Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:32 AM on Wednesday, February 27th, 2019
SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc.
(TSX-V: NAM) The company’s new Lithium Division has already made
significant acquisitions in Canada and the USA. The company also owns
one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in
Sudbury, Canada. Learn More.
NAM: TSX-V
———————
Palladium: The most precious of precious metals
For the first time in more than a decade, palladium is rivalling gold in value.
At its current spot price of just over US$1 300/oz, reaching as high
as $1 400/oz in January 2018, it has truly become the most precious of
the precious metals, writes CHANTELLE KOTZE.
Demand has been primarily driven by the automotive industry through the “demonisation” of diesel engines in Europe.
The resultant growth in small petrol engines and hybrid engines,
which are fitted with emission-reducing catalytic converters that
require it as a catalyst to control pollution, along with the shift away
from diesel engines, has benefitted the material.
Moreover, the Volkswagen emissions scandal has negatively impacted the European diesel market and platinum prices.
According to Michael Jones, the President and CEO of TSX-listed
Platinum Group Metals, the developer of the Waterberg palladium-dominant
project in South Africa, it has become apparent that the electric
vehicle revolution has been a major factor driving demand.
While adoption rates of electric vehicles are expected to increase
anywhere between 8% and 10% by 2023, Jones stresses the importance that
at least half of these new electric vehicles will be hybrid electric
vehicles as opposed to full electric vehicles and will therefore still
require the use of palladium in the catalytic converter.
Moreover, China’s tougher new vehicle emissions standard, the China
VI emission standard, released in June 2018, means that cars will
require more robust catalytic converters that are able to meet the new
emissions legislation – another factor that may require increased
palladium during manufacture in order to minimise emissions.
According to data from German chemicals giant BASF, the China VI
emission standards is expected to create an additional 1 Moz of
palladium demand annually by 2020, which Jones believes the market is
already experiencing.
From the 2.2 Moz of palladium estimated to be required in the
manufacture of Chinese cars in 2018, palladium demand is estimated to
grow to 3.1 Moz by 2020, says BASF.
These figures are not based on the amount of new vehicles, but rather
the impact of the change in the standard for emissions which will
require increased amounts of palladium in its manufacture to ensure the
longevity of the catalyst.
While Jones notes that this may cause car manufacturers to substitute
out of palladium back into platinum as a cheaper alternative, it may
take several years for this change to come into effect and have a
physical impact on the price of palladium.
This being said, palladium is also a much more attractive metal for
autocatalysis, particularly in hybrid (petrol) electric vehicles, he
adds.
Moreover, with palladium being relatively rare, mined mainly as a
by-product of nickel and platinum mining, it may take a while for demand
fundamentals to slow should catalytic converter demand slow, says
Jones.
This increasing demand, combined with constrained long-term supply,
has caused a deficit in palladium supply which has been the key driver
in palladium’s high prices – a price trend which experts expect to
continue.
Despite weakening automotive sales in key markets, stringent
emissions controls are expected to sustain demand as governments seek to
improve their emissions targets.
Jones expects this demand to continue well into the foreseeable future due to tight supply.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 12:00 PM on Tuesday, February 26th, 2019
The River Valley Project is the largest
undeveloped primary PGM mineral resource in North America. The Project
has excellent infrastructure and is within 100 kilometres of the Sudbury
Metallurgical Complex. The Project is 100% owned by New Age Metals.
Palladium continues to reach new
all-time highs and as of February 26, 2019 it was priced at over $1,500
USD/oz. This represents a 45% price increase in the last 12 months.
(Source: https://www.kitco.com/charts/livepalladium.html)
The amended January 9, 2019 NI 43-101
Mineral Resource Estimate on the River Valley Project confirms that the
River Valley Project has 2,867,000 Measured and Indicated Palladium
Equivalent (PdEq) ounces, with 1,059,000 PdEq ounces in Inferred at a
0.35 g/t and 2.0 g/t PdEq cut-off for open pit and underground
respectively. See the January 15, 2019 press release to read more on the newest resource estimate.
The Project’s first economic study a
Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) is slated to be completed on or
before the end of Q2 2019.
The Company is actively seeking a strategic partner for our Genesis PGM Project in Alaska.
February 26th, 2019 / Rockport, Canada – New Age Metals Inc. (NAM) (TSX.V: NAM; OTCQB: NMTLF; FSE: P7J.F) Harry Barr, Chairman & CEO, stated; We are pleased to update our shareholders and interested parties as to our ongoing activities in both our PGM and Lithium divisions. Specifically, give a progress update on the River Valley Project Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA). Exploration and development plans for both PGM and Lithium divisions in 2019, highlight the current PGM market and particularly Palladium price trends, and finally reviewing our corporate awareness program for 2019.”
River Valley PGM Project Goals & Objectives
During the next year the company’s exploration & development objectives are as follows:
1.Complete the re-stated resource calculation (Q1 2019);
2.Complete the Projects first economic study, PEA (Q2 2019);
3.Solicit a strategic partner to aid in further exploration and development of the Project;
4.Complete surface exploration on
additional target areas based on recommendations of the updated 43-101
and the 2017/2018 geophysics (slated for Q3-Q4 2019);
5.Conduct 5000 metre drill program focusing in the northern portion of the Project;
6.Our corporate mandate is to build a
series of open pits (bulk mining) over the 16 kilometers of
mineralization. We will concentrate on site and ship concentrates to
Sudbury.
River Valley PGM Project Goals & Objectives
NAM commissioned
both P&E Mining Consultants (P&E) and DRA Americas (DRA) to
complete the Project’s first economic study, a Preliminary Economic
Assessment (PEA) in August 2018. The study is underway and expected to
be released at the previously stated time of June 2019. Thus far we can
report the following:
– Resource calculation updated for recent trailing average metal price increase by P&E.
– Preliminary mining, processing and G&A costs determined by P&E and DRA.
– Preliminary process plant recoveries determined by DRA.
– Initial pit optimizations complete by P&E.
– Recently commenced exploring open pit phasing sequence by P&E.
– Commenced geotechnical pit slope review by MDEng.
The objective of
the PEA would be to create a mine plan, mine schedule, a capital cost
estimate, and operating cost estimate incorporated into a financial
model to provide total cash flow, net present value (NPV), and internal
rate of return (IRR).
Platinum Group Metal Prices & Performance
Palladium (Pd) has thus far, been a shining
star in terms of commodities in 2019 and we expect the supporting
fundamentals to contribute to escalating prices. Most recently the price
of Pd, our primary metal at River Valley, has hit an all-time high
price of over $1,500 USD per oz. There
are various reasons why this price movement has occurred and more to
suggest that Pd price may continue to rise. First, there are continued
supply deficits forecasted for Pd and in 2019 alone it is expected to be
an estimated 615,000 ounces. It is also worthwhile to note the
possibility of supply disruptions in South Africa, which provides the
majority of the Pd supply. Next, according to SFA Oxford, the allowable
limits of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) from gasoline
passenger vehicles in China will be reduced by 60% by 2025 (SFA Oxford,
2019). Pd is the metal which reduces both CO and HC and therefore we can
expect increased Pd loadings in all gasoline passenger vehicles to
successfully meet these limits. The Chinese emission standard story
tends itself to the increase in Pd demand to grow by 500,000 ounces by
2021. To summarize, the Palladium fundamentals and forecasts align well
with the timeline for development of our River Valley Project.
Recently the World Platinum Investment
Council forecasted a deficit in Platinum production for the next 5
consecutive years. Palladium for the 10 years from 2008-2017, has
averaged 21.5% per annum while Gold averaged only 5.8% per annum over
that same period. Both Platinum and Palladium, (outside of their
extensive uses in catalytic converters which convert harmful gasses from
hydrocarbon emissions into less harmful substances in vehicles), are
considered precious metals, like Gold and are seen as a store of value.
2019 Mineral Resource Update
On January 9, 2019 NAM filed its latest
Mineral Resource Estimate on the River Valley Project. The May 2018
Resource Estimate presented a global mineral inventory. The January 2019
Resource presents a pit constrained mineral resource that shows
reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. The results of
the updated Mineral Resource Estimate are tabulated in Table 1 below
(0.35 g/t PdEq open pit and 2.0 g.t PdEq underground cut-off). This
43-101 Technical Report is available on SEDAR.
Table 1: Results from the amended NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate.
Click Image To View Full Size
Class
PGM + Au (oz)
PdEq (oz)
PtEq (oz)
Measured
1,394,000
1,701,000
1,701,000
Indicated
983,000
1,166,000
1,166,000
Meas +Ind
2,377,000
2,867,000
2,867,000
Inferred
841,000
1,059,000
1,059,000
Notes
1.CIM definition standards were followed for the Mineral Resource Estimate.
2.The 2018 Mineral Resource models used
Ordinary Kriging grade estimation within a three-dimensional block model
with mineralized zones defined by wireframed solids.
3.A base cut-off grade of 0.35 g/t PdEq
was used for reporting Mineral Resources in a constrained pit and 2.00
g/t PdEq was used for reporting the Mineral Resources under the pit.
6.Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have economic viability
7. The Inferred Mineral Resource in this
estimate has a lower level of confidence than that applied to an
Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a Mineral
Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of the Inferred
Mineral Resource could be upgraded to an Indicated Mineral Resource with
continued exploration.
This stated resource will closely relate to
the resource that will be reported in the upcoming PEA slated to be
completed in Q2 2019. See Figure 1 which shows the mineral resource
reported in each area of the River Valley Project.
Click Image To View Full Size
Figure
1: The Yellow Band represents the footwall potential area of the River
Valley Deposit based on the results of the Pine Zone where footwall
mineralization was noted to extend 150 metres eastward from the Pine
Zone/ T3 main deposit. At present the only area that has confirmed
footwall mineralization is in the Pine Zone (defined from 2015 to 2017
drilling). Geophysics and exploration are in progress to test other
areas of the Deposit. Management’s specific focus is to outline a
sufficient potentially economic Mineral Resource in the northern portion
of the Project, and subsequently develop a series of open pits (bulk
mining), crush,and concentrate on site, and ship the concentrates to Sudbury for metallurgical extraction.
2019 Exploration Plan for River Valley PGM Project
To date an approximate 160,441 metres (481,323 feet) in 710 drill holes have
been conducted by the company as operator on the River Valley Project.
Several independent 43-101 compliant resource estimates have previously
been generated for the deposit through the exploration and development
phases. The River Valley Deposit’s
present resource, with approximately 2.9M PdEq ounces in Measured Plus
Indicated mineral resources and near-surface mineralization, covers a
total of 16 kilometers of strike. The company continues to explore and enhance the River Valley PGM Deposit.
After the ground proofing and surface
exploration program conducted in Summer 2018 which followed up on the
most recent induced polarization survey by Abitibi, NAM management has
designed a 5000 metre drill programs to test the new geophysical
anomalies. See Figure 2 below which shows these new geophysical
anomalies and potential targets for the next stage of drilling at River
Valley superimposed over the upper 4 kilometres of the project map.
Click Image To View Full Size
Figure 2:
Northern portion of the project with superimposed 2018 merged IP at
-100 level. Retrieved from River Valley Geophysical review by Geoscience
North (Alan King, P. Geo., M.Sc.)
2019 Exploration Plans for Lithium Division
The Company has eight pegmatite hosted
Lithium Projects in the Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field, located in SE
Manitoba. In 2018 NAM conducted surface exploration programs on our
Lithman East, Lithman North, Lithium One and Lithium Two projects. The
programs consisted of reviewing, characterising and sampling all of the
known surface pegmatites. Samples were taken from the Eagle and FD5
pegmatites on Lithium Two and returned results of up to 3.8% Li2O. On
Lithium One, samples were taken from the known Silverleaf and Annie
pegmatites and not only returned significant Li20 assays of up to 4.1%
but heightened levels of Rubidium Oxide (Rb2O).
In 2019, the Company plans to drill on both
Lithium One and Lithium Two. Drill permits have been applied for and
the company is awaiting approval from the province.
Conferences This Quarter
In late January, our Chairman & CEO
Harry Barr travelled to South Africa and attended two 1-2-1 style
conferences with over 40 booked meetings with mine finance companies,
major mine companies, institutions, stock brokers, and high net worth
individuals. The trip was very successful and we are currently following
up on several new opportunities that were generated from these
meetings. In the meantime, the company is preparing for the upcoming
PDAC 2019 (March 3 to 6). The company has secured a meeting place and is
currently organizing meetings with parties interested in our PGM and
Lithium divisions.
Opt-in List
If you have not done so already, we encourage you to sign up on our website (www.newagemetals.com) to receive our updated news.
QUALIFIED PERSON
The contents contained herein that relate
to Exploration Results or Mineral Resources is based on information
compiled, reviewed or prepared by Carey Galeschuk, a consulting
geoscientist for New Age Metals. Mr. Galeschuk is the Qualified Person
as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved
the technical content of this news release.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
“Harry Barr”
Harry G. Barr
Chairman and CEO
For further information on New Age Metals, please contact Anthony Ghitter, Business Development at 613-659-2773, or [email protected]
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its
Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of
the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking
Statements: This release contains forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially
from actual future events or results and are based on current
expectations or beliefs. For this purpose, statements of historical fact
may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In addition,
forward-looking statements include statements in which the Company uses
words such as “continue”, “efforts”, “expect”, “believe”, “anticipate”,
“confident”, “intend”, “strategy”, “plan”, “will”, “estimate”,
“project”, “goal”, “target”, “prospects”, “optimistic” or similar
expressions. These statements by their nature involve risks and
uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially depending on a
variety of important factors, including, among others, the Company’s
ability and continuation of efforts to timely and completely make
available adequate current public information, additional or different
regulatory and legal requirements and restrictions that may be imposed,
and other factors as may be discussed in the documents filed by the
Company on SEDAR (www.sedar.com), including the most recent reports that
identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to
differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The
Company does not undertake any obligation to review or confirm analysts’
expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the
date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Tags: palladium, tsx Posted in Featured, New Age Metals | Comments Off on New Age Metals $NAM.ca Provides an Update on the Platinum Group Metals (PGM) and Lithium Divisions $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 3:52 PM on Thursday, January 24th, 2019
SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc.
(TSX-V: NAM) The company’s new Lithium Division has already made
significant acquisitions in Canada and the USA. The company also owns
one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in
Sudbury, Canada. Learn More.
NAM: TSX-V
———————
The diesel emissions scandal helped make palladium more valuable than gold
Palladium prices have never known such glittering heights. The silvery-white precious metal is now $1,351.40 an ounce: more expensive than gold ($1,283.75 an ounce) or platinum ($792.30 an ounce), and just a little cheaper than iridium ($1,460 an ounce) and rhodium ($2,460).
Palladium prices have never known such glittering heights. The
silvery-white precious metal is now $1,351.40 an ounce: more expensive
than gold ($1,283.75 an ounce) or platinum ($792.30 an ounce), and just a
little cheaper than iridium ($1,460 an ounce) and rhodium ($2,460). As Bloomberg reports, palladium has surged around 50% in the past four months. A decade ago, it cost less than $200 an ounce.
About 80% of all palladium winds up in the exhaust systems of cars—it
helps turn nasty pollutants into more benign water vapor and carbon
dioxide. (The metal has also occasionally been used for jewelry,
particularly during World War II, where a scarcity of platinum led it to be used in wedding bands.)
Two years ago, market researchers predicted that palladium had already hit its peak. Instead, it’s only continued to become more valuable—bolstered by the Volkswagen emission scandal, and China’s new emissions regulations, which have affected how the country’s cars are made.
In the past, palladium prices were held in a kind of dynamic
equilibrium with platinum. While palladium is used in cars fueled by
gasoline, platinum is the metal of choice for catalytic converters in
diesel cars. This long looked unlikely to change: For European
customers, and especially Germans, owning a diesel car meant saving
money at almost every turn. The fuel was government subsidized; the
mileage was second to none; even diesel car registration taxes were
cheaper than their gas counterparts. In 1990, diesel cars had a 13% market share in western Europe; within 15 years, it was more than 50%.
But ever since the Volkswagen emissions scandal, when the company
falsified US vehicle emission tests, the image of clean diesel has gone
up in smoke. Increasingly, European consumers are leaving diesel cars by
the wayside, and opting for gasoline instead. In
2017, British diesel sales plunged by 17% and last year sales of
gas-powered cars in Germany outstripped diesel for the first time since
1999.
Demand for already scarce palladium has risen with these sales of gas-powered cars. For eight years, supply has outstripped demand and this recent boost has only exacerbated already high prices. Add to that China’s new emissions regulations,
which have forced car manufacturers to invest more heavily in effective
catalytic converters, and a sellers’ market is no surprise. Mining
companies won’t be able to fulfill the rise in demand either: As the Financial Times reports (paywall), world leader Norilsk Nickel anticipates flat supply until 2020, with no new projects until after 2025.
But the tremendous upswing in demand may not last long. China’s
automobile sales are no longer rocketing up as they once were, with the
nation’s car market contracting this year for the first time since the 1990s. There’s a technical solution, too: Gasoline cars could also
use platinum instead of palladium, though doing so would require a
significant, and expensive, change in how the vehicles are manufactured.
On the horizon, there’s a much more distant resolution—the mass
adoption of electric cars, which don’t use either metal. At current
estimates, however, this is at least a decade or two away. Either way, high palladium prices are here for the foreseeable future, leaving speculators laughing all the way to the bank.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 5:23 PM on Tuesday, January 22nd, 2019
SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc.
(TSX-V: NAM) The company’s new Lithium Division has already made
significant acquisitions in Canada and the USA. The company also owns
one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in
Sudbury, Canada. Learn More.
NAM: TSX-V
——————–
Here’s Why The Price Of Palladium Just Zoomed Past Gold
Palladium might not fill headlines the way gold does, but it’s been on fire lately.
Not only has the precious metal been the best performing commodity for two years straight, but its price also just shot past gold for the first time since 2001.
Palladium Strengthens On Increased Demand From Automobile Manufacturers
Palladium might not fill headlines the way gold does, but it’s been on fire lately. Not only has the precious metal been the best performing commodity for
two years straight, but its price also just shot past gold for the
first time since 2001. For the first time ever, it broke through $1,400
an ounce last week before pulling back somewhat. From its 52-week low
set in August, palladium has climbed almost 70 percent. It’s added about
16 percent in the past 30 trading days alone.
Trading Places: Palladium Overtook Gold AgainU.S. Global Investors
Supply is tight, but like many other things, we largely have
government policy to thank for the palladium rally. In this case, I’m
talking specifically about governments in Europe, which have recently
strengthened their vehicle emission standards. The “Euro standard,†as
it’s called, classifies vehicles on a scale from one to six, with one
being the most polluting and six being the least polluting.
Some European cities have already banned the dirtiest “Euro 1â€
vehicles from their streets. Old diesel cars and trucks were outlawed in
Brussels effective January 2018. In May 2018, Hamburg became the first
German city to do the same.
Diesel Engines in the Crosshairs
But now that it’s a new year, some city governments are escalating
the ban to include Euro 2 automobiles that run on diesel. Next month,
Frankfurt—Germany’s financial hub—will go so far as to ban all Euro
4-and-worse diesel vehicles, and all Euro 1 and 2 gasoline-burning
vehicles.
I believe this escalation was prompted in part by a comment made by
Elzbieta Bienkowska, a European commissioner whose responsibilities
include oversight of industry and entrepreneurship. Speaking to
Bloomberg in May, she said that “diesel cars are finished.â€
Diesel Vehicle Sales Continue to Plunge in EuropeU.S. Global Investors
And then, as if to hasten Bienkowska’s prediction, a damning study on
diesel engines was issued in June by the very same group that blew the
whistle on Volkswagen’s emissions scandal back in 2015. According to the
study, conducted by the International Council on Clean Transportation
(ICCT), even the newest, cleanest diesel vehicles failed to meet
Europe’s strict emission standards in “real world†driving conditions.
Peter Mock, the ICCT’s managing director, defended the report, saying
that “pretty much all Euro 6 diesels on the market are not clean.â€
European sentiment of diesel was already in freefall, but momentum is
increasing. In the first half of 2018, sales of diesel vehicles within
the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) fell
more than 16 percent compared to the same period in 2017. For all of
2018, British sales of diesels were down nearly 30 percent, according to
the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Between 2016 to
2018, diesel’s share of new vehicle sales in the EU plunged
dramatically, from nearly half of all sales to just under a third.
Palladium Has Been the Beneficiary
So what does all of this have to do with palladium? The metal, as you
probably know, is used in the production of catalytic converters, which
“scrub†pollutants from the exhaust of internal combustion engines. And
because of Europe’s enforcement of strict new standards, demand for
these devices is surging, along with palladium itself.
Demand is so high, in fact, that there are now reports, in the U.K. and U.S., of
thieves stealing catalytic converters, sometimes in broad daylight, to
extract the precious metal. On Thursday, it traded as high as $1,434.50,
according to CNBC.
Supply Worries Have Remained High
There’s more to the story of palladium’s bull run. For the past
several years, supply has been in deficit. That’s mostly because around
80 percent of all palladium (and platinum) production is concentrated in
two countries—South Africa and Russia. The geopolitical risks are high.
When South African laborers went on strike in 2014, all production of the platinum metals, including palladium, grinded to a halt.
Where is Palladium Mined?U.S. Global Investors
Besides supply issues, the biggest risk facing palladium right now is
substitution risk. With palladium trading above $1,400 an ounce, how
long will it be before auto manufacturers switch to its sister metal,
platinum, which is currently trading at around $800 an ounce?
In the meantime, there could be money to be made.
A Palladium Miner With Incredible 87 Percent Income Growth
One of our favorite ways to play the rally is North American Palladium. The company, headquartered in Toronto, mines both palladium and gold (and other metals as a byproduct), and has seen quite a rally itself on higher metal prices. For the 24-month period, its shares are up a remarkable 120 percent.
Tags: palladium, tsx Posted in All Recent Posts, New Age Metals | Comments Off on New Age Metals Inc. $NAM.ca – Here’s Why The Price Of #Palladium Just Zoomed Past #Gold
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:49 AM on Friday, January 18th, 2019
SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc.
(TSX-V: NAM) The company’s new Lithium Division has already made
significant acquisitions in Canada and the USA. The company also owns
one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in
Sudbury, Canada. Learn More.
NAM: TSX-V ——————————-
Palladium held above $1,400 U.S. an ounce on Friday after surging to record levels in the previous session, amid tight supplies and robust demand, while gold slipped as risk sentiment got a boost from hopes of progress in U.S.-China trade talks.
Glenn Wilkins – Friday, January 18, 2019
Palladium held above $1,400 U.S. an ounce on Friday after surging to
record levels in the previous session, amid tight supplies and robust
demand, while gold slipped as risk sentiment got a boost from hopes of
progress in U.S.-China trade talks.
Spot gold was down 0.1% at
$1,290.51 U.S. per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were down 0.2% at
$1,290 per ounce. One official said the market is currently unable to
gauge the extent of economic slowdown, and that uncertainty is
supporting gold.
Meanwhile, spot palladium climbed 1.1% to
$1,411 U.S. per ounce Friday, having hit an all-time high of $1,434.50
U.S. on Thursday. The metal is on track to rise for a fourth week in its
strongest weekly gain since the week ended Sept. 21. It has risen
around 12% so far this month.
The price of palladium, used
mainly in emissions-reducing catalysts for vehicles, is up nearly 70%
since a low marked in mid-August. Prices for the metal overtook gold for
the first time in 16 years early in December.
However, spot
gold was set for its fifth straight weekly gain, supported by
expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve may not raise interest rates
this year on worries about economy and uncertainties around Brexit.
Gold
watchers say spot gold is due for a sharp move, as its consolidation
within a neutral range of $1,285-$1,299 U.S. per ounce is ending.
In other metals, platinum rose 0.5% to $809 U.S. an ounce, while silver gained 0.1% to $15.53 U.S.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:03 AM on Thursday, January 17th, 2019
SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc.
(TSX-V: NAM) The company’s new Lithium Division has already made
significant acquisitions in Canada and the USA. The company also owns
one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in
Sudbury, Canada. Learn More.
NAM: TSX-V ——————————-
Palladium scaled a new peak on Thursday, driven by a deficit in the auto-catalyst metal and robust demand, while gold held firm on concerns surrounding a U.S. government logjam and Brexit.
Spot palladium had jumped 3.53 percent to $1,407 per ounce as of 8:08 a.m. ET, hitting an all-time high, and rising more than 10 percent so far this month.
“Any new high in the market is triggering additional buying … It is
a good old-fashioned squeeze driven by tight fundamentals, strong
momentum and low liquidity,†Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen said.
The price of palladium, used mainly in emissions-reducing catalysts
for vehicles, has leapt more than 60 percent since hitting a trough in
mid-August. The metal overtook gold in price terms for the first time in
16 years late last year.
Meanwhile, holdings in palladium exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracked
by Reuters have nearly halved from January last year as prices rose.
“There is not sufficient supply in the market, so people are
purchasing metals from the ETFs,†said Samson Li, a Hong Kong-based
precious metals analyst at Refinitiv GFMS.
Spot gold fell 0.04 percent at $1,292.92 per ounce and U.S. gold futures were down 0.1 percent at $1,292.50.
“Gold is looking for the next short-term stimulus … On the next
occasion we see a sustained equity market pull-back, you’re likely to
see a movement above $1,300,†Capital Economics analyst Ross Strachan
said.
Spot gold is about to exit a neutral range of $1,285-$1,299, and
either rise to $1,311 or drop towards $1,268, according to Reuters
technical analyst Wang Tao.
Gold remains supported by a variety of factors, including a prolonged
partial U.S. government shutdown, a possible pause in the U.S. Federal
Reserve’s rate hike cycle, and concerns surrounding Brexit, analysts
said.
In other metals, platinum fell 0.06 percent to $804 an ounce, while silver dropped 0.4 percent to $15.53.
Tags: palladium, PGM, tsx Posted in New Age Metals | Comments Off on New Age Metals Inc. $NAM.ca – #Palladium surges to new record on tight fundamentals $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 4:54 PM on Tuesday, January 8th, 2019
SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc.
(TSX-V: NAM) The company’s new Lithium Division has already made
significant acquisitions in Canada and the USA. The company also owns
one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in
Sudbury, Canada. Learn More.
Best metal of 2018 now commands $500 an ounce more than rival
Substitution in autocatalysts still seen as unlikely: Norilsk
Palladium’s premium to platinum jumped to a record, building on its ranking as the best-performing metal of 2018.
Shortages of the metal used in autocatalysts for gasoline-fueled
vehicles sent its price to yet another all-time high, widening the price
difference with rival platinum to more than $500 an ounce on Tuesday. Most analysts don’t see supply relief for palladium anytime soon.
Both metals are used in catalytic converters to reduce vehicle
emissions. Platinum, the more expensive of the two for most of this
century, has seen usage decline from its key consumers, diesel
carmakers. Demand slid as consumers turned away from diesel vehicles in
the wake of Volkswagen AG’s emissions-cheating scandal.
Platinum is now trading near a 10-year low, at about $821.35 an ounce, while palladium is near its highest, $1,325.13 an ounce.
The widening price gap has spurred speculation that petrol-carmakers
may switch from palladium to cheaper platinum. Anton Berlin, head of
analysis and market development at Russia’s Norilsk Nickel PJSC, says
this is unlikely. Palladium has some features that make it more suitable
for gasoline or hybrid cars, like better resistance to higher
temperatures.
Switching to platinum would take at least two years and would need
additional work and costs to adjust engines and car-exhaust systems,
said Berlin, whose company is the world’s biggest palladium miner and
fourth in platinum. Manufacturers also need to use more of the precious
metal than is needed with palladium, he said.
Berlin believes that overall demand for platinum will recover anyway.
The market may even face a deficit if investment demand is sufficient,
including bar and coin sales, he said. The World Platinum Investment
Council predicted in November that platinum will remain in surplus in 2019, albeit a smaller one than last year.
Tags: palladium, PGM, tsx Posted in All Recent Posts, New Age Metals | Comments Off on New Age Metals Inc. $NAM.ca – #Palladium Just Smashed Another Record $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:16 AM on Monday, December 17th, 2018
SPONSOR:Â New Age Metals Inc. (TSX-V: NAM) The company’s new Lithium Division has already made significant acquisitions in Canada and the USA. The company also owns one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in Sudbury, Canada. The property hosts M+I 4,626,250 Palladium Equivalent Ounces. Click here for more information
——————–
Palladium is one of the best-performing commodities of 2018.
Its price has surged more than 50% in the past four months.Tiffany Hsu
Palladium inside a catalytic converter at Alpha Recycling in the
Bronx, New York City. Palladium, a silvery-white metal, used in cars and
sometimes jewellery, has topped gold in commodities trading for the
last three days.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
GOLD was long the most valuable of precious metals until, suddenly,
it wasn’t. Last week, an obscure and far less sexy rival called
palladium swung ahead, for the first time in 16 years. Gold briefly
retook the lead, but spot palladium prices have beaten out gold prices
for the past three days. Palladium hit a record high on Wednesday before
settling in at US$1,255.12 an ounce at the market close in London on
Thursday, according to data from SP Angel, an investment research firm.
Gold was US$1,243.02 an ounce.
It is an impressive dethroning aided by economic shifts,
antipollution legislation, union campaigns by mine workers and global
trade negotiations. Until recently, palladium was perhaps best known for
sharing a name with several popular entertainment venues and for
powering the fictional arc reactor mechanism hooked up to Iron Man’s
heart.
Its primary purpose is far less glamorous: More than 80 per cent of
the world’s palladium is used in the catalytic converters that help
vehicles manage their pollutant output.
Palladium is one of the best-performing commodities of 2018. Its
price has surged more than 50 per cent in the past four months. Some
dealers have sold out of the metal.
For at least the near future, palladium will most likely remain in
high demand and short supply, experts said. Here, we explain how a metal
usually ignored in favour of gold, silver and platinum has recently
eclipsed them all.
What is palladium?
A cousin of platinum and traditionally much less expensive, palladium
is part of a family of metals known as the “noble metals” because they
resist corrosion and oxidation. Palladium was discovered in the early
1800s by William Hyde Wollaston, a British scientist. It was named after
Pallas, a recently identified asteroid. Silvery-white and durable, the
metal is used in surgical instruments, dental alloys and in cellphones
and other electronics.
Jewellers like Jenny Windler in Berkeley, California, sometimes use
it because it is hypoallergenic and “not too fussy to work with”, she
said. Palladium was also less expensive than other precious metals like
gold or platinum. In the past few months, palladium men’s rings have
been among the most popular search terms on her online store, Ms Windler
revealed. But she uses the metal in less than 10 per cent of her
products.
Recently, Ms Windler was buying platinum online and noticed a price
chart that listed palladium as more expensive. “I thought: ‘That can’t
be right; it must be some kind of typo,'” she said.
Increasing efforts to regulate tailpipe emissions in the 1970s paved
the way for palladium’s gradual popularity. The metal, along with
platinum and rhodium, helps keep toxic exhaust in check by reacting with
carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide to make them less
harmful. For decades, palladium has been a major, but largely unseen,
component of cars.
A shift away from diesel vehicles, whose catalytic converters rely
more heavily on platinum, has intensified the demand for palladium,
especially in Europe. Sales of petrol-fuelled cars had surged for
several years until this year. Tighter emissions regulations have led
automakers to use more palladium.
Demand for the metal for catalysts will reach a record high of 8.5
million ounces this year, according to the consulting firm Metals Focus.
But car sales are beginning to soften. In the United States, drivers
are keeping their cars longer and, faced with rising interest rates, are
hesitating to replace them. US President Donald Trump is pushing ahead
with his proposal to significantly roll back emissions rules for cars
and light trucks.
In China, demand for palladium could be tempered by worries about the
slowing economy, tariffs by the Trump administration and curbs on
lending to consumers. “That’s collectively weighing on demand for new
cars,” said Rohit Savant, the director of research at the commodities
research firm CPM Group.
Tight supply
Palladium is extremely rare, mostly generated as a byproduct of
platinum mined in South Africa and nickel mined in Russia. Palladium’s
price spiked in the early 2000s in reaction to disruptions in supply
from Russia and increased interest in catalytic converters.
Demand for palladium has steadily increased for eight years and is
expected to outstrip supply by 1.2 million ounces in 2018, and Metals
Focus has forecast “further, sizable deficits to come”. As supply
tightens, palladium’s price has climbed.
In South Africa, contentious wage negotiations with miners and
complaints about hazardous working conditions have resulted in strikes
that have sometimes stymied production. Many mining companies are loaded
with debt and trying to cut costs.
Mining more palladium requires more platinum mining. But diesel’s
decline, exacerbated by the emissions cheating scandal that engulfed
Volkswagen in 2015, has depressed platinum prices.
Even as the prices for most other metals struggled this year,
palladium hit high after high. Experts expect it to stay elevated for at
least a few months. But coming investments by mining companies and
shifts in clean-air technology could cause the price to slip.
In Russia, the Norilsk Nickel mining giant indicated this week that
it would spend more than US$12 billion to raise production during the
next five years. The company is the world’s largest producer of
palladium.
Investors might move into gold and other safe-haven assets as they
digest predictions of slowing global growth, the roiling equities market
and the fading effects of last year’s tax cuts in the US, analysts
said. NYTIMES
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 1:09 PM on Wednesday, November 14th, 2018
DEMAND for platinum-group metals from their No.1 use – autocatalysts to reduce harmful engine emissions
looks solid for the next 15 years even as sales of electric vehicles grow, the bullion market’s premier industry event was told last month.
Platinum mining supply, in contrast, is set to fall the London Bullion Market Association’s annual conference – held for 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts – also heard.
Speaking on Day 1 of the LBMA Boston 2018 event, Dr.Rahul Mital – technical specialist for diesel after-treatment at US auto giant General Motors (NYSE: GM) – forecast that more than 85% of new passenger cars sold in 2030 “are expected to have internal combustion engines with [catalytic] converters,” because all-electric cars won’t sell as strongly as hybrid vehicles using both technologies.
With environmental regulations growing tighter, hybrid electric vehicles are “typically be certified to lower emission levels,” Mital explained to the LBMA conference, so the quantity of platinum-group metals (PGM) loaded into the catalytic converter for their internal combustion engines “is not expected to decrease.”
Sales of Fuel Cell cars – a competitor green technology to electric vehicles, powered by energy made from mixing hydrogen and oxygen over a platinum catalyst – will meantime grow to perhaps 1 million units worldwide, Mital said.
That would prove enough to make a notable impact on auto-sector platinum demand, he said.
Noting there are “many different forecasts” analysts should consider, Mital said that on his assumptions global PGM usage by the auto sector “is expected to stay stable or decrease [only] marginally by 2030…with diesel sales [needing platinum catalysts] in the heavy-duty industry expected to stay steady with no change or [even a] slight increase in PGM usage as tougher regulations come into play.”
On the supply side meantime, 71% of global platinum-output comes from miners in South Africa, says a note from specialist consultants Metals Focus. So “with 90% of their costs in local currency terms, it is important to view prices in Rand terms,” and with the currency falling hard in 2018 “the Rand-denominated PGM basket price [for platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold] is up 11% for the year.”
That’s now “providing some relief to South African platinum producers,” Metals Focus says. More globally, and on an all-in sustaining costs basis for the first half of 2018, “24% of the industry is loss making, a marked improvement from 57% in H1 ’17.”
South Africa’s output of platinum-group metals rose in September, new data showed last week, beating a 1.8% total drop in all mineral production and a near one-fifth decline in gold output with 7.2% year-on-year growth.
Further ahead however, “Supply driven deficits [are] on the horizon” for platinum worldwide reckons Justin Froneman, chief financial officer for the US at gold and platinum-group miner Sibanye-Stillwater (JSE: SGL), also speaking at the LBMA event in Boston last month.
Since the global financial crisis of 2008 and the following drop in platinum prices, “Capital investment in South Africa has been insufficient to replace current production levels.”
“Without incentive-driven price growth, new supply coming on-stream seems unlikely or delayed,” Froneman went on, forecasting that South Africa’s primary platinum production will drop to 3.9 million ounces in 2025, down more than 25% from the 5.3moz produced in the peak year of 2006.
“The Western Limb [of South Africa’s giant Bushveld mineral complex] currently represents more than 70% of South African supply. No new production is expected from the Western Limb without a real basket price escalation exceeding 20-25%.”
All told, “Platinum is likely to remain in marginal surplus for the remainder of this decade,” Froneman concluded, “before reverting to increasing deficits as primary production from South Africa contracts.”
Platinum’s No.1 industrial use – greater than chemical, electrical, petroleum, medical and all other productive uses combined – autocatalyst demand may slip 6% this year worldwide, buoyed by growing emerging-market usage but dented by the sharp fall in diesel passenger-vehicle sales seen in Europe since the emissions-test cheating scandal broke at VW and other leading manufacturers.
Adrian Ash is director of research at BullionVault, the physical gold and silver market for private investors online. Formerly head of editorial at London’s top publisher of private-investment advice, he was City correspondent for The Daily Reckoning from 2003 to 2008, and is now a regular contributor to many leading analysis sites including Forbes and a regular guest on BBC national and international radio and television news. Adrian’s views on the gold market have been sought by the Financial Times and Economist magazine in London; CNBC, Bloomberg and TheStreet.com in New York; Germany’s Der Stern; Italy’s Il Sole 24 Ore, and many other respected finance publications.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 3:18 PM on Friday, October 26th, 2018
Palladium has been trading at a premium to platinum for the majority of the past year, contrary to the two platinum-group metals’ (PGM) historical relationship.
In fact, palladium recently breached the $1,000 per ounce mark for the first time in eight months, and earlier this week hit a record high of $1,150.50 an ounce.
For the buyers and category managers out there, especially those of you deep in the weeds of buying and managing commodities, here’s a quick rundown of news and thoughts from particular commodity markets.
From price movements to policy decisions, we scour the landscape for what matters. This week:
Palladium Peaks
While other metals have had their ups and down, palladium has been soaring this year.
Palladium has been trading at a premium to platinum for the majority of the past year, contrary to the two platinum-group metals’ (PGM) historical relationship. In fact, palladium recently breached the $1,000 per ounce mark for the first time in eight months, and earlier this week hit a record high of $1,150.50 an ounce.
Palladium is most commonly known for its use in automotive catalytic converters.
The price has surged so much that some analysts have cautioned about a possible correction for the surging PGM.
The DOC calculated countervailing duties as high as 145.37%.
In 2017, the value of imports of the steel propane cylinders reached $89.8 million.
