A steady lift of supply from Australia and a moderation in demand growth from China will put pressure on the number one steelmaking input over the next three to five years, analysts say. “Prices will slump as much as 34 percent to $90 a ton by the end of December, according to the median of… Continue Reading

On a day when junior resource stocks are getting absolutely hammered, Alpha Minerals (TSXV:AMW) has announced the first official coverage of the company, by Rob Chang, Cantor Fitzgerald, with a BUY (Speculative) recommendation. At press time, shares in the Athabasca Basin focused uranium explorer were off 12.3% or 57 cents to $4.06. Considering Chang’s recommendation was at… Continue Reading

Robert Friedland’s Ivanplats has summarised the latest data on its exciting Kamoa, Platreef and Kipushi mining projects.  Article: Lawrence Williams, Mineweb

“We were almost killed several times,” Frank Giustra tells me. He’s recalling his first trip to Colombia in 1994 with his friend Serafino Iacono. FARC guerrillas and cocaine traffickers had made the country the most dangerous in the Americas, but it seemed like nothing could stop the two young natural resource promoters’ quest for the… Continue Reading

Amid the felled chief executive officers, shelved projects, tens of billions of dollars that won’t be spent and the barren lines of credit, miners are finding a reason to smile. The very excesses that put them where they are today will help to ease their pain. Equipment and talent are becoming easier to procure. Article:… Continue Reading

The “make fast cash flipping houses” ads are back in force, construction is resurgent, consumers are walking around with shopping bags again, “mom & pop investors” are raising their 401k contributions, and US equities have healed their financial crisis wounds, rising to all-time highs. Animal spirits are also on the rise. You can see it.… Continue Reading

Of all the former employees at SAC Capital Advisors LP who have been accused of insider trading, Michael S. Steinberg was closest to Steven A. Cohen, starting as a young recruit and rising to become one of the hedge-fund founder’s most-trusted money managers. He joined SAC in 1997, three years after graduating college, and was… Continue Reading

“People were basically investing in a PowerPoint presentation,” says Ed Kuczma, an emerging-markets analyst at Van Eck Associates, which holds shares in Batista’s companies. “He’s very charismatic. I’ve seen him on roadshows and he definitely lightens up a room when he walks in…” Article: Bloomberg Businessweek

Even by the standards of China’s rough and tumble breed of entrepreneurs, billionaire Liu Han’s brushes with death mark him out. After dodging a hitman’s bullets in 1997, which led to the execution of a rival tycoon and two of his relatives almost a decade later, Liu, 47, finds himself ensnared in more killings. This… Continue Reading

Keir Reynolds posted the 4 year TSX-Venture Index chart on Twitter earlier, and we discussed it with the CEO Technician this evening. He told us, “Utter garbage…needs to base out and begin to show some signs of accumulation…no signs yet.” There you have it.

John Thornton was paid a staggering US$17-million in 2012, his first year with Barrick, according to a proxy circular filed by the company. That includes an US$11.9-million “special cash sign-on payment” for him to buy Barrick shares on the open market. Mr. Thornton, 59, is viewed as Mr. Munk’s likely successor, and is being treated… Continue Reading

Newstrike Capital (TSXV:NES), one of the better respected gold exploration names on the TSX-V, has published their maiden NI 43-101 Resource Estimate for the Ana Paul gold project in Guerrero, Mexico. NES long James Kwantes commented, “Ana Paula contains 43 million tonnes grading 1.59 g/t gold and 7 g/t silver, for a measured and indicated… Continue Reading

With this week’s strong upside move in shares of PTA.V I thought it would be a good time to update the technical outlook for the stock: Click to enlarge PTA Weekly  PTA Daily

On Feb. 26 2013, Liberal MP John McKay sponsored the first reading of Bill C-474 in parliament; also known as “The Sunshine Bill”. An Act respecting the promotion of financial transparency, improved accountability and long-term economic sustainability through the public reporting of payments made by mining, oil and gas corporations to foreign governments. In the… Continue Reading

“With the regulations and liability being forced upon the brokers, I can foresee the extinction of the independent brokers—Haywood Securities, PI Financial, Leede Financial, Jordan Capital Markets, Toll Cross Securities, Byron Capital Markets—because they’re not built to be asset gatherers. They’re not built to be in competition with the big banks. The investors who do… Continue Reading