The Top Ten Posts for 2015
Selling Metal Concentrates: Payable Metal, Treatment Charges, Penalties, Terms of Sale
Concentrate sales is a complex and poorly understood part of the resource supply chain. And yet it must be understood to form any opinion on suitable resource sector investment. If you are not in the business, it is very difficult to get accurate information on any part of the concentrate business.
Copper: How it is Sold and Priced
Related to the above and again it is difficult to get information on this topic.
The Investment Clock Revisited
An investment clock from Citi, one of the best I have seen. Needs to be updated but it is something user friendly for the investor.
Worth Watching: Pilbara Minerals Limited (ASX: PLS)
The price was $0.072 when I posted this article. Today it is $0.29. PLS is a great tantalum and lithium story. The company is run by Neil Biddle, a very successful entrepreneur. Worth a look.
Equivalent grade is the term used where mineralisation that is comprised of several metals of economic value is converted to a single metal. This article shows the reader how to calculate equivalent grade.
The investor should not use equivalent grade as a basis for an investment decision. Read more about the risks here.
Australian LNG Projects are in Serious Trouble
There are six large Australian LNG projects under construction or recently in production. The total capital cost is around AUD200 billion. This post gives details on the global LNG market, including details on pricing with a particular focus on Australia.
The World is More Random Than You Think
This is one of a series of articles I have written on the psychology of investment decision making. It is human nature to see order where there is none and to see patterns that do not exist. Similarly, we have tendency to ascribe skill rather than luck to desired outcomes. Read more on skill vs luck here and on human optimism here.
Australia’s Superb Housing Bubble
This has been one of the world’s greatest bubbles. In a later post I show pictures of what AUD1 million will buy in Sydney. Not much, read it here. I also called a top near the end of last year, read that here. Recent data show that the market is now in decline.
Famous geology quotes are rare. Here’s an excellent one.
Andy loved geology. I imagine it appealed to his meticulous nature. An ice age here, a million years of mountain building there, plates of bedrock grinding against each other over a span of millenia…geology is the study of pressure and time. That’s all it takes really. Pressure and time.
The Shawshank Redemption
The Best Chart I Have Seen on Oil Prices
This chart, from Alhambra Investment Partners, shows the correlation between the oil price and recessionary periods. It is excellent.