Spot gold prices surged as high as $3,500.05 per ounce on Tuesday, surpassing the $3,500/oz milestone for the first time.
“With all the geopolitical tensions, central banks do want to diversify away from the dollar and have something that won’t be sanctioned … gold is one of those asset classes that could fit the bill,” Marex analyst Edward Meir said.
Source – Reuters
The London Metal Exchange three-month price has risen every day in January and is now up 4.0% from the start of the month, making copper the early outperformer of the LME base metals pack.
Dwindling stocks and China’s rising import appetite have rekindled optimism that the country is finally turning an economic corner.
Fund managers are unconvinced, with investors’ long positions only marginally ahead of bearish bets on both the CME and LME copper contracts.
The Yangshan copper premium , a closely-watched gauge of China’s import demand, is currently at a one-year high of $75 per ton, indicating China is still hungry for metal.
Source – Reuters
Silver has enjoyed a “stealth bull market”, according to Adrian Ash, director of research at metals marketplace BullionVault, as supply of the metal has lagged demand for seven years running.
Silver’s highs have come “under the radar for two reasons,” said Ash. “First, that silver has set fresh records outside the US dollar, leaving headline writers to miss its new highs in terms of other currencies including the pound.
“Second, and rather than shooting the lights out like gold has over the past 12 months, the price of silver has risen to new annual and month-average records without hitting fresh daily highs.”
Source – Proactive Investors
Mokopane, South Africa–(Newsfile Corp. – February 18, 2025) – Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) (OTCQX: IVPAF) Executive Co-Chairman Robert Friedland and President Marna Cloete announced today that the company’s subsidiary, Ivanplats, and its partners, welcome the positive and significant results from two independent technical studies completed on the Phase 2 and Phase 3 expansions of the tier-one Platreef platinum, palladium, rhodium, nickel, gold, and copper mine in South Africa.
Ivanhoe Mines’ Founder and Co-Chairman, Robert Friedland commented: “The results of these studies mark the culmination of three decades of tireless efforts by thousands of our people to discover, then delineate, and finally build a world-class, polymetallic mining complex that will have a life span of many human generations.
Source – Junior Mining Network
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Saudi Arabia’s Manara Minerals is looking for critical minerals projects in Zambia to invest in, the southern African country’s mines minister Paul Kabuswe told Reuters on Thursday.
“They (Manara) are interested, but we do not know which ones yet,” he said on the sidelines of a mining conference in Riyadh, adding that an announcement on a potential mining deal between Zambia and Saudi Arabia is likely this year.
“We no longer want those agreements where we have 10% or 15%,” he said, adding that the government is also holding talks with Barrick Gold, Ivanhoe Mines and Chinese investors on their plans for new projects.
Source – Reuters
Spot gold fell 0.1% to $2,916.75 an ounce as of 11:55 a.m. ET (1655 GMT), after rising in the last three sessions. U.S. gold futures were flat at $2,925.
“We are just seeing some mild profit-taking pressure from recent gains, the underlying fundamentals are still bullish… Another thing that’s putting some mild pressure on the gold market is a rise in bond yields,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior market analyst at Kitco Metals.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield hit a more than one-week high, reducing the appeal of non-yielding gold.
Spot silver dipped 0.2% to $32.70 an ounce, palladium was steady at $942.25 and platinum was down 0.3% at $966.63.
Source – Reuters
Anglo American said it does intend to sell the remainder of its retained shares over time, and said that it will not hold any representation on the Anglo American Platinum board after the split.
Source – Morning Star