I am beginning to feel a bit like one of the French unfortunates stumbling through the fog in the Ardennes, circa 1914. Except that, instead of Germans full of deadly intent coming at me in the gloomy forest, it is a flock of black swans.
For around $2 a day some Afghan children as young as 10 work long hours in the country's coal mines with no safety gear and, until now, no government mining policy to protect them. While national law allows Afghan children to work up to 35 hours a week from the age of 14, they are not allowed to do hazardous jobs such as mining.
Spot gold dropped one percent on Friday in Asian trade, extending losses from a fall of 1.6% in the previous session as risk appetite revived after reassuring US jobs data soothed anxious investors, but bullion remains poised for its best week since February 2009. CNBC reports as gold futures briefled topped a record $1,800 traders that are long gold began to get nervous that they were behind a trade that may not have any potential new buyers left. Reuters reports the surging price of gold is a vindication for the world's gold bugs 40 years after US President Nixon announced the abandonment of the gold standard – the anniversary is on Monday.
Recent developments are rapidly stacking the odds against Alberta oil sands: the oil price has fallen 20% in one month, the gap between US crude and world prices hit a record on Wednesday above $24, the premium syncrude enjoyed in recent months is melting away and Canadian heavy oil's discount to US crude has widened to $15. The question now is how many of the $100 billion of oil sands projects in various stages of development will be completed or run at a profit when Canadian crude only attracts $60-$70 a barrel and could go lower. Sky-rocketing labour and equipment costs and a rising loonie could well turn out to be the proverbial last straw.
Wild swings in the stock markets and economic woes are in the air. I wondered how these affect mining. Obviously gold will go up and up. Maybe oil sands products will go down and down. What of the demand for copper, platinum, uranium and other mined products that go into things people consume? Nobody can tell.
President Obama claims to see the need to create jobs at this time of endless 9-plus percent unemployment -- yet his administration continues to relentlessly destroy jobs for ideological reasons. The best example may be the Obama Environmental Protection Agency’s “war on coal.”
As gold powers through the $1700 an ounce level, and after years of being warned, people are only now beginning to concede to the fact that the current fiat system of money is faltering and that gold plays an integral part of the world’s monetary system.
When a Seattle-based shipping company announced plans last year for a deepwater cargo port that it promised would create hundreds of jobs, it looked like good news. This waterfront community of 75,000 just south of the Canadian border had suffered the loss of its primary industry when a large paper mill began closing down in 2001. Then a nationwide housing and construction boom ended in 2007 when the market tanked. But the proposed Gateway Pacific terminal near Bellingham has opened up a larger debate about U.S. competitiveness in a changing global economy.
Postings on this blog elicit many reactions. Two postings in the past week on sites that help you find jobs in the mining industry have stirred the pot and I have received many comments privately, both commending and condemning me for my “innocent” opinions. I reply to very few of the comments. I would go [...]
Australian Mining reports: a new Australian government partnership with the mining industry focussing on education, employment and business development is working towards developing opportunities for indigenous Australians.
“The size of Queensland’s resource sector will ensure Indigenous Australians have access to real job opportunities and skills that are transferable in an industry in need of skilled workers,” [says Mark Arbib, minister for indigenous employment and economic development].