Currency devaluation does not create long term, stable, cost savings for mining companies. Currently, most cost savings touted by mining companies are driven by a weakening of local currency vs USD. However, I don’t think this can be counted on in the long term. At best, it is a nine-month lag, and afterwards, the local… Continue Reading

Half way through our Yukon tour, the media group was greeted by another blue-bird day in Dawson City. Things had been progressing smoothly to this point, but Mother Nature stepped in with some foggy weather and we couldn’t fly in to visit Rockhaven Resources’ (TSX-V: RK) 100% owned Klaza Project. Even the best organizers, which… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: “At a market bottom, falling prices eventually force out large numbers of traders, resulting in volatility and increased volume.” ~ Cory Mitchell (Investopedia) This quote on market bottoms perfectly sums up the gold miners (GDX) during the last couple of years: With each successive price decline both volume and volatility have made… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: One of the most successful investors in history, Carl Icahn, has taken a roughly 8.5% stake in copper/gold mining giant Freeport-McMoran (FCX). Shares of FCX have been battered in recent months, dropping nearly 70% since early May: Icahn is most well known for his timely investments in fallen angels. Most notably… Continue Reading

After flying into Mayo, central Yukon, from ATAC Resources (Part 2) we packed into a shuttle van to head toward the Keno Hill Silver District. Keno Hill is an extraordinary part of the Yukon; it is the largest and richest silver district in Canada. From 1913 to 1989 there were 35 producing mines which yielded 217… Continue Reading

The official Yukon Mining Tour kicked off (read part 1 from Friday here) with a 6:30 AM checkout in Whitehorse. We made our way to the Alkan Air Hangar which services northern Canada and Alaska, based out of Whitehorse. The group boarded a 15 person fixed wing airplane to make the 1.5 hour journey to ATAC… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: After a promising start to the year copper has been in a steady downtrend since May and the red metal has just touched the rising 200-month simple moving average for the first time since late-2008:   While it is true that copper prices quickly reversed higher the last time this moving average… Continue Reading

Few majors and juniors are willing to deploy exploration capital in this market but even less are prepared to prospect on virgin ground. One junior Company with a mandate to pursue grassroots exploration is Westhaven Ventures (westhavenventures.com). Westhaven (TSX.V – WHN) is the vehicle legendary prospector Grenville Thomas and his team are using to define… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: 8 days ago I sent out a tweet calling for $1150 gold within a couple of weeks based upon strong seasonal tailwinds and the likelihood that we would get some significant short covering after futures speculators had become over zealous in piling on short positions: This morning we’ve traded as high… Continue Reading

Junior miners, especially in bear markets, are all about the people… Wealth Minerals (TSX.V – WML) (http://www.wealthminerals.com) is working to ensure future success by attracting top tier talent with significant experience in Latin America. Yesterday, the company announced that Mr. Xiaohuan (Juan) Tang, B.Eng, M.Eng, M.Sc, M.Phil, is joining the leadership team as a Director… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: The latest CFTC Commitments of Traders Data shows that as of Tuesday’s close (7/28/2015) dumb money gold futures speculators (small specs) held the largest net notional short position in history:    The small speculators net short position totals 9,199 contracts or slightly more than $1 billion USD notional.  Read also –… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: An interesting dynamic has taken shape in gold in recent weeks. As price has continued to oscillate in a roughly $30 range between $1075 and $1105 sentiment has further deteriorated, here is a small sampling of some of the headlines that have been out there the past couple of days: Two… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: With gold floundering just below $1,100/oz for the last week gold bulls are digging for reasons to be optimistic. However, the following two charts courtesy of Morgan Stanley Research indicate that relative to other commodities gold is fairly is expensive and producers have not yet responded to the recent price decline… Continue Reading

Via Energy and Gold.com: “Is this it for gold?” is the question many are asking themselves this morning. With the yellow metal falling $50/oz in a matter of minutes Sunday night one has to wonder if the coffin is closing for the long-term gold bull market or are we rapidly nearing a bottom in what has… Continue Reading

Exploration Insights by Brent Cook www.explorationinsights.com Today we begin where our last rant left off. (link) The Rant But then metal prices began to decline, economies slow, and profits slip away. What went wrong this time Dad? Will mining boom again? Don’t hold your breath kid. It’s bleak out there and we have a 10-year… Continue Reading