Base Metals

Jubilee abandons chrome acquisition, but still on the prowl

JSE- and Aim-listed Jubilee Platinum said on Friday it had abandoned plans to acquire a chrome company, as the security of the target’s mineral rights could not be guaranteed.

Go long on base metals, short on precious metals: Ashok Mittal, Vertex Securities

The downside on the precious metals should continue and we expect gold to go somewhere close to $1,472 levels.

LME expands steel delivery to Italy as volumes rise 46%

The London Metal Exchange has approved Ravenna as the latest point of good delivery for non domestic LME Steel Billet, with effect from September 16th 2011. The addition of the Italian port will enhance the contract’s warehousing network in Europe, encouraging the steel industry to further utilise the contract. LME Steel Billet is now listed in 12 locations in seven countries.

First decline in 2 years in Chinese car sales worries zinc market

Reuters reports that zinc prices ended May slightly firmer, recovering from an early rout but the prospect of a sizeable supply surplus this year and next will continue to weigh on the market, especially if other metals weaken. Ms Claire Hassall of consultancy CHR Metals said that market watchers were concerned about weakness in the Chinese economy. The general feeling is that demand is not particularly strong in China at the moment using latest car sales figures as an illustration of the source of these worries.

Castillian Nickel spin-out starts Tanzania drill program

Castillian Resources Corp. listed on the TSX Venture market announced on Monday that Kibaran Nickel Limited an ASX listed company has started a 3,000 metre drill program at its Kagera Nickel Project located in Tanzania.

In October 2010, Castillian and Kibaran entered into an agreement whereby Kibaran acquired a 100% interest in the Kagera Nickel Project from Castillian. Castillian has gold and base metal properties in Canada and South America — its flagship property is the Hope Brook Gold Project located in southwestern Newfoundland.

Hudbay raises Augusta Resource Corp stake to 14%

Canadian base metals miner HudBay Minerals Inc raised its stake in Augusta Resource Corp to 14.3 percent by buying 5.4 million more shares in the company for C$21.3 million.

HudBay now holds 20.2 million shares of Augusta Resource, up from about 14.8 million earlier, the company said on Monday.

Eurasian Minerals Completes Final Tranche of CAD $17.875 Million Private Placement

Eurasian Minerals Inc. has completed the final tranche of its CAD$17.875 million private placement by the sale of 3,039,000 units for proceeds of CAD $9,876,750. Each unit, priced at CAD$3.25, consisted of one common share and one-half of one common …

Lundin tells shareholders to rejects Equinox bid

Lundin Mining has rejected the hostile takeover bid mounted last month by Australia-based Equinox Minerals. Canadian Press reported Sunday that Lundin told its shareholders to reject a debt-financed takeover bid from Equinox, saying the unsolicited offer was "financially inadequate" and fraught with risks:

Vancouver-based Lundin (TSX:LUN) said the Equinox (TSX: EQN) bid undervalued the company and would place considerable influence over business decisions in the hands of lenders.

Junior financings totalled $23 billion in 2010: MEG report

Base metals and gold financings were on the rise in 2010, according to the latest report from Metals Economics Group (MEG). The report, which reviewed junior financings between 2008 and 2010, says financings jumped sharply from almost $2 billion in November 2010 to about $5.5 billion in December — a record high.

The uncertainty of crowds

With Libyans having joined the movement to overturn aging autocracies the Arab street action has moved into a geopolitically more difficult territory. Concern over Libya’s oil exports are showing up as higher crude pricing. Libya’s 1.6 M barrels/day of crude output may well undergo disruptions, but the Saudis could replace that if prices move high enough to cause concern. As troubling is the unpredictability of Muammar Gaddafi and those around him. They seem more likely to go down fighting than the western leaning autocrats have been, and that is more likely to cause splintering of the country and concern similar shifts elsewhere in the region. Markets are reflecting this heightened uncertainty with continued gains for precious metals and US$ as well as oil. We expect the US$ and oil to peak before gold and its cousins do.

Nickel Deficits To Be A Growing Concern

Nickel is your quintessential commodity – out of favor last year, in favor this year, meaning market deficits aplenty, with companies scrambling to fill the void left by dormant production during the down years.

QE2 and its Consequences

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced on November 3, 2010 that it would purchase longer-term Treasury securities at a pace of $75 billion dollars per month through the Federal Reserve’s Permanent Open Market Operations (POMO) facility by the end of the second quarter 2011 and potentially beyond.

Gold consolidation before the next move higher

I’ve been talking to subscribers this past week about the powerful move we’ve seen in US indices as of late and the recent pattern formed in the S&P which is a rarity. It’s the swiss steps pattern as shown below.

Chile, Codelco and the Copper Slump

I n early January 2009, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet announced a $4 billion plan to help Chile fight the global economic crisis and create as many as 100,000 jobs. The so-called "Anti-Crisis Plan" is based on windfall copper earnings saved …

JKTech partners with ALS

JKTech Pty – the technology transfer company for the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC) in Australia – has partnered with the ALS Laboratory Group – an international leader in analytical testing services – to form ALS Mineralogy. With JKTech's …

Hatch Studying Water Recovery at Escondida Mine

Hatch has been retained by BHP Billiton Base Metals to execute a prefeasibility study at the Escondida facilities in northern Chile….more at MEI Online

Everclear's commercial-grade electrolyser

International Mining reports that in an important advance in clean processing, Applied Intellectual Capital (AIC) has successfully launched a commercial-grade electrolyser manufacturing program in support of its affiliate, EverClear Solutions. Specifically developed to meet the rigours of continuous operation in …