Spot prices for seaborne coking coal sold to China fell on Monday April 29 despite a strengthening metallurgical coke market.A cargo of a top Australian brand that is already headed for China was sold to a mill in the country's northeastern region at $205.95 per tonne cfr China, various sources confirmed.This is around $2 per tonne below a transaction involving the same brand that was concluded at...Read More

Trading activity involving both seaborne iron ore concentrate and pellets thinned last week, which resulted in softer prices.Concentrate The weekly Fastmarkets MB 66% Fe Iron Ore Concentrate Index stood at $105.35 per tonne cfr China last Friday April 26, down $2.49 per tonne from a week earlier.The daily Fastmarkets MB 65% Fe Iron Ore Index averaged $107.64 per tonne cfr China last week, down $0....Read More

Three-month copper and aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange were subdued across morning trading on Monday April 29, with price sentiment dampened by sizable inflows into various LME-registered locations, while scheduled US-China trade talks this week could boost buying sentiment. Over 37,000 tonnes of copper was delivered into LME-registered warehouses in Asia, Europe and North America th...Read More

The latest selenium transactions, bids, offers and assessments in Europe reported to Fastmarkets.Unless otherwise stated, all prices are per lb and on an in-warehouse Rotterdam basis. Delivered prices are netted back.To view the latest price assessment, click here.To see all Fastmarkets' pricing methodology and specification documents, go to: www.metalbulletin.com/prices/pricing-methodologyWednesd...Read More

Key data from the pricing session in Europe on Friday April 26.Key drivers Several producers of chromium metal are already destocking ahead of the summer lull, according to sources; this destock usually does not happen before late May-June. Sources see this as a clear sign of slow demand. The chromium market has been following a...Read More

Eramet increased its manganese output by 14% year on year in the first quarter of 2019, while also increasing sales volumes by 7% despite lower prices, the French mining and metallurgical group said on Thursday April 25.The company produced a record quarterly volume of 1 million tonnes of manganese ore and made ?,?434 million ($483.63 million) in product sales.The performance shows a healthy manga...Read More

Key data from the pricing session in London on Friday April 26.ChinaKey drivers-The Chinese grade-553 silicon export price moved down on ample supply and weak demand.- Some traders cut offers to attract buying interest on expectations that prices could slide further after Sichuan producers resume operations in May, with cheaper hydroelectric power available to the region at that time. - Most silic...Read More

Chinese imports of cobalt intermediates rose quickly in March after the price, as well as that of the international cobalt benchmark price, accelerated downward in January, which stimulated buying of the raw material. China imported 21,210 tonnes of cobalt intermediates in March, up by almost 83% from 11,596 tonnes in February, according to official but unconfirmed data. Prior to March, Chinese im...Read More

Fastmarkets MB has corrected its monthly alloy surcharges for Europe domestic grade-304 and grade-316 stainless steel cold-rolled sheet (2mm) for April, which were published incorrectly on March 29, 2019 due to an error.The incorrect ranges were published because one of the stainless steel mills - whose surcharges comprise the ranges - was late in publishing them for April. The range for grade-304...Read More

With LME Asia Week fast approaching, Fastmarkets MB takes an in-depth look at one of the topics likely to dominate discussions at this year's event: the growing risk of supply-side headwinds for nickel prices.Nickel prices face considerable downside pressure from increasing supply of two nickel-containing stainless steel raw materials - nickel pig iron (NPI) and nickel plate - as well as an abunda...Read More

The O'Brien mine, halfway between the towns of Rouyn-Noranda and Val-d'Or along the Larder-Lake-Cadillac fault, was considered the highest grade gold producer in Quebec between 1926 and 1957, when the underground operation churned out 1.20 million tonnes grading 15.25 grams gold per tonne for 587,121 oz. gold.Today, the historic mine is part of Radisson Mining Resources (TSXV: RDS; US-OTC: RMRDF)...Read More

Eskay Creek, formerly the world's highest-grade gold mine, may be headed for a re-start due to very promising exploration work completed by Skeena Resources (TSX.V: SKE).Eskay Creek was operated by Barrick Gold until shutting down in 2008 due to a combination of high operating costs and a low gold price. Skeena picked up the option to explore the closed mine and has been working diligently on the...Read More

Gold has failed to gain traction over the past couple months, normally a seasonally-strong time. That has really weighed on sentiment, leaving traders increasingly bearish. Gold investment demand has flagged dramatically with lofty stock markets spewing great euphoria. That's given gold-futures speculators the run of the market, where they have sold aggressively including extreme shorting. But tha...Read More

Growing uncertainty has increased the attractiveness of gold as a hedge against a market downturn. While this sees some investors bolstering their exposure to bullion or gold exchange-traded funds like the SPDR Gold Shares, one of the best ways to gain exposure is to invest in gold miners with high-quality assets. The standout intermediate gold miner is Kirkland Lake Gold (TSX:KL)(NYSE:KL), which...Read More

The Fukushima incident still looms large over the nuclear power industry, with uranium prices still nowhere near what they could be. But that could be about to change, with the general sentiment towards nuclear energy enjoying something of a renaissance.Indeed, with Bill Gates, along with other high-profile commentators, chiming in to promote nuclear power as a critical, low-cost energy source ami...Read More

Eskay Creek, formerly the world's highest-grade gold mine, may be headed for a re-start due to very promising exploration work completed by Skeena Resources (TSX.V: SKE).Eskay Creek was operated by Barrick Gold until shutting down in 2008 due to a combination of high operating costs and a low gold price. Skeena picked up the option to explore the closed mine and has been working diligently on the...Read More

Gold has failed to gain traction over the past couple months, normally a seasonally-strong time. That has really weighed on sentiment, leaving traders increasingly bearish. Gold investment demand has flagged dramatically with lofty stock markets spewing great euphoria. That's given gold-futures speculators the run of the market, where they have sold aggressively including extreme shorting. But tha...Read More

Weekly Reports |Apr 30 2019President Trump may not need all of the 90 days he has to make a decision on section 232 but there is no guarantee of a timeframe.-Uncertainty still reigns-Japan to close reactors-India to build new onesBy Greg PeelUranium market watchers are undoubtedly tired of section 232 but unfortunately uncertainty still hangs like a spectre over the market. The bottom line, after...Read More

Stewart Thomsonemail: stewart@gracelandupdates.comemail: stewart@gracelandjuniors.comemail:admin@guswinger.comApril 30, 2019 Gold stocks tend to become extraordinarily volatile during weeks that feature multiple key fear trade events. As the month of May begins, gold stocks are faced with a FOMC meeting and the US jobs report. Please click here now. Double-click to enlarge this daily gold chart....Read More

Market futures were pointing to a positive start in Toronto and London but lower on Wall Street and the S&P/ASX 200 index was lower at the time of writing.Both official and private business surveys pointed to slower Chinese factory growth this month, Reuters reported, maintaining hopes for further economic stimulus.The S&P500 had reached a fresh, record intraday high yesterday of 2,949.52...Read More