July 23rd, 2025 - The Mine Wire

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:

• 🇦🇺 Australia’s Prime Minister Albanese was touting his second official visit to China and his fourth meeting with President Xi Jinping. He also attended a roundtable on steel decarbonization with major Australian iron ore miners and Chinese steelmakers. Not surprisingly, a beloved Panda was front and center in the communications. Panda Diplomacy refers to the practice of the Chinese government gifting or loaning giant pandas to other countries as a symbol of friendship and to strengthen diplomatic ties. A form of soft power, it has been leveraged since the Tang Dynasty (618-907). (Australian Government)

• 🇨🇳 In a not so pandaesque move, China has put export restrictions on technologies critical for producing electric vehicle batteries. Several technologies used to manufacture EV batteries and process lithium, a critical mineral for batteries, were added to the government’s export control list. Additionally, China’s state security agency said it is cracking down on alleged smuggling of rare earths minerals that it says threaten national security.

• 🇨🇦 A reminder for those in Canada, Federal pre-budget submissions are also open until August 28th, 2025. You can submit your thoughts as an individual or organization here → (Gov’t of Canada)

• 🇨🇦 Canada’s First Ministers met in Ontario this week to discuss their ongoing work to get major projects built across the country in order to strengthen Canada’s economic resilience. The Prime Minister shared that the Major Federal Projects Office and the Indigenous Advisory Council will be operational by Labour Day – acting as the point of contact for governments, proponents, and communities to submit their proposals. (Canada Government)

• 🇯🇵 🇺🇸 Japan has landed a tariff deal with the United States. Japan will provide a $550bn package of U.S. bound investments and loans. In return, tariffs on Japanese autos will be cut from 27.5% to 15%. All other tariffs will be reduced to 15% from August 1st. The Nikkei was up on the news. While we don’t have all of the details, this seems to be a win for President Trump. The Japanese coalition government just lost control of the upper house in elections 2 days ago and Prime Minister Ishiba is facing calls to resign. With cost of living and U.S. tariffs as major issues for voters, a deal is critical if Ishiba wants to save his own skin. (Reuters)

• 🇵🇭 🇺🇸 The Philippines also landed a trade deal with the United States. The East Asian island nation will see a tariff rate of 19% on exported goods to the U.S. while American companies will get tariff free access to the Philippines’ market.

• 🇨🇦 During the First Minister’s meeting Saskatchewan announced that it was joining Alberta & Ontario’s cooperation agreement on pipelines, critical minerals and energy development. The MOU calls for new pipelines, rail lines and a new deep sea port in James Bay. We will keep an eye on this one as any new infrastructure could make new projects viable. (Ontario Government)

• 🇺🇸 President Trump signed four proclamations that grant two years of regulatory relief to coal plants, taconite iron ore processing facilities, and certain chemical manufacturers that produce chemicals related to semiconductors, medical device sterilization, advanced manufacturing, and national defense systems. These proclamations allow these facilities to comply with the EPA standards that were in place before the Biden Administration rulemakings for two years. (The White House)

• 🇺🇸 The U.S. Department of Defense told Reuters that it plans to keep investing in critical minerals projects. The official said, "Rebuilding the critical minerals and rare earth magnet sectors of the U.S. industrial base won't happen overnight, but (the Pentagon) is taking immediate action to streamline processes and identify opportunities to strengthen critical minerals production." MP Materials is up over 64% since their deal with the DoD. We’d love to be a fly on the wall of the Pentagon to know who is next. Maybe we will just keep an eye on the Armed Services Committee members to see what they are buying. (Reuters)

• 🇬🇧 The British government has announced a public inquiry into the 1984 "Battle of Orgreave," a violent clash between police and striking miners. Roughly 120 miners and police were hurt when officers fought miners trying to stop trucks entering the Orgreave Coking Plant in northern England on June 18, 1984. The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign has been calling for an inquiry. The want to understand why police from around the country were brought in and what their orders were. (ABC News)

• 🇧🇼 Watch this speech from Botswana’s President calling out De Beers for not doing a good enough job selling diamonds. He says, “But the country needs the money, and it has the diamonds, and somebody who is supposed to be selling the diamonds is not doing the job.” He added: “We will take the diamonds and see what we can do with them. They are ours. These diamonds are ours. And so before the end of this year, something very drastic in that space will happen. If it doesn’t happen, we will die trying.” Unfortunately the market for natural diamonds has been tough with lab grown diamonds and shifting preferences. We think De Beers should build on their charitable work in the past with elephants and offer a premium Botswana mined diamond where a significant portion of the sale goes to protecting the country’s elephants. Cue awesome branding campaign, Hollywood & influencer support and who knows. Certainly better than sitting back and hoping. Find the President’s talk right here → (LinkedIn) 

MINING MATTERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

• 🇨🇦 Congratulations to Calgary’s GeologicAI for closing US$44 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Blue Earth Capital, with participation from BHP Ventures and Rio Tinto, as well as existing investors such as Breakthrough Energy. “GeologicAI is addressing one of the mining’s sector’s most pressing challenges,” said Laurel Buckner, Vice President, Ventures at BHP. “We have a proud track record of building partnerships with innovative companies who can bring new ideas to our business, and GeologicAI stands out as a catalyst for real change,” said Pekka Santasalo, Head of Growth & Ventures at Rio Tinto. Strong supportive words from the globe’s two largest miners is never a bad thing! (GeologicAI)

• 🇨🇦 In less positive Canadian news, Burgundy Diamond Mines (ASX: BDM) has laid off several hundred employees and contractors at one of its two active operations at the Ekati Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories.

• 🇨🇦 BHP warned that its flagship potash project in Canada would be delayed until mid-2027 and could be over budget by as much as $1.7bn. BHP blamed the cost and schedule blowouts on “design and scope changes” and said inflationary pressures and “lower productivity outcomes” were also a factor. The total project cost will now be between US$7bn and US$7.4bn. 🇹🇿 In other BHP news, it sold its stake in Lifezone Metals’ Nickel project in Tanzania for up to US$83m.

• 🇺🇸 Energy Fuels (TSX: EFR) is producing heavy rare earth element oxides at its White Mesa Mill at pilot scale, and could be in a position to produce separated heavy rare earth oxides on a commercial scale as early as Q4 2026 from existing feed sources and, if a production decision is made in 2025, from its permitted Donald Project by the end of 2027, thereby providing much-needed U.S.-produced heavy rare earth oxides. Given the current geopolitical context, rare earths are as Mugatu would say, so hot right now. Energy Fuels is up a staggering 66% this past month and is now the top performer in our own portfolio! (PR Newswire)

• 🇨🇦 Equinox Gold (TSX: EQX) has appointed its current President and COO, Darren Hall, as its new CEO & Director. Hall is a proven executive who previously served as Calibre Mining’s President & CEO from 2021 through to the transaction with Equinox Gold. David Schummer also gets a promotion to COO. He was formerly the EVP of Operations. Congratulations to both and get your notes, bottles and gifts ready to send to these two! (Equinox Gold)

• 🇵🇪 Spain’s Zelestra told Reuters that it plans to invest at least $1bn in renewable energy plants over the next five years powering mines in copper-rich southern Peru. The CEO said, "I'm convinced that most, if not all, of the energy projects we build in Peru will be used to supply mining companies." Freeport-McMoRan, MMG Ltd., Glencore, Anglo American and Mexico Group are all present in the region. We like this move but what do we know. (Reuters)

• 🇧🇼 NexMetals (CVE: NEXM, NASDAQ: NEXM) received a US$150m Letter of Interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States for its critical metals projects in Botswana. The funding will support the re-development of NEXM's Selebi and Selkirk nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum group metal mines in Botswana. (NexMetals)

MINING BITS

• 🇨🇫 The Wagner mercenary group killed at least 11 people trespassing at a gold mine it controls in the Central African Republic. Residents in nearby villages are not allowed at the mine site, but some unemployed youth have risked venturing into the mine at night to look for gold residue and gravel. The mercenaries have served as personal bodyguards for President Faustin Archange Touadera since 2023 and operate in the country with impunity. (AP News)

• 🇬🇪 Georgia has arrested two men after a Georgian national tried to sell $3m worth of illegally acquired uranium to a Turkish citizen. (Reuters)

• 🇺🇦 The head of the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant in Ukraine has been arrested on tax evasion charges. The company deliberately understated the price of iron ore products when exporting to related legal entities - non-residents located in Europe and the Middle East. This resulted in the avoidance of UAH 1.7 billion ($41m) in income tax. The company is part of the Ferrexpo group which has faced numerous charges from the government in recent years and who’s majority shareholder is currently under arrest in France as Ukraine seeks extradition for other unrelated charges. The stock is down 57.31% this year and explains why a company with nearly a billion in annual revenue is trading for peanuts. (Ukraine Government)

• 🇿🇲 Zambia & the British Geological Survey released a new guide to Zambia’s critical minerals highlighting the country’s current and potential critical mineral resources. This first edition of the ‘Critical minerals potential of Zambia’ guide outlines the current and potential critical mineral resources of Zambia. It provides insight into the location of operating mines and known occurrences, geological information, exploration activity and production for each critical mineral in Zambia from 2019 to 2023. (British Geological Survey)

• 🇮🇸 We have saved the most heartfelt story for last - a geologist couple from Colorado got to witness volcanic eruptions while on their honeymoon in Iceland. Not to stereotype anyone, but why aren’t we surprised. We always enjoy watching videos of lava flows → (AP News)

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