[edit] It goes without saying that gold miners and the royalty companies that live off them will be shown to have been impaired like many other companies by the coming Q2 numbers due to shutdowns. An emailer questioned my view on this and it has been one of my personal caution points. Markets should be looking ahead, but during this euphoric sentiment release across broad markets maybe they’...Read More

The title of Leo Tolstoy's massive tome, War and Peace, which many have heard of but few have read, implies a cyclical alternation between these conditions, which never ends, no matter how great the level of technological advance, because of the nature of men, which does not change.It is the same with the great economic cycles which alternate between boom and bust. Once a parasitic overclass gai...Read More

Chris MarcheseChief Mining Analyst, GoldSeek & SilverSeekWeek Ended April-10, 2020 $BTG, $CXB.TO, $DPM.TO, $EXK, $EGO, $FNV, $WPM, $OR, $SAND, $RGLD, $GFG.V, $GBR.V, $GPL, $HL, $KL, $KORE.V, $KNT.V, $MOZ.TO, $PG.TO, $AUY, $CG.TO It's looking the suspension of mining activities have tapered off for the time being, though the mining industry has already been severely impacted. Approximately 5...Read More

Dave KranzlerThe CME/LBMA latest paper derivative product - the Accumulated Certificate of Exchange aka "4GC" - is failing. Badly. After its introduction last week there has been zero trade activity in the contract: 4GC Settlement data. The contract fabricates a paper claim on 25% of an LBMA 400 oz bar for Comex participants seeking delivery of the 100 oz Comex bar. It's an attempt to tr...Read More

Preventing DepressionMonetary and Fiscal Policy: Where We Are TodayInflation Is Always and Everywhere a Function of DemandThe Utter Travesty of UnemploymentThinking of the Enormity of It All"Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output. ... A steady rate of monetary gr...Read More

RAPAPORT... Rough prices slumped at Petra Diamonds' March tenders as buyers sought discounts due to the slowdown in the market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.Goods from Petra's South African mines sold for 27% less than in February on a like-for-like basis, the company reported last week. As a result, the miner chose to sell only 75% of its available volume and exported the rest to sell in A...Read More

RAPAPORT... Chow Tai Fook's sales slid in the fourth fiscal quarter amid sluggish consumer demand and store closures brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.Retail sales slumped 41% in mainland China in the three months ending March 31, while same-store sales - at branches open for at least year - plunged 50%, the jeweler reported last week. Both retail sales and same-store sales in Hong Kong...Read More

RAPAPORT... India's polished-diamond trade slowed inFebruary, reflecting lower demand from Hong Kong and China due to thecoronavirus. Exports dropped 41% to $1.38 billion, while rough imports rose, accordingto data from the country's Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC). India Trade Data for February 2020  Read More

RAPAPORT... The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) has rescheduled its trade shows for the second time, as coronavirus-related restrictions continue.The Hong Kong International Jewellery Show and the Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show will now take place from August 3 to 6, the company said last week. The events, which were originally scheduled for March, had alrea...Read More

RAPAPORT... Total diamond sales at Alrosa fell 59% to $152.8 million in March, as the coronavirus pandemic led to a slowdown in demand.Rough-diamond proceeds dipped 60% year on year to $148.7 million for the month, while polished revenue dropped 49% to $4.1 million. "March demand for rough and polished diamonds in all key markets demonstrated a steep decline," Alrosa deputy CEO Evgeny Agureev...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Baselworld has rescheduled the world's largest watch and jewelry event but has angered some exhibitors with its failure to offer full refunds.The event should have taken place from 30 April to 5 May but was canceled after Swiss authorities outlawed gatherings of over 1,000 people because of coronavirus.Organizers say it will now take place from 28 January to 2 February 2021.Th...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Zimbabwe's state-owned diamond company has reportedly been forced to fend off illegal mining. The Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company, which has operations in the Chiadzwa area and in Chimanimani, has increased security during a 21-day coronavirus lockdown. A spokesman said they had to stop illegal miners intent on smuggling out gems across the Mozambique border to foreign b...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Alrosa's sales of rough and polished diamonds in March were down 56 per cent on the previous month. They fell from $346.4m in February to $152.8m, said the Russian state-controlled miner, which is allowing buyers to defer 60 per cent of rough purchases in response to the coronavirus crisis. It has also started auctioning large stones (over 10.8 carats) online rather than at ph...Read More

Nightmare scenario: WHO investigating whether virus wasRead full newsRead More

Okechukwu Nnodim, AbujaThe construction of Nigeria's only large-scale commercial gold mine has begun in Osun State and the facility will start producing gold in 2021.According to the Federal Mi...Read full newsRead More

On a global scale, work is grinding to a halt and mines are being placed on temporary care and maintenance.Read full newsRead More

Okechukwu Nnodim, AbujaThe construction of Nigeria's only large-scale commercial gold mine has begun in Osun State and the facility will start producing gold in 2021.According to the Federal Mi...Read full newsRead More

Metals investors take heed. Lithium, copper, and cobalt all have their fans. But there could be another source of metals upside on the way, from a source that has long been in the doldrums: uranium. Today we’re going to talk about Cameco (TSX:CCO)(NYSE:CCJ), and why it’s suddenly a buy.Uranium prices are looking set to rise in 2020Nuclear power has its headwinds. But the sector could b...Read More

Cigar Lake is the world's second largest high-grade uranium deposit, producing 18 million lb of uranium annually. Credit: Cameco Uranium mining major Cameco (TSX: CCO; NYSE: CCJ) is extending the temporary production suspension at its Cigar Lake mine in northern Saskatchewan as the effects of the global covid-19 pandemic persist, the company announced on Monday.In late March, Cameco placed the Ci...Read More

Last weekend I decided to do some extreme "social-distancing".I loaded my tent, some canned food, and my shotgun and started driving south. My destination? Thirty acres of forested land that my friends and I bought years ago for just such an occasion.At the time our families thought we were a bit crazy. "What in the hell are you going to do with an empty property in the middle of nowhere?" they la...Read More