Member Info for mrtibbles

Allegations of Corrupt business dealings in other areas seem to be not uncommon
https://allafrica.com/stories/201808200135.html

Thanks Razors!

The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, said government was tackling the activities of illegal foreign miners, who created instability to have unfettered access to gold.
The minister, who spoke on the significance of the official presentation of locally mined gold bars to the President by PAGMI, said: "We have just celebrated something that is quite unique in the history of the country. We have generated an FBA standard gold bar, the bullion bar from gold that is mined responsibly in Nigeria. This is a watershed for the country.
Miners' group sets loss-preventive agenda for govt
Speaking on the ugly development and the way to reverse it, President of Miners Association of Nigeria, Alh Kabiru Kankara, expressed surprise about the huge yearly losses and charged the government to adopt appropriate legislative and other measures to curb illegal mining activities and the associated losses to the economy.
He said: "I am not surprised that the amount of money being lost is that much but there are a lot of things that can be put in place to curtail that kind economic sabotage.
"One, we have to look at how we can organise the artisanal miners into making it a formalised body in a way that we can create a central market that is controlled by a body.
"Secondly, there should be a situation that Miners are organised into a single body. Miners Association of Nigeria is supposed to be a central body so that if you are a miner or if you are into the selling of mined product, you should be part of the membership", Kankara added.

Strange how these goverments have done little to combat illegal mining in the past?
Could it be the POG (COVID-19)and the drop in oil prices brought about this sudden desire to act?

Artesian mining supported?
He said efforts are also being made to support artisanal miners in improving the standard of the gold that will be sold to the apex bank in order to ensure that they meet international benchmarks.
According to him, the initiative will enable the deployment of financing schemes that will help miners improve on the quality of their mining operations.
In Zamfara State, Daily Trust investigations showed that illegal mining activities had been going on for a long time as youths from within and outside the state usually flood the gold mines for incomes.
Speaking on the magnitude of the problem, Aliyu Kerewa, who is familiar with the mining activities, said: "You will find some of them in mining fields like Duza in Anka local government or Kwali in Bukuyyum or many other goldmines in Maru and Maradun local government areas"
"I think they have an extensive network of miners and they do it in collaboration with other foreign nationals especially the Burkinabes. Those from Burkina Faso are more in number than any other foreigners here."
Speaking after the official presentation of locally mined gold bars by the PAGMI, Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, said gold mining activities were attracting criminals because they produce precious materials that are easy to transport across various locations.
Bagudu, while reacting to a question on the impacts of this new initiative on security in the North West geo-political zone, said that with the launch of PAGMI and the formalization of the activities of illegal miners, it would have a significant effect on insecurity in places of the country, where mineral production, including gold, was taking place.
In Kebbi State, a source close to Kebbi State Government, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Daily Trust that illegal mining had been rampant in the state but that as part of the ongoing registration of the artisanal miners in the state, about 15,000 miners had so far been registered.
To assist them, he said government had been provided with modern equipment for mining activities in Zuru, Fakai, Danko-Wasagu, Sakaba, Yauri, Shanga, Ngaski and Bagudo local government areas.
Similarly, Plateau State has one of the highest rates of illegal mining in the country, despite efforts to tackle the menace by the authorities.
The gravity of the activities was captured in 2016, when the then Minister of Solid Minerals Development and now Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, said the Federal Government was worried over the rate of illegal mining activities in Plateau State, describing it as unsafe and unhealthy for the nation.
The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, said government was tackling the activities of illegal foreign miners, who created instability to have unfettered access to gold.
The minister, who spoke on the significance of the official presentation of locally mined gold bars to the President by PAGMI, said: "We have just celebrated somethi

Gusau, Birnin Kebbi, Jos — President Muhammadu Buhari has decried that Nigeria lost close to $3b from 2012 - 2018 due to illegal smuggling of gold.
He spoke yesterday during the official presentation of locally mined gold bars by the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMDI) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The president, who restated the determination of his administration to combat illegal mining activities, said improved gold mining operations in the country would generate no fewer than 250,000 jobs and over $500m annually in royalties and taxes to the Federal Government.
He said this laudable initiative would support efforts at creating jobs for Nigerians, diversifying the revenue base, and improving foreign exchange reserves.
President Buhari noted that in addition to the potential revenue gains that will occur from mining operations, efforts are being made to enable the setting up of gold refineries in Nigeria.
https://allafrica.com/stories/202007170098.html
"With the implementation of the PAGDMI scheme which will result in the set-up of accredited gold buying centres across key mining areas, artisanal miners and SMEs engaged in mining will be able to capture the value of their work.
"These operations will help in diversifying our revenue base. The sale of gold by artisanal miners and SMEs at accredited centers will help the government in realizing royalties and taxes from the sale of these assets.
"These developments will also help in improving our foreign reserves by enabling the Central Bank of Nigeria to increase the amount of gold in its reserves.
"These gold assets which will be purchased in Naira, will not only help to bolster our international reserves, it will also provide a hedge against inflation and other economic volatilities associated with foreign currencies that are held in our reserves," the President said in a statement issued by his spokesman, Femi Adesina.
"It has also led to a 40 percent drop in crude oil prices. In Nigeria, the drop in crude oil prices has had a significant impact on government revenue, as well as on our foreign exchange earnings.
"In responding to this challenge, it is therefore paramount that we strengthen our efforts at implementing policies and programs that will enable greater diversification of the Nigerian economy.
"Enabling investment in the Solid Mineral sector, is a key part of the government's economic diversification program.
"Given our current estimated gold reserves of over 200m ounces, most of which have not been exploited, developing sustainable programmes that will catalyse increased investment in the extraction and refining of gold sourced from mines in Nigeria, is indeed vital," he said.
The President while stressing the benefits of the PAGMDI, explained that it will support job creation efforts particularly for artisanal miners, by providing them with a guaranteed off-take by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Nigeria's efforts to diversify its economy has seen the country produce its first locally made gold bar which was handed to President Muhammadu Buhari, signifying the beginning of the country's move to use the precious metal to boost its foreign reserves. The president said that "improved gold mining operations in the country will generate no fewer than 250,000 jobs and over U.S.$500 million annually in royalties and taxes to government coffers. The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite said a gold ecosystem will be created to minimise the high rate of illegal gold mining and smuggling. The need to diversify the economy has become more serious as oil prices has dropped worldwide during the Covid-19 pandemic.
https://allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00074017.html

Sorry Mr Gnome,just noticed, I misspelt your name!

Thank you Mr Gnomw.

This bloke is an utter stinker, please post anything else you can find on him, it may be useful in case Endeavour makes another attempt to get hold of Centamin.
I seem to recall that this is the company that Mr Swaris told Egyptian government he thought that Centamin should talk last year!

True Mr Bond, Endeavour claimed they pulled out of the bidding because Centamin failed to provide them with enough detailed information, yet Endeavour agents had infiltrated some of the key areas of Centamin!

Barrick Gold & Acacia Mining have no ethical values and little respect for the local population in. many of the countries they operate in.
https://tanzaniabusinessethics.wordpress.com/2018/09
https://tanzaniabusinessethics.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrick_Gold
https://www.miningmx.com/opinion/columnists/30914-barrick-selling-acacia-minority-shareholders-river/

Hi Mr Bond, You hit some nails squarely on the head there!
I agree entirely with your summing up !

Putting David Tice's political opinions and Chinese/Russian conspiracy theories aside, some interesting issues regarding the Comex, the possible future POG and the situation with cash withdrawals in the USA.
Although he may be an expert in his particular fields I don't think I could enjoy a pint With David Tice!

In this week’s deep dive into the gold and silver markets, Andrew Maguire exchanges predictions on the outlook for the price of gold with David Tice, an investment expert with an exceptional track record in short stocks and the long gold trade. David Tice has founded and run two successful investment firms, and shares his informed market insights in appearances on the Nightly Business Report, Wall Street Journal Report, CNBC and Bloomberg TV, amongst others. - The pair discuss David Tice’s successful and innovative investment approach of riding short stocks and longing gold trades and his track record of foreshadowing economic disaster. - Swiss banks and second-tier banks' refusal to return and provide liquidity for the COMEX. - With JP Morgan putting up 6,000 contracts, reducing their heavy concentration of positions - could they be getting in line with the 3,000 position limit?
To learn more about Kinesis visit our website here: https://kinesis.money/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O5MNyzyAzQ&feature=youtu.be

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/financial-advisors/121415/stock-buybacks-good-thing-or-not.asp

Little wonder that the City is so keen to retain its privileged control of the markets post Brexit, London markets the home of legalised spivery!

Good article shows that Centamin is a well run company which takes its responsibilities to the environment, its workforce, stakeholders and investors very seriously.

Seems the POG was held back whilst the London stock market was open, now as soon as the London stock market close the POG begins to rise?
https://www.bullionvault.com/gold-price-chart.do
Wednesday, 7/15/2020 15:18
GOLD TRADING in London's wholesale market saw bullion slip against a falling US Dollar on Wednesday, but the gap with New York's Comex futures price evaporated – down to zero from March's Covid Crisis spike of $100 per ounce – as global stock markets rose yet again.

UK 'core' inflation data showed more strength than expected for June at 1.4% per year, while US industrial production showed 5.4% monthly growth, beating analyst forecasts.

"People use gold as a hedge against inflation," Canada's CBC quotes Karl Skogstad, mining economist and assistant professor at Lakehead University in Ontario.

"Central banks have been printing money to deal with a large [government] deficit for a long time. People go through these periods where they say, 'I think this is getting out of hand'."

Ahead of Thursday's meeting of the European Central Bank – expected to leave the 19-nation Eurozone's record QE and negative rates policies unchanged – the Dollar today slipped to its weakest against the single currency Euro since before the Covid Crisis broke in mid-March.

That pushed gold in Euros down to 1-week lows beneath €1580 per ounce while the Dollar price held above $1800, a new 9-year high when reached last Wednesday.

Major US gold-backed ETFs the GLD and IAU both expanded again on Tuesday, extending their 15-week run of net investor inflows.

In contrast, betting on the Comex derivatives exchange's August future – currently the most active contract – fell, shrinking 3.5% as traders moved their positions into later-dated contracts, growing open interest in the December future by 11.0%.

"The cost to roll the active Comex gold future into the December contract is $28/oz," notes strategist John Reade of the mining industry's World Gold Council, comparing live prices for bullish traders wanting to sell August so they can buy December.

"Although this is a little less than the extreme seen earlier in July, its still a very large cost. Do this 4 times a year and that's a 6% annual holding cost!"

With 2 weeks still to run on the Comex August future, the gap between New York's most active gold futures contract and the price of physical gold traded in London's spot market – known as 'over-the-counter' or OTC – meantime shrank to barely 20 cents per ounce on Wednesday.

That contrasts with late-March's spike to $100 per ounce, when the UK's Covid lockdown and the closure of 3 major Swiss refineries fed speculation that bullion banks and other industry traders using Comex to hedge the value of their physical stockpiles wouldn't be able to make delivery into New York.

"Looking at monthly net gold flows into physically backed ETFs," says the World Gold Council's Reade, "the increased proportion attracted by North America

Thank you Mick for this update, I am sure it is well appreciated by everyone.

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index continued to hold steady above the 1,725 mark in July mainly driven by rising demand for iron-ore from China as economic activity resumed after coronavirus-induced lockdowns. Still, the index remains below the nine-month peak of 1,956 touched on July 6th, as an increase in new Covid-19 cases worldwide threatens to disrupt global supply chains once again. .
https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/baltic
the gnome
https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/baltic
Investors are always looking for practical economic indicators they can use to help them make informed investing decisions. Peter Lynch, the famous manager of the Fidelity Magellan Fund, talked about looking for practical indicators in the world around you—like looking at what products your friends are buying or what stores always seem to be crowded. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) is a practical economic indicator on a global scale.

The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) is a measure of what it costs to ship raw materials—like iron ore, steel, cement, coal and so on—around the world. The Baltic Dry Index is compiled daily by The Baltic Exchange. To compile the index, members of the Baltic Exchange call dry bulk shippers around the world to see what their prices are for 22 different shipping routes around the globe. Once they have obtained these numbers, they compile them and find an average. To ensure they are getting a comprehensive view of the entire shipping industry when looking at various shipping costs, the Baltic Exchange looks at costs for each of the following four sizes of ships:
– Capemax (10 percent of the global fleet): ships that can carry 100,000+ dead weight tons of cargo and are too big to pass through the Panama Canal
– Panamax (19 percent of the global fleet): ships that can carry 60,000-80,000 dead weight tons of cargo and can barely fit through the Panama Canal
– Handymax, or Supramax (37 percent of the global fleet): ships that can carry 45,000-59,000 dead weight tons of cargo
– Handysize (34 percent of the global fleet): ships that can carry 15,000-35,000 dead weight tons of cargo

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/obr-july-coronavirus-covid-19-economic-forecast-model-rishi-sunak-mini-budget-083939264.html
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has revised up the cost of the government’s COVID-19 response by tens of billions and said it expects the UK economy to face its worst downturn in 300 years this year.

The OBR on Tuesday set out three “scenarios” for the path of the UK economy this year as part of its monthly update on the sustainability of UK public finances.

It’s central, or base, case assumes GDP falls by 12.4% this year with “some potential scarring” to the economy — an economic term for permanently lost output caused by firms going bust or people losing work. Unemployment is forecast to peak at 11.9% in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The Brexiteers have made a bad situation (Covid-19) even worse, lets see what Forage, Boris, Gove, Dominique Cummings and all the other Brexiteers have to say when the UK economy goes down the pan!