February 26th, 2025 - The Mine Wire

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S&A Strategies, a Canadian government relations firm, is giving away 7 networking tickets to the GROUNDUP Networking PDAC event this Sunday, March 2nd, in Toronto (value $30). The first 7 subscribers to send [email protected] an email will be given a ticket. The event is approaching capacity so make sure you register soon if you plan to attend - more info below.

METALS MARKET

**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:

  • 🇨🇦 The Ontario PC Party announced this week that they will create a new $500m Critical Minerals Processing Fund if re-elected on Thursday. The announcement states that the fund will accelerate development of processing projects, attract private capital investment and speed up key strategic projects across the critical mineral supply chain. Given that the Ontario PC Party is projected to have a 99%+ chance of winning, definitely keep an eye out for this one. (Ontario PC Party)

  • 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 In British Columbia, opposition leader John Rustad, pitched the idea of imposing a “carbon tax” on U.S. coal that is exported out of the Port of Vancouver. Coal from Wyoming & Montana that is headed to the Asian market, normally goes through the port in Delta. While this would be under the Federal governments purview, we wouldn’t be surprised to see this added to the long list of potential retaliatory measures. (CTV News)

  • 🇦🇺 Australia has allocated A$1bn (USD$636m) to a fund that will support the manufacture of green iron and its supply chains, including an initial A$500m to bail out the Whyalla steelworks in South Australia. With an election coming up in May, a key government plank is the clean energy transition. (Reuters)

  • 🇨🇩 The Democratic Republic of Congo has halted the export of cobalt for the next four months. As the world’s largest producer, the government wants the metal sold at a higher price and clearly thinks this strategy may push prices up. It looks like Indonesia could be the winner if it can ramp up its own production. The nation currently has 10% market share globally. (Fastmarkets)

  • 🇨🇩 The Democratic Republic of Congo’s President, Félix Tshisekedi, has offered the United States & European Union access to its mineral resources in exchange for helping deter the Rwanda backed M23 militia that is gaining ground in the east. The conflict is estimated to have 7,000+ casualties and risks escalating further. (The New York Times)

  • 🇮🇩 Indonesia launched the Danantara investment fund, a multi-billion-dollar initiative designed to consolidate the country’s state-owned enterprises, while catalyzing investment and fueling the nation’s ambitious growth trajectory. Initially, the fund will invest US$20bn into 20 national projects - key sectors for investment include downstream nickel, bauxite, and copper as well as a host of other industries (Business Times)

  • 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 🇷🇺 Reuters has reported this morning that the U.S. and Ukraine have agreed on a draft critical minerals deal which could be signed as early as Friday. Sources say the terms have improved on the economic side although security guarantees are still not included. It would however, give the U.S. skin in the game in Ukraine so to speak. The European Union had made its own counter offer to Ukraine on critical minerals but details were light. Russian President Putin also offered President Trump a critical minerals partnership in Russian occupied territory in Ukraine. Putin has also promised to sell its own critical minerals and aluminum to the United States. We’d love to know what China thinks of all this. (Reuters) & (Politico)

  • 🇺🇸 President Trump also instructed his government to look at possible tariffs on copper. Last year, the United States exported $11.3bn of copper and imported $9.6bn worth of copper. There are concerns around China’s build up of its copper sector and how this could impact U.S. national security down the road. There is a desire by the President to restore domestic mining, smelting and refining. (AP News)

  • 🇺🇸 Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, who chairs the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, held a hearing on Tuesday focused on space mining and growing competition with adversaries like China and Russia. Watch it here → (YouTube)

  • 🇺🇸 We may have saved the best for last. President Trump has ordered a Fort Knox gold audit to be done by Elon Musk. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there is an audit every year and that "all the gold is present and accounted for." So why an audit? Kitco has a great interview with market analyst and author Peter Grandich. From revaluation, to paying down debt, to counterbalancing China’s potential launch of a gold-backed currency, there is a lot to unpack. Definitely worth a watch. (KITCO)

THE 8th ANNUAL GROUNDUP NETWORKING RECEPTION

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MINING MATTERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Source: Equinox Gold Corp. Facebook

  • 🇨🇦 Big merger news! Equinox Gold and Calibre Mining are combining to create a major Americas-focused gold producer. The new Equinox Gold will become the second-largest gold producer in Canada with two mines producing 590,000 ounces per year when at capacity. Both of the companies stocks were down over 4% on the news. Analysts at TD Cowen said, “We would anticipate that some Calibre shareholders will be looking for a higher price which includes a change of control premium. There is potential for a superior bid to emerge.” We will be watching this one closely but see a number of potential positives in the merger. (Newsfile)

  • 🇦🇺 🇯🇵 Japan’s Mitsui & Co. has entered agreements to acquire a 40% interest in the Rhodes Ridge Joint Venture from Rio Tinto’s partners. The two transactions will cost Mitsui $5.342bn USD. Rio Tinto is the operator of the iron ore project and owns 50% of the joint venture while AMB Holdings Pty Ltd will retain a 10% stake. The project has one of the largest untapped iron ore deposits in the world with an estimated 6.8bn tonnes of mineral resources. The first ore from Rhodes Ridge is expected by 2030. (Mitsui & Co.)

  • 🇨🇱 Anglo American and Codelco signed a MOU on a framework to implement a joint mine plan for the two companies’ adjacent copper mines of Los Bronces and Andina in Chile. Duncan Wanblad, CEO of Anglo American, said, “By putting in place a joint mine plan and optimizing the use of our respective processing plants, we believe we can unlock an additional 2.7m tonnes of copper production over a 21-year period from 2030 alongside other operational synergies made possible by coordinating our activities across the site.” Sounds like a smart plan to us. (Anglo American)

  • 🇲🇱 Could it really be? Reuters reported that Barrick Gold has signed a deal with the Mali government to close their on-going dispute. According to sources, Barrick will pay a total of 275bn CFA or $438m to the Mali government, in return for the release of detained employees, seized gold, and restarting the operations at the Loulo-Gounkoto mine. Fingers crossed that this one gets resolved soon. (Reuters)

  • 🇦🇺 Powered by a coal boom, Australia’s Yancoal will look to deploy up to $1.8bn AUS into M&A deals as it has zero debt and just paid out $678m in dividends. The coal miner will potentially look at assets outside of Australia and even beyond coal. With that said, the Executive General Manager David Bennett, said that Metallurgical coal projects are an attractive option for the company. We didn’t know that Yancoal’s constitution states that 50% of net profit must be returned to shareholders as dividends every year but we like it and wish some other industries would take note. (Financial Review)

  • 🇦🇺 🇺🇸 Fleet Space and Koloma, an industry leader in technology-enabled natural hydrogen exploration, announced a partnership to accelerate exploration and development of natural hydrogen resources worldwide. Leveraging Fleet Space’s end-to-end exploration platform powered by space and AI - ExoSphere - Koloma will generate real-time 3D subsurface imaging of prospective hydrogen-forming geological formations and opportunity zones on a global scale. “Fleet Space joining forces with Koloma represents the kind of industry partnerships needed to address the urgent demand for clean energy alternatives,” said Co-Founder & CEO of Fleet Space, Flavia Tata Nardini. Very cool stuff! (Fleet Space)

  • 🇨🇦 The TSX Venture 50 is a ranking of the best 50 performing stocks in the past year on the venture exchange. In the past year, 31 of the 50 best performing stocks were from the mining sector. The 50 companies saw a combined increase in market capitalization of 289% year-on-year with an average share price appreciation of 207%. Those are some lovely gains. Congratulations to those on the list! (Financial Post)

  • 💲 Lots of companies reported earnings this past week including: Cameco, Capstone Copper, Eldorado Gold, IAMGOLD, IGO Ltd., Ivanhoe Mines, Lundin Mining, Newmont, Nutrien, Sibanye Stillwater, SSR Mining, Teck Resources and Vale SA.

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MINING BITS

  • 🇦🇺 Time Magazine sat down with Fortescue’s Executive Chairman & Founder, Andrew Forrest, to discuss his ambitious green agenda for the miner. The author writes, “The biggest challenge for Forrest isn’t one of technical feasibility. If all goes according to plan, actually decarbonizing Fortescue will be the easy part. To succeed, he must convince investors, employees, and, perhaps most importantly, other CEOs that going green is worth the risks—financial, reputational, and otherwise.” Despite a number of headwinds related to ESG, we are rooting for Mr. Forrest and Fortescue and believe they are on the right track. Definitely give this cover story a read - click here → (Time)

  • 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 This week the Center for Strategic & International Studies published a report on the importance for Canada-United States cooperation on critical minerals in relation to the defense sector. The report focuses its analysis on five key minerals, characterized by their relevance to the defense industry, reliance on foreign adversaries for supply, and the potential for Canada to become an alternative provider for the U.S. defense industry. The 5 minerals are gallium, niobium, rare earth elements, cobalt, and tungsten. They go through each one and highlight Canadian projects by Fireweed Metals, Neo Performance Materials, Magris Resources, Taseko Mines, NioBay Metals, Nuinsco Resources, Auking Mining, Rio Tinto, Geomega, Fortune Minerals, Electra Battery Materials, Vale Energy Transition Metals, Northcliff Resources and the Todd Corporation. Worth a read. (CSIS) 

  • 🇺🇸 Congratulations to Denver based Karman+ which raised $20m in seed round funding. Karman+ says they are going to mine asteroids for raw material so that it can be used right there in space without needing to launch it up a gravity well. The company plans to leverage autonomous & existing technology to bring the cost of missions under $20m. (Techcrunch)

  • 🇨🇦 Check out this new book by Tim Falconer on Viola MacMillan & her notorious Windfall scandal. “Viola MacMillan had it all: success, money, and respect. Influence, even. But in 1964, after three decades in the mining industry, one of the most fascinating women in Canadian business history was the central character in one of the country’s most famous stock scandals.” CIM Magazine interviews Mr. Falconer and gives a good background on Viola MacMillan (CIM Magazine)

  • 🇫🇷 This story has nothing to do with mining but we found it quite interesting. Two homeless men in Paris apparently stole a man’s backpack and used his wallet to purchase some items, including a scratch lottery ticket that won €500,000 (USD $526,000). Now the victim has hired a lawyer and is offering to split the winnings with the thieves. Personally, we feel that the lottery should pay out the winnings to the victim since they have the credit card purchaser information as well as the ticket information. What do you think? (AP News)

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