RAPAPORT... Firestone Diamonds' Liqhobong mine will remain dormant after months of debt negotiations fell at the final hurdle.The company had been in talks with its lenders over restructuring its $82.4 million outstanding debt, it said Tuesday. The Lesotho-based deposit has been on care and maintenance during that time. The company had hoped to complete the discussions and set a plan to reopen the...Read More
RAPAPORT... Helzberg Diamonds' lab-grown products saw strong growth last year as the lower prices let consumers buy larger stones, according to the company's CEO.The 2-carat lab-grown diamond has become "the new 1-carat mined diamond," Beryl Raff said in a panel discussion at the recent Dubai Diamond Conference."In 2021, we sold, in units, 50 times more 2-carat labs than we sold 2-carat mined...Read More
(IDEX Online) - De Beers today reported provisional rough sales of $650m at its second sight of the year, amid continuing "robust" demand.It's a slight dip from $660m at Cycle 1, but a significant increase from $550m at last year's Cycle 2.Rough remains in short supply, and banking restrictions on Russia will inevitably impact the ability of its biggest rival, Alrosa, to make sales.De Be...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Surat is braced for a shortage of rough supplies and further price hikes following Russia's invasion of Ukraine."There is growing uncertainty in the diamond industry due to the war," Savjibhai Dholakia, chairman of Hari Krishna Exports - one of India's biggest diamond companies - told Hindustan Times."About 40% of our diamonds are supplied from Russia today and the paymen...Read More
(IDEX Online) - Botswana is aiming to further expand its diamond production as Russia faces global sanctions, says the country's president Mokgweetsi Masisi.He hopes Botswana, currently the world's second-largest producer by volume, will "play a more prominent role in the industry," according to a report by Bloomberg News on an interview her gave in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.Botswana p...Read More
Jeff Currie, Goldman Sachs head of commodity research, joins CNBC's 'Squawk Box' to break down nickel futures after the London Metal Exchange suspended tradi...Read full newsRead More
Surging raw materials costs, made worse by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, could set back the dream of Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and other auto executives to roll out more affordable electric vehicles.Read full newsRead More
Nickel is a key material used in electric vehicle batteries.Read full newsRead More
?EUR?A nation that can't control its energy sources can't control its future."- Barack ObamaRead full newsRead More
During President Biden's State of the Union Address, the price of oil jumped 10% to $113 a barrel. The president has prioritized climate change over energy independence at a time when the world is facing an energy crisis.Coal prices have been skyrocketing and are up about 500% for the year. This week, oil prices climbed even more. If you do the math and adjust for inflation, oil would have to hit...Read More
The London-listed equities of Alba Minerals (LSE: ALBA) and GreenRoc Mining (AIM: GROC) rose on Tuesday following a maiden graphite resource for the Greenland-based Amitsoq project.GreenRoc has compiled a Joint Ore Reserves Committee- (JORC) compliant indicated and inferred resources of 8.28 million tonnes at an average grade of 19.75% graphitic carbon, giving a total graphite content of 1.63 mill...Read More
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, already pushing up prices for an array of commodities rapidly higher since it began on Feb. 24 - including adding a record 250% to the price of nickel over the past two days - will have longer-lasting structural effects on metals and mining markets and supply, said BMO Metals and Mining in a report released on Monday. The report "Ukraine & Russia: Identifying Exposur...Read More
Women working across the resource industry continue to face challenges around bullying, discrimination and inequitable treatment, a new report by the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) shows.According to the document, which is based on the responses of 550 people polled for the organization's fourth annual Women in Mining Survey, 70% of female respondents said bullying is com...Read More
This week's episode features Integra Resources president and CEO George Salamis in conversation with Northern Miner Podcast host Adrian Pocobelli. George discusses the recent BMO conference in Florida, supply concerns ("We're short on everything"), and how North America can streamline its metal production with faster permitting timelines.This week's CEO Spotlight features Lomiko Metals chief execu...Read More
The London Metal Exchange (LME) cancelled nickel trading on Tuesday after a first-time 250% price spike triggered by Western sanctions against major producer Russia, which left brokers struggling to pay margin calls against unprofitable short positions.Prices for the metal, key ingredient in batteries that power electric cars and high-tech devices, soared to a record above US$100,000 a tonne amid...Read More
Mkango Resources (TSXV: MKA) says that it has produced neodymium and praseodymium enriched rare earth carbonate on a pilot basis from raw materials taken from its Songwe Hill Rare Earths project in Malawi in east Africa. The company's CEO William Dawes told The Northern Miner that the hydrometallurgical piloting, which took place at Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, was a...Read More
Some 80 years ago, some poor young man on the HMS Sheffield, clearly not willing to smile for reasons probably related to the conditions depicted, was captured on film in a God-forsaken corner of the world:The U.S. was swirling around the maelstrom that was World War II as it sent rickety cargo ships to sleepy ports few Americans knew about - some worse than others.Welcome to the "Murmansk Run."Pa...Read More
Geodrill hopes that a strong gold price and new contracts will see the good results continue through 2022. The Q4 net income stood at US$2.8 million, or $0.06 per share, which saw 2021 net income rise 88% year-on-year to $14.1 million, or $0.31 per share. The West Africa-based company's revenue hit $26.7 million in Q4, having risen by 8% year-on-year.For 2021, the company's revenue was $...Read More
In a crisis of this magnitude, remember not to measure your wealth, your gold and your silver in... by Egon von Greyerz of Gold SwitzerlandWhen the sh-t hits the global fan, it often does it at the optimal time for the maximum amount of damage and with the worst kind of sh-t to soil the world.For years I have been clear that the world is reaching the end of an economic, financial and monetary era...Read More
The focus on the London Metal Exchange on the morning of Tuesday March 8 is the short squeeze that has sent the nickel market wild - prices were up by over 100% at one stage on Tuesday morning from Monday’s close, at $101,365 per tonne, this after Monday’s 72.7% rise.• Nickel experiencing panic short-covering as some major longs, shorts battle it out• Russia threatening to cut...Read More