Big Gold
Gold producers are under increasing pressure from analysts and shareholders to show reserves replacement. But at the same time, large gold deposits are getting harder to find. This is causing a paradigm shift in the industry. Today, major companies are turning to lower-grade gold porphyries in order to book new ounces in reserves. Making these targets increasingly valuable.
Shale Gas Going Global
Natural gas from shale has changed the face of the North American gas industry. Using multi-stage hydro-fracturing technology, gas producers in the U.S. and Canada have unlocked trillions of cubic feet of new reserves. Globally, there are hundreds of other shales with similar potential. The key is optimizing services costs to achieve positive project economics.
The Uranium Hockey Stick
The world has a handful of extremely high-grade mines, along with an assortment of much lower-grade deposits—the two classes varying by up to two orders of magnitude. As demand ramps up, production costs get expensive very quickly. New deposits with upper-quartile grades are therefore a major prize for the industry.
Platinum Crisis
Over 80% of the world's platinum is produced from one country: South Africa. A nation facing numerous challenges for mining. Because of this geographic dependence, any disruption in South African platinum supply would have a major upward effect on prices. Platinum producers are seeking to diversify into other countries—making new project concepts extremely valuable
India Coal Critical
More than 30% of coal-fired power plants in India are running at critical stockpile levels. There simply isn't enough domestic coal supply. The shortage has driven the Indian government to seek imports as a stop-gap. Meaning that coal mines within shipping distance of India are increasingly commanding a premium valuation.
