Iron ore’s $120-price floor theory unravels
Below $120 a tonne most Chinese producers become unprofitable, but a sustained period below this level may indicate a fundamental shift in the industry.
Frik Els , Editor
Frik has 20 years’ experience as a business journalist across a range of industries including automotive, technology and entertainment markets. Frik has an entry in Global Mining Observer’s Who’s Who of Mining 2018, and contributions to publications and conferences including Business Insider, Investing.com, Mines & Money London and New York, Vancouver Resources Investment, Progressive Mine Forum in Toronto and Canadian Mining Symposium in London, UK. He’s been interviewed on CBC Radio and Korea State TV and quoted in the Financial Post.
Posts by Frik Els:
Not convinced Chinese trade is a disaster? Take a look at these shipping numbers
Examples: Worldwide orders for dry-bulk vessels dropped 49% to 9.8 million deadweight tons in the first half of 2012. The monthly index of new-ship prices in China is now at its lowest point since March 2004.
Baja sued for $260 million in class action. Vancouver co is worth only $18 million, down 93% in 2012
Baja Mining dropped by almost a third on Friday after announcing class action proceedings seeking $260 million in damages for misrepresenting the true state of affairs at its Boleo project in Mexcio since 2010. It is now worth a paltry $18.7 million on the Toronto big board. During the heady days of 2007 Baja Mining was valued at $836 million.
Silver Wheaton not fazed by Pascua-Lama delays
Silver Wheaton will be paying less than $4 an ounce to take the precious metal of Barrick's hands.
Barrick’s Donlin move cuts Novagold stock off at the knees. Novagold says it’s ‘encouraged’, Paulson not so much
NovaGold lost over 25% on Thursday, after Barrick said that the Donlin JV with Novagold doesn't meet its investment criteria. Novagold tried to make the best of the news, but shareholder John Paulson suffered another blow to his $21 billion fund.
US Silver investors welcome hostile Hecla with open arms
US Silver responded today by saying it's studying the offer and for now the much lower valued RX Gold & Silver deal stays in place.
Shanghai rebar meltdown: The last time Chinese steel cost this much iron ore was trading at $70
Chinese rebar prices are now 8% lower than October 2011 lows, while iron ore prices remain 5% higher.
Harmony up 7% as punters bet Wafi-Golpu pre-feasibility will map out a Grasberg rival
Release of a pre-feasibility study for Wafi-Golpu in Papua New Guinea is expected any day now and punters hope drilling results that put the deposit into the same league as Freeport-McMoran’s Grasberg mine across the border in West Papua, Indonesia are confirmed.
Gold up $32 as QE3 drumbeat grows louder
Gold scaled the $1,600 an ounce level for the first time in three weeks on Wednesday as investors, worried about cheap money flooding markets and debasing the US dollar, turn to gold as an inflation hedge.
Teck Resources down 5% after profits more than halve
The diversified miner suffered lower realized prices across the board with copper down 14% to $3.57 a pound, its realized coal price was 26% below Q2 2011 at $202 a tonne. Zinc (-15%), silver (-24%), lead (-22%) and molybdenum (-18%) prices all declined.
CHART: Friday massacre for mining stocks but copper price pulls out of nosedive
Historic down day for gold and silver prices caused double digit losses for precious metals stocks but copper miners came off relatively lightly.
