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December 11, 2018

Impending retirement of #Glencore’s #copper chief Mistakidis marks start of generational shift at the world’s most powerful commodity trader

Glencore begins the changing of the old guard | Financial Times
Glencore begins the changing of the old guard

Departure of trader's head of copper signals break-up of 'billionaire boys' club'


Some of Glencore's senior lieutenants, from left to right: Tor Peterson, Ivan Glasenberg, Alex Beard and Telis Mistakidis © FT montage / Bloomberg

The impending retirement of Glencore's copper kingpin Telis Mistakidis marks the start of a generational shift at the top of the world's most powerful commodity trader.
While some senior executives have left the Swiss-based group since its 2011 stock market flotation, none of the inner circle surrounding the company's workaholic boss Ivan Glasenberg have left — until now.
The departure later this year of 56-year-old Mr Mistakidis signals the break-up of the so-called billionaire boys' club, which built risk-hungry Glencore into the commodity industry's dominant and most talked-about company, according to analysts, bankers and investors.
The leadership changes come as Glencore faces a string of legal challenges, including a US Department of Justice investigation into possible corruption and bribery that has put its business model under the microscope. 
"He's decided to retire and pass on the baton to the next generation," Mr Glasenberg said. "None of us expect to stay here forever," he added. 
But analysts have questioned the management changes.
"It's one of those where you don't know whether this is being done to appease the regulators, and has been done with their consultation, or if they're just trying it out hoping to get them off their backs," said Ben Davis, an analyst at Liberum.
Others say Glencore, which has an appetite for risk that few of its peers can stomach, is doing what it always does and moving quickly to get in front of a problem.
"They're trying to be on the front foot, they're the most reactive company in our sector," one banker said. "When things happen they react very quickly." 

These investigations have weighed on Glencore's share price, which is down 29 per cent this year.
Glencore grew out of Marc Rich & Co, whose eponymous founder was regarded as the godfather of modern commodity trading. Since 2002, when Mr Glasenberg took the helm, it has been run by a tight-knit group of traders who have been at the company since the 1990s. 
Mr Glasenberg also made them fantastically wealthy after Glencore's $60bn flotation in 2011. Mr Mistakidis and Mr Maté have retained equity stakes worth about £1.2bn each.
"The management has been here a long time since the float, even though people thought since 2011 that a lot of the senior executives would leave," said Mr Glasenberg. "They haven't . . . and there comes a time when the next generation needs to take over."
Some think the management changes announced by Glencore last week also reflect its evolution from a commodity trader to a company that makes most of its money by extracting raw materials from the earth. 
"What you're seeing is a change in Glencore's structure that mirrors its evolution from a private trading company to one of the world's largest mining companies," said Paul Gait, analyst at Bernstein Research. 
"If anything, the turbulence of the last year has forced investors to ask more questions about the company, about management procedures; whereas before people were focused on the dollars and cents and tonnes out of the ground. Now there's an increased awareness that these kinds of things have become just as important," added Mr Gait.

Read the whole article online @FT here: https://www.ft.com/content/38f2768e-fa1d-11e8-af46-2022a0b02a6c

November 26, 2018

How Much #Copper is an #EV? #Infographic

Infographic: How Much Copper is an Electric Vehicle?


Infographic: How Much Copper is an Electric Vehicle?

Copper's special relationship with electricity has been apparent since ship designers first regularly began installing copper to protect the masts of wooden ships from lightning in the early 19th century.
Today, of course, you might be more used to seeing copper's electrical applications through the use of power lines, telephone wires, and wiring in practically every major home appliance you own.
Millions of tons get used for these applications every year, but it is still early days for copper's use in electrification. That's because copper will continue to be a critical component of the green energy revolution, thanks to the rising adoption of battery-powered vehicles.

November 19, 2018

#Egypt #Mining: Minster sends Mineral #Resources Act to Parliament for review , hoping to end current outdated framework better suited to oil & gas

Mineral Resources Act sent to House for review | Enterprise
the amendments were made primarily to draw investments in the flagging mining sector, which holds world-class potential, but is hobbled by an outdated economic framework better suited to the oil and gas industry. El Molla noted that the ministry will begin immediately implementing the reforms laid out by consultancy Wood Mackenzie as soon as the House passes the amendments. 



Mineral Resources Act sent to House for review

Monday, 19 November 2018


LEGISLATION WATCH- Amendments to Mineral Resources Act sent to House: The government has sent long-awaited draft amendments to the Mineral Resources Act to the House of Representatives for review, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla said. El Molla reiterated that the amendments were made primarily to draw investments in the flagging mining sector, which holds world-class potential, but is hobbled by an outdated economic framework better suited to the oil and gas industry. El Molla noted that the ministry will begin immediately implementing the reforms laid out by consultancy Wood Mackenzie as soon as the House passes the amendments. Wood Mackenzie had been contracted by an affiliate of the Oil Ministry to lay out an appropriate development strategy for the sector.
El Molla expects the law's executive regulations will be issued within six months of the bill passing in the House of Representatives and being signed into law by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.
Background: While few details of the bill have been revealed, we expect it will see Egypt scrap its oil-and-gas-style production sharing agreement and move to a tax, rent and royalty model, eliminating the requirement that miners enter into 50:50 JVs with the sector's regulator. It's also expected to allow exploration companies to acquire exploration ground without first obtaining exploration licenses. The amendments, which aim to attract significant foreign interest in the nation's mining sector, have been praised by industry leaders.
See the article online here: https://enterprise.press/stories/2018/11/19/mineral-resources-act-sent-to-house-for-review/

November 15, 2018

#Mining Co’s #Exploration Spending Hits $10BN with search for #EV #BatteryMetals jumping 82% #Cobalt #Lithium

Exploration spending in the mining sector rose for a second year to near $10 billion as the industry makes a cautious shift to growth and prepares for forecast booming demand for copper and metals used in electric vehicle batteries, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

  • Budgets jumped about 19 %
  • Value of exploration for cobalt and lithium, used in rechargeable batteries for EVs, jumped 82 % in 2018, though spending remains a fraction of the amount deployed on gold or base metals.
  • Number of companies and entities working on projects in 2018 rebounded to about 1,651 -- the first rise in active exploration companies in six years. Even so, the number is about a third less than in 2012. 
  • Equity market funding for explorers also remains constrained.




November 12, 2018

Ratio of price of #Gold stocks to EBITDA and EV/EBITDA at lowest of last 30 years $HUI $GDX $GLD


The #Gold Bugs Index, $HUI, closed on Friday at 143.41 for a weekly loss of 4.0% (Attachment 1). The ratio of the price of gold stocks to EBITDA and EV/EBITDA is now at the lowest of the last 30 years (Attachment 2). 


Attachment 3 displays the gold spot daily chart. After a narrow trading range from US$ 1'210 per ounce to US$ 1'180 (August till October), the yellow metal is now in a trading range of US$ 1'240 to US$ 1'210/oz (October-November). It has been a boring time with gold trading more or less in a +/-3% trading range, excluding the extremes.
 

As per last Friday, gold closed in New York at US$ 1'209 per ounce for a loss of US$ 24 per ounce on the week.
 
Attachment 4 shows 2019 estimated All-in Cost fully loaded for major and intermediate gold companies. The average cost is around US$ 1'214 per ounce, hence near the current gold price. Fully loaded All-In cost = Total cash costs + Exploration + Capital(Development and Sustaining) + Corporate G&A + Corporate Taxes + Interest on Debt + Current Dividend. G&A = General and Administrative Cost.




November 9, 2018

#Maduro scrambles to bring #Venezuela’s #gold back from the #UK -feared that President means to steal the state-owned gold!

Maduro scrambles to bring Venezuela's gold back from the UK | World | The Times

It is feared that President Maduro wants to steal the state-owned gold! https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/maduro-scrambles-to-bring-venezuela-s-gold-back-from-the-uk-0p29xp99w

Maduro scrambles to bring Venezuela's gold back from the UK

It is feared that President Maduro means to steal the state-owned gold
It is feared that President Maduro means to steal the state-owned goldMARCO BELLO/REUTERS

President Maduro of Venezuela is trying to repatriate at least 14 tonnes of gold held at the Bank of England, fearing that access could be frozen under US sanctions against his regime.

The Bank has refused to release the gold bars, worth about £420 million, according to sources. British officials are understood to have insisted that standard measures to prevent money-laundering be taken — including clarification of the Venezuelan government's intentions for the gold.

There are concerns that Mr Maduro may seize the gold, which is owned by the state, and sell it for personal gain.

Venezuela is struggling under a calamitous recession that is widely blamed on Mr Maduro's mismanagement of the economy and rampant corruption in his government He says his government is the victim of an "economic war", waged by Washington.

President Trump signed an executive order last week to ban American citizens and institutions from dealing with entities or individuals involved in "corrupt or deceptive" gold sales from Venezuela. His government has accused Mr Maduro of "looting" resources to keep his regime afloat.

The Venezuelan constitution says that sales of mineral reserves must be approved by the national assembly but Mr Maduro has ignored parliament, claiming that it is run by oligarchs, since it came under opposition control in a landslide election in 2015.

Turkey has become the biggest buyer of Venezuelan gold, partly because of the friendship between Mr Maduro and President Erdogan. American officials have said that the gold, which is drawn from reserves strip-mined by gangs overseen by the military, is being resold by Turkey to Iran, which is also subject to US sanctions.

Mr Maduro is a frequent visitor to Turkey, where he was filmed this year smoking a Cuban cigar during a meal at the celebrity chef Salt Bae's restaurant in Istanbul. The clip went viral and critics said it showed that Mr Maduro had lost touch with people in Venezuela, where food is increasingly scarce.

In 2011, Hugo Chávez, Mr Maduro's predecessor and mentor, repatriated 160 tonnes of gold from banks in the US and Europe. Most of the reserves have since been discreetly shipped out and sold. The gold held at the Bank of England was used until last year to back loans of hard currency to Venezuela by other banks.

Yesterday, the EU extended sanctions on 18 individuals in the Maduro regime for a year, citing human rights violations and an undermining of democracy and the rule of law. Those affected, including the vice-president and the economy minister, are banned from travelling to Europe, and assets they hold in Europe are frozen. The EU also has an embargo on the sale of arms and "equipment for internal repression".


October 27, 2018

#Blockchain-based #Gold tracking coming to the #LBMA

#Blockchain-based #Gold tracking coming to the #LBMA

London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) to create a set of standards for blockchain-based gold tracking, as well as an oversight committee to approve and monitor technology providers


London is the largest hub in the world for OTC gold trades and clearing. Wholesale gold trades across London's five precious metal clearing banks, overseen by the LBMA, reached a value of $6.7 trillion in 2017.

Blockchain Could Track the Globe's Gold Bullion by 2019




Ethical sourcing is becoming critical in such a high-value sector as precious metals. It will become even more important as reserves of metals such as gold diminish and scarcity develops.

October 12, 2018

#Gold: Excellent day as it pushes through US$ 1'210/oz. Can it close above $1200 for the week? $GLD $XAU $HUI

Gold now has the real possibility to stage a significant rally, which could last through year-end.

For some time we have noted that gold needs to break through US$ 1'210/oz. to get something going on the upside. 

 

Yesterday, Gold was finally able to close over US$ 1'210 (Attachment 1, Gold 30-minutes chart). We are very encouraged as the Usual Suspects that show up clobbering any hint of a rally, were not in the market. 


Let's wait another day or so to see if gold can hold its gains. Attachment 2, Gold Daily chartshows the push through the resistance line. 


In terms of the Big Picture, it's Closing Prices were interested in, not the Intraday moves which are just noise. 

 

Attachment 1


Attachment 2

As is usual on the upside, Gold Shares have been outperforming in a big way.


$HUI, the ARCA Gold Bugs Index (Attachment 3) gained +7.4% and broke the 50-day Moving Average on the upside.

 
Attachment 3

Below are the stocks in the $XAU and their respective performance yesterday.

 

XAU -Derived from Market data

As of Oct 12, 2018 

Company

Symbol

Latest
Price

Prev
Close

Change

Time

High

Low

Volume

52 Weeks

Net

%

High

Low

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd

NYSE:AEM 

37.37 USD

34.69

+2.68

+7.73%

11Oct18

37.74

35.36

801418

49.79

32.19

Anglogold Ashanti Ltd

NYSE:AU 

9.68 USD

8.82

+0.86

+9.75%

11Oct18

9.75

9.05

1746585

12.00

7.08

Barrick Gold Corp

NYSE:ABX 

12.58 USD

11.50

+1.08

+9.39%

11Oct18

12.75

11.72

12055513

16.83

9.53

Coeur Mining Inc

NYSE:CDE

5.50 USD

5.19

+0.31

+5.97%

11Oct18

5.54

5.17

849310

9.22

5.05

Compania de Minas Buenaventura

NYSE:BVN

14.00 USD

13.07

+0.93

+7.12%

11Oct18

14.11

13.21

626110

16.79

11.69

Eldorado Gold Corp 

NYSE:EGO

0.95 USD

0.90

+0.05

+5.56%

11Oct18

0.95

0.90

1527867

2.29

0.80

First Majestic Silver Corp

NYSE:AG

6.22 USD

5.72

+0.50

+8.74%

11Oct18

6.28

5.70

1226630

8.48

4.93

Freeport-McMoran Inc

NYSE:FCX 

13.23 USD

12.77

+0.46

+3.60%

11Oct18

13.36

12.68

5957437

20.24

12.20

Gold Fields Ltd

NYSE:GFI

2.79 USD

2.63

+0.16

+6.08%

11Oct18

2.82

2.61

2396169

4.51

2.21

Gold Resource Corp

NYSE MKT:GORO

5.52 USD

5.17

+0.35

+6.77%

10Oct18

5.64

5.19

58028

7.33

3.57

Goldcorp Inc

NYSE:GG 

10.80 USD

10.11

+0.69

+6.83%

11Oct18

10.93

10.19

4657882

15.55

9.76

Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd

NYSE:HMY

2.04 USD

1.76

+0.28

+15.91%

11Oct18

2.04

1.87

2745514

2.53

1.43

Hecla Mining Co

NYSE:HL 

2.96 USD

2.79

+0.17

+6.09%

11Oct18

2.98

2.77

1563261

5.32

2.59

Iamgold Corp

NYSE:IAG

3.95 USD

3.74

+0.21

+5.62%

11Oct18

3.99

3.76

1413384

6.52

3.57

Kinross Gold Corp

NYSE:KGC 

2.96 USD

2.83

+0.13

+4.59%

11Oct18

3.01

2.87

6990202

4.77

2.68

McEwen Mining

NYSE:MUX

2.18 USD

2.07

+0.11

+5.31%

11Oct18

2.20

2.06

874279

2.55

1.82

New Gold Inc

NYSE MKT:NGD

0.82 USD

0.78

+0.05

+5.99%

10Oct18

0.83

0.78

575822

3.90

0.75

Newmont Mining Corp

NYSE:NEM 

32.72 USD

30.56

+2.16

+7.07%

11Oct18

32.89

30.91

2927425

42.04

29.17

NovaGold Resources Inc

NYSE MKT:NG

4.20 USD

3.91

+0.29

+7.42%

10Oct18

4.20

3.92

153325

5.04

3.35

Pan American Silver Corp

NASDAQGS:PAAS

15.49 USD

14.67

+0.82

+5.59%

11Oct18

15.58

14.62

2990648

18.75

13.97

Randgold Resources Ltd

NASDAQGS:GOLD

78.16 USD

71.34

+6.82

+9.56%

11Oct18

78.96

73.05

2512695

104.05

59.90

Royal Gold Inc

NASDAQGS:RGLD

79.06 USD

74.70

+4.36

+5.84%

11Oct18

79.76

75.25

906702

98.53

71.91

Sandstorm Gold Ltd

NYSE MKT:SAND

4.09 USD

3.84

+0.25

+6.51%

10Oct18

4.09

3.83

128048

5.63

3.52

Seabridge Gold

NYSE:SA

14.03 USD

12.99

+1.04

+8.01%

11Oct18

14.46

13.13

223879

13.75

9.80

Silver Standard Resources Inc

NASDAQGS:SSRI

17.97 USD

17.26

+0.71

+4.11%

11Oct18

18.14

17.22

1107846

22.86

15.18

Stillwater Mining

NYSE:SWC

13.23 USD

12.77

+0.46

+3.60%

11Oct18

13.36

12.68

5957437

20.24

12.20

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp

NYSE:WPM

17.97 USD

17.26

+0.71

+4.11%

11Oct18

18.14

17.22

1107846

22.86

15.18

Yamana Gold Inc

NYSE:AUY

2.71 USD

2.52

+0.19

+7.54%

11Oct18

2.75

2.55

3918840

3.80

2.30

 

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