Kitco NEWS Roundtable
Join Kitco Kitco correspondent Paul Harris and mining audiences manager Michael McCrae who highlight the biggest news in precious metals and mining.
Gold trades lower and Ford announces a spate of lithium deals
Gold dropped end of week after less than rosy economic data was released, noted mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.
On Friday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable with correspondent Paul Harris.
The U.S. annual core Personal Consumption Expenditures price index came in at 4.7% in April versus the consensus forecast of 4.6%. The U.S. central bank favors this gauge because the core inflation strips out volatile food and energy prices. Gold fell following the data release, with June Comex gold futures last trading at $1,946.80 an ounce.
Data shows that inflation may not be coming down fas...
SQM to invest $1.2 billion despite Chile's plans to tighten grip on sector
Lithium giant SQM plans to keep investing despite Chile's plan to nationalize the sector.
On Friday mining audiences manager Michael McCrae and Melissa ‘Mel’ Sanderson, President North America at American Rare Earths recorded Kitco Roundtable.
American Rare Earths is developing its 100% owned magnet metals projects, Halleck Creek in Wyoming and La Paz in Arizona
This week SQM reported net income of just under $750 million, 6% down from the previous quarter. The company also noted that in 2023 it will continue to implement its growth plans and expects to invest close to US$1.2 billion in expanding its pro...
Abitibi Royalties' Ian Ball returns with a new company
Despite a tough market for precious metal exploration companies, Canadian Gold interim president and CEO Ian Ball said he has a plan to attract investors.
On Friday correspondent Paul Harris hosted Kitco Roundtable with Ball and Rob McEwen, chairman and chief owner of McEwen Mining.
Canadian Gold is a Toronto-based mineral exploration and development company whose objective is to expand the high-grade gold resource at the past producing Tartan Mine, located in Flin Flon, Manitoba. The company holds a 100% interest in greenfields exploration properties in Ontario and Quebec adjacent to some of Canada's largest gold mi...
'We don't have any competition right now' - Kai Hoffmann on gold investing
During past precious metal run ups, gold investing was competing against rotations into cannabis or crypto, argued Soar Financial CEO Kai Hoffmann, but during this cycle the metal has the stage to itself.
On Friday Hoffmann recorded Kitco Roundtable with Kitco correspondent Paul Harris and mining audiences manager Michael McCrae. The podcast was recorded at Hoffmann's Deutsche Goldmesse show in Frankfurt, Germany.
Gold hit an all-time high last week. Silver has also been at near yearly highs.
"We actually don't have any competition right now as gold inves...
Uncertainty still looms over Chile's lithium industry
After Chile's President Gabriel Boric announced a nationalization plan for his country's lithium sector, miners are still striving to understand what the ruling means, noted Fastmarkets William Adams.
On Friday Adams recorded Kitco Roundtable with mining audiences manager Michael McCrae and correspondent Paul Harris. Adams is head of battery metals research at Fastmarkets.
Last week lithium miners dropped on news that Chile plans to nationalize its lithium sector, the world's second largest producer of the metal essential in electric vehicle batteries. The government said that nationalization would boost the count...
Lithium's three headwinds: substitution, price drop and demand weakness
Despite lithium prices halving in 2023, Battery Materials Review Managing Editor Matt Fernley is optimistic about the metal.
On Friday Fernley recorded Kitco Roundtable with mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.
This decade lithium went on a stellar run, trading up 10x versus historical levels, but in 2023 the metal took it on the chin. In 2023 Benchmark Mineral Intelligence estimates that lithium prices have been cut in half. Fernley is sanguine.
"It is just a reasonable cyclical downturn," said Fernley, noting that there have been production cuts in Asia that should...
Base metal sector sees big shake up
While gold M&A has dominated resource headlines, the focus turned to base metals this week.
On Friday Kitco correspondent and mining audiences manager Michael McCrae recording Kitco Roundtable.
Glencore made an unsolicited $22.5 billion bid for Teck. So far Teck has fended off Glencore's advances.
The other M&A deal in the base metal side of the business was Hudbay Minerals (NYSE: HBM) and Copper Mountain Mining (TSX: CMMC). On Thursday the two announced that they were combining in a $439 million deal.
A week of mega deals in mining
The surprise bid by Glencore for Teck was covered on Kitco Roundtable, recorded on Friday.
The week started with Glencore making an unsolicited $23 billion bid for Teck, which Teck rebuffed.
Also this week Pan American Silver, Agnico Eagle wrapped up their $4.8 billion deal to acquire Yamana Gold. Agnico Eagle now owns 100% of Canadian Malartic. The company's production in the Abitibi gold belt is forecast to be approximately 1.9 million ounces to 2.1 million ounces of gold per year through 2025.
'The riskiest assets on the planet' - Rick Rule on when to bet on gold stocks
While precious metal prices have been relatively high this year, it could be too early to leap into junior gold stocks, said Rick Rule, president and CEO of Rule Investment Media.
On Friday Rule recorded Kitco Roundtable with Kitco correspodent Paul Harris and mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.
Gold gained $150 in March — its best month since July 2020, noted Kitco's Anna Golubova. Analysts are seeing markets contradicting the Fed's messaging, and gold may have lots more upside, including testing and breaking record highs in April.
Gold stocks are catch...
What's good for gold is also good for copper
The same news that drove gold higher this week also gave copper a lift, noted mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.
On Thursday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable with correspondent Paul Harris.
Gold started off the week strong due to wobbles in the banking sector. Credit Suisse, the European banking giant, was taken over by UBS on the weekend.
The markets then turned to the Fed and its rate hike. The Federal Reserve raised its main interest rate by a quarter-point, but the Fed also suggested that rates would not continue to rise. A weakening U...
Tough time to finance, but getting better
It is a tough time to finance gold exploration projects, says Ari Sussman, executive chair of Collective Mining, who just announced a S$30M bought deal, but conditions will improve as 2023 progresses as investors seek safe haven investments in real assets.
The gap widens between the gold producers and developers
While relatively high gold prices favor the producers, weak financing conditions are going to be a drag on companies not yet producing, noted Kitco correspondent Paul Harris.
On Friday Harris recorded Kitco Roundtable with mining audiences manager Michael McCrae and Meridian Mining Executive Chairman Gilbert Clark.
Meridian Mine (TSX:MNO) is focused on advancing its Cabaçal gold-copper deposit in Brazil. Earlier this week the company released a positive preliminary economic assessment for the project showing an after-tax net present value of $573 million and a 58.4% internal rate of return using $1,650 oz gold and $3.59 lb c...
'They're making a lot of money' - Paul Harris says current gold price still favors miners
Although gold prices are down from the start of the year, miners still have healthy margins at the current price levels, noted Kitco correspondent Paul Harris.
In February Harris recorded Kitco Roundtable at BMO Global Metals, Mining & Critical Minerals Conference with Mining Audiences manager Michael McCrae and Adriatic Metals CEO Paul Cronin.
Adriatic Metals (ASX:ADT) will commence production at its Vares silver project in Bosnia & Herzegovina in Q3 of this year. Adriatic describe Vares as one of the highest margin polymetallic projects globally. Post-tax NPV is estimated at $1.062 billion and IRR at 134%.
Af...
Time to worry about gold?
The Fed is expected to keep up its fight against inflation rather than ease, and that is bad for gold.
On Saturday Mining Audiences Manager Michael McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable.
M&A momentum in the gold sector
Early this week B2Gold said it would acquire Sabina Gold & Silver for C$1.1 billion (US$823.66 million).
On Friday's Roundtable mining audiences manager Michael McCrae and Kitco correspondent Paul Harris talked about yet another big M&A in the gold sector.
Early this month number one gold miner Newmont made a $16.9 billion offer for number seven ranked Newcrest. This week Newcrest said the offer under values the company.
McCrae and Harris also talked about LG Chem buying a stake in Piedmont Lithium.
Newmont will have a big presence in B.C. if Newcrest deal goes through
Newcrest Mining, which has a number of assets in B.C., received a $16.9 billion bid from Newmont early this week.
On Friday Kitco correspondent Paul Harris discussed on Kitco Roundtable how Newmont's portfolio would change if the deal goes through.
By gold production Newmont is the world's number one gold miner. Newcrest is ranked number seven.
A big jobs number slows metals
The gold market saw significant losses on Friday as the precious metal dropped $50 on the day following a shockingly solid employment report out of the U.S., said mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.
On Friday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable.
The U.S. economy added a staggering 517,000 jobs in January as the unemployment rate dropped to 3.4% — the lowest level since 1969, noted Kitco reporter Anna Golubova. This took many by surprise as market consensus calls were looking for just 185,000 new positions.
This week's big mining news was General Motors making a $650 million equity investment in Lithi...
Major copper miner stunned by government ruling
Gold finished last week with its sixth consecutive gain, but the Federal Reserve could slow the metal, noted mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.
On Monday McCrae recorded an episode of Kitco Roundtable.
Fed chair Jerome Powell is giving a press conference on Monday.
The Twin Metals decision was also covered. The Department of Interior cancelled two hardrock leases in northeastern Minnesota. Twin Metals has been trying to advance an underground mine in the area. The miner called the decision stunning and disappointing.
2023 may see another lithium squeeze
High battery metals prices, perhaps another lithium squeeze and geopolitical maneuvering will make 2023 an exciting year, Matt Fernley of Battery Metals Review says on the Kitco Roundtable.
Gold lifts off
A less rosy jobs report helped gold end the week higher, noted mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.
On Friday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable with correspondent Paul Harris and Aura Minerals CEO Rodrigo Barbosa.
U.S. employment data from December showed a slight slowdown in hiring. The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 3.5%, beating market consensus calls of 3.7% for December.
As of noon Eastern time Friday, spot gold was trading at the $1,860 an ounce level, a range the metal hadn't seen in the last seven months.
Barbosa's Aura Minerals is a mid-tier gold...
Battery metals sector closes the year with some large M&A deals
The critical metal sector saw two big deals during the second last week of the year, noted Michael McCrae, mining audiences manager at Kitco
On Friday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable with John Feneck, Portfolio Manager and Founder of Feneck Consulting.
This week the world's largest miner, BHP, firmed up terms to acquire OZ Minerals. Deal has been upsized to $6.39 billion. For comparison, the Agnico-Pan American-Yamana deal was $4.8 billion. OZ Minerals has copper and nickel operations in Australia. Forbes reports that the acquisition could be BHP's biggest in over a decade. The deal follows the trend of...
Never mind the bounce in metal prices, resource sector faces headwinds - Maple Gold Mines' Hornor
After Agnico Eagle Mines and Pan American Silver announced that they would acquire Yamana Gold in November, the Quebec miner is not expected to slow its pace.
On Friday Maple Gold Mines' Matthew Hornor made the remarks while recording Kitco Roundtable with mining audiences manager Michael McCrae and Kitco correspondent Paul Harris.
Maple Gold Mines (TSX.V: MGM) is a Canadian advanced exploration company in a 50/50 joint venture with Agnico Eagle Mines to jointly advance the district-scale Douay and Joutel gold projects located in the Abitibi Greenstone Gold Belt of Quebec, Canada.
With the...
Copper crunch: two big production reports show why the metal is getting harder to come by
Problems with the copper market were exemplified by two big production reports released this week, noted mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.
On Friday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable.
This week Goldman Sachs predicted prices could reach a record high of $11,000 a tonne within in a year. Copper is expected to be undersupplied in 2023 and "peak supply is now immovably fixed in mid-2024 ... generating deficits from that point." wrote the Goldman Sach analysts, according to reporting by Reuters.
Two big miners announced downward revisions for copper the same week as the Goldman report.
Glen...
Copper processing company gets backing from BMW
German car maker BMW said on Thursday it had invested in Jetti Resources, which has the technology extract copper from low grade material.
On Saturday mining audiences manager Michael McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable.
McCrae also covered gold's big run in November.
Pivoting from inflation fears to recession fears
Worries about inflation appear to be supplanted by fears about a recession, noted mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.
On Friday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable with correspondent Paul Harris.
The Federal Reserve started raising interest rates in the summer to fight inflation. There are signs the medicine is taking hold. Consumer price inflation figure was lower than expected last month. Commodity prices have also been dropping, notably oil. Early this week oil hit its lowest level since January.
With worries about inflation receding, McCrae noted that financial commentators are now switching their concern to re...
Junior gold miners are cautiously optimistic
This month's jump in gold prices off the good inflation numbers along with woes in the crypto space provided a lift to junior gold miners, said mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.
On Saturday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable with Exploration Insights' Joe Mazumdar and Soar Financial's Kai Hoffmann at Deutsche Goldmesse in Frankfurt.
Podcast was sponsored by Snowline Gold.
M&A deal reshuffles the senior gold mining sector
Yamana Gold is set to be acquired by Pan American Silver and Agnico Eagle Mines after Gold Fields dropped out of the bidding.
Kitco correspondent Paul Harris, Soar Finanicial CEO Kai Hoffmann and guest Sam Ash, CEO of Bunker Hill Mining, discussed the week's mining and metal news on Kitco Roundtable.
This week Yamana Gold said it preferred a deal offered by Pan American Silver and Agnico Eagle Mines over a Gold Fields deal, which was announced in the spring. The competing bid from Agnico Eagle-Pan American was announced last week.
Gold Fields sai...
Big metal bounce, big M&A news
The metals sector ended the week on a positive note with a big bounce for most metals and news that Yamana attracted a new suitor.
On Saturday mining audiences manager Michael McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable.
Gold prices surged nearly $50 on Friday as the latest U.S. jobs report clarified some of the Federal Reserve's mixed messages, and China signaled a possible easing of its Covid-Zero policy, wrote Kitco reporter Anna Golubova.
Gold has had a spectacular start to November after reporting the longest streak of monthly losses in more than five decades.
...
Battery-metal miners hit turbulence
Battery-metal producers warned of softer prices in this season's quarterlies, said mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.
On Friday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable with correspondent Paul Harris and Revival Gold CEO Hugh Agro.
Biden administration cuts big checks for battery metal miners
This past week the United States Department Of Energy announced several grants to battery metal miners, noted mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.
On Friday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable with Kitco correspondent Paul Harris.
The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act included a provision to fund energy transition. It incentivized companies to build battery metal manufacturing facilities in the U.S.
This past week notable announcements were Piedmont Lithium getting $141.7 million for a Tennessee lithium processing plant, Talon Metals getting $114 million for a battery minerals processing facility in North Dakota and Syrah Resources getting $220 million fo...
Cameco goes downstream
A string of economic data is throttling commodities
On Friday mining audiences manager Michael McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable with correspondent Paul Harris.
On Thursday consumer price inflation report was released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor. Inflation increased by 0.4% in September which was higher than the forecasts predicted.
The inflation print along with last week's strong jobs number pushes the Fed to further tightening.
As if to put an exclamation point on it, Michigan Consumer Sentiment was released today. It ticked up in October.
The gold market is end...
Jobs report halts market momentum
A stronger than expected Friday jobs report halted market momentum, and the decision on Thacker Pass, America's next big lithium mine was pushed to the new year.
On Friday mining audiences manager Michael McCrae rounded up the metals and mining news for the week.
The Fed is 'doing absolutely the right thing' - Liberty Gold's Cal Everett
Steep interest rate hikes are hard on commodities and the markets, but the move is necessary, said Liberty Gold CEO Cal Everett.
On Friday Everett recorded Kitco Roundtable with mining audiences manager Michael McCrae and Kitco correspondent Paul Harris.
The Federal Reserve's rate hikes have been hard on investors. In early September the Fed increased its benchmark rate by 75 basis points, and another 1.25 percentage points is in the cards before year end. This week gold hit a 2.5 year low. The S&P 500 has dropped nearly a quarter year to date.
"I think they're...
'There is nowhere to hide’ - Steve de Jong on why this market pullback is different
Too much conservatism and a focus on capital discipline was a drag on the mining sector's big get together in September, said Kitco correspondent Paul Harris.
On Tuesday Harris recorded Kitco Roundtable with mining audiences manager Michael McCrae and VRIFY CEO Steve de Jong. Roundtable was filmed at Gold Forum Americas in Colorado Springs. The event began on Monday.
The forum started on a sour note with gold dropping to its lowest level in nearly 2.5 years on Friday. De Jong noted similarities to past pullbacks in the previous decade when junior companies had the option...
Doom and gloom
With gold dropping below $1,700 junior mining investors are scarce, notes Kitco correspondent Paul Harris.
On Friday Harris recorded Kitco Roundtable with mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.
Harris is at the 2022 Precious Metals Summit Beaver Creek. He noted the mood at this fall's kick-off show.
"It's quite doom and gloom. The running joke is 'spot the investor'," said Harris.
Why a mid-October meeting in Beijing will be pivotal for commodities
After an August shellacking, markets and commodities were keen to turn to the page, said Kitco's mining audience manager, Michael McCrae.
On Friday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable with correspondent Paul Harris and Arnoud Star Busmann, president and CEO of Minehub Technologies.
On Friday gold rose as the dollar weakened, although prospects of more rate hikes from the U.S.
Federal Reserve are keep a lid on further gains. Spot gold hit a high of $1,729 today.
Bitcoin spiked above $21K, pushing the total crypto market cap back above $1 trillion.
Copper finished...
The other solution to meet the world's need for metals—demand less
Decelerating economic growth was pitched as a solution for meeting the world's demand for metals, reported Kitco correspondent Paul Harris.
On Friday Harris recorded Kitco Roundtable with mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.
While energy transtion will require higher production levels of copper, lithium and nickel, metal production is generally declining. Reuters reported that top copper miner, Codelco, is set to produce significantly less copper. Over the next five years production is not expected to surpass 1.5 million tonnes. Traditionally Codelco has produced over 2 million tonnes annually. Some reasons for the decline are water shortages, declining asset...
Uranium companies trade higher after Japan announces nuclear restart
Uranium miners traded higher this week after Japan announced plans to resume the country's nuclear program, noted Ur-Energy's CEO John Cash.
On Friday Cash recorded Kitco Roundtable with mining audiences manager Michael McCrae and Kitco correspondent Paul Harris.
Ur-Energy is an in-situ uranium company with operations in Wyoming, U.S. Since 2013 the company has produced and shipped about 2.6 million pounds U3O8 from its Lost Creek operation.
Japan will restart more idled nuclear plants and look at developing next-generation reactors, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday, a major policy shift on nuclear...
Why turn to mining for carbon sequestration - CO2Lock's Cooper Quinn
Near permanence and verification are the chief advantages to using reactive rocks for carbon sequestration, said CO2Lock's CEO Cooper Quinn.
On Friday Quinn recorded Kitco Roundtable with mining audiences manager Michael McCrae and Kitco correspondent Paul Harris.
CO2Lock is commercializing carbon capture and storage (CCS) using rocks that react and trap carbon dioxide. CO2Lock was formed this spring. It is a subsidiary of FPX Nickel (TSXV: FPX).
The minerals the company are using are brucite-rich serpentinized peridotite. CO2Lock claims the rocks have a high rate of reaction with CO2...
The most consequential week for commodities of 2022
The Consumer Price Index number released on Wednesday marked a turning point in the markets, argued Kitco's mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.
On Friday McCrae recorded Roundtable with Kitco correspondent Paul Harris and Exploration Insights editor Joe Mazumdar.
The Wednesday inflation news from the Labor Department shows that U.S. consumer prices were unchanged in July. The CPI was flat last month after advancing 1.3% in June. A drop in oil prices were credited. McCrae argued that the inflation narrative has weakened.
"It's just one month's data, but there was a sea change. Money...
