Coal has been hit hard this year because of the decrease in demand for electricity to run offices, factories and stores.

The Vancouver-based company completed the start-to-finish proof of concept of its lithium processing technology.

The valuation is a decrease of 13% from the previous quarter, and also marks a drop of 10.9% in comparison to the last four-quarter average of $1.79 billion.

The company's application for permits under the Clean Water Act and other federal statutes was denied last week.

Even if the USD Index is to decline further from here, the implications are not particularly bullish for the precious metals market.

More than 400,000 December contracts representing over 40 million ounces of gold have been swapped this month for futures expiring in February.

Gold registered its worst monthly performance in four years in November.

A study conducted in Australia but funded by the US Air Force brings research one step closer to harnessing fusion power as a future energy source.