Minews Story: September 02, 2010

Sabre’s Hunt For A Tsumeb Lookalike At Kaskara Steps Up A Gear, As The Drill Rigs Finally Roll Onto Site

It’s taken longer than management imagined it would, and longer than some shareholders could hold out for, but Sabre Resources has now started preparations for drilling at its highly-promising Kaskara copper, lead, and zinc

Minews Story: September 02, 2010

All About The Business Of Mining: The Africa Down Under Conference Gets Into Its Stride

“Bizarre”. “Astonishing”. “Jaw-dropping”. All are valid ways of describing the mining conference currently being held this week in the Australian city of Perth. That it’s about mining is not the reason for the excitement in the

Minews Story: September 01, 2010

The Straws In The Wind Seem To Be Blowing Against Oleg Deripaska And Rusal, As Vladimir Putin Cosies Up To Norilsk

Oleg Deripaska, chief executive of Russian aluminium monopoly Rusal, is preparing for a series of presentations to institutional investors in Boston and New York next week, chaperoned by one of his largest creditor banks, BNP

Minews Story: September 01, 2010

BHP Billiton Embarks On A Great Fertiliser Adventure, And Shareholders Hold Their Breath

If Marius Kloppers, the young chief executive of BHP Billiton, was expecting a rousing cheer from shareholders over his US$40 billion takeover bid for Canada’s Potash Corporation he will have been rather disappointed. Since the

Commodities: August 31, 2010

The US Economy Will Be In No Position To Support Metals Prices Any Time Soon

Jim Rogers has been saying it for a long time, but the evidence that he is right has slowly been increasing. Last week the dollar-yen exchange rate hit a 15 year high/low of Y84. That’s only a few cents away from the record Y79.7

Minews Story: August 28, 2010

That Was The Week That Was ... In Australia

Minews. Good morning Australia. How did your market perform in a week when there was no clear indication of who is governing the country?

Oz. Not badly. All the indices were down marginally, but that was largely because of the

Features: August 27, 2010

If Deflation Wins, What Will Gold Stocks Do?

The talk of a possible double dip is now common banter on TV investment programs. And indeed, deflationary forces seem to have a stronger grip right now than inflationary ones. So if deflation is the next reality we have to face,

Minews Story: August 25, 2010

Aura Energy Gets To Work On The Metallurgy At Storsjon, The World’s Seventh Largest Undeveloped Uranium Deposit

Uranium companies haven’t been having an easy time of it lately, as the uranium price has flatlined for month after endless month at between US$40 and US$45 per pound. Although that’s some way up from lows at which uranium traded

Minews Story: August 25, 2010

Focus Minerals Is On Course For Record Profits, Even If It Has Frightened The Horses With Its Toll Treatment Deal

If you really want to frighten Australian gold-stock investor, tell him that your cost of production has topped the magic A$1,000 an ounce mark. That’s what Focus Minerals did in late July, and it knocked 25 per cent off the

Minews Story: August 24, 2010

Shares In Exco Resources Race Ahead, As A Development Deal At Cloncurry Draws Ever Closer

On the phone from Australia, Michael Anderson sounds in an upbeat mood. It’s quite a contrast to the sound and fury he was producing in May when he last caught up with Minesite in London, and when the row about the Australian

Minews Story: August 23, 2010

Giralia Increases Its Iron Ore Resource Base, And Is Now Thinking Carefully About Breaking With Tradition And Going Into Production

When a company adds US$14 billion to its mineral inventory from a few months drilling you might reasonably expect investors to get a little excited. The fact that they didn’t when Giralia Resources reported a big resource upgrade

Commodities: August 23, 2010

Resources Companies Jostle For Position As China Moves To The Number Two Spot In The Global Economic Rankings

Chinese Walls were, and maybe still are, the mythical barriers established in investment banks to prevent the flow of price sensitive information from those departments that know something to those that can make money from

Minews Story: August 22, 2010

That Was The Week That Was … In Australia

Minews. Good morning Australia, what a mess you seem to have made of your government.

Oz. We certainly have, a classic hung Parliament, perhaps worse than what you went through in the U.K. a few months ago. The good news, from

Minews Story: August 20, 2010

Denying Planning Permission To Scotgold’s Gold Mine Could Have An Impact In The Region Akin To The Highland Clearances

It’s the Highland Clearances again ... albeit on a rather lesser scale. In both cases no good for Scotland and even less for the people involved. Remember the Highland Clearances which took place back in the late 1700s and early

Minews Story: August 19, 2010

Catalpa’s Gold Hedge Gives It A Real Edge, As Production From Edna May Closes In On 100,000 Ounces Per Year

Having started production in April, Australian gold producer Catalpa Resources is in a healthy financial position - as is the case with many Australian juniors. Not all of them hedged a considerable amount of production at