"CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-Barrick explores options for Zambian copper mine under pressure from taxes https://t.co/EEARxtyG3U"Read full newsRead More

China officially added gold to its reserves last month for the first time in two years and has been shrinking its holdings of US Treasuries. The Russians have also made similar moves.There have also been efforts to limit exposure to the US dollar by setting up alternative payments systems and financial channels that don't rely on the greenback.Gold offers countries some measure of independence...Read More

Who need stocks and bonds? A new study finds something even more valuable: LEGOs! They're more valuable than gold.Read full newsRead More

Who need stocks and bonds? A new study finds something even more valuable: LEGOs! They're more valuable than gold.Read full newsRead More

Here Are 3 Hot Things to Know About Stocks Right Now The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell Thursday as prospects dimmed for a near-term resolution to U.S.-China trade talks following comments from the U.S. Commerce Secretary.Ford Motor Co. (F)  rose 3.12% even after the automaker's adjusted fourth-quarter earnings missed estimates and it reported a loss of $116 million in the peri...Read More

Lead outperformed the other base metals on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday January 24, closing 2.2% higher, while both zinc and tin also gained amid continued falls in LME stocks. For lead, on-warrant metal remains at its lowest since 2009 at just above 41,000 tonnes. And in tin, persistent outflows and fresh cancelations are propelling the price higher; the exchange's total tin inventory is...Read More

Comex copper prices sank once again on Thursday morning in the United States, with persistent bearish overtones and short-covering hampering the red metal.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 0.60 cents to $2.6485 per lb. "Although we acknowledge that market participants prefer to adopt a cautious stance toward copper for now,...Read More

M2 Cobalt Corp and Jervois Mining Ltd are to merge in a deal that will complement the latter's ambitions in East Africa as part of its focus on the growing battery metals market. Upon completion of the deal, which has been approved by both boards, existing Jervois shareholders will own 77.9% of the new company while 22.1% will be owned by current M2 Cobalt shareholders. In late 2017, the company c...Read More

Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Thursday January 24 that are worth another look.An ad hoc coalition of more than 45 groups from various industries in the United States has called on President Donald Trump's administration to end the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Canada and Mexico.Chinese steelmakers' narrowing margins and improvemen...Read More

Australian miner New Century Resources is delivering 14,000 tonnes of zinc concentrates on spot-market terms to Europe, the tailing reprocessing project operator said on Monday January 21.The parcel is now en route to Europe, after being sold to an existing offtake partner, according to a company statement.New Century Resources' project is the first of its kind to generate significant output from...Read More

Freeport-McMoRan expects its copper and gold production to fall over the next two years due to a long-anticipated transition of its operations in Indonesia, before improving significantly again. The Arizona, United States-based copper producer forecasts consolidated sales of around 3.3 billion lb of copper in 2019, down from 3.8 billion lb in 2018, along with 800,000 oz of gold, also down from 2.4...Read More

Strategic & Precious Metals Processing (SPMP) expects the initial production of pure antimony metal to take place in the next week at its antimony-gold project in Oman, SPMP parent company Tri-Star Resources said on Thursday January 24. Tri-Star has a 40% equity interest in SPMP, which is constructing the antimony and gold processing facility in Sohar, Oman. The project was initially expected to c...Read More

M2 Cobalt Corp and Jervois Mining Ltd are to merge in a deal that will complement the latter's ambitions in East Africa as part of its focus on the growing battery metals market. Upon completion of the deal, which has been approved by both boards, existing Jervois shareholders will own 77.9% of the new company while 22.1% will be owned by current M2 Cobalt shareholders. In late 2017, the company c...Read More

The Turkish deep-sea scrap market remained quiet on Thursday January 24, with steel mills unwilling to pay high prices while finished steel demand is weak, local market sources told Fastmarkets MB.Offer prices for HMS 1&2 (80:20) have already increased to more than $290-295 per tonne cfr from suppliers, who cite increasing collection costs for the rise.Two cargoes were sold to a steel mill in the...Read More

Consumption of ferrous scrap in the United Kingdom will continue to increase over the coming years amid an expansion in the UK operations of international metals group Liberty House, Fastmarkets MB's research team believes. UK scrap demand in 2018 is on course to rise for the first time in four years after Liberty restarted a second electric arc furnace (EAF) at its site in Rotherham, northern Eng...Read More

Import prices for steel billet in Southeast Asia staged a slight recovery this week amid limited offers and Turkey's strengthening scrap market, although participants reckon that the billet gains might be short-lived because they were not supported by demand.Fastmarkets' daily import price assessment for billet in Southeast Asia was $450-455 per tonne cfr Manila on Thursday January 24, narrowing u...Read More

Comex copper prices sank once again on Thursday morning in the United States, with persistent bearish overtones and short-covering hampering the red metal.The copper price for March settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 0.60 cents to $2.6485 per lb. "Although we acknowledge that market participants prefer to adopt a cautious stance toward copper for now,...Read More

United States-based global miner Freeport-McMoRan has been issued with pre-tax charges of nearly $400 million in penalties and interest related to disputed mining royalty assessments for its Cerro Verde copper mine in Arequipa, Peru.The charges relate to the years 2009 to 2013, and have come after Cerro Verde, in which Freeport owns a 53.56% stake, chose not to appeal a decision by the Peruvian Ta...Read More

Freeport-McMoRan expects its copper and gold production to fall over the next two years due to a long-anticipated transition of its operations in Indonesia, before improving significantly again. The Arizona, United States-based copper producer forecasts consolidated sales of around 3.3 billion lb of copper in 2019, down from 3.8 billion lb in 2018, along with 800,000 oz of gold, also down from 2.4...Read More

Trade log for battery-grade lithium carbonate in China including trades, bids and offers reported to Fastmarkets. Unless otherwise stated, all prices are per tonne on an ex-works China basis. Delivered prices are netted back. Fastmarkets prices Click here for Fastmarkets price assessment for lithium carbonate min 99.5% Li2CO3 battery grade, spot price range, ex-works China, yuan per tonne.Fas...Read More