copper ore
Haywood’s Heritage Moment: Babylonian Customer Service, C. 1750 BC. According to the British  Museum’s description: “Clay tablet; letter from Nanni to Ea-nasir complaining that the wrong grade of copper ore has been delivered after a gulf voyage and about misdirection and delay of  a further delivery, slightly damaged.” Source: Yahoo
Strengthening Dollar/Weak Chinese Data Continue to Weigh on Commodities
It was another difficult week for base/precious metals, as the U.S. dollar continues to strengthen, and economic data out of China continues to disappoint. In particular, gold slid further towards $1,100 per ounce, although some commentators argue the slide is less than what would be expected given the looming prospect of higher U.S. interest rates; the price of gold finished at $1,155 per ounce on Friday. Other precious metals also fell during the week, with silver (2%), platinum (4%) and palladium (3.2%) each finishing at $15.56, $1,117 and $794 per ounce respectively. In base metals, nickel (1.7%) and lead (2.34%) both fell during the week, with the latter plunging 0.6% on Friday after a dramatic rise in LME stockpiles, which rose 7.6% to 228,700 tonnes. Lead closed at $0.81 per pound on Friday, while zinc was flat for the week. Nickel was at $6.39 per pound by market close on Friday. Iron ore fines (CFR North China) stayed below $60 per tonne as several major iron ore miners announced further plans to increase production output, sparking concerns from junior miners that they are being priced out of the market. WTI crude prices fell further during the week, falling briefly below $45 per barrel before finishing at $45.14 per barrel on Friday. Finally, the UxC Broker Average Price (BAP) of uranium lost ground slightly during the week, finishing at $39.38 per pound on Friday.
Here’s an overview of what’s in the Dig this week:
dig march 13

Click here for the full report.

Important Information and Legal Disclaimers
All prices are in C$ unless noted