Sprott monthly market update with Rick Rule: Uranium, gold and silver

Get set for a pace of drilling and exploration results from the Yukon even more blistering this year than the last. By way of yardstick, 2010 was stellar for exploration in the Yukon, with about $150 million in such expenditures. But this year is looking even better, with exploration expenditures expected to top $250 million, according to Natural Resources Canada, which some months ago surveyed the 2011 spending intentions of mining and exploration companies. And with the shorter Yukon exploration season, many drilling campaigns in the Yukon are just getting underway.

Gold rebounded on Tuesday after posting its biggest one-day loss in a month in the previous session on growing worries about another global economic downturn, but a weaker U.S. dollar and bargain hunting by jewellers offered support. While signs of a cooling Chinese economy could weigh on industrial metals, dealers expect no change in China's appetite for bullion. Investors were also awaiting a trail of U.S. data later in the day which could set the tone for commodities.

Bloomberg News reports that Hecla Mining, the biggest silver producer in the United States, has agreed to pay $263 million to settle one of the country's biggest Superfund lawsuits: Hecla’s payment, including interest, will be made to the federal government, the Coeur d’Alene Indian Tribe and the state of Idaho, resolving claims stemming from waste discharged from its mining operations, the U.S. Justice Department said today in an e-mailed statement.

Helio Resource Corp. on Monday reported the first diamond drill results from the current drill programme at the Gold Kop Target, on its 100%-owned Damara Gold Project in Namibia. The Gold Kop Target is situated 45km northeast of AngloGold Ashanti's Navachab gold mine. On Monday, Helio which also owns gold projects in Tanzania was trading up almost 5% on the TSX Venture Exchange on the news. The tightly-held company is worth some $44m with 104m shares outstanding.

ATAC Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:ATC) is pleased to announce it has made a significant silver-lead-zinc discovery at the Ocelot target beneath a known but previously undrilled surface gossan. The target is located within the Rau Trend in the western portion of ATAC's 100% owned Rackla Gold Project in the Keno Hill Mining District, Canada's second largest primary silver producer. Image by ATAC Resources Ltd.

Silver is searing hot in China as imports are set to hit a new high. The white metal’s widespread use in industry […]

Robert Friedland, Chief Executive Officer of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (TSX:IVN)(NYSE:IVN)(NASDAQ:IVN), issued an operations update today that reports on progress being achieved on the development of principal projects in the portfolios of the parent company and its subsidiaries and associated interests. Key developments: Full-scale construction at Ivanhoe Mines' flagship Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold-silver mining complex is continuing toward a projected peak level of activity that is expected to be reached during the third quarter of this year. The total number of workers engaged at the Oyu Tolgoi construction site has more than doubled since March 1, 2011, as part of the build up to the peak of construction and currently stands at 12,497.

United Silver Corp. (formerly United Mining Group) on Thursday updated progress on the joint venture with New Jersey Mining Company which was established to secure near-term milling capacity for the Crescent Silver Mine project, through funding a $2.5m expansion program. The expansion program remains on budget and on schedule for completion in the fourth quarter of 2011, the company said. United Silver Corp. is earning, through development and operations, an 80% interest in the Crescent Silver Mine in Idaho's prolific Silver Belt - directly between two of the world's historically largest silver producing properties, the Sunshine and Bunker Hill mines.

The top 40 global mining companies are poised to break through the US$1 trillion asset mark this year, due to record levels of cash, property and equipment on balance sheets, says a new PwC report. In their report Mine 2011: The game has changed, PwC called the financial results of the top 40 "spectacular" as total revenues increased 32% to US$435 billion, breaking the $400 billion mark for the first time.