Chris Ecclestone: What M&A Deals Reveal About Management—and if They're Worth Your Investment Dollars
Source: Alec Gimurtu of The Metals Report  (7/2/13)
"Obvious" or "huh/what?"—these are the two types of merger and acquisition deals, according to Hallgarten & Co. Principal Analyst Chris Ecclestone. In this wide-ranging interview with The Metals Report, Ecclestone discusses the anatomy of a mining deal, a few strategic metals stories flying under the radar and Soros Fund's latest maneuver in the metals market. Along the way, he skewers management teams that cut costs everywhere except the corner office while spending billions on mega-mines with no future. More >

China, Base Metal Tiger, Sets the Trend for Metals: Stefan Ioannou
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Gold Report  (7/1/13)
Industrial metal prices have struggled to find firm footing. Stefan Ioannou of Haywood Securities tees up near-, medium- and long-term scenarios for three industrial metals—copper, zinc and nickel—and explains why he is most enthusiastic about zinc. In this interview with The Gold Report, Ioannou discusses companies that stand to benefit from the coming supply squeezes and China's role as both supplier and consumer of all three metals. More >

Rare Earth Price Jump: Just the Beginning?
Source: Shivom Seth, Mineweb  (7/1/13)
"Prices for the 17 elements have jumped 10% over the past two weeks." More >

What China's Crackdown on 'Midnight Mining' Means for REE Projects
Source: Jack Lifton, Technology Metals Research  (6/20/13)
"The rare earth mining industry will be saddled with permanent increased operation costs." More >

Seven Australian Companies to Survive a Metals Market Correction
Source: Kevin Michael Grace of The Metals Report   (6/18/13)
Australian mining companies have been hard hit by falling commodities prices and rising costs. But Petra Capital Analyst Andrew Richards believes his country's resource sector has turned a corner. In this interview with The Metals Report, Richards says that costs are falling and China's need for Australian metals will continue to grow. He also names companies that are well positioned to flourish in the near future. More >

Some Like It Hot: Lisa Morrison on the Outlook for Industrial Metals
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Metals Report  (6/11/13)
Commodities may have broken out of a commodity supercycle and could be hitting a cyclical trough. Lisa Morrison, the principal consultant of CRU Group in Philadelphia, analyzes the price outlook for 26 commodities over the next four years and gives them a temperature rating from hot to freezing. In this interview with The Metals Report, Morrison, using this rating methodology, details which commodities she expects to offer the best upside for investors and which to avoid. More >

China Planning New Rare Earth Crackdowns
Source: Dorothy Kosich, Mineweb  (6/7/13)
"China accounted for more than 85% of global rare earth production last year, also accounting for 70% of global consumption." More >

The Conflict over Conflict Metals: Lisa Reisman
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Metals Report  (6/4/13)
Much has been said of the massive scope of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and Lisa Reisman, managing editor of MetalMiner.com, sees opportunity in the controversial provisions governing conflict minerals. In this interview with The Metals Report, Reisman discusses how companies are dealing with the new requirements and names companies closest to production in the crucial tantalum, tungsten and tin space. More >

The Copper–S&P 500 Disconnect
Source: Scott Wright, Zeal Intelligence  (5/31/13)
"No longer just a boring industrial metal, copper is a flamboyant asset that has made fortunes for investors and speculators." More >

Flake Graphite Prices Have Bottomed: Simon Moores
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Metals Report  (5/28/13)
Growth potential among end-users and underinvestment on the supply side makes graphite an obvious go-long play, according to Simon Moores, manager of Industrial Minerals Data. China's consolidation of graphite production plays a role in that scenario. Now is the time to look for responsible junior graphite miners that base their economics on current (lower) prices, says Moores in this interview with The Metals Report. More >

How George Topping Is Profiting from Copper Price Volatility
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Metals Report  (5/21/13)
Everything you thought you knew about copper is wrong. Is it an economic barometer? Nope. Do copper warehouses decrease volatility? Hardly. Can investors play small-cap base metals producers for profit? You bet. These are the conclusions Analyst George Topping shared with us in his interview with The Metals Report. Find out why Doctor Copper just might be stripped of its credentials and whether you should trade in your gold for platinum group metals. More >

Brent Cook's Primer on Reading Drill Result Press Releases
Source: JT Long of The Gold Report  (5/20/13)
"Half science, half art, half luck," is how Brent Cook describes a geologist's work in distinguishing an anomaly from a deposit. But in his interview with The Gold Report,
the publisher of Exploration Insights suggests investors will have an easier time distinguishing good drill results from bad if they know how to dissect a company's press releases. And despite the current preference for cost cutting over discovery, Cook discusses several miners whose futures are bright.
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Salmon Sperm May Provide Cheap Option for Rare Earths Recovery
Source: Dorothy Kosich, Mineweb  (5/20/13)
"Dried salmon milt or sperm is a low-cost and environment-friendly method to extract rare earth metals." More >

Caesars Report's Second Most Important Factor in Picking a Winning Mining Investment: Jurisdiction
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Gold Report  (5/17/13)
Jurisdiction risk continues to grow as a result of countries attempting to capitalize on higher commodity prices. In this interview for The Gold Report,Thibaut Lepouttre, editor of Caesars Report, a newsletter and mining portal in Belgium, discusses which jurisdictions offer better value to investors and which countries to avoid. He also offers suggestions on where to look outside of North America for compelling values in junior mining. More >

Tips for Diversifying Beyond Gold from Brent Cook
Source: JT Long of The Metals Report  (5/14/13)
Last month's landslide at Utah's Bingham Canyon, one of the world's largest copper mines, triggered significant discussion on possible copper shortages. Brent Cook, veteran geologist and publisher of Exploration Insights, puts the landslide into perspective in this interview with The Metals Report. And for investors who want to dig out profit potential beyond the yellow metal, Cook gives us a byproduct primer and suggests base metals are a great way to diversify. More >

Best Investments 2013: How the Mining Mess Will Send Platinum Soaring
Source: Tony Daltorio, Money Morning  (5/10/13)
"While platinum's long-term outlook is bright, a short-term price catalyst is about to take place, as early as this week." More >

The Real Reason Gold Fell—and Why It Has Already Stabilized: Lawrence Roulston
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Gold Report  (5/8/13)
Things are upside down in the gold market. Valuations are irrationally low, while global consumerism fuels demand and supply comes up short. Lawrence Roulston, editor and publisher of Resource Opportunities, advises people to trust their guts as well as the numbers when weeding through prospective investments. In this interview with The Gold Report,
he skirts around conspiracy theories regarding the recent gold sell-off and keeps his advice simple: lower expectations, get rid of poorly performing investments and load up on the companies going cheap. If you push against the trend, you might come out with your feet on the ground.
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Richard Karn: New Mining Technology Could Increase Profits
Source: JT Long of The Metals Report  (5/7/13)
The need for low-cost production may prove to be the mother of invention, argues Emerging Trends Report Editor Richard Karn. Although miners are far more technologically conservative than oil producers, today's tough financing environment may prompt technological advancements in a sector that has historically approached processing "with brute force rather than finesse," says Karn. In this interview with The Metals Report, Karn explores the possibilities for technological advancement in the mining space and tells us how we could (theoretically) reach a state of "resource equilibrium." More >

Special Report from the SME Conference: How to Find Money in Any Market
Source: JT Long of The Gold Report  (5/6/13)
Money: Mining companies need it and investors want to know that companies will use that money to make them money. An innovative conference sponsored by the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME), called "Current Trends in Mining Finance—An Executive's Guide: What Are Lenders, Investors Looking For?", brought together about 145 experts who were actively funding and running companies—and looking for answers. In this interview with The Gold Report,
SME Executive Director David Kanagy and Conference Co-Chair Tim Alch share some insights about alternative funding that could help more companies survive the year.
More >

Luisa Moreno: Brace Yourself for Three More Years of Heavy Rare Earth Shortages
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Metals Report  (4/30/13)
Rare earth elements are a crucial component of our everyday lives, but many of the companies unearthing them are still learning to navigate the supply chain. Those that can master the dance of metallurgy and end-user relationships will find success, says Luisa Moreno, a senior research analyst with Euro Pacific in Toronto. In this interview with The Metals Report, Moreno updates us on which miners are making the most progress. More >

Bob Moriarty: US Energy Self-Sufficiency Nothing But 'Feel-Good BS'
Source: JT Long of The Energy Report  (4/30/13)
What the "tree huggers" don't realize, says 321energy.com founder Bob Moriarty, is that "the BMWs they drive to anti-Keystone protests need fuel." But the pipeline supporters who expect that fuel to come from American sources are just as delusional, Moriarty asserts in his scathing interview with The Energy Report. That's why he's looking beyond North America for lucrative oil plays. Find out which international producers may be ideally positioned to supply an energy-hungry U.S., and why Moriarty believes oil should be taxed "to the limit." More >

Anorthosite: What It Is and Why You Should Care
Source: Sally Lowder of The Metals Report  (4/23/13)
Copper and nickel are two metals modern society cannot get enough of, but there is not enough to go around, says Rick Mills, publisher of Ahead of the Herd. Add in mounting production costs and you have a supply-and-demand disaster in the making. But when it comes to making fiberglass and aluminum, Mills says in this interview with The Metals Report that he sees a revolution in the making, and its name is anorthosite. More >

Can Equities Cushion the Blow of Falling Gold Prices?: Peter Rose
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Gold Report   (4/19/13)
The recent fall in precious metals prices has investors on edge. Many precious metals equities were hurting even before the latest precious metals drop. In this interview with The Gold Report, Peter Rose, head of mining research with Fox-Davies Capital Ltd. in London, provides a European perspective on mining and advises looking at under-appreciated jurisdictions (think Europe) and neglected metals like tin, lead and zinc.
More >

How One Slip Can Create a Copper Supply Emergency
Source: Frank Holmes, Frank Talk  (4/18/13)
"The landslide in Utah is just one example of how quickly and unexpectedly the supply and demand factors facing the red metal can shift." More >

These Three Triggers Will Produce a Resurgence in Natural Resources Prices: Greg Dorsey
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Gold Report   (4/17/13)
Three trends will light a fire under natural resource prices and equities in the coming years, according Greg Dorsey, editor of Leeb's Real World Investing. Buying small- to mid-cap equities now and holding them as a long-term option against the metal price is a winning strategy, whether you are talking about gold, silver, copper, platinum or palladium. In this interview with The Gold Report, Dorsey shares the names of favorite companies that could profit from the expected surge. More >