The Results Are (Almost) In for Rare Earth Competitors: Alex Knox
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Metals Report  (7/16/13)
Western rare earth companies are in a conditioning period, optimizing on every front to get the leanest capital costs possible. In the next six months, Geologist Alex Knox expects a big shakeout across the rare earth space as companies release amended PEAs and feasibility studies. "That," says Knox in this interview with The Metals Report, "is when smart investors will be able to look at the numbers and pick out the winners." Knox helps us jump the gun by identifying companies with lean, mean stats. More >

Why Stephan Bogner Believes You Should Be 100% Invested in Precious Metals
Source: Brian Sylvester of The Gold Report  (7/15/13)
Now is the time to be brave, to buy when everyone else is selling, advises Stephan Bogner, analyst with Rockstone Research and CEO of bullion dealer Elementum International. Content to go against the grain, Bogner believes investors should be 100% invested in precious metals, both in physical metals and equities. He is interested not only in companies that are profitable now but also in ones that will someday be in the black again. In this interview with The Gold Report, he describes his ideal portfolio, which includes companies operating in far-flung places. More >

Survey: Companies 'Utterly Unprepared' for SEC Conflict Minerals Compliance
Source: Dorothy Kosich, Mineweb  (7/15/13)
"The PwC survey determined that the single biggest challenge for companies is getting accurate information from their suppliers." More >

A Radical Solution for the Rare Earth Supply Crunch: Jack Lifton
Source: Alec Gimurtu of The Metals Report  (7/9/13)
Iron miners don't make cars, so why should rare earth miners make magnets? According to longtime rare earth expert/consultant Jack Lifton, "mine to magnet" vertical integration strategies are little more than pie in the sky schemes. But Lifton just might have the perfect solution for the world's rare earth element supply problems. In this interview with The Metals Report, Lifton tells us how a non-Chinese international rare earth toll refinery would get separated rare earths downstream more efficiently, while simplifying miners' business plans. Find out which companies could be part of the solution. More >

John Kaiser's Strategies for Success in a Bloody Market
Source: JT Long of The Gold Report  (7/8/13)
With so many junior mining companies going into hibernation, John Kaiser of Kaiser Research Online fears that the entire mining sector could fall dormant. In this interview with The Gold Report, he outlines approaches to discovery and development that smart, nimble companies are deploying to stay alive. Whether precious, base or critical metals, or in jurisdictions as exotic as Morocco and as familiar as Nevada, these are the basics required for survival in today's brutal market.
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China Releases Second Round of 2013 REE Export Quotas
Source: Gareth Hatch, Technology Metals Research  (7/8/13)
"Last week, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced the second round of allocations of rare-earth export quotas for 2013." More >

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.
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