The three-month copper contract ended at $4,810 per tonne, having bottomed out at $4,613 per tonne earlier despite 5,275 tonnes of warrants being cancelled. More than 25,000 lots changed hands.On-warrant copper stocks stand at 183,175 tonnes on Frida...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Chilean state-owned copper producer Codelco and the Federation of Copper Workers (FTC) - which represents all unions related to the miner - entered into an agreement on Friday March 20 to maintain some level of production in the company during the state of emergency declared by the federal government.While copper output will be adversely affected to some degree during the lockdown, workers and man...Read More
Despite the fact mining operations tend to be in more remote locations, Fitch sees increasing scope for reduced personnel flow and supply chain disruptions due to government actions leading to a reduction or halt in mine production."As countries grapple with how to contain or slow the spread of the virus, we expect this could lead to operational disruptions at mining operations. This inherently ra...Read More
Fastmarkets' copper concentrates treatment and refining charge (TC/RC) index retreated during the week to Friday March 20 from its one-year high, reflecting expectations about falling supply from South American producers.A weekly brief on the Fastmarkets' copper concentrate index: The copper concentrate TC/RC index, cif Asia Pacific was calculated at $66.70 per tonne/6.67 cents per lb on Friday, d...Read More
Carvill said Kenmare was currently loading a 60,000 tonne vessel with material destined for three customers in China.Read More
Key data from the pricing sessions in Asia, Europe and the United States for the week ending Friday March 20.China Seaborne manganese ore prices rose as concern of potential supply disruptions due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) sparked buying interest.Portside prices climbed after traders...Read More
Bob Moriarty ArchivesMar 20, 2020When the banking system was on the verge of complete failure in 2008, during the GFC, the world had a wonderful opportunity to do a total financial reset. All we had to do is let the failures go bankrupt. We will always need a banking system; we just don’t need a banking system riddled with fraud and failure. Sigh! We missed a great chance to make the world a...Read More
An overview of the battery raw materials markets and their price moves from the past week.Read More
Gold COT Report - Futures Large SpeculatorsCommercialTotal LongShortSpreadingLongShortLongShort 317,40535,48950,438154,761456,470522,604542,397 Change from Prior Reporting Period -18,885-1,270-3,626-28,187-54,782-50,698-59,678 Traders 18073785254268172 Small Speculators LongShortOpen Interest 51,32131,528573,925 -8,847133-59,545 non reportable posit...Read More
There will be position squaring and rebuilding for next week. Copper, crude oil, nickel and other industrial metals can rise as result. If silver falls below $9.50 or trades below $9.50, then it will imply that the corona virus has made Asia (except China) as its home ground. Economic data releases are useless at this point of time. Bank of England has cut its key interest rates to 0.10% in a se...Read More