Silver prices surged to $33 per ounce on Friday, hitting their highest since late October at $33.41, fueled by factors driving gold to record highs.
London Bullion Market Association data revealed an 8.6% drop in silver inventories to 23,528 tons in January, the largest monthly decline since 2016.
Despite bullish trends, analysts caution against silver’s volatility, noting its price movements often exceed gold’s by 2-2.5 times.
Source – Econo Times
Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) trades little changed Thursday as Jefferies upgrades shares to Buy from Hold with a $48 price target, raised from $40, just one month after downgrading due to risks in Indonesia, a cautious view on copper, and the company’s near-term lack of free cash flow.
If tariffs are implemented, Comex copper price premiums to the LME, which have been high already because of potential tariffs, likely will rise further, Jefferies analyst Christopher LaFemina says, noting Freeport (FCX) sells 1.35B lbs/year of copper at Comex prices and the current Comex premium to LME is ~$0.30/lb, and tariff-impacted imports would effectively set the Comex price since the U.S. cannot be self-sufficient in copper.
Source – Seeking Alpha
Jefferies – Jefferies Financial Group Inc. is an American multinational independent investment bank and financial services company headquartered in New York City.
Gold (XAU/USD) rose sharply during the Asian session on Thursday, reaching $3,126.67, as global markets reacted to renewed trade tensions.
Silver (XAG/USD) is trading at $33.28, having touched a session low of $33.07. Despite gold’s upward momentum, silver’s response has been more restrained, weighed down by its industrial use case.
Source – FX EMPIRE
A Chilean startup backed by BHP Group has delivered its first copper cathodes from a demonstration plant at a mine site in northern Chile as the industry looks to squeeze out more metal from lower quality ore.
Ceibo and firms such as Jetti Resources LLC and Rio Tinto Group’s Nuton venture are looking to roll out catalysts for liberating copper from low-grade ore that miners previously saw as too expensive and difficult to process.
Source – Mining.com
Copper cathode – is high quality copper that is produced through the process of electrolysis.
Electrolysis – is an electric current that passes through a substance to have a chemical change.
Gold prices rose to a two-week high on Tuesday, supported by post-holiday buying from China and concerns over potential U.S. tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, while investors await the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting.
Spot gold was up 1.9% at $3,395.94 an ounce at 1200 ET (1600 GMT). Earlier in the session, prices rose around 2% to the highest since April 22, when they hit a record high of $3,500.05/oz.
“The bull market is being driven by China’s latest gold investing surge, plus the ongoing bid from central banks wanting to cut their exposure to U.S. assets, most especially the dollar,” said Adrian Ash, BullionVault director of research.
Spot silver gained 1.5% to $33 an ounce, platinum rose about 2.4% to $982.18 and palladium added 3.4% to $972.46.
Source – Reuters
The 20-coin 2025 Uncirculated Coin Set is slated for sale to the general public by the United States Mint beginning at noon Eastern Time July 17.
The sets are offered at $33.25 each, with a maximum output of 190,000 sets, offered without household order limits.
Each set contains two separate blister-pack folders of 10 coins each, one pack apiece from production at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints. Coins included in the set have an Uncirculated finish but are struck to higher standards than their circulating counterparts.
Source – Coin World
Freeport’s last export permit expired at the end of 2024, but the company has requested it can continue selling copper concentrate abroad because its local copper smelter was in repair after a fire in October last year.
“The trade ministry supports a plan to relax the export policy after weighing the cost and benefit analysis … while also observing the sustainability of the government’s natural resource downstreaming policy,” deputy minister Dyah Roro Esti said in a statement.
Freeport Indonesia said that it’s currently negotiating with the government over the export permit and believed the government “would accommodate” it.
Source – Mining.com
