How Will Russian Sanctions Affect Your Palladium Investments? Hedge funds just made an abrupt about face in the palladium market as US sanctions against Russian titans spark concerns that the world’s largest producer of the metal will get caught in the cross hairs. After the US slapped penalties on United Co. Rusal, American officials have sent…
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Opioid Overdoses: An American Epidemic On the Verge of Going Global In 2016, nearly 50,000 people died of opioid overdoses in the United States, and, per capita, almost as many died in Canada. From 2000 to 2016, more Americans died of overdoses than died in World War I and World War II combined. Yet even these grim numbers understate the…
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Lithium Market Update: Q1 2018 in Review What happened to lithium in Q1 2018? Our lithium market update outlines key market developments and explores what could happen moving forward. by Priscila Barrera With the popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) growing at an unstoppable speed, lithium continues to be a hot commodity in 2018. But…
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Why Is Venkat Dumping AngloGold to Take Top Job at Vedanta Resources? Srinivasan Venkatakrishan (Venkat) will step down as CEO of gold miner AngloGold Ashanti on August 31 to take up the CEO position at diversified miner Vedanta Resources. AngloGold on Monday said it has started a global search, considering both internal and external applicants, for a successor, who will be…
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Boosting Rural Agriculture and Food Security and Political Stability in Cote d’Ivoire The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Cote d’Ivoire have today signed a financial agreement aimed at helping rural farmers add value to their products. A loan of $18.5 million from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), is set to benefit and…
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Namibia Scraps Plan to Force White-Owned Businesses to Sell 25% Stake to Blacks Namibia has scrapped a clause in its economic empowerment framework that would have forced white businesses to sell a 25% stake to previously disadvantaged blacks, President Hage Geingob said on Wednesday. Making the announcement during his state of the nation address, Geingob said a revised…
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China’s Staggering Demand for Commodities JEFF DESJARDINS China’s Staggering Demand for Commodities >50% OF ALL STEEL, CEMENT, NICKEL, AND COPPER GOES THERE The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays. It’s said that in China, a new skyscraper is built every five days. China is building often, and they are building…
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How China Became the World’s No. 1 Economy in Four Decades by Peter Wong Its impressive achievements are thanks to perseverance and the far-reaching economic and societal changes that have been introduced since 1978. Within our lifetimes, China has transformed from an agrarian economy to a world-beating digital and consumption-led powerhouse, driven by smartphone-wallet…
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How Much Is Zambia’s External Debt, Seriously? Zambia is facing tough questions over its foreign-debt levels from investors who think the real number may be more than double what the government has disclosed. Lenders including Nomura Holdings Inc. believe the state has not completely come clean on its external debt. There is a growing…
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Congo Must Rewrite Mining Code to Protect Exemptions–Miners International mining companies have insisted that Democratic Republic of Congo amend portions of a new mining code to respect exemptions they were granted by its predecessor. The companies announced last week that they had submitted a formal proposal to the government but the document itself, seen exclusively by Reuters on Thursday, takes a…
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