Infinite Unknown

- The UN prepares to go to war for the first time, with a 3,000-strong task force sent to fight rebels in the Congo (Daily Mail, June 14, 2013)

• 3,000 UN troops are being deployed to the central African nation
  
• It is the first time that the UN will be in direct control of a fighting force
• Even normally-reluctant Russia and China voted in favour of the action
  
• Mineral-rich Congo has been wracked by years of civil war
  
• Conflict was originally sparked by the genocide in neighbouring Rwanda

The UN is about to go to war for the first time in its history after the Security Council voted unanimously to intervene to fight rebels in the Congo.

Around 3,000 UN troops wearing the blue insignia, are being deployed to the central African nation which has been wracked by years of civil war and lawlessness.

The UN has led a 14-year-long peacekeeping in a bid to end the ethic conflict which was sparked by the genocide in neighbouring Rwanda when thousands of Hutus fled into the Congo to evade justice.

Much of the fighting is now over the country’s natural resources which include large quantities of gold, copper, diamonds, and coltan (a mineral used in cell phones).

Continue reading »

Tags: Africa, China, Coltan, Congo, copper, Diamonds, Global News, Gold, Government, Military, Politics, Russia, U.N.

- Mystery Surrounding Collapse Of Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange Deepens; Four Arrested (ZeroHedge, May 26, 2013)

Tags: China, copper, Hong Kong, precious metals

This is the ‘Greatest Depression’.

- The Price Of Copper And 11 Other Recession Indicators That Are Flashing Red (Economic Collapse, May 7, 2013):

There are a dozen significant economic indicators that are warning that the U.S. economy is heading into a recession.  The Dow may have soared past the 15,000 mark, but the economic fundamentals are telling an entirely different story.  If historical patterns hold up, the economy is heading for a very rocky stretch.  For example, the price of copper is called “Dr. Copper” by many economists because it so accurately forecasts the future direction of the U.S. economy.  And so far this year the price of copper is way down.  But that is not the only indicator that is worrying economists.  Home renovation spending has fallen dramatically, retail spending is crashing in a way not seen since the last recession, manufacturing activity and consumer confidence are both declining, and troubling economic data continues to come pouring out of Asia and Europe.  So why do U.S. stocks continue to skyrocket?  Will U.S. financial markets be able to continue to be divorced from reality?  Unfortunately, as we have seen so many times in the past, when stocks do catch up with reality they tend to do so very rapidly.  So you better put on your seatbelts because a crash is coming at some point.

But most average Americans are not that concerned with the performance of the stock market.  They just want to be able to go to work, pay the bills and provide for their families.  During the last recession, millions of Americans lost their jobs and millions of Americans lost their homes.  If we have another major recession, that will happen again.  Sadly, it appears that another major recession is quickly approaching.

The following are 12 recession indicators that are flashing red… Continue reading »

Tags: China, Collapse, copper, Economy, EU, Europe, Global News, Retailers, U.S.

- Precious Metals Plunge And India’s Industrial Production Crashes (ZeroHedge, Dec. 12, 2011):

The metals space has had a rather disconcerting start to the week this evening with Silver and Copper dropping almost 2% from their opening levels and then Gold following suit. All this as the USD inches very gradually up tracking almost perfectly with Crude for now. These moves seem very liquidation-like in their velocity but have for now stabilized at the lows. The last few minutes saw some of the ugliest macro data we have seen in a while come out of India as it’s Industrial Production growth missed expectations by a mile falling to levels only seen in the middle of the global economic shutdown in Q1 2009. So another leg in the EM-will-save-us-all stool just got kicked out and still we are to believe the US will decouple and ‘muddle-through’?

The metals are ‘decoupling’ from oil for now and it was interesting that the reaction in Gold was ‘delayed’ a few hours on the simultaneous drop in Copper and Silver. They are extending their losses now after the India IP print…

ES is leaking back from its highs but is trading in a narrow range so far and maybe 3-4pts rich to broad risk assets for now.

Charts: Bloomberg

Tags: Commodities, copper, Economy, Global News, Gold, India, Oil, Silver

See also:
– Gold And Silver Plunge-Fest – Case Closed: CME Hikes Gold, Silver, Copper Margins

“CME raised gold margins twice in August. Including the increases that take effect Monday, the margin increases since Aug. 11 total 55%.”

- CME Raises Gold, Silver, Copper Margin Requirements (Wall Street Journal, Sep. 24, 2011):

Exchange operator CME Group Inc. will raise the collateral requirements for trading in gold, copper and silver futures after a volatile week.

Gold margins will be raised by 21%, silver margins by 16%, and copper margins by 18%, effective at the close of trading Monday, CME said in an email after trading closed Friday.

Following the change, speculative investors in the benchmark 100-troy ounce gold contract must put up $11,475 to open a position and maintain $8,500 of that to keep it overnight. Producers and consumers of the precious metal must put up $8,500 to open a position, and the same figure to hold it overnight.

Continue reading »

Tags: CME, copper, Gold, Silver

… which is another reason why the US never wants to leave Afghanistan.

- US ‘Discovers’ Vast Mineral Riches Worth Nearly $1 Trillion In Afghanistan

(Bloomberg) — Afghan minister of mines Wahidullah Shahrani said geologists have discovered untapped mineral deposits worth an estimated $3 trillion, which could help drive economic growth and reduce unemployment.

“There is a massive copper deposit located in Balkhab district of Saripul province,” Sharani told reporters in the capital Kabul today at a joint press conference with U.S. deputy under secretary of defense Paul Brinkley. “It is valued at billions of U.S. dollars and one of the biggest untapped copper mines in Afghanistan.”

The Afghan Geological Survey, which is mapping the country’s mineral resources with help from the Task Force for Business and Stability Operation set up by Brinkley, estimates the country’s mineral wealth at $3 trillion. The estimate is based on a survey of 30 percent of the country’s land mass. Afghanistan may hold unexplored mineral deposits worth as much as $1 trillion, the Pentagon said in June, citing U.S. Geological Survey data.

The new copper discovery is bigger than the current Aynak copper deposit in Logar province, south east of Kabul, according to a report published by the GSA today.

Continue reading »

Tags: Afghanistan, copper, Economy, Global News, Government, Minerals, Politics, Science, U.S.

Related article:

- Mystery trader captures 80pc of London’s copper market (Telegraph)

Join the campaign to crash JP Morgan and protect your assets:

- Max Keiser: Want JP Morgan to Crash? Buy Silver!

The trade was described in the LME’s daily update as ‘between 50pc and 80pc’ of the 350,000 tonnes of copper in reserves

The American investment bank JP Morgan is the mystery trader that grabbed more than half the copper on the London Metal Exchange, The Daily Telegraph has learned.

The $1.5bn (£1bn) trade was described in the LME’s daily update as “between 50pc and 80pc” of the 350,000 tonnes in reserves. This pushed up the price for the immediate delivery of copper to $8,700 – its highest level since the financial crisis in October 2008.

A high premium on the spot copper price normally reflects fear of a shortage of the metal, which is in hot demand across the world as a vital component in a mass of products from electrical gadgets to wiring.

A source close to the situation said that JP Morgan had bought the copper contracts, adding that amount is closer to the “lower portion of the range” disclosed by the LME.

Traders said JP Morgan’s name had been circulating the market all day as the most likely buyer, especially since it is about to launch a physically-backed “exchange-traded fund” (ETF) in copper imminently.

One metals broker dealing on the LME said: “The story is that they’re positioning themselves in front of the ETF. There’s been a lot of speculation it’s them.”

Traders noted that there was no physical shortage of copper in the markets but that fears of a squeeze have persisted ever since a raft of investment banks announced their intention to launch ETFs this autumn.

Last month metal traders wrote to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) claiming that licensing the funds, which are also likely to be launched by BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, may amount to “approving the next financial bubble”.

Continue reading »

Tags: Commodities, copper, Economy, Global News, JPMorgan

A bleak Ghazni Province seems to offer little, but a Pentagon study says it may have among the world’s largest deposits of lithium. (The New York Times)

WASHINGTON — The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.

The previously unknown deposits – including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium - are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.

An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys.

The vast scale of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth was discovered by a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists. The Afghan government and President Hamid Karzai were recently briefed, American officials said.

While it could take many years to develop a mining industry, the potential is so great that officials and executives in the industry believe it could attract heavy investment even before mines are profitable, providing the possibility of jobs that could distract from generations of war. Continue reading »

Tags: Afghanistan, Commodities, copper, Economy, Global News, Gold, Government, Hamid Karzai, Iron, Lithium, Pentagon, Politics, U.S.

Wait until the dollar is starting to collapse. Then you will see commodities rise like the sun.
Commodities will outshine everything else.
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The price of key industrial metals has fallen further over the last four months than occurred during the worst years of Great Depression between 1929 and 1933, according to research by Barclays Capital.

Worker at the Chuquicamata copper mine, 1,000 kms north of Santiago, Chile. Photo: AFP

Kevin Norrish, the bank’s commodities strategist, said the average fall in the price of copper, lead, and zinc has been roughly 60pc since the peak in July this year. All three metals were traded on the London Metal Exchange in the inter-war years so it is possible to make a comparison.

Continue reading »

Tags: Commodities, copper, Economy, Financial Crisis, Great Depression, Lead, Recession, Zinc

The Varanus Island gas explosion and subsequent loss of around 30 percent of the state’s gas supplies is creating serious problems for the state’s massive mining industry and will affect productivity and supply for months, rather than weeks.

“Western Australia supplies about a third of the world’s iron ore, 20 percent of the gold and tens of thousands of tonnes of copper, nickel, zinc, lead and other industrial staples.”
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PERTH (Reuters) – Western Australian miners, which supply the world with metals and iron ore, fear sharp falls in productivity and lay-offs after a gas-plant explosion robbed them of power, industry and local government officials said on Sunday.

“This is very serious,” Reg Howard Smith, head of the state’s Chamber of Minerals and Energy, said after crisis talks with some of the world’s biggest resources firms, including BHP Billiton BHP..AX(BLT.L), Rio Tinto (RIO.AX)(RIO.L) and BP (BP.L).

“We’re seeing some stand-downs of staff occurring and we’re still deciding what needs to be done,” Smith told Reuters.

Western Australia lost about a third of its energy supplies last week when an explosion crippled a gas-handling plant on the tiny island of Varanus, about 100 km (62 miles) off Australia’s northwest coast. The Varanus plant, close to offshore gas fields, is operated by a unit of U.S.-based Apache Corp (APA.N).

Tim Wall, managing director of Apache’s Australian unit, said on Sunday he was sticking with an earlier estimate of “months, not weeks” before damage to the plant and associated gas pipelines was repaired and operations could restart.

Western Australia’s state government is trying to import more diesel from Asia to offset the drop in gas supplies, state premier Alan Carpenter said, noting that BP, which operates a diesel refinery in the state, was already at maximum production.

But getting diesel to remote, outback mines could take time.

“There is no wand to make this crisis disappear,” Carpenter told reporters on Sunday. “It’s one thing to get the diesel here on ships and another to where it’s needed by truck.”

Western Australia supplies about a third of the world’s iron ore, 20 percent of the gold and tens of thousands of tonnes of copper, nickel, zinc, lead and other industrial staples. Continue reading »

Tags: Commodities, copper, Gas, Gold, Iron, Lead, Nickel, Zinc