News

Africa Weekly: Hwange Hit By Constraints, Zambia Rides The Crest Of A Wave, DRC To Restrict Tin Exports, While African Eagle Prioritises Exploration In Tanzania

On the global scene, platinum prices slithered down to a 33-month low amidst fears over plummeting demand from car manufacturers. The greenback also gained as it rose to a one-year high against the euro, yet gold traded steady on

Now It’s Starting To Hurt

Metal prices were pretty much ok until Friday of last week when there seems to have been a bit of reality check. A US$305 a tonne fall in the price of copper that day took it down to US$5,882. Considering it had been US$6,900 a

Solid Energy Has Coal In Abundance Down In New Zealand, And A Growing Renewables Portfolio Too

One of New Zealand's leading high-quality coal producers is on track to become one of the country's major producers of renewable energy when two major green energy projects come online next year. Solid Energy’s seven coal mines

That Was The Week That Was…In London

There was absolutely no let up in the ferocity of the bear market this week, with metal prices also under severe pressure. The majors predictably had a tough time of things. Anglo American (LSE: AAL) was down 10 per cent to 1781p

That Was The Week That Was … In Australia

Minews. Good morning Australia. Should we ignore the market and talk about sport today?

That Was The Week That Was … In Canada

Minews. Now over to our Canadian Correspondent to see how the Canadian Markets performed this past week.

Churchill Mining Joins The Billion Tonne Club On East Kutai In Indonesia

Coal mining is all about big numbers. Unlike gold mining you can’t start small and work your way up because consumers want to have a reliable, large tonnage feed for many years. In contrast to gold, of course, there is not a

Capstone Mining And Sherwood Copper Merge To Fill The Mid-Tier Producer Void

In the mining game “bigger is almost always better”, and this fact has not been lost on Canadian-listed Capstone Mining as it looks to tie the knot with fellow copper producer Sherwood Copper. The proposed nuptials would create a

Minera Andes Poised For Expansion Off A Very Solid Base

Take a look at the share price chart of Minera Andes and you will see a hockey stick shape at the end. In other words there was some news in August September-time good enough to move the price upward even in these dire times. A

Toledo Mining Is Well Positioned To Ride Out The Storms In The Market, Even With Nickel At Under $16,000 Per Tonne

George Bujtor’s always ready with a smile. You might not think that the chief executive of a company that started out life as a direct shipping nickel operation would have much to smile about at the moment, as nickel sinks ever

Is An Inscrutable Chinaman Playing High Stakes Poker With AXMIN And The Government Of The Central African Republic?

Frustrating is not a word strong enough to express feelings at Canadian-listed AXMIN after an announcement was issued on local radio in the Central African Republic (CAR) that a decree had been issued which appeared to amend

Goldplat Makes Recovery A Profitable Business, As It Looks Ahead To Becoming A Fully-Fledged Gold Miner

“The value that we humans place in gold in difficult times will never be replaced”. So says Demetri Manolis, chief executive of Goldplat, the African-focussed company that backs its exploration and development projects with a

Times May Be Tough, But The Tough Team At Focus Minerals Are Steaming Ahead

There’s nothing new about Focus Minerals, and in a market shell-shocked by the antics of 20-something rocket scientists trying (and failing) to run investment funds, that’s actually a compliment. The mines, and the management, at

RAB Capital Secures A Three Year Lifeline, But Clawing Back Its Reputation May Take A Lot Longer Than That

“Confidence is even more precious than gold”, Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier told a conference of World Economic Forum bigwigs this week, referring to the crazy events still unfolding in world markets. Confidence is of course

Highland Gold Swims Against The Tide, As Usual: This Time It’s Good News As Everyone Else Runs For Cover

Shares in Peter Hambro Mining have fallen out of bed lately, having halved in value since August as the Russian-focussed gold miner booked a series of exceptional charges in its latest set of financial results, as well as

Africa Weekly: DRC Extends Mines Contracts Review, South African Politics In Chaos, And Gem Pulls A Big Stone Out of Letseng

It’s rare to have both of Africa’s number one and number two gold producing nations hogging the limelight at the same time. As last week opened, it was a tale of conflicting fortunes for both South Africa and Ghana, the

Cape Lambert Could Make Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars From Marampa, Providing African Minerals Retains The Title

Sources close to the mysterious incident at Waterstones, which took place on Friday 19th September when a senior mining man at Mirabaud was seen apparently veering close to a book on escapology, just as the three-legged legal

That Was The Week That Was … In London

It was another chaotic week for London’s mining companies as doubts about the US financial rescue package weighed on sentiment. As a result, the majors were all knocked for six. Anglo American (LSE: AAL) fell 17 per cent to

That Was The Week That Was … In Australia

Minews. Good morning Australia. How did you ride out another interesting week?

Oz. Not too badly, though it really depends at what point you entered the market. Anyone who bought in at the peak last year is feeling rather

That Was The Week That Was … In Canada

Minews. Now over to our Canadian Correspondent who appears to have survived another tumultuous trading week on the Canadian Markets.

CC. It is just plain ugly out there on the equity markets, as the latest US financial