TNR Gold Los Azules Copper: Taca Taca sale 'very encouraging' for Argentina mining - McEwen $TNR.v $MUX $ABX

“Los Azules is a unique, long-life, copper mining opportunity in Argentina. Recent acquisitions that include the Las Bambas copper mining project in Peru acquired by Minmetals Group from China and the Taca Taca copper deposit in Argentina acquired by First Quantum Minerals confirm there is significant value to be realized for projects in this region. We are pleased that large-scale, capital intensive projects like Los Azules are attracting attention from global mining companies, increasing our ability to monetize our portion of the asset. In our opinion, McEwen Mining's latest analysis provides a solid base value for the asset,” commented Mr. Kirill Klip, Non-Executive Chairman of TNR.

Kirill Klip.:

TNR Gold Corp. Comments on Recent News by McEwen Mining on the Los Azules Copper Project, Argentina.

Copper M&A in Latin America, TNR Gold And McEwen Mining With Los Azules Copper.

 "We have the great news from McEwen Mining, you can Google for the whole news release. Before the value for Los Azules was based on the acquisition price paid by US Gold for Minera Andes. After the collapse in Gold prices and Argentina troubled couple of years this accounting value has became the wishful history. Now based on the valuations of Taca Taca in First Quantum Minerals takeover of Lumina Copper McEwen Mining will make the conservative accounting valuation of Los Azules. Normally the selling price for the assets is above such an assessment. You will have to make your own numbers or contact Jim Mustard at PI Financial, who is acting on behalf of TNR Gold. Read more."

TNR Gold Investor Presentation March 2014 from Kirill Klip

BN Americas:

Taca Taca sale 'very encouraging' for Argentina mining - McEwen

By Samuel Williams - Friday, August 8, 2014

First Quantum Minerals' Cdn$470mn (US$428mn) acquisition of Lumina Copper and its Taca Taca copper deposit are positive signs for mining in Argentina, according to Rob McEwen, CEO of McEwen Mining.

The takeover, expected to close by the end of August, is evidence of renewed market interest in large deposits in the country, McEwen said on the company's Q2 earnings call.

Toronto-based McEwen withdrew its Los Azules copper project in Argentina from sale in June 2013 due to a lack of interest, with the CEO previously warning the project may fetch less than US$200mn due to a depressed market.

Investment in Argentina's mining sector has been affected by import and currency restrictions imposed by President Cristina Fernández's government, as well as spiraling inflation and the strength of the Argentine peso.

Due to Taca Taca's similarities to McEwen's Los Azules copper project in Argentina, the acquisition also helps gain an idea of the latter's value, McEwen said. The company announced a US$98mn impairment charge related to Los Azules in its Q2 results in reaction to the Lumina Copper acquisition.

"The recent sale of Lumina Copper is very encouraging and not only signals that big projects in Argentina are again becoming attractive but it also provides a measure of the value of the Los Azules project," McEwen told the call. "This and other sales suggest Los Azules has a value of approximately US$300mn and represents a source of future liquidity."

McEwen also has an interest in the San José mine in Argentina and mines and projects in Mexico and the US."

Please Note our Legal Disclaimer on the Blog, including, but Not limited to:

There are NO Qualified Persons among the authors of this blog as it is defined by NI 43-101, we were NOT able to verify and check any provided information in the articles, news releases or on the links embedded on this blog; you must NOT rely in any sense on any of this information in order to make any resource or value calculation, or attribute any particular value or Price Target to any discussed securities.

We Do Not own any content in the third parties' articles, news releases, videos or on the links embedded on this blog; any opinions - including, but not limited to the resource estimations, valuations, target prices and particular recommendations on any securities expressed there - are subject to the disclosure provided by those third parties and are NOT verified, approved or endorsed by the authors of this blog in any way.

Please, do not forget, that we own stocks we are writing about and have position in these companies. We are not providing any investment advice on this blog and there is no solicitation to buy or sell any particular company.

TNR Gold Corp. Comments on Recent News by McEwen Mining on the Los Azules Copper Project, Argentina.

Kirill Klip.:

TNR Gold Corp. Comments on Recent News by McEwen Mining on the Los Azules Copper Project, Argentina.

Copper M&A in Latin America, TNR Gold And McEwen Mining With Los Azules Copper.

 "We have the great news from McEwen Mining, you can Google for the whole news release. Before the value for Los Azules was based on the acquisition price paid by US Gold for Minera Andes. After the collapse in Gold prices and Argentina troubled couple of years this accounting value has became the wishful history. Now based on the valuations of Taca Taca in First Quantum Minerals takeover of Lumina Copper McEwen Mining will make the conservative accounting valuation of Los Azules. Normally the selling price for the assets is above such an assessment. You will have to make your own numbers or contact Jim Mustard at PI Financial, who is acting on behalf of TNR Gold. Read more."

TNR Gold Investor Presentation March 2014 from Kirill Klip

TNR Gold:

TNR GOLD CORP. COMMENTS ON RECENT NEWS BY MCEWEN MINING ON THE LOS AZULES COPPER PROJECT, ARGENTINA

Vancouver, B.C. August 13, 2014, TNR Gold Corp. (the "Company" or “TNR) (TSX VENTURE: TNR.V) advises that McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE:MUX, TSX:MUX) ("McEwen Mining") has issued news releases dated 17 July, 2014 and 07 August, 2014 in relation to the Los Azules Copper Project in San Juan Province, Argentina. TNR holds a 25% back-in right, exercisable upon the completion of a feasibility study, on the northern part of the Los Azules property.

The news releases issued by McEwen Mining summarize the results of an impairment test conducted on Los Azules as a result of the recently announced acquisition of Lumina Copper Corp. by First Quantum Minerals Ltd. to gain ownership of the Taca Taca copper project in Salta, Argentina. McEwen Mining recognized that the similarities between Los Azules and Taca Taca in terms of project scale and location within Argentina gave sufficient cause for the impairment analysis that resulted in McEwen Mining recording an impairment charge for Los Azules in its second quarter.

The Company is of the view that the impairment recorded by McEwen Mining on Los Azules does not have an adverse affect on the Company's valuation of its back-in right in the Los Azules deposit and the ongoing evaluation of the sale of its rights to the deposit (see TNR news release May 8, 2013).

In their press release dated 17 July 2014 Rob McEwen states, "With First Quantum acquiring Lumina Copper and their Taca Taca project, Los Azules moves to the forefront in terms of world-class, undeveloped, high-grade copper assets not owned by a major mining company. As we have said in the past, Taca Taca serves as a good proxy for the value of Los Azules and we believe this transaction demonstrates value in projects located in Argentina."  The news release is available at SEDARhttp://www.sedar.com and on the McEwen Mining website http://www.mcewenmining.com.  TNR encourages its shareholders to read the press releases issued by McEwen Mining to gain a better understanding of the work performed and the potential impacts this will have on the project.

McEwen Mining's press releases appear to be prepared by Qualified Persons and the procedures, methodology and key assumptions disclosed therein are those adopted and consistently applied in the mining industry, but no Qualified Person engaged by TNR Gold Corp. has done sufficient work to analyze, interpret, classify or verify McEwen Mining's information to determine the current mineral reserve or resource or other information referred to in the press release. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned in placing any reliance on the disclosures therein.

“Los Azules is a unique, long-life, copper mining opportunity in Argentina. Recent acquisitions that include the Las Bambas copper mining project in Peru acquired by Minmetals Group from China and the Taca Taca copper deposit in Argentina acquired by First Quantum Minerals confirm there is significant value to be realized for projects in this region. We are pleased that large-scale, capital intensive projects like Los Azules are attracting attention from global mining companies, increasing our ability to monetize our portion of the asset. In our opinion, McEwen Mining's latest analysis provides a solid base value for the asset,” commented Mr. Kirill Klip, Non-Executive Chairman of TNR.

 ABOUT LOS AZULES

The Company has a 25% back-in right in the Northern Portion of the Los Azules property which is exercisable following the completion of a feasibility study.  If the Company elects to back-in for 5% or less or has its interest diluted to 5% or less, TNR will receive a net smelter royalty of 0.6% from the Northern Portion. 

The Los Azules copper deposit is located in the San Juan province of Argentina. McEwen Mining Inc. is the current operator on the Los Azules copper deposit and the Company has previously advised that on May 15, March 28, and March 13, 2013, McEwen Mining Inc. issued press releases in relation to the deposit, which are accessible on Sedar at http://www.sedar.com and on McEwen Mining Inc’s website athttp://mcewenmining.com.

 ABOUT TNR GOLD CORP.  (WWW.TNRGOLDCORP.COM)

Over the past twenty-one years TNR, through its lead generator business model, has been successful in generating high quality exploration projects around the globe. With the Company's expertise, resources and industry network, it is well positioned to aggressively identify, source, explore, partner and continue to expand its project portfolio.

TNR Gold recently reported an inferred mineral resource at the Shotgun Gold project in Alaska containing 20,734,313 tonnes at 1.06 grams per tonne (“g/t”) gold for a total of 705,960 ounces gold (“Au”) using a 0.5 g/t Au cut-off (see news release dated 22 April 2013).

TNR is also a major shareholder of International Lithium Corp. (TSX:ILC.V) (“ILC”), a company created by TNR to advance its internationally acquired lithium prospects. TNR currently holds about 25.5% of the outstanding shares of ILC.

At its core, TNR provides significant exposure to gold and copper through its holdings in Alaska and Argentina and is committed to continued generation of in-demand projects, while diversifying its markets and building shareholder value.

John Harrop, PGeo, FGS, is a "Qualified Person" as defined under NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.

For further details please see our website at http://www.tnrgoldcorp.com/s/NewsReleases.asp

On behalf of the board,

Gary Schellenberg

President

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Q&A. Statements in this Q&A other than purely historical information, historical estimates should not be relied upon, including statements relating to the Company’s future plans and objectives or expected results, are forward-looking statements. Q&A may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in the Company’s business, including risks inherent in resource exploration and development. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

Please Note our Legal Disclaimer on the Blog, including, but Not limited to:

There are NO Qualified Persons among the authors of this blog as it is defined by NI 43-101, we were NOT able to verify and check any provided information in the articles, news releases or on the links embedded on this blog; you must NOT rely in any sense on any of this information in order to make any resource or value calculation, or attribute any particular value or Price Target to any discussed securities.

We Do Not own any content in the third parties' articles, news releases, videos or on the links embedded on this blog; any opinions - including, but not limited to the resource estimations, valuations, target prices and particular recommendations on any securities expressed there - are subject to the disclosure provided by those third parties and are NOT verified, approved or endorsed by the authors of this blog in any way.

Please, do not forget, that we own stocks we are writing about and have position in these companies. We are not providing any investment advice on this blog and there is no solicitation to buy or sell any particular company.  

James Rickards On Gold, Its Manipulation And 'Ugly' Financial Crisis to Jolt US Within 5 Years TNR.v MUX GDX GLD ABX NG

  

  Jame Rickards gives his master class on our favourite topics. It is the best interview with James Rickards we have seen so far! Crispy clear on all topics: FED, Money printing, Financial Collapse, Wall Street, Gold and its manipulation. JP Morgan and Jamie Dimon takes a special attention it definitely deserves ... Donate your tweets and share for the good cause, please.

The Gold Cartel Crackdown: FSA Fines Barclays For Manipulation Of Gold Price $TNR.v $MUX $ABX $GDX $GLD

  "Manipulation cannot lasts forever even if the very powerful forces are behind it. You already know that we are not talking here just about one trader, one bank or even one country. We are talking here about The Gold Cartel: FED, BIS, Western Central Banks and highest levels of power involved in this masquerade."

Kirill Klip.:

I Vote To End Gold Manipulation: FSA Fines Barclays For Manipulation Of Gold Price - Join Me.

 "Why Gold is so important for everyone, not just for the super wealthy who can afford to put it aside for the rainy day? Gold is the most important indicator of the rate at which FIAT money are losing its value - its real purchasing power. If you can manipulate it - you can pretend that everything is fine and DOW and S&P 500 will beat All-Time-High every month as we have now. But just look below at your childhood McDonalds Menu - something is not so right, isn't it?

  My personal vote is nothing, but if I am not alone it will be finished one day. Please donate your tweet for the good cause and share this post if you want to change it as well."

Money News:

James Rickards to Newsmax TV: 'Ugly' Financial Crisis to Jolt US Within 5 Years

By Dan Weil

A financial catastrophe worse than that of 2008 will hit us within five years, says James Rickards, best-selling author and senior managing director at Tangent Capital Partners.

"The meltdown in 2008 was not a meltdown. It was sort of a half-meltdown," he told Dennis Kneale of Newsmax TV in an exclusive interview.

While Lehman Brothers was the only major financial institution to completely collapse, others were close to it, said Rickards, author of "The Death of Money: The Coming Collapse of the International Monetary System."

Watch our exclusive video. Story continues below.

But the Federal Reserve stepped in to prevent financial firms from going under. As a result, "the Fed truncated" the avalanche, he explained.


"Think of it as a bunch of dominoes falling. All the dominoes are going to fall, but if I drop a steel curtain between two dominoes, that's going to stop. That's what the Fed did."

Rickards believes "things should have been allowed to crash" in 2008. "All the banks should have been nationalized by the government, the stocks should have been wiped out, the bondholders should have taken a haircut and the clean banks should have been re-IPOed," he argued.

"That's hope and faith in the American people and entrepreneurship. That's what I advocate. The government doesn't believe in itself. So when you start to go down, but instead of hitting bottom, you truncate it and guess what, you're flat-lining forever," he asserted.

But the Fed's tactics didn't change the dynamics, Rickards maintained, as bad debt and leverage haven't gone away. "That's all still there. Except now, it's worse, because in 2008, what did we hear about? 'Too big to fail,' right? Well guess what, the five biggest banks in America today are bigger than they were in 2008," he insisted.

"So everything about '08 that was too big to fail is bigger today. Those dominoes are still waiting."

Meanwhile, the Fed has printed $4 trillion during the last six years. "So, they've got no more drive power," Rickards contended. Liquidity crises arise every five years, he said. "So what's going to happen when the next liquidity crisis comes?"

It won't be pretty. "The next time it happens, it's going to be bigger than the Fed, that's why they're not going to be able to stop it," he predicted. The fact that the financial system is bigger than in 2008 will make this crisis worse, Rickards added.

"The depression of 1920 was as sharp and as hard as what happened in 1929 and 2008. But the government let it go and guess what? It was over in 18 months and we had 10 years of prosperity and Roaring Twenties," he said.

"But that actually is a very healthy process. But because we haven't allowed the system to heal in all these other crises, the next one is going to be so big that the outcome is likely to be money riots and social discord and then you'll see a neo-fascist response."

Rickards compared today's economy to the San Andreas Fault, because "underneath these forces are building up."

"We're in a depression — not a recession — a depression."

He warned that the deflationary forces from the depression and the inflationary forces from policy are pressing against each other.

"They're fighting each other to a standstill, but that's going to snap, that's exactly like two tectonic plates crashing into each other," Rickards declared. "It's going to be ugly for investors, it's just a matter of time."

As for the timing of the crash, "it could come tomorrow," he said. "I'm not predicting tomorrow, but three years seems like a long time for this, five years definitely a long time."

So what will cause the collapse?

"The correct answer, the scientific answer is it doesn't matter, and what I mean by that is, it's like the snowflake in the avalanche," Rickards explained.

"The snow's building up and it's building up, and you're looking at it. An expert can say, hey, it's unstable, it's going to fall down. So here comes a snowflake, it disturbs a few other snowflakes, it starts to slide, it starts to shoot, gains momentum and the whole thing comes tumbling down."

And what might be the first snowflake to move?

"It could be a failure to deliver physical gold," Rickards suggested. "Physical gold is disappearing, there's a mountain of paper gold. . . . So a failure to deliver could cause panic buying of gold."

Other possibilities include "an IMF-global type of failure, a prominent suicide, a natural disaster such as Fukushima," he said, referring to the March 2011 Japanese nuclear accident. "It could be a lot of things. . . . What's important is the rock that's already in the system."

For investors seeking to cope with the crisis, Rickards recommended a 10 to 20 percent exposure to gold — "10 percent for the conservative investor, 20 percent for the aggressive investor."

Meanwhile, corporations have record amounts of cash on their balance sheets. "That wealth is highly concentrated in a relatively small number of companies," he stated. "Apple, Google, IBM … they've all got records amounts of cash."

But why do they have that cash? "This is what the IMF calls precautionary savings," he explained. The companies "build up the cash so when the next panic comes — and it will be coming — they know that they'll have to fund themselves internally for six months because the commercial paper market will go. So it's not a source of strength," he noted.

"They're not going to spend that cash or use that cash, they're holding it. . . . They're holding it because they're scared to death of liquidity evaporating. But it's not going to stop this global meltdown because that's much bigger than these corporations."

Rickards also warned that the United States isn't doing enough to thwart the "financial warfare going on behind the scenes, some of it obvious, some of it behind the scenes."

He believes the "greatest single threat" to the nation is "cyber financial warfare, the combination of a financial attack done in cyberspace."

"Everything the United States is doing is making the situation worse. China's on the attack, Russia's on the attack, Saudi Arabia will soon be on the attack," he stressed.

When it comes to the banking system, "we should break up the big banks. JPMorgan should be five separate banks. That way one of them goes down, too bad, but it didn't take down the system," Rickards claimed.

"We're actually enabling the banks to get bigger, we don't understand the fiscal properties at risk. Everything about what the U.S. is doing from a policy perspective is moving in the wrong direction."

US Dollar Exit And Gold: ZeroHedge - Moscow Says Massive "Holy Grail" Gas Deal With China Is 98% Ready

  

  Update May 21st, 2014.

ZeroHedge:

Russia And China Finally Sign Historic $400 Billion "Holy Grail" Gas Deal

  ZeroHedge reports on further developments around the US Dollar Exit and geopolitical Chess Game - it is all about Resources and Energy is the most important of them. Today we have the very important confirmation to our previous discussion - this is what will drive the Old Good Street On Street Fight in our former Global Village for years to come:

Currency Wars: Russia Holds "De-Dollarization Meeting": China, Iran Willing To Drop USD From Bilateral Trade

  "C.S. We are going into the next stage of The Currency Wars when our previous discussions on this blog are getting into the headlines from Kremlin.Geopolitical map of the world is being re-drawn as we speak now. Our Global Village  is getting to the good old street on street fight. The reason is simple: There Is Not Enough. You can print money and manipulate equity market in to the All-Time-High for a while, but you can't print Oil, Copper, Gold and other commodities without which any growth is impossible. We all need to eat in between of our sessions on Facebook and even Google search will not bring us food into the mouth yet. Our dear Apple is really great, but we can not eat iPads even if their prices are "deflationary". We need Gas, Fertilisers and even more Oil to grow our Food and deliver it. 

  Have you noticed that with global growth in economy being barely above the water and China's "Collapse" Oil prices are strongly north of $100 mark? Where is all that Shale Oil and Gas? What will happen when economy will start growing for real?

  China knows is too well that is why it is buying resources all over the world, including Copper and Lithium. It has the military plan of Electrification of its Transportation and for Alternative Energy. Just check the numbers on Wind and Solar Power installations in the world. Energy Storage is the next stage and Lithium is at the core of it. Now China benefits from all these games and manipulations in the Gold market and buying best Copper deposits in the world.

  Have we mentioned already that poor Ukraine has been caught between the rock and the hard place? That nobody really cares about its Independence or its Proud People? That Joe Biden son has joined the board of the major Gas producer  in Ukraine? Or that it is all really about China? Empire has the only one resource left - its Military Complex (Industrial part of it gone, but Nukes are here) and it is playing the very dangerous game to leverage it and slow down China.

  Can even the good Golfer who is spending more time on the Greens than in the War Room fight with the Bear Hunters or Shaolin Masters? This is the question two charts are talking about. US Dollar above, which is playing with dangerous 80.00 level after breaching 79.00 once already these weeks; and Gold below, which is harder and harder to break down below MA200. 
  Nobody knows the future, but the one outcome is already here: due to stupidity and arrogance the world has another Tsar  and will have one more retired Golfer ... Read More"

ZeroHedge:

Moscow Says Massive "Holy Grail" Gas Deal With China Is 98% Ready

"We have previously profiled the "holy grail" gas deal between Russia and China on several occasions, and with its announcement scheduled for next week (barring some unmitigated disaster) during Putin's first visit to China since Xi's appointment as president last March, it is time to do a status update on where it stands even ifaccording to SCMP, at this point finding the "holy grail" is merely a formality.

The Hong Kong publication reports that China and Russia hope to sign a massive deal for natural gas supply when their leaders meet in a regional summit in Shanghai next week, a senior diplomat has said. Under the deal, Russia will supply 38 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually to China for 30 years. Deputy Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping told reporters yesterday that President Xi Jinping would discuss the deal and other points of co-operation with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, who will visit Shanghai on Tuesday. Read More."

Currency Wars: Russia Holds "De-Dollarization Meeting": China, Iran Willing To Drop USD From Bilateral Trade

  

  C.S. We are going into the next stage of The Currency Wars when our previous discussions on this blog are getting into the headlines from Kremlin. Geopolitical map of the world is being re-drawn as we speak now. Our Global Village  is getting to the good old street on street fight. The reason is simple: There Is Not Enough. You can print money and manipulate equity market in to the All-Time-High for a while, but you can't print Oil, Copper, Gold and other commodities without which any growth is impossible. We all need to eat in between of our sessions on Facebook and even Google search will not bring us food into the mouth yet. Our dear Apple is really great, but we can not eat iPads even if their prices are "deflationary". We need Gas, Fertilisers and even more Oil to grow our Food and deliver it. 

  Have you noticed that with global growth in economy being barely above the water and China's "Collapse" Oil prices are strongly north of $100 mark? Where is all that Shale Oil and Gas? What will happen when economy will start growing for real?

  China knows is too well that is why it is buying resources all over the world, including Copper and Lithium. It has the military plan of Electrification of its Transportation and for Alternative Energy. Just check the numbers on Wind and Solar Power installations in the world. Energy Storage is the next stage and Lithium is at the core of it. Now China benefits from all these games and manipulations in the Gold market and buying best Copper deposits in the world.

  Have we mentioned already that poor Ukraine has been caught between the rock and the hard place? That nobody really cares about its Independence or its Proud People? That Joe Biden son has joined the board of the major Gas producer  in Ukraine? Or that it is all really about China? Empire has the only one resource left - its Military Complex (Industrial part of it gone, but Nukes are here) and it is playing the very dangerous game to leverage it and slow down China.

  Can even the good Golfer who is spending more time on the Greens than in the War Room fight with the Bear Hunters or Shaolin Masters? This is the question two charts are talking about. US Dollar above, which is playing with dangerous 80.00 level after breaching 79.00 once already these weeks; and Gold below, which is harder and harder to break down below MA200.
  Nobody knows the future, but the one outcome is already here: due to stupidity and arrogance the world has another Tsar  and will have one more retired Golfer ...

US Dollar Dives Below 79.00 - How Long Can They Keep Gold Down? GLD GDX TNR.v MUX NG ABX

  "US Dollar dives this morning and is breaking down the all-crucial 79.00 line in the sand. At the moment of writing we have 78.94. Our rhetorical question of the day is how long manipulation can keep Gold down in this environment? Now yesterday's attack on Gold can be put in the new totally dramatic perspective of today's US Dollar Melt Down."

Eric Sprott: The Chinese Gold Vortex - Do Not Miss This Golden Opportunity GDX TNR.v MUX

  "CS. Gold is building a very strong reversal pattern after resent correction. The only problem is that we are not the only one watching this chart closely and manipulators are trying to paint the breakdown on the chart above. In the normal market this picture will indicate very strong Bull market, building the base after The Golden Cross to make its Second Bull Leg Up. We have the close right above the MA200 at $1,300 and Bollinger Bands suggest that volatility will increase dramatically. Will "They" be able to break Gold down again? This is the question which will separate boys from the men again. The most important for us that this technical picture reflects the fundamentals Eric Sprott is talking about in his article." 

Ukraine, Syria And Global De-Dollarization: USD To Go Down And Gold Up TNR.v MUX RGLD GDX GLD ABX

 "What is connecting so different countries as Ukraine and Syria? The big chess game played by the U.S. and Russia. Syria needs to be "liberalised" in order to build pipelines for the natural Gas to be supplied from Qatar  to Europe. Russia and China have blocked that game and they have Ukraine revolution 2.0 now. Putin's dream is to rebuild USSR as the Eurasian Union and Ukraine is the key to his success. He will not back out of it easily. One thing is an insult in the ice hockey defeat by the U.S. in Sochi and another thing is to lose "Small Russia". On the map below you can see why Ukraine is so important geopolitically, it is all about Energy again. Key supply natural Gas routes from Russia to Europe are crossing this country." 

ZeroHedge:

Russia Holds "De-Dollarization Meeting": China, Iran Willing To Drop USD From Bilateral Trade

"That Russia has been pushing for trade arrangements that minimize the participation (and influence) of the US dollar ever since the onset of the Ukraine crisis (and before) is no secret: this has been covered extensively on these pages before (see Gazprom Prepares "Symbolic" Bond Issue In Chinese Yuan; Petrodollar Alert: Putin Prepares To Announce "Holy Grail" Gas Deal With China; Russia And China About To Sign "Holy Grail" Gas Deal; 40 Central Banks Are Betting This Will Be The Next Reserve Currency; From the Petrodollar to the Gas-o-yuan and so on).

But until now much of this was in the realm of hearsay and general wishful thinking. After all, surely it is "ridiculous" that a country can seriously contemplate to exist outside the ideological and religious confines of the Petrodollar... because if one can do it, all can do it, and next thing you know the US has hyperinflation, social collapse, civil war and all those other features prominently featured in other socialist banana republics like Venezuela which alas do not have a global reserve currency to kick around.

Or so the Keynesian economists, aka tenured priests of said Petrodollar religion, would demand that the world believe.

However, as much as it may trouble the statists to read, Russia is actively pushing on with plans to put the US dollar in the rearview mirror and replace it with a dollar-free system. Or, as it is called in Russia, a "de-dollarized" world. Read more."