Top mining destinations in 2017: Canada leads the list, Australia second

The two Canadian provinces Saskatchewan and Manitoba are the world’s new top mining destinations. What else is new in the global metals market?

ICE reportedly in talks with former LME boss to launch rival metals exchange/Finance Magnates – Aziz Abdel-Qader:

Mr. Abbott left the 135-year-old bourse in 2013 after the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) took over. “ICE is looking at the possibility of expanding into metals (in London). We’ll look at it if it develops further. Any loyalty we had (to the LME) went a long time ago when they raised fees at a very difficult time for us,” the source said. Customers are looking at rival platforms. There are several different options on how exactly the metals might be traded on the new London-based platform, as some people talk about an OTC (over the counter) platform, while others suggest a full-blown exchange. “A combination of physical and cash-settled contracts perhaps might work,” one source close to ICE said.

Friday’s trivia question:

Where is the deepest gold mine on the planet?

Gold investors are waking up to the reality of an increasing probability that borrowing costs in the U.S. could rise this month/by Luzi-Ann Javier:

Bullion prices are headed for their biggest loss in two weeks as the odds that the Federal Reserve will boost interest rates this month jumped to 84 percent on Wednesday, from 52 percent a day earlier and 34 percent last week, according to Fed fund futures data compiled by Bloomberg. Higher rates curb the investment appeal of non-interest bearing gold, while boosting the dollar.

Gold, which rallied more than 7 percent this year, has been thrown into reverse amid a rapid rethink by investors as Fed officials signaled more willingness to consider a rate hike this month. The Fed’s preferred measure of consumer prices climbed 1.9 percent from a year earlier, just shy of its 2 percent target that was last met in April 2012, according to a government report on Wednesday.

Canada’s Saskatchewan and Manitoba are the world’s new top mining destinations/Cecilia Jamasmie:

Canada’s Saskatchewan and Manitoba are the world’s new top mining destinations.

Top mining destinations in 2017. Photo © Fraser Institute’s Survey of Mining Companies, 2016.

Silver overtook gold/Market Realist:

The gold-silver spread fell to its lowest level in three decades in 2011 when gold climbed to a record high. In a bull market for precious metals, silver usually outperforms gold. The opposite tends to be the case in a bear market. The spread recently rose due to a comparatively high fall in silver. Gold and silver have trailing-30-day falls of 4.3% and 8.7%, respectively. The relative performances of gold and silver can also be seen through funds such as the Shares Silver Trust ETF (SLV) and the iShares Gold Trust ETF (IAU). These two funds have seen year-to-date rises of 18.9% and 26.8%, respectively.

Pete:

I covered this important news last week, but just in case you missed it!

Toyota’s new technology a blow for platinum, palladium price/Mining.com:

Toyota sold more than 10 million vehicles last year placing it in a virtual tie with Volkswagen as the world’s number one automaker. Stricter pollution regulations around the world and intense competition mean that top priority for traditional car companies is to cut costs and reduce emissions.

A new technology unveiled by Toyota on Wednesday is win for the Japanese company on both counts. Toyota announced the availability of a new, smaller catalyst that uses 20% less precious metal in approximately 20% less volume, while maintaining the same exhaust gas purification performance.

Toyota’s “world’s first integrally-molded Flow Adjustable Design Cell (FLAD)” is not the first-time researchers have found innovative ways to reduce pricey platinum group metals in exhaust systems. But those technologies seldom make it all the way to the assembly line.

Analysis by the Bulliondesk:

Palladium has consolidated sideways in recent days but the 20 DMA continues to act as a support, signaling that sentiment is resilient. Against this, we retain our constructive stance over the very short term (around one month). Taking a longer-term perspective, our monthly chart shows the technical picture remains fairly bullish, with an upward-sloping key MMA. Palladium is the most resilient precious metal so far, this week. While the white metal is about flat week-on-week, gold and platinum are under intense selling pressure from growing expectations of an imminent US rate increase

Copper price-Escondida deal beginning to look distant/Frik Els:

In New York on Monday copper for delivery in May was trading slightly for the better at $2.6980 per pound or $5,940 a tonne after conflicting reports about talks between BHP Billiton and workers at its Escondida mine in Chile. In a television interview with BHP CEO Andrew Mackenzie said talks had resumed with the main union representing 2,500 workers at Escondida, the world’s largest copper operation by a wide margin adding that the miners are “extremely well paid”.

Pete’s Corner:

“Kyrgyzstan gets it”

The Governor of the Central bank of Kyrgyzstan has told Bloomberg News in an interview that it is his “dream” for every citizen in his country to own at least 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of gold as a way to protect their savings. Diversifying one’s savings so that they are not solely held in fiat paper or electronic currencies in frequently vulnerable with so many banks in a vulnerable banking and financial system it is prudent advice in these uncertain times. The Governor of Central Bank of Kyrgyzstan said the central bank had sold around 140 kilos of gold bullion to the domestic population already

Millionaires can’t seem to flee this European country fast enough/Quentin Fottrell:

Some 82,000 high-net-worth individuals, defined as those who have assets over $1 million, left their home countries last year, versus 64,000 in 2015, according to the “Global Health Review: Worldwide Wealth and Wealth Migration Trends.” For the second consecutive year, Australia was the No. 1 country welcoming millionaire migrants, beating even the U.S. There was a 38% jump in millionaire migrants to Australia (11,000 last year versus 8,000 in 2015) and a 43% increase in those migrants to the U.S. over the same period (10,000 in 2016 versus 7,000). High-net-worth individuals, however, fled France last year in greater numbers than any other country. Some 12,000 millionaires left France last year, versus 10,000 in 2015, a gain of 20%

GoldCore/Mark O’Byrne:

Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev paid €54 million or $85 million for a landscape by Paul Gauguin in a private transaction in June 2008. Yesterday, he incurred a whopping 74% loss on his store of value “investment” as reported by Bloomberg:

Gauguin’s 1892 landscape “Te Fare (La Maison)” fetched 20.3 million pounds ($25 million), including commission, at Tuesday evening’s sale of Impressionist and modern art at Christie’s in London. Rybolovlev will net about $22 million based on the hammer price. The auction house had estimated the value at $15 million to $22.4 million. The buyer was a client of Rebecca Wei, president of Christie’s Asia.

Human activity creates 208 new mineral species/Mining.com:

Study describes “unparalleled inorganic compound diversification” – primarily from mining. For the first time, more than 200 mineral species have been identified that originated either principally or exclusively due to human activities – primarily as a result of mining. The study led by Robert Hazen of the Carnegie Institution for Science published by American Mineralogist bolsters the argument to officially designate a new geological time interval distinguished by the pervasive impact of human activities called the Anthropocene Epoch. Tinnunculite has been determined to be a product of hot gases reacting with the excrement of the Eurasian kestrel at a burning coal mine in Kopeisk, Russia.

According to the paper, the 208 catalogued mineral species originating from human actions represent almost 4% of the 5,208 minerals (defined as a naturally occurring crystalline compound that has a unique combination chemical composition and crystal structure) officially recognized by the International Mineralogical Association.

Express News:

Brian Biddle found the Angel coin – struck during the brief 86-day reign of Edward V who was murdered in the Tower of London – in a farmer’s field where it had lain undisturbed for 533 years. The land in Tolpuddle, Dorset, had been repeatedly searched over the years by the members of the Stour Valley Search and Recovery Club before Brian, 64, turned up with his detector. The heating engineer realized he was getting warmer in his hunt for a piece of treasure when his device activated.

The SEC on Wednesday unanimously voted to propose new requirements that state and local governments disclose the details of the bank loans, helping to illuminate a corner of the nearly $4 trillion municipal-bond market where there is currently no consistent reporting. States and localities looking to fund projects such as roads, schools and bridges are turning to bank loans for cheaper financing in recent years. Such loans total roughly $40 billion to $50 billion in annual issuance, according to consulting firm Municipal Market Analytics. Bank loans are cheaper than issuing debt in the public markets in part because they Don’t require a rating, which can cost a municipality tens of thousands of dollars, and typically don’t carry the same disclosure requirements.

If you’re not hedging on the Tornado Hedging Platform your potential for losses from these levels are staggering. All precious metals could run out of stem very quickly and leave your operation in the red.

Markets rejoice as Trump takes aim at Dodd Frank/Trading Buddy:

For all the rhetoric against Dodd Frank, analysts argue that Congress won’t repeal the entire bill; instead, lawmakers will amend specific sections that will satisfy the market’s appetite for deregulation. Dodd Frank is too complex and all-encompassing to scrap in its entirety, and not all lawmakers fully understand the legislation in the first place. Beyond that, anti-regulation Republicans could potentially run into resistance wiping the slate clean on the legislation. As the Wall Street Journal, has already noted, a full repeal of the Act isn’t the main focus of the Trump administration. Instead, the Trump team will seek to scale back certain parts of the regulation to boost competitiveness. Chances are that in the eyes of market participants, they will come out as heroes regardless.

Found – 47 lumps of orichalcum, an ancient alloy attributed to Atlantis/Sarah Laskow:

Off the coast of Sicily, near the city of Gela, a new expedition to a 2,600-year-old shipwreck has returned with 47 lumps of orichalcum, a rare alloy said to be smelted* on the fabled island of Atlantis, Seeker reports.

The shipwreck dates to 600 B.C. and was previously explored in 2015, when underwater archaeologists found 39 ingots of the metal. This trip also yielded a jar and two Corinthian helmets.

Orichalcum was supposed to be a shiny alloy, much like brass. It’s known from ancient texts, like Plato, which described it as a rare metal, mined at Atlantis. Plato described a temple to Poseidon that had an entire pillar of orichalcum, Seeker says. LucasArts fans of a certain age may remember it as a feature of the computer game Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.

In 2015, after this shipwreck was discovered, Sicilian officials started describing the metal found there by the same name. The ingots were made from zinc, charcoal and copper, News Corp Australia reported at the time; tradition had it that orichalcum was made of copper, gold and silver. The metal found by the shipwreck, though, matched ancient descriptions of orichalcum, which was supposed to have a red tone to it. Whether or not the metal found in this particular shipwreck is the orichalcum of old, it is a strange and rare discovery—possibly sent to the sea as an offering to the gods.

Friday Trivia Answer:

The mine is as deep as 10 Empire State Buildings, and its 236 miles of tunnels are longer than the New York subway. Every day, 4,000 workers descend into the mine through elevators—or, as they’re called in mining parlance, cages. These triple-decked cages fit 120 people at a time, and the first 1.6-mile shaft takes only 6 minutes to descend. A second shaft takes workers deeper down, and the last part is only accessible by foot or vehicle.

The whole, mind-boggling huge structure mines a seam of ore only 30 inches wide in South Africa. At least 10% of the gold in South African mines is stolen. Criminal syndicates help illegal “ghost” miners sneak into the mineshaft, where they then hide out for months at a time, turning ghostly from the lack of sunlight. Security guards also tend to let these ghost miners be: the illegal miners are often armed with AK-47s and beer bottle grenades, and it’s all too easy to hear someone coming from far off in the mine. The mine is so big, it’s difficult to police anyways.

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DISCLAIMER: This article expresses my own ideas and opinions. Any information I have shared are from sources that I believe to be reliable and accurate. I did not receive any financial compensation in writing this post, nor do I own any shares in any company I’ve mentioned. I encourage any reader to do their own diligent research first before making any investment decisions.