China’s gold hoard swells

As the price of copper drops to a 14-month low on speculation of sluggish demand for industrial metals, the chief executive of Codelco — the world's largest copper producer — said buyers in China should take advantage, Bloomberg reported.

A Chinese company has made another bid to secure iron ore and other metals beyond its borders. On Tuesday Hanlong Mining said it will buy Perth-based Sundance Resources for US$1.57 billion. AFP reported that Hanlong will acquire Sundance through a scheme of arrangement, after lifting its offer to 57 cents cash per share from 50 cents back in July.

Labrador Iron Mines Holdings Limited (TSX:LIM) is pleased to announce that the first shipment of LIM iron ore sailed today bound for China.

IDEX reports on Wednesday Sotheby's is auctioning a 9.27-carats fancy vivid pink emerald-cut diamond at a sale that will likely attract collectors that have not seen such stones auctioned for a while. Collectors and dealers have paid top prices for exceptional diamonds at auctions in Hong Kong, repeatedly setting record prices, but offerings like the rare VVS1 clarity pink diamond carrying a pre-sale estimate price of $12.8-$19.2 million, have been scarce recently. If the gem sales at the upper end of the range it could set a new per carat record of $2 million-plus.

The Hang Seng Index was down 4.38% and S&P/ASX 200 slid 2.78% over fears of euro zone contagion and the risk another recession may be looming. Gold is up and at $1657/oz. It closed last week at $1624/oz. Hang Seng was also hit by worries about the casinos in Macua. There is less credit available from China, which may dampen revenue from gambling.

Subsitution is driving rare earth demand down, according to analyst Dudley Kingsnorth speaking at an industry conference in China. Kingsnorth is executive director of Industrial Minerals Company of Australia. Dudley told the Metal-Pages(TM) Minor Metals and Rare Earth Conference in Beijing last September that he is dropping projected demand of rare earth oxide per annum to 170,000 tonnes from a previous forecast of 195,000. For example manufacturers of rechargeable batteries may start using lithium ion materials instead of a nickel-metal hydrid, which uses the light rare earth lanthanum.

Shareholders who held onto their Silvercorp Metals stock during the rollercoaster ride that started on September 2 when the company had to disclose fraud allegations and a massive short position in its stock, had something to show for their loyalty on Friday. Silvercorp, China's biggest silver miner, is now worth more than it was before the scam was exposed. You had to have nerves of steel though – volumes sky-rocketed, intra-day swings reached 22% and at one point shell-shocked owners were down a net 30%. And what is most remarkable: Silvercorp's gains are into the teeth of a silver price that has dropped 27% and a sector slaughtered along with it.

Minmetal Resources bought Anvil Mining for $1.3 billion, representing a 30% premium over Anvil Mining's average share price. The Anvil Board has unanimously approved the offer. Anvil's key asset is the Kinsevere mine, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Minmetal says its annual copper output will grow by 60,000 tonnes per year, an increase of 60%. The mine is expected to have about a 14 year life.

North Atlantic Potash Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of JSC Acron, today completed the sale of eight of its potash permitted areas to the Yancoal Canada Resources Co. Ltd. of China for $110 million. The sale allows North Atlantic Potash to focus its activity on key areas of interest within its remaining potash permits in Saskatchewan. The infusion of cash means the prioritization of advanced exploration and drilling required to delineate resources can now proceed through a systematic and strategic capital expenditure program. This sale relates to North Atlantic Potash's potash permit holdings located north of Regina (see map on website: permits KP 374, 377, 392, 406, 506, 399, 378, and 507).