Another Strictly Boardroom article published last year looked at the role of metals and minerals in the defence industry. The issue of 'critical' or 'strategic' minerals, particularly for the defence industry has been of increased salience in recent years. Whilst the military broadly uses most metals and minerals - it uses buildings, automobiles, and consumer products, just like the rest… Read this post →
This week, a pair of peer-reviewed articles to which I contributed were published in the Applied Earth Science journal of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) and the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM). The articles are part of a continuing thematic issue on mineral economics and critical minerals. The first, published online in January and discussed… Read this post →
Last year I presented a keynote at the Argus Media-Metal Pages China Metals Week in Guangzhou, entitled "Which markets are the future stars of the 'critical metals' industry?" The presentation looks at which of the critical metals, those defined as small important metal markets with supply constraints, have the potential to outgrow their current constraints and become large, industrial metals… Read this post →
Last month I presented an abstract at the AusIMM Third International Future Mining Conference in Sydney, Australia. The presentation was entitled "An Assessment of the Potential for Transformational Market Growth Amongst the Critical Metals" and was co-authored with Josh Wright, Allan Trench and Paul Miller. The abstract previews a paper, that will be published in Applied Earth Science early next… Read this post →
Unlike most metals, a large proportion of gold's 'consumption' is to hold it as a physical investment. What is it that makes gold a good physical investment, and with gold at its current highs, are there alternative metals, or even any other elements, that could provide an alternate investment opportunity? If so, what are the implications for the mining industry… Read this post →