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D E C E M B E R / J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 9 www.resourceworld.com 17 OUTLOOK 2019 The Silver Institute believes that China will be a catalyst for this as China's consumption of silver for solar applications has been rising in recent years with more than 70% of global solar panel production now taking place in China. The gold/silver ratio has climbed all year rising from a low of 74.87 last November to a 10-year high of 85.94 this year, suggesting that silver remains undervalued FocusEconomics, a global provider of economic analysis and forecasts, estimates that the average silver price for Q4 2018 will be US $15.80/oz. The most bullish forecast for the quarter comes from Julius Baer, which is calling for a price of US $17.00/oz; meanwhile, BMO Capital Markets, BNP Paribas and Capital Economics are the most bearish with a forecast of US $14.60/oz. COBALT Low inventories and worries about future supplies for EV battery manufacture sparked a race to secure long term supplies in the early part of 2018, forcing cobalt prices to decade highs of over US $40/ lb in March, although prices have since fallen dramatically and now languish in the low US $20's/lb. But prices may be set to rebound again soon following a recent announcement by Glencore that exports of cobalt hydroxide from its Katanga copper-cobalt mine in the DRC have been halted due to high levels of uranium. According to London based researcher, Capital Economics, production will meanwhile be stockpiled until a US $25 million ion- exchange plant, which will remove the radioactivity, is completed – scheduled for June next year. COPPER Latest reports by the International Study Copper Group (ISCG) esti- mates world mine production increased by about 4.5% in the first seven months of 2018, with concentrate production rising by 4% and solvent extraction-electrowinning (SX-EW) by 5.5%, Production in Chile, the world's biggest copper mine produc- ing country, increased by 11% primarily because production in February/March 2017 was restricted by a strike at Escondida, the world's biggest copper mine. Indonesian output increased by 30% because comparative output in 2017 was negatively affected by a temporary ban on concentrate exports that started in January and ended in April. World refined production is estimated to have increased by 1.5% in the first seven months of 2018 with primary production (electro- lytic and electrowinning) rising by 0.5% and secondary production (from scrap) increasing by 6%. The main contributor to growth in world refined production was China due to its continued expansion of capacity and its relentless Belt and Road initiative – an immensely ambitious development campaign through which China wants to boost trade and stimulate economic growth across Asia and beyond by building massive amounts of infrastructure connecting it to coun-