The things that have moved in this market of course have been precious metal production and near term production stories, but people are coming to understand that high quality discoveries are rare.
Hedge funds and other large speculators held a net-short position, or bets on price declines, of 4,991 U.S. copper futures and options contracts in the week ended Aug. 23, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released three days later. They switched from a net-long position, or wagers on a rally, of 2,237 a week earlier.
The possible plant closure, which could cost around 2,000 jobs, is part of a global restructuring plan announced in September that could see CAT cutting as many as 10,000 jobs globally in the coming years.
An increase in industrial action is usually bad news, but copper producers should be cheering the souring relationship between Chilean mine workers and firms.
Exploration at Hot Chili Ltd.'s Productora copper project, located in Chile, has uncovered a gold resource at Sierra Zapallo, prompting analyst Trent Barnett of Hartleys to upgrade the company to a Speculative Buy.
