Bankers from Stifel Nicolaus Canada and Aitken Mount led the offering, which attracted strong interest from institutional investors in Australia, Canada and abroad, as well as existing shareholders, Southern Cross president and CEO Michael Hudson said Thursday.

“This funding allows us to advance our drill programs, complete permitting for the underground tunnel to allow access for underground drilling, all which will provide the necessary information to complete economic studies,” Hudson said in a press release.

Sunday Creek lies 60 km north of Melbourne in Australia’s Lachlan Fold Belt, a corridor that hosts Agnico Eagle Mines’ (TSX, NYSE: AEM) Fosterville mine and Mandalay Resources’ (TSX: MND) Costerfield mine. The region has proven geology and developed infrastructure. Southern Cross’ Redcastle project sits 2 km from Costerfield’s licences and 24 km east of Fosterville, further highlighting the cluster’s exploration upside.

Sunday Creek’s 20% antimony content has drawn a lot of attention. The company could one day become a key Western supplier of this important metal, especially given current geopolitical issues, Hudson said.

The company’s Toronto-listed shares gained as much as 4% or C19¢ Friday to C$4.88, before settling back to C$4.81, still up 2.5% by press time. They have ranged between C$1.02 and C$4.95 over the past 12 months, giving Southern Cross a market capitalization of C$1.1 billion ($800m).

Initial resource

About C$53 million of the net proceeds will fund 207,000 metres of drilling to establish an inferred resource by early 2027. Some C$27 million will go toward permitting and development of a 1 km decline for underground drilling, while C$4 million is spent on a preliminary economic assessment. Another C$59 million will be allocated to exploration target expansion, regional exploration and working capital.

Southern Cross has begun the permitting process for a 600-metre underground tunnel at Sunday Creek. This tunnel will enable underground drilling next year. A formal application to the Victoria resources regulator is due by September, followed by community drop-in sessions across Mitchell Shire.

In early March, the company announced it will double its Sunday Creek exploration target. It expects to find between 8.1 – 9.6 million tonnes of ore.

The gold-equivalent grades are to range from 8.3-10.6 grams per tonne, translating potentially to about 2.2-3.2 million oz. of metal. This represents an increase of up to 88% in tonnage compared to the January 2024 target. There’s also a 15% rise in grade and as much as 120% more contained metal. Plus, the target area now covers 67% of the 1.5 km drill footprint.

Resource growth

The expansion is focused on three main areas: Rising Sun (340 metres), Apollo (280 metres) and Golden Dyke (400 metres).  

The drilling fleet now has eight diamond rigs. Seven of these focus on expansion and infill drilling between the Apollo and Christina prospects in a 1.5 km corridor. The eighth rig targets regional trends identified by past work, geophysical data and soil anomalies. A planned geotechnical program of five holes totalling 900 metres will support the exploration tunnel application.

Recent results from three deep holes at the Apollo prospect are promising. Hole SDDSC158 showed 100.5 metres at 3.1 grams gold-equivalent from a depth of 820.8 metres. This included 28.6 metres at 10.3 grams gold-equivalent per tonne and a 1.4 metre section at 142.2 grams gold-equivalent. This confirms mineralization continuity at depth, Southern Cross said.

British Columbia 

In April 2008, Boss Power had applied to drill at its Blizzard uranium project southeast of Kelowna, just days before the province banned uranium and thorium exploration. Three years later, the provincial government and Boss agreed to a C$30 million settlement for the company to surrender its claims to Blizzard. The project hosts 2.2 million tonnes grading 0.214% uranium oxide (U₃O₈), for 10.4 million contained lbs. U₃O₈, according to an historical resource from 1979.

Quebec

Quebec imposed an unofficial moratorium on uranium exploration and mining in 2013. While uranium activity isn’t officially banned, it’s subject to numerous strict regulations in Quebec. No uranium mines have been developed in the province, and there are currently no uranium development projects there. However, there are at least 10 active exploration projects, three of which have published resources.

Nova Scotia

During a flurry of uranium exploration in Nova Scotia from around 1976 to 1981, companies spent millions of dollars searching for the nuclear metal, before the province banned it in 1981. Millet Brook is one significant uranium deposit discovered in Nova Scotia, and hosts about 450,000 kg of U₃O₈ grading 0.15% to 0.20% U₃O₈, a historical resource from 1982 shows. Much uranium remains under the surface across the province, according to geology mapping by the Mining Association of Nova Scotia.

Sources: The Northern Miner, British Columbia government, Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests, DigiGeoData, Mining Association of Nova Scotia, Atlantic Geology.

Blackwater’s crushing circuit has reached a 17,700-tonne-per-day (tpd) rate, achieving more than full design capacity over the past 30 days, Artemis said. The mill has reached about 15,300 tpd or 93% of capacity.

“We completed construction in an industry-leading 22 months, and the team achieved commercial production in a remarkable three months from commencement of milling operations,” Artemis CEO Steven Dean said in a release.

He added that the company will soon focus on potentially speeding up the proposed second stage expansion, which is expected to raise the mine’s average annual output to more than 500,000 gold-equivalent ounces.

Blackwater, located 450 km northeast of Vancouver, is the province’s first new gold mine since Newcrest’s – now Newmont (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM) – Brucejack opened in 2017.  Artemis’ production milestone coincides with recent historic high prices for gold, which touched $3,500.05 per oz. last week. The price has risen about 25% this year to date.

Company shares gained 8% to C$20.42 apiece on Friday at mid-day in Toronto, for a market capitalization of C$4.61 billion ($3.34bn).

Near-capacity tonnage

Mining in Blackwater’s open pit has delivered more than 90% of its planned tonnage. Both the 400-tonne and 600-tonne production excavators are fully deployed, Artemis said. Mined tonnes and grades based on grade control modeling are reconciling favourably to the resource model.

Since milling started at Blackwater in January, the company has produced about 30,000 oz. of gold. Artemis expects to produce 160,000 to 200,000 oz. at all-in sustaining costs (AISC) of $670-$770 per oz., for the eight-month period until Dec. 31. Total forecast production for this year is 190,000-230,000 oz. of gold.

In the year’s second half, output is forecast at 130,000 to 160,000 oz. of gold at estimated AISC of $645-$725 per ounce. AISC are expected to be somewhat higher in the two months remaining in the second quarter because of continued ramp-up in production.

AISC estimates for the eight months to the end of the year include sustaining capital of about C$16 million. Artemis expects stage one deferred expenditures of C$60 million to C$75 million in the eight months to Dec. 31, including building such infrastructure as an air strip and more water treatment facilities.

Artemis also plans to spend an initial C$3 million for front-end engineering and design work for the proposed stage two expansion.

Throughput for stage one is forecast at 6 million tonnes a year with 93% gold recovery, according to a 2021 feasibility study.

Earlier this year, Agnico overtook Barrick Mining’s market capitalization to become the world’s second-largest gold miner, just below Newmont Corp, the largest extractor of bullion by production and market capitalization.

Agnico is expanding its Hope Bay gold project in Nunavut, the northernmost province of Canada that borders the Arctic Ocean and Greenland and wants the incoming Canadian government to promote investment in infrastructure in the Arctic.

“It’s noise (Trump’s threats), but as a country, we have to take it really seriously… and we have been calling for a more formalized, structured Arctic strategy in this country,” Boyd told Reuters in an interview.

He said the company would be “way more forceful” going forward to advocate for the Arctic strategy with Ottawa, because it sees the opportunity for growth in the North.

“It’s pretty clear, based on the US interest in Greenland and the US administration’s comments around Canada and critical metals, that Canada needs to focus more on the opportunity that exists in Canada’s far north and in the communities and in the people that live in the far north,” Boyd said.

Hope Bay is expected to come back into production by early next year after the company put the mine in care and maintenance in 2023 to focus on drilling its resources.

Agnico, one of the few gold miners with assets in Canada, is betting big on the country even as some of its other peers look to sell their domestic assets.

Its strategy has paid off with investors as its share price has jumped by 45% year to date, making it one of the best-performing mining companies among its peers, Refinitiv data show.

Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Barrick Gold, another Canadian miner, was looking to sell it’s only mine in the country. However, Boyd has ruled out Agnico buying the asset as it’s too small.

“We’ve got a really strong pipeline of bigger projects. So our strategy isn’t to pick up smaller things and try to make them better,” he said.

Canada’s North has some of the biggest mineral resources in the world, including gold and other critical metals, but it has poor infrastructure compared to the rest of Canada. Nunuvut Premier P.J. Akeeagok, told Reuters last month that the threat from the south of Canada means it is time for the new government to step up and build the basic infrastructure in the region.

“I think there’s an incredible opportunity here in the north to bring different corridors through,” Akeeagok said.

(By Divya Rajagopal; Editing by Veronica Brown and Susan Fenton)

MABC’s 2025 Economic Impact Study assesses the potential economic impact of 18 proposed critical mineral mines, six precious metal mines and three steelmaking coal mines.

The independent study examines 27 mining projects in advanced stages of development. Of the 27 projects assessed, 21 are new mining projects and six are extensions to existing mines.

BC mineral producers have among the lowest carbon footprints globally and are world leading suppliers of responsibly-produced materials, according to the report, essential for technologies like EV batteries, smartphones, MRI scanners, wind turbines and jet engines.

The study concludes the near-term economic impact of project construction represents over C$41 billion in near-term investment, thousands of jobs that will generate C$27 billion in labour income, and more than C$12 billion in tax revenues.

Mine construction would result in C$20 billion worth of goods and services being purchased from mine suppliers across the province, MABC said.

The study estimates the operation of these mines over several decades could reach C$984 billion in economic activity.

“BC has the minerals, precious metals and steelmaking coal the world needs. Mining has the potential to drive a new wave of economic growth – creating jobs, strengthening local and First Nations communities, and generating revenues for government services,” MABC CEO Michael Goehring said in a news release.

But British Columbia’s mining projects face challenging permitting backlogs. Last year, the province’s exploration sector had over 60 critical mineral projects waiting for permits in a C$38 billion ($27 billion) pileup of economic opportunities.

“BC and Canada must take urgent and bold action to assert our economic sovereignty amidst global trade disruptions and the potential for escalating trade wars. Persistent permitting delays must be addressed to accelerate the development of mining,” Goehring said.

Last year, Canada and British Columbia announced an investment of C$195 million ($142 million) into critical minerals infrastructure in northwest BC, aimed at bolstering development and safety within the region.

“The responsible development of BC’s critical minerals, precious metals, and steelmaking coal resources can secure BC’s economic future, resiliency and long-term prosperity. It’s time to get more mines built,” said Goehring.

The full report is here.

The charges stem from several investigations launched by the Canadian environment ministry’s enforcement officers.

The concerned subsection of the law prohibits depositing or permitting “the deposit of a deleterious substance in water frequented by fish or in any place where the deleterious substance may enter any such water,” the government said.

(By Ismail Shakil and Kanishka Singh; Editing by Chris Reese)

A manager for the disaster-stricken Eagle mine in Yukon on Wednesday described for the legislative assembly the huge amount of work remaining in the cleanup effort.

After the heap-leach pad slide at the Eagle mine last June, a pond began leaking and a containment berm was put up, but no engineer of record was involved, Michelle Grant, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC’s) senior vice-president told the Yukon Legislative Assembly. The mine’s Irosa Pond 2 remains leaky and can’t be repaired until it’s emptied of treated water, Grant told MLAs.

“We continue to assess opportunities to monetize gold and other precious metals held within the waste and or water materials at the Eagle Gold mine,” Grant told legislators under oath, noting the on-site inventory still exceeds C$224 million even after impairment.

The session followed Speaker Jeremy Harper’s threat of contempt proceedings last week after PwC declined to appear without a court order. PwC had given ministers and MLAs a detailed briefing on April 16 but insisted it would only testify if a judge required it.

Heavy cleanup effort

Last June’s pad collapse unleashed millions of tonnes of waste and at least 280,000 cubic metres of cyanide-containing solution beyond containment. It triggered Victoria Gold’s receivership and set off court fights over cleanup authority. In just a year, PwC has had to boost storage, speed up water treatment, secure new financing and prepare for a court-approved sale. PwC hired a safety expert to improve safety protocols and signs across the site, Grant said.

New reverse-osmosis trailers treat mine water to meet federal standards for metal and diamond mining under the Fisheries Act. However, they still don’t meet the mine’s own licence limits. Grant confirmed there is no set date for full compliance. She also revealed that a safety berm built on Oct. 25 to contain slide debris went up without the proper engineering sign-off.

In April, the Yukon government topped-up its receivership lending agreement with PwC, adding C$115 million through Sept. 30. This ensures there’s funding for site care and remediation into the next fiscal year. That brings to C$220 million the amount Yukon has authorized to PwC for the cleanup, after C$155 million was approved last year.

MLAs probe for updates

Legislators zeroed in on water management and timetables. They pressed Grant on when the reverse-osmosis upgrade will meet discharge limits and how many of the temporary ponds still leak. They drilled into the Yukon’s C$115 million top-up – asking what’s been spent so far and what comes next.

Grant confirmed PwC has installed 400,000 cubic metres of temporary water storage and will add another 110,000 cubic metres by mid-May to limit untreated runoff.

Through April 15, the receiver has spent C$9.9 million on contracts with firms affiliated with the Nacho Nyäk Dän First Nation under its funding terms. PwC has kept 147 Victoria Gold employees on payroll, including four Nacho Nyäk Dän citizens and 50 Yukon residents.

Mine sale process

An independent review board must file its findings by June 15 and publish them by June 30. PwC will apply to court on or before June 30 to approve its sale of the bankrupt company’s assets and investment-solicitation process so bidders can review that report.

PwC took control on Aug. 14, 2024, and immediately repaired the 43-km access road to secure transport of chemicals and equipment. Victoria’s own cash-flow forecasts showed it would run out of funds by Nov. 2024 without emergency lending – underlining the receivership’s necessity, Grant explained.

Gold has climbed more than 25% this year, extending a stellar run in 2024, on the back of central bank buying, Asian investor interest, and growing haven demand. However, shares of gold miners have lagged, with some investors put off by production misses and rising costs, while others have been lured by higher returns in technology stocks and other sectors.

But with fears growing that the US economy will nosedive as President Donald Trump’s trade war intensifies, gold miners could soon catch up as bullion prices keep rallying and other asset classes become less appealing, according to McEwen, who founded Goldcorp and now leads McEwen Mining Inc.

His company — which has seen a 34% drop in its own shares over the past year — runs a handful of small mines and a portfolio of projects that it’s seeking to bring into production. While investors’ aversion to the gold-mining sector has been a headwind to those efforts, McEwen is confident that the industry as a whole is set for a revival.

“You have this cascading effect of gold’s going up, and then there’s interest in the majors, and then it goes down to the mid-tier, and then the juniors and the explorers,” he said in an interview. “When it gets down to that stage, it becomes very explosive in terms of the upward push.”

The mining veteran said bullion is still in the early stages of a bull market and expects gold equities to eventually outperform that of gold in the next two to three years, as the metal surges to $5,000 an ounce.

That’s higher than mainstream gold analysts are forecasting, but many of them have been raising their targets as prices has soared to new all-time highs.

(By Yvonne Yue Li)

Read More: Gold equities going under investors’ radar as metal continues to rise: Peter Schiff

Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) surged to its highest in a month Thursday after the Canadian miner posted strong results for the first quarter of 2025.

For the three-month period, Ivanhoe recognized a record revenue of $973 million, operating profit of $471 million and EBITDA of $585 million, equivalent to a margin of 60%. Its adjusted EBITDA also set a record of $226 million.

These figures drove the company’s profit to $122 million, or $0.10 per share, beating the market forecast of $0.07 a share.

Shares of Ivanhoe jumped as much as 12% to a one-month high of C$13.74 apiece on the positive Q1 results. By 1:20 p.m. in Toronto, the stock traded at C$13.32 for an intraday gain of 8.8%, giving the company a market capitalization of nearly C$18 billion.

Kamoa performance

The first quarter results, said Ivanhoe founder Robert Friedland, reflect the company’s “strong efforts” at the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

From January to March, the copper mine, in which Ivanhoe holds a 39.6% stake, produced a near-record 133,120 tonnes, compared to 86,117 tonnes the same period last year. From March 18, the copper production rate increased to 614,000 tonnes on an annualized basis, setting up a higher monthly output starting in April.

“Kamoa-Kakula is set for record production in the shorter month of April, achieving approximately 50,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate, equivalent to an annualized rate of over 600,000 tonnes – a remarkable achievement,” Friedland said in a press release.

During the quarter, the Phase 1, 2 and 3 concentrators at Kamoa-Kakula achieved a combined milling record of approximately 3.7 million tonnes at an average record recovery rate of 87.4%. This was underpinned by the Phase 3 concentrator operating 20% above its design capacity, Ivanhoe said.

Given these results, the company is maintaining its 2025 production guidance at 520,000 to 580,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate. In 2026, Ivanhoe is targeting approximately 600,000 tonnes of production as the Phase 1 and 2 recoveries improve and the Phase 3 throughput increases.

It also noted that Kamoa-Kakula’s 500,000-tonne-per-annum on-site, direct-to-blister copper smelter, the largest in Africa, is now complete, with the facility undergoing commissioning. Start-up of the smelter is expected in May, with first copper anode production expected in July.

Kipushi progress

Ivanhoe has also maintained its outlook for the Kipushi zinc mine, also in the DRC, on record production in the first quarter.

During Q1, the Kipushi concentrator milled a record 151,403 tonnes of ore at a record average grade of 32.5% zinc, producing 42,736 tonnes of zinc in concentrate at a contained grade of over 53%.

For the year, Ivanhoe expects Kipushi’s zinc output to range between 180,000 and 240,000 tonnes, as the mine continues its ramp up to steady state. The production rate is expected to rise to 250,000 tonnes in 2026 following the completion of ramp-up and debottlenecking activities at Kipushi.

The debottlenecking program, which is targeting a 20% increase in the concentrator’s processing capacity to up to 960,000 tonnes per annum, is about two-thirds complete, Ivanhoe said.

Adjusted first-quarter earnings increased to $59.8 million, or $0.14 a share, from $51.2 million, or $0.13, in the same period a year ago, Toronto-based Alamos said Wednesday after the close of trading. Per-share profit missed the $0.19 consensus estimate in a survey of financial analysts.

The results sent Alamos shares tumbling about 12% to C$34.52 ($25.01) in late morning trading Thursday in Toronto. That gave the company a market capitalization of about C$14.5 billion ($10.5 billion).

“Overall, a relatively weak quarter to start the year, but the company has a clear path to improved operations for the remainder of the year,” CIBC Capital Markets analyst Cosmos Chiu said in a note Thursday. He reaffirmed his “outperformer” rating on the stock.

First-quarter gold production of 125,000 oz. came in at the low end of the company’s previously disclosed range and below analyst expectations.

CEO John McCluskey blamed a slower ramp-up at the Magino mill and lower production from the Young-Davidson property – both in northern Ontario – for the slump. The operations showed improvements in April, which the executive said would contribute to higher output and lower costs in the second quarter. Magino was integrated into Alamos’ portfolio after the company acquired Argonaut Gold last year.

Gold’s historic run is providing miners such as Alamos an unexpected tailwind. The metal, which set an all-time closing high of $3,433.55 an oz. in London last week, has gained about 40% since the start of the year.

Ontario, Manitoba catalysts

Helped by rising output at its Island Gold mine in Ontario and the development of the Lynn Lake project in Manitoba, Alamos is working on boosting gold production to about 900,000 oz. in a few years. It’s aiming to produce between 580,000 and 630,000 oz. in 2025.

First-quarter revenue jumped 20% to $333 million thanks to rising gold prices. Alamos sold 117,583 oz. of gold during the quarter at an average realized price of $2,802 per ounce. Sales were 6% lower than production due to timing, though the sale of these ounces will benefit future quarters, according to the company.

Total cash costs of $1,193 per ounce and all-in sustaining costs of $1,805 per ounce were above the top end of guidance for the first half, Alamos said. Higher share-based compensation costs and higher per-oz. costs at Young-Davidson and Magino drove the increase.

All-in sustaining costs are expected to drop about 20% in the second quarter, with further decreases planned for the rest of the year, Alamos said.

Full-year goal

Alamos also reaffirmed its full-year goal of producing between 580,000 and 630,000 oz. of gold this year.

“With a further increase in production and decrease in costs expected in the second half of the year, we remain on track to achieve our full-year production guidance,” McCluskey said. “We expect this improvement to continue over the next several years through our portfolio of high-return, low-cost growth projects.”

Higher milling rates at Magino, along with increased grades at Young-Davidson and the La Yaqui Grande mine in northern Mexico, are expected to lift second-quarter output to between 135,000 and 150,000 ounces, the company said. A more significant increase in production is expected into the second half.

“The noise in Q1/25 is not expected to last with production trending higher through the year,” National Bank Financial analyst Don DeMarco, who has an “outperform” rating on Alamos, said in a note. Earnings “should continue to grow as more and more of the portfolio upside comes online.”

Following the company’s annual general meeting in Perth on Thursday, chief executive Jakob Stausholm said the board had discussed rare earths this week and would take a “serious look” at their potential role in Rio Tinto’s portfolio.

Stausholm said that as the company continues to optimize its iron ore operations in the Pilbara and advances developments like the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, it’s also reshaping its aluminum, copper, and lithium businesses to support the energy transition.

“So you could say, the next thing is to look a little bit deeper on critical minerals, and you have to think about that, not necessarily as separate mines,” Stausholm told reporters. He noted critical minerals are often present in Rio’s existing operations as a by-product, so “it’s a question of whether we should process them more deliberately.”

Rio Tinto already produces scandium as a by-product of titanium dioxide in Quebec and is weighing the production of gallium from its aluminum operations. Stausholm noted that the absence of a robust spot market for many critical minerals means Rio must ensure demand before scaling up production.

Chairman Dominic Barton echoed the cautious approach, pointing to the limited scale of the sector. “That’s why you don’t typically see the top five [largest miners] in this space,” he said. But with global supply chain diversification becoming a priority, Barton said they are asking themselves whether they should revisit what they already have and assess the economics.

Barton also said critical minerals could help strengthen Rio’s social licence to operate. “It’s interesting how often those with fewer resources are the most vocal,” he added.

Tariffs, Canada and the aluminum market

On tariffs, Barton said Rio could compete under the current global framework, though the company isn’t enthusiastic about trade barriers. “We’re not excited about tariffs, but we’ve got to live with what governments are doing,” he said, adding that if they’re applied uniformly, the company “would manage” because of its position on the cost curve.

Barton welcomed the recent Canadian election results, suggesting they provided a mandate for continued negotiations. He praised the country’s recognition of aluminum’s economic importance, especially given Rio’s workforce in Canada.

As a former Canadian ambassador to China, Barton said China’s economy could absorb short-term tariff impacts.

“Urbanisation, GDP consumption rates, and green infrastructure investment all support long-term steel demand,” he said. “We expect a new equilibrium despite near-term discomfort.”

Working in the US

Stausholm highlighted Rio’s significant presence in the US, including the Kennecott copper mine and smelter in Utah, a boron mine in California, and the Resolution copper project in Arizona.

“The US government is very, very keen on seeing us getting the most out of those assets, so it provides opportunities to serve the US government,” Stausholm said.

He added that tariff policies wouldn’t necessarily affect Rio’s long-term investment decisions. Last month, the US government fast-tracked permitting for the Resolution project, and Stausholm said the joint venture with BHP (ASX: BHP) is moving forward.

“Unlike Australia, the US has seen limited mining development in recent decades—this represents a shift”, he said.

Activist campaign fails

A proposal from UK-based hedge fund Palliser Capital to force a review of Rio’s dual-listed company (DLC) structure failed to gain traction. The company rejected the motion, with Barton stating the board had already reviewed the structure in detail last year with advice from five external consultants.

“All of this work showed that a unification of the DLC would be value destructive for the group and its shareholders,” Barton said.

Only 19.35% of shareholders supported the motion. Under UK law, a 75% majority is required to mandate a review, while 20% support would have have required the company to engage further with shareholders.

A new chart from MINING.COM and The Northern Miner shows China now controls over half the world’s copper processing capacity, far ahead of its rivals.

 MINING.COM‘s Devan Murugan sat down with Northern Miner Group President Anthony Vaccaro, to unpack what this power shift means for global supply chains and investors.

Explore the full infographic:

That result, in hole MO-25-755W1 of Monique’s B1 zone, was over a 19.5-metre interval from 697 metres depth, and included 6.2 metres at 42.7 grams gold. Hole MO-25-749 of zone B returned 20.7 metres at 6.7 grams gold from 672 metres depth, including 1.8 metres grading 135.5 grams gold. They were among results from 33 infill holes at Monique on its Novador project near Val-d’Or, about 525 km northwest of Montreal.

“These results continue to confirm the continuity and grade of the gold deposit at Monique,” BMO Capital Markets analyst Andrew Mikitchook said in a note.

Supporting 2025 PFS

He added that Probe’s 50,000-metre drill program that it started last fall is now complete and the results are to support a pre-feasibility study for Monique, expected by the end of this year.

“The results of the winter infill program will be instrumental in supporting ongoing resource conversion and will serve as a cornerstone of the upcoming pre-feasibility study—an important milestone in advancing Novador toward development,” Probe CEO and president David Palmer said in a release.

Probe shares were down 1.4% to C$2.04 apiece on Wednesday morning in Toronto, for a market capitalization of C$413.13 million. Its shares traded in a 12-month range of C$1.08 to C$2.15.

B zone strength

Another noteworthy intercept, MO-24-730W3 in zone B cut 16.4 metres grading 5.4 grams gold from 744.6 metres depth, including 5.6 metres at 30.5 grams gold.

The company is funded with C$50 million in cash and earlier this month it closed a C$45 million bought deal private placement. It included an offering of 6.25 million flow-through shares at C$3.24 each and 13.75 million common shares at C$1.82 apiece.

Mineralization at Monique has been defined from surface to a depth of 700 metres and varies between several metres to up to 100 metres in width, Probe said. The Monique gold trend zones are open along strike and at depth.

Probe’s wider Val-d’Or East properties, which include the Novador, Croinor, McKenzie Break, Lapaska and Sleepy deposits host 6.7 million measured and indicated oz. and 3.2 million inferred oz., according to a resource update last September. That represents a 77% and 131% increase, respectively, over the previous resource from one year ago.

Novador makes up the largest resource of the properties. It holds 6.4 million measured and indicated oz. and 1.5 million inferred oz., a 60% increase over the previous estimate.

Total gold demand reached 1,206 tonnes in the first three months of 2025, a 1% increase from the same period a year ago, the WGC said in a new report Wednesday. Soaring inflows into gold ETFs fuelled a 170% surge in investment demand to 552 tonnes, the highest since the first quarter of 2022, WGC said.

As gold prices set multiple record highs this year, including touching $3,500.05 per oz. last week, investors have piled into physical gold ETFs, which grew by $21 billion in the first quarter, their second highest quarterly level since the second quarter of 2020.

Gold’s average price reached $2,860 per oz. in the quarter, a 38% jump from a year ago, according to data compiled by the London Bullion Market Association.

Flows into gold

Investment flows into physical gold will probably continue to gather pace this year, the WGC said. Key factors supporting demand include continued geopolitical tensions, near-term stagflation risks, medium-term recession risks, elevated correlations between stocks and bonds and an expected increase in US deficits.

Central banks bought 244 tonnes of gold in the first quarter, 21% less than in the same period a year ago but within the quarterly range of the last three years. Persistent trade tensions will probably drive full-year central bank purchases close to the range of the past three years, according to the WGC.

First-quarter bar and coin demand rose 2.6% to 325 tonnes, which is 15% above the five-year quarterly average. China accounted for much of the increase, posting its second-highest quarter of retail investment.

Tech demand

Technology demand was little changed at 80.5 tonnes. Ongoing artificial intelligence adoption drove continued growth in the electronics sector, but uncertainty over tariffs should result in a challenging environment for the rest of the year, the WGC said.

Jewelry consumption shrank 21% from the year-ago quarter to 380 tonnes, weighed down by elevated prices. Consumption in the period hit its lowest level since the Covid-19 pandemic brought global economies to a standstill in 2020, and WGC economists predict full-year jewelry demand will be weaker than expected in 2025 on lower growth and higher prices.

Total gold supply grew 1% from a year earlier to 1,206 tonnes, with mine production hitting a first-quarter record of 856 tonnes. Recycling declined 1% as consumers kept their gold hoping for higher prices.

Mine supply this year will probably stay close to its 2024 record level, the WGC said. “Unprecedented” cash generation should allow announced development plans to advance and mine production to stay strong. While Ghana, Chile and Canada have healthy production pipelines, disruptions in Turkey and Russia and cutbacks in Australia are expected to weigh on total output.

Read More: Annual gold price forecast tops $3,000 for first time: Reuters poll

Defense Metals is currently developing the Wicheeda rare earth element (REE) project in British Columbia. The property is located about 80 km northeast of the city of Prince George, covering an area of 118 sq. km.

“The interest shown by our potential strategic partner reflects growing industry confidence that Wicheeda could indeed become a strategically important source of rare earth elements based on the convincing results of our detailed pre-feasibility study published earlier this month,” Defense Metals CEO Mark Tory said in a news release.

“We still have a lot of work to do to turn our project into reality, but this MOU is certainly a major step in the right direction,” he added.

The company recently completed a preliminary feasibility study that demonstrated robust economics for the project, including an after-tax net present value of $1 billion, using an 8% discount rate, and an internal rate of return of 18.9%.

The Wicheeda REE deposit is estimated to hold 34 million tonnes of measured and indicated resources grading 2.02% total rare earth oxides (TREOs), for nearly 700,000 tonnes of TREOs.

McEwen Copper Inc. is planning an IPO in New York or Toronto to help fund construction of its Los Azules project in San Juan province. As part of that process, the company is thinking about a listing in Buenos Aires, he said.

“It’d be good to have a marker in the country,” McEwen said in an interview Tuesday. “It’d give Argentina an opportunity to invest in one of the first new copper mines.”

Once a pariah for foreign investors because of capital controls and state intervention, Argentina is regaining the confidence of mining companies as President Javier Milei offers a way to bulletproof their capital commitments. His government’s RIGI program of tax, currency and trade benefits will help add an estimated $900 million to the value of Los Azules, McEwen said.

To be sure, RIGI approval is taking longer than expected, meaning the timing of the IPO — which was penciled in for mid-2025 — is uncertain, although it could still happen by the end of the year, McEwen said.

The company wants to include RIGI’s benefits in a feasibility study, which should be ready by early July, he said. In the meantime, the copper unit is looking to raise more money privately to help cover another $25 million for the feasibility study and some exploration and as much as $100 million-plus for engineering work.

If all goes to plan, construction will begin late next year and the mine will start producing by the end of the decade, when the wiring metal market is forecast to be in short supply. Los Azules is one of a cluster of copper deposits in San Juan that has attracted global heavyweights including BHP Group Ltd. and Glencore Plc.

“Today, Argentina is a totally different country in terms of restrictions on capital,” McEwen said. “Time will tell on how long that lasts. But at the moment it’s very welcoming.”

(By James Attwood)

In a press release Monday, Azimut announced that Centerra is buying 9.43 million shares of the company at C$0.60 per share, for a total approximate investment of C$5.65 million. At the time of announcement, Azimut’s shares traded at $0.56 apiece.

The private placement would result in Centerra holding 9.9% of Azimut, which has a market capitalization of roughly C$47 million. By comparison, Centerra’s market capitalization is estimated at C$1.9 billion.

The equity investment represents the second of its kind made by Centerra in recent days. Last week, the Canadian gold miner announced it bought 9.9% of British Columbia-focused Thesis Gold (TSXV: TAU). In late 2024, Centerra also acquired a 9.9% stake in Dryden Gold (TSXV: DRY), whose focus is in northwestern Ontario.

Quebec exploration

The funds will be used by Azimut to advance several of its greenfield properties in Quebec. Its flagship project is the Elmer gold project, which is at the resource stage with 311,200 oz. indicated and 513,900 oz. inferred. Work is currently underway to expand the gold mineralization that has been defined over a strike length of 600 metres.

The company is also advancing the Galinée lithium discovery next to Winsome Resources’ Adina deposit under a joint venture with SOQUEM. It has also made significant exploration progress on the Wabamisk (antimony-gold, lithium), Kukamas (nickel-copper-PGE) and Pilipas (lithium) projects.

Azimut generates its exploration targets using big data analytics, enhanced by over 15 years of in-house field validation with over 500 new mineral prospects discovered across the province. 

Canada’s G Mining Ventures (TSX: GMIN) said a new feasibility study for its Oko West project in northern Guyana demonstrates improved economics compared with initial calculations released last year.

At a 5% discount rate, Oko West would generate a post-tax net present value (NPV) of $2.2 billion and a post-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 27%, G Mining said Tuesday in a statement. That’s a 58% improvement in NPV compared with the preliminary economic assessment that the company issued last September.

Oko West is one of two projects that G Mining is counting on to anchor future output. The other, Brazil’s Tocantinzinho, started producing gold in September, with the company already booking cash flow.

The feasibility study “marks a major milestone in realizing the value of what we consider one of the world’s most exciting undeveloped gold projects,” G Mining CEO Louis-Pierre Gignac said in the statement. “It confirms a long-life, high-margin operation with strong economics, supported by a proven resource and solid infrastructure.”

G Mining is among several miners focusing on the Guiana Shield. Others include Canadian explorer Greenheart Gold (TSXV: GHRT), which has amassed a portfolio of early-stage projects in Guyana and Suriname. Founders Metals (TSXV: FDR), also Canadian, is exploring at its Antino project in southeast Suriname. The shield also hosts Newmont’s (TSX: NGT) Merian and Zijin Mining’s Rosebel gold mines, both in Suriname.

Shares of G Mining rose 1.4% to C$19.48 in Tuesday morning trading in Toronto. That gave the company a market value of about C$4.4 billion.

The company anticipates that authorities will issue a final environmental permit this quarter, and that a construction decision will be taken in the second half.

2027 target

Construction is forecast to take 34 months, G Mining said. Commissioning would occur in the fourth quarter of 2027.

G Mining envisions a payback period of 2.9 years if gold averages $2,500 per ounce. Initial capital expenditures are projected to be $972 million, a 4% increase from the $936 million that was estimated back in September.

Assuming an average gold price of $3,000 per oz., Oko West’s after-tax NPV would rise to $3.2 billion, G Mining said Tuesday. The IRR would climb to 35% and the payback period would be 2.1 years.

Located about 120 km southwest of Guyana’s capital Georgetown, Oko West will integrate both conventional open pit mining and mechanized long-hole open stoping for the underground mine.

Total gold output will probably be 4.3 million oz. over 12.3 years, G Mining said. That works out to an annual average of 350,000 oz. at an all-in sustaining cost of $1,123 per ounce.

During the first three years of commercial production, the open pit will solely supply the processing feed. Underground mining will start to contribute to processing feed in the fourth year of production.

Some 1,270 direct permanent jobs will be created by the project, according to the company.

Fast-tracking approvals

Carney’s administration plans to establish a “Major Federal Project Office” with a “one project, one review” mandate. This initiative aims to streamline environmental assessments by eliminating duplication between federal and provincial processes, thereby accelerating the approval of mining projects. Such a move is poised to benefit companies involved in critical mineral extraction, including lithium, nickel, and cobalt, by reducing bureaucratic delays.

Carney has not provided clarity on how the consent process would be expedited to meet the timeline pressures of energy and infrastructure development. This ambiguity is notable, particularly as his promise to avoid forcing projects through appears to contradict his assurances that major projects will proceed swiftly. Past provincial experiences, such as B.C.’s attempts to expedite development under similar consent commitments, suggest that balancing these priorities is fraught with legal and political difficulty.

Carney’s approach implies an acknowledgment of a de facto Indigenous veto over resource projects—but rather than confronting this head-on, he proposes to “buy in” Indigenous participation through public financing mechanisms. This creates a practical route around a hard veto by offering Indigenous communities ownership stakes that align their interests with project success.

Reconciling the urgency of certain projects with the potentially time-consuming process of obtaining consent from multiple Indigenous nations will prove tricky. It begs the question of whether or not this model serves the public interest.

On one hand, it represents a constructive shift from conflict to partnership, promoting reconciliation and potentially leading to more stable and inclusive development. It avoids the legal and ethical risks associated with imposing projects on unwilling nations. On the other hand, it raises questions about the use of taxpayer-backed funds as a means of securing project approval. There is a risk that such financing becomes a permanent cost of doing business, even for projects that may not deliver strong returns to the public.

Whether this is sustainable or fair depends on how transparent and equitable the resulting arrangements are — and whether public funds are being used to create true partnerships or merely to neutralize opposition.

Investment in critical minerals

The Carney-led government plans to invest in the development of critical minerals by: 

• Connecting critical mineral projects to supply chains via the new First and Last Mile Fund (FLMF), enhancing integration within the Canadian economy;
• Supporting clean energy and critical minerals projects through the FLMF to reduce reliance on other countries and protect Canadian jobs;
• Accelerating exploration and extraction, including from recycling, by investing in prospecting activities and 
• Attracting and de-risking investment in critical mineral exploration and extraction through additional investments and expanded tax credits. 

US tariffs

In response to US President Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs on Canadian imports, Carney has pledged a firm stance. His administration plans to invest billions to reduce Canada’s economic dependence on the southern neighbour, including a $2 billion strategic response fund to protect Canadian workers and fortify the auto supply chain.

This shift towards trade diversification and economic resilience is likely to open new markets for Canadian mining exports, particularly in Asia and Europe, thereby reducing vulnerability to US trade policies.

Energy superpower

Mark Carney’s campaign message on energy, echoing Stephen Harper’s “energy superpower” mantra, signals a sweeping ambition — but with a broader, more climate-conscious twist. In his election night speech, Carney declared it was “time to build Canada into an energy superpower in both clean and conventional energy” and pushed for an industrial strategy that boosts competitiveness while addressing climate change.

Now leading a Liberal government, Carney faces the challenge of balancing economic growth with environmental responsibility. His platform includes plans for national “energy corridors” designed to fast-track approvals for infrastructure such as pipelines and transmission lines. He has also pledged to streamline regulatory processes to reduce delays that have long hindered energy and resource development.

Carney supports carbon capture and storage technology, a key strategy for the oil and gas sector to reduce emissions. His promise of federal backing extends to major infrastructure and extraction efforts, notably the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario. The region is rich in critical minerals essential for electric vehicles, batteries and other technologies vital to a low-carbon economy.

Some First Nations groups with claims in the area oppose development, which could take a decade to implement judging by other projects. Environmentalists say it will release the same global warming gases from the region’s muskeg that the electric-battery vehicle metals it would produce are supposed to limit.

Canada’s elected Prime Minister has also committed to advancing transportation and energy projects in the Arctic, paired with a planned expansion of the country’s military presence in the region.

Environmental commitments

While promoting mining development, Carney’s administration also maintains environmental commitments, such as upholding the industrial carbon tax and imposing caps on oil and gas emissions. This approach aims to ensure that mining growth aligns with Canada’s climate goals. 

Despite facing challenges such as taxation, immigration and political influences, including Trump’s rhetoric, Canada’s natural resource development was a common topic brought up by the two main political parties.

Carney’s recent victory signals a proactive approach to strengthening Canada’s mining industry, a significant contributor to the country’s economy. The sector accounted for nearly 20% of the country’s gross domestic product in 2022, alongside C$422 billion ($305 billion) in exports.

PM and Liberal Party head Mark Carney, who’s leading in the polls, has pledged to approve resource projects within two years and broaden exploration tax credits as part of a plan to make Canada both an “energy superpower” and “the global supplier of choice for critical minerals.”

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, has vowed to open a resource-focused project office with an even shorter time limit – one year – to get “shovels in the ground” as fast as possible.  He also says he’ll build long-discussed infrastructure for Ontario’s Ring of Fire region, a set of three new roads and power lines linking future mines with the southern road network. Even so, his platform is thin on details about mining.

“Both parties would unlock stronger growth via major infrastructure and resource development, but each differs in approach,” Scotiabank Economics Vice President Rebekah Young said in a report issued Friday. “A complicated jurisdictional landscape, compounded now by global uncertainties, means either party would have its work cut out to spur greater investment.”

Critical minerals and industrial metals have emerged as essential economic building blocks in recent years as the world gears up for the coming energy transition. In the United States, President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order to increase American critical mineral production to dent China’s dominance after launching a Section 232 probe on all critical mineral imports – a process that typically results in tariffs.

‘Energy superpower’ goal

“Making Canada an energy superpower starts with critical metals and minerals, vital components to build everything from solar panels to electric vehicles,” Carney said last week during a campaign stop in Vancouver. “The market for these minerals is currently dominated by China and Russia. That must change.”

In his first election campaign, Carney has pledged to “kick-start” the “clean energy supply chain” by investing in critical minerals, spurring private investment and supporting early-stage mining companies.

If elected, Carney is proposing to adopt “Buy Canada” standards for products such as steel and aluminum while putting an increased focus on feedstock for battery supply chain buildouts.

First and Last Mile

A key measure included in the 67-page Liberal platform is the creation of the First and Last Mile Fund, an investment vehicle that Carney says will connect critical mineral projects to supply chains by supporting on-site development, processing and refining capacity.

Carney also wants to broaden the Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit by including critical minerals necessary for defence, semiconductors, energy and clean technologies to the list of qualifying minerals.

A Liberal government would also expand eligible activities under Canadian exploration expenses to include the costs of engineering, economic and feasibility studies for critical minerals projects.

“All of these measures taken together will make Canada the global supplier of choice for critical metals and minerals,” Carney said.

Repealing obstructive laws

Poilievre, Carney’s main rival for the top job, has vowed to repeal various policies passed under former Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau – including the Impact Assessment Act known as Bill C-69.

He calls Bill C-69 the “No More Development” law, saying it “makes it impossible to build the mines, pipelines and other major energy infrastructure Canada needs.” Removing it would trigger a boom in the country’s resource sector, he says.

“We will get big projects built again by repealing the Liberal anti-development laws and regulations that have cost us half a trillion dollars in lost investment over the last decade,” Poilievre said in a campaign document posted on his party’s website. “We’ll also work with Indigenous partners to process and sell our clean natural resources to get foreign countries off burning higher-emission fuels and fight climate change.”

Although the 30-page Conservative platform has a section on Canadian energy and resources, “mining” and “minerals” don’t appear at all in the document. The word “mines” is mentioned once.

If he becomes PM, Poilievre has vowed to accelerate priority resource projects and usher in “One and Done” approvals. He would create a single Rapid Resource Project Office to streamline all regulatory approvals into one application and environmental review, in cooperation with the provinces, with a target of six-month decisions and a one-year maximum timeline.

Fast-tracking projects

A key pledge for miners involves building the infrastructure project to Ontario’s Ring of Fire region, which is known for its vast potential but slow progress towards getting any mines built. A Conservative government would approve federal permits to harvest chromite, cobalt, nickel, copper and platinum in the area, Poilievre says.

In the Conservative leader’s view, these measures would give the Canadian economy a boost of several billion dollars, “allowing us to become less dependent on the Americans, while our allies overseas would no longer have to rely on hostile regimes for these metals, turning dollars for dictators into paycheques for our people.”

The company’s US subsidiary, TMC USA, filed the applications under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA) and regulations set by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which collectively form the US seabed mining code. 

The move comes just days after President Donald Trump issued an executive order to fast-track offshore mining, aiming to boost access to critical minerals despite strong opposition from environmental groups.

TMC’s two exploration licence applications cover a combined 199,895 square kilometres, while the commercial recovery permit covers 25,160 square kilometres within the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a resource-rich swath of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico. These areas include the company’s indicated and measured polymetallic nodule resources.

The zones hold 1.63 billion wet metric tonnes of SEC SK 1300-compliant nodules, with an estimated exploration upside of 500 million tonnes, according to the company.

The resource is projected to contain 15.5 million tonnes of nickel, 12.8 million tonnes of copper, 2 million tonnes of cobalt, and 345 million tonnes of manganese — metals critical for batteries, clean energy, infrastructure and defence applications.

“This marks a major step forward — not just for TMC USA, but for America’s mineral independence and industrial resurgence,” CEO Gerard Barron said in a statement. “We’re offering the US a shovel-ready path to new and abundant supplies of critical metals.”

The Trump administration views deep-sea mining as a strategic route to reduce dependence on foreign mineral supply chains. A White House official suggested the industry could generate up to 100,000 jobs and add hundreds of billions to the economy over the next decade.

Hurdles remain

The company’s ambitions are not without controversy. Environmentalists have long warned that the impacts of deep-sea mining are poorly understood. Critics argue more scientific research is needed before any commercial extraction begins, citing risks to fragile ecosystems and ocean biodiversity.

Supporters counter that deep-sea mining is essential to meet rising global demand for minerals. The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts the need for copper and rare earth elements will grow by 40% in the coming years, driven by clean technology and electrification.

TMC has pledged to mitigate environmental damage by leaving at least 30% of its contract areas untouched. The company also claims its modern nodule collector disturbs only the top three centimetres of seabed sediment, far less than earlier technologies.

Still, TMC’s application could reignite tensions at the international level. The company has been operating in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone for years under exploration contracts backed by the UN-affiliated International Seabed Authority (ISA), which governs mining in international waters. But the US is not a signatory to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and TMC’s move to seek approval under US law may be seen as sidestepping international consensus.

Critics warn such actions could undermine more than a decade of negotiations aimed at finalizing global regulations for seabed mining, potentially setting a precedent for other countries or companies to bypass multilateral frameworks.

The Xatśūll First Nation is part of the larger Secwepemc (Shuswap) nation, located in the Cariboo region of the Canadian province.

The Xatśūll first filed a judicial review on April 15 with the Supreme Court of BC against the province’s minister of mining and critical minerals, the minister of environment and parks, the provincial deputy permitting officer, major mines offices, and the Mount Polley Mining Corporation (MPMC) to overturn two provincial decisions authorizing MPMC to raise the height of the dam at its tailings storage facility (TSF).

“As part of regular mine operations at Mount Polley, we recently received government approval to raise the height of our TSF by 4 metres. This kind of work is a normal and necessary part of operating any mine that stores tailings using a dam structure,” MPMC said in a statement on April 16.

The First Nation alleges provincial decision makers allowed work to proceed without an environmental assessment, which is legally required in the circumstances.

“This is the same dam that breached and so devastated the Xatśūll territory in 2014. The impacts of that environmental disaster are still harming the Nation’s rights, culture and way of life today,” Xatśūll said in a statement on April 25.

On August 4, 2014, a breach at the Mount Polley copper-gold mine sent the equivalent of 2,000 Olympic swimming pools of mining waste into a creek, tearing a swath as much as 45 metres wide down the previously metre-wide waterway.

Ten years after the dam breach, 15 charges were laid against Imperial Metals (TSX: III), the parent company of MPMC, and engineering firm Wood Canada for alleged violations of the federal Fisheries Act, arising from the failure of the TSF at the Mount Polley mine.

When the Xatśūll Nation filed the judicial review on April 15, it said it notified Mount Polley the same day that it intended to file an injunction to halt construction of the tailings dam raise and subsequent operations of the tailings dam facility at increased dam height until a decision was made by the court.

Imperial Metals released a statement on April 23 acknowledging Xatśūll “alleges that the provincial decision-makers approved this work using a process that did not include what it considers to be a legally required environmental assessment, and that the decisions were made in breach of alleged duties owed to Xatśūll as an Indigenous people.”

“Throughout the permitting process, [Imperial and MPMC] have actively engaged with Xatśūll and the Williams Lake First Nation, including providing funding for independent reviews and implementing recommendations to enhance operations,” the company said in the statement.

“The Williams Lake First Nation and MPMC have maintained a positive working relationship for over a decade, formalized through a Participation Agreement which was renewed in 2022, and the Williams Lake First Nation are supportive of the provincial decisions and Mount Polley’s current permitting applications under review.”

In its statement on April 25, Xatśūll said that Brian Kynoch, president of Imperial Metals, informed Xatśūll that Mount Polley “would not be agreeing to hold off on construction” and that “construction had already begun.”

“In light of this development, Xatśūll was compelled to file its injunction application on an urgent basis.”

Xatśūll said it anticipates its injunction application will be heard by the Supreme Court in early May.

The company also intends to change its ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange from GOLD to B, effective at the start of trading on May 9, 2025. Barrick’s shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange will continue to trade under the ABX ticker.

The move reflects Barrick’s ongoing expansion into copper, complementing its gold business. The miner is investing $6 billion to develop the massive Reko Diq copper-gold project in Pakistan, expected to begin operations in 2028 and last for at least four decades. It is also expanding its Lumwana copper mine in Zambia, aiming to position it among the world’s largest copper operations.

Chief executive Mark Bristow said the change underscores Barrick’s vision of becoming “the world’s most valued gold and copper exploration, development and mining company.”

“Along with our world-class portfolio of six tier one gold mines, we are building a substantial copper business which will be a meaningful contributor to growing our production volumes in the coming years and beyond,” Bristow said in a statement.

“Gold remains core to our foundation,” he added, citing projects such as the Pueblo Viejo expansion in the Dominican Republic and the Fourmile gold project in Nevada.

Mali dispute

Meanwhile in Mali, Barrick faces mounting challenges as an ongoing dispute with the African nation continues to impact operations at its flagship Loulo-Gounkoto complex.

At least four Barrick subcontractors employing hundreds of workers have begun laying off staff, Reuters reported on Monday, adding that some have stopped receiving payments for months.

According to Reuters, the following subcontractors have either suspended activities or started liquidation procedures:

• BLY Mali, a subsidiary of drilling services firm Boart Longyear, said it is liquidating after its contract suspension left it “irremediably compromised.”
• ETASI, a heavy equipment rental company, announced a full suspension of its workforce.
• ATC, a metal construction company, issued layoff notices after a temporary work stoppage expired.
• MAXAM, a civil explosives contractor, is planning a temporary work stoppage affecting about 120 employees.
• SGS, a Swiss-based contractor, was granted a three-month suspension beginning February 1.

Last week, Malian authorities escalated the dispute with the Canadian miner, which began in 2023 after the current regime took power and introduced a new mining code, by closing Barrick’s office in Bamako, citing alleged tax arrears.

Operations at Loulo-Gounkoto, Barrick’s largest African asset, have been suspended since January after Mali seized around three tonnes of gold over alleged unpaid taxes. Authorities had already been blocking the company’s gold exports since November.

Despite these developments, Barrick’s employees in Mali have continued receiving salaries, a Reuters source said. Around 40 Malian employees from Loulo-Gounkoto are being temporarily transferred to Barrick’s Kibali mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with a total of 100 staff identified for relocation.

In February, Barrick signed a draft agreement to resolve the dispute, but Mali’s government has yet to ratify or implement the deal.

(With files from Reuters)

In a tense exchange of letters this week, Yukon Legislative Assembly speaker Jeremy Harper urged that PwC’s senior vice-president and another representative attend a committee of the whole meeting to provide witness testimony. During an assembly debate on Friday, a contempt motion was put forward, the Canadian Press reported. That followed the company’s legal counsel saying in a reply letter that the government lacks the authority to compel its attendance to the meeting.

In response to the government’s claim that senior vice-president Michelle Grant could be “sanctioned” if she doesn’t attend, counsel Peter Ruby with Goodmans LLP said it’s a threat that PwC must take seriously.

“We ask that you please promptly provide the compelling authority on which you rely so that it may be properly considered,” Ruby wrote.

The back and forth comes almost one year since a heap leach pad failure at the Eagle site last June caused a landslide. The accident unleashed millions of tonnes of material and at least 280,000 cubic metres of cyanide-containing solution left the pad’s containment, according to government estimates.

About six weeks later, Victoria was placed into PwC receivership by court order after the Yukon government was dissatisfied with the company’s clean up efforts.

Contempt motion adjourned

Debate on the contempt motion was adjourned until Monday, and PwC’s appearance before the assembly is expected on Tuesday, CP reported.

However, PwC maintains that it would only attend the assembly to provide testimony if it was ordered by a court, Ruby said.

It wasn’t clear if such an order had been made and the websites of Goodmans and PwC offered no information on it.

PwC also intends to ask a court that the “threat of sanctions” made in Harper’s Wednesday letter be stayed under the terms of the receivership order, Ruby added.

The Northern Miner has requested comment from Harper and Goodmans.

From January 2009 through August 2011, the monthly average price of dysprosium (Dy) oxide (China FOB) increased 26-fold, from $91/kg to $2,377/kg.

This price spike is often attributed to China halting rare earth exports to Japan amidst a territorial dispute, but in reality the rally had started months prior and was accelerated by a multitude of different forces; namely, falling Chinese export quotas, rising Chinese export duties, China’s weaponization of rare earth exports, a clampdown on illegal production in the nation, and resultant speculation and panic buying by end users.

This year, with China imposing export restrictions on a suite of rare earth materials earlier this month, including Dy oxide and other Dy-containing products, such as NdFeB magnets, flows from China to global end users are currently being bogged down by bureaucracy as sellers in China apply for and await the receipt of export licenses for affected orders – a process expected to take upwards of 45 business days.

Over the long term, these restrictions will have lasting impacts on global rare earths trade through the galvanization of supply chain development efforts in the US, Europe and elsewhere. In the near term, however, global end users – mindful of the 2010/11 price spike – face major uncertainty with respect to supplies and prices.

For the most part, rare earth prices have responded negatively to the new export restrictions, despite a sustained reduction in supplies from Myanmar and the recent stoppage of concentrate exports to China by MP Materials. Interestingly, prices were also initially indifferent when China halted exports to Japan in September 2010, but three months later embarked on a historic upswing that remains unmatched to this day.

Below is a summary of key developments from January 2009 through August 2011 that led to Dy oxide’s meteoric price rise.

January 2009: $91/kg

As of January 2009, China’s rare earth export quotas (i.e., the amount it permitted for export) had fallen steadily since 2005, down 13% in four years, raising concerns among end users.

Over the same period, China re-introduced export duties on rare earths in 2006 and gradually ratcheted them up from 10% to as high as 25% for a strategic selection of products, including neodymium metal, as well as dysprosium and terbium carbonate and chloride.

August 2009: $114/kg

With export quotas down and duties up, China’s MIIT released a draft report in August 2009 that hinted Beijing would ban the export of five rare earth elements within the next five years.

The following month, the New York Times reported that China was planning to further reduce its export quotas in 2010.

The price of dysprosium jumped 26% versus January but went largely unchanged thereafter through the end of 2009.

January 2010: $129/kg

In January 2010, China raised export duties on Fe-Dy alloy, a key input for high performance NdFeB magnets, from 10% to 20%, lifting the price of Dy products, including Dy oxide, by a similar rate month over month.

At the same time, China slashed its first of two export quotas for the year, as foreshadowed by the New York Times, leading the price of Dy oxide to more than double by July as end users raced to secure material.

In July 2010, China announced a 72% reduction to its second export quota for the year, exacerbating concerns while propelling the price of Dy oxide 26% higher month-over-month.

Two months later, in September 2010, China temporarily banned rare earth exports to Japan amid a territorial dispute.

Nevertheless, the price of Dy oxide and many other rare earths increased just modestly between July and December 2010, but the fever was nearing a boil.

In December 2010, Reuters reported that China planned to reduce its export quota for the first half of 2011 by another 35%, fueling a January price jump and a historic upswing to follow.

January 2011: $343/kg

Following the Reuters report, the five-month-stagnant price jumped 18% in January, 19% in February, 28% in March, 31% in April and 17% in May to a record $799/kg – a historic rally that remains unmatched to this day.

August 2011: $2,377/kg

A month later, in June 2011, the price soared 80% to $1,440/kg as the Chinese government cracked down on illegal mining in the nation and by August 2011 prices topped $2,377/kg, a 26-fold increase in just 31 months.

For the next five months, the price began to deflate but held above $2,000/kg into January 2012.

In February 2012, the average price fell to $1,633/kg and by December 2012 was down to $748/kg.

The following three years (2013/14/15) saw the price drop by roughly 33% each year to a floor of around $180/kg in 2016.

Short lived spike, long lasting fallout

While the price spike was short lived, the fallout was profound and enduring. In the years that followed, a quiet revolution unfolded in the electric vehicle sector. Where REE-powered motors once reigned uncontested, their dominance eroded as some manufacturers adopted or pivoted to alternatives.

From a negligible share of less than 1% in 2010, EVs powered by REE-free motors surged to over 12% of global sales by late 2017.

Adamas Intelligence points to this as a textbook case of engineered demand destruction – a deliberate shift to alternatives born of caution, catalyzed by the trauma of the 2010/11 price surge.

Companies, burned by volatility and unwilling to remain at the mercy of China’s whims, sought refuge in innovation, re-engineering their futures to sidestep the rare earth chokehold.

By 2018, however, with prices low and volatility tempered, REE-powered motors quickly recaptured market share, with 97% of all EVs sold each year since 2017 using them.

In 2017, when REE-free motor adoption peaked, the EV industry was still a relatively small end-use category and thus the impact on overall demand was less substantial than it would be today.

Undoubtedly, China recognizes this and will play its hand carefully this time around.

April 2025: China announces new export controls

Fast forward to this month and China is at it again, unveiling export controls on select rare earth products. But this time, the playbook feels different – less blunt force, more scalpel.

Adamas sees a calculated precision in Beijing’s approach, an intent to wield its resource dominance with surgical intent.

The likely targets? Initially, industries like defense contractors and drone makers, sectors where REE scarcity could deliver maximum disruption to rivals, particularly in the West.

Meanwhile, China appears poised to spare others, like the EV industry, from the worst of the fallout – perhaps a nod to its own stake in the green revolution or a bid to keep global markets from spiraling into further chaos.

Unlike the reckless two-order-of-magnitude price surge of the early 2010s, this move suggests a China keen to inflict pain where it hurts most while dodging the collateral damage of a full-blown crisis.

The message is clear: China knows the power it holds and is learning to wield it with chilling finesse.

For the rest of the world, the echoes of 2010/11 still linger – a haunting reminder of vulnerability, a call to diversify, innovate, or risk being caught in the crosshairs of a prolonged resource war where the stakes only grow higher.

Under an amended agreement announced April 23, Equinox will now offer 0.35 of its common stock for each Calibre share, giving the transaction a total value of C$2.8 billion. The initial offer announced in late February was 0.31 Equinox share for one Calibre share.

Calibre’s shares closed Thursday’s trading session 7% higher at C$3.35 apiece — its highest since 2012. The Vancouver-based miner’s market capitalization stood at almost C$2.9 billion. Equinox Gold, also based in Vancouver, gained 2% at market close, for a market capitalization of C$4.3 billion.

Making of Canada’s no.2 gold miner

The improved offer came just hours before the companies’ scheduled shareholder meetings to vote on the transaction. If approved, it would consummate the formation of second-largest gold producer in Canada behind Agnico Eagle (TSX: AEM; NYSE: AEM), with Equinox shareholders owning approximately 61% and Calibre holding 39%.

Equinox — coming off a record year of gold production — agreed to buy Calibre earlier this year to further boost its pipeline and consolidate assets across the Americas. Its Greenstone mine in Ontario achieved commercial production late in 2024 and is expected to become one of the largest open-pit gold mines in Canada.

The combined company would own a total of nine producing mines, another under construction, and five projects across five countries.

Shareholder pushback

However, the proposed takeover had received pushback from Calibre’s top shareholder Van Eck Associates, which stated last month that a merger would dilute the quality and potential of the precious metals producer.

“We are not supportive of this transaction. We don’t see any synergies between any of the companies’ operations,” Imaru Casanova, a portfolio manager at Van Eck, wrote last month. “Both operate in the Americas, but in vastly different locations.”

Calibre currently operates mines in the US and Nicaragua, and is on the verge of starting production at the Valentine gold mine in Newfoundland and Labrador, which it acquired as part of its 2023 takeover of Marathon Gold.

“Calibre was on the cusp of a rerate as it advanced Valentine to production,” Casanova said, referring to the Valentine mine that is nearing completion and expected to come online mid-2025.

Both leading contenders for the prime minister’s job touted the merits of a “one project, one review” system during the federal election campaign, which is set to conclude with Monday’s vote. Liberal Party leader and PM Mark Carney pledged to approve resource projects within two years through a dedicated office, while Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre vowed to open a Rapid Resource Project Office with an even shorter time limit – one year – to get “shovels in the ground” as fast as possible. 

Drawn-out permitting timelines have been a long-standing irritant for miners. Canada is the third-slowest jurisdiction in the world when it comes to the amount of time required to develop a mine, S&P Global found in a study released last year. At 27 years, the average lead time for Canada trailed only that of the United States, at 29 years, and Zambia, at 34 years.

“I sure hope that the talk of shorter timelines is real because it’s a serious problem in Canada,” Sprott Asset Management CEO John Ciampaglia said in an interview. “Whether it’s new mines, new infrastructure or new pipelines, the timelines to permit new projects are beyond reasonable. Everybody is talking about wanting to be open for business but I need to see it. So far, nothing has changed.”

Largest fund

With holdings of about $4.3 billion as of mid-April, Ciampaglia’s Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (TSX: U.U for USD; U.UN for CAD) is the world’s largest physical uranium fund.

Units of the trust lost about 12% of their value in the first quarter, dragged down by a decline in the uranium spot price. They’ve fallen about 31% in the past year.

Mine construction delays have hit the uranium market particularly hard in recent years as demand climbed on electrification and artificial intelligence’s insatiable appetite for power.

Uranium stockpiles help sustain supply as demand outstrips production by 50 million to 60 million lb. a year, according to World Nuclear Association data. Demand for uranium is projected to triple by 2040, underscoring the urgent need to develop mines.

“There is a structural supply deficit, and it won’t be fixed unless the world builds a lot of new greenfield capacity – and sooner rather than later,” Ciampaglia said. “New projects are quite critical. They need to come online.”

Athabasca basin

Canada’s biggest opportunity lies in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca basin. As companies such as Cameco (TSX: CCO; NYSE: CCJ) Denison Mines (TSX: DML) and NexGen Energy (TSX: NXE) look to advance uranium projects in the province, Ottawa should follow Washington’s lead in fast-tracking mine approvals, Ciampaglia says.

“Canada has a huge opportunity,” he said. “Saskatchewan’s Athabasca basin has all sorts of undeveloped projects that have been stuck for 10 or 15 years. Politicians can talk all they want about reshoring the supply chain from China but the lead time for these projects is too long. We clearly need to take a different approach.”

Ciampaglia is especially irked to see setbacks pile up for NexGen Energy’s Rook I project, a long-awaited C$2.2 billion capex uranium mine and mill that could produce up to 30 million lbs. annually for at least 24 years.

Although Rook I has a provincial permit and full support from multiple Indigenous nations, a final federal approval is still lacking, two years after Saskatchewan gave the project the go-ahead.

‘Inaction and deceit’

Two rounds of Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) hearings are scheduled to take place next fall and in February 2026, with a final approval decision set to follow soon after – some seven years after NexGen began the permitting process.

With construction expected to take three and a half years, that would push the start of operations out to late 2029 or early 2030.

The hearings “come much later than anticipated,” Red Cloud Securities head of research David Talbot said in a note in March. “This is contrary to what was conveyed to NXE and Indigenous communities.”

The elongated permitting timeline is “an ominous read-through for any other projects just entering the process,” he added.

Delaying Rook I’s approval until after the second hearing is “beyond comprehension, inconsistent with previous direction from the CNSC and extremely detrimental to the interests of our communities, the people of Saskatchewan and Canadians across the country,” the Clearwater River Dene Nation, Metis Nation-Saskatchewan and Metis Nation-Saskatchewan Northern Region II said in a joint statement in March. Canada’s regulatory process has become “a tyranny of inaction, deceit and dishonesty,” they said.

For Ciampaglia, Rook I is “a case study in delays” typical of Canadian mining projects.

“The mine originally was supposed to come online in 2028. Now it’s 2030. Why 2030? Is it the capital or the deposit? No, it’s the federal permitting process. The provincial permit came quickly and it’s been bogged down with the federal permit ever since,” he said.

Construction boom

Global utilities aren’t waiting for Canada to pick up the pace.

Some 65 nuclear reactors are being built worldwide. By 2030, they could generate an additional 70 gigawatts of additional power – assuming enough uranium is available.

“People sometimes get distracted by the new shiny object in the room, whether it’s AI or data centres, but the reality is that out of the 60-plus reactors that are under construction today, half of them are in China,” Ciampaglia said. “China and India are driving the growth. For them it’s business as usual.”

Even Europe, which had seemingly sworn off nuclear power, has changed course.

“Since 2021, almost every Western country that was going down the path of letting nuclear reactors close prematurely and focusing on renewable energy has stopped and shifted,” he said. “The Netherlands, Belgium, France and the UK have all done complete flip-flops back to nuclear and have signalled they want to build more capacity. Countries like Poland are going to be building reactors for the first time. The shift has been monumental, and it’s been driven by net zero decarbonization goals, energy security and the growing realization that you cannot run highly industrialized economies on renewable energy.”

Long-term bull

These long-term trends are the main reason Ciampaglia remains bullish about uranium – despite the current spot market dynamics.

“We’re frustrated by the spot price right now but we remain very constructive on the medium and long-term fundamentals, which we think ultimately will pull the price higher,” he said.

“Obviously we’ve had a correction in the last few months, but we think it’s transitory,” he said. “With all the uncertainty going on in the world, our sense is that utilities have stepped away from the market waiting for more clarity on tariffs. They should get back to buying uranium in larger quantities.”

How high could spot prices go? While uranium’s “geopolitically charged” nature makes predictions risky, Ciampaglia points out that the spot price hit an all-time high of $136 per lb. in 2007 during the last boom cycle. When adjusted for inflation, that translates to about $200 per lb. today, he calculates.

With the spot price hovering just above $65 as of Thursday, “we’re a long way off from peak-cycle pricing,” he said.

A nuclear accident, of course, would change all that.

“Having a large-scale accident that shifts public sentiment away from the technology is always the bear case,” Ciampaglia said. “After (the 2011 accident at) Fukushima, we went into a 10-year bear market.”

A surge in supply from the Congo, responsible for 80% of the world’s cobalt output, coupled with tepid demand from the electric vehicle market, saw cobalt sulphate entering the EV battery supply chain in China fall to an average of just $3,556 per tonne in January.  That compares to a peak of nearly $19,000 a tonne in 2022.

Copper production in the DRC, with a big chunk owned by Chinese companies, was rising fast – leading to a near 40% jump in the country’s co-product cobalt output in 2024, but in February the country announced a four month ban on exports to ease the glut. 

Cobalt sulphate prices duly responded, jumping more than 60% in March to average $5,767 a tonne, and holding onto most of those gains in April.   

Cobalt byproduct output is also increasing in Indonesia as its nickel shipments ballooned and the DRC is now in talks with the Asian nation to collaborate on managing supply of cobalt including the use of quotas. 

Cobalt consumption in EV batteries overtook other sources of demand like aerospace several years ago and the impact of the DRC strategy has been swift.  

The latest data from Adamas Intelligence tracking EV battery metal deployment in over 120 countries paired with monthly prices shows the cobalt market springing back into life. 

The estimated size of the battery cobalt market shot up in March to an overall $152.4 million, up 120% over February and the highest since December 2022, lifting the value of sales weighted average cobalt contained in tandem. 

While March was a good month across the board for the EV industry and by extension battery metal deployment, and January and February are generally quiet months for passenger vehicle sales, cobalt vastly outperformed other battery metals. 

Nickel rose by a more subdued 41%, also amid rising prices, while the value of battery lithium deployment increased by 28% month over month, relying on rising EV sales in Asia more than prices, which are still bobbing along near the bottom of the cycle.  

And while price can make all the difference for suppliers to the EV battery market, longer term trends for cobalt (and its ternary cathode cousins) in the EV market are less encouraging. 

Lithium iron phosphate or LFP batteries continue to rapidly take market share from NCM (nickel-cobalt-manganese) and NCA (nickel-cobalt-aluminum) cathode chemistries. 

The China-fueled rise of LFP has fostered a large divergence in global consumption growth rates of key battery metals, according to Adamas Intelligence data.

For example, in calendar 2024 iron and phosphorous deployment were up by 54% and 49%, respectively, for a combined 399.1 kilotonnes contained in the batteries of sold EVs over the course of the year.

In contrast, global nickel deployment into EV batteries increased 11% to 322.7 kt while that of manganese rose 10% to 73.6 kt and cobalt 7% to 59.6 kt as the industry continues to thrift the metal.  Keeping in mind that the installed tonnage does not take into account any losses during processing, chemical conversion or battery production scrap (often well into double digit percentages) so required tonnes are meaningfully higher at the mine mouth. 

In total, installed tonnage of nickel, cobalt and manganese last year represented 21% of the battery metal basket.  

That’s down from a 24% share in 2023 and 36% in 2020 when top EV maker BYD shifted to an all-LFP line-up, and LFP-powered Tesla Model 3s re-ignited uptake of the Ni-Co-Mn-free battery chemistry. 

The world’s largest EV battery maker CATL, responsible for 30% of total battery capacity deployed globally in GWh terms, in April announced that commercial production of sodium-ion packs will begin before the end of 2025. Due to its inherent limitations, sodium-ion is more likely to eat into LFP’s market than NCM’s.

At least there’s that.    

For a fuller analysis of the EV battery metals market check out the May issue of The Northern Miner print and digital editions.

* Frik Els is Editor at Large for MINING.COM and Head of Adamas Inside, providing news and analysis based on Adamas Intelligence data.

Newmont rose as much as 4.2% to $55.40 in New York, outperforming its industry peers as well as gains in spot gold. The stock has risen more than 47% this year, outpacing gold’s 27% gain since the end of December.

The Denver-based producer posted first-quarter earnings Wednesday that topped analyst expectations on a number of measures, including adjusted profit, revenue and production. Newmont churned out 1.54 million ounces in attributable gold production in the quarter, while recording a 25% revenue jump from the year-earlier period to top $5 billion. The company said it had a record first quarter cash flow of $1.2 billion.

Top precious metals producers have been benefiting from soaring gold prices, which has hit successive record highs in recent months as global demand for safe haven asset soars amid geopolitical tensions and the uncertainty from US President Donald Trump’s trade restrictions. The bullion rally has also prompted Newmont and smaller rivals including Barrick Gold Corp. to cash in on the renewed interest in the metal by selling off mines and projects to other firms.

Still, Newmont posted its highest quarterly costs for producing gold in at least nine years due in part to work at its Cadia mine in Australia, which it acquired from its 2023 takeover of Newcrest Mining Ltd. The spending, which the company noted in its full-year report for 2024, is associated with “remediation and construction of tailings capacity,” chief executive officer Tom Palmer said in a Wednesday interview.

Newmont’s all-in sustaining costs, while high, were lower than analysts expected for the quarter.

(By Jacob Lorinc)

Read More: Newmont climbs to world’s No. 4 miner after $850M asset sales

The company reported adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations of C$0.60, above expectations of C$0.32, according to data compiled by LSEG.

“Our profitability improved significantly … primarily as a result of higher base metal prices, increased copper and zinc in concentrate sales volumes, and the positive impact of a weaker Canadian dollar on our business,” Teck said in a statement.

Teck’s first-quarter copper sales volumes rose to 106,200 tonnes, an increase of 11% year-on-year.

Revenue rose to C$2.29 billion ($1.65 billion) from C$1.62 billion last year, beating expectations.

Teck also maintained its forecast for 2025.

In February, the company had said that US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports will not have any material impact on its business.

($1 = 1.3867 Canadian dollars)

(By Kanjyik Ghosh; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

Read More: Teck sees copper supply/demand win

The average price of gold has been rising over the past few quarters and hit record highs in the January to March period, as concerns over US President Donald Trump’s fresh tariff plans ignited fears of a global trade war, driving a rush towards the safe-haven allure of the precious metal.

Newmont’s quarterly average realized price for gold was at $2,944 per ounce, compared with $2,090 per ounce a year ago.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.25 per share for the quarter ended March 31, compared with analysts’ average estimate of 90 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

(By Tanay Dhumal; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Devika Syamnath)

Read More: JPMorgan sees gold price at $4,000 by Q2 2026

First, the company announced on Tuesday that it’s exiting an Alaskan mining project by selling its 50% stake to billionaire John Paulson and Novagold Resources Inc. for $1 billion. Meanwhile, Barrick has also signaled more deals on the horizon as it seeks buyers for mines in Africa and North America.

The strategy follows a time-tested playbook that runs its course when prices of the precious metal surge: Sell smaller, aging gold mines at a time when they’re likely to fetch much better prices than normal. Barrick’s stake in the Alaska project sold for well above Toronto-Dominion Bank’s $600 million valuation for the investment.

Newmont Corp., the world’s largest gold producer, generated $4.3 billion on asset sales earlier this year — blowing past its initial projections of about $2 billion as bullion prices climbed.

Shedding those assets allows miners like Barrick to focus on major, so-called “Tier 1” mines that deliver the bulk of the company’s revenue, while freeing up cash to pursue expensive development projects elsewhere. Barrick is forging ahead on ambitious projects in Africa and Asia, with a $6 billion copper project in Pakistan and a Zambian mine expansion that could make it one of the largest in the world.

The mines that Barrick is looking to sell, meanwhile, generate increasingly little for the company. It retained bankers to find buyers for Tongon, a small gold mine in the Ivory Coast, last year, and did the same for Hemlo, its last gold mine in Canada, in April. Those two mines combine for less than 10% of Barrick’s overall production.

“Mining companies often say it’s just as hard to run a mine that produces 200,000 ounces as it is to run a mine with 500,000 ounces,” said Carey MacRury, metals and mining analyst with Canaccord Genuity. “And what Barrick wants is world-class, giant ore bodies that can last for decades.”

The divestment push comes at a time of transition for the world’s No. 2 gold miner.

Toronto-headquartered Barrick has signaled a pivot away from gold mining, with plans to spend heavily on copper projects. It’s even proposed changing the company name from Barrick Gold to Barrick Mining. Chief executive officer Mark Bristow has talked for years about expanding in copper, even weighing takeovers of producers Freeport-McMoRan Inc. and First Quantum Minerals Ltd., though they never came to pass.

If Newmont’s divestment push last year serves as a guide, finding buyers in a bullion bull market shouldn’t be tough. Barrick’s rival sold six small, aging gold mines last year to a handful of gold miners who paid more than Newmont anticipated.

The first sign Barrick has found similar interest came on Tuesday, when the firm said it reached an agreement with hedge-fund manager Paulson and Novagold Resources to sell its stake in Alaska’s Donlin project.

“It came to our attention late last year that Barrick wanted to sell their stake,” Paulson said in an interview. “And that was opportune for us. Barrick’s focused on other projects around the world, and is pivoting more to copper, but we’re looking to increase our exposure to gold.”

(By Jacob Lorinc)

Alpayana will make an offer to buy all of Sierra’s common shares for C$1.15 apiece in cash, the Toronto-based company said Wednesday in a statement. That’s 3.6% more than the C$1.11 hostile bid that Sierra rejected earlier this month.

To give Sierra shareholders enough time to tender their shares, Alpayana has extended its existing takeover bid until 5 p.m. Toronto time on May 12.

Sierra shares soared 19% to C$1.08 in Toronto Wednesday morning, still shy of the revised offer price. That gave the company a market value of about C$230 million.

Family-owned Alpayana has been operating mines in Peru for over 38 years. The company, which has no debt and more than $500 million in annual revenue, said this month it was “uniquely positioned” to cut costs at Sierra and “eliminate” its debt, which stood at C$96.3 million as of Dec. 31, up from C$78.5 million a year earlier. Alpayana’s controlling shareholders are minority investors in Minera Corona, Sierra’s Peruvian unit.

Sierra’s board of directors unanimously supports the revised takeover bid, as does the special committee of independent directors, the company said Wednesday. Sierra also said its board will unanimously recommend that shareholders tender their shares to the bid.

Rising profits

BMO Capital Markets, which is advising Sierra, called the new amount that Alpayana is prepared to pay “fair” from a financial point of view.

Sierra operates two copper mines, Peru’s Yauricocha and Bolivar in Mexico. Earlier this year it forecast 2025 earnings before interest, tax, amortization and depreciation of $130 million compared with $74 million in 2024.

Costs have been cut by increasing mill capacity at Bolivar and Yauricocha, while higher copper and gold prices have lifted margins. In December, the company refused a first buyout offer of C$0.85 a share from Alpayana.

“Sierra has high levels of expensive debt, a large working capital shortfall, an unpaid C$56.1 million obligation to its publicly traded Minera Corona unit, and high corporate expenses, along with being one of the highest cost-per-pound copper producers in the industry,” Alpayana said April 2 after raising its bid a first time.

“Given Sierra’s thin margins, it is vulnerable to withstanding any potential unexpected production, labor, social, political, regulatory and/or macro challenges.”

Speaking at an industry event in Panama City, Mulino said the path forward remained uncertain, but noted he was open to forming an association with First Quantum. 

“I cannot yet tell you what the path forward will be; the only path that will not exist is a contract law, and I announce that here: There will be no mining law contract, period,” Mulino said, according to local media.

He stressed that any new mining law tied to a contract, such as the 406 law deemed unconstitutional by the previous government, would require approval from the national assembly. He said the assembly was not willing to back such a deal. Instead, he proposed a “real partnership” — a structure that would make clear the mine belongs to Panama and its people.

Mulino noted that if the decision is made to close the mine permanently, the process could take up to 15 years due to its scale.

“It’s a problem that implies tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs,” he said. “Let’s be smart and get the most benefit as Panamanians from a mine we already have.”

The president has not yet met with First Quantum’s executives, though the company dropped its arbitration case against Panama—one of Mulino’s conditions for resuming talks.

Cobre Panamá, Central America’s largest open-pit copper mine, produced over 330,000 tonnes of copper in 2023 before operations were halted. 

The mine was on track to become a 100-million-tonne-per-year operation by the end of 2024, which would have placed it among the world’s largest copper producers.

Cobre previously accounted for roughly 5% of Panama’s GDP.

Barrick began a process in April to sell its Hemlo gold mine in Ontario and retained Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to find buyers and solicit bids, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named.

Barrick and CIBC did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

The sale of the mine, if completed, would leave Barrick without any mines in the country where it was founded.

One of the largest Toronto-headquartered mining companies, Barrick has cut back on its Canadian presence since it merged with Africa-focused Randgold Resources Ltd. It moved some head office jobs out of Toronto in an effort to decentralize operations, while few executives or board members are still based in Canada.

The company has also sought to shed mines and dispense with smaller investments as bullion prices hit repeat record highs.

Barrick sold its stake in an Alaskan gold project for $1 billion on Tuesday, and has sought buyers for its Tongon gold mine in the Ivory Coast, though it has not yet sold the asset. The strategy mimics that of Newmont Corp., the world’s largest gold producer, which has generated $4.3 billion from selling some assets the company considered to be “non-core” to its portfolio.

Hemlo produced 143,000 ounces last year — about 3.5% of Barrick’s overall gold output for the year.

The Canadian company has a sprawling portfolio of assets with 13 gold and three operating copper mines across 18 countries, according to its most recent annual report.

Shares of the firm have lagged its peers this year while the company wrestles with higher costs at older mines and a standoff with the Mali government that has kept one of its largest, most lucrative gold mines shuttered.

(By Jacob Lorinc)

The acquisition will give Triple Flag access to a 1.0% net smelter return (NSR) royalty on the Expanded Silicon gold project in Nevada.

Shares of Orogen rose 28% Tuesday morning in Toronto, bringing the company’s market capitalization to C$373 million ($270 million).

Flagship Nevada asset

The Expanded Silicon project, fully owned by AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU), is located in the Beatty district of Nevada and includes the Merlin and Silicon deposits. The royalty covers a 74 km² area of interest and comes with no caps, step-downs or buydown provisions.

AngloGold began drilling at the site in 2018. Since then, the resource has expanded significantly.

As of December 31, 2024, the Merlin deposit contained an inferred resource of 355 million tonnes grading 1.06 g/t gold, totaling 12.1 million oz. The Silicon deposit has 121 million tonnes grading 0.87 g/t gold in the indicated category, plus 36 million tonnes grading 0.70 g/t in the inferred category.

A total of 430 km have been drilled at Expanded Silicon to date, including 132 km at Merlin in 2024.

AngloGold has described the project as the largest new gold discovery by resource in the US in more than a decade, with potential for heap leach and milling processing.

Orogen spinout

As part of the deal, a new entity — Orogen Spinco — will be created to hold all of Orogen’s other mineral interests, excluding the Expanded Silicon NSR royalty. Paddy Nicol, current CEO of Orogen, will lead the spinoff.

Triple Flag has also committed to a C$10 million equity investment in Orogen Spinco, securing an approximate 11% interest upon its public debut.

The two companies have also agreed to explore a generative exploration alliance focused on Western United States. Backed by an initial budget of $435,000, the initiative will aim to identify gold and silver targets geologically similar to the Expanded Silicon asset.

The transaction is subject to customary approvals and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025.