The press release is quoted as saying:

URSA Major is a Canadian mining company with two nickel sulphide projects containing significant NI43-101 compliant nickel and copper reserves and resources. The Company is focused on demonstrating profitable operations at the Shakespeare Mine and growing its nickel, copper and platinum group metal (PGM) deposits through exploration and development, primarily in Ontario, Canada.

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Click here to access URSA Major Minerals Corporate Site

Palladium prices are seen averaging $472 an ounce this year, up from a January forecast of $434 an ounce. In the third quarter prices are expected to average $460 an ounce – above their current level of around $445 – with forecasts rising to $494 an ounce for the fourth quarter.

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The press release is quoted as saying:

Franconia Minerals Corporation (TSX:FRA): Franconia is currently focused on the development of the Duluth Complex copper-nickel-platinum-palladium project – consisting of the Birch Lake, Maturi and Spruce Road deposits – in this highly prospective region of northeastern Minnesota.

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Click here to access Franconia Minerals Corporate site

The press release is quoted as saying:

NAP is a Canadian precious metals company focused on the production of palladium and gold in mining-friendly jurisdictions. Lac des Iles, the Company’s flagship mine, is one of North America’s two primary palladium producers. Located approximately 85 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Lac des Iles has produced palladium since 1993. NAP also owns and operates the Sleeping Giant gold mine located in the prolific Abitibi region of Quebec.

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Click here to access NAP Corporate Site

The press release is quoted as saying:

International Millennium Mining Corp. is a mineral exploration and development company engaged in acquiring known former producing small mines and in the exploration of polymetallic mineral properties in Canada and the Americas. To date, the Company has acquired and is exploring mineral properties in British Columbia and Ontario, Canada; Nevada, USA; and Sonora State, Mexico. Emerging mineral targets include gold, silver, cobalt, molybdenum, zinc, lead, nickel, copper and platinum group metals.

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Click here to access International Millennium Mining Corporate Site

The press release is quoted as saying:

Revenue from the sale of precious metals for the three months ended June 30, 2010 (“Q2″) was $30.6 million; $14.3 million higher as compared to the three months ended June 30, 2009 (“Q2-2009″). This is an increase of 88%, as a result of both higher deliveries from FNX Mining Company Inc. (“FNX”) and First Uranium Corporation (“First Uranium”) and higher precious metal prices.

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Click here to access Gold Wheaton Gold Corp. Corporate Site

The press release is quoted as saying:

Earnings in the quarter benefited from a higher average copper price in the current year, and the increased earnings contributed from the Carlota and Franke Mines, as well as the earnings from the Sudbury operations since May 21, 2010 (the date after the closing of the merger with FNX Mining Ltd.).

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Click here to access Quadra FNX Mining Ltd. Corporate Site

The press release is quoted as saying:

Cadillac is a development-focused exploration company which has the past-producing Thierry Property near Pickle Lake in Northern Ontario, several exploration projects in Spain in joint venture with MATSA and three Canadian exploration projects, located in regions that have been historically active.

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Click here to access Cadillac Corporate Site

The price of palladium has gone through a turbulent month. At the start of July, the price of the platinum group metal had fallen from the $470 mark in late June down to $430 an ounce. Since then, the metal has regained its losses and closed on  July, 28 at $468 an ounce. The drop in price was mainly due to concerns of inflation and the possibility of a double-dip recession. The concerns over the return of the recession, and the lackluster performance of palladium were based on weak car sales worldwide after promising numbers from the first two quarters, especially in Asia. Palladium’s main industrial use is in the manufacturing of catalytic converters.

Lingering debt concerns in the western world are still a factor; however, after European banks passed their ‘stress tests,’ the markets surged. In the US, better than expected corporate earnings helped the markets after weak jobs reports had been a dark cloud on Wall St.

Auto sales worldwide have been less then stellar after promising numbers from the first few months in China and India. “A downturn in the auto industry indicates that consumption of platinum and palladium will continue to drop. Automobile sales in the U.S. have decreased 10.8% from around 1.1 million units in May 2010, to almost 982,000 in June,” reported Karvy Global, in a very informative look into platinum group metals market for The Street.

The outlook for car sales was the same in China, as auto production is down 6.9 percent from the first quarter. In India, car sales dropped 5 percent. Despite the downturn in auto sales, many analysts see a rebound in platinum group metals by the fourth quarter as sales in the Asian continent are expected to rebound. The move to palladium based catalytic converts from the standard platinum converters bodes well for the palladium market as well.

Palladium Mining News

The only miner of palladium in the US, Stillwater Mining [NYSE:SWC], has been out-performing the price of other North American Platinum group metals (PGM) mining companies and the price of palladium itself. For the year Stillwater has gained 38.5 percent, while North American Palladium [AMEX:PAL; TSE:PDL] is down over 10 percent and PGM’s have lost over 20 percent of their value.

Stillwater recently released earning figures for the Q2. “Stillwater Mining Company today reported net profit for the 2010 second quarter of $14.6 million, or $0.15 per diluted share… This compares to second quarter 2009 net income of $4.6 million, or $0.05 per diluted share,” stated the press release. The company benefited from higher prices for the metals year-over-year as mining production fell 18.2 percent.

The press release is quoted as saying:

Highlights of this report are In the Thunder Bay North Platinum Project, Ontario, a 47,172m infill diamond drilling program was completed in the mineral resource area. A resource estimate update based on 97,588m of drilling is in progress with expected completion in the September quarter, 2010. In the Griffins Find Gold Project, Western Australia, two shallow gold zones with resource potential were identified from drilling.

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Click here to access Magma Metals Limited Corporate Site