Some thought commodity prices were going to rise forever due to the mismatch between supposedly unlimited demand growth from industrialising nations and limited supply of much-needed and irreplaceable raw materials. Others even believed that a new world order was rising, where a homogeneous group of wannabe industrialised countries would support the growth of the rest…
Steel prices in China have been dropping sharply in recent days, a bearish short-term indicator for iron ore prices and the world’s largest diversified miners, including Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. Two innocuous sounding corners of China’s titanic steel industry are sending bright red flashing signals. Export prices for so-called cold rolled coil (steel that…
The value of the mining sector worldwide has dropped below one trillion US dollars for the first time since 2009, according to a new report released today by industry adviser SNL. Whilst little more than a big round decimal figure, the crossing of the line shows the full extent of bearishness being suffered by mining…
The Silent Rise of the Prospect Generator Model Data compiled by Master Investor & Global Mining Observer, covering 10 years and over a dozen different companies, shows that one overlooked corner of Canada’s mining industry is sitting on C$120m of cash and a record number of properties When geologist and gold explorer Brent Cook went…
How mining companies are trading in tenements for just about anything else. Casinos, landfill, eggs, nuclear waste and marijuana. The wildly disparate sectors that mining companies are willing to jump into, in an attempt to avoid current distress in the metal markets, appears to know no limits. At the end of last month, Perth-based iron…
Like a black hole of energy, Glencore has sucked up coverage in recent weeks, dominating the airwaves. So here’s a roundup of the top mining stories that have been going under-reported, since Glencore’s demise began: Rio Tinto Dumping Coal M&A activity in iron ore and coal has been pitifully scarce, but Rio Tinto has broken…
Glencore’s share price has more than doubled since hitting lows of 67p at the end of last month. The strength of the rebound has all the hallmarks of a short squeeze, when hedge funds who have been selling the stock, including Lansdowne Partners in London and Passport Capital in San Francisco, are forced to reverse…
Glencore’s senior management is planning to privatise the business, Master Investor understands, based on exchanges with high-level sources involved. The move comes only 4 years after its listing for $59bn in May 2011 and after a collapse in the company’s share price in recent months, on worsening trade figures from China. “We were never long…
Royal Gold’s winning all the big deals it seems. Valued at $3bn and based in Denver, the company is the third largest streaming group by market cap, trailing Franco-Nevada and Silver Wheaton, but in the last 6 months it has announced hefty new streaming agreements with Teck, New Gold and Golden Star in Chile, Canada…
The Australian coal market is famously volatile. So why are so few companies built to withstand the cycle? Once a busy corner of frenzied bidding battles, Australian coal miners have become a dwindling breed. Battling thermal coal prices of $56 per tonne, down from over $150 in 2011, Whitehaven is nursing losses after an ill-timed…
