There was no commodity paradigm shift and there was no "peak everything" in 2011, says Jeremy Grantham in his recent letter to investors.The storied investor, writing in this spring's GMO Quarterly Letter, runs an autopsy on his own bullish outlook on commodities in 2011 and dissects how it all went wrong.Boston-based Grantham, Mayo, & van Otterloo has more than US$118 billion in assets under mana...Read More
Andrew Mackenzie says BHP won't wait for prices to recover, and insists the giant miner continues to drive down costs. (Image from archives)World's largest mining company BHP Billiton (ASX, NYSE:BHP) (LON:BLT) has decided to resume investing in projects aimed to boost production capacity, particularly in copper and oil, even if commodity prices have not fully recovered yet.Speaking at the Global M...Read More
Top publicly-held copper producer Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE:FCX) on Monday announced the sale of its largest African copper mine to China Molybdenum for up to $2.65 billion.Like many of its peers Freeport has been struggling to get its debt load under control which ballooned to $20 billion following the ill-timed acquisition of oil and gas assets three years ago. In February the Phoenix...Read More
Mining and metals investors were offloading the sector's big names on Monday after sharp drops in iron ore and copper prices following weaker than expected imports by top consumer China and renewed fears about the robustness of the 2016 rally in commodity prices.On the Comex market in New York copper for delivery in July fell as much 2.4% to $2.1025 a pound or some $4,635 a tonne. Copper's y...Read More
Atlas Copco launches its first battery driven product within the mining and underground segment. When it comes to safety for its operators, the Scooptram ST7 Battery has been developed to meet and exceed environmental standards and modern mining safety requirements.Traditionally, underground mobile equipment in the mining sector has relied on diesel engines which release emissions. Those emissions...Read More
Canadian Eldorado Gold (TSX:ELD) (NYSE:EGO) will resume work at its stalled Skouries mine, one of four Greek major operations where the firm is involved, following an approval of its updated technical study by the Ministry of Energy and Environment.The Vancouver-based miner had been awaiting a licence for the project in Halkidiki, a forested area in northern Greece, for over a year. But after mont...Read More
Rio Tinto Group's $5.3 billion underground expansion of Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia will increase its output in about four years time when the copper market is in deficit, according to the company's deputy chief executive officer.Read more at Bloomberg Read More
OZ Minerals (ASX:OZL) is betting big on copper with plans to begin mining ore at its Carrapateena underground mine by 2019.In a statement released on Friday, Australia's third-largest copper producer said it aims for output three years from now under a revised AUD$975 million construction plan - a far cry from the original plans back in 2014 for a project valued up to AUD $3 billion. The mine woul...Read More
Williams Lake BC: Wednesday May 6, 2016: BC's First Nation's Women Advocating Responsible Mining (FNWARM) today called on BC Mines Minister Bill Bennett to work with First Nations to address the damning failings of the province's mine monitoring, and massively underfunded liabilities for mine accidents and polluting abandoned projects."Auditor General Carol Bellringer's report vindicates what BC f...Read More
Oyu Tolgoi, a copper-gold mine in the South Gobi region of Mongolia, approximately 550 km south of the capital Ulaanbaatar, holds one of the largest undeveloped high-grade copper deposits in the world. (Image courtesy of Oyu Tolgoi LLC)In a fresh sign that the downturn in the resources industry may be finally over, mining giant Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) and its Canadian affiliate Turquoise Hill (TSE:TRQ...Read More
The price of copper in New York fell on Thursday for the fourth straight day with July futures trading on the Comex market giving up 2% to $2.1430 a pound after optimism about demand from top consumer China began to fade. After a few brutal days of trading copper is down 6.7% this week alone, wiping out year-to-date gains entirely.Growing demand from China - responsible for 46% of the global trade...Read More
Sibanye Gold (JSE:SGL) (NYSE:SBGL), the biggest producer of the precious metal in South Africa, is actively considering more platinum acquisitions, as it seeks to take advantage of its strong current position and the weakness of most competitors.In September, Sibanye acquired Anglo American Platinum's (Amplats) Rustenburg mines for 4.5 billion rand ($330 million at the time). A few weeks later,...Read More
Original Source: Global Risk InsightsThe town of Luanshya, situated on Zambia's copperbelt, serves as a bellwether for the country's economy. However, political developments in Zambia are causing significant uncertainties in the copper industry.With a sustained annual GDP growth rate above 6%, driven primarily by copper, the past decade has been tumultuous for Luanshya. Founded as a service town...Read More
Ratings agency Moody's on Tuesday changed its outlook for Anglo American's credit rating recognizing the world's fifth largest diversified miner's "rapid progress in negotiating material asset sales, a higher than expected valuation for the sale of the niobium and phosphate businesses, and improving prospects for the global diamond market."In February Moody's downgraded Anglo's debt to junk status...Read More
Mining and metals investors were rushing for the exits on Tuesday on fears that the China-inspired rally on commodity markets in 2016 was losing steam.The sell-off led by comeback story Anglo-American, and punters' favourites Freeport-McMoran and Teck Resources, came after a gauge of manufacturing activity in China unexpectedly fell back in April.After recovering sharply to a more-than-a-year...Read More
Risk, from a mathematical perspective, is the probability of an event multiplied by its potential impact.The World Risk Report, which is published each year, looks at the risks of natural disasters in this way. The model used in the report takes into consideration the exposure of countries to natural disasters, but also their ability to cope and deal with such events. The end result is a World R...Read More
With sales and operations at the ends of the earth, few companies are in a better position to take the pulse of the global economy and the resource sector in particular than Caterpillar.The new line of "smart" equipment will be able to communicate, instantly, how it's performing, and what might need fixing soon.The world's number one heavy equipment manufacturer has been hit hard by the decline i...Read More
Shares of Teck Resources Ltd. have almost tripled this year, making the Canadian company the best-performing global miner amid the rebound in commodity prices and a projected fivefold improvement in earnings.The price of Teck's three main products have surged, with metallurgical coal leading and zinc a close second. Until recently, copper had lagged the pack but gains last week have narrowed the...Read More
One of its most comprehensive workforce studies to date, produced by specialist recruitment firm Hays Canada, reveals that 47 per cent of Canadian professionals are unhappy in their current job. A majority (86%) of employee respondents from multiple regions and industries believe their fit' with a company and its people is essential to contentment and success; however, when considering a new job,...Read More
DENVER, May 2, 2016 - Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) (Newmont or the Company) today marked its 95th anniversary since its official incorporation on May 2, 1921."This anniversary is a testament to Newmont's enduring success. Then as now, our leadership is rooted in our high quality people and portfolio, our proven strategy, and our track record of meeting commitments. Our 95th year is an oc...Read More