Commodities take a Tumble: A Crisis of Excess
May 16, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY–ProspectingJournal.com– Commodities have taken a miserable tumble as a combination of forces act in synchrony and weigh down on global prices. On the one hand you have an unresolved Greek debt crisis to which there seems no end. President Karolos Papoulias has only today announced that Greece will yet again return to elections. It gives [...]
Canada’s Athabasca Basin to Profit from Unquenched Demand for Uranium
May 15, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY–ProspectingJournal.com– Early in 2012, two rapidly mobilizing economies put aside their differences and agreed on a deal that would see Canada supply China with 52 million pounds of uranium by 2025. It spoke volumes about the vast energy resources at Canada’s disposal; that Canada’s beacon for growth in the 21st century is provided by means [...]
The Implications of a Massive Potash Surplus: Picking Strategic Juniors
May 9, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY–ProspectingJournal.com–With the population of hungry, middle-class consumers rapidly expanding, there is no doubt a growing necessity to improve crop yields and increase agricultural efficiency worldwide. And thus there is a degree of certainty behind the belief that we will only continue to increasingly rely on the use of fertilizers in agriculture. Few can doubt that [...]
The Looming Eurozone Crisis could Spell more Gold
May 7, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY–ProspectingJournal.com– The price of gold took a slight dip in the wake of Europe’s election mayhem on Sunday. Regardless, there was a telling uptick in safe-haven demand for the metal. Look no further than Europe to realize why that might be. Europe is in tatters, to say the very least, and there are growing signs [...]
Indonesia Implements Export Taxes on Miners: The Investment Exodus
May 3, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY–ProspectingJournal.com– What was once a prominent mining destination is perhaps not so much anymore. Last month Indonesia surprised many of us when it declared Government Regulation No. 24, a rule that would compel all foreign mining companies to sell majority stakes in their mining operations to locals. Compounding matters, today Indonesia announced it would start [...]
India’s Coal Industry: Persistent Mistakes Proving a Recipe for Solar Power
May 3, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY–ProspectingJournal.com– The growth and development of India is often overshadowed by the ever-present raucous of China. But make no mistake, this is a country that boasts a middle class larger than that of the United States and with a growth rate that until recently posted double digits. An overwhelming demand for energy has compelled India [...]
Nicaragua Feels the Gold Rush
April 27, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY—ProspectingJournal.com—In gold we have been witnessing a remarkable, decade-long bubble that has seen prices rise from $300 an ounce to the $1700 threshold we have become accustomed to today. From Brazil to Nigeria, explorers are drilling and companies are rushing to take advantage of the highly profitable, multifaceted commodity. But there are few places that [...]
Investing in Water: The Hottest Commodity of the 21st Century
April 2, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-People are seldom aware that on a daily basis we share the privilege of showering in wealth, quite literally. March 22nd, 2012, was world water day, and the occasion prompted US intelligence services to issue a startling warning. According to their report we are potentially only 10 years away from witnessing water-based conflicts. The report [...]
Gold mining equities and Unfulfilled Promises
March 30, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-Gold, gold and more gold. Yet again the precious metal is worth talking about. The current divergence and uncertainty emblematic of this metal is overwhelming, and at the end of the day we just don’t know where spot prices are headed. In considering the lagging demand of our biggest consumers of gold, namely China and [...]
Kenya’s Oil Find: Africa Oil Corp and the Tepid Promise
March 29, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-If there is a silver lining to an ever-precarious oil-supply environment, it is the revelation of yet another potential oil producer. Tullow Oil’s (TWL) exploration team recently announced their discovery of 20 meters worth of oil in the Ngamia-1 exploration well, located in the Turkana region of northwestern Kenya, after having drilled only a third [...]
‘Fake’ Gold Detected: The Tungsten Gold Bar
March 26, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-It isn’t everyday that the word tungsten is used synonymously with gold. This week, a 1,000-gram ‘fake’ gold bar was found in the United Kingdom. Upon realizing discrepancies in the weight of the bar of gold, further tests revealed that the bar had been drilled out and filled with tungsten. In effect the bar was [...]
The Race for Renewable Energy: Chile takes center Stage
March 25, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-Throughout the past decade North America has fast expanded its rhetoric on renewable energies, lending much promise to the notion that it remains poised to become a clean tech hub in the near future. But if actions speak louder than words, our green tech allies in South America are quickly transforming the opinion that the [...]
Endeavour Silver Corp: Patience and Profits
March 22, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-Silver is a volatile metal; it isn’t a secret and there isn’t much that can be done about it. But then again, some at Vancouver based Endeavour Silver Corp. (TSX: EDR)(NYSE: EXK)(FRANKFURT: EJD) would beg to differ. Endeavour Silver has just announced record earnings for the first quarter of 2012 that are as much a [...]
Calfrac, Ensign and Energy Services: Investor Uncertainty
March 21, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-It is hard to neglect the fact that the North American energy industry is going through a tremendous makeover. 2012 is proving one of the most transformational years for players left, right and center. And where there is a gas boom there is a dire need for more capital, and some investors are inevitably showing [...]
Indonesia Mining Law: Setting a Dangerous Precedent
March 18, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-When it comes to mining Indonesia is a massive player. The country is characterized by its massive exports of coal, tin, gold and copper. Abundant resources and favorable government policies have historically marked it as an attractive destination for foreign investments. But Indonesia has just jeopardized this image, and may have drastically altered the outlooks [...]
China Bullies Rare Earth Materials: The Case for Exploration
March 15, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-It seems that the world’s largest economies are finally clamping their feet down on China, who again stands accused of bullying global trade markets. A formal complaint has been launched to the World Trade Organization in the wake of China’s prolonged attempts at manipulating the export of rare earth materials, to the point where global [...]
Chevron and the risks of Natural Gas: To Shale or not to shale?
March 12, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-Ever since the discovery of a breakthrough 21st century technology, the North American shale oil boom has been in full swing. Known as hydraulic fracturing, engineers have derived a technique that involves pumping water, chemicals and other additives down a well at an extremely high pressure, with the aim of breaking into deep rock and [...]
The Viterra Takeover: Grain gains on multiple fronts
March 12, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-Stocks are up and the weather has been kind. Global agribusiness producer Viterra Inc. VT-T has been making the headlines this week amid speculation of received takeover bids. And the ball is in their park, with a number of suitors displaying a keen interest and providing Viterra with options. Glencore International Plc (GLEN) leads the [...]
Uranium: Surging Demand in Nuclear Industry
March 9, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-Few can doubt that nuclear power has taken a tumble since the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Last year Japan shut down all but two of its reactors for maintenance, but stern resistance has thus far prevented the Japanese government from bringing any of them back online. The population is clearly still reeling from the effects of [...]
Increasing Oil Prices could Trigger Renewable Energy Growth
March 9, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-In a world that continues to see oil prices propel we are beginning to realize vast changes in the energy climate of North America. Low natural gas prices, growing international insecurity about the supply of crude oil, and breakthroughs in fracturing and drilling technologies have played their part in forcing a North American energy industry [...]
The Zinc Renaissance
March 6, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-China has just rifled global markets by announcing an expected slow down in economic growth, with analysts revising growth forecasts to 7.5 percent. Given that the country accounts for the majority of global zinc imports, many traders may urge more caution. Chinese residential construction accounts for 10 percent of domestic zinc consumption, so in the [...]
Elemental Poised for Comparative Advantage in Global Potash Production
March 2, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-Throughout the past two years global potash producers have witnessed sub-par prices that have proved challenging in providing profitable ventures. Much of the lull can be attributed to the European debt crisis and a US economy still reeling from the effects of recession. Potash prices still sit at about $500 per metric tonne, almost $400 [...]
Oil-Rich Bakken: Enbridge Announces Pipeline Expansion
March 1, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-As we re-enter an era of rising oil prices, those at Enbridge Inc. (ENB-T) are bound to be quietly optimistic. And why shouldn’t they be? If there is anything to be certain about for at least the next decade, it is the health of the pipeline industry. Today’s high oil prices are giving domestic oil [...]
Silver to Boom: United Silver Corp. Announces Lucrative Project
February 29, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-Sitting in Northern Idaho’s silver belt in between Sunshine and Bunker, two renowned sites that once hosted world-class deposits of silver, lays the Crescent Silver Mine. The site consists of known and proven mineralization, and the beauty of it lies in the fact that it has remained largely untapped, until now. United Silver Corp. (“United [...]
Shell but not Shale: The Natural Gas Revolution
February 28, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY-ProspectingJournal.com-Not everybody is complaining about rising oil prices. Some are even getting ahead of themselves and calling this the North American energy renaissance. What is certain is that big names have been making a lot of noise in the natural gas industry of late, and none bigger than the U.S. subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell [...]
Canada’s Oil Sands: Growth, Reputation and Inconsistencies in Climate Policy
February 24, 2012 by prospectingjournal · Leave a Comment
COMMENTARY–ProspectingJournal.com– It is incredibly difficult to begin discussing Alberta’s booming oil-sands industry. For 2 dedicated years Harper and his troops have been lobbying against proposed European legislation that, if passed, would severely dampen the economic prospects associated with controlling the 3rd largest oil reserves in the world. In what is called a ‘fuel-quality directive’, the [...]
