Breaking news from the precious metals industry. Gold, silver and platinum group mining, refineries and refining technologies, minting and distribution.
News and information about the global drivers of prices in the precious metals markets. Including central banks, interest rates, industrial manufacturing, electronics and investors.
The COP26 Climate Summit is underway in Glasgow, Scotland this week.
In a dramatic plea for awareness of the effects of climate change, Tuvalu’s foreign minister, Simon Kofe presented his speech to the group while standing knee-deep in seawater near the shores of an atoll in the Polynesian nation. Tuvalu is a tiny nation in the South Pacific region that is comprised of 9 small islands. It is an independent island nation under the British Commonwealth.
The country’s GDP in 2020 was the lowest in the world at only $45 million due to tourism shutdowns related to the pandemic.
There are many gold and silver coins minted on behalf of Tuvalu by the Perth Mint. Tuvalu receives a licensing fee for the use of it’s currency on bullion coins.
Below are some examples of coins produced by the Perth Mint on Behalf of Tuvalu.
2022 James Bond 007 1 oz Silver Coin These 2022 1 oz Colorized Tuvalu James Bond Series 007 Silver Coins feature a black colorization within the swirls of the reverse field.
garimpo – a small-scale, informal gold, diamond, and tin placer mining camp Wildcat gold mining continues to be a problem. It’s estimated that there are as many as 5,000 illegal small-scale gold mining camps scattered throughout the Brazilian Amazon. The wildcat miners that operate small-scale gold mining camps in the Brazilian Amazon are known as garimpeiros. Across the centuries, garimpeiros have scoured the most remote reaches of the Amazon rainforest in search of gold.
The Yanomami indigenous reserve is deep in the northern reaches of the Brazilian Amazon. The reserve is comprised of 37,320 square miles (96,650 square km) of rainforest near the border with Venezuela in the states of Roraima and Amazonas.
This area has long been the subject of environmental and indigenous exploitation for decades. One fifth, or 20% of the indigenous population of Yanomami died from diseases after 40,000 garimpeiros flooded the reserve in the 1980s. The miners were eventually expelled and the area declared a reserve in 1992.
Gold mining is responsible for an estimated 10% Amazonian deforestation. Additionally, the mercury contamination leaches into the soil and spilled off in sedimentation into vital rivers effecting all living things.
The illegal mining creates large stagnant pools of water ideal for the breeding of insects. Malaria is increasing and is spread by the mosquitos.
In international news reports, garimpeiros are presented as violent and immoral villains pillaging the forest beyond the reach of the law. Since taking office in 2019, President Jair Bolsonsaro has sent mixed messages regarding his intention to open up parts of the reserve to mining exploration.
The president has said the reserve is too big for its population of around 26,000 indigenous people, and its mineral riches should be exploited.
The mining causes deforestation as well as changes to water quality and river structure, say scientists.
Indigenous leaders argue that the garimpeiros bring many problems to the reserve including significant environmental damage and endangering local indigenous communities.
Toxic minerals like mercury are used by the miners to separate gold particles from mud and other minerals. The toxic mud and silt are dumped into the rivers and pollute the food chain. Garimpeiros also bring other problems such as prostitution, violence and diseases like malaria.
Academic research on the impacts of garimpo on biodiversity backs up these complaints. Researchers from the World Wildlife Fund have found high mercury levels in fish as far as 90 miles (150km) from garimpo sites in the Amazon. The researchers found mercury in Amazon river dolphins.
Nearly half of those studied had dangerously high levels. Other researchers found record mercury levels in jaguar fur near garimpo sites in the Brazilian Pantana.
The mercury that miners use to separate gold particles from mud and silt is dumped into rivers and burned off into the air. Mercury spreads into the aquatic ecosystem via a process called biomagnification and concentrates rapidly as it passes up the food chain. Birds and larger mammals are sensitive to changes in forest cover and vegetation and flee garimpo areas.
For the Yanomami, nature and spirituality are intrinsically linked: every rock, every waterfall, every bird, every monkey has a spirit.As investors in bullion we have an obligation to ensure that the mines are operated in a responsible, humane and environmentally conscious way.
The US Mint released a statement confirming a global shortage of silver after the website outages during the pre-sale of the 2021 Morgan Dollar commemorative coins.
“The global silver shortage has driven demand for many of our bullion and numismatic products to record heights. This level of demand is felt most acutely by the Mint during the initial product release of numismatic items.”
US Mint Press Release
This appears to be the first indication from a government agency acknowledging what many have been speculating for more than a year.
The lockdowns at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of many mines and the supply chains that turn raw ore into fine silver and gold.
The shutdown of the mines and supply chains led to refineries scrambling for raw materials and mints running out of product to sell.
After some backlash, the US Mint has revised its statement about the shortage.
“In more precise terms, the silver shortage being experienced by the United States Mint pertains only to the supply of silver blanks among suppliers to the U.S. Mint.”
US Mint Press Release
Silver blanks are manufactured for the US Mint by private mints. The US Mint didn’t specify which private mints were having issues supplying silver blanks. It has been documented previously that the US Mint has bought silver blanks from private mints such as Scottsdale Mint, Sunshine Minting, Coins’n’Things and other major industry players.
The US Mint has delayed the remaining pre-sales of the 2021 Morgan Dollars and 2021 Peace dollars. The prospective launch dates have yet to be announced.
There has been a lot of news over the past couple of weeks about /r/WallStreetBets and GameStop. The people from this Reddit message board have caused lots of turmoil for hedge fund Melvin Capital and others. The group has encouraged it’s members to buy up GameStop stock and forcing Melvin Capital to cover it’s enormous short positions.
Some have begun setting their eyes on Silver as the next target. Many have long been believed that the silver market is heavily manipulated by the bullion banks, particularly JP Morgan.
Silver spot price has risen over $2.00 per ounce over the past couple of days as investors have begun buying up SLV, AG and physical silver hoping to ride the next wave.
Dealer premiums on physical silver have been dropping lower in recent weeks since hitting some highs last year as retail bullion supply has increased.
Gold and Silver are usually characterized by good electrical
conductivity. However, researchers have now discovered that some
precious metals lose this property if they are thin enough. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-gold-silver.html
Trading The Gold-Silver Ratio During Times Of Crisis
The Pyromet Silver Card is a thin, 1 oz piece of .999 fine
silver. Roughly the size of a credit card, The Silver Card
is a 1 oz silver bullion card that is easy to keep on you at
all times. The Silver Card makes a great gift. It’s thin
enough to cut with a pair of scissors if you want to divide
it up into smaller, fractional silver pieces.
