(Kitco News) - Markets had a gut-wrenching Monday when the Nikkei plunged 12% which set off a global stock rout. The news fed the narrative that the Fed may not be able to engineer a soft landing, and a recession could be in the cards. The soft labor market report at the start of the month added to the narrative.
On Friday mining audiences manager Michael McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable sponsored by Revival Gold.
Copper had a tough go of it, reflecting general concerns about the economy. The metal dropped through $4 a pound this week and ended at $3.98.
Lithium woes continue. Reuters reported this week that spot prices for spodumene in top consumer China are hovering around $940 a metric ton, the lowest in almost three years, and Goldman Sachs expects spodumene prices to average $800 over the next year. Reuters noted that Arcadium is reassessing its Mount Cattlin operations in Western Australia given high costs and falling prices of raw material spodumene.
Sprott, which filed a report on lithium this week, sees the current low price of lithium as unsustainable, as it has led to project curtailments and driven some miners to reduce capital expenditures and investment in future supply. Sprott believes that lithium prices have bottomed and that higher prices for the metal may be necessary to incentivize the required future production to meet demand forecasts.
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Roundtable is brought to you by Revival Gold. Revival Gold is one of the largest, pure gold, mine developers in the United States. The Company is advancing engineering and economic studies on the Mercur Gold Project in Utah and mine permitting preparations and ongoing exploration at the Beartrack-Arnett Gold Project located in Idaho.
Revival Gold is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker symbol “RVG” and trades on the OTCQX Market under the ticker symbol “RVLGF”. The Company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with its exploration and development office located in Salmon, Idaho.
