Gold’s mystery rally baffles analysts – by Harry Dempsey and Mary McDougall (Financial Times – March 12, 2024)

https://www.ft.com/

Hopes of US rate cuts alone are unlikely to have driven latest leg higher, say strategists

The price of gold has surged 7 per cent in just over a week to hit record highs, leaving longtime market watchers struggling to explain what has been one of the yellow metal’s most curious rallies.

The sudden price move has lifted the haven asset above its previous peak reached in December to hit nearly $2,195 per troy ounce on Friday, according to LSEG data. Some commentators have attributed the move to growing expectations of US interest rate cuts, which would make the non-yielding asset relatively more attractive.

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Ice Cold: Exploring The Unique Relationship Between Hip Hop And Jewelry – Josh Wilson (Forbes Magazine – July 24, 2022)

https://www.forbes.com/

What goes through your mind when you see some of hip-hop’s heavy hitters sporting exorbitant jewelry everywhere they go? Do you think they’re just living their best life, or they’re being irresponsible with their money?

The world of hip-hop is unique in many ways. It is one of the most expressive art forms available today. It’s common, expected even, to see some of the biggest names in the genre donning expensive diamonds, gold studs, rings, bracelets, grills, and watches. And with shows like Youtube docuseries, “Ice Cold,” where stars like Migos, A$AP Rocky, Lil Baby, and French Montana show off their bling, it seems they’re clamoring for every opportunity to exhibit their collections.

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Mind The Gap: A Failure Of Communication In Mining – by Alp Bora (Forbes Magazine – February 13, 2024)

 

https://www.forbes.com/

Often, the stories we tell ourselves have the greatest impact on the decisions we make. For example, the story we hear about mining is often inherently bad. This can lead to mining projects being halted or opposed.

I believe it is easy to dismiss mining when most of the world lives far from the resources it consumes, but this narrative takes for granted the quality of life mining provides and, more importantly, the potential it gives for a sustainable future.

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African Development Bank chief criticizes opaque loans tied to Africa’s natural resources – by Taiwo Adebayo (Associated Press – March 12, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The head of the African Development Bank is calling for an end to loans given in exchange for the continent’s rich supplies of oil or critical minerals used in smartphones and electric car batteries, deals that have helped China gain control over mineral mining in places like Congo and have left some African countries in financial crisis.

“They are just bad, first and foremost, because you can’t price the assets properly,” Akinwumi Adesina said in an interview with The Associated Press in Lagos, Nigeria, last week. “If you have minerals or oil under the ground, how do you come up with a price for a long-term contract? It’s a challenge.”

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What the war in Ukraine means for Asia (The Economist – March 2024)

https://www.economist.com/

Peace in East Asia hangs to a worrying extent on the outcome of the conflict

When Russia invaded Ukraine it jolted the democracies of East Asia—Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, all allies of America. A trip to Japan suggests to Banyan that, as the conflict in Ukraine enters its third year, its implications for East Asian policymakers grow only starker.

In Europe the talk is of whether Ukraine can hold on despite dwindling American financial support and the spectre of a second Trump presidency. The consequences for peace in Asia would be devastating if Ukraine loses. A win for President Vladimir Putin might embolden China to reshape the regional order on its terms.

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Four Questions the US Must Answer on Diamond Sanctions – by Joshua Freedman (Rapaport Magazine – March 10, 2024)

Home

A broader US ban on Russian diamonds went into effect on March 1, but uncertainty remains about key details.

Sanctions on Russian diamonds and diamond jewelry went into effect on March 1 across Group of Seven (G7) nations, expanding the ban to 1-carat and larger polished stones manufactured in a third country from Russian rough. Previously, goods “substantially transformed” (i.e., manufactured) in countries such as India were technically legal in the US. The US and other member countries have released information on how enforcement will work, but many questions remain.

US Customs and Border Protection has ordered importers to use a self-certification statement declaring that the diamonds are not Russian. This is likely a temporary measure while US authorities devise a way to enforce the rules.

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Green premium won’t save Australian nickel – by Elouise Fowler (Australian Financial Review – March 10, 2024)

https://www.afr.com/

The boss of acquisitive copper producer Metals Acquisition says the nickel market has “fundamentally shifted” and it is unlikely the world’s largest buyer, China, will pay a “green premium” for the commodity.

Even if nickel miners could fetch a green premium, it may not be enough to make nickel mined outside Indonesia attractive, said Mick McMullen, who is scouring the globe for mines to add to his portfolio.Indonesian nickel has flooded the market, crashing the price of the metal required for steel-making and batteries.

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Oil Fields of Arkansas Are the Newest Locations for a Lithium Battery Rush – by Boyce Upholt (Mother Jones – March 11, 2024)

https://www.motherjones.com/

“Production at existing sites could negate the benefits of the clean technologies they power.”

The town of Smackover, Arkansas, was founded a hundred years ago when a sawmill operator got lucky: his wildcat oil well yielded a gusher. For a time in the 1920s, the oil field beneath the clay hills and swampy creeks in this stretch of southern Arkansas was the world’s most productive site. Now, boosters say the region will help usher the world into an oil-free future, thanks to the discovery of underground brines that are rich in lithium.

Lithium is one of the most important metals in the transition to renewable power. Lithium-ion batteries are, thanks to their lightweight and high energy density, currently the top choice for storing energy in electric vehicles, and a potential tool for grid storage, too. Global production of the metal tripled throughout the 2010s, and demand is projected to increase as much as 40-fold by mid-century.

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US uranium miners resurrected by nuclear revival and Ukraine war – by Jamie Smyth and Harry Dempsey (Financial Times – March 10, 2024)

https://www.ft.com/

Surging prices for ore and concerns over Russian imports lead to mothballed mines being restarted

Over a 40-year career, Scott Melbye watched the US uranium industry fall from its position as the world’s leading producer of the radioactive ore that powers nuclear reactors to an also-ran with negligible production.

Now, the president of the Uranium Producers of America is leading an industry charge to revive mothballed mines and invest in new production to capitalise on soaring prices and policies aimed at reducing the US’s dependence on Russian imports.

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ROLLING IN THE DOUGH I work at world’s most luxurious mining camps with free pubs, rooftop bars & golf courses – and I earn £100,000 a year – by Georgie English (Irish Sun – March 10, 2024)

https://www.thesun.ie/

Chris and Ceci reveal how they blagged the high-paying roles – and why it was the best decision they’ve ever made

A COUPLE have revealed how their job comes with great wages, lots of time off – and free food, accommodation and entertainment. Italian chefs Chris and Ceci have spent the last two years working at mining camps across Australia – and one site stands out as the best office on the planet.

Sitting in Western Australia is the Mulla Mulla mining site – more like a mini city than a place of work. Within the endless outback, the camp site has a three-storey cafe, state-of-the-art gym, library, virtual golf course, entertainment stage, swimming pool and several sports courts from tennis, squash and basketball.

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Amid explosive demand, America is running out of power – by Evan Halper (MSM.com/Washington Post – March 8, 2024)

https://www.msn.com/

Vast swaths of the United States are at risk of running short of power as electricity-hungry data centers and clean-technology factories proliferate around the country, leaving utilities and regulators grasping for credible plans to expand the nation’s creaking power grid.

In Georgia, demand for industrial power is surging to record highs, with the projection of new electricity use for the next decade now 17 times what it was only recently. Arizona Public Service, the largest utility in that state, is also struggling to keep up, projecting it will be out of transmission capacity before the end of the decade absent major upgrades.

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Gulf oil giants Saudi Aramco, Adnoc set sights on lithium (Mining.com – March 11, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates’ national oil companies plan to extract lithium from brine in their oilfields, in line with efforts to diversify their economies and profit from the shift to electric vehicles (EVs), three sources told Reuters.

Other oil companies, including Exxon Mobil and Occidental Petroleum, plan to take advantage of emerging technologies to filter lithium from brine, as the world seeks to move away from fossil fuels.

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US court sides with Apple, Tesla, other tech companies over child labor in Africa – by Jonathan Stempel (Reuters – March 6, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

March 5 (Reuters) – A federal appeals court on Tuesday refused to hold five major technology companies liable over their alleged support for the use of child labor in cobalt mining operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In a 3-0 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of Google parent Alphabet, Apple, Dell Technologies, Microsoft and Tesla rejecting an appeal by former child miners and their representatives.

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China strengthens its grip on global lithium trade amid processing plant building boom in Zimbabwe – by Jevans Nyabiage (South China Morning Post – March 10, 2024)

https://www.scmp.com/

China is getting a head start in the global rush for lithium after several mining companies completed multimillion-dollar processing plants for the “white gold” in Zimbabwe.

Major Chinese companies, including Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, Sinomine Resource Group and Chengxin Lithium Group, all completed the construction or upgrade of lithium processing plants in Zimbabwe last year.

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Gold’s shock rally has analysts grasping for explanations – by Ernest Hoffman (Kitco News – March 6, 2024)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Gold’s surprising rally to new all-time highs has even seasoned industry professionals scratching their heads as to the true cause.

“It is clear that despite the West’s disaffection for gold […] demand in China is more than offsetting the shortfall, with monumental volumes flowing from West to the East,” wrote Metals Daily CEO Ross Norman in a LinkedIn post. “As such, this rally seems to have caught Western experts and forecasters by surprise – a stealth rally if you like – which suggests to me the buying is beyond the immediate purview of most of us.”

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