March 26th, 2025 - The Mine Wire

METALS MARKET

Copper continued its incredible rise this week due to a number of factors. First, speculation that a 25% tariff could soon be imposed by the U.S. has prompted traders to secure shipments ahead of potential restrictions, tightening supply. Second, China’s plan to increase its deficit and stimulate its own economy is expected to further boost demand. Sprinkle in higher usage in electrification, renewable energy and artificial intelligence, and gains seem likely for the foreseeable future.

^{**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:

• 🇨🇦 Newly appointed Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has called an election which will take place on April 28th. Only two months ago, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre seemed like a shoe-in. Today, the incumbent Liberal government under Mark Carney seems poised to win a majority government in what has been the most dramatic shift in public sentiment in our lifetime. Campaigns do matter and the election will be competitive, but it is now the Liberal Party’s to lose. Pierre Poilievre promised to fast-track the development of the Ring of Fire in Ontario, while Mark Carney promised to prioritize infrastructure projects, including those related to energy and critical minerals. Carney also promised to eliminate federal duplicative requirements by recognizing provincial assessments for major projects while Poilievre committed earlier this month to overhaul the environmental assessment process. The positive? Whatever the outcome, we are likely to see more pro economic development policies on the other side of this election which should be good for mining.

• 🇨🇦 Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford appointed his new cabinet last Thursday. While many Ministers stayed in the same roles, there was a shake up related to mining. Stephen Lecce, the Minister of Energy & Electrification, will now take on the title of Minister of Energy & Mines. Previous Minister of Mines, George Pirie, will now be the Minister of Northern Economic Development and Growth. Greg Rickford takes on the title of Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation and the Minister Responsible for Ring of Fire Economic and Community Partnerships. For those of you with operations/projects in Ontario, it never hurts to send a congratulations letter with a meeting request. (Ontario Government)

• 🇨🇦 The Association for Mineral Exploration (AME) in British Columbia is not pleased with the government’s new new Mineral Claims Consultation Framework. "AME does not endorse the final version of the framework as there are serious issues that have not been addressed. While we have provided consistent recommendations, the government has chosen to apply a political response in some of its decision-making. This is disappointing to AME and to the members we represent." (Newswire)

• 🇺🇸 Last Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order to increase domestic minerals production for national security by invoking Section 301 of Title 3 of the United States Code. The order is ambitious and lays out immediate steps for 10, 30 and 45 days. In a nutshell, the order aims to speed up permitting while opening up funding streams for essential projects. The order defines minerals as critical minerals but also includes uranium, copper, potash, gold, and any other element, compound or material as determined by the Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council. The additional inclusions make a lot of sense to us and we like the sense of urgency. These two publications have done a deep dive on what this means so check them out. (CSIS) & (E&ENews)

• 🇺🇸 Speaking of the National Energy Dominance Council, former Newmont executive David Copley has apparently been tapped to oversee the mining portfolio. Mr. Copley has an impressive CV with various leadership roles in government, consulting and the mining sector. Up until recently he served as Head of Strategy Development & Evaluation for Newmont Corporation. Something tells me that Mr. Copley is going to be a very popular guy this year! And yeah, we’d be sending a congratulations & meeting request letter to him if it was relevant to us. Hint, Hint. (Reuters)

• 🇦🇺 Australia’s Federal government released their budget 2025-26 this week, their last before the upcoming election which must take place on May 3rd, 10th or 17th. It includes $2bn in Green Aluminum Production Credits, a $1bn Green Iron Investment Fund and a $1.5bn allocation to support priority areas through the Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund. We won’t delve too much into this budget for now, since the upcoming election will determine the fate of these programs. We will have a full analysis and what it means for mining post-Canada and Australia’s election. The Minerals Council of Australia raised the alarm on The Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive not being extended in the budget. However, The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies was confident that the extension would be addressed during the upcoming election campaign. (Australian Government) & (AFR)

• 🇪🇺 The European Commission has adopted a list of 47 Strategic Projects to boost domestic strategic raw material capacities. They are located across 13 EU Member States: Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Estonia, Czechia, Greece, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Poland and Romania. These projects will be able to benefit from coordinated support by the Commission, Member States and financial institutions to become operational, notably regarding access to finance and support to connect with relevant off-takers. They will also benefit from streamlined permitting provisions, to ensure predictability for project promoters while safeguarding environmental, social and governance standards. You can view a map with the 47 projects and who owns them. (The European Commission)

• 🇨🇳 According to Bloomberg, China will increase its strategic reserves of key industrial metals. Not surprising given the rise in geopolitical tensions. The metals include cobalt, copper, nickel and lithium. (BNN Bloomberg)

• 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea's Parliament has passed a new Income Tax Bill that will overhaul the nation’s tax system, with a focus on corporate reforms while leaving personal income taxes unchanged. One change is the simplification of depreciation rules. The revised system will allow faster depreciation for over 90% of those categories, encouraging investment in new equipment. Most notably, a new capital gains tax has been introduced specifically for the resource sector. A 15% tax will now apply to capital gains made on resource leases and assets. Additionally, the new tax law mandates the establishment of a decommissioning fund. This fund will ensure that mining companies allocate resources to restore mine sites once operations have ceased. (One PNG)

MINING 4 BEER & VANCOUVER MINING CLUB EVENT

Mining 4 Beer Vancouver is collaborating with the Vancouver Mining Club on Thursday, March 27th. The venue is the Vesper Lounge - 905 Dunsmuir St.

Arrive anytime after 2:30pm as both groups will be there until late in the evening. A big thank you to our sponsors Sandman Media Inc. and Segev LLP for the door prizes and to our partners Bureau Vertias Group, Mine Wire Media, Exploration Sites and Quantum Critical Metals Corp.

The Vancouver Mining Club always makes their events a little more fun with a theme. This month the theme is "A Spring Affair" with attire to be BOLD and BEAUTIFUL.

MINING MATTERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

• 🇦🇺 Australia’s Gold Road Resources (ASX: GOR) rejected a $2.1bn takeover bid from South Africa’s Gold Fields (JSE: GFI) claiming the offer undervalued the company and was “highly opportunistic.” How so? Well, Gold Road Resources says the takeover offer coincided with a lower March 2025 quarter production due to maintenance on the primary crusher and the failure of two conveyor belts. They also point out that Gold Fields is the Manager of the Gruyere Joint Venture - basically they aren’t to blame for the issues. Lastly, they remind shareholders that this offer has come in advance of the completion of exploration and studies into the potential underground expansion of the Gruyere mine and therefore, the offer doesn’t attribute any value to what could be a larger gold bonanza so to speak. Well, Gold Road Resources is up 19% since the news broke while Gold Fields is down about 5.5%. (Gold Road Resources)

• 🇦🇺 Trafigura has scrapped its plans to build an A$750m green hydrogen plant at its Port Pirie lead smelter in South Australia. A spokesperson said, "In 2023, Trafigura completed an A$5 million feasibility study into a green hydrogen project at Port Pirie. Following completion of the study, the decision was taken not to proceed further." The study was partly funded by the South Australian government, but neither has given a reason for the project being shelved. (Reuters)

• 🇨🇦 Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM) continues to spread the love as it invested C$2.7m into Cartier Resources (CVE: ECR) through a non-brokered private placement, bringing its current equity position to 27.7%. Agnico Eagle will be able to bring its equity position up to 32.2% should it exercise its existing and offered warrants. (Agnico Eagle Mines)

• 🇨🇱 Congratulations to Chile’s Konec who was acquired by South Africa’s Master Drilling Group. Konec has worked with clients like Codelco to develop an AI-powered anti-collison system. (Master Drilling)

• 🇨🇦 Electra Battery Materials (TSX.V: ELBM.V) announced that it received a letter of intent from the Canadian government for $20m in funding to support completion of construction and commissioning of North America’s first battery grade cobalt refinery. Definitely a big win for the company and for the town of Temiskaming Shores where the project is located. (Electra Battery Materials)

• 🇮🇳 According to Reuters, some Indian mining and cement companies have approached Dutch shipbuilder Royal IHC for technical assistance as they prepare to bid for deep-sea mineral blocks. According to sources IHC has assisted with knowledge of mining techniques and helping Indian companies estimate costs for extracting minerals from offshore blocks. (Reuters)

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MINING BITS

• 🇨🇦 The Mining Industry Human Resources Council announced that The Gearing Up program has been renewed. Applications will reopen on April 1, 2025. The program is creating over 2,000 new work-integrated learning opportunities, with wage subsidies up to $7,000 available to employers who offer work experience, co-op placements, internships, field placements or applied projects for post-secondary students. (MiHR)

• 🇺🇸 On the topic of awesome young people getting into mining, we loved this story and video of a 19-year-old woman working as a miner for Lannon Stone Products in Wisconsin. She told the local news: "Knowing I have a really good job at a really young age that could get me farther in life, I'm really happy about it." We need more champions like Jayme Slavik spreading the word about mining as a career. (TMJ4)

• 🇦🇺 The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has seen a surge in secondary listings as exploration companies look to diversify their listings outside of North America. With A$4.1 trillion in domestic pension wealth and a willingness by pension plans to invest in ASX companies, the secondary listing has become a no-brainer for a number of companies. (Reuters)

• 🇺🇸 We are a bit late on this one, but congratulations to VerAI Discoveries (VerAI) which secured $24m in Series B funding. The new capital will help accelerate the testing and economic development of VerAI’s 60+ mineral projects with its exploration and development partners, while expanding the company’s portfolio and continuing to refine and advance its platform. VerAI is an AI-driven mineral asset company that leverages its proprietary AI Discovery Platform to systematically identify and build an asset portfolio of high-probability locations of concealed mineral deposits. (VerAI Discoveries)

• 🇨🇦 Also a round of applause for Summit Nanotech which closed a US$25.5m funding round to accelerate the commercialization of their direct lithium extraction technology. Amanda Hall, Founder and CEO, said, "We are ready to provide our industry-leading solution to lithium mining companies who want to maintain a strong focus on economics and environmental responsibility." (Summit Nanotech)

• 🇺🇸 A jury in North Dakota ruled that Greenpeace must pay a Texas-based pipeline company roughly $666.9m in damages for the environmental advocacy group’s role in 2016-2017 protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline in the state. The jury found Greenpeace USA must pay the bulk of the damages, nearly US$404m, while Greenpeace Fund Inc. and Greenpeace International would each pay roughly US$131m. While we expect Greenpeace USA to appeal the decision, there is no way a regional organization (1 of 25 independent ones) with $40m a year in revenue and $38m in expenses is going to be able to pay those damages. We smell a few bankruptcies on the way should the ruling hold. (Reuters)

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