State of the Market: Mining Q1-2023

The optimism generated by China’s reopening last year and milder US inflation in the March quarter has quickly faded amid persisting global recessionary risks and stressed US and European banking sectors. Bearish sentiment has tempered industrial metals prices, while gold has benefited from its traditional safe haven status.  

The exploration sector had mixed performance in the March quarter, with mining financing gaining strength but remaining well off the same period in 2022, while drilling activity has been on a steady retreat. We also review mergers and acquisitions, which, despite strong macroeconomic headwinds, remained robust in 2022, headlined by the Newmont offer for Newcrest. 

While we expect volatile metals prices in the near term, we foresee the release of pent-up demand and boosted global decarbonization efforts inevitably keeping metals markets tight and prices afloat on our forecast horizon. 

Join us to recap the March 2023 quarter and to obtain our views for the remainder of the year and beyond. 

• Commodity price trends, drivers and estimates 
• Mergers and acquisitions, mining financing 
• Exploration and development metrics