https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/
Illegal mining activities in Nigeria are devastating the country’s economy, as well as fuelling violence. Strategic minerals mined in the country’s north-west region include granite, gypsum, kaolin, laterite, limestone, phosphate, potash, silica sand and gold.
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has estimated that the legal mining sector contributed N814.59 billion (US$527 million) in 15 years. Earnings were highest in 2021.
It is now almost 14 years since I published my first public article on gold analysis. Back in August of 2011, I outlined my expectation for a top in gold at $1,915 even though it was involved in a parabolic rally at the time. Well, needless to say, that gold article was not viewed favorably by readers at the time.
In fact, I was summarily told in the comments section that I knew nothing about the gold or financial markets. Yet, one brave commenter asked me where I foresee gold heading if it does top at my expected target. And, when I answered that I expected it could drop back to the $1,000 region he responded by chiming in as the others and telling me I know nothing about the gold or financial markets.
(Kitco News) – After holding initial support at $3,000 an ounce, gold’s rally continues unabated, ending the week at another record high.
Gold prices are moving within striking distance of $3,100 an ounce. While momentum indicators show growing overbought conditions, analysts say the market continues to benefit from solid fundamental support. Gold is trading at $3,077.30 an ounce, up 0.68% on the day, and is set to end the week with a nearly 2% gain.
As civil war rages in Sudan, a surge in gold production is helping finance and arm the warring factions. Most of the mining is done on a small scale by villagers who process the gold using mercury and cyanide, posing serious threats to their health and to the environment.
Amid Sudan’s brutal civil war, where famine threatens millions of displaced people, many have turned to small-scale gold mining, risking their lives by using toxic chemicals to extract the precious metal. But this pursuit of survival comes at a devastating cost to public health and the environment.
Across thousands of communities, mercury and cyanide used in the mining process are poisoning miners and their families, degrading farmland, and seeping into underground water reserves. After floods in 2022 and again last year, toxins even reached the Nile River, endangering the country’s most vital water source.
Gold was once again the dominant theme of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals within the precious and base metals mining space in 2024, accounting for 70% of the year’s transaction count and total value, says S&P Global.
According to data tracked by S&P, the number of M&A transactions with gold as the primary resource metal more than doubled those in base metals at 43 (versus 19). The total transaction value was also nearly three times higher for gold at $19.31 billion, compared to $7.23 billion for base metals.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Vault Minerals charts a new mine plan, eyes more ounces at Sugar Zone
The cone of silence prevails on a possible restart date of the Sugar Zone mine, north of White River. Vault Minerals, however, is shedding some light on how things will come together to resume production at the mothballed underground operation based on some details in a February news release and an investor presentation this month.
Vault is a merged entity of two Australian mining companies, consisting of Silver Lake Resources, which originally acquired Sugar Zone in 2022, and Red 5. The companies rebranded to its current name last June.
Northern development could ultimately unlock big growth for Agnico Eagle
Warming temperatures are opening the Northwest Passage as a shipping lane and raising so many concerns about who controls the Arctic that one of Mark Carney’s first trips as Canada’s new prime minister was to Iqaluit on Tuesday as part of an effort “to reassert Canada’s sovereignty in the North.”
It followed a visit over the weekend by NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who also talked about shoring up Arctic sovereignty in the face of threats from United States President Donald Trump. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also visited last September to make his own remarks on the same subject.
(Kitco News) – Banking giants UBS and ANZ both raised their gold price targets well above the key $3,000 per ounce threshold in the latest sign that financial institutions believe the yellow metal’s rally can run higher as geopolitical conflict and trade wars loom large.
The Chief Investment Office of Swiss banking behemoth UBS said in a report on Monday that “[t]he defensive asset has benefited from geopolitical and trade frictions, and renewed expectations for US rate cuts on growth fears.”
The silver market faces mounting stress as trade-war concerns intensify, with higher rates to borrow metal adding to signs of global dislocation.
A surge in lease rates for the precious metal has become the latest sign of alarm, with anxiety building over the impact of further tariffs from US President Donald Trump. That’s sparked a dash to ship silver into the US in a bid to capture premium prices in New York, possibly causing a squeeze in London.
(Kitco News) – The stock market selloff and mounting fears of a recession are driving demand for gold, while sales of silver coins are in freefall as high costs and markups discourage buyers, according to precious metals analysts at Heraeus. In their latest precious metals update, the analysts noted that the market’s current risk-off posture is boosting gold’s safe-haven appeal.
“Concerns over a potential US recession are back in focus, with equity markets showing signs of strain,” they wrote. “The S&P 500 is now 2% lower than at 5 November 2024, when Donald Trump was elected, as persistent uncertainty over trade relations weighs on investor sentiment. On 7 March, hedge funds unwound single-stock positions at levels comparable to March 2020, reflecting a notable shift toward risk reduction.”
(Kitco News) – The gold market has hit another major milestone on Friday morning with the spot market briefly breaking above $3,000 an ounce to set a new all-time high of $3,005.04 just as many North American traders had their first cup of coffee.
Gold’s breakout started late Thursday after consolidating around $2,900 for the last three weeks. Overnight, the yellow metal traded in a narrow range but hit a high of $2,999.99. While gold is down from its session highs, it is still holding on to modest gains. Spot gold last traded at $2,999.10 an ounce, up 0.35% on the day.
In one of history’s little-known ironies, the Maple Leaf country pushing back against Donald Trump’s annexation bid is also host to a tiny, remote restaurant and brothel that helped launch the U.S. president’s family fortune more than 100 years ago.
To find it, look west. Way west. On a quiet, remote trail in British Columbia near the Yukon boundary sits a wooden facade resembling the brothel and restaurant Trump’s grandfather built at the turn of the century.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/
High gold prices aren’t resulting in higher spending, report finds
For years, gold has been the focus of Canadian mining exploration spending: the financing that backs efforts to find, assess, and potentially develop mineral deposits into mines. These efforts have established Canada as a top gold producer worldwide.
And over the course of 2024, the price of gold shot up by 38 per cent, reaching historic heights. But a B.C. report says skyrocketing value didn’t necessarily lead to more investment last year – it found overall exploration spending in the province was down 14 per cent from 2023, and exploration spending targeting gold dropped by 24 per cent.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Matheson miner argues no share compensation arrangement exists with First Nation
Matheson gold producer McEwen Mining contends there’s no cause for concern regarding its mine waste tailings storage facility that a nearby First Nation claims is causing environment harm and is a human health risk.
In a news release, McEwen responded to a lawsuit that was launched this month by Apitipi Anicinapek Nation (AAN) against the Toronto gold company for allegedly violating an impact benefit agreement (IBA) between the two parties.
https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/
For me, every January begins with another trip through the key events of Canadian history since 1867, courtesy of a course I have taught for nearly 20 years at Memorial University of Newfoundland. As I write, I just stepped out of a class on Confederation, where we examine all the reasons that four tenuously related colonies decided to become the nation we call Canada.
As most teachers do, I covered off some key factors that produced a new political union: political gridlock and instability in the two Canadas (present-day Ontario and Quebec), fears of an attack from the U.S., dreams of a transcontinental nation, and the mania for railroads that might knit British North America together as a powerful, integrated industrial economy.
