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Friday, March 2, 2012

March 2, 2012 - Copper Has Longest Bull Streak Since October; JPMorgan to sell metals concentrates business; Glenstrata is still far from a done deal


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Yesterday's top story was one that was submitted anonymously to Metal Bulletin: "A YOUNG MERCHANT WRITES: I work in metals for a tier one bank" on AMM.com. This was followed by "Comex Gold Selloff Pauses On Physical Buying" by Matt Day for Dow Jones via WSJ.com and "Gold falls around $100 before minor recovery, silver down 7%" by Lawrence Williams for Mineweb.

Quote of the Day:

"People feel that the U.S. is on a gradually improving trend and overall the tone is better. If you get a demand-led story in copper then it can rally again. It’s supported by the long- term supply and demand picture.”

-Carole Ferguson, analyst at Fairfax IS in London, in "Copper Has Longest Bull Streak Since October" by Nicholas Larkin for Bloomberg


Observations - Statistics - Commentary

Auguries — The Great And Powerful Oz
Resource Clips
With all due respect, the majority view is rubbish. If it’s quantitative easing goldbugs were looking for, they just got plenty of it from Europe. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reports in the Telegraph, “Some 800 banks took up 529.5bn euros of loans at European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s second long-term refinancing operation (LTRO) on Wednesday, borrowing at 1% for three years with almost any form of collateral. Citigroup said this amounts to €316bn of fresh liquidity, stripping out renewal of old loans. This compares with €200bn in extra stimulus at the first LTRO in December.”
http://jlne.ws/xVb63q

SmartKnowledgeU Discusses Gold & Silver Manipulation on the Keiser Report (Video)
The Underground Investor
If bullion banks were taking the opposite side of the bet and were net long gold and silver and were trying to squeeze speculators that were short gold and silver for their own benefit, then I would agree that the shorts could be run over and stampeded over, as happened to SemGroup in 2008. However, because the bullion banks perpetually maintain positions that suppress the price of gold and silver, I don’t ever foresee them getting run over in a manner comparable to what happened to Semgroup.
http://jlne.ws/A70lCh

**JS Kim also warns of the danger in trusting in one person's views on gold and silver. This piece is made even more interesting by the crazy webcam angle, which he notes in the text.

METALS OUTLOOK: Gold Could Rebound Again Next Week, But Must Hold Key Price Levels
Kitco News
Gold prices could rebound again next week as the underlying fundamentals of the longer-term outlook have not changed, but market watchers said the yellow metal needs to hold important technical chart price levels to resume rising in the short-term. Prices were lower on Friday and on the week. The most-active April gold contract on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled at $1,709.80 an ounce, down 3.75% on the week. March silver settled at $34.338 an ounce, down 2.43% on the week.
http://jlne.ws/A6jNZq

Alcoa Named Most Admired Metals Company in the World
Press Release
Alcoa (NYSE:AA) has been named the most admired metals company in the world in Fortunemagazine’s annual ranking on corporate reputation. Alcoa shared the top ranking with ArcelorMittal, the European integrated steel and mining company. Alcoa also received top ranking in sustainability and innovation, testament to the Company’s ongoing leadership in two areas that are key to the success of Alcoa’s business, customers and communities.
http://jlne.ws/zYYfVc

Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada presents PDAC 2012

International Convention, Trade Show & Investors Exchange - Mining Investment Show
March 4-7, 2012
Toronto, Canada
PDAC International Convention, Trade Show & Investors Exchange is the world’s leading Convention for people, companies and organizations in, or connected with, mineral exploration. The four-day annual Convention held in Toronto, Canada has grown in size, stature and influence since it began in 1932 and today is the event of choice for the world’s mineral industry. In addition to meeting over 1,000 exhibitors, 27,700 attendees from 120 countries, it allows you the opportunity to attend technical sessions, short courses as well as social and networking events .
http://jlne.ws/y2ZSU5

London Metal Exchange
Nickel, Cobalt & Molybdenum 2012 - London

March 13-14 2012
The LME will be presenting at Metal-Pages' annual Nickel, Cobalt & Molybdenum conference in London on 13-14 March 2012. The conference will bring together experts from both the financial sector and the cobalt, nickel and molybdenum industries through a series of dynamic presentations and panel discussions.
http://jlne.ws/zP4xKz

Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) Product Division Conference
Specialty Metals Conference 2012

March 22-23, 2012
Bonita Springs, FL
http://jlne.ws/w2wZnM


JLN Metals Scorecard 3/1/2012


NYSE LIFFE US Total Volume 121,531


100 oz. Gold Futures Volumes
NYSE LIFFE US 58
CME/NYMEX (Globex + PNT)236,710
CME/NYMEX Open Auction2,996
NYSE LIFFE market share 0.02%
NYSE LIFFE US Electronic market share0.02%


100 oz. Gold Futures Open Interest
CME/NYMEX 456,944
NYSE LIFFE US 1601
NYSE LIFFE US market share 0.35%


Mini Gold Volume
NYSE LIFFE US 7,335
CME E-micro Gold (10 Troy oz)3,080
CME/NYMEX miNY 756
NYSE Liffe market share (Contracts)
65.66%
NYSE Liffe market share (Notional)
78.02%


5,000 oz. Silver Futures Volume
NYSE LIFFE US 6
CME/NYMEX 64,029
NYSE LIFFE US market share 0.01%


Mini Silver Volume
NYSE LIFFE US 3,732
CME/NYMEX miNY 166
CME/NYMEX E-mini 0
NYSE LIFFE US market share95.74%


Additional Metal Futures Volume statistics
EUREX Gold Futures (100 troy ounces)4
TOCOM Gold Futures* (1 kg / 32.15 ounces)
55,573
TOCOM Mini Gold Futures* (100 grams / 3.215 ounces)12,835
TOCOM Silver Futures* (10 kg / 321.51 ounces)575
MCX India* (1 kg / 32.15 ounces)52,554
Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (32 troy ounces / 1 kg)1,504
*Today's date


METAL ETFSMETAL ETFS
ProShares Ultra Silver 586,935
Powershares DB Base Metals Fund 40,785
Market Vectors Gold Miners GG4,212,807
MARKET VECTORS JUNIOR685,586
ProShares UltraShort Gold 168,049
ETFS Precious Metals Baskets Trust2,439
iShares COMEX Gold Trust1,133,238
iShares Silver Trust (ETF) historical prices4,503,788
ETFS PHSYICAL PALLADIUM SHARES7,654
ETFS PHYSICAL PLATINUM SHARES10,559
ETFS GOLD TRUST 80,537
ETFS SILVER TRUST122,100
Market Vectors Steel 44,309
ProShares Ultra Gold 72,806
ProShares UltraShort Silver1,099,436
SPDR Gold Trust5,026,334



Lead Stories

Comex Gold, Silver Wilt As Dollar Climbs
WSJ.com
Gold fell on Friday as strong gains in the dollar left less appetite for the precious metal as an alternative asset. Gold for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, was recently down $9.90, or 0.6%, at $1,712.30 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The dollar snapped higher Friday as some traders closed out bets against the currency. Some investors had been expecting a third round of asset purchases from the Federal Reserve, which would likely weigh on the dollar and send investors seeking gold as an alternative.
http://jlne.ws/y90JFl

Copper steadies, focus on Chinese demand
Reuters
Copper prices steadied on Friday, after rising more than 1 percent in the previous session following reassuring manufacturing data from China, but continued concerns about slow demand from the metal's top consumer kept prices soft.
http://jlne.ws/AcbJgi

Copper Has Longest Bull Streak Since October
Bloomberg
Copper traders are bullish for a fourth consecutive week, the longest streak since October, as manufacturing strengthens from China to the U.S. and stockpiles decline to the lowest in more than two years.
http://jlne.ws/x5A5o1

European physical copper end-users in spot market, premiums high
Platts
Physical copper premiums stayed high in Europe this week on a mixture of factors including a lack of material due to previous arbitrage shipments to Shanghai, low inventory forcing end-users to shop in the spot market and delays to vessels coming from Chile, according to sources. Two producers said that over recent months, uncertainty had led end-users to whittle down inventory and that now they are being forced to buy spot.
http://jlne.ws/zU2fbU

JPMorgan to sell metals concentrates business
Reuters
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is looking to sell its metal concentrates business due to U.S. regulatory restrictions following its acquisition of RBS Sempra Commodities, and currently faces a deadline of mid-year, industry sources told Reuters.
http://jlne.ws/Ac65e8

Glenstrata is still far from a done deal
FT.com
“Glenstrata” will be big. When Glencore and Xstrata announced their proposed merger they talked of the “enhanced scale and market position” the combined group would have. Ivan Glasenberg, Glencore’s chief executive, described it as a “new powerhouse in the global commodities industry." Yet the companies are walking a tightrope between hyping the size and potency of the new company, and playing down potential regulatory concerns.
http://jlne.ws/zbKcyX

**Will the proposed Glenstrata become too big to regulate? It would ultimately be the largest miner of zinc, lead and ferrochrome, and supplier of thermal coal worldwide. Glencore last week: “The parties expect the merger between Glencore and Xstrata not to result in any negative impact on competition in the commodity markets in which the two companies operate." Check out this article.

Implats strike costs $322 million, 120,000 platinum ounces
Reuters via Mineweb
Impala Platinum said that a crippling illegal strike at its key Rustenburg operation has now cost it 120,000 ounces in lost platinum group metals production, which equates to 2.4 billion rand ($322 million) in lost revenue. Johan Theron, a senior executive at Implats, also told Reuters on Friday that the operation was still set to reboot next week as almost 15,000 mineworkers have been rehired, but it remained unclear when full production would resume.
http://jlne.ws/w0GxbO

Zimbabwe Government Intention Not To Nationalize
Dow Jones via Fox Business
"Indigenization has caused a lot of anxiety to investors," Minister Tapiwa Mashakada said, speaking at a Zimbabwe trade and investment conference in South Africa. His comments come as Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMP.JO) is fighting a government threat to remove its Zimbabwe assets for failing to meet the requirements of the country's indigenization law. This law requires foreign investors to give up 51% of assets in a combination of stakes to government-approved assets or community trusts and employee ownership schemes.
http://jlne.ws/AFmZrS

Vedanta Offers to Buy Government Stakes in Hindustan Zinc, Bharat Aluminium
WSJ.com
India-focused miner Vedanta Resources PLC Friday confirmed that it has offered 160 billion rupees ($3.2 billion) to buy the government’s stakes in Hindustan Zinc Ltd. and the erstwhile Bharat Aluminium Co. “They have asked for the offer. We have given them the offer, but haven’t heard back from the government. Vedanta also has to arrange so much of funds, so we are not sure where the matter is at the moment,” Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal told reporters outside the gates of the federal oil ministry.
http://jlne.ws/xjkkS4

Kazakhmys costs offset stronger prices
FT.com
Kazakhmys, the FTSE 100 miner and Kazakhstan’s biggest copper producer, posted flat earnings for 2011 as stronger metals prices were offset by an 18 per cent rise in production costs, driven by the effect of declining grades. Rising costs have been a running theme among results from the mining industry as the price of raw materials and labour have soared.
http://jlne.ws/y79BiN


Futures & ETF News

US Stock Futures Fall On Weak Data From Europe; Oil, Gold Down
Dow Jones via NASDAQ
U.S. stock futures were lower Friday morning as a negative turn in European markets on the back of weak economic data prompted a pullback from recent gains.
http://jlne.ws/yvdk8Z

Copper Futures Near Flat On Investor Caution
WSJ.com
Copper futures hovered near unchanged Friday amid broad market caution in the wake of a sudden spike in crude oil prices and a stronger dollar. The most actively traded contract, for May delivery, was recently down 1.00 cent, or 0.3%, at $3.9215 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Copper futures wavered in a narrow range of about 1% Friday, as caution gripped markets in the wake of two volatile trading sessions which saw prices bounce as much as 4% from low to high.
http://jlne.ws/zWuClS

Gold Bugs: ETFs Hold More Gold Than Italy, France
WSJ.com
Exchange-traded funds continue to climb the charts in the gold world. At 2,469 metric tons, physical gold held by ETFs is now the world’s fourth-largest gold hoard, behind only the official holdings of the US, Germany and the IMF, RBS says. In 10 years, gold has gone from a market dominated by central banks, a tight-knit collection of coin buyers and bullion banks, and the jewelry trade, to a more open market.
http://jlne.ws/xja56a

Commodity ETF Flows: Precious Metals Leads Continued Inflow Surge To Sector
Hard Assets Investor
For second-straight week, all commodity asset classes attract positive inflows. Investors continued sending capital to commodity-related exchange-traded products this past week ending Thursday, even though precious metals such as gold and silver saw major price corrections. Precious metals led the positive wave of inflows to all asset classes, with $588 million in new investments, followed by energy, with $348 million; broad market (multicommodity), with $207 million; industrial metals, with $109 million; and agriculture, with $42 million in inflows.
http://bit.ly/zxDaLy


Commodities

Commodities Rally to Highest Level Since May, Led by Soaring Energy Prices
Bloomberg
Commodities rose to the highest since May, led by surging energy prices, as tensions in the Middle East escalated and improving economic data signaled rising demand for raw materials. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index of 24 raw materials rose 1.4 percent to settle at 713.18 at 3:48 p.m. New York time, after touching 717.45, the highest since May 5. Crude oil topped $110 a barrel for the first time in 10 months, and gold futures rebounded from the biggest decline of the year.
http://jlne.ws/xt6EK2

Oil leaps to highest level since mid-2008
FT.com
Oil leapt to the highest level since the market peak of mid-2008 in a frenzy of buying that followed a disputed report of a pipeline blast in Saudi Arabia. The report, swiftly denied by a Saudi official, was posted on web sites including PressTV, an English-language news channel based in Tehran. Iran is the Saudi kingdom’s main rival in the Middle East oil market, and stands to lose market share as western sanctions increase over its nuclear programme.
http://on.ft.com/wF3UMf

Burst pipe reports spark rise in oil futures

ShareCast
Reports of a burst pipe sent crude oil futures racing past the 110 dollars mark last night, despite the claims being denied by Saudi Arabia, where the pipe was alleged to have occurred. The surge came in the final hour of trading, following a report by Press TV, an English-speaking Iranian state-run broadcaster, which Saudi officials did their best to quash. Press TV claimed that the alleged burst was the result of an explosion in the eastern city of Awamiyah, although that was the extent of the details.
http://jlne.ws/zTWsOU

Corn Drops as Farmers Boost Grain Sales; Soybeans Climb for 10th Session

Bloomberg
Corn dropped for a second day on signs that farmer sales will rise in the U.S. and South America and as a stronger dollar reduced the appeal of commodities. Soybeans gained for a 10th session. Producers were encouraged to increase sales after average U.S. cash-corn prices this week climbed to the highest since November, data from the Minneapolis Grain Exchange show. The dollar rose as much as 0.8 percent against a basket of six currencies, reducing the appeal of commodities as alternative assets.
http://jlne.ws/zNeniV


Investments

Mining stocks – Still on the runway
Free Gold Money Report
Six months ago I wrote that the gold mining stocks were on the runway and ready for take-off. I expected the gold mining stocks from that point to start outperforming gold bullion itself. Since then, however, little has happened.
http://jlne.ws/xVxd6i

Gold prospers as $10 trillion in “safe” assets evaporate
Emerging Money via NASDAQ
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, "Fewer Ports in a Global Storm," it was reported that Credit Suisse calculated that assets deemed "safe" or risk-free by investors had plunged in value from $22 trillion to $12 trillion over the last four years. What is so poignant about this is the increase in the value of gold over that time. SPDR Gold Shares, the exchange-traded fund for gold, went from about $85 a share to over $160 during the same period.
http://jlne.ws/yW3FZB

The Ignored Precious Metal—Platinum—Is Soaring
PRWeb via Houston Chronicle
Sasha Cekerevac, contributor to Penny Stock Detectives, believes that, while everyone is talking about gold and the move up in price in that precious metals sector, investors should be looking at platinum. In his recent Penny Stock Detectives article, Cekerevac argues that platinum has moved up and closed the gap to gold since December. Since that time period, the price spread between gold and platinum went from approximately $220.00 to a current spread of only $50.00. A spread most investors are missing out on, says the financial editor.
http://jlne.ws/zGTq2I


Production News

Strike hits First Quantum's Zambia copper mine
Reuters
Production at the Zambian flagship copper mine of Canada's First Quantum Minerals has ground to a halt because of a strike over wages, the Zambian labour minister said on Friday. Workers at the Kansanshi mine, Zambia's largest copper mine, which produced 231,000 tonnes of the red metal in 2010, downed tools on Thursday, Fackson Shamenda said in a statement.
http://jlne.ws/A5SBz7

Philippine 2011 Metal Output Value Up 9% At PHP122.15 Bln

Dow Jones via TradingCharts.com
The value of Philippine metal production in 2011 rose 9% to PHP122.15 billion from PHP111.97 billion in 2010, with a decline in gold output offset by gains in copper, nickel, chromite, silver, zinc and iron ore production, the Bureau of Mines and Geosciences reported Thursday. Higher global prices and an increase in output following the arrival of new entrants in nickel, gold, silver, copper and chromite led to the rise in value.
http://jlne.ws/z5Hg2x

Sparks fly at mining meet
The Philippine Star
Environmental advocate Regina Paz "Gina" Lopez called mining groups liars, while industrialist Manuel V. Pangilinan, whose vast conglomerate includes Philex Mining, grabbed a microphone and stood up at one point to tell her, "Now you're lying." Sparks flew at an afternoon forum at InterContinental Manila in Makati City yesterday among miners, anti-mining groups and stakeholders.
http://jlne.ws/wshJPP

Cameco to take the reins at Millennium uranium project
Mineweb
Top uranium producer Cameco (TSX: CCO) is set to become the majority owner of the Millenium uranium project in Saskatchewan. Areva, a nuclear power heavyweight, agreed to sell its 27.94 percent stake in the Millennium project to Cameco for $150 million, Cameco said on Friday morning. That would bring Cameco's stake in the Millennium project to 69.9 percent from the 41.96 percent it already owns.
http://jlne.ws/xxRYDA


Regulatory News

Insight: Wall Street, Fed face off over physical commodities
Reuters
Wall Street's biggest banks are locked in an increasingly frantic struggle with the Federal Reserve over the right to retain the jewels of their commodity trading empires: warehouses, storage tanks and other hard assets worth billions of dollars. While the battle over proprietary trading and new derivatives regulations has taken place largely in public view since the 2008 financial crisis, the fight by JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to retain or expand their prized physical commodity operations - most acquired in only the past six years - has remained hidden.
http://jlne.ws/yGRUzm

CFTC chief pushes for position limits
MarketWatch
The top commodities regulator, Gary Gensler, on Friday said that he supports bringing limits on trading in the commodities market in place as Congress intended, a regulation that seeks to curb excessive speculation and potential manipulation in oil and other energy markets.
http://jlne.ws/xAtdpF


Reports, Macroeconomics & Inflation

Inflation: Not as low as you think
CBS News
Forget the modest 3.1 percent rise in the Consumer Price Index, the government's widely used measure of inflation. Everyday prices are up some 8 percent over the past year, according to the American Institute for Economic Research.
http://jlne.ws/wyeYUo

Surprise! The Case for QE3 Is Stronger Than Ever
The Atlantic
For the past three years, economists have loved to hate the recovery. But they're coming around to the possibility that they might have to fall in love with the idea that the comeback is real. Typically, a stronger economy means a more conservative Fed.
http://jlne.ws/wlYzpp

No, Inflation Isn't 8 Percent
Forbes
A study from the American Institute for Economic Research has been getting play this week for the finding that an inflation measure limited to “everyday” purchases sits at 8 percent, far above the 3.1 percent “headline” CPI number put out by the government. CBS headlines the report with “Inflation: Not as Low as You Think” and Drudge went with the succinct “Real inflation at 8%.” But all the report really tells us is something we already know: gas prices have gone up a lot.
http://jlne.ws/ApvWvS


Physicals & Company News

Shore Gold Unable to Secure Financing, Embarks on Cost-Cutting Drive; Shares Decline by 31% to Below Yr Low

NASDAQ
George H. Read, P. Geo., Senior Vice President Exploration and Development of Shore Gold Inc. (SGF.TO) are down below year lows today, with shares currently trading at 28 cents. The shares dipped to 20 cents earlier today. Close to 3.7 million shares have changed hands. The company announced today that since the completion of the Feasibility Study Technical Report on the Star - Orion South Diamond Project in late August 2011, Shore has actively pursued various options for the financing of Project development.
http://jlne.ws/yYyLkL

Colombian Mines Strikes $15.5 Million Agreement With Strategic Investor At Yarumalito
Marketwire via Yahoo! Finance
Colombian Mines Corporation ("Colombian Mines" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that, subject to regulatory approval, Teck Resources Limited ("Teck") and the Company have entered into an agreement with a value of $15,500,000 to Colombian Mines and its shareholders. Teck will make a $1,000,110 "good faith" strategic investment in Colombian Mines by means of a non brokered private placement.
http://jlne.ws/AlkRwZ

First Quantum closes Congo claims agreement with ENRC
Reuters via MiningWeekly.com
Canada's First Quantum Minerals said it has settled its agreement in Congo regarding a claim dispute with Kazakh miner Eurasian Natural Resources Corp (ENRC). The agreement, announced in January, under which ENRC will pay $1.25 billion to First Quantum, closes the chapter on a long-running dispute over ownership of the Kolwezi project in the Democratic Reupublic of Congo. First Quantum said all disputes between it, ENRC, the DR Congo government, the International Finance Corp and the Industrial Development Corp have been settled.
http://jlne.ws/AEJdUh

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Thursday, March 1, 2012

March 1, 2012 - Gold Bounces Back After Selloff; European metals demand rises; Impala Platinum Continues Rehiring Mineworkers Amidst Protestors


| More


Yesterday's top story was "Gold falls around $100 before minor recovery, silver down 7%" by Lawrence Williams for Mineweb. Second place was "Huge Futures Trades Roil Markets" by Jacob Bunge, Matt Phillips and Carolyn Cui for WSJ.com, followed by "Grand Jury Convened in MF Global Case" by Ben Protess and Azam Ahmed for The New York Times.

Editor's Note: Yesterday's slip for gold, silver and copper dominated the news. Today's lead stories include a few perspectives on what to expect following the drop and subsequent gold selloff. Scroll down further to "Reports, Macroeconomics & Inflation" for analysis of recent economic reports and news on Bernanke's speech on Wednesday.

Quote of the Day:

"Yesterday's turbulence will take some digestion and absorption. Gold buyers are becoming cautious."

-George Gero, a vice president and precious metals strategist with RBC Capital Markets, in "Comex Gold Selloff Pauses On Physical Buying" by Matt Day for Dow Jones via WSJ.com


Observations - Statistics - Commentary

Five Minutes With Sunil Annapareddy

Sunil Annapareddy, vice president of marketing and business development for Gold Bullion International (GBI), is focused on the physical side of the gold market. GBI is an institutional precious metals provider that merges its technology with existing systems in the wealth management industry. Investors buy the physical and then can store and insure it through commercial vaulting providers. Annapareddy spoke with JLN Metals editor Nicole V. Rohr about what investors should consider when buying physical, and how new technology has helped buying, storing and insuring physical metals.

Q: How did GBI get started?

A: Two of our founders - this was back in mid-2009 - kind of lost confidence in the paper market and were really looking to diversify their holding in gold assets, and specifically gold, silver, palladium, and platinum. They wanted to buy a decent amount of gold, and really found the process very cumbersome and with very little transparency. They reached out to their private bankers, and basically the bankers said, "You need to have an order up to $20 million or we really can't service you." So, there was really no one servicing the high-net-worth individual, allowing them to basically buy, sell and safely store physical metals. And that's kind of how we got started. The only other options you had were online retail websites where you had to wire money through an account, and there's really not much comfort in that.

Q: How does the technology work with physical buying?

A: In terms of our technology operations platform, we integrate onto wealth management platforms where the advisors on that wealth management platform are able to drop in a ticker and have a bar of gold stored in Zurich or have a bar of silver stored in Salt Lake City. We have four different storage locations: New York, Salt Lake City, London, Zurich.

When an order comes in, we put it out to our network. We partnered with 14 dealers and refiners. We created a proprietary exchange where the order gets sent out to our network of dealers and refiners. Previously, it was an over-the-counter market and whatever price [the dealer] told you was the price you got, or you ended up calling 10 different dealers to find out what the best price was. We’ve partnered with commercial vaulting providers outside of the banking system. So, when someone buys and wants to store with us, we move the metal dealer to the vaulting provider, and essentially they provide the insurance.

Read the rest of the commentary on MarketsWiki: http://jlne.ws/wusKp3


Gold Futures Rebound After Bernanke Rout (Video)

Bloomberg
Gold rebounded in London as investors bought the metal after it tumbled to the lowest level in more than a month. Bullion lost 4.9 percent yesterday in the biggest one-day slump since Dec. 1, 2008, after the Federal Reserve gave no signal it favored a third round of quantitative easing, or QE3, to stimulate the economy. Bloomberg's Alix Steel reports on Bloomberg Television's "Inside Track."
http://jlne.ws/ytU2cn

**Physical buying is also discussed in this video.

UPDATE: Nasdaq Futures Exchange (NFX) traded 25,995 Spot Gold Futures contracts in February. ADV was 1,733 contracts.
Original press release on launch: http://jlne.ws/x4Py89

LME to broaden education and outreach in Asia

Press Release
The London Metal Exchange (LME) is broadening its education and outreach efforts in Asia amid growing interest in futures trading in the region. It has recruited risk consultant and commodity specialist Lesley Campbell, a former consultant to the World Bank, to join a growing team in Asia and spearhead the initiative. Through a new series of seminars run by the Singapore-based Ms Campbell, the LME aims to provide traders, investors and industry players in the region with a greater understanding of how LME contracts can be used to manage the impact of price volatility. The sessions also include a thorough introduction to the regulation, pricing, hedging and delivery procedures for trading on the LME.
http://jlne.ws/xwYABO

Aurubis very well positioned for further internal and external growth – Annual General Meeting resolves dividend payment of € 1.20 per share

Press Release
Aurubis significantly advanced the Group’s internationalisation strategy in fiscal year 2010/11 and is very well positioned for further growth initiatives – both internal and external. This is how Peter Willbrandt, Aurubis AG’s Chief Executive Officer, described the situation at the Annual General Meeting of Europe’s largest copper producer on Thursday in Hamburg, delivering a positive summary of the past fiscal year to the nearly 1,600 shareholders and guests. Willbrandt also thanked his predecessor, Dr Bernd Drouven, under whose chairmanship the very good earnings were generated, for his work in the Group.
http://jlne.ws/xu34SC

Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada presents PDAC 2012
International Convention, Trade Show & Investors Exchange - Mining Investment Show
March 4-7, 2012
Toronto, Canada
PDAC International Convention, Trade Show & Investors Exchange is the world’s leading Convention for people, companies and organizations in, or connected with, mineral exploration. The four-day annual Convention held in Toronto, Canada has grown in size, stature and influence since it began in 1932 and today is the event of choice for the world’s mineral industry. In addition to meeting over 1,000 exhibitors, 27,700 attendees from 120 countries, it allows you the opportunity to attend technical sessions, short courses as well as social and networking events .
http://jlne.ws/y2ZSU5

Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) Product Division Conference
Specialty Metals Conference 2012
March 22-23, 2012
Bonita Springs, FL
http://jlne.ws/w2wZnM

A YOUNG MERCHANT WRITES: I work in metals for a tier one bank

American Metal Miner
I work in metals for a tier one bank. I have done so for a decade... In that time I have seen metals rise and fall and trends come and go. I am surrounded by older traders that have survived and done well on the commodity boom and bust, and sit on comfortable salaries and shareholdings. Those senior players stand now on a precipice of increased competition, lower margins, higher transparency and throttling risk controls. They know the end is in sight and they seem comfortable to take the slow ride in. The market my generation will inherit from them looks bleak, and is devoid of opportunities.
http://jlne.ws/AfLB0o

**This was submitted to Metal Bulletin anonymously by a writer who goes by "Young Merchant." Perspective from a voice that may not be heard very often.


JLN Metals Scorecard 2/29/2012


NYSE LIFFE US Total Volume 114,632


100 oz. Gold Futures Volumes
NYSE LIFFE US 114
CME/NYMEX (Globex + PNT)344,137
CME/NYMEX Open Auction2,158
NYSE LIFFE market share 0.03%
NYSE LIFFE US Electronic market share0.03%


100 oz. Gold Futures Open Interest
CME/NYMEX 461,741
NYSE LIFFE US 1591
NYSE LIFFE US market share 0.34%


Mini Gold Volume
NYSE LIFFE US 15,749
CME E-micro Gold (10 Troy oz)5,253
CME/NYMEX miNY 1,789
NYSE Liffe market share (Contracts)
69.10%
NYSE Liffe market share (Notional)
78.64%


5,000 oz. Silver Futures Volume
NYSE LIFFE US 52
CME/NYMEX 122,807
NYSE LIFFE US market share 0.04%


Mini Silver Volume
NYSE LIFFE US 7,948
CME/NYMEX miNY 597
CME/NYMEX E-mini 1
NYSE LIFFE US market share93.00%


Additional Metal Futures Volume statistics
EUREX Gold Futures (100 troy ounces)11
TOCOM Gold Futures* (1 kg / 32.15 ounces)
97,117
TOCOM Mini Gold Futures* (100 grams / 3.215 ounces)30,821
TOCOM Silver Futures* (10 kg / 321.51 ounces)1,410
MCX India* (1 kg / 32.15 ounces)76,001
Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (32 troy ounces / 1 kg)2,273
*Today's date


METAL ETFSMETAL ETFS
ProShares Ultra Silver 1,932,751
Powershares DB Base Metals Fund 58,676
Market Vectors Gold Miners GG7,876,690
MARKET VECTORS JUNIOR1,240,311
ProShares UltraShort Gold 724,974
ETFS Precious Metals Baskets Trust7,930
iShares COMEX Gold Trust4,096,977
iShares Silver Trust (ETF) historical prices14,637,993
ETFS PHSYICAL PALLADIUM SHARES17,089
ETFS PHYSICAL PLATINUM SHARES43,817
ETFS GOLD TRUST 149,484
ETFS SILVER TRUST391,247
Market Vectors Steel 18,102
ProShares Ultra Gold 341,190
ProShares UltraShort Silver2,428,564
SPDR Gold Trust8,338,764



Lead Stories

Gold Bounces Back After Selloff (Video)
CNBC
Gold is recovering from yesterday's monster selloff, with the Fast Money team and Dan Dicker, of Mercbloc.
http://jlne.ws/w01bV7

Gold selloff risks halting investors’ buying spree

MarketWatch
Gold’s steep loss may slow investor interest in the largest exchange-traded fund backed by the metal, but they are unlikely to halt strong flows that have led holdings in the ETF very close to a record. New dollars had flocked to SPDR Gold Trust this year, lending support to gold’s recent rally. On Wednesday, SPDR Gold sank 5.3%, its biggest one-day loss since late September. Volume was triple the average.
http://jlne.ws/xFs1uH

Comex Gold Selloff Pauses On Physical Buying
WSJ.com
Gold steadied on Thursday as the previous day's selloff drew bargain buyers, but the market remained under pressure from the view that a lack of Federal Reserve stimulus in the near term would sap investor demand for the metal. Gold for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, was recently up $2.10, or 0.1%, at $1,713.40 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures plunged by 4.3%, or $77.10, on Wednesday, the fourth-largest dollar loss in the contract's history, as traders unwound bets that more Federal Reserve stimulus was imminent. The declines erased February's gains, and gold settled at the lowest price since Jan. 25.
http://jlne.ws/xuX4qz

Comex Gold, Silver Try To Recover From Wednesday's Shellacking
Kitco News via Forbes
Comex gold and silver futures prices are trading slightly higher in early, nervous trading Thursday morning. Some tepid bargain hunting is featured following the steep losses suffered in both markets on Wednesday. The key “outside markets” are mixed for the precious metals markets early Thursday, as the U.S. dollar index is slightly higher and crude oil prices are also slightly higher. April gold last traded up $1.40 at $1,712.70 an ounce. Spot gold was last quoted up $14.90 an ounce at $1,712.00. March Comex silver last traded up $0.017 at $34.60 an ounce.
http://jlne.ws/wN0q5R

Gold Prices Recover After Wednesday's Bloodbath
The Street
Gold prices were recovering Thursday after Wednesday's swoon resulted in the worst single-session loss in three years.
http://jlne.ws/xhoPqL

Gold's price drop temporary, long-term outlook firm: analysts

Platts
Gold's price slump on Wednesday, which saw around $100 wiped off the price at one point during New York trading, was partly but not entirely attributable to comments by US Federal Reserve head Ben Bernanke, analysts said Thursday, adding that the drop in price could present a buying opportunity. "Much has been placed on the testimony by Fed Head Bernanke but other markets saw less impact, leading to suggestions that it simply provided an excuse for a particular 'non US' fund to bail and take profits in dramatic fashion," said brokerage Sharps Pixley in market comment.
http://jlne.ws/wriYBQ

Copper up on signs of China economy resilience
Reuters
Copper rose on Thursday, clawing back some of the previous day's losses, as investors crept back into the market, heartened by data hinting that top industrial metals consumer China's economy will avoid a sharp slowdown after a period of strong growth.
http://jlne.ws/A8U60d

European metals demand rises
FT.com
European demand for industrial metals has rebounded since the start of the year, indicating a reversal of sentiment in the region’s important manufacturing sector. Physical traders, who are often the first to witness changes in sentiment in commodity markets, said purchases had picked up in recent weeks from the weak levels of late 2011. “It is completely the opposite of a few weeks ago,” said an executive at a large copper producer. “Europeans are having better demand than expected so they are on the spot market.”
http://jlne.ws/yI1dbS

Barclays Initiates Long Palladium Futures Position
Kitco News
Barclays Capital says it is opening a long position in the December 2012 palladium futures contract traded at the New York Mercantile Exchange. The firm is bullish on palladium because it has potentially the weakest supply outlook in 2012 of any commodity they forecast and they project a 2.1% decline in global supply. Concerns about the believed-drop in Russian stockpiles fuel the supply worries.
http://jlne.ws/wytBG1

Rio Tinto sees tight coking coal, copper markets

MiningWeekly.com
Rio Tinto, the world's third-largest miner, said it sees coking coal and copper markets remaining tight, while margins were being squeezed in aluminium. "Demand for commodities in 2012 will be supported by a through-the-year improvement in global growth, although we cannot rule out periods of volatility similar to those in 2011," Rio Tinto's chief economist, Vivek Tulpule, said in slides prepared for a presentation in Sydney. He maintained Rio Tinto's outlook that economic growth in China would remain above 8% in 2012.
http://jlne.ws/ADC0W7

Impala Platinum Continues Rehiring Mineworkers as Protesters Block Routes

Bloomberg
Protesters blocked routes to Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd.’s (IMP) Rustenburg operations in South Africa as miners tried to return to work following a four-week stoppage that cut global supplies by more than 100,000 ounces. About 50 to 100 people, mostly youth, from the Luka township near Impala’s mine, northwest of Johannesburg, obstructed roads and a railway line from about 2 a.m., police spokesman Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said by phone. Police arrested 13 and fired rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of about 500, the South African Press Association reported.
http://jlne.ws/wOOZV3

Little-known miners union stirs things up
BusinessDay
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has given union newcomer the Associated Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) the gap it needs to get into the platinum sector, yet this entry has been marked by wildcat strikes and violence in which at least three people have been killed and R2bn worth of metal has been lost by Impala Platinum. Yesterday, Implats said more than 13500 workers had returned to work in what may be an end to a six-week-long illegal strike.
http://jlne.ws/xhXvXW

Implats' Brown says no exit from Zimbabwe
MiningMX
IMPALA Platinum (Implats), the world's second-largest platinum producer, said on Wednesday that it would not exit Zimbabwe despite the demands being made by the government that it hand over majority stakes in its local operations to Zimbabweans. Implats CEO, David Brown, told private radio station 702 Talk Radio the company still saw the southern African nation as a "good investment destination."
http://jlne.ws/yrNs0u

Platinum's long wait to outshine gold

Financial Times
Platinum is more valuable than gold. It is rarer; it is more expensive to extract; consumers are willing to pay more for it. For decades, that was received wisdom, and it held true. But the status quo was turned on its head this year when the price of platinum tumbled below that of gold. In September, at the peak of gloominess about the global economy – important for platinum because it is mainly used by the car industry – an ounce of platinum bought as little as 0.86 ounces of gold, a 26-year low.
http://jlne.ws/vYYxGE


Futures & ETF News

Stock futures rise on bright retail reports
msnbc.com
U.S. stock futures rose slightly Thursday as retailers reported better-than-expected February sales and the government reported weekly unemployment benefit applications fell to a four-year low. Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average rose 29 points to 12,966. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures inched up 3 points to 1,367. And futures on the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which on Wednesday briefly topped 3,000 for the first time in more than a decade, gained 11 points to 2,634.
http://jlne.ws/ydkX19

Gold rebounds 1 pct in strong volume after sell-off

Reuters
Gold rose 1.5 percent on Thursday, rebounding above $1,700 an ounce as the previous session's 5 percent plunge induced investors to buy at lower prices on hopes the tumble was a healthy correction rather than the start of a bear market. Bullion climbed in heavy, choppy trade as gains in U.S. equities and crude oil on encouraging U.S. jobless claims dataand technical support helped the precious metal find its footing, with stronger-than-average volume for a second day.
http://jlne.ws/z7prZe

China's Share of Reserves in U.S. Dollar Dives
WSJ.com
China has made a sharp shift away from purchases of U.S. securities, slashing the dollar's share of the country's foreign reserves in what may signal a change in strategy for managing the massive cash pile, Dow Jones calculations indicate.
http://jlne.ws/xMMiBj

NYSE Begins Metals Mini-Options

NASDAQ
On Monday, NYSE Euronext Inc. (NYX) announced that its futures exchange in the U.S. - NYSE Liffe - has successfully launched its mini-sized options on gold and silver futures contracts. NYSE Liffe is the former London International Financial Futures Exchange, which trades coffee, sugar, cocoa and wheat futures. Moreover, the options on NYSE Liffe U.S. 33.2 ounce (oz.) mini gold and 1,000 oz. mini silver futures contracts provide traders flexibility by offering multiple trading strategies. Such option contracts should enable NYSE to enhance its risk management efficiencies, thereby strengthening the fundamentals and liquidity of the futures market for precious metals.
http://jlne.ws/xVG2Bq

Precious Metal ETFs Slump On Bernanke Testimony
Zacks via Yahoo! Finance
Recent trading has offered up investors a host of data points which look to help set the record straight on economic growth going forward. First, GDP beat expectations coming in slightly above estimates with a 3.0% Q/Q change in SAAR terms. Then to top off this report, Bernanke spoke on the economy in testimony to Congress, moving the markets once again.
http://jlne.ws/wEOeva

Silver ETF Sees Highest Trading Volume Since September

ETF Trends via Yahoo! Finance
The largest exchange traded fund for silver saw the highest trading volume since September in Wednesday’s melt-down in precious metals. The $11.7 billion iShares Silver Trust traded more than 91 million shares, versus a three-month daily average of about 20 million.
http://jlne.ws/wYe2jX


Commodities

Commodities Give Best Returns First Time Since July on Iran

Bloomberg via The San Francisco Chronicle
Commodities, led by oil, beat stocks, bonds and the dollar for the first time since July as the European Union prepared to embargo Iranian crude, the U.S. economy improved and China took steps to shore up growth. The Standard & Poor's GSCI Total Return Index of 24 raw materials rose 6.5 percent in February, extending the previous month's 2.2 percent gain, as Brent crude advanced 11 percent. The MSCI All-Country World Index of shares increased 4.8 percent, extending stocks' best start to a year since 1991. Bonds of all types were little changed on average, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Global Broad Market Index. The Dollar Index slid 0.6 percent.
http://jlne.ws/xpkuyb

Crude Oil Gains Before US ISM Report, Gold and Silver May Recover
DailyFX
Gold and silver prices plunged yesterday after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the fall in US unemployment has been “more rapid” than the central bank expected in his semi-annual Congressional testimony, hinting a third round of asset purchases (so-called “QE3”) would not materialize. The downgrade in dovish rhetoric weighed on stock prices – boosting demand for the Dollar as a safe haven – while denting demand for metals as an alternative store of value amid fading worries about further dilution of the US money supply.
http://jlne.ws/zI0A9N

Wheat Futures Fall as U.S. Northern Plains Snow May Boost Crop Outlook
Bloomberg
Wheat futures slid from a four-week high on speculation that winter storms in the northern U.S. will boost soil moisture before farmers begin planting spring crops in the next two months. Storms in the past two days brought as much as 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow to parts of North Dakota, the biggest U.S. grower of spring wheat, while accumulations reached 12 inches in Minnesota, according to the National Weather Service. Conditions in the two states ranged from “severe” drought to “abnormally dry” as of Feb. 21, after months of below-normal precipitation, according to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
http://jlne.ws/yYoajW


Investments

Dennis Gartman Sells As Gold Hits Monthly High, Low
CNBC
Gold set both a monthly high — and low — Wednesday, catching renowned commodities trader Dennis Gartman seemingly by surprise. “This was really quite a day,” he said. “It’s one of those days when you say, ‘I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m selling some,’ because you have no choice. The next thing you know, it’s down $35.”
http://jlne.ws/yA3rFs

Top hedge fund managers took home $13 billion in 2011

Reuters
Even in a brutal year, some top hedge fund managers made out like bandits. The top 40 highest-earning hedge fund managers took home a combined $13.2 billion, according to a Forbes magazine survey. The top 10 hedge fund managers made more than $200 million each, while the lowest earning managers made $40 million each. This came against the backdrop of one of the worst years ever for the industry, with the average hedge fund falling 5 percent, even as the U.S. stock market eked out a tiny gain.
http://jlne.ws/wX8y70

How your brain betrays your investing
MarketWatch
Barry Ritholtz discusses three types of cognitive bias that investors should always resist: "It's too expensive not to."
http://jlne.ws/wWe09F

**Includes talks about yesterday's gold drop, and also about gold and silver miners like Coeur D'Alene.

Extract shareholders told to accept Taurus offer
MiningWeekly.com
ASX- and TSX-listed uranium developer Extract Resources on Thursday urged shareholders to accept a A$2.2-billion takeover offer from the China Guandong Nuclear Power Corporation (CGNPC), through its subsidiary Taurus Minerals. In its target statement released to shareholders, Extract said that in making their decision to support the takeover offers, the Extract independent directors took into account the value and certainty that the Taurus offer delivered, and the risks associated with financing and developing the Husab uranium project, in Namibia, especially in the context of the current global market conditions.
http://jlne.ws/wyDMpT

Titanium Metals' Earnings Beat Last Year's by 23%
The Motley Fool via DailyFinance
http://jlne.ws/zlwVP2


Production News

Korean tungsten project gets Berkshire Hathaway investment
MiningWeekly.com
He may not like gold much, but billionaire Warren Buffet has taken a shining to tungsten – the metal with the highest melting point. Berkshire Hathaway unit IMC International Metalworking Companies this week agreed to invest around $80-million in TSX-V-listed Woulfe Mining’s Sandong project in South Korea, which was once the biggest tungsten producer.
http://jlne.ws/wnlGnt

Japanese company to start rare earth production in India
MiningWeekly.com
Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Corporation was set to start rare earths production in India by April, from monazite sand mined in the country. Toyotsu Rare Earths India Private, a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho would use monazite sand classified as mine waste, and supplied by Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL), which extracted uranium and thorium, to produce rare earths like neodymium, lanthanum and cerium.
http://jlne.ws/yFMiuT

Initial Underground Drill Results Show Continuity of Gold Mineralization at Klondex Mines’ Fire Creek, Nevada Project
Financial Post
Klondex Mines Ltd. (TSX: KDX), a Nevada gold exploration and development company, today released initial assay results from its ongoing underground core drilling program at its 100%-owned Fire Creek gold-silver project in Lander County, Nevada. The nine holes reported today tested the southern end of the Main Vein Zone, a northwest trending set of vein-like bodies of mineralization with a known length of over 1,000 meters. Through February 25th Klondex had completed 28 underground infill holes for a total of 6,591 meters (18 holes were completed in 2011 and 10 holes in 2012). Klondex expects to report the remaining 2011 holes in the next several weeks.
http://jlne.ws/ywXgPW

Gold Bullion Announces new Drill Program at Granada

CNBC
Gold Bullion Development Corp. (TSXV: GBB) (OTCPINK: GBBFF) (the "Company" or "Gold Bullion") is pleased to announce a new drill program on the Company's Flagship Granada property located along the Cadillac trend in North-western Quebec, 5 km south of the city of Rouyn-Noranda. The new drill program is intended to test structures and gold grades at depth on the north extension 2012 project.
http://jlne.ws/xKEZsT


Regulatory News

US conditionally backs Carpenter Tech,Latrobe deal
Reuters
Specialty alloy producer Carpenter Technology Corp has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy rival Latrobe Specialty Metals on condition that it sell facilities to make two specialty alloys, the Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday. Carpenter announced in June that it would buy Latrobe for about $388 million in stock.
http://jlne.ws/yZjdYh

ASIC argues its case over continuous disclosure law
The Sydney Morning Herald
Company announcements containing ''debatable arguments'' did not comply with the continuous disclosure law, the corporate regulator told the High Court yesterday. Neil Young, QC, for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, was answering submissions on behalf of Andrew Forrest and Fortescue Metals Group that there were reasonable grounds in 2004 to believe agreements with three Chinese construction companies were legally binding.
http://jlne.ws/xkAcR5

Metal theft bill passes Georgia Senate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New restrictions would make it harder to sell stolen metal under a bill passed Wednesday in the Senate despite opposition from scrap metal recyclers. Senate Bill 321 would establish stiffer requirements for metal recyclers and sellers. The bill would prohibit cash payments for metal purchases and require metal recyclers to collect a digital image of the metal items, as well as a photograph and copy of a valid identification card from the seller. The bill also would create a statewide database on buyers and sellers.
http://jlne.ws/A4mzdf

**Who will be updating this new database? Managing all of these digital images?

Regulators review oil pricing agencies

FT.com
Global watchdogs took a step towards greater regulation of the physical oil markets on Thursday, launching a review of the role of price reporting agencies in the markets. The pricing inputs of companies such as Platts and Argus are crucial to the indices used to settle contracts including Brent, the North Sea oil that is considered the global benchmark.
http://jlne.ws/woBq0t


Reports, Macroeconomics & Inflation

Bernanke Quells Talk of Fresh Fed Stimulus

Bloomberg
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said elevated unemployment and subdued inflation mean interest rates are likely to stay low, without offering any sign that the economy needs an additional monetary boost. Bernanke repeated testimony today in the Senate that he delivered yesterday in the House, describing “positive developments” in the job market while saying it’s still “far from normal.” He said the inflationary impact of higher gasoline prices is likely to be temporary.
http://jlne.ws/w9ECZC

Eurozone Inflation Rises, Unemployment At Record High
RTT News via NASDAQ
Eurozone inflation increased in February on rising oil prices, adding to the woes of the currency-bloc that is undergoing tough economic times. The weak economic activity also forced companies to reduce staff, pushing the jobless rate to a 14-year high. Inflation in the 17-nation bloc rose to 2.7 percent in February from 2.6 percent in January, the flash estimate from Eurostat showed Thursday. The figure was expected to remain unchanged at 2.6 percent.
http://jlne.ws/w20tBw

Reports show improving economy, manufacturing growth slows

AP via USA Today
The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell slightly last week to the lowest point in four years, a further sign that the U.S. job market is steadily improving. Americans also earned and spent more in January, according to the Commerce Department. But a third report out Thursday said manufacturing growth slowed in February as factories received fewer orders and paid higher prices for raw materials. The Institute for Supply management, a trade group of purchasing managers, says its manufacturing index fell last month to 52.4 from 54.1 in January. It was the lowest reading since November. But any reading above 50 indicates expansion.
http://jlne.ws/wgfwt9

Personal spending flat in January

Reuters
Americans' incomes rose 0.3 percent in January but taxes and inflation gobbled up the gains and consumer spending was flat after adjusting for price increases, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. Inflation-adjusted consumer spending has now been unchanged for three straight months, casting a pall over the economic outlook because household purchases of everything from televisions to restaurant meals are major drivers of growth.
http://jlne.ws/wQ5CSZ

Gold can scale new peaks without QE springboard

Reuters
Gold can still make new highs this year, even as the Federal Reserve shows no sign of continuing market-sweetening bond purchases and the European Central Bank hints it won't supply any more half-trillion euro sugar rushes. Gold lost nearly 5 percent on Wednesday in its biggest-one day fall since mid-December after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke issued a downbeat assessment of the U.S. economy, but did not spell out that there would be more quantitative easing, the anchoring of bond yields through government debt purchases.
http://jlne.ws/AbhG6U

Report: Junior financings decline 24% in 2011
Metals Economics Group
Based on information from Metals Economics Group’s Exploration Activity Services, the dollar amount of junior financings declined 24% in 2011 to $21.5 billion from $28.1 billion in 2010 and increased 12% from 2009 and 43% from 2008 totals. Of the total, financing amounts for base metals fell 32%, while the decline for gold was just 16%, mainly due to the strength of the gold market through most of the year.
http://jlne.ws/yG4AlS

Higher Copper Prices Set to Drive Mining Stocks; Investigative Report by Profit Confidential

PRWeb via Houston Chronicle
Copper prices have bounced off the lows last year and, according to the article, The One Stock You Need to Know to Play the Copper Boom, by Sasha Cekerevac, contributor to Profit Confidential, there are many signs that this move up is only the beginning of a move that will push up mining stocks.
http://jlne.ws/wPNyKw


Physicals & Company News


Merger Creates Third Largest Metals Distributor in North America

PR Newswire via The Sacramento Bee
Beginning on March 1, 2012, Namasco and Macsteel will start to operate under a new brand, Kloeckner Metals, as they prepare to finalize the merger of the two industry leaders later this year. This move is the first re-branding effort initiated by Kloeckner & Co SE, in an effort to bring more recognition to its position as an industry leader in the global metals distribution and service center industry. Bill Partalis will oversee the operational side of the US activities as the Chief Executive Officer of Kloeckner Metals US, in addition to his duties as a member of the Management Board of Kloeckner & Co SE. Together, these two companies, headquartered in Roswell, GA, combine to form the third largest metals distributor in North America, bringing more value to customers and the ability to service them from 57 points of distribution.
http://jlne.ws/xSJTl3

Glencore International to Acquire 7.8% of Trevali Through an US$18-Million Private Placement
Marketwire via Yahoo! Finance
Trevali Mining Corporation ("Trevali" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a subscription agreement with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glencore International Plc ("Glencore"), to sell by way of non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") 12,620,282 common shares in the capital of the Company (the "Common Shares") at CAD$1.42 (US$1.4263) per share for total proceeds of US$18 million.
http://jlne.ws/wXfv8z

Kazakhmys costs offset stronger prices
FT.com
Kazakhmys, the FTSE 100 miner and Kazakhstan’s biggest copper producer, posted flat earnings for 2011 as stronger metals prices were offset by an 18 per cent rise in production costs, driven by the effect of declining grades. Rising costs have been a running theme among results from the mining industry as the price of raw materials and labour have soared. Despite the production challenges the company believes the world is entering a “copper decade” and sees no signs of a slowdown in demand for the metal.
http://jlne.ws/xezAEk

Big cuts at Shore Gold as crisis scuppers funding plans
MiningWeekly.com
Spare a thought for a junior looking to raise nearly C$2-billion to build a diamond mine in these rough markets. Shore Gold, trying to do just that, said on Wednesday it was far down the path with a potential backer, but then the European debt crisis and its wave of negative sentiment capsized the deal. As a result, the TSX-listed company has decided to cut back its staffing levels to the bare minimum required to complete environmental permitting at its Star-Orion South diamond project, with even the board of directors shrinking by three heads to five.
http://jlne.ws/zgUnnI


Miscellaneous News

Platinum becoming jewellers’ new gold standard
Independent Online
Platinum is luring jewellers away from gold after investors pushed up bullion prices to records as they sought to escape market turmoil. Gold surpassed platinum as the most expensive metal used in jewellery in August last year for the first time since December 2008. Gold demand from jewellery makers dropped 3 percent last year, according to the World Gold Council. Platinum use climbed 1.8 percent, according to an estimate by Johnson Matthey, a global marketer and distributor of the precious metal.
http://jlne.ws/AkqACF

Clean Mining Taps Earth Metals
CNBC
A California firm’s new technique of cleaner “mining” could provide the electric-vehicle battery industry with all the lithium it needs, in a greener and cleaner way. Pleasanton-based Simbol Materials' technology can pull lithium, and other critical metals, out of the effluent water of some geothermal power plants, eliminating the drill-and-blast approach of traditional mining.
http://jlne.ws/ADCbHz

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