Lead stands to benefit from supply setbacks
Lead had a good start but a poor finish in 1990. The record shows that from year- end 1989 to the end of 1990, lead was the worst performing metal in terms of London Metal Exchange (LME) prices. This …
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U.S. Midwest, Appalachian districts attract Noranda
Until the Lynne discovery was announced last spring, Noranda’s (TSE) substantial exploration efforts in the Midwest and Appalachian districts of the U.S. were unfamiliar to most Canadians. But, as the…
Steel output down
World crude steel production in 1990, at 769.6 million tonnes, was 2% below the record high of 785.1 million tonnes posted in 1989, preliminary estimates of the International Iron and Steel Institute …
Global copper market can lend itself to surprises
Copper was the only major base metal that closed 1990 up in price over its 1989 year-end quote. It was only a penny or two but still impressive compared with other metals. For 1990 as a whole, however…
U.S. REPORT Metall interests extend around globe
To call Metall Mining (TSE) a North American copper producer would be correct but only a part of the corporate story. The growing Toronto-based mining company, controlled by Metallgesellschaft AG of G…
Demand should help sustain nickel
Caught between the opposing forces of slowing demand and tight supply conditions, this year’s nickel markets are likely to be turbulent. But, after spending the past decade eliminating excess capacity…
HudBay adds Namew nickel to its metals inventory
Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting (TSE), the wholly owned subsidiary of New York-based Inspiration Resources (NYSE), is well known as Canada’s fourth largest producer of copper and zinc. In 1989, HudBay’s …
Recent strength may work to zinc’s disadvantage
Like producers of most base metals, zinc producers have enjoyed three years of strong markets and exceptionally high prices. Based on past experience, however, recent high prices may turn out to have …
Low silver price could act to restrain supply growth
It was not a banner year for silver in 1990. The price of the precious metal fell to 14-year lows late in the year on weakened investor and industrial demand. It may now be silver has nowhere to go bu…
Prices of metals affected by war
Outbreak of war in the Persian Gulf near the start of the year, pitting a global alliance of nations under the auspices of the United Nations against Iraq, made an already volatile market even more sk…
INSIDE Top strategy
The Goldstrike gold project in Nevada is expected to keep American Barrick Resources in the black for a long time to come. A favorite of investors, the Toronto-based mining company has been the top-pe…
SPECIAL – OUTLOOK 1991; Companies learn to cope withall of the
When mining executives look ahead to 1991 they do so having experienced one of the most tumultuous decades in recent history. Uncertainty is now a basic assumption. Increasing volatility — of commodi…