Friday, March 15, 2013

Platinum: A 21st Century Mining Story

Analysts are predicting a supply surplus will soon become a deficit...

THE LARGEST new source for platinum group metals just might be what Jack Lifton calls "the rubber tire mine." Noting that removing the catalytic converter from a car's emission system produces a rate of return that rivals the production rates of the South African platinum giants, Byron King agrees that recycling is the wave of the future for platinum, palladium and rhodium. In this interview with The Metals Report, Lifton and King look at a very 21st century resource extraction story...

The Metals Report: Jack, what is behind the predictions that the platinum supply surplus will become a 400,000-ounce (400-Koz) deficit?

Jack Lifton: The world's largest platinum and rhodium producer, has taken 400,000 Koz of platinum out of its 2013 schedule for its South African mines. While people might not think 400 Koz is very much, you have to keep in mind that in 2012, the total production of all of the platinum group metals (PGMs) was less than 700 tons. One ton of precious metal has 30,000 or 31,000 troy ounces of material, troy ounces being the traditional measurement in precious metals. That 400-Koz reduction equals 10–13 tons and represents as much as 2% of world production. (more)

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Porter Stansberry Breaks Down the Real End of America Numbers



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Is Now The Time To Buy These 5 Overseas Energy Companies?

Exciting Latin America 
 
The shareholders of Harvest Natural Resources (NYSE: HNR) lived on a roller coaster last weekHarvest couldn't sell its Venezuelan oil assets to Indonesia's state-owned PT Pertamina for $725 million, and the stock plunged.

However, Chavez's death sugarcoated the failed sale. Now, as nationalization fears abates, some glimmers of hope rise for the foreign entities that hold Venezuelan assets. 
 
Harvest has operations in Venezuela, Gabon, Indonesia and Oman. The company's long term debt is $80, million and its Enterprise Value (EV) is $310 million. It produces approximately 12,800 bopd and has 103.8 MMboe 2P Reserves, making Harvest look very cheap at $24,200/bopd and $3/boe of 2P reserves.
 
Good news also came from Gabon, and some good drilling results in 2013 from the high-potential exploration prospects in Indonesia and Oman will definitely propel the stock higher.(more)

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Sorry, No Gold Today…We Sent It to China

The central banks' gold is likely gone, and the bullion banks that sold it have no realistic chance of getting it back,' Eric Sprott tells us.

He also says that these 'bullion bank' intermediaries are probably turning around and selling their gold to China.

China, by the way, is the mostly likely catalyst to set off the 'zero hour' scenario we told you about yesterday.

We've chronicled China's ongoing gold grab here at Agora Financial - going all the way back to April 24, 2009, when the People's Bank of China announced its gold reserves had grown to 1,054 tonnes - up from 600 in 2003. And that's the last official word.

Then there's private-sector demand in China. The government is equally opaque on this score. But we do get regular figures on Chinese imports via Hong Kong. Last year, they totaled a staggering 834.5 tonnes. And remember, that's in a market that produces only 3,700 tonnes a year!
Couple those imports with Chinese mine production - and the total amount of gold known to be inside China has doubled in a mere three years.
Then there are the voluminous statements by Chinese public officials best taken at face value...
  • China's gold reserve is 'too small', says the Department of International Economic Affairs of Ministry
  • 'No asset is safe now,' says the head of the People's Bank of China's research bureau. 'The only choice to hedge risks is to hold hard currency - gold.'
  • And maybe most telling for our purposes: 'The U.S. and Europe have always suppressed the rising price of gold,' according to a commentary in the Shijie Xinwenbao newspaper, duly noted by U.S. diplomats in cables exposed by WikiLeaks.  (more)
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Peter Grandich & Chris Waltzek on GoldSeek Radio

from GoldSeekRadiodotcom:

Peter Grandich & Chris Waltzek on GoldSeek Radio
Listen Now

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Theravance Inc (NASDAQ: THRX)

Theravance, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of small molecule medicines primarily for therapeutic areas of respiratory diseases, bacterial infections, and central nervous system (CNS)/pain. The company offers VIBATIV, a bactericidal injectable antibiotic for the treatment of Gram-positive infections. Its principal development programs with GlaxoSmithKline plc include the RELOVAIR that has completed Phase 3 clinical studies for the treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma; the LAMA/LABA combination, a Phase 3 program for patients with COPD; and the Bifunctional Muscarinic Antagonist-Beta2 Agonist (MABA) program that has completed Phase 2b study for the treatment of COPD. The company's principal development programs also comprise and the Peripheral Mu-Opioid Receptor Antagonist (PµMA) program for the TD-1211 mu-opioid receptor designed to alleviate gastrointestinal side effects of opioid therapy without affecting analgesia. In addition, it develops TD-4208 that has completed Phase 2a single-dose COPD study; TD-1792, an antibiotic under clinical-stage for the treatment of serious infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria. The company was formerly known as Advanced Medicine, Inc. and changed its name to Theravance, Inc. in April 2002. Theravance, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

To analyze Theravance's stock for potential trading opportunities, please take a look at the 1-year chart of THRX (Theravance, Inc.) below with my added notations:

1-year chart of THRX (Theravance, Inc.) The main price level to watch on THRX is $24 (navy). Not only is the $24 resistance apparent in April and January, but that price also acted as support back in the fall. So, the $24 level is key to this stock at this point. In addition, THRX has a lower level of support at $20 (red).

The Tale of the Tape: THRX has key price level at $24. A long position could be entered at the $24 support with a stop placed below that level, or a short trade could be placed on a break below $24, if that should happen, with an expectation of a fall to $20.

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Investors in China should be wary of revolution

Mr Bolton is one of Britain’s most famous fund managers, having earned investors in his Fidelity UK Special Situations fund an average of 20pc a year for 27 years.
He stepped down in 2010 to launch a China-focused investment trust for Fidelity, but performance was disappointing.
He is confident of turning around the situation and remains bullish about the prospects for the country and its stock market.
“There is a new generation of internationally educated, internet-informed individuals who will push for reforms,” he said. “They are aware of the realities of their country and their government in a way that no previous generation has been. The people will want a say.”
Ongoing political rumblings with Japan and South Korea will prove a sticking point with this generation, who are able to access non-censored news through social media websites, he said.  (more)
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