US mining and exploration investment declined 35 pct in 2015

Maybe the Republicans will have fun with this one.

It has been a difficult week for precious metals, as gold and silver both experienced their lowest closes of the year.

The balance of the US coal industry may be tilting in the direction of the MidWest from Appalachia.

Gold prices hit a four-month low today as worries over Europe's financial health, particularly Greece and Spain, and massive trading losses for JPMorgan hurt stock markets and the euro, prompting investors to shelter in the US dollar.

The head office is just one among 800-odd mining companies clustered in downtown Vancouver. But even in a group so large it serves as the backbone of the city’s business district — and the world’s centre of mining expertise — Teck Resources stands out.

With the price of uranium down about 25% from levels reached before the Japanese earthquake and nuclear disaster in Japan last year, the least the industry wanted to hear was what the latest edition of the Scotiabank Commodity Price Index had to say: the yellow material prices may well bottom in 2012.

The oil and natural gas rich nation's stake in the coal giant is now 8% with a target of over 10%, providing crucial back for Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg to push through the $90 billion merger with Xstrata.

Despair not, gold investors. Goldman Sachs hasn't given up on bullion. Despite a significant selloff in the yellow metal in recent days, bottoming out at four-month lows, Goldman Sachs is still forecasting a rally in gold this year.

Confused about the political machinations surrounding the Keystone XL pipeline, or baffled by talk of crude oil discount rates, Oklahoma bottlenecks and Texas Gulf refining capacities?