January 22nd, 2025 - The Mine Wire

METALS MARKET

🇩🇪 The German economy contracted for the 2nd consecutive year as its economy shrank 0.2% in 2024. In the previous year, it contracted 0.3%. Higher competition, inflated energy prices as well as high interest rates, have all taken a toll on Europe’s largest economy.

^{**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.}

Delphic Research + The Mine Wire: A Partnership to Serve the Mining Sector Even Better

This week’s presidential inauguration and the subsequent flurry of staff appointments and executive orders was a reminder of how mercurial and fast-moving government can be – and how consequential. Staying on top of the information that is relevant to you is critical to you working at your best and publications, like The Mine Wire, are part of your strategy to stay informed.

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KEEPING AN EYE ON GOVERNMENT DECISIONS

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

• 🇺🇸 President Trump took office on Monday and wasted no time as he pushed through a host of executive orders. “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential” was one of two very relevant orders to the mining sector. It specifically mentions energy, minerals, timber and seafood as well as the importance of each to the Nation’s economic and national security. The President also declared a national energy emergency which includes critical minerals, uranium and coal and a host of changes to boost production and processing. In the President’s own words, “We will drill baby, drill.” He also enacted a temporary withdrawal on offshore wind leasing as well as a host of other initiatives. Full list here —> (The White House)

• 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇲🇽 The President did not implement 25% tariffs against Canada & Mexico on his first day in office, but did say they he thinks tariffs will be coming around February 1st after the government takes a closer look at the U.S.’s trade imbalances. And while the USMCA isn’t up for renewal until 2026, the President has signaled that he would like to renegotiate now. Could this all be a negotiating tactic? Time will tell.

• 🇨🇦 In response to the Tariff threats, current Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, appointed the Prime Minister’s Council on Canada-U.S. Relations. There are some big business names like Linda Hasenfratz, CEO of major auto parts company Linamar as well as Tim Gitzel, CEO of Cameco Corporation. We would have liked more representation from industry in general, but are pleased to see mining represented at the table. The Mine Wire got the following quote from Tim Gitzel, “Cameco is always willing to do what is in the best interest of Canada. The hope is that unencumbered trade in nuclear goods and services between Canada and the United States continues, allowing our countries to support each other in achieving prosperity.” Cameco gets two thumbs up from us! Full list of members here —> (Prime Minister’s Office)

• 🇦🇺 In Australia, where the political parties are gearing up for what looks to be a competitive Federal election this spring, Prime Minister Albanese has promised $2bn in production credits to support “green aluminum.” The money would be set aside to pay aluminum smelters an amount per tonne produced using renewable electricity before 2036. The Australian Aluminum Council welcomed the announcement as they had lobbied for such funding, while Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he would oppose the investment. Dutton said, "We certainly need more aluminum being produced in Australia... but I can't find anywhere in the world an aluminum smelter, a high energy use aluminum smelter, that is only run on wind and solar and batteries... It's a $2 billion con job." (ABC)

• 🇦🇺 🇺🇸 Both Australia & The United States came out with reports this week suggesting that the nations have vast quantities of hydrogen (& helium in Australia’s case). Certainly positive news given all of the hype around the potential of hydrogen. (Geoscience Australia) & (USGS)

• 🇨🇦 The Ontario Government announced that it has awarded $7m to 17 projects in the province through its Critical Minerals Innovation Fund. It specifically mentions NetZero Metals & EV Nickel as two examples. (Ontario Government)

• 🇨🇦 On Monday, the Alberta government lifted a ban on coal exploration in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountain. The regulator has said that suspended projects can now resume. The government is facing a number of lawsuits from companies that were impacted by the ban. The Premier has said she was thinking about taxpayers and the potential claim of $16bn by companies when she removed the ban. (CBC)

• 🇸🇪 Sweden has started building a final storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Forsmark that will be able to hold 12,000 tons of fuel for 100,000 years. Only one other country, Finland, is currently building such a facility. Most spent nuclear fuel sits in cooling ponds near reactors. The Forsmark final repository will consist of 60 km of tunnels buried 500 meters down in 1.9 billion year old bedrock. Until a technological solution presents itself, this certainly seems like a great option. (Reuters)

• 🇰🇷 The South Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced this week that the government plans to unveil a draft of the “Development and Management of Deep Sea Water Act” in the second half of this year. Now take that with a grain of salt given all of the commotion going on in South Korea right now, but certainly the industrial powerhouse will want to source more of its own minerals if possible. An act would allow the Minister to support deep-ocean mining activities while outlining a regime to provide rules, oversight and coordination among other things. (Business Korea)

MINING MATTERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

• 🇺🇸 The Metals Company (NASDAQ: TMC) has seen a major surge in its share price in the past month as investors believe President Trump will be supportive of seabed mining. Quite a number of Trump’s nominated appointees have been vocal of their support for the nascent industry, despite a number of concerns raised by environmental groups. Their stock is up over 90% the past month and over 50% the past week. (WSJ)

• 🇨🇳 Zijin Mining announced it will acquire a 24.82% interest in Zangge Mining at RMB ¥35 per share, for a total of RMB ¥13.729bn (USD $1.89bn).

• 🇸🇦 Aramco & Ma’aden announced the signing of non-binding Heads of Terms, which envisages the formation of a minerals exploration and mining joint venture (JV) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Drawing on the unique expertise of both companies, they aim to focus on energy transition minerals and look to be in production by 2027. (Aramco)

• 🇸🇦 🇧🇷 The Brazilian Federal Government announced a BRL 8bn (USD $1.33bn) investment by the Saudi mining company Ma'aden in geological mapping, research, and mineral exploitation in Brazil. Ma’aden will open its first office in São Paulo. Sounds like a win-win for both parties. (Brazil Government)

• 🇲🇳 France’s Orano Group signed an investment agreement for the development and operation of the Zuuvch-Ovoo uranium mine in Mongolia's southeastern Dornogovi province. With a 30-year estimated lifespan, the project represents an initial investment of around $500m before the deposit comes on stream, and a total of $1.6bn over the mine's lifetime, creating 1,600 direct and indirect jobs. (Orano Group)

• 🇺🇸 Ioneer Ltd (ASX: INR, Nasdaq: IONR) announced the closing of a US $996m loan from the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office under the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program to support the development of an on-site processing facility at the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project in Esmeralda County, Nevada. The funding was $296m higher than the preliminary offer and was seen as an out-going priority for President Biden and his green agenda. Sealed & signed, the funding is now committed and Ioneer has seen it’s stock rise over 35% in the past week. (Ioneer)

• 🇺🇸 Privately held Michigan Potash Company secured a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $1.26bn from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office. The loan guarantee will help finance the construction of a potash solution mine and processing plant in Osceola County, Michigan, to produce approximately 800,000 tons per year of fertilizer-grade muriate of potash and about 1 million tons per year of salt. (U.S. DoE)

• 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 Almonty Industries (TSX: AII, ASX: AII) who we’ve covered numerous times due to their promising Tungsten project in South Korea, is planning to change its jurisdiction of incorporation from Canada to the State of Delaware, United States. The company stated, “With rising global tensions, Almonty Industries carefully evaluated various scenarios and concluded that initiating the US domestication process was the most strategic course of action.” The company goes on to explain in more details its reasons for the move. Certainly it will be interesting to see if this is a one-off, or whether others follow suit. (Almonty Industries)

• 🇨🇦 Congratulations to Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSXV: UCU, OTCQX: UURAF) which announced that it has been awarded $500,000 in partnership with Ontario's Critical Minerals Innovation Fund. (Newsfile)

THE 8th ANNUAL GROUNDUP NETWORKING RECEPTION

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MINING BITS

• 🇿🇦 Late last year we covered the stand-off between South African police and hundreds of illegal miners who were caught in an underground mine. After several months 240 illegal miners were pulled out of the mine while 78 bodies were found inside the mine. James Neo Tshoaeli is accused of being the “kingpin” of the operations and was one of the 240 miners detained. He is allegedly responsible for deaths, assaults, torture and hoarding food & water supplies. However, he immediately escaped custody with the help of police officers before being transferred and booked at a police station. A highly embarrassing event for the South African police and a stark reminder of the issues around bribery in the nation. (BBC) 

• 🇬🇧 BDO came out with it’s 2025 Annual Report. Definitely credit to the designer of the report as we like the maps, flags & periodic symbols to accompany insights. Definitely worth a read. (BDO)

• 🇬🇧 Andrew Sweetman, a professor at the UK’s Scottish Association for Marine Science, who discovered that metallic rocks on the seabed floor were producing “dark oxygen”, has secured $2.7m from the Nippon Foundation for a new three year project to further investigate his findings. (CNN)

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