US Oil Sands (USO:TSXV) has closed its previously announced, oversubscribed $81 million financing and has added a changed lineup of all-star energy entrepreneurs to its board of directors.  USO raised the money from three main strategic investors, Blue Pacific Investments, Anchorage Capital Group and Spitfire Ventures.  Blue Pacific nominated Serafino Iacono (highly successful Colombian resource entrepreneur… Continue Reading

“There was no firm like it.  And there probably won’t be another one like it.  It was  tough to get into and tough to get out. Hotel California.” I’ve heard the name, Gordon Capital, a few times in my career.  I find when talking about Gordon Capital, it is often complimented with a fond smirk… Continue Reading

It looks like the rumours have proved to be correct as China’s Minmetals announces a first round bid for Glencore-Xstrata’s (GLEN:LN) Peruvian Las Bamabas copper mine.  Prior to the mega-merger being finalized between Glencore and Xstrata last year, the Chinese antitrust authorities demanded the sale of Glencore’s $5.2 billion Las Bambas mine in order to reduce the power… Continue Reading

This morning, the Peruvian silver developer, Bear Creek Mining (BCM:TSXV), announced that it has received its Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the company’s Corani silver-lead-zinc project.  The company will now complete detailed engineering and submit construction permits for the project.  This approved ESIA comes less than one month after the company submitted responses… Continue Reading

This morning graphite developer, Mason Graphite (LLG:TSXV) announced some surprising results which are not likely to be picked up by the markets.  The company received results from the preliminary purification of the graphitic carbon concentrates from the company’s Lac Gueret project located in Quebec.  Using conventional hydrometallurgical processes, in lock cycle tests, the company received… Continue Reading

Global demand for platinum as an investment has increased 30x since 2003. Learn about platinum’s investment potential in Part 3 of The Platinum Series. VC Infographic | Platinum Series: Platinum as an Investment http://t.co/7AcI5FCrnu — Visual Capitalist (@VisualCap) September 19, 2013

Another good sign for the resource equity markets; Paul Matysek’s Goldrock Mines (GRM:TSXV) quietly raised $9.24 million by way of strategic investment by Austral Gold (AGD:ASX) consisting of units at $0.80 per share (with an $0.80 warrant).  This represents a 51% premium to yesterday’s closing price.  After closing, Austral will own approximately 15% of Goldrock.  Austral’s… Continue Reading

Newmont Mining (NEM:NYSE) announced this morning that it has signed a letter of intent to sell its Midas operations in Nevada to private equity firm, Waterton Global.  Midas has been a staple of Newmont’s Nevada operations as it is a high grade gold-silver and has been in production since 1999.  Many analysts already anticipated depletion and shut down of… Continue Reading

Endeavour Mining (EDV:TSX) has added some depth to its roster by bringing on Ian Cockerill, Miguel Rodriguez and Frank Giustra to its strategic advisory board.  The three new members will replace Jorje L. Gamarci and Dr. Antony Harwood.  The board now consists of seven members: Michael Beckett (Chairman), Ian Cockerill, Frank Giustra, Ian Henderson, Wayne… Continue Reading

Developments in the potash cartel saga continues as rumours are confirmed that 21.75%-owner of OAO Uralkali, Russian tycoon, Suleiman Kerimov is trying to sell his stake in the company.  The value of the sale is estimated at around $3.5 billion.  This comes after Uralkali left the Belarusian Potash Co (BPC) cartel followed by the Belarusian’s… Continue Reading

If history repeats itself (which it has a habit of doing), then yes the bank is preparing to load up on gold.  This morning, Jeffrey Currie, the global head of commodities research for the bank said: “While we agree with the mid-cycle price somewhere around $1,200, we believe that at least near term it can overshoot… Continue Reading

A spectacular account of the ‘100-year financial crisis’ as told by the 74th United States Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson.  The interview was done for the new Bloomberg documentary which will be on Netflix on Monday called ‘Hank: Five Years from the Brink’. Hank on the Unpopularity of TARP: “The way I read the… Continue Reading

Sulliden Gold (SUE:TSX) has cleared the final hurdle at its Shahuindo gold and silver project in northern Peru by receiving an ‘okay’ for their Environmental Impact Assessment.  With this milestone complete, after an 18 month permitting process, the company expects to begin construction within 30-60 days (once final project finance package completed).  The construction will… Continue Reading

In April of this year, Mexico’s Economics Committee in the Chamber of Deputies approved a proposed new 5% mining royalty tax.  Over the weekend, the Executive Branch of the Mexican federal government presented its 2014 Tax Reform proposal which included new mining specific federal royalties.  These included a Special Mining Royalty which is a 7.5%… Continue Reading

While gold and platinum are almost equally as rare, the amount of platinum mined through history is only a mere fraction.  Learn about the history of platinum in the first part of The Platinum Series. Full infographic on the Visual Capitalist website.