But there might be a problem because the 5% rise in the copper price coincided with a Chinese ban on the export of sulphuric acid which is widely used to process copper ore.

Chile, the world’s biggest copper miner, is the major victim of the latest embargo on trade in essential raw materials, sourcing 50% of its sulphuric acid from China for use in solvent-extraction, electrowinning (SXEW) processing.

Looking past trade distortions, the long-term outlook for copper remains strong, according to one of the world’s leading metal market analysts, Henry Van from big commodity trading house Trafigura.

Van told the CRU World Copper Conference in Santiago, the capital of Chile, that copper would get a short-term shock from the energy crisis and while the immediate outlook was unstable, the long-term view remained unquestionably positive.

Local copper favorite Sandfire led the way up in Australia with a rise of 84c to $17.86, closely followed by Capstone, which rose by 98c to $13.02.

Most other copper stocks struggled to make headway in a market broadly averse to risk. Aeris slipped 2c lower to 39c. Hot Chili was down 3c at $1.53 and Hillgrove was steady at 4.2c.

Uncertainty about whether the rising copper price is good news because it might mean the worst effects of the Middle East war are fading, or bad news because it’s the result of ongoing trade distortion, should keep investors on full alert.

Financial markets spent much of the week trying to read the mind of the U.S. President Donald Trump, who is gleefully ratcheting up military and financial pressure on Iran, not that his actions seem to be delivering much, yet.

On/off peace talks over Iran and a double-sided blockade of Persian Gulf oilfields failed to stop the U.S. stock market from hitting an all-time high and the Australian market from largely shrugging off a domestic liquid fuels crisis.

Australia tried to follow the U.S. but fell short because of concerns about future fuel supply, made worse by a fire at an oil refinery in Geelong and conflicting signals from the Australian Government about future fuel supplies.

The overall performance of the market was mixed with the all ordinaries index creeping 0.5% higher, weighed down by a 2% fall in the bank index caused by investors exiting bank stocks as reports surface of a rise in energy-related bad debts.

Other sectors were also dragged down by energy costs. The broad-based metals and mining index was 0.5% lower over the week and even the gold index, which started strongly thanks to gold sticking close to the US$4800 an ounce mark, faded later with its index down 1.3%.

It was a clearer picture on the currency market where the Australian dollar traded up to a four-year high of US71.77 cents with money market analysts tipping a continued rise to a target of US74c.

Strong cash flows were the feature once again of gold stocks, led by Evolution reporting that its cash position had swollen by $404 million to $1.37 billion, helping lift the company’s share price by 10c to $13.80. Bell Potter has a target price of $16.60 on the stock, Morgans says $16.10.

Arch goldmining rival Northern Star had a roller coaster week, dropping to $23.41 before rising to $24.66 and then slipping back to $24.24 for a 3c fall over the week.

Other gold news and market moves this week included:

  • Genesis Minerals rose by 27c to $6.65 after adding its name to the gold-cash winners list with $196 million added to the company’s bank account which now stands at $600 million.
  • Ora Banda added 14c to $1.45 thanks to a $76.3 million cash boost which lifted the company’s cash balance to $231.7 million.
  • Kingsgate, a business once burdened by problems at its Chatree mine in Thailand, saw its shares rise by $1.02 to $5.95 after reporting strong March quarter gold production of 65.915oz, plus 545,932oz of silver which lifted the cash position to $213 million.
  • Ausgold continued its rise. Adding 2c to $1.02 as its Katanning gold project in WA takes shape. CG Capital Markets sees the stock rising to $3.45.
  • Golden Horse Minerals delivered strong drilling results from its Hopes Hill project in WA with a best hit of 7 metres at 13 grams a tonne from a depth of 13m. The stock rose by 3c to 47c but Shaw and Partners has a target price of $1.50.
  • Sunstone rose by 1.5c to 33c after reporting encouraging drill results from its Bramaderos project in Ecuador, including 200m at 0.45g/t of gold equivalent, and
  • BMC Minerals rose by 17c to $2.50 thanks to progress on its Alaskan project, Kudz Ze Kayah. Morgans has a target price on the stock of $5.70.

Energy metal twins lithium and uranium rose with the oil market’s troubles as investors built positions ahead of an expected surge in demand for non-oil energy sources.

Best of the uranium stocks include Bannerman, up 59c to $4.44, perhaps heading for the target price of $5.80 seen by CG Capital Markets. Deep Yellow, up 23c at $2.04. Paladin, up 59c at $14.38 and Boss, up 4c at $1.66 after a sharp sell-off early in the week.

Lithium, which is benefitting from soaring demand for battery powered electric vehicles, got a second boost during the week when reports emerged of China continuing to enforce environmental clean up orders on its domestic lithium industry which could keep the price of the metal higher for longer.

PLS was the best of the local lithium stocks with a 10c rise to $5.49, taking its gain since this time last year to $4.21 (310%).

Other lithium moves included Liontown, up 3c to $1.96. IGO, up 7c to $8.42 and Core, up 5c to 34c.

Other news and market moves in week disturbed by global energy market events included:

  • Successful bond market moves by PLS and Whitehaven Coal which raised US$600 million and US$900 million respectively in another sign that international investors like Australia’s energy-exposed stocks.
  • BHP and Rio Tinto rising strongly ahead of next week’s third quarter reports. BHP added $1.30 to $55.76. Rio Tinto added $2.49 to $173.47.
  • Fortescue suffered a modest sell-down, slipping 57c to $20.95 as doubts linger over the health of China’s steel industry. Macquarie has a target price on the stock of $23.
  • Mineral Resources rose by 19c to $58.86. Morgan has a target price on the stock of $67.
  • Rare earth stocks had a mixed week. Lynas lost 73c to $21.04. Hastings added 1.5c to 32 and Brazilian Rare Earths rose by 6c $4.50.