April 9th, 2025 - The Mine Wire

METALS MARKET

Well it has been a complete bloodbath this past week when it comes to commodities & equities markets. WTI Crude Oil (-17.90%) and Copper (-18.53%) were the biggest losers, but lets be honest, the graph above is the ugliest we’ve seen it since we started The Mine Wire over a year ago.

^{**For our chart above we are taking prices from Tuesday 4pm EST to Tuesday 4pm EST, so not the typical week of Monday through Friday.}

KEEPING AN EYE ON GOVERNMENT DECISIONS

Here are some of the notable government policy moves this week:

• 🇺🇸 Unless you are a hermit living in the woods, you’ve likely already read a piece about President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs and how they were calculated. Argentina was first to completely drop tariffs on U.S. goods while several other countries immediately announced they would be dropping their own tariffs. Apparently some 50+ countries have requested negotiations with the U.S.. Others like Canada responded with targeted tariffs, while China announced their own 34% blanket tariff increase on U.S. goods. China’s Ministry of Commerce also added seven categories of medium and heavy rare earths, including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium-related items, that will be placed on an export control list as of April 4th. Trump fired back that China had 24hrs to reverse tariffs or will face a total 104% increase as of today. Hot off the press this morning, China said it won’t be bullied and will respond by further raising its own tariffs on U.S. imports to 84% effective tomorrow. Things look like they will continue to heat up in the near term, but instead of getting your popcorn out, we suggest looking for those market opportunities. (Reuters)

• 🇺🇸 Tuesday was a big day for Coal in America as President Trump signed a host of executive orders to help bolster the industry. The first order defines coal as a “mineral” instead of a nonrenewable fossil fuel, giving it more leeway in its use. Another executive order directs agencies to lift barriers to coal mining on federal lands and prioritize coal leasing. A separate executive order promotes grid reliability, including by using fossil fuels like coal. And yet another executive order directs the Justice Department to investigate states that are discriminating against coal. (CBS News)

• 🇺🇸 In other U.S. news The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is among the federal agencies selected for spending cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). According to the DOGE website, 34 MSHA offices in 19 states have been targeted for closure, including seven in Kentucky. There also are four offices slated to close in Pennsylvania; two each in California, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Texas and West Virginia; and one each in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming. (OHS Canada)

• 🇨🇦 On the campaign trail in Canada, Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre promised to speed up environmental assessments, end jurisdictional duplication of reviews and create a one-stop shop. It certainly sounds great, but the Federal government needs to work with the provinces so getting this worked out could take a minute. We also like the focus on getting priority projects approved of which the Conservative leader mentioned 10 which include 7 mining projects: Rook 1 Uranium Mine (Saskatchewan), Springpole Lake Gold (Ontario), Upper Beaver Gold Mine (Ontario), Northern Road Link (Ontario), Crawford Nickel Project (Ontario), Troilus Gold and Copper Mine (Quebec), Cape Ray Gold and Silver Mine (Newfoundland). (Conservative Party of Canada)

• 🇨🇦 The N.W.T. & Nunavut Chamber of Mines is calling on the N.W.T government to remove property taxes from the three operating diamond mines. With global challenges in the diamond mining sector and significant losses in the last fiscal, we aren’t sure a property tax removal is enough to keep these mines going, but we like the suggestion. Certainly workers paying taxes is better than a shut mine. (CBC)

• 🇩🇪 Germany currently has the 2nd largest gold reserves (3,350 tonnes) in the world, behind the United States (8,100 tonnes). Well it turns out that they keep roughly 30% (1,200 tonnes) in the United States at the Federal Reserve. Germany’s incoming leadership is discussing whether to repatriate those 1,200 tonnes worth $124 billion over concerns that the United States is no longer a reliable partner. A great read from KITCO as it seems the Germans weren’t allowed to inspect their holdings in the past. (KITCO)

• 🇰🇿 According to the government, Kazakh geologists have discovered a rare earth metal deposit with estimated resources of more than 20 million metric tons. The deposit contained neodymium, cerium, lanthanum and yttrium. If the estimate is correct, this would put Kazakhstan behind only China and Brazil in terms of total reserves of rare earth metals. (Reuters)

• 🇰🇷 South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office this week after a constitutional court upheld Parliament’s impeachment for imposing martial law on December 3rd, 2024. The constitution states that an election is needed within 60 days and therefore, Koreans will go to the polls on June 5th, 2025 to elect a new President. (Reuters)

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MINING MATTERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

• 🇦🇺 Glencore has approached the Queensland & Federal governments for support to keep its Mount Isa copper smelter and Townville copper refinery assets open. Sam Strohmayr, Chief Operating Officer for Glencore’s Australian zinc and copper assets said, "We are assessing the future of our copper processing assets against a backdrop of the largest drops in treatment and refining charges in 25 years, with smelters in countries like China and Indonesia heavily subsidized by their governments." With only a few copper smelters in Australia, it makes national security sense to us to keep these assets in operation. Making your pitch in the middle of a national election also seems to be a great way to get a few commitments. (ABC)

• 🇦🇺 According to Reuters, BHP considered spinning out its profitable Australian iron ore and coal assets in order to focus on energy transition metals. In the end, the mining giant backed away from the move as it needs capital funding for its copper project in Chile and its Potash project in Canada. (Reuters)

• 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia's Ma'aden is looking to form a rare earths processing partnership with at least one foreign firm. According to sources, four companies are being considered: U.S.-based MP Materials (NYSE: MP), China's Shenghe Resources (600392.SS), Australia's Lynas Rare Earths (ASX: LYC), and Canada's Neo Performance Materials (TSX: NEO). It will be interesting to see who Ma’aden decides to work with, particularly given trade war tensions. (Reuters)

• 🇧🇪 🇫🇷 In response to China’s new barriers on rare earths, Belgium’s Solvay, is looking to expand its own rare earths processing plant in La Rochelle, France. CEO Philippe Kehren said, "Now let's see if people really want to develop this value chain because if we want to invest further, we will need some comfort from the customers." The company will also seek EU support which seems like a no-brainer to us. (Reuters)

• 🇦🇺 Australia's Galan Lithium (ASX: GLN) rejected an offer from Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co (603799.SS), and Renault Group to acquire the lithium explorer's stake in its Argentine assets for $150m in cash. The stock shot up over 38% on the news but has come back down in the days since. With a current market cap of $101.25m AUS, the miner called the offer “opportunistic” and “undervalued”. (Reuters)

• 🇨🇦 Wesdome Gold Mines (TSX: WDO) will acquire Angus Gold (TSX-V: GUS) in a cash and share deal worth $40m CAD. The offer represents a premium of 59% to Angus’ 20-day volume-weighted average price ending April 4, 2025. (Wesdome Gold Mines)

• 🇨🇦 New Gold Inc. (TSX: NGD) entered into an agreement with Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) to acquire the remaining 19.9% free cash flow interest in the Company's New Afton Mine. The miner will pay US$300m to OTPP. In 2020, the OTPP announced a strategic partnership with New Gold whereby it provided upfront cash proceeds of US$300m in exchange for a 46.0% free cash flow interest in New Afton. In 2024, Ontario Teachers’ free cash flow interest in New Afton was reduced from 46.0% to 19.9% in exchange for a cash payment of US$255m from New Gold. That seems like a very healthy return to us and a great case to show other Canadian pension plans that it is time to invest more in the mining sector. (OTPP) & (New Gold)

• 🇵🇪 Endeavour Silver Corp. (NYSE: EXK) will acquire Peru’s Compañia Minera Kolpa S.A. and its main asset, the Huachocolpa Uno Mine for US$145m. This will be Endeavour’s third producing mine and it’s first in Peru. (Endeavour Silver)

• 🇺🇸 Congratulations to Maverick Metals which secured US$19m in equity funding, led by Olive Tree Capital. The funds will help the company accelerate the commercialization of LithX™, a novel lixiviant designed to improve critical metals recovery and reduce processing costs. (Maverick Metals)

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MINING BITS

• 🇦🇺 Associate Professor Cristiana Ciobanu and Professor Nigel Cook, scientists at the University of Adelaide, discovered a new mineral and chose to name it after BHP’s Dr. Kathy Ehrig, in recognition of her contributions to the fields of geology and geometallurgy. The new mineral is called Ehrigite and has been officially recognized by the International Mineralogical Association. (BHP)

• 🇺🇸 According to Reuters, US Electric Utilities are fielding tons of requests from Big Tech companies & AI Data Centers for new power capacity. In one case, the requested increases are 4x the utility company’s current peak output. Even if these increases are overstated, there is no doubt that more capacity will be needed. Natural Gas, Coal and Uranium make up the boatload of production, so we would expect to see them benefit the most from increased demand. (Reuters)

• 🇰🇷 South Korea plans to transform the former mining city of Taebaek into a national testing ground for lunar resource exploration, leveraging the city’s abandoned coal mines as proving grounds for space mining technologies that could one day help extract helium-3 and rare metals from the moon’s surface. We love to see the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources leverage this old mine to provide scientific research for the future. (Pulse)

• 🇧🇴 In Bolivia, six people are dead after a mining collective was attacked with dynamite by a rival group. The groups were competing over a gold-mining area. The heinous attack highlights societal challenges that the poorest nation in South America is dealing with. (Al Jazeera)

• 🇨🇦 Let’s us end on a more positive note. Congratulations to Rio Tinto which found a 158.20 carat rough diamond at its Diavik mine located 200km south of the Arctic Circle in the remote Northwest Territories of Canada. It is one of only five yellow diamonds weighing more than 100 carats ever unearthed at Diavik in its 22-year history. Diavik’s production primarily consists of white gem quality diamonds, with less than one percent of its production yielding rare yellow diamonds. Very cool - all we know is we can’t afford it! (Rio Tinto)

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