End of an Era

 How Does one acquire Knowledge? With academic material and with life experiences that come with age  With academic material there is a stea...

About Me

Retired but always looking for new challenges.

Thursday, January 4, 2024

BVian's SOUTHERN AFRICAN MINING AND RESOURCES NEWS: Thinking before acting!

BVian's SOUTHERN AFRICAN MINING AND RESOURCES NEWS: Thinking before acting!:   We in South Africa have many problems,especially of a racial nature,waiting to boil over. Only by extremely good sense do we prevent this ...

Sunday, December 3, 2023

Climate change hoax !

1. Go to Stock Trading Trends (in the title banner above) above ,then click on Bvians Southern African Mining and resources news for the latest on price increases of mineral resources!


2.Yes the climate is never stable and is constantly changing, a natural phenomina ! Now major politicians of all Western countries followed the mentally challenged teenager,Thunberg foretrcast the the world would be unable to sustain life after this period which ends today. The trouble with youth generally is they never do research,but grab on to the newest slogan which the political left always exploits to their advantage.

I remember  from 1970 onwards ,the sheer horror of nuclear war led to the peace marches,which slowly turned into demonstrations against building nuclear power stations which to my mind are a greater danger than climate change! What with melt downs and disposible of nuclear waste. Remember Three mile island USA and Japan as well as Chernoble UKRAINE.  Not till this climate crises came along did things change. Now we are told by these same protest groups that it is a pity not more nuclear power plants were put in place sooner!



Thursday, November 2, 2023

Objectivity !

 Objectivity is sorely missing in the Middle East at the moment! 

With the crises racheting up as more come countries take sides the immediate future is not very bright! Best to withhold any financial decisions for the time being or trades on market. It is difficult to see the end in sight as Palestinians have let Iran radicals poison their minds and they won't even consider a two state solution and want rather to wipe out Israel completely!


Monday, October 2, 2023

Coal versus Lithium...At the moment!

 Actually no contest!

Please understand ,I would be greatly pleased if either one produced no pollutants as I am an Asthma sufferer. How ever politicians are only in themselves gaining popularity and  money !

I have just read that a car maker in America is busy building a lithium factory that will produce so many lithium cars that they will require a new coal mine to themselves to for see the  electrical power. 

Once the cars hit the road and need to  load up their batteries of course coal will provide most of the power to drive the energy, as hydro power is not available country wide,added to this solar power does not do well on cold and overcast days !

The answer to this problem is of course fuel cells using platinum proton membranes as there are no pollutants. That is why Japan,China and major manufacturers are turning to this source of power! the Chinese government is funding research. the USA seem not interested at this stage!

Go to Stock Trading Trends (See above) for other monthly updates.



Friday, September 1, 2023

An Uncomfotrable Time for Platnium Group Metals (PGM's)

         As all resource traders know mineral mining is usually cyclical.How ever the producers of these metals have of late reduced this phenomenon by producing just enough of these metals to satisfy the market and keep prices steady,which is in the interest of both producers and consumers.

     The two main producers of  PGM's are Russia and South Africa. In the case of palladium Russia carries a huge stockpile of palladium and just releases enough to help pay their balance of payments.Russian economists thought this situation could continue indefinitely. In 2019 there was a slight over production of PGM's and all miners were cutting back on new projects. The Russian political class miscalulated and decided to invade Ukraine thinking the war would be over in a number of weeks.The Ukrainians fought back and now with all the major countries helping Ukraine,the Russians are short of cash to keep the war going and drive their economy forward. They are under increasing sanctions as well. They are selling their considerable stockpile at almost half price as well as their newly mined palladium. China is the main beneficery of this deal as they are investing in fuel cells for transport. Russia is also selling their other PGM's which they had bought at a loss to feed their war.

     Unfortunately our mines are suffering the consequences of this policy and at the prices we are now getting for our PGM's most mines are at break even point and some are loss making already.Our mines are closing now unprofitable shafts and putting off new projects to help shore up their reserves of cash. Unless the war stops soon conditions will get considerably worse in the next couple of years leading to massive lay off's of workers.

     We expect this situation to right itself , although this might take up to three or more years. As lithium is a rare metal and likely to run out in half a centuary as demand has to increase fourfold if it is to provide all applications now sought for it,the price alone is likely to kill the market ,turning to PGM'S is the only answer.

METAL PRICES SEP 2023, gains and losses.

Platinum over 1year = 14% gain

Platinum over 3 years= 0% gain

Platinum over 5 years= 22%gain

--------------------------

Palladium over 1 yea     =25%gain

Palladium over 3 years=-47%Loss

Palladium over 5 years=-39%Loss

-------------------------

Gold over  1   Year=61  % Gain

Gold over  3   Years= 1% Gain

Gold over 5 years  = 14% Gain




Tuesday, August 8, 2023

Gold's Future !

 

Russia and China are using GOLD to get the better of  The Western Powers, namely America and Nato

At the next BRICS conference 24 to 28 August 2023 in South Africa.,as they are slowly loosing out on the battlefield ,probably feel taking away the power from the AmericanDollar of being the world reserve currency will eventually give them the upper hand and make up for their losses so far.

How ever it must be remembered The USA has a huge store of the metal. If they succeed or even partly then we suppose the various currencies would have to be attached to the floating gold price. Then goods and trade would not determine their value but those nations with the most gold. 

In any case it would cause a great deal of turmoil in world trade and do remember a rogue nation or traders or a major protagonist might suddenly lower the price OF GOLD to make a huge profit or just for political reasons. This could  disadvantage the poorer nations as at that time ,CAUSING SUPPLIERS TO WITHDRAW THEIR SUPPLIES of goods causing hunger worldwide.

For a gold standard to work the majority of nations would have to sign on to the idea. Further there would have to be a floor price to bring stability to the system. The best time to start such a system would be during a time of peace,not when the world is drifting into further chaos.

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

BVian's SOUTHERN AFRICAN MINING AND RESOURCES NEWS: War's effects !

BVian's SOUTHERN AFRICAN MINING AND RESOURCES NEWS: War's effects !: A troubling time  for the world indeed ! The fact that gold has finally  shot up shows that there is a great deal now about the path ahead f...

Monday, July 3, 2023

CLIMATE CHANGE!

Climate Change is not influenced by the farts of cows,our small children,plastic straws or any other whim   that the of the far left imbeciles can dream up!These ideas are supported by the press and big business as it turns out to be extremely profitable. From ideas for alternate electricty sources to consumerables etcetra ! Perhaps it is thought to be a way to make homo sapiens less messy and keep the air relative breathable as over population ruins our living conditions.

Scott.net published on 3 Jun a staement of NASA!
Although not fully understood yet ,the tilt of the earth and variation in the orbital plane with occasional orbital eccentricty cause climate change ,a fact known for at least the last fifty years,in which the magnetic fields also play a part. The brilliant scientist Manikovitch published a treatise in 1978 which was promptly  ignored by his fellow scientists as probably they thought it was unimportant!
NASA has also published a warning they might be heading for a miniture ice age in the next fifty years!






Friday, June 2, 2023

Money matters

The USA government has run out of money to drive their economy forward. Every one is worried by this event as they should be. How ever they control this by having a debt ceiling which they have now reached. Therefore they will now pass a bill to increase the ceiling, in other words allowing them to borrow more. 

This is not such  a dire event as one would think as this creates more money to work with. This is fine as long as they keep interest rates below 3% as there is an expanded population that can pay this amount in taxes. How ever they should not let inflation rise which will then cause a spiral event sending interest rates soaring. Covid caused a bulge in spending but they are getting this under control now.

Our South African government has also run out of money by bad decisions, graft and ineptitude in handling of the economy. Our inflation is beginning to spin out of conntrol with interest rates rising sharply. The racialistic approach of the government by only appointing blacks who are not qualified to top posts to the detriment of our country ,bodes ill for the future. There is still time to reverse this trend and restore the rainbow nation!

Monday, May 1, 2023

Sustainability !

 I thank God ,that the worlds population is beginning to retract. Japan  seems worried as well as China                

 and  individual scientists in other various other parts of the world.Only in Africa and parts of India is the population still growing at an alarming rate. 

In Japan they fear that the popuation will halve in the next forty years and see this as totally destoying their present society ,which they fear will not be able to function.

This is not my veiw as we will all have  adapt ,which I see is is also shared by a number of scientists. 

The cause of this phenomena is according to scientists plastics ingested by males causing lower fertility levels.

I am not so certain of this reason and think there might be an inborn trigger that reverses human fertility when pressure of numbers beconme too much! 

Take the lemmings as an example,when their food source becomes scarce ,they take upon themselves ,to send a certain amount of the lemmings to jump off a cliff ,then fall to a death underneath!

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Information!

 History repeats itself ! How often have we heard those words . Well glossing over the small differences simiar situations usually usually develop in similar ways!

1.Students ,those new to trading,history buffs and serious writers should use labels in the right hand column to gather posts on subjects they are most interested in.

2.Popular Posts that have received the most hits are also worth a visit alo on the right hand side.

3. My monthly page reviews are also on the right hand side.

Also visit my other sites of which BVians Southern mining and resources and Bvian andNaomi,s small caps are the most popular.

Friday, March 3, 2023

SAFER PLACES TO INVEST MONEY NOW 3/3/2023

 

As South Africa seems these days to be practically ungovernable under  the African National Congress. Some might say this is not so,but our electrcal system is failing, government run Denel (Weapons for mostly Export) has closed down. As has South African Airways and most passenger services on the railways. Rails ,copper and other infrastructure is stolen in broad daylight ! There gangs stealing coal etc from Escom. The State radio and TV is also on a slippery path!

What with the war in Ukraine and China in an expansionist mode worse things can occur such as disruption of trade etc.

The Rand continues to slowly decline ,so interest rates are climbing to offet this. 

At this time it would be better to look at INDEX FUNDS as then the worry of single companies failing is limited by the group.

We are personally using Satrix companies at this time as they are well managed.

In our veiw only the better companies are:

SATRIX RESOURCES  (STXRES)

SATRIX RAF    (STXRAF)

These are usually under valued funds.

SATRIX MOMENTUM (STXMTM)

UPDATE 14/3/2023  :- Stocks are expected to  stage a mini-run  now up to the end of  May 2023 as a result of prices dropping too far in South Africa !  Fundementally nothing has changed so profits can possibly be made. Not a good idea to get deeply involved. Fuel StocksSUCH AS SASOL LOCALLY OR OVERSEAS such as Mobil,Shell ,Total might be worth a punt in warrants etc. ONLY OUR OPINION . TOWARDS THE END OF ANY RUN ,REMEMBER TO TAKE PROFITS!





Friday, February 10, 2023

Global renewable energy generation to hit 320 GW this year, Mining Indaba hears

Global renewable energy generation to hit 320 GW this year, Mining Indaba hears: Renewable energy capacity will increase by 8% to 320 GW this year, Ivanhoe Mines founder and CEO Robert Friedland told the Investing in African Mining Indaba on Wednesday at an event themed on the comment of former US president John F Kennedy that the moon launch was being undertaken “not because it was easy, but because it was hard”. “Don’t tell me we have to burn coal. You can say burning coal’s legitimate for Africa to survive as we find a better solution. That’s very true. No one can lecture up that you mustn’t have electrical energy. But don’t tell me there isn’t a solution just because it’s hard,' said Friedland, who described the decision of the United States to set aside $370-billion in the next ten years for renewable energy, pollution reduction and environmental justice as “baby steps for baby feet” and highlighted China as 'leading the way' in wind, solar and new energy grid.

Thursday, February 2, 2023

Dire Times !

Normally every new year brings a great deal of optimisim as the market kicks off 

on a renewable urge to get things done!

We in South Africa have never suffered this amount of shortage of electricity in living memory .The much malinged apartheid regime all ways made sure that all power systems were working and that there was no graft of any kind that siphoned off billions of Rands.

There was much moaning about rights,we honestly were treated the same and worked for our living and no scumbags ran away wth money out of the state coffers with out severe punishment!

No one wants now to invest in new business as the state supposedly wants a share of such ventures to be kept for the indiginous interests. All that has happened so far is that the poorest of poor have no prospects at all and usually ministers and their cohorts have incrediably rich,they then move their wealth out of the country as soon as possible!


Monday, January 23, 2023

South32 expects further production growth in H2; flags $100m build in working capital

South32 expects further production growth in H2; flags $100m build in working capital: Diversified miner South32 achieved a 12% year-on-year increase in group copper equivalent production for the first half of the 2023 financial year on the back of recent investments in copper and low-carbon aluminium capacity. 'Group copper equivalent production increased . . . as we benefitted from transactions that have repositioned our portfolio toward metals critical for a low-carbon future.

Monday, January 2, 2023

2023 LIKELY TRENDS and ACTIONS to take !

  The explosive 2022 ,what with continuinng Covid and then Russian invasion of Ukraine which turned into an almost full scale war much to the surprise of every one including Russia that miscalculated the response of the world to their invasion attempt! 
This     caused  stock markets to plunge world wide to their lowest points for the last eight years. Then a slow recovery started of share prices. There is still an average fifteen percent shortfall on our local market. Prices are now paused as we do not know if there is the will to seek a compromise or barrel on to a full scale nuclear war! 
   China has taken the side of Russia as they see this as an opportunity to seize Taiwan,but are hesitating about invading right now as the world punishes modern Russia threatening to turn into a stone age country if it turns to nuclear weapons!
    Of course many African and Asian countries favour Russia who over the last couple of decades has supplied them with  weapons of war, as they are mostly corrupt and plunge deeper into chaos.
    At this stage it is difficult to judge if this is a buying opportunity as the world teeters on armageddon! Athhough there seem to be plenty of great  stocks at very reasonable prices,our opinion only is not to invest right now except perhaps to buy physical amounts of precious minerals and metals and keep them in diffferent countries and places.We realise these are dire  ideas.
   Southern Africa has many strategic minerals at its disposal as well and unfortunately could find itself in the middle of this armed struggle if this war escalates , therefore we should all pray for peace and take every step to encourage at every step the protagonists to reach an understanding that will bring the war to an equitable end.
SEE THE RIGHT HAND COLUMN FOR THE LATEST UPDATES ON STOCKS AND SHARES

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Nersa given until Jan 12 to make a final decision on Eskom revenue application

Nersa given until Jan 12 to make a final decision on Eskom revenue application: The High Court of South Africa (Gauteng Division) has granted the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) an extension, to January 12, to make the final decision on Eskom’s revenue application for the 2023/24 financial year. The regulator was previously required to make a decision by December 24.

Friday, December 16, 2022

Gordhan describes Mantashe’s comments as ‘unfair and uncalled for’ as he praises outgoing Eskom CEO

Gordhan describes Mantashe’s comments as ‘unfair and uncalled for’ as he praises outgoing Eskom CEO: Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan responded with an “emphatic no” to a question as to whether government considered outgoing Eskom CEO André de Ruyter to be a traitor, as implied in a recent statement by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, who said “Eskom, by not attending to loadshedding, is actively agitating for the overthrow of the State”. Gordhan was speaking during a briefing convened by Eskom chairperson Mpho Makwana after De Ruyter’s resignation – submitted at 7:30 on Monday December 12, only days after Mantashe’s comments – was confirmed by Eskom on December 14, following a media leak.

Friday, December 2, 2022

The year that was!

     A very bruising year indeed ,was 2022. What with the devastating after effects of covid and still cases recurring as vaccines are not all that effective. 

Aids syndrome has been tackled with better results but still lingers as does monkeypox!

Then the quite sensless, but deadly Russian war. Shows how bad it is to have no scruples in achieving their communist goals of reuniting their former slavic country. 

We must remember that their socialist state ran out of money two decades ago then invited in the West to refinance them and many of their forced amalgamations managed to escape their clutches.Seems as if they have learned nothing from that experience!

All this has had a devestating effect on all stock exchanges world wide as the threat of nuclear weapons being used is always there in the background!

NATO waits for Russia to use a more lethal weapon upon Ukraine then tries to counter it.

At the same time thousands of innocent people are dying in that country. From a think tank that I follow the only way to stop this pattern would to take the lead and laying down red lines and stickingt to them can the West force  the Russians to the negotiating table!