UK museum buys gold bracelet from the Iron Age

UK museum buys gold bracelet from the Iron Age
$1k for one bitcoin
Vancouver backer of giant Arizona copper mine surges 80% on environment study
National Energy Board tells companies to publicly disclose hydraulic fracturing fluid recipes
Vancouver uranium junior enjoys spectacular November
With one month to go, Indonesia ban has nickel on knife's edge

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 06:23 PM PST

The Yorkshire Museum on Wednesday purchased a 2,00 year old gold Iron Age bracelet found in a field near the town of Tadcaster, North Yorkshire in 2011.

A similar bracelet was found just a few metres away a year earlier. The first went for £25,000 ($40,000) and the second for £30,000 ($49,000).

The museum raised the requisite money to purchase the two bracelets through public donations.

"We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the public and without their help we may have seen the bracelet enter a private collection," said the museum's curator of archaeology, Natalie McCaul.

"We are now looking forward to researching the torcs to learn more about both of them and what they can tell us about life in Yorkshire 2,000 years ago."

"They undoubtedly belonged to an extremely wealthy, possibly royal, member of the Brigantes tribe, who ruled most of North Yorkshire during the Iron Age."

$1k for one bitcoin

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 05:34 PM PST

Bitcoin broke the $1,000 per unit barrier on Wednesday according to Japanese exchange Mt. Gox, which manages bitcoin trading.

At 16:40 GMT bitcoin had reached $1,073 per unit. One month ago bitcoin was trading at $205.

Bitcoin is moving quickly towards the value of gold, which was trading at $1,239 per troy ounce at the close of Wednesday trading.

Two weeks ago a US Senate hearing displayed no hostility towards the virtual currency, creating a surge of investment that has pushed bitcoin towards the $1,000 mark.

Though bitcoin has not yet been subjected to heavy-handed regulation in Asia, Europe and the US, regulators and lawmakers around the world are discussing the implications of the virtual currency's expansion, particularly regarding its association with black market purchases.

Vancouver backer of giant Arizona copper mine surges 80% on environment study

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 03:48 PM PST

Augusta Resource Corp. (TSE, NYSEMKT:AZC) screamed more than 80% higher on Thursday after announcing the US Forest Service has completed the final environmental impact statement for its massive Rosemont Copper project.

The Rosemont Copper project near Tucson, Arizona would be the third largest copper mine in the US and the impact statement follows an exhaustive six-year review process.

Augusta now expects a water use permit for which it has already secured the rights and the final so-called record of decision from environmental authorities in the US in the first quarter of next year, with construction starting in the second half of 2014.

Rosemount mine construction and commissioning is pegged at $1.23 billion of which more than $100 million has already been spent with planned production scheduled for 2015.

Augusta has inked a deal with streaming company Silver Wheaton which in exchange will inject $230 million in up-front cash payment for 100% of Rosemont's life of mine gold and silver production. The Vancouver-based company also has a $106 million deal with Korean investors, leaving it to raise $890 million for capex.

At the close Augusta shares were trading up 63.7% at $1.68 on the NYSE MKT, with the counter adding another 12.5% in after hours trading to bring its gains on the day to 83.5%. More than 950,000 shares changed hands versus normal volumes for the stock of 330,000.

The $242 million company is still showing losses for 2013 – it is down 37% year to date.

At full tilt Rosemont could account for about 10% of annual US copper output, producing 243 million pounds of copper per year, 5.4 million pounds of molybdenum, 2.9 million ounces of silver and small quantities of gold as a by-product over a mine life of more than 22 years.

Augusta estimates production costs of just $0.87 a pound of copper compared to today's price for the red metal of $3.20.

National Energy Board tells companies to publicly disclose hydraulic fracturing fluid recipes

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 02:12 PM PST

Canada's National Energy Board (NEB) has joined forces with FracFocus.ca to get oil and gas companies to publicly disclose information on the fluids used in their hydraulic fracturing operations.

On Wednesday, the NEB signed an agreement with the BC Oil and Gas Commission – which runs the FracFocus website – the US-based Ground Water Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission.

"We understand that Canadians demand that hydraulic fracturing be done safely, responsibly and transparently," NEB CEO Gaétan Caron noted in a statement. "Joining FracFocus.ca is another step in making sure Canadians have ready access to important information on the process and understand how the NEB promotes safety and environmental protection for these types of activities."

All companies regulated by the Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act will have 30 days after a fracturing operation is complete to post on FracFocus.ca details of their practices and the fluids they used. The areas under this jurisdiction include the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, the Arctic offshore and certain frontier lands and offshore areas not covered by provincial and federal agreements.

The NEB expects this intiative to be fully operational by early 2014.

Hydraulic fracturing is strongly opposed by various environmental groups, primarily because of the chemicals used in the process. Hydraulic fracturing blends are often exempt from disclosure because they're considered a trade secret.

Vancouver uranium junior enjoys spectacular November

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 01:49 PM PST

Zadar Ventures Ltd (CVE:ZAD) jumped 18% on Wednesday in heavy volumes bringing its gains for November to 57%.

The Vancouver-based uranium explorer last week picked up two new properties in the Athabasca basin bringing to five the number of major projects the company is advancing in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

The Highrock and Riverlake Uranium projects bought from Canterra Minerals are situated near the past producing Key Lake mine which produced 209m pounds from 1983 to 2002.

The Athabasca basin is the epicentre of Canada's uranium industry hosting apart from Key Lake, the McArthur River, Cigar Lake and Millenium uranium mines.

The Patterson Lake area in Saskatchewan is the current hotspot and with its PNE project Zadar joins Fission Uranium and Alpha Minerals which recently entered a joint venture, Azincourt Uranium, Aldrin Resources among others exploring the PL conductor corridor.

By the close Zadar pulled back slightly, but still up 16.6% at $0.315 on the Toronto Venture Exchange. More than 460,000 shares versus usual daily volume of around 75,000 shares changed hands on Wednesday, making Zadar one of the most actively traded stocks on the day.

The $5 million company, which raised $2m for its drilling activities in September, is up 36% since the start of year despite a tough uranium and junior mining market.

Spot prices for uranium are languishing at 8-year lows of $36 a pound and have not recovered since the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011 despite more than 70 reactors being built around the world, 29 of them in China.

With one month to go, Indonesia ban has nickel on knife's edge

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 12:38 PM PST

While lead and tin have been receiving lots of love from metals and mining investors recently, the nickel market remains in a slump.

Three-months nickel on the LME has fallen more than 20% in 2013 from opening levels of $17,450 a tonne, hitting 4-year lows in October.

While there's been a flicker of optimism returning to the market in recent weeks, Tuesday's price of $13,540 for the steelmaking raw material, remains way below $18,700 in February.

A new report by Platts suggests "much of the problem for the nickel market has been supply-side related."

A substantial global surplus have developed since 2010 with research by Citi Bank forecasting market supply topping demand by more than 75,000 tonnes in 2013.

Oversupply has not translated into cuts in production. Global output is forecast to rise for the first time to over 2m tonnes in 2015. That's up from 1.4m tonnes in 2007.

A number of large new nickel laterite projects are being ramped up to full capacity, including:

VNC New Caledonia – 60,000 mt/year
Ambatovy Madagascar – 60,000 mt/year
Koniambo New Caledonia – 60,000 mt/year
Sorowako Indonesia – 80,000 mt/year
Onca Puma Brazil – 57,000 mt/year
Barro Alto Brazil – 36,000 mt/year
Talvivaara Finland – 50,000 mt/year

While not all these project will be brought up to nameplate capacity, large producers are eager to produce at full tilt to drive down overall costs.

For smaller producers that poses a significant threat and some estimates put the portion of loss-making nickel operations around the world at 30% of the total.

The number one uncertainty in the nickel market at the moment is the impact of Indonesia's proposed ban on export shipments of unprocessed metals which is set to come into effect on January 1.

Indonesia dominates the nickel export business, accounting for 28% of global supply, and should the ban come into effect as planned prices could rise significantly – as much as 20% – 30% according to Standard Chartered or at least $17,000 a tonne according to Citi Bank.

However, the government of Indonesia seems to favour a phasing-in period which could delay an outright ban – if that in fact ever comes into force – to at least 2017.

In the second scenario the next three years would see increasing commercial stockpiles in addition to the ramp up in mine supply, further depressing the market.

China alone has accumulated more than 30 million tonnes of nickel ore in anticipation of Indonesian disruptions and the inexorable rise of nickel warehouse levels over the past two years – hitting a record 248,850 tonnes last week – shows just how much metal is available at the moment: