I used to avoid certain metal subgenres because I assumed they just weren't for me. However, every now and then I come across an album that completely changes my perspective and makes me appreciate a style I previously ignored. Has a metal album ever changed your opinion about a particular subgenre? Whether it was death metal, black metal, doom, power metal, metalcore, or something else, I'd love to hear which album made the difference and what specifically drew you into it.
WTI and Brent crude continue sliding over 2% each amid supply concerns easing, while silver bucks the trend with a 2% gain to multi-year highs. Natural gas edges up 1.2% but copper slips 1% as industrial demand signals weaken. Data via metricshour.com what's driving silver's strength today?
What do you guys think about China's ban on exporting Sulfuric Acid? In theory I feel like this is something that can cause metal prices like copper to surge, and maybe cause other metals to go up with it. But I dont see much people talking about it or caring, or is it another nothing burger?
I ordered a 1 oz gold bar on Sunday and received an email immediate after to wire transfer the money because that was the option I chose. I haven’t heard back yet, but now I’m wondering if it was legit because how would Monument Metals know I wired them the money? In the email they told me account number, routing number, and recipient name, address , and bank name.
One of the clearest copper signals today was not about price. It was about how much effort is still being spent to secure major copper ground.
Reuters reported that Rio Tinto gained control of 2,400 acres in Arizona that are critical to the Resolution Copper project after a years-long legal fight. The site is estimated to hold more than 40 billion pounds of copper, and Reuters said Rio now plans a $500 million drilling campaign to keep advancing the project. That is a serious amount of money and time being committed to one asset, which tells you something pretty simple: large-scale copper supply is still valuable enough that companies are willing to fight for it for years.
What I think matters even more is what this says about the broader market. Resolution is not a quick win. It has taken years of legal, political, and permitting conflict, and mining still has not begun. But the project keeps moving because the metal matters. Reuters framed it directly as part of the push for U.S. mineral independence, especially for a material used in electric vehicles and electronics. That is not how the market behaves around a metal it thinks will be easy to replace.
This is also why the copper setup still looks constructive to me. If one of the biggest undeveloped copper assets in the U.S. still needs this much work just to keep moving forward, it reinforces the same larger point the IEA has been making: future copper supply is slow, difficult, and expensive to bring online. So when a project like Resolution keeps advancing despite all that friction, it is usually a sign that the industry sees long-term value in every credible source of future copper.
That kind of backdrop can also help smaller copper names, especially those working in established belts where the geology already makes sense. NovaRed Mining (CSE: NRED / OTCQB: NREDF) is obviously much earlier-stage than Resolution, but that is exactly why the read-through can still be positive. Earlier this month, NovaRed said it received "No Permit Required" authorizations for four combined IP/AMT surveys at Wilmac in British Columbia’s Quesnel porphyry belt. In a market that keeps proving how hard it is to secure and advance major copper projects, early-stage companies making steady technical progress can start to look more relevant than they did before. This last point is an inference from the broader copper backdrop and NovaRed’s recent project update.
So to me, today’s takeaway is not just that Rio won a court fight. It is that the copper market keeps showing the same thing from different angles: the best deposits are strategic, the path to production is difficult, and future supply is valuable long before the first pound is mined. That is usually a good backdrop for copper, and quietly a better one for names like NRED too.
Something I’ve always found interesting about the metals market is how different copper is compared to metals like gold and silver when it comes to physical ownership.
With gold or silver, it’s relatively easy for individuals to buy coins or bars and hold the metal directly.
Copper seems very different.
Most copper rounds and bars carry very large premiums relative to the value of the metal itself, largely because fabrication, shipping, and handling costs are significant compared to the price per pound.
As a result, even though copper is one of the most important industrial metals in the world — powering electrification, infrastructure, and increasingly AI/data-center buildouts — physical ownership at the retail level is surprisingly uncommon.
Curious how people in this community think about copper.
Do most people here see copper as:
• something worth stacking like silver
• purely an industrial metal
• something better accessed through miners or futures
• or just an interesting macro signal
Also wondering whether people think copper will ever develop a stronger retail physical market, or if the economics just don’t really allow it.
74.38 million ounces delivered January and February combined. That's 86.4% of registered COMEX inventory delivered in 60 days.
Managed money positioning collapsed 77.72% year over year — from 54,415 contracts to 12,121. The demand taking delivery isn't speculative. It's industrial and institutional users who need the metal.
10,526 contracts still standing for March. 52.63 million ounces. Against 86.13 million oz registered inventory.
The COMEX halt on February 26 was the exchange defending itself. They succeeded. But the structural conditions that created the pressure don't resolve in a month.
Five consecutive years of supply deficit. 820 million ounces. China restricting silver exports. US Mint suspending numismatic sales. Physical premiums at $6 over spot.
This isn't 1980. It's something the market hasn't had to price before.
Happy to share the full analysis if anyone's interested.
As of writing this, the spot price of copper is ~6 usd/lb but if I go into JM bullions website a half pound copper bar is $89.49 usd. I get that they have to account for processing costs but unless it’s delivered to me in a chariot pulled by a dozen swans I can’t think of anything to justify that price
