~*~Mining and Metals Du Jour~*~

[JD400]

Sound Money Outside of the System Feat. Lynette Zang - LFTV Ep 162

Kinesis Money

Mar 1, 2024
In this week’s episode of Live from the Vault, Andrew Maguire is joined for the first time by renowned US-based banker, stockbroker, and economist Lynette Zang to talk about the growing sound money movement and ways to preserve wealth.

Lynette takes listeners through an American perspective on the failing dollar and recent developments in certain states, before offering a message of hope: people are waking up to the manipulation of the mainstream media.

Lynette Zang's Website: https://lynettezang.com/

Ask your questions for Andy here: https://forum.kinesis.money/forums/qu...

Timestamps
00:00 Start
05:00 Lynette’s thoughts on where we are with the failing dollar
08:45 Gold’s history and future as money
18:00 America’s stance on gold
24:00 Wealth preservation
31:00 People are waking up, especially the young
36:30 US states legalising sound money
54:30 The supply shock from Covid shutdowns
58:00 On Bitcoin

[JD400]

Whistlin Past The $MUX Geopolitical Graveyard

Milei's economic reforms stall in Argentina Congress
Argentine President Javier Milei was dealt a major setback in parliament Tuesday (February 6) when his deeply controversial deregulatory reform package was prevented from advancing and sent back for a rewrite, legislators said.

Latest $MUX Stock Update

McEwen drills 121.5 g/t over 0.4 metre at Stock gold mine

Staff Writer | February 28, 2024 | 8:04 am Exploration Canada Gold

The Stock East zone could be an early source of more ore for the Fox complex. Credit: McEwen Mining
McEwen Mining (TSX: MUX; NYSE: MUX) says gold resources are up 31% year-over-year at both the Stock West and Stock Main zones. The past-producing Stock mine is part of the company’s Fox complex near Timmins, Ontario.

The mineralization has been traced at depth. Geological interpretation suggests that there are two principal plunging structures, and drilling along these structures accounts to about half the 31% increases in resources. Both structures remain highly prospective for additional growth, said McEwen.

The Stock East zone is also emerging as a potential new source of near-term production. Here are the true width highlights of the recent assays:

Hole SEZ24-86: 121.5 g/t gold over 0.4 metre
Hole SEZ24-84: 6.5 g/t gold over 10.2 metres
Hole SEZ24-88: 4.5 g/t gold over 10.4 metres
Infill drilling at the Stock East zone has intersected mineable widths and grades. Drilling has also identified two plunge directions at Stock East.

McEwen says the location of the Stock East zone is strategic for several reasons. It lies close to the splay point of the Nighthawk Lake fault, and such splays are known to be good traps for gold mineralization. It is located only 700 metres east of the existing Fox mill, and because it is shallow it could be quickly and relatively inexpensive to develop.

The current drill program aims to upgrade most of the inferred mineralization to the indicated category and target the high-grade sections of the zone.

McEwen Mining produced 128,650 oz. of gold and 2.2 million oz. of silver in 2023, or 154,600 gold-equivalent ounces. The Fox complex was responsible for producing 44,450 gold-equivalent oz. or roughly 29% of the output.
https://www.mining.com/mcewen-drills-121-5-g-t-over-0-4-metre-at-stock-gold-mine/


Javier Milei to take on Argentina’s Economic Crisis

February 7, 2024 MJEInternational Economics
Written by Gabi Breuer

In late October, Argentina held presidential elections, crucial in determining how the country would handle its economic turmoil. Since the nineties, Argentina has struggled with such hardships: having substantial debts, falling into deep recession periods, and facing extraordinary inflation. This most recent election was critical to ensure Argentinians were put on the proper path to fix decades of poor economic decisions.

On November 19th, Argentina’s run-off election day, Javier Milei faced Sergio Massa after neither candidate received the necessary votes to win the first round. Milei won with 56% of the votes primarily due to his radical economic plan, which gave many Argentinians hope (Eliott, 2023). Even with the majority vote, people were anxious about the immediate ramifications their newly elected president would have on the peso. As of October 2023, inflation reached a 143% high, resulting in four in ten people living in poverty and the nation heading towards its sixth recession in a decade (Gillespie, 2023).

The morning after the election, Argentinians were most concerned with the “blue dollar” value. The blue dollar is a parallel rate to the dollar commonly used in backroom financial houses. Although the blue dollar is an unofficial exchange rate, news sites track the exchange in real-time due to its popularity. Starting his presidency with the blue dollar’s value increasing by 13%, Milei’s time in office began on a celebratory note (Biller, Politi, 2023). Compared to the bank-set price of 356 pesos to the dollar, the blue dollar exchange is almost triple that. The rate increase was an immediate positive sign for the newly elected president and possibly a beacon of hope that his economic plan could lead the country out of a recession.

Milei’s campaign was built upon perhaps the boldest plan any candidate has proposed in some time. The “Hail Mary” looks to dismantle the Argentine peso entirely and put into effect the US Dollar as the national currency. By dollarizing the economy, the national bank would set an exchange rate and buy back pesos.

Although the idea may seem far-fetched, it has been successfully implemented in Ecuador and Panama. It is important to highlight that both these countries have significantly smaller economies, whereas Argentina remains the third-largest economy in Latin America despite its economic difficulties (Gura, Martin, 2023). Argentina’s size will play a major part in the outcome of Milei’s plan as it faces the tedious process of buying back pesos from its 45 million citizens.

In addition to the nation’s size, Argentina faces a more significant problem. Likely, they do not have enough dollars to replace the peso, at least without causing an expansive currency shortage. Currently, the country owes the International Monetary Fund $44 billion and has $7.5 billion less than that in its reserves (Gura, Martin, 2023). It is improbable Argentina can find the funds to properly buy back all its pesos.

Even if the government did have the funds, Milei would need to convince over 45 million people to exchange their money in large quantities. This alone is an immense obstacle to face. With this being said, the Argentinian people feel a sense of safety with the US dollar, which could help ease the transition. Seeing that the peso loses value rapidly, Argentinians prefer to save money in American cash because of its reliability. As a result, 10% of all globally circulating US dollars are held in Argentina (Nica et al., 2023). This sense of safety helped Milei’s plan appeal to many and gain him their vote.

If Milei successfully dolarizes the economy, Argentina will lose autonomy over its currency and will depend entirely on the US for monetary policy. The US Federal Reserve would continue to make decisions based on what benefits the American economy, regardless of the impact on Argentina. Argentina would also lose its power to print money, an act done repeatedly over the last few decades in hopes of solving its crisis (Velde, Veracierto, 2023). Ultimately, money would be printed in the US.

Roughly two weeks after his election, Milei took the first step towards a new page in Argentine economics. The president appointed Luis Caputo as his economic minister. Caputo formerly served as the country’s finance minister and is known for his connections with Wall Street. Milei’s decision to appoint Caputo is a relatively calm choice compared to his alternatives. Previously, Milei had mentioned naming Emilio Ocampo, a strong supporter of dollarisation, but Ocampo backed out of the role (Nugent, 2023). Caputo’s appointment has many believing Milei will put aside his dollarization plan and focus on other issues first, like putting an immediate halt on printing excess money.

It is difficult to tell precisely what direction Milei will take in his first months as president, but it is clear that whatever decides, his attack must be aggressive. Javier Milei is set to take office officially on December 10th.

Works Cited

Biller, David, and Daniel Politi. “After the Dollar-Loving Milei Wins the Presidency, Argentines Anxiously Watch the Exchange Rate.” AP News, November 21, 2023. https://apnews.com/article/milei-argentina-dollar-peso-exchange-bb61f9e9a6108ba0ced63f89b2cfd431.

“Dollarization in Argentina.” Federal Reserve Cank of Chicago, 1999. https://www.chicagofed.org/publications/chicago-fed-letter/1999/june-142.

Elliott, Larry. “Would Javier Milei’s Dollar Plan for Argentina Be an Economic Experiment Too Far?” The Guardian, November 20, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/20/javier-milei-dollar-plan-argentina-economy.

Gillespie, Patrick. “Argentina Inflation Hits 143% in Final Release before Presidential Election.” Bloomberg.com, November 13, 2023. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-13/argentina-s-inflation-hits-143-in-final-release-before-election?embedded-checkout=true.

Martin, Michel, and David Gura. “Argentina’s President-Elect Javier Milei Has a Plan to Fight Inflation: Dollarization.” NPR, November 22, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/11/22/1214619380/argentinas-president-elect-javier-mile-has-a-plan-to-fight-inflation-dollarizati.

Nicas, Jack, Natalie Alcoba, and Lucía Cholakian Herrera. “In Country Where Houses Are Bought in $100 Bills, Plans for Sweeping Change.” The New York Times, November 24, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/24/world/americas/argentina-economy-peso-dollar-javier-milei.html#:~:text=As%20a%20result%2C%20about%2010,to%20%243%2C100%20for%20every%20American.

Nugent, Ciara. Argentina’s Javier Milei names moderate ex-trader as economy minister, November 29, 2023. https://www.ft.com/content/330bd3fb-b418-458f-9b2b-31718b52f935.
https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mje/2024/02/07/javier-milei-to-take-on-argentinas-economic-crisis/
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with Mining & Metals GraveYard Shift Soundtrack

Tom Waits - Whistlin´ Past The Graveyard

Well I come in on a night train
With an arm full of box cars
On the wings of a magpie
Cross a hooligan night
And I busted up a chifforobe
Way out by the Cocomo
Cooked up a mess a mulligan
And got into a fight

Whistlin past the graveyard
Steppin' on a crack
I'm a mean Mother Hubbard
Papa one eyed jack

You probably seen me sleepin'
Out by the railroad tracks
Go on and ask the prince of darkness
What about all that smoke
Come from the stack
Sometimes I kill myself a jacket
Suck out all the blood
Steal myself a station wagon
Drivin' through the mud

Whistlin past the graveyard
Steppin' on a crack
I'm a mean Mother Hubbard
Papa one eyed jack

I know you seen my headlights
And the honkin' of my horn
I'm callin' out my bloodhounds
Chase the devil through the corn
Last night I chugged the Mississippi
Now that suckers dry as a bone
Born in a taxi cab
I'm never comin' home

Whistlin past the graveyard
Steppin' on a crack
I'm a mean Mother Hubbard
Papa one eyed jack

My eyes have seen the glory
Of the draining of the ditch
I only come to baton rouge
To find myself a witch
I'm-ona snatch me up a
Couple of em every time it rains
You see a locomotive
Probably thinkin' its a train

Whistlin past the graveyard
Steppin' on a crack
I'm a mean Mother Hubbard
Papa one eyed jack

What you think is the sunshine
Is just a twinkle in my eye
That ring around my fingers
Just the fourth of July
When I get a little bit lonesome
And a tear falls from my cheek
There's gonna be an ocean in
The middle of the week

Whistlin past the graveyard
Steppin' on a crack
I'm a mean Mother Hubbard
Papa one eyed jack

I rode into town on a night train
With an arm full of box cars
On the wings of a magpie
Cross a hooligan night
I'm-ona tear me off a rainbow
And wear it for a tie
I never told the truth
So I can never tell a lie

Whistlin past the graveyard
Steppin' on a crack
I'm a mean Mother Hubbard
Papa one eyed jack

,,,,,,,,,

[JD400]

Nickel faces existential moment with half of mines unprofitable
Bloomberg News | February 26, 2024 | 7:01 am Battery Metals Intelligence Top Companies Asia Australia Nickel
with MMGYS Soundtrack

A nickel briquette. Image from Sherritt International
Many of the world’s biggest nickel mines are facing an increasingly bleak future as they wake up to an existential threat: a near limitless supply of low-cost metal from Indonesia.


With roughly half of all nickel operations unprofitable at recent prices, the bosses of the largest mining companies last week sounded a warning that there was little prospect of a recovery.

The potential collapse of nickel mining from Australia to New Caledonia comes at a time when western governments are scrambling to secure the supply chains needed to decarbonize the global economy. But in an ironic twist, Indonesia’s coal-fired nickel output is pricing out greener metal that’s so far failed to command a market premium.

Wresting control of strategic metals from China has become a focal point of Joe Biden’s administration. Yet while US officials have dashed around the world looking to strike deals for materials such as cobalt and copper, the heaviest reverse has come in Chinese-backed Indonesian nickel, a key component of electric vehicles.

Indonesia now accounts for more than half of world supply, with the potential to reach three-quarters of all production toward the end of the decade.

“There is a serious structural challenge as a result of Indonesian nickel,” said Duncan Wanblad, chief executive officer of Anglo American Plc, after his company took a $500 million writedown on its nickel business last week. “They don’t seem to be letting up anytime soon.”

Traditionally, nickel has been split into two categories: low grade for making stainless steel and high grade for batteries. A huge Indonesian expansion of low-grade production led to a surplus, and, crucially, processing innovations have allowed that glut to be refined into a high-quality product.

Commodity markets have always been susceptible to cyclical volatility, especially when sudden supply and demand imbalances get a push from wider macro upswings or downturns. But what’s happening in nickel right now is different, with the entire industry undergoing a structural shift that has upended forecasts and models.

For BHP Group, the world’s biggest miner, nickel is a rounding error, contributing mostly losses to profits that routinely break $30 billion a year. Yet in recent years the company has championed the metal, seeing it as a key growth market that will help offset its retreat from fossil fuels.

Instead it’s turned into a disaster.

This week CEO Mike Henry conceded that the company will have to make a decision on whether to shutter its flagship nickel business in Australia within the next few months. Having already written down the business’s value by $2.5 billion, Henry said he expects the market to remain in surplus until at least 2030.

That means the pain is likely just starting.


Macquarie Group Ltd. calculates that about 250,000 tons of annual production — equivalent to about 7% of the total — has been taken out of the market by closures, with another 190,000 of planned output delayed.

Combined with economic slowdowns in China and the US and the choppy adoption of EVs, nickel has been pummeled. The price fell 45% last year, and is currently hovering around $17,000 a ton. According to Macquarie, at $18,000 a ton 35% of production is unprofitable, while at $15,000 a ton that jumps to 75%.

Anglo’s CEO Wanblad, who is reviewing nearly all the company’s mines in bid to cut costs, said that he will give the miner’s nickel business time in the face of the Indonesian threat.

“Our nickel business will undergo a fulsome review in terms of holding its head above water and making a viable profit,” he said. “I’m not giving up on the guys to come up with a plan that might help them readjust themselves into a position where they can function effectively.”

Glencore Plc, which has already moved to shutter its nickel operations on the islands of New Caledonia, is one of the world’s biggest producers with sprawling businesses in Canada and Australia. At current prices, that business will make just $500 million this year, with CEO Gary Nagle expecting prices to remain depressed.

“We see continuing strong production growth out of Indonesia,” Nagle said. “We do not expect significant price recovery in the short to medium term.”

With more than half a decade of oversupply ahead, more mines are likely to close before things get better. Should the market finally rebalance, that will leave Indonesia and China with even more market share then they already have.

Still, Indonesia’s rapid expansion has drawn criticism. Much of its production comes from coal-powered energy, giving it higher emissions per ton than rival producers, and its rapid expansion is eroding rainforests.

With little prospect of a near term recovery, western miners are pinning their hopes on state aid in the short term and a push toward customers — such as carmakers — demanding “greener” nickel in the future and being willing to pay more for it.

BHP this week called for the London Metal Exchange to expand its responsible sourcing policy to include environmental due diligence, helping to differentiate production from Indonesian and Chinese supply.

Still, as conceded by Glencore, so far buyers of nickel are unwilling to pay more.

“Right now there is not much of a premium in the market,” Nagle said.

(By Thomas Biesheuvel)
https://www.mining.com/web/nickel-faces-existential-moment-with-half-of-mines-unprofitable/

Waylon Jennings Old Five and Dimers

[JD400]

Elliott Management plans to spend over $1 billion on mining assets
Reuters | February 23, 2024 | 7:55 am Battery Metals Intelligence Markets USA
with MMGYS Soundtrack

US activist investor Elliott Investment Management is setting up a company to hunt for mining assets worth more than $1 billion, according to sources familiar with the matter.


Elliott’s new venture, called Hyperion, would have a mandate to buy across all assets, including base and precious metals and commodities used in electric vehicles, the sources said on condition of anonymity. The new venture will be led by former Newcrest Mining CEO Sandeep Biswas, they added.

The Financial Times first reported the news.

The mining industry is a key focus for policymakers and investors globally because it provides the critical raw materials needed for electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure.

By 2035, demand for lithium, nickel and cobalt is expected to be 23 times higher than in 2021, with copper demand doubling over the same period, a study by US ratings agency S&P showed last August.

Elliott is willing to leverage the $65 billion that it has under management to go after larger deals if the opportunity arises or bring in co-investors, according to the sources.

The investment management firm did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

(By Kanjyik Ghosh and Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Paul Simao)

https://www.mining.com/web/elliott-management-plans-to-spend-over-1-billion-on-mining-assets-ft-reports/

Tribute to Randy Meisner - Take It to the Limit (Live 1977 with lyrics)

[JD400]

40 Million ounces of COMEX gold vaporised! - LFTV Ep 161

Kinesis Money
41.9K subscribers

Feb 23, 2024
In this week’s episode of Live from the Vault, Andrew Maguire tackles a burning question from a US-based bullion dealer: is it possible that the Federal Reserve could try and confiscate your hard-earned gold savings?

The precious metals expert provides an update on the effects of Bitcoin ETFs on the gold price and comments on the strong geopolitically-driven demand for precious metals. Finally, Andrew shares some very good news for Silver Stackers.

Ask your questions for Andy here: https://forum.kinesis.money/forums/qu...

Timestamps
00:00 Start
01:53 Is there a chance the Fed will confiscate your gold?
13:45 Updates from liquidity providers: Bitcoin & gold
20:30 COMEX formed 50 years ago, Fed intervention in gold started…50 years ago
31:11 Rising tensions in the Middle East & China’s holiday season impact
33:33 Big move coming for silver?

[JJ24]

$EULIF merger with $SZZL spac approved . Critical Metals Group is born !$CRML!

[JD400]

*****7 Days 11 Hours Transition Marker*****

Will the government shut down next week end the miners transitory sell off

Might be the pivot

[JD400]

Counting The Numbers Down The Waterline MUX

$MUX Jump Financial LLC Sells 21,877 Shares of McEwen Mining Inc (NYSE:MUX)
Posted by AM Reporter Staff on Feb 17th, 2024
with MMGYS Soundtrack

Jump Financial LLC lessened its holdings in shares of McEwen Mining Inc (NYSE:MUX – Free Report) (TSE:MUX) by 42.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,243 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 21,877 shares during the quarter. Jump Financial LLC owned approximately 0.06% of McEwen Mining worth $190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MUX. UBS Group AG increased its position in McEwen Mining by 37.3% during the second quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 83,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 22,541 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of McEwen Mining by 968.2% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,950 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 5,393 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. acquired a new position in shares of McEwen Mining in the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of McEwen Mining by 47.1% in the second quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 121,791 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 38,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of McEwen Mining by 221.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,544 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 5,197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.63% of the company’s stock.

other news

Feb 15, 2024 #Copper #Gold #Investing

Rob McEwen of McEwen Mining and Michael Meding of McEwen Copper discuss their respective companies and share their thoughts on gold and copper in the year ahead. For McEwen, the price trajectory for both metals is "higher."

He also spoke about the disconnect between the gold price and gold stocks, commenting, "I find this is time to be buying, and I have been buying juniors and adding to positions in companies. You just need to bear in mind it's cyclical, and when it wants to run there are some very attractive gains to be made — and the stocks are cheap right now."

This interview was filmed on February 8, 2024.

#Investing #Gold #Copper

0:00 - Intro
0:32 - Gold's main price drivers in 2024
2:33 - Gold juniors are cheap and set to run
4:07 - Javier Milei and Argentina mining
8:26 - Raising $100 million for Los Azules
11:08 - Will McEwen Copper do an IPO?
13:08 - Copper outlook, 2024 and beyond
16:43 - McEwen Mining meets guidance
20:26 - Now is the time to be contrarian
21:29 - Outro

[Pro-Life]

$Silver refuses to collapse.... last 3 days... outstanding.

[JD400]

Rough Seas Ahead, Mateys
with MMGYS Soundtrack

"I cannot imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder. I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that."

Captain Edward John Smith, RMS Titanic

"It is not possible to found a lasting power upon injustice, perjury, and treachery. These may, perhaps, succeed at first, and limp along on hope for awhile with a flourishing appearance. But time betrays their weakness, and they eventually fall into ruin of their own designs."

Demosthenes

"Monetary and regulatory policy encourage asset bubbles to proliferate. Hot money seeks out the conscious mispricing of risk. Capital, in the form of both money and personal talent, increasingly flows into malinvestment and the gaming of markets. The productive economy languishes, left wanting for the lack of creative resources and attention. The bubble rises to unsustainable valuations— and fails, and a nation's capital is consumed."

Jesse 5 August 2019, The Men Who Sold the World

“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you may be certain that her desolation is near. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are within the city must escape from its boundaries, and those who are in country areas must not return. For those will be days of retribution when all that is written will come to pass."

Luke 21:21-22

"Everyone knows that plagues have a way of recurring throughout history, yet somehow we find it hard to believe in the ones that crash down on us out of the sky. There have always been plagues and wars, yet they always take us by surprise. When war breaks out people say it's stupid and won't last long. Stupidity has a knack of getting in the way, which we would see if not wrapped up in ourselves. In this our townsfolk were like everybody else— they did not believe in plagues."

Albert Camus, The Plague


Stocks went out near the lows.

The Dollar was flat.

VIX is on a coffee break.

Gold and silver rallied. Silver is feisty.

PPI came in hot today but stocks failed to rally with the good 'bad news.'

Markets closed on Monday for President's Day.

Why so serious?

Have a pleasant weekend.
https://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/

[JD400]

Quality Projects Are Being Financed and Starting to Bifurcate” says Pro Mining Investor David Erfle

[JD400]

*****5 Week Miners Transient Marker*******

Welcome to the M+M board

This is the 5th week straight of record stock markets highs
with lethargic mining lows.

The transient nature seems catering for the big money players and mining CEOs seem hog tied to their banks.

Hopefully this miners cold spell will be over soon.

In the mean time feel free to enjoy the board and say Hi ☺️

Here"s today market movers

MARKET MOVERS
COMPANY +CHANGE% LAST TRADE

Royal Gold +0.94 0.88% $107.30
Sigma Lithium 0.76 5.46 $14.69
Piedmont Lithium 0.47 3.57 $13.64
Filo 0.36 1.83 $20.00
Minas Buenaventura 0.32 2.13 $15.33
Torex Gold Resources 0.32 2.47 $13.28
Centerra Gold 0.31 5.05 $6.45
Lithium Americas 0.28 4.96 $5.92
Lundin Gold 0.28 1.94 $14.74
Patriot Battery Metals 0.25 3.83 $6.78
NGEx Minerals 0.25 3.36 $7.70
Contango ORE 0.24 1.60 $15.25
Metalore Resources 0.24 8.89 $2.94
MAG Silver 0.21 1.86 $11.51
Atlas Lithium 0.21 1.12 $19.00

HIGH VOLUME
COMPANY VOLUME LAST TRADE

Uranium Energy 3,940,487 $7.69
Rusoro Mining 3,875,769 $1.13
SSR Mining 2,886,138 $5.89
Purepoint Uranium 2,033,862 $0.05
Argonaut Gold 1,973,296 $0.36
Stallion Uranium 1,844,204 $0.17
New Gold 1,784,193 $1.57
B2Gold 1,432,435 $3.33
Brigadier Gold 1,393,700 $0.01
NiCAN 1,249,000 $0.11
Gold’n Futures 1,245,000 $0.02
Calibre Mining 1,211,428 $1.39
Hudbay Minerals 1,019,888 $7.03
First Quantum Minerals 994,728 $11.59

[JD400]

$CNLMF Collective Mining Reports a New Porphyry Discovery Named Olympus Deeps by Drilling 202.35 Metres @ 2.16 g/t AuEq; Also Expands Apollo with 548.9m @ 1.91 g/t AuEq.

Jan 30, 2024

Website
https://www.collectivemining.com/

Mine next door has discovered 9 Million gold ounces

[JD400]

Board Views Best On Iphone ~

[JD400]

$AA Alcoa Overview
Alcoa $AA CEO On 4Q Earnings & Alumina Shipments

Jan 18, 2024 #alcoa #markets #global
Alcoa (AA) is the world’s eighth-largest producer of aluminum. President and CEO Bill Oplinger joins Oliver Renick to give an overview of the company. He talks about Alcoa’s 4Q earnings. Its adjusted EPS came in at -$0.56 versus an estimated -$0.99 and revenue came in at $2.60B versus an estimated $2.61B. He goes over the outlook for the company as its alumina shipments came in at 12.7M -12.9M metric tons. Tune in to find out more about the stock market today.

[JD400]

$X U. S. Steel Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Financial Results

Feb 2, 2024

[JD400]

Choosing Mining Stocks Through The Eyes Of The Beerholder

MARKET MOVERS

COMPANY CHANGE LAST TRADE

MP Materials +1.03 6.37% $17.19
McEwen Mining 0.62 6.65 $9.95
Gatos Silver 0.31 3.52 $9.12
Wesdome Gold Mines 0.28 3.29 $8.78
U.S. GoldMining 0.19 3.15 $6.23
Standard Lithium 0.15 8.67 $1.88
Orla Mining 0.13 2.77 $4.82
Element79 Gold 0.12 52.17 $0.35
Premium Nickel Resources 0.12 8.70 $1.50
Gold Reserve 0.10 2.36 $4.33
Marimaca Copper 0.08 2.44 $3.36
West Vault Mining 0.08 9.76 $0.90
NOA Lithium Brines 0.08 26.32 $0.36
Gabriel Resources 0.06 11.76 $0.57
Lumina Gold 0.06 12.77 $0.53

HIGH VOLUME

COMPANY VOLUME LAST TRADE

Uranium Energy 6,820,019 $8.15
NiCAN 5,453,385 $0.15
Capstone Copper 5,400,802 $6.51
B2Gold 5,025,667 $3.71
Libero Copper & Gold 4,718,260 $0.04
Sigma Lithium 4,208,041 $16.85
Fission Uranium 3,310,214 $1.30
Kinross Gold 2,325,193 $7.40
First Quantum Minerals 2,203,855 $12.40
Lundin Mining 2,035,408 $11.10
Sulliden Mining 2,006,600 $0.03
Calibre Mining 1,941,171 $1.41
Anfield Energy 1,685,915 $0.10
NexGen Energy 1,651,802 $10.91
Denison Mines 1,648,423 $2.84

[JD400]

BRICS nations to drag US back into the gold standard? Feat. Ron Branstetter - LFTV Ep 158

Kinesis Money

Feb 2, 2024
In this week’s episode of Live from the Vault, Andrew Maguire is joined - a popular request - by Ron Branstetter of Ron’s Basement to discuss the accelerating pace of change that silver stackers should experience in the months to come.

The precious metals experts take listeners through the implications of recent manoeuvres of the Global South, questioning whether international conflict can be avoided through leveraging a global gold and silver reevaluation.

Timestamps:
00:00 Start
03:00 Ron’s thoughts on the price of silver right now
06:30 Momentum traders willing to pay over the odds
12:45 China going directly to miners to buy gold and silver - bypassing the COMEX & LBMA
17:40 Under-investment in the silver mining industry
19:30 Dedollarisation process coming to a head and triggering the gold reevaluation
29:45 EU central bank gold ownership relative to GDP; are they preparing for something?
38:00 The opportunity for US citizens to reclaim the right to sound money
41:30 Could BRICS nations drag the US back into the gold standard?

[JD400]

Copper Crunch Ended in 2022 when Musk announced by raising the voltage from 12 volt to 48 volts will eliminate copper supply crunch.

All the auto manufactures will follow the savings

Copper gained only 2% last year, following a 14% decline in 2022. So far this year, the base metal’s price is little changed, with a metric ton of copper costing around $8,600, according to prices on the London Metal Exchange.

For more than seven decades, the 12-volt automobile power system has been the dominant force in the industry. However, 48-volt alternatives have started to break through this stronghold. The versions with a larger power output have a number of benefits, one of which is the capability to provide significantly higher levels of power across wiring harnesses that are thinner, lighter, and more affordable. Due to the fact that these systems do not have to satisfy the more strict safety and performance standards that govern so-called high-voltage systems that are rated for more than 62 V, the implementation of such systems is also relatively inexpensively done.

now back to the bullshirt

Hedge funds ramp up copper bets as supply shocks reverberate
https://www.mining.com/web/hedge-funds-ramp-up-copper-bets-as-supply-shocks-reverberate/

[JD400]

$HL 1984 $21--2024 $4~

[JJ24]

$EULIF major catalyst on the way with $750 million merger vote scheduled for the 31st of this month.

[JD400]

Mines and Money Miami in conversation with Rick Rule

Mines and Money Jan 22, 2024
Visit https://minesandmoney.com/miami

Mines and Money Miami takes place at the James L. Knight Center, and in the run-up to the event, the Head of Investor Content, Jonathan Leader, spoke to the Advisory Board Chair, Rick Rule, Chief Executive Officer of Rule Investment Media about how he identifies winners in the junior mining space.

Key takeaways include:
• hone in on the projects most likely to succeed
• identify the highest-performing mining corporate senior management teams, and the commonalities that set them apart from the crowd
• steer clear of the red flags when building your junior mining portfolio - pro tip: don't focus too hard on commodity!

[JD400]

Aluminum price jumps after report EU may sanction Russian metal

Bloomberg News | January 23, 2024 | 3:14 pm Intelligence Markets Europe Russia and Central Asia Aluminum

Aluminium


Prices rose as much as 3.6% on the London Metal Exchange as the report raised fresh concerns about the flow of Russian metal into western markets, and US and European aluminum stocks jumped.


However, while some EU member states are pushing for aluminum sanctions as the bloc shapes plans for a 13th package, the idea remains controversial in several capitals, people familiar with the discussions told Bloomberg. Any sanctions would require unanimous support of the EU’s 27 members.


Russian metals had escaped broad sanctions until December, when the UK moved to block British individuals and entities from trading physical Russian metals, including aluminum, copper and nickel. At the time, the UK hinted at the possibility of coordinated action with international partners in a statement announcing the sanctions.

Politico reported on Tuesday that EU countries will soon start discussing measures that could lead to a full ban on Russian aluminum, citing EU diplomats.

The LME said after the UK measures that its members and clients had been granted a license allowing the continued trade of Russian metals on the exchange, and it expected that the sanctions wouldn’t impact trading access to the LME. Still, the rules potentially may prevent UK persons from withdrawing Russian metal they buy on the exchange.

The LME said earlier this month it was “actively monitoring for market orderliness” after a flood of Russian aluminum onto the exchange in the wake of UK sanctions.

Aluminum rose 3.2% on Tuesday, the biggest daily increase in a month. Alcoa Corp., the largest US aluminum producer, jumped as much as 10% before paring gains. Other metals were also higher, with zinc climbing 2.6% and copper up 0.7%.

(By Mark Burton)
https://www.mining.com/web/aluminum-price-jumps-after-report-eu-may-sanction-russian-metal/

Foil "Weird Al "

[JD400]

Choosing Mining Stocks Through The Eyes Of A Beer-Holder

MARKET MOVERS
COMPANY CHANGE LAST TRADE
Royal Gold 0.58 0.50 $116.34
Freeport-McMoRan 0.56 1.47 $38.77
Minas Buenaventura 0.46 3.19 $14.89
NGEx Minerals 0.41 5.43 $7.96
Lundin Mining 0.28 2.82 $10.20
Aya Gold & Silver 0.18 1.78 $10.27
Ero Copper 0.18 0.89 $20.48
Li-FT Power 0.18 2.99 $6.21
Gold Fields 0.17 1.36 $12.66
Graphite One 0.15 17.05 $1.03
Ivanhoe Mines 0.14 1.06 $13.29
Callinex Mines 0.12 7.84 $1.65
Filo 0.11 0.52 $21.38
Perpetua Resources 0.10 2.49 $4.11
Victoria Gold 0.10 1.57 $6.48

HIGH VOLUME
COMPANY VOLUME LAST TRADE
Uranium Energy 8,091,601 $7.74
Libero Copper & Gold 6,847,460 $0.02
Kinross Gold 4,595,207 $7.26
Origen Resources 3,723,900 $0.03
F3 Uranium 3,578,579 $0.45
Blackwolf Copper and Gold 3,423,875 $0.14
First Quantum Minerals 3,224,579 $12.55
Lithium Ionic 3,163,151 $1.08
Sienna Resources 2,716,888 $0.05
B2Gold 2,114,554 $3.90
Lundin Mining 1,968,708 $10.20
GoviEx Uranium 1,949,651 $0.20
Rusoro Mining 1,921,454 $0.89
NexGen Energy 1,807,748 $10.21

[JD400]

Volatility isn’t in gold or oil, it’s in the dollar!" Feat. Alasdair Macleod - LFTV Ep 156

Kinesis Money

Jan 19, 2024
In this week’s episode of Live from the Vault, Andrew Maguire is joined by Alasdair Macleod, stockbroker and Head of Research for Goldmoney, to exchange views on the US dollar hegemony and its impact on the price of gold.

Giving an update on the de-dollarisation process and the geopolitical impact of tensions in the Middle East affecting the global economy, the precious metals experts take us through the debt trap the US has fallen into.

Follow Alasdair here: https://alasdairmacleod.substack.com/

Ask your questions for Andy here: https://forum.kinesis.money/threads/q...

Timestamps:
00:00 Start
03:45 Is gold money and everything else credit?
07:30 Is the US government in a debt trap?
17:00 Why the US has to pivot on interest rates
28:30 Updates on the de-dollarisation process
42:20 Credit is losing its purchasing power, and everything is credit
47:40 Alasdair’s Substack has free and paid versions
50:00 Alasdair’s thoughts on Silver

[JD400]

$X United Steelworkers union files grievances against U.S. Steel over proposed Nippon sale
with MMGYS Soundtrack Continuing Coverage

90.5 WESA | By Cindi Lash
Published January 13, 2024 at 11:24 AM EST


U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock, Pa., on Dec. 18, 2023, the day the storied American company announced plans to be acquired by Japan-based Nippon Steel.
The United Steelworkers union has filed grievances against U.S. Steel, alleging the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker violated its contracts with the union when it entered an agreement in December to be acquired by Nippon Steel Corporation.

The international union and union locals in Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota filed the grievances, alleging U.S. Steel violated the successorship clause in its basic labor agreements with the USW when it entered the $14.9 billion deal on Dec. 18 with a Houston-based North American holding company of the Japanese steel conglomerate.

U.S. Steel violated the contracts "in a number of ways," the USW said in a statement to its members issued late Friday.

Also in its statement, the USW questioned whether Nippon Steel North America has the resources to adhere to and fulfill the terms of the union's four-year contract with U.S. Steel, which would remain in effect after a sale.

"These rights are enforceable guarantees that a company seeking to buy our facilities cannot shirk its responsibilities to workers and retirees," the USW said.

The USW said in its statement U.S. Steel entered the sale agreement without reaching out to the union, and the company did not share information about Nippon's finances or ability to fulfill U.S. Steel's existing labor, pension, retiree and other agreements with the USW.

"... We did not agree to this arrangement, nor do we have any information about the financial wherewithal of this holding company to actually stand behind all of the obligations of our existing agreements," the USW said in its statement.

"Commitments like pensions, profit-sharing, capital expenditures, retiree health care and more are all part of the compensation we negotiated in bargaining our contract. Anyone who wants to acquire our facilities must have both the intent and the financial capacity to honor them."

In a statement Saturday, U.S. Steel said it "complied with its obligations under the Basic Labor Agreements, and [it] expect[s] to work through and favorably resolve any grievances filed by the USW as quickly as possible.

"Our USW-represented employees are an integral part of our operations, and we will continue to work collaboratively with the USW and support our employees," the company said in its statement.

When U.S. Steel announced the sale agreement on Dec. 18, it said "all of [its] commitments with its employees," including existing collective bargaining agreements with unions, would be honored and Nippon Steel was "committed to maintaining these relationships uninterrupted." The company also said it would "retain its iconic name and headquarters in Pittsburgh."

Under the sale agreement, Nippon Steel will pay $55 per share for U.S. Steel. Nippon Steel said the deal will bolster its manufacturing and technology capabilities, expand its U.S. production and add to its positions in Japan, India and Southeast Asia.

The agreement came after U.S. Steel in August rejected a $7.3 billion buyout offer from Ohio-based Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and said it was reviewing “strategic alternatives” after receiving several unsolicited offers.

The acquisition has been approved by the boards of both companies and is targeted to close in the second or third quarter of 2024. It still needs approval from U.S. Steel shareholders.

The deal has attracted scrutiny and opposition from regional and national government leaders and lawmakers, including Pennsylvania U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Bob Casey, both of whom said the company should remain under U.S. ownership. Environmental advocates, who have long targeted U.S. Steel's plants in Western Pennsylvania as a source of particulate matter pollution, also have expressed both concern and optimism about the potential effect of the sale on efforts to mitigate emissions and the environmental impact of the plants.

In December, officials from President Joe Biden's administration said he “believes the purchase of this iconic American-owned company by a foreign entity — even one from a close ally — appears to deserve serious scrutiny in terms of its potential impact on national security and supply chain reliability.”

Lael Brainard, the director of the National Economic Council, indicated then the deal would be reviewed by the secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, in which she participates. It includes economic and national security agency representatives to investigate national security risks from foreign investments in American firms.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://www.wesa.fm/economy-business/2024-01-13/united-steelworkers-union-grievances-u-s-steel-nippon-sale

[JD400]

Nuclear Energy Stocks Are Surging While the Market Is Floundering
with MMGYS Soundtrack

Clearly, the Nuclear Energy Renaissance has arrived

8h ago · By Luke Lango, InvestorPlace Senior Investment Analyst

While the S&P 500 has dropped in January, the Global X Uranium ETF (URA) is up more than 10%. The Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (URNM) is up more than 15%. And U.S.-based uranium miner Uranium Energy (UEC) is already up 25% year-to-date.
Engineering and efficiency improvements to nuclear reactors have all but made safety concerns obsolete. Reactors have become increasingly good at containing radioactive waste. And now nuclear energy is basically the safest form of energy production in the world.
For the past several months, we’ve been studying the nuclear energy industry. And we’ve identified two very promising investment opportunities therein: domestic uranium miners and nuclear fusion developers.

The stock market is off to a rough start to 2024. But someone forgot to give that memo to the red-hot nuclear energy sector.

While the S&P 500 has dropped in January, the Global X Uranium ETF (URA) is up more than 10%. The Sprott Uranium Miners ETF (URNM) is up more than 15%. And U.S.-based uranium miner Uranium Energy (UEC) is already up 25% year-to-date.



n other words, the bull market in stocks has stalled in January. But the bull market in uranium stocks has not wavered – and it won’t anytime soon.

That’s because uranium is the core ingredient in nuclear reactors. And nuclear energy is undergoing a renaissance right now.

Of course, nuclear energy has had its setbacks over the past 50 years. But it has become increasingly clear that it is the ‘Pareto-optimal’ solution to the world’s energy crisis.

Obviously, the world needs more energy. But fossil fuels aren’t cutting it amid the global shift toward clean energy. And renewables like solar and wind are exceptionally expensive and unreliable, especially now, when the world is trying to avoid higher costs and power outages.

But nuclear energy solves all those shortcomings.

Unlike fossil fuels, nuclear reactors do not produce any direct carbon dioxide emissions or air pollution. And unlike renewables, nuclear energy is abundant and cheap. Plus, it can be produced at all times of day and in all weather conditions.

Nuclear Energy: The Ultimate Power Source?

For a long time, folks were fearful of nuclear reactors’ potential threats to safety. Considering the disasters of Chernobyl and Fukushima, that’s entirely understandable. But those concerns have proven antiquated in recent years. In fact, these days, you’d be hard-pressed to find any serious scientist questioning the safety of nuclear energy.

Specifically, engineering and efficiency improvements to nuclear reactors have all but made safety concerns obsolete. Reactors have become increasingly good at containing radioactive waste. And now nuclear energy is basically the safest form of energy production in the world.

For example, for every terawatt-hour of coal electricity produced, about 26 people die from accidents and air pollution. For oil, that figure stands at 18 deaths per terawatt-hour of electricity produced.

But for nuclear power plants, just 0.03 people die from related accidents and air pollution.



What’s not to like about nuclear these days?

Not much – which is why governments across the world are starting to take notice. They are ditching antiquated beliefs about nuclear reactors and embracing them instead, centering nuclear power in their future energy plans.

Right now, the U.S. is spearheading a multinational effort to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050. The United Kingdom just announced its biggest expansion plans for nuclear power in 70 years, vowing to quadruple production. France recently introduced a new energy bill that prioritizes additional nuclear energy development. And Canada is building the world’s largest nuclear power plant in Ontario.

Clearly, the Nuclear Renaissance has arrived.

The Final Word

For the past several months, we’ve been studying the nuclear energy industry. And we’ve identified two very promising investment opportunities therein: domestic uranium miners and nuclear fusion developers.

In short, most of the world’s uranium supply comes from Kazakhstan, Russia’s neighbor. And as Western nations increasingly develop nuclear reactors, they will also increasingly want to power those reactors with domestically sourced uranium – not uranium from Kazakhstan. Therefore, it seems that domestic uranium miners would make great investments.

Additionally, we believe that recent rapid developments in AI will allow us to soon solve the world’s nuclear fusion problem, allowing us to create sustainable, safe, and powerful nuclear fusion reactors. And that will be an absolute game-changer for folks around the globe.

That’s why, considering the Nuclear Energy Renaissance’s current trajectory, we’re looking for domestic uranium miners and nuclear fusion developers.

And in fact, we just bought a few of our top picks in this space.
https://investorplace.com/hypergrowthinvesting/2024/01/nuclear-energy-stocks-are-surging-while-the-market-is-floundering/



Lindsey Stirling & Pentatonix - Radioactive (Imagine Dragons Cover)

[JD400]

Uranium Prices at 16-Year Highs, Breaking $100 Per Pound
By
Jennifer L

Spot uranium prices recently reached a peak not witnessed since 2007, standing strong at $101 per pound, per Numerico data.

This upswing signifies a constrained nuclear fuel market, growing expectations for future demand, and the imperative for additional mine restarts and new constructions, according to experts in the uranium industry.

Uranium is Powering Up the Future

The surge in uranium prices aligns with an increased focus on nuclear energy in global climate change mitigation efforts. Furthermore, rising uranium prices have spurred the revival of uranium mining operations previously scaled back following the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

Analysts and industry players anticipate more mine restarts in 2024. Plus, new builds are getting more attractive due to rising prices and anticipated supply deficits over the coming years.

The spot price of uranium surging $100/pound was more than a 100% increase from the 2023 low. It is also a whopping >300% rise from the 2020 low.

Uranium Spot Price USD Per Pound
$101/pound
uranium spot price Jan 12 Numerico
Source: Numerico.com
The 16-year high uranium price, cracking at $101/pound since 2007, is driven by several factors.

For one, shortage in uranium supplies since the Fukushima incident drove prices upward.

Moreover, a U.S. bill seeking to ban nuclear fuel imports from Russia further contributes to the prices’ upward trajectory. The bill was called “NO RUSSIA” – National Opportunity to Restore Uranium Supply Services In America Act of 2022. Put simply, Russia will be out of the U.S. uranium market.

What Causes the Unprecedented Rise of Uranium?

But what are the market experts saying about this price breakthrough?

According to a uranium market analyst, Marin Katusa, the 16-year high uranium price reflects the “real” cost of bringing on previously built and permitted facilities to replace uranium exported from Russia and Niger.

Marin also noted that with the US banning Russian imports, the logical investment is exposure to permitted, built out production in the US. The banned imports include Kazakh production owing to Russian enrichment.

Uranium prices have to increase more, Marin further noted, to incentivize new projects like the case with the Athabasca Basin. Building a new mine in North America would need even higher prices than $100.

Highlighting the growing demands for clean energy from data centers, which require more power for new technologies, SMR technologies offer a promising solution.

Small modular reactor development, with under 300 MWe capacity, is taking place in Western countries with increasing private investment. North America, in particular, would be the epicenter of this rapidly growing nuclear resurgence.

Marin also highlighted Japan’s decision to bring on the world’s largest nuclear power plant and its pro-nuclear stance since Fukushima. This and the positive outlook for nuclear technology globally coming out of the recent COP28 climate summit will create new demand for long term supply of uranium in politically stable jurisdictions. After all, Marin said that:

“…no nation wants to experience what France is experiencing in Niger with their uranium supply being completely cut off.”

For Miss America 2023, Grace Stanke, who happens to be a student of nuclear engineering, nuclear energy already plays a big role in the lives of many Americans. As a nuclear champion, Grace particularly noted that:

“From curing my dad’s cancer twice, to powering 20% of America, to helping with agriculture which is so important in my home state of Wisconsin… it really does feel like nuclear does it all.”

Beyond the Price: Uranium’s Ascent and Nuclear Energy Resurgence

As the world strives to reduce carbon emissions, zero-carbon nuclear energy is crucial. This is expected to make the demand for uranium explode much more.

In effect, escalating spot uranium prices may also exert upward pressure on contract prices as sellers seek higher returns. While higher prices may not dissuade utilities for short-term needs, climbing contract prices, covering larger quantities of uranium, could have a more substantial impact.

Some utilities are already experiencing “sticker shock”, as seen below in the S&P Global presentation. Experts also anticipate a widespread increase in nuclear fuel costs in the coming years due to rising market prices.

uranium companies stock performance
Notably, higher uranium prices would also drive further restarts in the near term, with industry giants like NAZ Kazatomprom JSC and Cameco restarting idle capacity. Canada-based Cameco will add capacity as needed under long-term contract pricing.

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan-based Kazatomprom, the largest uranium producer, plans to return to full production capacity by 2025. However, given the challenges that the company faces related to the availability of sulphuric acid (a critical operating material), they expect adjustments to their 2024 production plans. They also anticipate delays in finishing construction works at their newly developed deposits. These may affect Kazatomprom’s 2025 production plan, subject to considerable supply chain risks.

The surge in uranium prices signifies a resurgence in the nuclear energy sector. Driven by geopolitical shifts, legislative actions, and a growing demand for clean energy, the uranium market is poised for unprecedented growth.
https://carboncredits.com/uranium-spot-prices-at-16-year-high-breaking-100-per-pound/

Swing Kids (1993) - The Benny Goodman Orchestra - Sing, Sing, Sing

[JD400]

$UROY HOY $3.66 ~

[JD400]

Uranium Fever $URG $EU HOYs
Check out a uranium stock near you !

[JD400]

Uranium stocks rise in latest metal trader craze

Might pick up some $URG types

Uranium price jumps to 15-year high as top miner flags shortfall

Cecilia Jamasmie | January 12, 2024 | 5:53 am Energy Markets Asia Uranium
Uranium jumps to 15-year high as top miner flags shortfall

State-controlled Kazatomprom mines uranium in Kazakhstan both independently and through joint ventures. (Image courtesy of Kazatomprom.)
Uranium prices jumped on Friday to an almost 15-year high after the world’s largest producer, Kazakhstan’s Kazatomprom (LON: KAP), warned it’s likely to fall short of its output targets over the next two years.


The miner cited shortages of sulfuric acid and construction delays at newly developed deposits as the main factors behind ongoing production challenges, which it said could persist into 2025. A detailed assessment of the potential impacts on output will be released in a trading update by Feb. 1, it added.


“Despite the ongoing active search for alternative sources of sulfuric acid supply, current forecasts indicate that the company may find it difficult to achieve 90% production levels compared to subsoil use contract levels,” Kazatomprom said in the statement.

Sulfuric acid is a favourite among producers to extract uranium from the raw ore due to its low-cost and efficiency for different types of ores.

Kazatomprom noted its guidance for next year could also be affected if supply snags continue throughout 2024 and if it isn’t able to comply with scheduled construction works.

The spot price of the radioactive metal has more-than doubled in 2023 and it is currently trading at $97.45 a pound — still far from the triple-digit figures achieved in 2007 and the fallout after the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.

The price increase comes as 24 nations, including the United States, Japan, Canada, Britain and France pledged last month in Dubai at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as COP28, to triple nuclear power capacity by 2050.

Uranium jumps to 15-year high as top miner flags shortfall
China, which wasn’t part of that promise, still leads global nuclear plant construction with plans to nearly double capacity to 100 gigawatts by the end of this decade. The Asian country has 22 of 58 plants being built worldwide.

Recent legislation in the US could also affect uranium prices, even sooner than other factors. Seeking to cut its reliance on Russia, which supplies more than one-fifth of its uranium, Congress passed a bill in December that would require the US to source a portion of its nuclear fuel domestically. The bill calls for 20 tonnes of HALEU — high-assay low enriched uranium fuel needed to run most advanced reactors in the country — to come from domestic sources by the end of 2027. It now awaits President Joe Biden’s signature.

Bank of America and Berenberg Bank said this week in separate research notes that continued tightness in the uranium market could push prices over $100 in coming days.
https://www.mining.com/uranium-jumps-to-15-year-high-as-top-miner-flags-shortfall/

You got it Lurch .....Everybody lovs a good run
YOU RANG !

[JD400]

2024 reveals a GOLD BEAR TRAP - LFTV Ep 155

Kinesis Money
40.7K subscribers

20,053 views Jan 12, 2024
In this week’s episode of Live from the Vault, Andrew Maguire shares his yearly outlook and provides a long-term analysis of what we should expect as 2024 trading begins - will we see a gold price over $2500 by the end of the year?

The precious metals expert examines the bullish drivers that could propel gold forward this year, including Russian-chaired BRICS developments, globally accelerating de-dollarisation and the impact of geopolitical escalations.

Ask your questions for Andy here: https://forum.kinesis.money/threads/q...

Timestamps:
00:00 Start
02:05 What to expect as 2024 trading starts
12:15 A look at gold prices for 2024
18:00 The immediate outlook
24:00 How the paper market is changing
27:50 2024 for Silver
36:00 Looking further out
38:00 Dedollarisation

[JD400]

That City of Pride, Wickedness, and Lust for Power
with MMGYS Soundtrack

"Seneca had made the bargain that many good men have made when agreeing to aid bad regimes. On the one hand, their presence strengthens the regime and helps it endure. But their moral influence may also improve the regime's behavior or save the lives of its enemies. For many, this has been a bargain worth making, even if it has cost them—as it may have cost Seneca—their immortal soul...

The Rome he has been trained to serve, the Rome of Augustus and Germanicus, was gone. In its place stood Neropolis, ruled by a megalomaniac brat.”

James Romm, Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero

"We live in a world where love itself is condemned. People call it weakness, something to grow out of. Some are saying: 'Let each one become as strong as he can, and let the weak perish.' They say that the Christian religion with its preaching about love is a thing of the past. The neo-paganism [of the Nazis] may well cast off love but, in spite of everything, history teaches us that we shall be the victors over this. We shall not forsake love."

Titus Brandsma, executed at Dachau, 26 July 1942

"Caesar was swimming in blood, Rome and the whole pagan world was mad. But those who had had enough of transgression and madness, those who were trampled upon, those whose lives were misery and oppression, all the weighed down, all the sad, all the unfortunate, came to hear the wonderful tidings of God, who out of love for men had given Himself to be crucified and redeem their sins. When they found a God whom they could love, they had found that which the society of the time could not give any one, — happiness and love.

And Peter understood that neither Nero, nor all his legions, could overcome the living truth— that they could not overwhelm it with tears or blood, and that now its victory was beginning. He understood with equal force why the Lord had turned him back on the road. That city of pride, of crime, of wickedness, and of a lust for power, was beginning to be His city."

Henryk Sienkiewicz, Quo Vadis, 1905


Stocks did their usual wide ranging wash and rinse, ending the day slightly higher.

Gold and silver soared in the morning, and held on to much of their gains, giving up a goodly portion of them during the day.

VIX continues in its complacency.

The conflict in the Mideast is metastasizing, and the unpriced risk it carries continues to grow.

The US presidential election season kicks off next week with the Iowa Primary.

Exceptionalism, in terms of bad judgement and shamelessness, will be on display for all.

Tossing aside the moral high ground and civilized behaviour seems to be a general trend globally.

The Beast is rising.

US markets will be closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King day.

Option expiration next week Friday.

Have a pleasant holiday weekend.
https://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/













...........................

MARKET MOVERS
COMPANY CHANGE LAST TRADE
Franco-Nevada 5.14 3.62 $147.01
Cameco 4.45 7.12 $66.96
Royal Gold 1.59 1.32 $122.47
Agnico Eagle Mines 1.31 1.89 $70.48
Endeavour Mining 1.20 4.99 $25.25
NexGen Energy 1.05 11.11 $10.50
Pan American Silver 1.02 5.16 $20.77
Wheaton Precious Metals 1.02 1.59 $65.00
Osisko Gold Royalties 0.89 4.80 $19.45
Filo 0.88 3.86 $23.70
Uranium Energy 0.82 11.83 $7.75
Energy Fuels 0.80 8.45 $10.27
Eldorado Gold 0.79 4.86 $17.05
Gold Fields 0.76 6.08 $13.25
Torex Gold Resources 0.69 4.83 $14.97


HIGH VOLUME
COMPANY VOLUME LAST TRADE
Uranium Energy 29,116,510 $7.75
Fission Uranium 6,272,785 $1.24
Denison Mines 5,395,888 $2.64
NexGen Energy 5,027,533 $10.50
GoviEx Uranium 4,343,228 $0.18
Kinross Gold 3,154,593 $7.88
Argonaut Gold 2,822,789 $0.42
Cameco 2,735,410 $66.96
Anfield Energy 2,601,794 $0.09
Calibre Mining 2,515,084 $1.32
B2Gold 2,490,591 $4.15
Mega Uranium 2,395,219 $0.49
Prime Mining 2,342,784 $1.89
First Quantum Minerals 2,180,820 $13.15
Marathon Gold 2,047,778 $0.81

[JD400]

Moloch Metropolis Miners Lament
with MMGYS Fritz Lang's 1927 German Expressionist silent sci-fi film Metropolis soundtracks

The Consumer Price Index came in on the high side this morning.

With dreams of plentiful rate cuts challenged, stocks slumped.

But by the end of the day traders' dementia reasserted its calming influence and stocks regained much of their losses.

Gold ans silver had an intraday yo-yo wash and rinse.

VIX continues to wallow.

We're heading into a three day weekend.

Have a pleasant evening.
full read here....
https://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/

[JD400]

About That Idris Elba Gold Documentary

Folding Ideas
908K subscribers
Jan 10, 2024 #8 on Trending

Clickbait Title: Can this magical metal make you immortal? Godkings hate this one weird trick!

This was a lot of fun to work on because I got to spend a lot of time learning THE TRUTH ABOUT GOLD and by that I mean actually interesting facts about how humans use gold. The mythology of gold actually makes a lot of sense through the lens of its physical properties, the fact that ancient humans could make things out of it and those things would outlive generations. It's just rare enough that societal elites can monopolize it, but common enough you can gather enough to actually make stuff with it. So these things, namely jewellery for the leaders, are so resistant to the elements that you can see how the gold itself became representative of the power of the kings, of their claimed immortality.

[JD400]

$STRRF Expands High-Grade at Depth

Mine Resource Intersecting 12.7 GPT Gold Over 3.2 m, Meaningfully Expanding High-Grade at Depth
Phase 2 Drilling Resumes Targeting Main Zone, South Zone and East Tartan VMS Prospect

Toronto, Ontario – January 11, 2024 – Canadian Gold Corp. (TSXV: CGC) (“Canadian Gold” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce initial results from its Phase 2 Exploration Program at the Tartan Mine, located near Flin Flon, Manitoba, including the deepest hole in the project’s history. Drilling continues to extend the vertical limits of the high-grade gold mineralization, now identified to at least 415 metres below the resource estimate, increasing the vertical extent of the high-grade mineralization by 72% compared to the resource (Fig. 1). Hole TLMZ23-26W5 returned 12.7 gpt gold over 3.2 m, inside of another wide interval of disseminated gold mineralization that returned 2.7 gpt gold over 25 m. The implication of these wider intervals surrounding the high-grade at depth (which are becoming common) is being reviewed by the Company’s geological team in order to determine its importance and the ability to convert this mineralization into a potential resource.

Canadian Gold further announces

https://canadiangoldcorp.com/canadian-gold-corp-drills-deepest-hole-at-tartan-415-m-below-the-mine-resource-intersecting-12-7-gpt-gold-over-3-2-m-meaningfully-expanding-high-grade-at-depth/

[JD400]

Gold CEO firing deals fresh blow to mining’s battered reputation

Bloomberg News | January 7, 2024 | 11:38 am Top Companies Africa Canada Europe Latin America USA Copper Gold Lithium Nickel

Endeavour Mining’s former CEO Se´bastien de Montessus. (Image by Endeavour Mining).
Endeavour Mining Plc’s shock firing of its chief executive has capped a miserable three months for the global mining industry — and an equally painful period for its shareholders.

The world’s biggest producers have spent much of the past decade trying to rebuild mining’s reputation, after a slew of bad deals and billion-dollar writedowns sent investors fleeing from a business already viewed by many as dirty and risky

That attempted makeover has taken a battering in recent months: The mining industry has suffered blow after blow, costing investors billions and shaking faith in some of the industry’s biggest names.

In Panama, mass protests against one of the world’s largest and newest copper mines culminated in an order to permanently shut it down, and wiped out more than half of the market value of owner First Quantum Minerals Ltd. Canada’s Teck Resources Ltd. dropped 9% on a single day in October after revealing the latest cost blowout at its flagship Chilean project, while larger rival Anglo American Plc’s surprise cut to its planned copper production sent shares plunging 19% on Dec. 8.

In South Africa, Sibanye Stillwater Ltd. dropped as much as 25% in November after announcing a convertible bond sale. while an accident at rival Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. left 12 people dead and dozens injured.

The latest jolt came on Thursday, when Endeavour — the biggest gold miner listed in the UK — announced it fired CEO Sébastien de Montessus for “serious misconduct” after discovering an alleged “irregular payment instruction” of $5.9 million related to an asset sale. The shares plunged as much as 15%. De Montessus has separately said that the relevant decision didn’t cost the company anything and had no benefit for himself.

For the mining industry broadly, the fresh wave of setbacks comes as the sector is seeking to position itself as a vital part of the green transition because of its role supplying materials like copper, nickel and lithium that are needed to decarbonize the global economy. But to do that, the producers need supportive governments and local populations, as well as investors willing to fund them.

While the setbacks vary in nature, they reflect many of the perennial challenges facing the companies responsible for digging up the world’s metals and minerals. Miners are fighting a growing battle with rising costs to build and operate mines, and many of the remaining deposits are in poorer countries, where governments and local populations are increasingly determined to seek a greater share of profits.

Panama’s move to “definitively” close First Quantum’s $10 billion copper mine — which opened just four years earlier and still has decades worth of copper to dig up — has sent shockwaves through the mining industry. The shares ended the year more than 60% lower after the loss of its biggest profit generator, and analysts have raised questions about the company’s balance sheet, with billions of dollars of debt maturing in the coming years.

Anglo American has also punished mining investors. The century-old company, long seen as one of the best mine operators, stunned shareholders by announcing it was slashing its copper production for the next two years, including a significant cut at its Los Bronces mine in Chile, as well as lowering output for nearly all the other commodities it mines.

The announcement wiped more than $6 billion off Anglo’s market capitalization in the steepest single-day fall since the global financial crisis.

The series of disappointments for the mining industry also comes against the backdrop of weak prices for its commodities — although gold has been an exception after hitting a record late last year — and soft demand from key markets such as China.

At Endeavour, the company said that de Montessus was fired after the board discovered an “irregular payment instruction” of $5.9 million. The company said it discovered the payment when it was reviewing previous acquisitions and disposals. That review is ongoing, with more deals still being assessed.

In a statement, de Montessus said he instructed a creditor of Endeavor to make the payment in 2021 to a security company, to offset money owed for essential security equipment.

The payment was connected to the sale of Endeavour’s Agbaou mine in Ivory Coast in 2021 to Allied Gold Corp., according to people familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. De Montessus instructed Allied Gold to pay $5.9 million owed to Endeavour to another company, the people said.

“The decision had no additional cost to the company and did not benefit me personally in any way,” de Montessus said. “I omitted to inform the board that I had arranged for this offset, which I have freely accepted was a lapse in judgment.”

(By Thomas Biesheuvel)
https://www.mining.com/web/gold-ceo-firing-deals-fresh-blow-to-minings-battered-reputation/

[JD400]

Ten Junior Resource Stock Investing Lessons Learned in 2023 by Bill Powers (most fail at #4)

MiningStockEducation.com
Jan 4, 2024 #commodities #miningstocks #resourceinvesting

Bill Powers shares ten junior resource stock investing lessons he learned in 2023 in this MSE episode.

0:00 Introduction
1:40 #1 View junior resource stocks as call options with limited time value
5:29 #2 Consider intrinsic value as much greater than time value…Don’t let big profits slip away
8:33 #3 Remember non-captured unrealized gains are not losses
10:16 #4 Choose to be a self-directed investor and not a victim
14:47 #5 Lack of information/coverage in small caps allows for dishonest bashers
18:15 #6 Do not invest unless you have a (legal) competitive advantage
23:52 #7 You’ll never out-smart Vancouver insiders, but you can outperform dumb retail
25:39 #8 Stay liquid (private deals and private placements are becoming increasingly unattractive)
28:03 #9 Be willing to change your mind
31:08 #10 Increased wealth will only amplify your existing character (for better or worse)

[JD400]

The 2024 Gold Market Amidst Banking Volatility and Rising Federal Deficits

Trevor Hall
Jan 3, 2024
We kick off 2024 with a conversation with Dave Kranzler of Investment Research Dynamics. We start off the conversation with a little bit of reflection on the previous year. What surprised him the most in these markets. And now that we move into 2024, what are his expectations regarding the national deficit, gold's move into a new year, and if the junior equities can find a more supporting market than in the past 2 years.

[JD400]

US Banking System Ripe For Another Crisis
With MMGYS Soundtrack

"Day by day the money-masters of America become more aware of their danger, they draw together, they grow more class-conscious, more aggressive. The [first world] war has taught them the possibilities of propaganda ; it has accustomed them to the idea of enormous campaigns which sway the minds of millions and make them pliable to any purpose.

American political corruption was the buying up of legislatures and assemblies to keep them from doing the people's will and protecting the people's interests; it was the exploiter entrenching himself in power, it was financial autocracy undermining and destroying political democracy. By the blindness and greed of ruling classes the people have been plunged into infinite misery."

Upton Sinclair, The Brass Check

"Following the second, third and fourth largest bank failures in U.S. history in the spring of last year, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell gave his semiannual monetary policy report to the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee in June. During both appearances, Powell stated the same thing: 'The U.S. banking system is sound and resilient.'

But according to a report last week from the federal agency whose mandate is to keep federal regulators apprised of the true condition of the U.S. banking system, it is actually ripe for another crisis and its condition is 'fragile and uncertain.'”

WSOP, Federal Agency Finds US Banking System 'Ripe for Another Crisis, January 2, 2024

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

Upton Sinclair, I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked


The talking heads were assuring us today that stocks were retreating because they had become extremely over bought last week/year/

Funny how they only tell us these things after the fact.

The Dollar strengthened.

Gold and silver were lower.

The VIX remains fairly complacent.

And so the new year begins.

Have a pleasant evening.
https://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/

[JD400]

The biggest global mining news of 2023
with MMGYS Soundtrack

by Frik Els | December 27, 2023 | 10:01 am Battery Metals Energy Markets Suppliers & Equipment Aluminum Bauxite Boron Chrome Coal Cobalt Copper Diamond Gold Graphite Iron Ore Lead Lithium Manganese Molybdenum Nickel Oil & Gas Palladium Platinum Potash Rare Earth Rhodium Silver Specialty Minerals Tin Uranium Vanadium Zinc

The mining world was pulled in all directions in 2023: the collapse of lithium prices, furious M&A activity, a bad year for cobalt and nickel, Chinese critical mineral moves, gold’s new record, and state intervention in mining on a scale not seen in decades. Here’s a roundup of some the biggest stories in mining in 2023.

A year where the gold price sets an all-time record should be unalloyed good news for the mining and exploration industry, which despite all the buzz surrounding battery metals and the energy transition still represents the backbone of the junior market.

Metal and mineral markets are volatile at the best of times – the nickel, cobalt and lithium price collapse in 2023 was extreme but not entirely unprecedented. Rare earth producers, platinum group metal watchers, iron ore followers, and gold and silver bugs for that matter, have been through worse.

Mining companies have become better at navigating choppy waters, but the forced closure of one of the biggest copper mines to come into production in recent decades served as a stark reminder of the outsized risks miners face over and above market swings.

Panama shuts down giant copper mine

After months of protests and political pressure, at the end of November the Panama government ordered the closure of First Quantum Minerals’ Cobre Panama mine following a ruling by the Supreme Court that declared the mining contract for the operation unconstitutional.


Public figures including climate activist Greta Thunberg and Hollywood actor Leonardo Di Caprio backed the protests and shared a video calling for the “mega mine” to cease operations, which quickly went viral.

FQM’s latest statement on Friday said Panama’s government hasn’t provided a legal basis to the Vancouver-based company for pursuing the closure plan, a plan that the industries ministry of the central American nation said will only be presented in June next year.

FQM has filed two notices of arbitration over the closure of the mine, which has not been operating since protesters blocked access to its shipping port in October. However, arbitration would not be the company’s preferred outcome, said CEO Tristan Pascall.

In the aftermath of the unrest, FQM has said it should have better communicated the value of the $10 billion mine to the wider public, and will now spend more time engaging with Panamanians ahead of a national election next year. FQM shares have bounced in the past week, but is still trading more than 50% below the high hit during July this year.

Projected copper deficit evaporates

Cobre Panama’s shutdown and unexpected operational disruptions forcing copper mining companies to slash output has seen the sudden removal of around 600,000 tons of expected supply would, moving the market from a large expected surplus into balance, or even a deficit.


The next couple of years were supposed to be a time of plenty for copper, thanks to a series of big new projects starting up around the world.

The expectation across most of the industry was for a comfortable surplus before the market tightens again later this decade when surging demand for electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure is expected to collide with a lack of new mines.

Instead, the mining industry has highlighted how vulnerable supply can be — whether due to political and social opposition, the difficulty of developing new operations, or simply the day-to-day challenge of pulling rocks up from deep beneath the earth.

Lithium price routed on supply surge

The price of lithium was decimated in 2023, but predictions for next year are far from rosy. Lithium demand from electric vehicles is still growing rapidly, but the supply response has overwhelmed the market.


Global lithium supply, meanwhile, will jump by 40% in 2024, UBS said earlier this month, to more than 1.4 million tons of lithium carbonate equivalent.

Output in top producers Australia and Latin America will rise 22% and 29% respectively, while that in Africa is expected to double, driven by projects in Zimbabwe, the bank said.

Chinese production will also jump 40% in the next two years, said UBS, driven by a major CATL project in southern Jiangxi province.

The investment bank expects Chinese lithium carbonate prices could fall by more than 30% next year, dipping as low as 80,000 yuan ($14,800) per tonne in 2024, averaging at around 100,000 yuan, equivalent to production costs in Jiangxi, China’s biggest producing region of the chemical.

Lithium assets still in high demand

In October, Albemarle Corp. walked away from its $4.2 billion takeover of Liontown Resources Ltd., after Australia’s richest woman built up a blocking minority and effectively scuppered one of the largest battery-metals deals to date.


Eager to add new supply, Albemarle had pursued its Perth-based target for months, eying its Kathleen Valley project — one of Australia’s most promising deposits. Liontown agreed to the US company’s “best and final” offer of A$3 a share in September — a near 100% premium to the price before Albemarle’s takeover interest was made public in March.

Albemarle had to contend with the arrival of combative mining tycoon Gina Rinehart, as her Hancock Prospecting steadily built up a 19.9% stake in Liontown. Last week, she became the single largest investor, with enough clout to potentially block a shareholder vote on the deal.

In December, SQM teamed up with Hancock Prospecting to make a sweetened A$1.7 billion ($1.14 billion) bid for Australian lithium developer Azure Minerals, the three parties said on Tuesday.

The deal would give the world’s no.2 lithium producer SQM a foothold in Australia with a stake in Azure’s Andover project and a partnership with Hancock, which has rail infrastructure and local experience in developing mines.

Chile, Mexico take control of lithium

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric announced in April that his government would bring the country’s lithium industry under state control, applying a model in which the state will partner with companies to enable local development.

The long-awaited policy in the world’s second-largest producer of the battery metal includes the creation of a national lithium company, Boric said on national television.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in September said the country’s lithium concessions are being reviewed, after China’s Ganfeng last month indicated that its Mexican lithium concessions were being cancelled.

López Obrador formally nationalized Mexico’s lithium reserves earlier this year and in August, Ganfeng said Mexico’s mining authorities had issued a notice to its local subsidiaries indicating nine of its concessions had been terminated.

Gold to build on record-setting year

The New York futures price of gold set an all-time high at the beginning of December and looks set to surpass the peak going into the new year.

London’s gold price benchmark hit an all-time high of $2,069.40 per troy ounce at an afternoon auction on Wednesday, surpassing the previous record of $2,067.15 set in August 2020, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) said.

“I can think of no clearer demonstration of gold’s role as a store of value than the enthusiasm with which investors across the world have turned to the metal during the recent economic and geopolitical turmoils,” said LMBA’s chief executive officer Ruth Crowell.

JPMorgan predicted a new record back in July but expected the new high to occur in the second quarter of 2024. The basis of JPMorgan’s optimism for 2024 – falling US interest rates – remains intact:


“The bank has an average price target of $2,175 an ounce for bullion in the final quarter of 2024, with risks skewed to the upside on a forecast for a mild US recession that’s likely to hit sometime before the Fed starts easing.”

Even as gold climbed new peaks, exploration spending on the precious metal dipped. A study published in November overall mining exploration budgets fell this year for the first time since 2020, dropping 3% to $12.8 billion at the 2,235 companies that allocated funds to find or expand deposits.

Despite the sparkling gold price, gold exploration budgets, which historically have been driven more by the junior mining sector than any other metal or mineral, dropped by 16% or $1.1 billion year-on-year to just under $6 billion, representing 46% of the global total.

That’s down from 54% in 2022 amid higher spending on lithium, nickel and other battery metals, a surge in spending on uranium and rare earths and an uptick for copper.

Mining’s year of M&A, spin-offs, IPOs, and SPAC deals

In December, speculation about Anglo American (LON: AAL) becoming the target of a takeover by a rival or a private equity firm mounted, as weakness in the shares of the diversified miner persisted.


If Anglo American doesn’t turn operations around and its share price continues to lag, Jefferies analysts say they can’t “rule out the possibility that Anglo is involved in the broader trend of industry consolidation,” according to their research note.

In October, Newcrest Mining shareholders voted strongly in favour of accepting the roughly $17 billion buyout bid from global gold mining giant Newmont Corporation.

Newmont (NYSE: NEM) plans to raise $2 billion in cash through mine sales and project divestments following the acquisition. The acquisition brings the company’s value to around $50 billion and adds five active mines and two advanced projects to Newmont’s portfolio.

Breakups and spin-offs were also a big part of 2023 corporate developments.

After being rebuffed several times in its bid to buy all of Teck Resources, Glencore and its Japanese partner are in a better position to bring the $9 billion bid for the diversified Canadian miner’s coal unit to a close. Glencore CEO Gary Nagle’s initial bid for the entire company faced stiff opposition from Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government and from the premier of British Columbia, where the company is based.


Vale (NYSE: VALE) is not seeking new partners for its base metals unit following a recent equity sale, but could consider an IPO for the unit within three or four years, CEO Eduardo Bartolomeo said in October.

Vale recruited former Anglo American Plc boss Mark Cutifani in April to lead an independent board to oversee the $26-billion copper and nickel unit created in July when the Brazilian parent company sold 10% to Saudi fund Manara Minerals.

Shares in Indonesian copper and gold miner, PT Amman Mineral Internasional, have surged more than fourfold since listing in July and are set to keep rising after its inclusion in major emerging market indexes in November.

Amman Mineral’s $715 million IPO was the largest in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy this year and counted on strong demand by global and domestic funds.


Not all dealmaking went smoothly this year.

Announced in June, a $1 billion metals deal by blank-cheque fund ACG Acquisition Co to acquire a Brazilian nickel and and a copper-gold mine from Appian Capital, was terminated in September.

The deal was backed by Glencore, Chrysler parent Stellantis and Volkswagen’s battery unit PowerCo through an equity investment, but as nickel prices slumped there was a lack of interest from minority investors at the stage of the $300 million equity offering which ACG planned as part of the deal.

Talks in 2022 to acquire the mines also fell through after bidder Sibanye-Stillwater pulled out. That transaction is now the subject of legal proceedings after Appian filed a $1.2 billion claim against the South African miner.

Nickel nosedive

In April, Indonesia’s PT Trimegah Bangun Persada, better known as Harita Nickel, raised 10 trillion rupiah ($672 million) in what was then Indonesia’s largest initial public offering of the year.


Harita Nickel’s IPO quickly turned sour for investors, however, as prices for the metal entered a steady and long decline. Nickel is the worst performer among the base metals, nearly halving in value after starting 2023 trading above $30,000 a tonne.

Next year is not looking great for the devil’s copper either with top producer Nornickel predicting a widening surplus due to lacklustre demand from electric vehicles and a ramp-up in supply from Indonesia, which also comes with a thick layer of cobalt:

“…due to the continuing destocking cycle in the EV supply chain, a greater share of non-nickel LFP batteries, and a partial shift from BEV to PHEV sales in China. Meanwhile, the launch of new Indonesian nickel capacities continued at a high pace.”

Palladium also had a rough year, down by more than a third in 2023 despite a late charge from multi-year lows hit at the start of December. Palladium was last trading at $1,150 an ounce.

China flexes its critical mineral muscle

In July China announced it will clamp down on exports of two obscure yet crucial metals in an escalation of the trade war on technology with the US and Europe.


Beijing said exporters will need to apply for licenses from the commerce ministry if they want to start or continue to ship gallium and germanium out of the country and will be required to report details of the overseas buyers and their applications.

China is overwhelmingly the top source of both metals — accounting for 94% of gallium supply and 83% of germanium, according to a European Union study on critical raw materials this year. The two metals have a vast array of specialist uses across chipmaking, communications equipment and defence.

In October, China said it would require export permits for some graphite products to protect national security. China is the world’s top graphite producer and exporter. It also refines more than 90% of the world’s graphite into the material that is used in virtually all EV battery anodes, which is the negatively charged portion of a battery.


US miners said China’s move underscores the need for Washington to ease its own permit review process. Nearly one-third of the graphite consumed in the United States comes from China, according to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents auto supply chain companies.

In December, Beijing banned the export of technology to make rare earth magnets on Thursday, adding it to a ban already in place on technology to extract and separate the critical materials.

Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets that turn power into motion for use in electric vehicles, wind turbines and electronics.

While Western countries are trying to launch their own rare earth processing operations, the ban is expected to have the biggest impact on so-called “heavy rare earths,” used in electric vehicle motors, medical devices and weaponry, where China has a virtual monopoly on refining.

https://www.mining.com/the-biggest-global-mining-news-of-2023/

[JD400]

A Detailed Explanation of the Electric Arc Furnace - What It is and How It Works

[JD400]

Can beaten-up junior miners fight illegal short-selling?
with MMGYS Soundtrack

Alisha Hiyate | December 22, 2023 | 7:33 am Careers Education Markets Canada


Terry Lynch began to notice unusual price movements in Power Nickel (TSXV: PNPN; US-OTC: PNPNF)’s stock (then called Chilean Metals) years ago.


The shares consistently traded down at the end of the day, regardless of news, with late day trades often made anonymously.

Now the stock is stuck in a range of C25¢ to C30¢ — despite a recently released initial nickel-sulphide resource for the company’s optioned Nisk project in Quebec, and a staged deal with battery and defence supplier CVMR to fund engineering studies.

It’s not unusual for a junior mining CEO to be unhappy with his share price, but Lynch says Power Nickel isn’t alone and something is amiss in the junior sector. The disconnect between the commodity markets and the junior mining-heavy TSX Venture Index, which is at an all-time low, has reached its widest point.

“When I first started talking about this, people thought, Terry, you should have a tinfoil hat on your head. They thought I was a crazy conspiracy theorist,” he told The Northern Miner in early December. “But you know what? I got proof. Man, this is really happening and I’m not the only one that sees it.”

In search of answers to the sector’s woes, he formed the Save Canadian Mining group in 2019, recruiting big names like Eric Sprott, Rob McEwen and Sean Roosen as supporters. Now, he can point to exactly what’s bleeding the junior market dry: Predatory short-selling.

“We’re in a market where the governments, to their credit, federally and provincially, have put out some amazing incentives for miners to actually get out there and explore and develop mines,” he said. “So really, we should be in our glory years and we’re instead about to go extinct.”

Short selling is a legal way for traders to profit from a falling stock price. Traders sell borrowed shares in the hope of buying them on the market at a lower price. It serves an important function in helping the market discover the true value of a company’s shares and has even helped uncover frauds like Enron. But it can also be done illegally, if traders don’t “cover” their position — meaning the trader is selling shares they haven’t borrowed, located, or confirmed are available for them to buy.

Lynch and others say “naked” shorting is a widespread and destructive problem in the junior mining sector. Last week he filed a formal complaint with the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) and FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) in the United States asking them to act on illegal short selling and restore investor confidence in the market.

‘Neverending bear market’

Any sector with declining values will attract short selling, which plays an important role in ensuring overvalued stocks don’t stay that way.

But veteran junior mining investors say that the removal of the “tick test” restrictions on short selling in 2012 have unleashed algorithmic trading programs onto the market that prey on both companies and retail investors. The “tick test” or uptick rule only allowed short sales at a price that was higher than the last sales price of a security.

Often this activity happens in the shadows, in places only institutions like banks and their clients can access, said long-time junior mining analyst John Kaiser of Kaiser Research Online.

“Banks and professional traders are selling stock they don’t even have a means to borrow,” he said in December. “With no downtick rule to get in the way, they just lean into the bid and then everybody’s who’s been a ‘long,’ they get this feeling of despair and they sell.”

Kaiser said these traders take advantage of the share volume rise that happens when companies release news, depressing any rallies.

Any new investors are left with nothing but buyers’ regret — and juniors are stuck in a “neverending” bear market.

Kaiser said a lot of this trading must be predatory because junior mining stock is not easy to borrow.

“None of it’s high enough to be marginable and margin accounts probably don’t own this sort of stuff,” he said. And large shareholders aren’t likely to make stock available to short-sellers.

“Properly covered short selling, if that was enforced, would not be that big a problem.”

Meanwhile, junior mining CEOs, many of whom are geologists with a distaste for or lack of knowledge of the capital markets, have proven hapless and helpless.

John Feneck, an Arizona-based technical analyst and consultant who helps mining companies raise their profiles, said many CEOs believe they can let their drill results speak for themselves. But that hasn’t been the case for the last couple of years.

“Our sector is really thinly traded,” he explained in a phone interview in early December. “Certain stocks are susceptible to larger moves based on their daily trading volume – many trade less than 100,000 shares a day.”

Feneck said better disclosure could help market transparency. He notes that in the U.S., FINRA requires short-selling information to be reported only twice a month. The long gap allows for potentially deceptive activities to take place.

“It’s whatever happens between those reports that’s frustrating people,” he said.

What are the regulators doing?
Regulators have looked at the issue of naked short-selling many times over the past decade. But they’ve found scant evidence that there’s a widespread problem.

In August 2022, CIRO predecessor IIROC did clarify that naked short selling is in fact illegal in Canada. Guidance issued at the time stated that entering into a short order without “reasonable expectation” the trader will be able to access enough securities to settle it within two trading days is prohibited, and considered manipulative and deceptive behaviour.

CIRO’s latest review concluded in November without recommending any regulatory changes.

But it does expect to publish new proposals outlining how it can further “clarify and support” the reasonable expectation requirement in early 2024.

Finally, CIRO and the Canadian Securities Administrators are forming a working group early in the year to study short selling in Canada, including an analysis of stronger requirements to settle trades when they’re due. It will also look more closely at suggestions raised in the previous consultation, including the imposition of “pre-borrow” requirements before a short sale can be entered, and whether short selling of junior stocks should be treated differently. In a response to emailed questions, a CIRO spokesperson confirmed there would also be discussion around suggestions it received to bring back the tick test.

Investor protection momentum
In early 2023, several small-cap companies in the U.S. announced plans to take legal action against short-sellers targeting their stocks.

In November, South Korea placed a temporary ban on short selling until next June. The move was supported by the country’s powerful lobby of retail investors, who believe big banks are suppressing share values through short selling. Over a quarter of the nation’s population invest in the stock market.

And in September, a judge in the Harrington Global Opportunity Fund market manipulation case against CIBC and big banks in the U.S. denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case. In her decision, she found that banks and brokerage firms can be held liable for their clients’ illegal trading, if they fail to provide proper oversight.

Banks have previously argued that they’re not responsible for clients’ illegal trading.

Lynch is encouraged by the momentum.

During an “emergency” Save Canadian Mining virtual event in late November, Sprott exhorted junior executives to take action to protect their share prices. “CEOs must realize almost everyone’s working against you,” he said. “If the price sucks, why don’t you wake up and do something about it!”

While Lynch doesn’t want to take the banks to court, he wants to let them know industry is willing to go that far.

“Nobody wants to really fight them, but we need to show them, hey, we’ve got the evidence,” he said. “The banks and the regulators, once they decide they want to do something, they can move very swiftly. They can change all these rules overnight.”

That could usher in the biggest mining boom in human history, he posited.

To the banks, he offers this message:

“The money on the shorting side of this business is almost done. You’ve almost killed us. You need to invest in the long side, and then everyone’s gonna make out like crazy.”

https://www.mining.com/can-beaten-up-junior-miners-fight-illegal-short-selling/

[JD400]

Mog’s Christmas Calamity

Merry Christmas

[JD400]

Gold doesn’t follow, it leads Feat. Michael Oliver - LFTV Ep 154

Kinesis Money

Dec 22, 2023
In this year’s final episode of Live from the Vault, Andrew Maguire is joined by Michael Oliver, creator of Momentum Structural Analysis, to pull back the curtain on the global trade of precious metals and debate what drives the industry forward.

The experts discuss the Fed’s interest rate policy decisions and a prospective pivot to rate cuts in 2024, before analysing how precious metals stand strong while the integrity of the US government bond market hangs in the balance.

Timestamps:
00:00 Start
02:45 What’s going on with interest rates
07:00 What happens when the Fed starts cutting rates
18:10 How deep will the next stock bear market be?
25:00 A look at previous rallies and declines
34:00 Silver momentum: can it outperform gold?
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51:00 Does Michael cover cryptocurrencies?

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Welcome to the first day at US Steel
with MMGYS Soundtracks

Continuing Coverage

After U.S. Steel announces sale, reactions range from outrage to concern

90.5 WESA | By Oliver Morrison
Published December 21, 2023 at 5:34 AM EST
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90.5 WESA
George DeBolt's father and grandfather worked for U.S. Steel in different capacities and he now gives tours of the region's industrial past — and he has a theory about why U.S. Steel's sale struck such a chord.
For decades, George DeBolt has given tours of former industrial sites around Pittsburgh. DeBolt’s grandfather worked for the union during the “Battle of Homestead,” where 16 people died during an armed confrontation between striking steelworkers and Pinkerton agents employed by Carnegie Steel, a predecessor to U.S. Steel. DeBolt’s father helped haul large pieces of metal for U.S. Steel as the owner of a trucking business.

DeBolt has carried on that steel-related lineage, albeit in a less hands-on way — he provides tours of significant sites related to the region’s industrial past.

“My claim to fame,” he said. “is that when he came to Pittsburgh, Prince Charles asked me to give him a tour of the industrial Valley here.”

So, Debolt had some opinions when U.S. Steel announced on Monday that it was being purchased by Nippon Steel Corporation — a larger Japanese steelmaker — for $14.9 billion.

Shareholders were happy about the announcement; U.S. Steel share prices surged at the news. But in and around Pittsburgh, the news elicited a range of negative reactions: from concern over national security implications voiced by elected representatives to outrage from the United Steelworkers union, which represents many U.S. Steel employees.

DeBolt said an important clue to why there was such a strong reaction was sitting about six miles down the Mon River from U.S. Steel’s Downtown corporate headquarters at the Waterfront, an open-air shopping complex that opened in 1999. The site was once home to the largest steel mill in the world, the Homestead Works, built by the Carnegie Steel Company, which eventually merged with the Federal Steel Company to and become U.S. Steel.

In a parking lot behind a Lowe’s hardware store, sits the 12,000 Pound Press — a 120-year-old steel press that was used to smash large steel ingots into sheets toward the end of the steelmaking process. Next to the press a sign reads, “Many World War Two battleships were outfitted with armor plate from this press, including the U.S.S. Missouri, the ship on which the Japanese signed the articles of surrender that ended the war.”

Many of the people who spoke to WESA for this article emphasized that steel made here helped win World Wars. It helped establish the U.S. as a global superpower. U.S. Steel, in a way, became synonymous with U.S. might. So, DeBolt suggests, people weren’t upset just because U.S. Steel was being sold. Rather, people were upset about it being sold to a foreign company — and a Japanese one at that.

“How about that for irony?” he said.

“This is just deja vu”
But for others, Monday’s announcement seemed to produce a sense that history was repeating itself.

American steel production peaked in the early 1970s. But, as the industry became more globalized and buyers began to buy cheaper steel elsewhere, production plummeted, bottoming out in the mid-80s. “Black Monday” in September 1977 — when Youngstown Sheet and Tube abruptly closed its Campbell Works plant in Youngstown, Ohio — was one of the first surprise announcements that upended the American steel industry — but it would be nowhere near the last.

The wave of mill closures during the next decade finally hit the Homestead Works in 1986. Mike Stout was the plant’s union representative and the last worker out before the plant shuttered for good.

The Edgar Thomson Steel Works on the day U.S. Steel announced that it was being purchased for $14.9 billion.
Oliver Morrison
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90.5 WESA
The Edgar Thomson Steel Works on the day U.S. Steel announced that it was being purchased for $14.9 billion.
“Tens of thousands of steelworkers lost their jobs illegally, were denied pensions, were denied severance pay,” Stout said. “And the result was the complete [and] utter destruction of the Monongahela Valley and towns like Homestead and McKeesport and Duquesne.”

Many of those towns and cities are now beset by poverty and health problems, some of which are a legacy of their close proximity to sources of industrial pollution. Stout spent years fighting U.S. Steel in court for millions of dollars in back pay and pensions for the plant’s workers. And for him, and many of the people who lived through that time, the sting of U.S. Steel’s announcement this week felt familiar.

“This is just deja vu. I mean, this is exactly what they did in the 1980s,” he said.

According to Stout, the company broke its promises to the steel workers repeatedly. The most recent betrayal, Stout said, was just a couple years ago — when U.S. Steel backpedaled on a promise to invest more than a billion dollars into its remaining Mon Valley steel plants. The plan would’ve modernized the equipment and reduced pollution. Instead, U.S. Steel announced it was investing billions of dollars in new non-union steel plants in Arkansas.

Those mills will utilize cleaner, more efficient electric arc furnaces, a technological investment that Chris Briem, an economist at the University of Pittsburgh, said U.S. Steel is making decades later than it should have.

“Electric arc steel mini mills were described once as the prototypical disruptive technology,” Briem said. “It completely changed the nature of the steel industry and U.S. [Steel] ignored it. And they're paying the price.”

Briem said that’s been the pattern the past half-century. The last vestiges of steel production in the Pittsburgh region might be in jeopardy, Briem said — but it’s not because of who will be owning U.S. Steel moving forward. Instead, he said, it’s because decades passed without U.S. Steel making necessary investments in its Mon Valley operations to ensure that it remained competitive.

“So, it doesn't really matter whether it's retained by U.S. Steel or bought by Nippon Steel or one of the other potential competitors,” he said. “Without a lot of investment, it probably isn't going to stay open.”

Concerns over foreign ownership
Meanwhile, the United Steelworkers union is deeply opposed to the sale. President Dave McCall said he’s worried the company won’t honor commitments to union pensions and healthcare. He said he has seen evidence that Nippon plans to further steer investment to non-union plants in Arkansas, neglecting legacy facilities up north.

But he also said the union’s opposition to a foreign buyer is a matter of principle, no matter that Japan is one of the U.S.’s closest allies.

“We've got to be able to make things here in America and control things here in America,” he said. “And then suddenly … they decide that [a Japanese company is] going to be the supplier for steel in America, for key products? I'm concerned about that.”

Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Bob Casey agrees. The Democrat has voted for new laws that he said aim to bring back manufacturing to the U.S. The CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act offer billions of dollars in incentives for companies that build factories in the U.S. for things like electric car batteries and computer chips.

“You can't exist as a nation if you don't have a manufacturing base and steel is a big part of that,” Casey said.

George DeBolt shows an ash tray made at the Homestead Works that was given to his family and a picture of a giant piece of steel that his father moved with two trailers tied together back when DeBolt was still a kid.
Oliver Morrison
/
90.5 WESA
George DeBolt shows an ash tray made at the Homestead Works that was given to his family and a picture of a giant piece of steel that his father moved with two trailers tied together back when DeBolt was still a kid.
Casey, Fetterman and Rep. Chris Deluzio sent a letter to Nippon’s leaders this week asking them for additional information about their plans. They also sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urging her to block the proposed sale, arguing that the country’s core industries should not be dependent upon foreign actors.

Some, though, hold out hope that a sale might represent rebirth, rather than a death knell. Charlie McCollester, a retired academic and founding member of the Battle of Homestead Foundation, wrote a book about the steel industry from a labor perspective. He thinks Japanese ownership could end up being the industry’s saving grace in the region. U.S. Steel has clearly failed, he said, and he thinks Japanese owners might make better decisions.

“They had a certain responsibility towards their workers and ... they have been geniuses at involving workers in the production process from below,” he said.

Back in Homestead, Debolt said that the tension between Pennsylvania workers and foreign owners isn’t anything new. In fact, it was given the Hollywood treatment in 1986 — the same year the Homestead Works plant closed. Pittsburgh-native Michael Keaton starred in the movie, “Gung Ho,” about a Japanese company that agrees to revive an ailing manufacturing plant that had just closed.

“And of course, at the end,” he said, “the workers and the new Japanese owners are getting along fine.”

https://www.wesa.fm/economy-business/2023-12-21/us-steel-sale-reactions

$X

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FOUR STAGES OF A MAN'S LIFE

1. You believe in Santa.

2. You don't believe in Santa.

3. You are Santa.

4. You look like Santa.

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Ghosts of Bubbles Past - Yulletide Wash and Rinse
with MMGYS Soundtrack bottom of page


“You are fettered,” said Scrooge, trembling. “Tell me why?”

“I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?” Scrooge trembled more and more.

“Or would you know,” pursued the Ghost, “the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? It was full as heavy and as long as this, seven Christmas Eves ago. You have laboured on it, since. It is a ponderous chain!..."

“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,' faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.

Business!' cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The deals of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them a light has shined."

Isaiah 9:1


After reaching new highs and the pinnacle of another vaporous overbought risk bubble, stocks sold off hard this afternoon.
Wash and rinse complete.

Ho, ho, ho.

Gold and silver sold, while the Dollar rose.

VIX rebounded strongly from its recent supine levels.

It never ends.

Have a pleasant evening.
https://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/

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Growing bipartisan opposition to US Steel purchase by Japanese might not be enough to block deal
with MMGYS A,I. Soundtrack U,S. Steels new Japan theme song "World is Mine"

New York (CNN) — Bipartisan opposition is growing to the proposed $14.1 billion acquisition of US Steel by Japan’s largest steelmaker, but that is unlikely to be enough to block the purchase, according to an expert in foreign investment deals.
Posted 12:18 p.m. Today - Updated 12:17 p.m. Today
By Matt Egan and Chris Isidore, CNN

New York (CNN) — Bipartisan opposition is growing to the proposed $14.1 billion acquisition of US Steel by Japan’s largest steelmaker, but that is unlikely to be enough to block the purchase, according to an expert in foreign investment deals.

A trio of Republican senators Tuesday called for a panel of US officials to block Nippon Steel’s takeover of US Steel due to national security concerns.

WRAL News Brief
Sens. JD Vance, Josh Hawley and Marco Rubio wrote Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen a letter on Tuesday warning the US Steel deal has “dire implications for the industrial base of the United States” and “was not entered into with US national security in mind.”

Yellen chairs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an interagency panel empowered to review transactions involving foreign investment in America to determine the impact on national security. CFIUS members include the heads of the Department of Defense, State, Homeland Security and Justice.

CFIUS “can and should block the acquisition of US Steel by NSC, a company whose allegiances clearly lie with a foreign state and whose record in the United States is deeply flawed,” Vance, Hawley and Rubio said. They argued CFIUS should launch a review of the deal unilaterally, especially because US Steel received competitive bids from American companies.

The lawmakers note that domestic steel production is “vital to US national security” and cited steps taken by Republican and Democratic administrations to bolster the steel industry. Vance is the junior senator from Ohio, while Hawley and Rubio represent Missouri and Florida, respectively.

“Allowing foreign companies to buy out American companies and enjoy our trade protections subverts the very purpose for which those protections were put in place,” the Republican lawmakers wrote.

Vance, Hawley and Rubio cautioned that Nippon Steel “does not share US Steel’s storied connection to the United States and its financial interests are tied to those of Japan.” The lawmakers note that Nippon has previously been found guilty of unlawfully dumping flat-rolled steel products in the United States.

Ohio’s other senator, Democrat Sherrod Brown, also issued a statement Monday opposing the deal.

“A foreign company should not be able to swoop in, ignore the voices of union workers, and buy a major American steel manufacturer behind closed doors,” said Brown, who faces reelection in 2024. “Nippon and US Steel have insulted American steelworkers by refusing to give them a seat at the table and raised grave concerns about their commitment to the future of the American steel industry.”

Brown said that if US Steel is going to be sold, it should be purchased by Ohio-based Cleveland Cliffs, which had the support of the United Steelworkers union in its failed effort earlier this year to buy US Steel.

Sen. Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat who is not seeking reelection but is still considering an independent campaign for president, also attacked the sale of the company to a foreign rival.

“This is a major blow to the American steel industry which has been instrumental in making us the superpower of the world and a direct threat to our national security,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “At a time when domestic manufacturing – including in the US steel market – is facing increased competition from unfair trade, we must be doing everything we can to prevent any further deterioration of American ownership

Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, also decried the proposed sale.

“It’s absolutely outrageous that US Steel has agreed to sell themselves to a foreign company,” Fetterman said Monday in a statement. “Steel is always about security – both our national security and the economic security of our steel communities. I am committed to doing anything I can do, using my platform and my position, to block this foreign sale.”

And the United Steelworkers union is also on record opposing the deal.

The proposed deal “demonstrates the same greedy, shortsighted attitude that has guided US Steel for far too long,” said USW President David McCall. “We remained open throughout this process to working with US Steel to keep this iconic American company domestically owned and operated, but instead it chose to push aside the concerns of its dedicated workforce and sell to a foreign-owned company.”

Blocking deal still is ‘quite unlikely’

Despite the growing political opposition to the deal from politicians and the United Steelworkers union, it is unlikely that CFIUS would block the deal by a close US ally such as Japan, said Michael Leiter, head of the CFIUS and national security practices at law firm Skadden, Arps.

“This has never happened before for a Japanese buyer of a US business - even in the height of US-Japan trade tensions in the 1980s and 1990s - and it seems quite unlikely that it would do so here,” he told CNN.

No matter the recommendation of CFIUS, the final decision rests with the president, Leiter said. Even with the political pressure from the both parties and the importance of Ohio and Pennsylvania in next year’s election, Leiter doesn’t think Biden would act to block the deal.

“Were President Biden to reject the deal this would immediately create a significant issue with our Japanese allies given the importance of collaboration on other critical issues such as China and semiconductor production and supply chains,” he said.

Representatives from US Steel did not respond to requests for comment on the letter or Brown and Fetterman’s objections. Treasury declined to comment.

US Steel officials touted the deal on Monday, arguing it’s in the best interest of all parties, including the United States. And they said they are confident it will be able to win regulatory approval.

Although US Steel was once the world’s most valuable company, it has been in decline for decades along with the broader domestic steel industry

The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

https://www.wral.com/story/growing-bipartisan-opposition-to-us-steel-purchase-by-japanese-might-not-be-enough-to-block-deal/21202784/

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American's furious after biggest auto steel supplier sold off to Japan

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