The Conversation (0)
As always, it was an interesting week for the resource sector. Here’s a look at some of the top read stories published on Resource Investing News for the week of March 23 – 27.
Oversupply in the iron ore space continued to be a hot topic, with Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO,ASX:RIO,LSE:RIO) CEO Sam Walsh calling the idea of controlling prices using a production cap “hare brained.” Mention of the idea got Andrew Forrest of Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG) in trouble with the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission and led to an entertaining piece on the subject from Mineweb’s Kip Keen.
Here’s a look at some of the top read stories published on Resource Investing News for the week of March 23 to 27.
1. Mickey Fulp: ‘We Need to Eliminate the Zombie Miners’
Mercenary Geologist Mickey Fulp missed out on this year’s PDAC conference in Toronto due to unfriendly weather conditions, but still managed to stay on top of what went on. Fulp shared some of his thoughts on the industry with Resource Investing News, reiterating his opinion that the TSX Venture hosts many “zombie miners,” or companies that are not solvent and shouldn’t be in business.
He also spoke about some of the issues faced by major gold miners, pegging inconsistent reporting as just one problem. In terms of companies he likes at the moment, Fulp mentioned Uranium Energy (NYSEMKT:UEC) and Nevada Sunrise Gold (TSXV:NEV). Click here to watch the full video interview.
2. Companies Gain Following Rare Earths Report on 60 Minutes
On Sunday, the rare earths sector was in the spotlight in the mainstream media for a change when “60 Minutes” aired a story about how China rose to dominate the market. During the segment, CBS’ Lesley Stahl interviewed Constantine Karayannopoulos, chairman at Molycorp (NYSE:MCP), and Dan McGroarty, advisory board member at Texas Rare Earth Resources (OTCMKTS:TRER) and a former White House staff member.
The following day, Molycorp’s share price rose roughly 26 percent, but it wasn’t the only rare earths company to see that sort of rise. Rare Element Resources (TSX:RES), Frontier Rare Earths (TSX:FRO), Tasman Metals (TSXV:TSM), Ucore Rare Metals (TSXV:UCU) and Texas Rare Earth Resources also saw gains to kick off the week. Click here to read the full article.
3. Morgan Stanley Gold and Silver Price Outlook
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) released its latest Global Metals Playbook this week, and analysts Tom Price and Joel Crane aren’t too optimistic about the future of most commodities. The report highlights gold’s weakness during the first quarter of 2015 and includes one of the bleaker gold price predictions for the week.
The firm points in the report to similar weakness for the silver price, which it believes is tied to gold’s performance. Click here to read the full article.
4. Morgan Stanley Copper Price Outlook
Copper‘s future isn’t looking too bright either, and Morgan Stanley has cut its outlook for the red metal by 16 percent, to $5,945 per tonne. The firm notes in its report that copper is slowly recovering following its price drop earlier in the year, but cautions that investors will have to wait and see what happens with Chinese demand to find out what will happen with copper going forward.
It also suggests that the market could “expect ongoing supply disappointments, simply because it is a feature of the industry,” and points to several larger projects to keep an eye on. Indeed, another supply disappointment popped up this week when Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN) was forced to briefly halt operations at its Candelaria mine due to heavy rains and flooding in Chile. Click here to read the full article.
5. Grafoid Pursuing Automated MesoGraf™ Production with $8.1-million Grant
Graphene research, development and investment company Grafoid scored an $8.1-million grant from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (STDC) last month, and Resource Investing News caught up with Dr. Gordon Chiu, Grafoid’s president and chief technology officer, to get a bit more insight into the company’s technology.
The STDC grant will be used to automate the production of MesoGraf™ graphene, and while Dr. Chiu couldn’t share too many details about how the automation process will actually work, he was able to speak about why the technology will be important to the graphene industry. Click here to read the full article.
Securities Disclosure: I, Teresa Matich, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: Grafoid is a client of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.