Engineering & Mining Journal

JUL 2014

Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr

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Metal prices during June remained fairly steady with the exception of gold, silver and zinc. Gold climbed back above the $1,300/oz levels, opening on July 1 with $1,326.10/oz, a 5.4% improvement. For the year, gold prices have remained posi- tive. Similarly, silver prices climbed to $20.98/oz from 19.03/oz, a 10.2% improvement for June. Platinum and pal- ladium prices were up 3.7% and 3.4%, respectively, while nickel and tin declined 3.4% and 3.3%, respectively. Iron ore continued its slow burn dropping $1.50 to $94 per metric ton (mt). The rest of the metals tracked on the E&MJ; Price Index remained about the same except zinc. Zinc prices increased $104.50/mt to $2,194/mt, a 5% increase. The Inter- national Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) also reported that the global mar- ket for refined zinc metal was in deficit by more than 107,000 mt over the four months from January to April 2014. Both mine production and refined metal pro- duction grew compared to the same period last year. Metal usage, however, increased more. Year-to-date, total reported invento- ries had declined by 123,000 mt. Total zinc mine production was mar- ginally higher at 0.4% (4,210 mt vs. 4,193 mt) than the same period in 2013. Decreases reported in Canada, Ireland, and Peru nearly offset increases in China, Mexico and the U.S. Higher production in Belgium, China and India led to a significant increase in total out- put of refined zinc metal of 4.1% (4,334 mt vs. 4,162 mt). The ILZSG reported increases in appar- ent demand of 12.4% in China and 23.8% in the Republic of Korea were the main drivers behind an increase in the global usage of refined zinc metal of 7.5%. Demand in Europe declined by 0.9% and in the United States, rose by 2.8%. Chinese net imports of refined zinc metal increased by 38.8% to 261,000 mt. Last year, Glenore closed its Persever- ance and Brunswick mines that produced zinc and lead in eastern Canada. MMG Ltd.'s Century mine in Australia and Vendanta's Lisheen mine in Ireland is expected to be closed by the end of 2015. With little new zinc capacity slated to come online, zinc prices could move higher. M A R K E T S 96 E&MJ; • JULY 2014 www.e-mj.com (July 1, 2014) P r e c i o u s M e ta l s ( $ / o z ) B a s e M e ta l s ( $ / m t) M i n o r M e ta l s ( $ / m t) E x c h a n g e R a te s ( U . S . $ E q u i v a l e n t ) Gold $1,326.10 Aluminum $1,837.50 Molybdenum $30,000 Euro (€) 1.3690 Silver $20.98 Copper $7,015.00 Cobalt $31,400 U.K. (£) 1.7130 Platinum $1,514.00 Lead $2,129.00 Canada ($) 0.9380 Palladium $860.00 Nickel $18,850.00 Ir o n O r e ( $ / d m t ) Australia ($) 0.9460 Rhodium $1,125.00 Tin $22,580.00 Fe CFR China $94.00 South Africa (Rand) 0.0940 Ruthenium $68.00 Zinc $2,194.00 China (¥) 0.1630 Gold and silver prices provided by KITCO Bullion dealers (http://www.kitco.com). Platinum group metals prices provided by Johnson Matthey (http://www.platinum.matthey.com). Non-ferrous base and minor metal prices provided by London Metal Exchange (http://www.lme.co.uk). Iron ore prices provided by Platts Iron Ore Index. Currency exchange rates were provided by the GoCurrency.com. Zinc Moves into Deficit Territory By Steve Fiscor, Editor-in-Chief World Refined Zinc Supply and Usage 2014-Pres. ('000 metric tons) Source: ILZSG 2013 2014 2012 2013 Jan-Apr Jan-Apr Mine production 13,130 13,201 4,193 4,210 Metal production 12,630 12,891 4,162 4,334 Metal usage 12,287 12,982 4,130 4,441 Source: LME EMJ_pg96_EMJ_pg96 7/2/14 5:03 PM Page 96

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