The platinum jewellery market decline now appears to have stabilised, with year-on-year growth of 5% estimated for 2024 and 2% year-on-year growth forecast for this year, when total platinum jewellery demand is expected to reach 1.98-million ounces, the organisation points out.
PGI points out that in most markets, platinum jewellery is 950 parts per thousand, compared with 18 ct gold which is 750.
Source – Mining Weekly
PGI – Personal guarantee insurance
“Everything else that could function as money has been saddled with taxes and disincentives,” Jp Cortez explained, emphasizing how the current monetary system traps people in the Federal Reserve’s fiat currency.
“Ten years ago, only a handful of states were considering sound money policies. Last year, more than 27 states introduced over 65 bills related to sound money.”
Source – Money Metals
Sound money – refers to a reliable and stable medium of exchange that maintains its value over time.
Endeavour Silver shares rose after the company reported an adjusted profit, despite lower production and revenue in the fourth quarter.
Shares rose over 18% to 6.18 Canadian dollars ($4.28)
Source – Market Watch
A Malian court has adjourned to Thursday a hearing on whether to put Barrick Mining’s Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex under provisional administration, the court’s registry office and one of the lawyers involved told Reuters on Monday.
Granting the request would represent a major escalation of a dispute between the West African country and the Canadian miner after operations at the complex were suspended in January in a dispute over taxes and ownership.
Barrick has said it can only resume operations when the Malian government removes restrictions on gold exports.
The government has renegotiated agreements with other multinational miners under the new mining law. Four Barrick employees have been detained since November 2024 and an arrest warrant was issued for Chief Executive Mark Bristow in December 2024.
Source – Reuters
BHP warned Thursday that a tariff war could slow the global economy and disrupt world trade, as the world’s biggest miner reported a slight decline in quarterly iron ore production and a 10% rise in copper output due to higher volumes from the giant Escondida mine in Chile.
“Despite the limited direct impact of tariffs on BHP, the implication of slower economic growth and a fragmented trading environment could be more significant,” CEO Mike Henry said. “China’s ability to shift toward a consumption-led economy and for trade flows to adapt to the new environment will be key to sustaining the global outlook.”
Source – Seeking Alpha
A collapse at a copper mine in Chile killed one worker and left five trapped underground, authorities said on Friday, forcing Chile’s state mining company to suspend operations in the affected area of the world’s largest underground copper deposit.
Nine other mine workers suffered injuries, said Chile’s National Copper Corporation, known as Codelco, describing the incident as the result of “a seismic event.”
The U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude 5 earthquake in an area of central Chile where Codelco’s El Teniente mine is located, at 5:34 p.m. local time on Thursday. Authorities said they’re still investigating whether it was a naturally occurring earthquake or whether mining activity at El Teniente caused the quake.
“We are making every effort to try to rescue these five miners,” said Andrés Music, general manager of El Teniente. “The next 48 hours are crucial.”
Source – The Associated Press
Praying for these people to be rescued. -Victoria
London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month copper slumped to a 17-month low of $8,105 per metric ton on April 7 after China responded to U.S. tariffs in kind.
Citi, which now expects copper to hit $8,000 per ton over the next three months, warns that commodity markets are still not pricing the full potential impact on demand.
Copper as a macro play cannot but reflect the broader market concerns about the negative impact of an escalating trade war between the United States and China on the world economy.
But at a micro level, the specific threat of U.S. tariffs on the metal is pulling normal trade patterns out of shape and causing both LME and Shanghai exchange inventories to fall.
Source – Reuters
