MarketCap » Commodities

Gold vs Fiat vs Crypto

Mark Hansen — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 21:57:39 +0000

Many believe John Maynard Keynes considered gold to be “a barbarous relic”. In actual fact he was referring to the fixed exchange rate between the British pound and gold. During WWI the combatants abandoned the gold standard to allow inflation to pay for the war. Once the war was over…

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Equities vs Commodities

Mark Hansen — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 00:34:09 +0000

Jeffrey Gundlach, CEO of DoubleLine said in early January that a bear market would commence when the long term trendline for US 30-year Treasuries is broken, and the yield rose above 2.99%. The rate was 3.08% last Friday, the day the DOW fell 2.5%. But Gundlach, in a webcast titled “Commodities:…

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Mining and Energy Consumption

Mark Hansen — Thu, 11 Jan 2018 06:55:56 +0000

Increasing the share of electricity produced by wind and solar, and the trend to electric cars, will put considerable pressure on the mining industry. Already, according to the International Energy Agency, mining alone accounts for around 10% of the world’s energy consumption. This does not include energy consumed in processing…

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The Gold Silver Ratio

Mark Hansen — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 05:01:23 +0000

For hundreds of years the gold silver ratio was around 15, that is, 15oz of silver buys 1oz of gold. This stability was important because both metals were used as currency (read the history of silver as a currency here and here). In fact, during the 19th century the ratio…

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Conglomerate Gold in the Pilbara – Part III

Mark Hansen — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 00:50:26 +0000

On Friday, Novo Resources Corp (TSXV: NVO) released a rather disappointing report on recent results from work on their Pilbara conglomerate gold project. The stock closed down 18% on the day and is now about 38% off its high. Read more about the Pilbara gold rush here and here. In…

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The Valuable Minerals in Heavy Mineral Sands – Zircon & Monazite

Mark Hansen — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 05:09:59 +0000

Zircon Zircon (zirconium silicate – ZrSiO4) almost always has Zr replaced by rare earth elements. Hafnium is most common, often present in significant quantities, up to 5%. Uranium, thorium and yttrium also occur in the zircon lattice. When uranium and thorium are included in the lattice at the time of…

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The Valuable Minerals in Heavy Mineral Sands – Rutile & Leucoxene

Mark Hansen — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 00:29:45 +0000

Rutile has a theoretical TiO2 content of 100%, however impurities such as iron typically reduce this to 93-97%. TiO2 can also exist as anatase, which has a different crystal structure to rutile. Anatase is primarily used in paper rather than paints and plastics. Anatase is able to convert light into an electrical…

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Conglomerate Gold in the Pilbara – Part II

Mark Hansen — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 02:07:14 +0000

Part I was an introduction to conglomerate-hosted gold in the Pilbara, which included a brief comment on Novo Resources, by far the biggest player in the space. Part II is a brief commentary on some ASX listed companies with conglomerate gold interests in the Pilbara. The companies range from those…

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Conglomerate Gold in the Pilbara – Part I

Mark Hansen — Mon, 09 Oct 2017 23:30:40 +0000

A gold rush is underway in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Prospectors and companies have been finding gold nuggets within conglomerates at the base of the Fortescue Basin. The basin is 2629M to 2775M years old and the basal part, at least, is thought by some to be analogous…

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A First Look at the Australian Mineral Sands Sector

Mark Hansen — Thu, 14 Sep 2017 06:46:35 +0000

This is a very brief overview of the industry, to be followed with more detail in later posts. There are at least 14 ASX listed mineral sands companies, of which 5 are in production. In addition, there are about 12 companies that are either private or public but unlisted, several…

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