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People have mined, refined and valued gold since Mesopotamian times, with records of early gold jewelry from 2600 BCE — but what about gold from the Scottish Highlands?

Anyone who has seen images of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s tomb created almost entirely of gold in 1223 BCE can only wonder at the volumes of gold that must have been refined over 3,000 years ago.

The MetalMiner 2021 Annual Outlook consolidates our 12-month view and provides buying organizations with a complete understanding of the fundamental factors driving prices and a detailed forecast that can be used when sourcing metals for 2021 — including expected average prices, support and resistance levels.

Gold from the Scottish Highlands

Yet, investors today are still fascinated with gold. However, gold’s actual uses are limited (outside of jewelry and high-end electronics).

Unfortunately, as a recent Daily Mail article quotes Scotgold CEO Richard Gray, who said “gold mines are where god put the gold,” not by extension where we would like them.

So, it has taken a strong gold price and political blessing for Scotland’s only domestic gold miner, the aptly named Scotgold, to gain permission to develop gold reserves in the Trossachs National Park. The park is in an area of outstanding natural beauty and is home to some of the best-preserved oak woodlands in Scotland.

Gold mining and Scotland are not activities and locations that one immediately makes an association between. In fact, more Scots rushed to California’s gold rush than ever mined at home.  However, gold prospectors have looked for gold in Scotland’s rivers for centuries.

The country is in the broad gold belt that stretches from Scandinavia across Greenland to Canada with, in places, similar topography and geology.

History of gold in Scotland

Miners discovered gold in the area in the 1980s, the article notes. However, production got off to a slow start after the price of gold crashed. Scotgold took over the project in 2007, it struggled to secure enough cash to get it up and running.

In 2018, the firm won planning permission for an underground mine. Work on the Cononish mine, named after the area to the west of Tyndrum, will start next month. Peak production is expected by 2022.

The miner aims to produce 23,500 troy ounces of gold on average per year. Furthermore, it believes it can recover more than 176,000 ounces in total. That amount is worth about £255 million ($332 million) at current prices.

In addition, the resource reportedly contains over a million ounces of silver. That adds roughly another 10% to the value at current market prices. Interestingly, around 25% of the gold will come out in a form suitable to sell directly on to jewelers.

That gold will be labeled authentic Scottish gold. It’s a novel value add in a world where mining provenance is of increasing value.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/agmetalminer/~3/uWlDWt12rg4/

In the October 1-20 period of the current year, output and sales of automotive vehicles of 11 major automakers in China amounted to 1.215 million units and 1.027 million units, up 6.9 percent and down 3.9 percent year on year, respectively, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

In particular, passenger vehicle output and sales totaled 1.039 million units and 925,000 units, up 2.8 percent and down 5.3 percent year on year. Meanwhile, commercial vehicle output and sales reached 176,000 units and 101,000 units, up 40 percent and 11.5 percent year on year.

Source: https://www.steelorbis.com/steel-news/latest-news/caam-auto-vehicles-sales-in-china-down-39-percent-in-oct-1_20-1169895.htm

China emerged as India’s biggest steel export destination during the first half of the fiscal year 2020-21 (April-September) with 1.9 million mt shipped, up from 2,500 mt during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, according to data of the Joint Plant Committee (JPC) under India’s steel ministry, the sole official compiler of industry data.

During the period, China replaced Vietnam as India’s biggest steel export destination. Indian exports of steel to Vietnam during the first half of the current fiscal were estimated at 1.61 million mt, up from 1.04 million mt during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, JPC data showed.

In H1 FY 2020-21, India also emerged as a net exporter of steel, exporting 6.54 million mt, up 66.3 percent year on year. Of the total Indian steel exports, hot rolled coil (HRC) formed the bulk of the volume – up to 70 percent.

Imports during the period came to 1.99 million mt, down 50.6 percent year on year.

However, in September Indian steel exports showed signs of tapering off on the back of rising domestic demand from key industries like automotive and consumer durables.

The JPC data show that exports in September declined by 16.8 percent from August and 15.2 percent from September 2019. Total September exports were recorded by JPC at 864,000 mt.

Source: https://www.steelorbis.com/steel-news/latest-news/china-emerges-as-indias-top-steel-export-destination-in-h1-2020_21-after-vietnam-1169891.htm