January 26, 2012

Zinc risks a temporary glut

Zinc may be the black sheep of base metals this year amid expectations that increases in mining capacity will pressure prices. However, the outlook could brighten should some of those…

January 25, 2012

Harper Builds Oil Links With China After Obama ‘Slap’ on Keystone Pipeline

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is gaining support among Canadians for his plan to ship oilsands crude to China after President Barack Obama rejected TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s $7 billion Keystone XL…

January 24, 2012

Toyota says could bring rare earth substitute for hybrid cars to market within two years

Reuters reports that Toyota has developed a technology to substitute rare earths used in its hybrid vehicles. The company, which has a strong lead in environmentally friendlier car sales around…

January 24, 2012

A Coming Great Global Angst

Our agriculture system is concentrated on producing a very few staple crops - there is a very serious lack of crop diversity.

January 20, 2012

Trading places: rare earth prices plummet while rare earth miners rocket in 2012

The share price performance of those non-Chinese rare earth miners closest to production – Molycorp in the US, Australia's Lynas and Great Western Minerals in South Africa – is in…

January 20, 2012

Gold for the week down in euros, up in dollars amid ‘significantly reduced physical market activity

Wholesale market gold bullion prices in dollars dropped to US$1,646 an ounce Friday lunchtime in London – down 1.4% on yesterday's high – as China prepared for the week-long Lunar…

January 20, 2012

China’s copper output hits record 5.18 mln tons in 2011

China, the world's largest copper consumer, produced a record 5.18 million metric tons of copper last year, 14% more than in 2010, according to the latest statistics.

January 18, 2012

Due to European debt worries Oyu Tolgoi gets an additional US$1.8 billion shoring up

Perceiving a cloudy future for world markets, Ivanhoe Mines (NYSE:IVN) announced that they had negotiated an additional US$1.8 billion bridge financing for Oyu Tolgoi.

January 18, 2012

China’s homegrown coal to lose favor

China's domestically made coal may lose its competitive advantage to imported coal by 2015, prompting Chinese companies to step up purchases of foreign coal, according to a report by Wood…

January 18, 2012

Will China unleash more stimulus and boost gold prices?

On Tuesday, China reported GDP growth of 8.9 percent in the last quarter of 2011, which is the slowest growth increase in more than two years.