Headlines from April 25-April 30:
- Shoar antimony project to include precious metals recovery (Zawya)
The promoters of a major antimony roaster plant currently under development at Sohar Freezone have announced plans for the incorporation of a precious metals recovery process that will allow for the production of gold and silver from feedstock, in addition to antimony as the primary product. The move, which was green-lighted by the company’s Board of Directors on Thursday, promises to generate a new revenue stream from the project, as well as position the Sultanate as an emerging producer of bullion.
- Precious metals climb on weak dollar; silver at 15-month high (Platts)
Precious metals were all higher Friday morning, supported by a weaker US dollar, gold touching seven-week highs of $1,280 per ounce, while silver continues to outperform, hitting 15-month highs close to $18 per ounce. As currency investors continue to mull the US Federal Reserve’s hesitation to raise interest rates this month, in addition to the Bank of Japan’s surprise decision to keep rates steady Thursday, the dollar has weakened to multi-month lows.
- BYD- changing the game for lithium and cobalt? (Kitco)
The Tesla’s Model 3 pre-sale rekindled a hype around electric cars last month, leading to higher prices and concerns for lithium, but there is another metal investors should keep an eye on. Cobalt, remains even more of a question mark, one that perhaps not enough market participants fully recognize as of yet. While Tesla captivated the media with several hundreds of thousands of preorders for their lithium-cobalt battery-based Model 3.
