October 15th, 2025 - The Mine Wire

METALS MARKET

Gold & silver continued their meteoric rise with strong gains this week. Bank of America hiked its own 2026 outlook for gold to $5,000/oz. Meanwhile, precious metals analysts at Heraeus said gold, silver, platinum and palladium are all severely overbought based on technical indicators. Yet Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, said the “biggest crash in world history” is coming and you should buy silver before inflation turns cash into trash. Our head hurts - we need a beach and some sangria!

^{**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:

• 🇨🇳 China ramped up its export restrictions this past week as it added holmium, erbium, thulium, europium and ytterbium to its control list as well as dozens of pieces of rare earth processing equipment. President Trump said, "Our relationship with China over the past six months has been a very good one, thereby making this move on Trade an even more surprising one," while China blasted the President for starting the tariff trade war in the first place. Not surprisingly, rare earth projects in US-friendly jurisdictions have seen their stock rise and fast.

• 🇺🇸 Over in the United States, the Financial Times reported that the US Defense Logistics Agency has started formal process to procure up to $1bn in critical minerals. The DLA has deals in place to purchase cobalt, antimony, tantalum and scandium but is also exploring acquisitions of tungsten, bismuth, indium, and other rare metals. (Benzinga)

• 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 There was much discussion in the Canadian media the past week about the U.S. government’s investment in both Lithium Americas and Trilogy Metals and whether this presents a conflict-of-interest given that the projects are based in the United States. The Financial Post quoted Ontario’s Premier Ford who said “the Canadian government needs to be “tougher” to ensure that only friends get to invest in the Canadian critical minerals sector and not “someone” who wants to destroy the country’s auto and steel sectors.” Our view? Be happy that the United States isn’t requiring a redomiciling of any company that wants to mine in America. The government stake de-risks the project and so far investors seem to like the equity participation. (Financial Post) & (BNN Bloomberg)

• 🇦🇺 The Government of Western Australia confirmed the successful applicants for Round 32 of the State's Exploration Incentive Scheme Co-funded Drilling Program. Thirty-nine applicants will receive grants worth $6.6 million for projects to be drilled before November 2026. Applications for Co-funded Drilling Round 33 will open Monday, February 2nd, 2026.

• 🇦🇺 The Queensland Government has abolished the previous governments commitment to close coal power plants by 2035. Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki said in a statement, “Queensland’s coal-fired fleet is the youngest in the country and state-owned coal generators will continue to operate for as long as they are needed in the system and supported by the market.” For a state that exports about one-eight of the world’s coal, this isn’t a shocker.

• 🇺🇸 Meanwhile in the United States, a crowd of 50 coal miners and their supporters were protesting outside of the U.S. Department of Labor, urging the Trump administration to enforce silica regulations that were meant to take effect this spring. (Politico Pro)

• 🇧🇼 Botswana’s Ministry of Minerals and Energy will require mining companies to sell a 24% stake in new concessions to local investors if the government chooses not to buy the stake. The new rules are in effect from October 1st.

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MINING MATTERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

• 🇺🇸 🇦🇺 Well it isn’t new news, but it is official. Caterpillar has agreed to acquire RPMGlobal for A$1.12 billion ($728.22 million). The deal needs approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board and Australia's competition regulator as well as approval from shareholders.

• 🇺🇸 Titan Mining Corporation (TSX: TI) announced that it is on track to commence production of graphite concentrate at its Empire State Mines. The update comes as China ramps up its restrictions on rare earth elements. Titan’s release said, “The new restrictions underscore the strategic importance of Titan’s progress in establishing a secure, fully domestic graphite supply chain critical to U.S. defense readiness.” Investors agreed as the stock shot up 26.8% on the day. (Titan Mining)

• 🇨🇦 🇨🇳 China’s Chengtun Mining Group will acquire Canada’s Loncor Gold (TSX: LN) for C$1.38 per share representing a total equity value of approximately C$261m. Loncor has a promising project in the Democratic Republic of Congo where Chengtun has operational experience.

• 🇨🇦 Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE/TSX: AEM) nearly doubled its position in Fuerte Metals Corp. (TSX-V: FMT) with a private placement investment of C$8.25m. The company’s flagship asset is it’s gold focused Coffee Project in the Yukon, Canada which it acquired from Newmont last month. While the market didn’t react much to the investment, Fuerte is up a staggering 310% in 2025.

• 🇺🇸 Albuquerque, New Mexico’s I-Pulse was touting a strategic investment from Chile’s state-miner Codelco this week. I-Pulse already counts world leading mining majors BHP, Ivanhoe Mines, Newmont, Rio Tinto, and Teck Resources as investors. Using its proprietary high pulsed power technology in its I-ROX division, I-Pulse creates extremely powerful gigawatt-scale shock waves and tensile forces which tear rock apart from the inside. The use of tensile force fundamentally improves how we extract metals from the Earth. At scale, the technology could significantly reduce power usage while also improving metal recovery. We like it! (businesswire)

MINING BITS

• 🇺🇸 JPMorgan announced a $1.5 trillion investment pledge dubbed the “Security and Resilience Initiative”, to invest over the next decade in critical industries like artificial intelligence, manufacturing and critical minerals. “It has become painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing—all of which are essential for our national security,” said Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorganChase. (Forbes)

• 🇨🇦 Join Mining 4 Beer Vancouver TODAY Wednesday, October 15th for their first fall M4B event. They will be at Mahony's Tavern (Convention Centre location) from 4:00pm onwards.

• 🇨🇦 Based in Canada and know someone interested in the mining sector? Let them know about the Mining Needs You Virtual Career Fair on November 24th and 25th from 10am to 7pm EST. Employers, recruiters, academic institutions, and industry leaders will connect with students and job seekers, offering exciting opportunities for work placements and careers in Canada’s mining sector! (Mining Needs You)

• 🇸🇦 Future Minerals Forum (FMF) returns to Riyadh on 13–15 January 2026 as the world’s largest convening dedicated to the future of minerals and metals. FMF brings together government ministers, CEOs, investors, end-users, and innovators from 120+ countries to tackle supply, sustainability, technology, and financing for the energy transition. The three-day program features leadership keynotes, roundtables, market spotlights, an international exhibition, and curated networking and deal-making. Details and registration at futuremineralsforum.com.

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