Frik Els , Editor

China’s rare earth quotas are a joke. 74% of oxides never left port this year

Chinese authorities added 10,680 tonnes to the country's export allowance this week but it is something of a meaningless exercise because during the first quarter China only exported 26.3% of the initial quota.

Frik Els | May 18, 2012 | 9:00 pm

Graff Diamonds IPO should catapult the diamond king up the billionaires list

Laurence Graff, the undisputed king of uber-expensive diamonds, will earn a tidy $290 million windfall when he restructures his Mayfair-based company and will vastly boost his paper wealth when Graff Diamonds lists in Hong Kong for as much as $4 billion.

Frik Els | May 18, 2012 | 8:58 pm

Rare earthquake: May last year Molycorp investors were $5.5 billion richer

The Colorado company is destined to become the number one producer outside China, but the rapidly changing economics of the industry has seen its stock decline 20% this week and 74% since May last year.

Frik Els | May 18, 2012 | 6:05 pm

Silvercorp sets records in China as it emerges from short and distort saga

Silvercorp Metals along with the rest of the silver sector jumped on Thursday as the price of the precious metal recovered from […]

Frik Els | May 18, 2012 | 12:27 am

Mining said to need ‘image makeover’ to attract workers. Paying average $40 an hour not enough

Despite paying the highest wages – average $40.42/hour vs a $25/hour across sectors – the mining industry faces an uphill struggle filling more than 100,000 new positions by 2021.

Frik Els | May 17, 2012 | 10:10 pm

Gold: A dead cat bouncing or last chance to buy before Grexit and QE in the EU send prices rocketing?

If the EU joins the US in flooding the market with cheap money it will be a massive boon for gold. It is worth remembering that before the Fed kicked off QE1 on 16 December 2008 an ounce of gold was changing hands for $837.

Frik Els | May 17, 2012 | 8:16 pm

Expat execs in Africa: Without ‘danger pay’ how does the money stack up now?

Africa's economic indicators are all pointing up, but executive pay packages and living arrangements for expatriates are changing too.

Frik Els | May 17, 2012 | 8:00 pm

In stunning turnaround, coal will grab electricity market share from natural gas next year

While stricter environmental regulation is leading to plant closures the US has not stopped building coal-fired power plants.

Frik Els | May 16, 2012 | 11:12 pm

Gold flirts with bear market as bullion backed funds have longest losing streak since 2004

"As equities fall, as the Greeks take money out of the banks and the banking sector collapses, I suppose you'd have to be wary of further price falls just to cover for losses in other markets."

Frik Els | May 16, 2012 | 10:06 pm

Falling off the supercycle: BHP puts the brakes on capex, stock hits 3-year low

“Where the industry previously lacked investment opportunities and choice, it now has more projects than cash flows. All of us in the industry are having to make choices.”

Frik Els | May 16, 2012 | 6:40 pm

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