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Namib Minerals will restart Zimbabwe gold mine that was mothballed in February
Namib Minerals' chief executive announced on Friday that the company will resume operations at its mothballed Redwing Gold Mine in February, as part of a $300 million investment program in Zimbabwe. Redwing has an estimated 2.5 million ounces gold, and it is the largest resource in the group’s Zimbabwean portfolio. This includes the How Mine that has produced over 2 million ounces from 1941. In a press release, Namib Minerals CEO Ibrahima Sory Tall stated that "after the completion of technical study, development work and infrastructure rehabilitation, we target annual gold production of around 300,000-ounces?from Redwing, as part our broader strategy across three properties in Zimbabwe." The company also said that it would start an 'exploration program as part of a long-term plan to increase 'Redwings' resource base by about 5 million ounces. Namib Minerals is the owner of three gold mines located in Zimbabwe. This includes another mine that has been mothballed, Mazowe Mine, which produced 1,36 million ounces from 1962 to 2018. Zimbabwe's gold mining industry, which has been struggling for years due to volatility in currency and policies, is now expanding production as a result of record high bullion prices. On December 17, the southern African nation reversed its plans to double their gold royalty rate to 10% after protests from miners and industry group. The gold royalty rate will remain at 5% for the current 'gold price. It will only double if the price rises to $5,000 per ounce. The large-scale mining companies, such as Caledonia?Plc, had warned of the impact a royalty increase would have on profitability and expansion projects. Caledonia said on Friday that it was pleased with the revision of royalty rates and the cancellation of plans to change capital expenditure tax treatment as evidence of the government's commitment to the mining industry.
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Wall Street is poised to gain after BOJ raises bond yields on RPT-Japan bonds
The yen and Japanese government bond yields both fell on Friday, after the Bank?of?Japan increased interest rates to an unprecedented three-decade level and left open the possibility of further tightening. The global stock market was muted, with Europe's STOXX600 slipping 0.1% and failing to match the strong trading sessions overnight in Asia and America. Wall Street futures indicated gains between 0.1% to 0.3% after Thursday's rally on the back of stellar results by chipmaker Micron Technology. Investors digested the news that the European Union will provide Ukraine with 90 billion euro ($105.4 billion), over the next two-years, but they failed to agree on an ambitious plan to finance it using frozen Russian assets. Oil prices rose slightly on Friday as traders weighed up the impact of a possible disruption of oil supplies from Venezuela. U.S. president Donald Trump said in an interview with NBC News that he would leave the possibility open. War with the Country On the table. Investors sold the yen in response to the widely anticipated rate hike by the?BOJ, and some profit-taking was triggered. The dollar last rose 1.1% against the yen, closing at 157.3. This prompted traders to think about the possibility of an official intervention in order to support the currency. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield reached a 26-year high and the Nikkei closed 1% higher. The BOJ?decision of raising short-term interest rates to 0.75% is another step towards ending decades of massive monetary support for the country. Analysts warned that the BOJ would have to take care to control inflation when Japan's new government plans to implement major fiscal stimulus. Shaniel Ramjee is co-head of Pictet Asset Management's multi-asset division. "Markets anticipate the Bank of Japan to have to increase rates even more," he said. "That extra fiscal expenditure might continue to weaken yen and exacerbate inflation." Abhijit Suriya, senior economist at Capital Economics, said that he expects BOJ rates to reach 1.75% in 2027. ECB AND BoE OFFER DISTINCT LEVELS of HAWKISHNESS The wider sentiment was boosted by a surprising slowdown in U.S. Consumer Price Inflation to 2.7%. However, analysts warned that the data had been distorted and should not be taken as a true reflection. The Federal Reserve's pricing moved very little with only a 24% implied rate cut for?January, and 10-year Treasury yields at 4,1471%. This is a far cry from the recent top of 4,209%. British bonds were hit overnight after the Bank of England cut rates, as expected, but only with a 5-4 vote. The policymakers have also expressed caution about the future pace of easing, and another cut will not be fully priced until June. The European Central Bank, which held rates at 2.0%, was even more hawkish and signaled a likely ending to the easing cycles. The markets indicate that there is only a small chance of a reduction in 2026. Gold fell 0.2% on the commodity market to $4,322, still trading below its peak in October of $4,381. Brent rose 0.3% to 60.01 per barrel while U.S. Crude was up 0.4% at $56.35 a barrel.
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Wall Street is poised to gain after BOJ raises bond yields on RPT-Japan bonds
The yen and Japanese government bond yields both fell on Friday, after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates at a record high. It also left the door open for a 'further tightening. The global stock market was muted, with Europe's STOXX600 slipping 0.1% and failing to match the strong trading sessions overnight in Asia and America. Wall Street futures indicated gains between 0.1% to 0.3% after Thursday's rally on the back of stellar results by chipmaker Micron Technology. Investors digested the news that the European Union will provide Ukraine with 90 billion euro ($105.4 billion), over the next two-year period. However, they failed to agree on an ambitious plan to use Russian assets frozen to finance this. Oil prices rose slightly on Friday as traders weighed up the impact of a possible disruption of oil supplies from Venezuela. U.S. president Donald Trump said in an interview with NBC News that he would leave the possibility open. War with the Country On the table. Investors sold the yen in response to the widely anticipated rate hike by the?BOJ, and some profit-taking was triggered. The dollar last rose 1.1% against the yen, closing at 157.3. This prompted traders to think about the possibility of an official intervention in order to support the currency. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield reached a 26-year high and the Nikkei closed 1% higher. The BOJ?decision of raising short-term interest rates to 0.75% is another step towards ending decades of massive monetary support for the country. Analysts warned that the BOJ would have to take care to control inflation when Japan's new government plans to implement major fiscal stimulus. Shaniel Ramjee is co-head of Pictet Asset Management's multi-asset division. "Markets anticipate the Bank of Japan to have to increase rates even more," he said. "That extra fiscal expenditure might continue to weaken yen and exacerbate inflation," said Shaniel Ramjee, co-head of multi-asset at Pictet Asset Management. Abhijit Suriya, senior economist at Capital Economics, said that he expects BOJ rates to reach 1.75% in 2027. ECB AND BoE OFFER DIFFERENT LEVELS of HAWKISHNESS The wider sentiment was boosted by a surprising slowdown in U.S. Consumer Price Inflation to 2.7%. However, analysts warned that the data had been distorted and should not be taken as a true reflection. The Federal Reserve's pricing moved very little with only a 24% implied rate cut for?January, and 10-year Treasury yields at 4,1471%. This is a far cry from the recent top of 4.209%. British bonds were hit overnight after the Bank of England cut rates, as expected, but only with a 5-4 vote. The policymakers have also expressed caution about the future pace of easing, and another cut will not be fully priced until June. The European Central Bank, which held rates at 2.0%?and indicated a likely ending to the easing cycles was even more hawkish. The markets indicate that there is only a small chance of a reduction in 2026. Gold fell 0.2% on the commodity market to $4,322, still trading below its peak in October of $4,381. Brent rose 0.3% to 60.01 per barrel while U.S. Crude was up 0.4% at $56.35 a barrel.
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Copper prices rise as tight supply is in focus. Weekly gain expected
The price of copper edged up on Friday, and it was headed for a big weekly gain after a bullish forecast by Goldman Sachs highlighted the mine supply limitations. A stronger dollar also capped gains. The benchmark three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange rose?0.1% to $11,787 a metric ton at 1036 GMT. This is not far from the previous peak of $11,952 that it reached last week. Metal, which is widely used in construction, manufacturing and power, is expected to increase by 2.4% this coming week, and almost 35% by 2025. Goldman Sachs reiterated its forecast of $15,000 per ton for 2035 in a Thursday note. The dollar index rose 0.3%, which limited gains on the LME. Dollar-denominated precious metals become more expensive to holders of other currencies when the greenback is stronger. Thu Lan 'Nguyen is the head of commodity analysis at Commerzbank. "We're not as bullish about copper as some other houses. "We are saying that copper will most likely move to $12,000 sustainably within the next month. But I think the air has become thinner." She noted that while high copper prices encouraged more investment in mining production, low nickel prices have led Indonesia, the world's largest nickel producer, to reduce output. LME nickel rose a third time and was up by?0.7% to $14,745 per ton. This is after the Indonesian government announced that it would reduce nickel ore production next year by about?a third to 250 million tonnes. After South32 announced that it would close its Mozal?smelter?in March, aluminium rose 0.4% to $2927.50. This is the highest level since May 2022. Goldman still expects that copper will outperform aluminum in 2026, as China's push for critical metals abroad boosts aluminium manufacturing. Lead increased 0.7%, zinc fell 0.1%, and tin rose 1.4%, reaching its highest level since April 2022. (Reporting and editing by Sherry Jacobi-Phillips; Additional reporting and editing by Dylan Duan and Lewis Jackson in Shanghai; Reporting and Editing by Tom Daly)
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NBC News reports that Trump has not ruled out war against Venezuela.
According to an interview published by NBC News on Friday, U.S. president Donald Trump stated that he would 'leave the possibility of a war with Venezuela out on the table. In a telephone interview with NBC News, he said: "I don't exclude it." According to the interview, Trump said that there would also be more?seizures' of oil tankers in Venezuelan waters. Last week, the U.S. seized an oil tanker that was sanctioned off Venezuela's coast. He told NBC News that if they were foolish enough to "sail along", they would be returning into one of his harbors. Trump ordered on Tuesday a "blockade," of all sanctioned tankers that enter and leave Venezuela, Washington's latest attempt to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro’s government by targeting its primary source of revenue. Venezuelan officials responded by rejecting Trump's "grotesque" threat. Trump's campaign of pressure on Maduro includes a stepped-up military presence and over two dozen military attacks on vessels near Venezuela in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. At least 90 people have been killed in these strikes. Trump also said previously that the U.S. Soon, the U.S. will begin land attacks on this South American nation. Trump refused to answer the question in his NBC interview if he wanted Maduro removed. He told NBC News, "He knows what I want." Trump continued, "He knows more than anyone," referring to Maduro. The report didn't go into detail. Maduro claims that the U.S. is trying to overthrow him and gain control of the OPEC nation’s oil reserves, the largest in the world. The White House didn't immediately respond to our request for comment. (Reporting and editing by Alex Richardson and William Maclean in Bengaluru.
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All I want for Christmas is accurate economic data
By Anna Szymanski What Mike Dolan, the ROI team and I are looking forward to reading, watching and listening to this weekend. Hello Morning Bid readers! The last week of trading in 2025 was rough, but the year looks to be ending on a high note, as central banks, deal-makers and some mind-boggling U.S. inflation numbers keep everyone from wearing their out-of office messages yet. Wall Street's major indexes ended higher on Thursday as Micron Technology surged 16% after announcing a record profit forecast. Core U.S. CPI in November increased by just 2.6% over the previous year, which is the slowest rate since March 2021. This report raised expectations of Federal Reserve interest rates being cut early next year. A few economists, however, think that this report is inaccurate, and some have dubbed it "Swiss Cheese", due to the data collection problems caused by the shutdown of government. This week, investors also got the November US payrolls figures. After a massive fall in October, the economy created 64,000 new jobs, which was above expectations. The unemployment rate also increased to a 4-year high, at 4.6%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics had to change its calculation method due to the 43-day shutdown of the government. This week, the central banks once again dominated the news. Kazuo Ueda, Governor of the Bank of Japan, urged a 25-basis point increase in interest rates to 0.75% on Friday, which was the highest rate for thirty years. However, the yen fell as it would take more than modest tightening of monetary policy to ensure that the Japanese currency is not in the "danger zone" created by the intervention. On Thursday, the Bank of England took the opposite course and cut its policy rate from 4% to 3.75% - marking the sixth reduction since August 2024. The BoE may be behind schedule due to the unexpectedly large fall in UK inflation that occurred last month, and a stagnant economy. The European Central Bank kept rates at 2.0% on Thursday but signaled that its easing cycle was likely to be over. The pace of dealmaking is not likely to slow down anytime soon. Warner Brothers Discovery rejected Paramount's "hostile takeover bid" of $108.4 billion on Wednesday. On Thursday, a $6 billion deal was announced for a merger of TAE Technologies and Google-backed Trump Media. Then came the news that ByteDance's Chinese owner of TikTok, ByteDance had signed agreements giving control of U.S. Operations to a group investors, including Oracle. Brent crude futures fell by almost 3% to $59 on Tuesday, the lowest price since early 2021. This was due to growing optimism about a possible peace agreement in Ukraine. The prices briefly recovered after President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday, in a post to his Truth Social platform, that he ordered a ban on all sanctioned oil tanks entering and exiting Venezuela. Crude prices fell again on Friday morning. The real driver of oil prices is unlikely to be geopolitical. It will likely be a surge in global supply, both at sea and on land. BP shocked the energy industry by announcing that Meg O'Neill will replace the current CEO Murray Auchincloss. She is the first non-industry chief executive of the company. The British oil company, which has a $90 billion debt, now has three options for its future: buy or build. Asia's crude oil, coal, and liquefied gas imports are expected to decrease this year, despite President Trump’s attempts to increase shipments in his trade strategy. Japan's fossil fuel electricity production has fallen to its lowest level in over a decade by 2025. This is largely due to a continuing recovery in nuclear energy output. Open Interest has more news on commodities. Find out which commodity is currently the star of the London Metals Exchange (hint: it's definitely not copper!) and what agricultural trends to look out for in the coming year. Morning Bid is on break for the next 2 weeks. We'll return in January. Check out the reading, listening, and watching suggestions from the ROI team. Please contact me via This weekend we are reading... MIKE DOLAN is Editor-at-Large for ROI Financial Markets: David Graeber and David Wengrow's The Dawn of Everything, The New History of Humanity challenges many of our beliefs about the origins of civilisation, including the development of cities, farming and democracy. It's a great book to read during the holidays. RON BOUSSO is a ROI Energy columnist. I recommend Andrew Ross Sorkin’s latest book 1929: The Inside 'Story of the Worst Crash in Wall Street History. This is a thrilling and brilliantly written account of the historical crash and its cause. This story is eerily similar to what's happening in the markets today. 1. GAVIN MAGUIRE is a Global Energy Transition Columnist for the ROI. The book "How Big Things Get Done" by Professors Bent Flyvbjerg & Dan Gardner is an interesting study that shows how many megaprojects fail because of poor planning and not execution. This book is a few decades old, but it's still packed with useful information for anyone who wants to know more about?big projects. Andy Home, Columnist for ROI Metals: The War Below, by Ernest Scheyder (my colleague), is an excellent primer that explains what metals are "critical" to the West and why they lost to China in the race for their development. Ernie delves into the environmental conflict between those who believe that critical minerals are a crucial?route to reducing carbon emissions and those who oppose the mines required to produce them. JAMIE MCGEEVER: ROI Markets columnist. TS Lombard's Dario Perkins, and Freya beamish, two economists who are always worth listening to, give their views on 2026. They also discuss who they think will succeed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Subscribe to the Morning Bid podcast video if your New Year resolution is to become more productive. Mike Dolan, along with other journalists, will give you a daily update on the most important stories that are moving the markets. Sign up for the newsletter to receive Morning Bid every morning in your email. Subscribe to the Morning Bid newsletter Website You can find us on LinkedIn. The opinions expressed are solely those of their authors. News does not endorse the opinions expressed. News is bound by the Trust Principles to maintain integrity, independence and neutrality. (By Anna Szymanski )
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Chile creates a national park to protect wildlife at the edge the world
Chile is creating a national park to protect unique ecosystems and endangered wildlife at the very edge of the map. The proposed?Cape Froward National Park would cover approximately 150,000 hectares of forest, peatlands and glaciers, as well as coastlines facing the Strait of Magellan. Benjamin Caceres is the wildlife coordinator for Rewilding Chile. He said that humans must regulate their activities, including tourism and industry, to protect fragile ecosystems. "These are resilient places that create refuges for endangered species and maintain balance." Rewilding?Chile is a foundation founded by Douglas Tompkins who was a philanthropist, and the founder of North?Face, an outdoor clothing company. In November, Tompkins donated 127,000 hectares to the Chilean Government with the condition of creating a national park within two years. The park will house the southernmost population of endangered huemul deer. Its productive waters also support a vast marine ecosystem including orcas, whales and sea lions. Gabriela Garrido, the project coordinator, said that authorities hope to complete the decree within the next few months. The park will be added to an 8-million-hectare biological corridor of Patagonia which includes the Kawesqar National Park and Alberto de Agostini?National?Parks. Carolina Morgado, director of Rewilding, said that the park was intended to be a source of sustainable economic development for the region. It would be the first within the municipality of Punta Arenas - the capital of Chile’s southernmost region. The foundation is developing plans to create a park that will include hiking trails and facilities for tourists. (Reporting and writing by Nicolas Cortes, Alexander Villegas; editing by Ed Osmond).
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Diamond sector problems will cause Botswana’s economy to shrink by almost 1% in the year 2025
Botswana’s government has forecast an economic contraction of nearly 1% in this?year, as its diamond sector continues to struggle. The government of Southern Africa had hoped to achieve a gross domestic product (GDP), or growth, of 3.3% this year. This would be a rebound from the 3% decline last year. By mid-year, it was "projecting almost no growth" as the global diamond market continued to show signs of a long downturn. Around one-third of Botswana’s revenues come from diamonds, and about three quarters of its foreign exchange earnings. The macroeconomic outlook for 2025 is fragile. GDP is projected to shrink by 0.9%. The forecast is a reflection of the continued weakness in diamonds, said Finance Minister Ndaba Golathe. He added that "debt risks are increasing as persistent fiscal imbalances necessitate increased borrowing leading to a structurely higher debt trajectory." Gaolathe stated that the government responded with austerity measures in order to reduce expenditure. This included limiting an 'overtime allowance to civil servants, and placing a travel moratorium for domestic and international travel. He said that more austerity measures would be announced next year in the budget speech, to redirect funds into areas where future growth could be generated. (Reporting and writing by Brian Benza, Alexander Winning; Editing by William Maclean).
Lloyd's of London must stop supporting nonrenewable fuel source expansion states NGO
The Lloyd's of London market is weakening climate action and need to impose binding rules to avoid insurance providers supporting fossil fuel expansion, NGO Reclaim Financing stated on Wednesday.
Some European insurance companies, including Generali and Zurich, have enforced restrictions on underwriting for nonrenewable fuel source jobs in action to pressure from financiers and advocates.
But Reclaim Finance said Lloyd's of London was a laggard in that it left decisions on whether to underwrite activities in heavy-emitting sectors to its distribute members.
Just five of Lloyd's 51 members, or managing agents, have policies limiting cover for brand-new oil and gas fields, Reclaim Financing stated.
If the Lloyd's market wants to be taken seriously as a. leading player in the transition, its managing agents need. policies now, Ariel Le Bourdonnec, insurance advocate at. Reclaim Financing, said.
A spokesperson for Lloyd's pointed to the group's shift. roadmap, a three-year plan for supporting Lloyd's clients as. they move to lower carbon models and to help Lloyd's managing. agents develop their sustainability strategies.
Lloyd's will continue to follow government policy and. regulative requirements worldwide, while remaining dedicated to. support an urgent and orderly just shift and stay nimble. in response to external shocks, the emailed statement said.
Lloyd's did not comment even more on Reclaim Finance's report.
Lloyd's CEO John Neal informed Reuters in an interview last. week, before the NGO report was published, that Lloyd's did not. strategy to ask its members to tighten their oil and gas. underwriting policies however would keep track of managing agents'. transition strategies.
Neal stated Lloyd's remains dedicated to its net no goal and. thought about supporting two parallel energy systems was important. to a fair transition.
The Paris-based International Energy Agency has said there. is no space for more oil and gas exploration if the goals of the. Paris Arrangement on cliamte modification to keep worldwide warming below 2. degrees Celsius
(source: Reuters)