At this year's Sprott-Stansberry Vancouver Natural Resource Symposium, the Investing News Network got to chat with John Kaiser of Kaiser Research about the zinc price, China and trends in the resource sector. Kaiser has suggested in a number of recent talks that China will begin to enact stricter regulations to combat pollution, noting that such changes would have significant effects on mining in the country. Specifically, he sees that putting pressure on zinc production in the country, which could in turn lead to a higher zinc price."Zinc mines are implicated in the soil study that concluded that the food chain is contaminated due to heavy metals in the rivers which are the source of irrigation waters for the crops," Kaiser said. "My belief is that Chinese zinc supply has peaked [and] may even decline. That is not what's being factored into people's expectations for stronger zinc prices, which is based on a depletion of several western mines with no western mines coming on stream to replace that supply." He added that China's shift in focus from infrastructure to more of a consumer economy could increase Chinese demand for zinc in the form of cars, home appliances and other items. Kaiser also spoke about the Chinese stock market, potential talent shortages in geology due to the industry downturn and about the most interesting story he's heard from a junior lately. "The one I've been following, and my readers own it, I own it, is Uravan Minerals (TSXV:UVN)," he said. "They developed a new exploration method that involves using a radiogenic lead isotope through geochemical sampling at surface in the Athabasca basin to literally 'see' a uranium deposit up to 1,000-1,200 meters below the surface." Watch the video for more of what Kaiser had to say, and to hear about how he can put out an effective take on mining companies despite not having a formal background in geology.
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Duration: 10m 40s
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