May 20, 2012

Throwing BRICS into the fire of gold and silver investment demand

Despite ongoing pressure from the United States for China to join its sanctions against Iran due to concerns over the Islamic country’s nuclear program, an Iranian diplomat recently revealed that…

May 20, 2012

Alrosa not planning major investment in Timir iron ore project

Interfax cited Mr Igor Kulichik Russian diamond miner vice president and financial director as saying that Alrosa is not planning major investments in the near term in the Timir iron…

May 18, 2012

Big bullion bounceback

The sharp turnaround in sentiment in the bullion market has some asking whether the rally is a dead cat bounce or perhaps the last chance to buy before prices rocket.

May 18, 2012

China’s rare earth quotas are a joke. 74% of oxides never left port this year

Chinese authorities added 10,680 tonnes to the country's export allowance this week but it is something of a meaningless exercise because during the first quarter China only exported 26.3% of…

May 18, 2012

Graff Diamonds IPO should catapult the diamond king up the billionaires list

Laurence Graff, the undisputed king of uber-expensive diamonds, will earn a tidy $290 million windfall when he restructures his Mayfair-based company and will vastly boost his paper wealth when Graff…

May 18, 2012

Rare earthquake: May last year Molycorp investors were $5.5 billion richer

The Colorado company is destined to become the number one producer outside China, but the rapidly changing economics of the industry has seen its stock decline 20% this week and…

May 18, 2012

Planetary Resources doesn’t want more people onboard its asteroids-mining ship

Less than a month after officially launching its asteroid-mining plans, Google’s billionaire co-founders and filmmaker James Cameron’s owned company Planetary Resources, has already decided not to accept any more job…

May 18, 2012

China is developing a grid better for coal than renewables: report

China won’t meet its carbon and energy intensity targets unless dramatic changes to its electricity grid are applied, says a study by U.S.-based Energy Transition Research Institute.

May 18, 2012

Peru’s illegal mining exports problem worse than drug trafficking: report

Peru’s illegal mining exports reached $1.8 billion in 2011, exceeding even drug trafficking profits, which accounted for $1.2 billion, said local consultancy firm Macroconsult.

May 18, 2012

One step closer to a better US permitting process

Yesterday, the House Committee on Natural Resources passed H.R. 4402, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2012. The bill, offered by Rep. Amodei (R-Nev.), received strong support…