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Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Mining Industry Quarterly Review, Q4 2024 & Full Year - Top 18 Mining Companies Invest $69.1B in 2024; Forecasted Increase for 2025
"Mining Quarterly Review - Q4 2024 & Full Year" analyzes global mining trends, covering commodities, production, and capital expenditure. Indonesia achieved record coal outputs while boosting its nickel industry. Glencore led in coal production growth, driven by key acquisitions. Top miners spent $69.1B in 2024, with a 2025 rise forecasted. Key regions include Canada, Australia, South Africa, and the US. Dublin, June 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Mining Quarterly Review - Q4 2024 & Full Year" report has been added to offering. The report contains an overview of the key commodities in the mining industry including coal, iron ore, copper, gold, nickel, lead, zinc, uranium and lithium. It provides detailed information on prices, production by country, production by company, development projects update, capital expenditure, and demand "Mining Quarterly Review - Q4 2024 & Full Year" provides a comprehensive coverage on the global mining industry. It provides commodity trends covering price trends, production, capital expenditure of leading miners, development projects momentum, development projects by commodity, country, company and stage. The report also includes a demand drivers section providing information on factors that are affecting the global mining industry. It further provides updates on emissions, safety in mining, regulatory, developments in mining for Q4 2024 & Full Year, European Union's industrial production, US' industrial production, China's industrial production growth rate, China's Manufacturing PMI .While maintaining strong coal production, Indonesia is also navigating the global energy transition. This involves balancing coal output with the development of its nickel industry, crucial for EV batteries. Indonesia surpassed its 2024 coal production targets, reaching record highs to 836Mt, driven by both domestic and international demand. In Q4 2024, Glencore recorded the highest coal production growth, significantly outpacing its competitors. Yanzhou, Coal India and China Shenhua Energy also registered growth, though at a much smaller scale. Glencore experienced a significant increase in metallurgical coal production, rising by 18.9% compared to the same period in 2023. This substantial growth was primarily attributable to the acquisition of Canadian steelmaking operations, Elk Valley Resources (EVR), in July 2024. After 0.82% of projects in the development stages advanced in Q3 2024, the development projects momentum improved to 1.37% in Q4 2024. Some 37 projects advanced during this quarter, of which 16 were in Canada, Australia, South Africa and the US, 2024, the world's top 18 mining companies collectively invested over $69.1B in capital expenditures. Companies' projections for 2025 indicate a 5.1% increase to $72.7B for the same 18 to Buy To gain an understanding of the quarterly changes in the global mining industry, relevant driving factors To understand historical and forecast trends on key commodities To identify key players in the global mining industry To identify major development projects momentum by region To identify the trend in capital expenditure spent by leading miners To understand the factors influencing demand drivers of key commodities Key Topics Covered: Overview Macroeconomic trends Commodity trends Coal Iron ore Copper Gold Nickel Lead Zinc Uranium Lithium Development projects update Capital expenditure Demand drivers Appendix For more information about this report visit About is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. CONTACT: CONTACT: Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@ For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900Sign in to access your portfolio
Geek Vibes Nation
6 days ago
- Business
- Geek Vibes Nation
Advancements In Bitcoin's Lightning Network
Photo by Mariia Shalabaieva on Unsplash If you think Bitcoin is just a slow old coin sitting pretty at the top, well, it is. But let's not get into how many transactions Bitcoin manages per second (around 7 per second; we couldn't help ourselves). But with the Lightning Network, think again. They've already processed over 100 million transactions in Q1 2025, increasing 28% from Q4 2024. A lot of crypto experts are attributing the lightning speeds (hence the name of the network) to the current Bitcoin price live , sitting at $109,219 at the time of writing. The Lightning Network proves that Bitcoin can move fast, scale better, and power up. This isn't just some off-chain experiment. It's a full-on upgrade that's been quietly growing into something that could change everything. If you've been wondering how Bitcoin plans to handle more users, faster transactions, and lower fees, all while staying decentralized, then read on to learn about the Lightning Network. The Lightning Network is where it's happening. Advancements in Bitcoin's Lightning Network Back in the early days, Bitcoin was cool but clunky. Everyone loved to hate it. It's the OG coin, but it ran so slow, it was initially expensive (and still sort of is compared to other networks), and as cryptocurrency grew and new ledgers formed, Bitcoin became plum last for slow speeds. The whole world wanted to use it, but the poor network just couldn't keep up. Slow speeds. High fees. Long waits. That's where the Lightning Network came in. It's a second-layer solution built on top of Bitcoin . Think of it as the fast lane. It lets users set up payment channels that don't require every transaction to hit the main chain. Instead, you zip your payments through these channels and settle up later. Simple. Developed in 2016 by Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja, the Lightning Network is all about efficiency. And it's working. In September 2024, it had a capacity of 5,382 BTC across thousands of active channels, a big increase from the year before. And we gave you the numbers in the introduction, and the numbers never lie. The network isn't perfect. There's still the risk of fraud, hacks, and congested nodes. But the point is this: it's improving. And if Bitcoin wants to scale for the future, Lightning might be the power-up it needs. Bitcoin's Lightning Network: The Recent Updates Let's talk numbers (again). Since 2020, Lightning's capacity has surged 384%. That's not some fluke; that's institutional money, infrastructure upgrades, and a lot of bullish momentum. According to Fidelity Digital Assets, we're only seeing half the picture. Many Lightning channels are private, meaning actual network capacity could be nearly double what's reported. Public channels will hit over $500 million by January 2025. Add in the stealth activity, and you're looking at serious liquidity. And more institutions are watching. As routing fees drop and reliability climbs, they're starting to dip their toes in. With the right node setup, transaction fees can be as low as 0.04%. Then there's the speed. Payments under one million sats (roughly $1,000) settle in under a second. Bigger ones take around 7 seconds. Compare that to the legacy financial system, and it's a joke. Compare it to Bitcoin's original layer system, and it's still a joke. Lightning's upgrades aren't just about speed and fees. It's about scale. As Bitcoin's price goes up, so does Lightning's value. How the Network Benefits Users If you've ever waited an hour for a Bitcoin transaction to clear, the Lightning Network is basically your redemption arc. First off, it's fast. Really fast. We've already mentioned that. Instant transactions under a second are now common for small payments. That means you could buy a coffee with BTC and not be the weirdo holding up the queue. Then there's the fee structure. It's dramatically cheaper than on-chain Bitcoin transactions. Think fractions of a cent. That's what happens when you don't need to clog the main chain with every transaction. It's also more scalable. By moving thousands of tiny payments off-chain, the Lightning Network clears up space and makes Bitcoin more efficient. The network's overall reliability is now approaching the 95% mark, and with things like watchtowers and retries, we're getting closer to that mythical 100% success rate. Still, there's room for improvement. Channel management can be complex, and the Bitcoin difficulty rating was at 119.12 at the time of writing, up from 83.15 12 months ago. Inbound liquidity is still a pain. But the upside is huge. With the right setup, users can send and receive Bitcoin with near-zero friction, and that's game-changing. Getting the Most Out of the Bitcoin Network Bitcoin isn't valuable because it's shiny or rare. It's valuable because it has the strongest, most widely connected network in the digital asset space. The more people use it, the more useful it becomes. The Lightning Network amplifies that. Every new node, every payment channel, and every successful transaction make the whole system stronger. It's like compound interest for infrastructure. This is what separates Bitcoin from the rest. It's not just a coin—it's a protocol. A settlement layer. A foundation. The upgrades happening off-chain aren't side projects; they're part of the core vision. Bitcoin's community is building something that doesn't just work—it lasts. Bitcoin's Lightning Network isn't just about sending coins faster—it's about building a future. It's already faster. It's already cheaper. And now it's attracting institutions and developers who want to push it further. The Lightning Network is a glimpse into Bitcoin's next era. Caroline is doing her graduation in IT from the University of South California but keens to work as a freelance blogger. She loves to write on the latest information about IoT, technology, and business. She has innovative ideas and shares her experience with her readers.
Argaam
12-05-2025
- Business
- Argaam
Retal's portfolio hits SAR 31B, 50% of projects in Riyadh: CFO
Retal Urban Development Co. 's portfolio is valued at SAR 31 billion, including SAR 13 billion in real estate developments among which is a divestment that was carried out in Q4 2024, in addition to SAR 18 billion in direct development, said CFO Ammar Al-Ghoul. The company's projects are distributed as follows: 50% in the Riyadh Region, 40% in the Eastern Province, and 10% in the Western Province, he added, in an interview with Al Arabiya TV. Al-Ghoul also pointed out that about 90% of the company's projects are within fully integrated urban development zones, adding that the company's sales reached SAR 1 billion in Q1 2025, compared to nearly SAR 3 billion in the entire of 2024. The company does not own undeveloped land, as all land is designated for contracted projects, said the official, highlighting that Retal aims to expand into integrated and mixed-use residential development in the future. He also stated that more than 800 housing units were delivered in 2024, with over 1,800 units targeted to be handed over in 2025. Meanwhile, around 65% of the total project portfolio has already been sold out, with the remaining portion in progress and pending delivery. As for interest rates, Al-Ghoul stated that despite high interest rates, the company's debt remains very balanced, with a net debt-to-equity ratio between 1.1-1.28, which is considered a very acceptable average in the sector.
