#Palladium, #Rhodium, #Platinum #PGM’s

LONDON (Reuters) - A rally in rhodium, a precious metal used to reduce vehicle emissions, has exploded into high gear, with surging demand and an uncertain supply outlook pushing prices up 40% in just three weeks to near record highs.

Rhodium RHOD-LON is used to neutralise nitrous oxides in car exhausts, and increasingly stringent emissions regulations, particularly in China, are forcing auto makers to use more of the metal.

Demand is expected to outstrip supply this year and supplies are being disrupted by power outages at South African mines which produce more than 80% of mined rhodium.

Prices have rocketed to $9,975 an ounce from $6,040 at the start of January - ten times their level through the mid-2010s and within a whisker of an all-time high of $10,050 in 2008.

"It's being driven by insatiable demand from Asia," said Scotiabank analyst Nicky Shiels.

"There is also a supply side trigger with power cuts in South Africa. That injects a certain amount of fear into the market and in a small, opaque market that can have a huge impact," she said.

(Graphic: Rhodium, palladium and platinum prices - here)

"Ratio of share price-to-free cash flow among senior #Gold #Miners...still hasn’t caught up to the gold price...more room to run" for #miningstocks $GDX $GLD

"The price increase, combined with capital discipline among the larger miners, is generating a bonanza of free cash flow while mergers could spark share gains among smaller players, according to five precious metals fund managers interviewed by Bloomberg.

"After more than $20 billion in mergers and acquisitions among large-cap miners last year, small and medium-sized companies could be next, providing another reason to buy."

See the whole piece on Bloomberg here:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-15/gold-s-rally-seen-plowing-on-lifting-already-monster-cash-flow

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MasterMetals
@MasterMetals

#Azimut’s #Elmer delivers long, shallow #Gold intercepts in #Quebec’s James Bay.

• 108.2 metres of 2.84 g/t gold starting from 34 metres in hole 3 (intercept includes several shorter high-grade intervals including 4.7 metres of 27.36 g/t gold);

• 102 metres of 3.15 g/t gold starting from 34 metres 

QUEBEC – Azimut Exploration’s first seven drill holes at its Elmer property in the James Bay region of Quebec have returned long intercepts of gold mineralization, including 102 metres of 3.15 g/t gold.

Highlights from the 996-metre drill campaign, which was conducted at the Patwon prospect at Elmer, include:

• 108.2 metres of 2.84 g/t gold starting from 34 metres in hole 3 (intercept includes several shorter high-grade intervals including 4.7 metres of 27.36 g/t gold);
• 102 metres of 3.15 g/t gold starting from 34 metres depth in hole 2 (intercept includes several higher-grade intervals including 9 metres of 5.15 g/t gold and 20.5 metres of 10.1 g/t gold); and
• 97 metres of 1.68 g/t gold from 5 metres depth in hole 4 (including 15.5 metres of 4.16 g/t gold, 5.5 metres of 7.85 g/t gold and other high-grade intersections).

Azimut considers the intercepts the most significant gold exploration results in the James Bay region since the discovery of the Éléonore gold deposit in 2004. The Patwon prospect is part of a larger 7-km-long target zone at Elmer. The company is conducting an induced polarization geophysics survey in the discovery area in preparation for a more comprehensive drill program.

Azimut says the results show that gold-bearing mineralization occurs in veins in three different orientations. So far, mineralization has been traced over 200 metres with a width at surface of 50 to 70 metres, and to 100 metres depth, where it remains open.

The company staked the Elmer property and the adjacent Duxbury property based on its proprietary predictive gold modelling technology AZtechMine.

For more detailed results, visit www.azimut-exploration.com 

GOLD: Elmer delivers long, shallow intercepts for Azimut - Canadian Mining Journal