Bankers from Stifel Nicolaus Canada and Aitken Mount led the offering, which attracted strong interest from institutional investors in Australia, Canada and abroad, as well as existing shareholders, Southern Cross president and CEO Michael Hudson said Thursday.

“This funding allows us to advance our drill programs, complete permitting for the underground tunnel to allow access for underground drilling, all which will provide the necessary information to complete economic studies,” Hudson said in a press release.

Sunday Creek lies 60 km north of Melbourne in Australia’s Lachlan Fold Belt, a corridor that hosts Agnico Eagle Mines’ (TSX, NYSE: AEM) Fosterville mine and Mandalay Resources’ (TSX: MND) Costerfield mine. The region has proven geology and developed infrastructure. Southern Cross’ Redcastle project sits 2 km from Costerfield’s licences and 24 km east of Fosterville, further highlighting the cluster’s exploration upside.

Sunday Creek’s 20% antimony content has drawn a lot of attention. The company could one day become a key Western supplier of this important metal, especially given current geopolitical issues, Hudson said.

The company’s Toronto-listed shares gained as much as 4% or C19¢ Friday to C$4.88, before settling back to C$4.81, still up 2.5% by press time. They have ranged between C$1.02 and C$4.95 over the past 12 months, giving Southern Cross a market capitalization of C$1.1 billion ($800m).

Initial resource

About C$53 million of the net proceeds will fund 207,000 metres of drilling to establish an inferred resource by early 2027. Some C$27 million will go toward permitting and development of a 1 km decline for underground drilling, while C$4 million is spent on a preliminary economic assessment. Another C$59 million will be allocated to exploration target expansion, regional exploration and working capital.

Southern Cross has begun the permitting process for a 600-metre underground tunnel at Sunday Creek. This tunnel will enable underground drilling next year. A formal application to the Victoria resources regulator is due by September, followed by community drop-in sessions across Mitchell Shire.

In early March, the company announced it will double its Sunday Creek exploration target. It expects to find between 8.1 – 9.6 million tonnes of ore.

The gold-equivalent grades are to range from 8.3-10.6 grams per tonne, translating potentially to about 2.2-3.2 million oz. of metal. This represents an increase of up to 88% in tonnage compared to the January 2024 target. There’s also a 15% rise in grade and as much as 120% more contained metal. Plus, the target area now covers 67% of the 1.5 km drill footprint.

Resource growth

The expansion is focused on three main areas: Rising Sun (340 metres), Apollo (280 metres) and Golden Dyke (400 metres).  

The drilling fleet now has eight diamond rigs. Seven of these focus on expansion and infill drilling between the Apollo and Christina prospects in a 1.5 km corridor. The eighth rig targets regional trends identified by past work, geophysical data and soil anomalies. A planned geotechnical program of five holes totalling 900 metres will support the exploration tunnel application.

Recent results from three deep holes at the Apollo prospect are promising. Hole SDDSC158 showed 100.5 metres at 3.1 grams gold-equivalent from a depth of 820.8 metres. This included 28.6 metres at 10.3 grams gold-equivalent per tonne and a 1.4 metre section at 142.2 grams gold-equivalent. This confirms mineralization continuity at depth, Southern Cross said.

Blackwater’s crushing circuit has reached a 17,700-tonne-per-day (tpd) rate, achieving more than full design capacity over the past 30 days, Artemis said. The mill has reached about 15,300 tpd or 93% of capacity.

“We completed construction in an industry-leading 22 months, and the team achieved commercial production in a remarkable three months from commencement of milling operations,” Artemis CEO Steven Dean said in a release.

He added that the company will soon focus on potentially speeding up the proposed second stage expansion, which is expected to raise the mine’s average annual output to more than 500,000 gold-equivalent ounces.

Blackwater, located 450 km northeast of Vancouver, is the province’s first new gold mine since Newcrest’s – now Newmont (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM) – Brucejack opened in 2017.  Artemis’ production milestone coincides with recent historic high prices for gold, which touched $3,500.05 per oz. last week. The price has risen about 25% this year to date.

Company shares gained 8% to C$20.42 apiece on Friday at mid-day in Toronto, for a market capitalization of C$4.61 billion ($3.34bn).

Near-capacity tonnage

Mining in Blackwater’s open pit has delivered more than 90% of its planned tonnage. Both the 400-tonne and 600-tonne production excavators are fully deployed, Artemis said. Mined tonnes and grades based on grade control modeling are reconciling favourably to the resource model.

Since milling started at Blackwater in January, the company has produced about 30,000 oz. of gold. Artemis expects to produce 160,000 to 200,000 oz. at all-in sustaining costs (AISC) of $670-$770 per oz., for the eight-month period until Dec. 31. Total forecast production for this year is 190,000-230,000 oz. of gold.

In the year’s second half, output is forecast at 130,000 to 160,000 oz. of gold at estimated AISC of $645-$725 per ounce. AISC are expected to be somewhat higher in the two months remaining in the second quarter because of continued ramp-up in production.

AISC estimates for the eight months to the end of the year include sustaining capital of about C$16 million. Artemis expects stage one deferred expenditures of C$60 million to C$75 million in the eight months to Dec. 31, including building such infrastructure as an air strip and more water treatment facilities.

Artemis also plans to spend an initial C$3 million for front-end engineering and design work for the proposed stage two expansion.

Throughput for stage one is forecast at 6 million tonnes a year with 93% gold recovery, according to a 2021 feasibility study.

A manager for the disaster-stricken Eagle mine in Yukon on Wednesday described for the legislative assembly the huge amount of work remaining in the cleanup effort.

After the heap-leach pad slide at the Eagle mine last June, a pond began leaking and a containment berm was put up, but no engineer of record was involved, Michelle Grant, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC’s) senior vice-president told the Yukon Legislative Assembly. The mine’s Irosa Pond 2 remains leaky and can’t be repaired until it’s emptied of treated water, Grant told MLAs.

“We continue to assess opportunities to monetize gold and other precious metals held within the waste and or water materials at the Eagle Gold mine,” Grant told legislators under oath, noting the on-site inventory still exceeds C$224 million even after impairment.

The session followed Speaker Jeremy Harper’s threat of contempt proceedings last week after PwC declined to appear without a court order. PwC had given ministers and MLAs a detailed briefing on April 16 but insisted it would only testify if a judge required it.

Heavy cleanup effort

Last June’s pad collapse unleashed millions of tonnes of waste and at least 280,000 cubic metres of cyanide-containing solution beyond containment. It triggered Victoria Gold’s receivership and set off court fights over cleanup authority. In just a year, PwC has had to boost storage, speed up water treatment, secure new financing and prepare for a court-approved sale. PwC hired a safety expert to improve safety protocols and signs across the site, Grant said.

New reverse-osmosis trailers treat mine water to meet federal standards for metal and diamond mining under the Fisheries Act. However, they still don’t meet the mine’s own licence limits. Grant confirmed there is no set date for full compliance. She also revealed that a safety berm built on Oct. 25 to contain slide debris went up without the proper engineering sign-off.

In April, the Yukon government topped-up its receivership lending agreement with PwC, adding C$115 million through Sept. 30. This ensures there’s funding for site care and remediation into the next fiscal year. That brings to C$220 million the amount Yukon has authorized to PwC for the cleanup, after C$155 million was approved last year.

MLAs probe for updates

Legislators zeroed in on water management and timetables. They pressed Grant on when the reverse-osmosis upgrade will meet discharge limits and how many of the temporary ponds still leak. They drilled into the Yukon’s C$115 million top-up – asking what’s been spent so far and what comes next.

Grant confirmed PwC has installed 400,000 cubic metres of temporary water storage and will add another 110,000 cubic metres by mid-May to limit untreated runoff.

Through April 15, the receiver has spent C$9.9 million on contracts with firms affiliated with the Nacho Nyäk Dän First Nation under its funding terms. PwC has kept 147 Victoria Gold employees on payroll, including four Nacho Nyäk Dän citizens and 50 Yukon residents.

Mine sale process

An independent review board must file its findings by June 15 and publish them by June 30. PwC will apply to court on or before June 30 to approve its sale of the bankrupt company’s assets and investment-solicitation process so bidders can review that report.

PwC took control on Aug. 14, 2024, and immediately repaired the 43-km access road to secure transport of chemicals and equipment. Victoria’s own cash-flow forecasts showed it would run out of funds by Nov. 2024 without emergency lending – underlining the receivership’s necessity, Grant explained.

Adjusted first-quarter earnings increased to $59.8 million, or $0.14 a share, from $51.2 million, or $0.13, in the same period a year ago, Toronto-based Alamos said Wednesday after the close of trading. Per-share profit missed the $0.19 consensus estimate in a survey of financial analysts.

The results sent Alamos shares tumbling about 12% to C$34.52 ($25.01) in late morning trading Thursday in Toronto. That gave the company a market capitalization of about C$14.5 billion ($10.5 billion).

“Overall, a relatively weak quarter to start the year, but the company has a clear path to improved operations for the remainder of the year,” CIBC Capital Markets analyst Cosmos Chiu said in a note Thursday. He reaffirmed his “outperformer” rating on the stock.

First-quarter gold production of 125,000 oz. came in at the low end of the company’s previously disclosed range and below analyst expectations.

CEO John McCluskey blamed a slower ramp-up at the Magino mill and lower production from the Young-Davidson property – both in northern Ontario – for the slump. The operations showed improvements in April, which the executive said would contribute to higher output and lower costs in the second quarter. Magino was integrated into Alamos’ portfolio after the company acquired Argonaut Gold last year.

Gold’s historic run is providing miners such as Alamos an unexpected tailwind. The metal, which set an all-time closing high of $3,433.55 an oz. in London last week, has gained about 40% since the start of the year.

Ontario, Manitoba catalysts

Helped by rising output at its Island Gold mine in Ontario and the development of the Lynn Lake project in Manitoba, Alamos is working on boosting gold production to about 900,000 oz. in a few years. It’s aiming to produce between 580,000 and 630,000 oz. in 2025.

First-quarter revenue jumped 20% to $333 million thanks to rising gold prices. Alamos sold 117,583 oz. of gold during the quarter at an average realized price of $2,802 per ounce. Sales were 6% lower than production due to timing, though the sale of these ounces will benefit future quarters, according to the company.

Total cash costs of $1,193 per ounce and all-in sustaining costs of $1,805 per ounce were above the top end of guidance for the first half, Alamos said. Higher share-based compensation costs and higher per-oz. costs at Young-Davidson and Magino drove the increase.

All-in sustaining costs are expected to drop about 20% in the second quarter, with further decreases planned for the rest of the year, Alamos said.

Full-year goal

Alamos also reaffirmed its full-year goal of producing between 580,000 and 630,000 oz. of gold this year.

“With a further increase in production and decrease in costs expected in the second half of the year, we remain on track to achieve our full-year production guidance,” McCluskey said. “We expect this improvement to continue over the next several years through our portfolio of high-return, low-cost growth projects.”

Higher milling rates at Magino, along with increased grades at Young-Davidson and the La Yaqui Grande mine in northern Mexico, are expected to lift second-quarter output to between 135,000 and 150,000 ounces, the company said. A more significant increase in production is expected into the second half.

“The noise in Q1/25 is not expected to last with production trending higher through the year,” National Bank Financial analyst Don DeMarco, who has an “outperform” rating on Alamos, said in a note. Earnings “should continue to grow as more and more of the portfolio upside comes online.”

That result, in hole MO-25-755W1 of Monique’s B1 zone, was over a 19.5-metre interval from 697 metres depth, and included 6.2 metres at 42.7 grams gold. Hole MO-25-749 of zone B returned 20.7 metres at 6.7 grams gold from 672 metres depth, including 1.8 metres grading 135.5 grams gold. They were among results from 33 infill holes at Monique on its Novador project near Val-d’Or, about 525 km northwest of Montreal.

“These results continue to confirm the continuity and grade of the gold deposit at Monique,” BMO Capital Markets analyst Andrew Mikitchook said in a note.

Supporting 2025 PFS

He added that Probe’s 50,000-metre drill program that it started last fall is now complete and the results are to support a pre-feasibility study for Monique, expected by the end of this year.

“The results of the winter infill program will be instrumental in supporting ongoing resource conversion and will serve as a cornerstone of the upcoming pre-feasibility study—an important milestone in advancing Novador toward development,” Probe CEO and president David Palmer said in a release.

Probe shares were down 1.4% to C$2.04 apiece on Wednesday morning in Toronto, for a market capitalization of C$413.13 million. Its shares traded in a 12-month range of C$1.08 to C$2.15.

B zone strength

Another noteworthy intercept, MO-24-730W3 in zone B cut 16.4 metres grading 5.4 grams gold from 744.6 metres depth, including 5.6 metres at 30.5 grams gold.

The company is funded with C$50 million in cash and earlier this month it closed a C$45 million bought deal private placement. It included an offering of 6.25 million flow-through shares at C$3.24 each and 13.75 million common shares at C$1.82 apiece.

Mineralization at Monique has been defined from surface to a depth of 700 metres and varies between several metres to up to 100 metres in width, Probe said. The Monique gold trend zones are open along strike and at depth.

Probe’s wider Val-d’Or East properties, which include the Novador, Croinor, McKenzie Break, Lapaska and Sleepy deposits host 6.7 million measured and indicated oz. and 3.2 million inferred oz., according to a resource update last September. That represents a 77% and 131% increase, respectively, over the previous resource from one year ago.

Novador makes up the largest resource of the properties. It holds 6.4 million measured and indicated oz. and 1.5 million inferred oz., a 60% increase over the previous estimate.

Total gold demand reached 1,206 tonnes in the first three months of 2025, a 1% increase from the same period a year ago, the WGC said in a new report Wednesday. Soaring inflows into gold ETFs fuelled a 170% surge in investment demand to 552 tonnes, the highest since the first quarter of 2022, WGC said.

As gold prices set multiple record highs this year, including touching $3,500.05 per oz. last week, investors have piled into physical gold ETFs, which grew by $21 billion in the first quarter, their second highest quarterly level since the second quarter of 2020.

Gold’s average price reached $2,860 per oz. in the quarter, a 38% jump from a year ago, according to data compiled by the London Bullion Market Association.

Flows into gold

Investment flows into physical gold will probably continue to gather pace this year, the WGC said. Key factors supporting demand include continued geopolitical tensions, near-term stagflation risks, medium-term recession risks, elevated correlations between stocks and bonds and an expected increase in US deficits.

Central banks bought 244 tonnes of gold in the first quarter, 21% less than in the same period a year ago but within the quarterly range of the last three years. Persistent trade tensions will probably drive full-year central bank purchases close to the range of the past three years, according to the WGC.

First-quarter bar and coin demand rose 2.6% to 325 tonnes, which is 15% above the five-year quarterly average. China accounted for much of the increase, posting its second-highest quarter of retail investment.

Tech demand

Technology demand was little changed at 80.5 tonnes. Ongoing artificial intelligence adoption drove continued growth in the electronics sector, but uncertainty over tariffs should result in a challenging environment for the rest of the year, the WGC said.

Jewelry consumption shrank 21% from the year-ago quarter to 380 tonnes, weighed down by elevated prices. Consumption in the period hit its lowest level since the Covid-19 pandemic brought global economies to a standstill in 2020, and WGC economists predict full-year jewelry demand will be weaker than expected in 2025 on lower growth and higher prices.

Total gold supply grew 1% from a year earlier to 1,206 tonnes, with mine production hitting a first-quarter record of 856 tonnes. Recycling declined 1% as consumers kept their gold hoping for higher prices.

Mine supply this year will probably stay close to its 2024 record level, the WGC said. “Unprecedented” cash generation should allow announced development plans to advance and mine production to stay strong. While Ghana, Chile and Canada have healthy production pipelines, disruptions in Turkey and Russia and cutbacks in Australia are expected to weigh on total output.

Read More: Annual gold price forecast tops $3,000 for first time: Reuters poll

The milestone was achieved seven months early with minimal investment by reactivating 12 km of workings acquired from First Majestic Silver (TSX, NYSE: AG). Mining kicked off at 50 tonnes per day and will rise to 150 tonnes per day by the end of December, replacing feed now sourced from Guitarra’s 500-tonne per day plant. Guitarra and Coloso are located about 200 km west of Mexico City.

“This marks another milestone event in the restart of the Guitarra Mine Complex,” COO Greg Liller said in a release.

Silver centre

Historically a major silver producer, Mexico produced 204.8 million oz. silver in 2023. That accounts for about 24.8% of the world’s silver output, according to the US Geological Survey. The country attracted around $5 billion in mining investments last year. Major companies are focusing on expansions due to stricter rules on concessions and water permits, though other companies have reported progress in securing some permits.

Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) and MAG Silver (TSX, NYSE-A: MAG) increased output at their Juanicipio joint venture in Zacatecas. Pan American Silver (TSX, NYSE: PAAS) is expanding La Colorada in Sonora. Coeur Mining (NYSE: CDE) finished a $1.7 billion  takeover of Silvercrest in February. Also, First Majestic bought Gatos Silver for $970 million in March.

Regulators have raised environmental standards: Sierra Madre secured dry-stack tailings and paste backfill permits in May last year. The permits got approved, even as government discussions about increasing royalties and a possible open-pit ban under President Claudia Sheinbaum took place.

Sierra Madre shares trading in Toronto added 3.5% to C$0.59 apiece, solidifying 12-month gains higher than 51%. It has a market capitalization of C$90.8 million.

Guitarra ramp-up

Grades at Coloso are about 1.7 times higher in silver and 1.2 times higher in gold compared to the Guitarra veins, Liller said. The widths of the veins range from less than 1 metre to over 2 metres. Ramp-up mining will thus use different methods and blasting techniques. This helps find the best mix of mining costs and grade dilution.

Coloso hosts 432,000 indicated tonnes grading 221 grams silver per tonne and 1.61 grams gold, compared with Guitarra’s 1.7 million indicated tonnes at 123 grams silver and 1.3 grams gold.

The company began Guitarra operations on the Jessica vein and at Joya Larga. They are to test mining and blasting methods to find the best cost-to-grade ratio.

Refining operations

Sierra Madre hired a metallurgist with significant flotation experiencewho is to work as the process plant superintendent for processing at Coloso.

“Their goal will be to determine the best ratio of Coloso to Guitarra mill feed material to achieve maximum economic benefit,” Liller added.

Guitarra’s test-mining program generated $3.9 million in revenues during the three months ended Dec. 31, while milling 38,464 dry tonnes at 84% gold and 79% silver recoveries. Full-year revenues reached $6.5 million and gross profit hit $1.36 million before Guitarra achieved commercial rates on Jan. 1.

A new estimate for District Metals’ (TSXV: DMX) Viken project in central Sweden raises uranium resources so much it’s now the world’s second largest deposit of the nuclear metal, the company said Tuesday. Shares shot up.

The report gives Viken 456 million indicated tonnes grading 175 parts per million (ppm) uranium oxide (U₃O₈) for 176 million contained lb. U₃O₈, an almost ninefold rise over the previous resource from 2010. Inferred resources grew 44% to 4.33 billion tonnes grading 161 ppm U₃O₈ for 1.53 billion contained pounds.

Viken was already one of the world’s largest uranium deposits, and the new report makes it the second largest, District CEO Garrett Ainsworth said in a release.

“The stunning growth of the current Viken [estimate] from the 2006 to 2012 drill data is a testament to the continuity in grade and thickness of the mineralized Alum Shale formation found across the Viken deposit,” he said. There’s “strong” potential to increase the inferred resource even more, he said.

District shares gained 23% to C$0.35 apiece in afternoon trading Tuesday in Toronto, for a market capitalization of C$45.9 million.

Swedish uranium momentum

The new resource for Viken, located 570 km north of Stockholm, adds to tailwinds for uranium in Sweden as the country moves towards lifting its 2018 ban on exploration and mining of the nuclear metal. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s government has sought to overturn the ban since 2023, and the legislative changes lifting it are expected to take effect next January.

Sweden’s uranium output is minor by global standards, with its resources accounting for 27% of the European total, according to the country’s geological survey. But demand for the metal is high around the world as countries seek zero-emissions energy to power electricity-hungry AI servers.

Viken’s global ranking

While Viken hosts the largest uranium resource by contained metal in Europe, how it ranks globally depends on how uranium projects are weighed.

District assumed a scenario in which Viken is compared to other deposits where uranium is the primary or secondary metal, Ainsworth said in an email to The Northern Miner, citing a table by S&P Global Intelligence on the world’s largest uranium deposits.

In that scenario, Viken sits under BHP’s (NYSE, ASX, LSE: BLT) polymetallic Olympic Dam project in South Australia.

Critical mineral bounty

Viken also hosts significant amounts of other critical minerals such as vanadium, zinc and nickel.

The new resource raises by more than 16 times the indicated vanadium tonnage, which now grades at 2,836 ppm vanadium oxide (V₂O₅) for 2.85 billion contained pounds. The inferred vanadium resource grows by 45% to 24.29 billion lb. grading 2,543 ppm V₂O_5.

The indicated zinc resource totals 413 contained lb. grading 411 ppm zinc, and inferred resources add 3.9 billion contained lb. at 417 ppm zinc.

Nickel comes to 332 million contained lb. at 330 ppm in the indicated category, and 3 billion contained lb. in the inferred category grades at 321 ppm nickel.

Sweden’s proposal to lift the uranium mining ban will influence District’s decision to pursue a preliminary economic assessment for Viken in the fourth quarter, Ainsworth said.

The new resource is based on 122 holes and includes data from holes drilled between 2006 and 2012 by previous operators, District said.

Canada’s G Mining Ventures (TSX: GMIN) said a new feasibility study for its Oko West project in northern Guyana demonstrates improved economics compared with initial calculations released last year.

At a 5% discount rate, Oko West would generate a post-tax net present value (NPV) of $2.2 billion and a post-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 27%, G Mining said Tuesday in a statement. That’s a 58% improvement in NPV compared with the preliminary economic assessment that the company issued last September.

Oko West is one of two projects that G Mining is counting on to anchor future output. The other, Brazil’s Tocantinzinho, started producing gold in September, with the company already booking cash flow.

The feasibility study “marks a major milestone in realizing the value of what we consider one of the world’s most exciting undeveloped gold projects,” G Mining CEO Louis-Pierre Gignac said in the statement. “It confirms a long-life, high-margin operation with strong economics, supported by a proven resource and solid infrastructure.”

G Mining is among several miners focusing on the Guiana Shield. Others include Canadian explorer Greenheart Gold (TSXV: GHRT), which has amassed a portfolio of early-stage projects in Guyana and Suriname. Founders Metals (TSXV: FDR), also Canadian, is exploring at its Antino project in southeast Suriname. The shield also hosts Newmont’s (TSX: NGT) Merian and Zijin Mining’s Rosebel gold mines, both in Suriname.

Shares of G Mining rose 1.4% to C$19.48 in Tuesday morning trading in Toronto. That gave the company a market value of about C$4.4 billion.

The company anticipates that authorities will issue a final environmental permit this quarter, and that a construction decision will be taken in the second half.

2027 target

Construction is forecast to take 34 months, G Mining said. Commissioning would occur in the fourth quarter of 2027.

G Mining envisions a payback period of 2.9 years if gold averages $2,500 per ounce. Initial capital expenditures are projected to be $972 million, a 4% increase from the $936 million that was estimated back in September.

Assuming an average gold price of $3,000 per oz., Oko West’s after-tax NPV would rise to $3.2 billion, G Mining said Tuesday. The IRR would climb to 35% and the payback period would be 2.1 years.

Located about 120 km southwest of Guyana’s capital Georgetown, Oko West will integrate both conventional open pit mining and mechanized long-hole open stoping for the underground mine.

Total gold output will probably be 4.3 million oz. over 12.3 years, G Mining said. That works out to an annual average of 350,000 oz. at an all-in sustaining cost of $1,123 per ounce.

During the first three years of commercial production, the open pit will solely supply the processing feed. Underground mining will start to contribute to processing feed in the fourth year of production.

Some 1,270 direct permanent jobs will be created by the project, according to the company.

PM and Liberal Party head Mark Carney, who’s leading in the polls, has pledged to approve resource projects within two years and broaden exploration tax credits as part of a plan to make Canada both an “energy superpower” and “the global supplier of choice for critical minerals.”

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, meanwhile, has vowed to open a resource-focused project office with an even shorter time limit – one year – to get “shovels in the ground” as fast as possible.  He also says he’ll build long-discussed infrastructure for Ontario’s Ring of Fire region, a set of three new roads and power lines linking future mines with the southern road network. Even so, his platform is thin on details about mining.

“Both parties would unlock stronger growth via major infrastructure and resource development, but each differs in approach,” Scotiabank Economics Vice President Rebekah Young said in a report issued Friday. “A complicated jurisdictional landscape, compounded now by global uncertainties, means either party would have its work cut out to spur greater investment.”

Critical minerals and industrial metals have emerged as essential economic building blocks in recent years as the world gears up for the coming energy transition. In the United States, President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order to increase American critical mineral production to dent China’s dominance after launching a Section 232 probe on all critical mineral imports – a process that typically results in tariffs.

‘Energy superpower’ goal

“Making Canada an energy superpower starts with critical metals and minerals, vital components to build everything from solar panels to electric vehicles,” Carney said last week during a campaign stop in Vancouver. “The market for these minerals is currently dominated by China and Russia. That must change.”

In his first election campaign, Carney has pledged to “kick-start” the “clean energy supply chain” by investing in critical minerals, spurring private investment and supporting early-stage mining companies.

If elected, Carney is proposing to adopt “Buy Canada” standards for products such as steel and aluminum while putting an increased focus on feedstock for battery supply chain buildouts.

First and Last Mile

A key measure included in the 67-page Liberal platform is the creation of the First and Last Mile Fund, an investment vehicle that Carney says will connect critical mineral projects to supply chains by supporting on-site development, processing and refining capacity.

Carney also wants to broaden the Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit by including critical minerals necessary for defence, semiconductors, energy and clean technologies to the list of qualifying minerals.

A Liberal government would also expand eligible activities under Canadian exploration expenses to include the costs of engineering, economic and feasibility studies for critical minerals projects.

“All of these measures taken together will make Canada the global supplier of choice for critical metals and minerals,” Carney said.

Repealing obstructive laws

Poilievre, Carney’s main rival for the top job, has vowed to repeal various policies passed under former Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau – including the Impact Assessment Act known as Bill C-69.

He calls the “No More Development” law, saying it “makes it impossible to build the mines, pipelines and other major energy infrastructure Canada needs.” Removing it would trigger a boom in the country’s resource sector, he says.

“We will get big projects built again by repealing the Liberal anti-development laws and regulations that have cost us half a trillion dollars in lost investment over the last decade,” Poilievre said in a campaign document posted on his party’s website. “We’ll also work with Indigenous partners to process and sell our clean natural resources to get foreign countries off burning higher-emission fuels and fight climate change.”

Although the 30-page Conservative platform has a section on Canadian energy and resources, “mining” and “minerals” don’t appear at all in the document. The word “mines” is mentioned once.

If he becomes PM, Poilievre has vowed to accelerate priority resource projects and usher in “One and Done” approvals. He would create a single Rapid Resource Project Office to streamline all regulatory approvals into one application and environmental review, in cooperation with the provinces, with a target of six-month decisions and a one-year maximum timeline.

Fast-tracking projects

A key pledge for miners involves building the infrastructure project to Ontario’s Ring of Fire region, which is known for its vast potential but slow progress towards getting any mines built. A Conservative government would approve federal permits to harvest chromite, cobalt, nickel, copper and platinum in the area, Poilievre says.

In the Conservative leader’s view, these measures would give the Canadian economy a boost of several billion dollars, “allowing us to become less dependent on the Americans, while our allies overseas would no longer have to rely on hostile regimes for these metals, turning dollars for dictators into paycheques for our people.”

In a tense exchange of letters this week, Yukon Legislative Assembly speaker Jeremy Harper urged that PwC’s senior vice-president and another representative attend a committee of the whole meeting to provide witness testimony. During an assembly debate on Friday, a contempt motion was put forward, the Canadian Press reported. That followed the company’s legal counsel saying in a reply letter that the government lacks the authority to compel its attendance to the meeting.

In response to the government’s claim that senior vice-president Michelle Grant could be “sanctioned” if she doesn’t attend, counsel Peter Ruby with Goodmans LLP said it’s a threat that PwC must take seriously.

“We ask that you please promptly provide the compelling authority on which you rely so that it may be properly considered,” Ruby wrote.

The back and forth comes almost one year since a heap leach pad failure at the Eagle site last June caused a landslide. The accident unleashed millions of tonnes of material and at least 280,000 cubic metres of cyanide-containing solution left the pad’s containment, according to government estimates.

About six weeks later, Victoria was placed into PwC receivership by court order after the Yukon government was dissatisfied with the company’s clean up efforts.

Contempt motion adjourned

Debate on the contempt motion was adjourned until Monday, and PwC’s appearance before the assembly is expected on Tuesday, CP reported.

However, PwC maintains that it would only attend the assembly to provide testimony if it was ordered by a court, Ruby said.

It wasn’t clear if such an order had been made and the websites of Goodmans and PwC offered no information on it.

PwC also intends to ask a court that the “threat of sanctions” made in Harper’s Wednesday letter be stayed under the terms of the receivership order, Ruby added.

The Northern Miner has requested comment from Harper and Goodmans.

A recent look at 2021 survey data from APEX Geoscience found five samples with bonanza silver grades. It also identified six samples with high copper content from the 38-claim site in the southern Lemhi Range.

“The Great Western property hasn’t seen any modern-day exploration since the industry’s understanding of carbonate replacement deposits has vastly improved,” president and CEO Dean Besserer said in a Friday release.

Management wants to explore the potential for an unrecognized igneous source at depth, Besserer said.

Zeus’ project is one of several in the western state where various metals, especially silver have been mined for decades. Idaho’s west hosts the Silver Valley, where Idaho Strategic Resources’ (NYSE: IDR), Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL) Bunker Hill Mining (CSE: BNKR), and Americas Gold and Silver (TSX: USA; NYSE-AM: USAS) all have producing operations.

Zeus shares opened the day up 8% at C$0.205 per share before dropping back to the prior-day close at C$0.195 in early afternoon trading Friday. It has a market capitalization of C$13.2 million.

Fresh samples

Eleven grab samples collected by Zeus this season returned six grading higher than 97 grams silver and four above 0.17% copper, including values of 1,155 grams silver and 0.52% copper.

The company plans a ground geophysical program this year to test for an igneous or porphyry source at depth. Zeus is to launch a 12,000-metre drill campaign with a C$6.6 million budget and fixed drilling rates to limit budget risk, it said.

The program aims to expand the central Leviathan porphyry. It will use fences spaced 200 meters apart to reach the Grade Creek and Southern Flats zones. Also, it will test ideas for new porphyry centres in the Eastern Block and Western Deeps. Drilling will be oriented northwest for the first time to improve consistency and hit rate in southeast-dipping mineralization, the company said.

A joint induced polarization and magnetotellurics survey starts on May 1 to expand deep geophysical coverage across the expanded land package.

Flagship asset

Zeus is looking for permits to drill at its main Cuddy Mountain project. Here, surveys of soil, rock and geophysics show an area of 9 sq km copper-molybdenum anomaly next to Hercules Metals’ (TSXV: BIG) Leviathan discovery in western Idaho.

Both leading contenders for the prime minister’s job touted the merits of a “one project, one review” system during the federal election campaign, which is set to conclude with Monday’s vote. Liberal Party leader and PM Mark Carney pledged to approve resource projects within two years through a dedicated office, while Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre vowed to open a Rapid Resource Project Office with an even shorter time limit – one year – to get “shovels in the ground” as fast as possible. 

Drawn-out permitting timelines have been a long-standing irritant for miners. Canada is the third-slowest jurisdiction in the world when it comes to the amount of time required to develop a mine, S&P Global found in a study released last year. At 27 years, the average lead time for Canada trailed only that of the United States, at 29 years, and Zambia, at 34 years.

“I sure hope that the talk of shorter timelines is real because it’s a serious problem in Canada,” Sprott Asset Management CEO John Ciampaglia said in an interview. “Whether it’s new mines, new infrastructure or new pipelines, the timelines to permit new projects are beyond reasonable. Everybody is talking about wanting to be open for business but I need to see it. So far, nothing has changed.”

Largest fund

With holdings of about $4.3 billion as of mid-April, Ciampaglia’s Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (TSX: U.U for USD; U.UN for CAD) is the world’s largest physical uranium fund.

Units of the trust lost about 12% of their value in the first quarter, dragged down by a decline in the uranium spot price. They’ve fallen about 31% in the past year.

Mine construction delays have hit the uranium market particularly hard in recent years as demand climbed on electrification and artificial intelligence’s insatiable appetite for power.

Uranium stockpiles help sustain supply as demand outstrips production by 50 million to 60 million lb. a year, according to World Nuclear Association data. Demand for uranium is projected to triple by 2040, underscoring the urgent need to develop mines.

“There is a structural supply deficit, and it won’t be fixed unless the world builds a lot of new greenfield capacity – and sooner rather than later,” Ciampaglia said. “New projects are quite critical. They need to come online.”

Athabasca basin

Canada’s biggest opportunity lies in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca basin. As companies such as Cameco (TSX: CCO; NYSE: CCJ) Denison Mines (TSX: DML) and NexGen Energy (TSX: NXE) look to advance uranium projects in the province, Ottawa should follow Washington’s lead in fast-tracking mine approvals, Ciampaglia says.

“Canada has a huge opportunity,” he said. “Saskatchewan’s Athabasca basin has all sorts of undeveloped projects that have been stuck for 10 or 15 years. Politicians can talk all they want about reshoring the supply chain from China but the lead time for these projects is too long. We clearly need to take a different approach.”

Ciampaglia is especially irked to see setbacks pile up for NexGen Energy’s Rook I project, a long-awaited C$2.2 billion capex uranium mine and mill that could produce up to 30 million lbs. annually for at least 24 years.

Although Rook I has a provincial permit and full support from multiple Indigenous nations, a final federal approval is still lacking, two years after Saskatchewan gave the project the go-ahead.

‘Inaction and deceit’

Two rounds of Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) hearings are scheduled to take place next fall and in February 2026, with a final approval decision set to follow soon after – some seven years after NexGen began the permitting process.

With construction expected to take three and a half years, that would push the start of operations out to late 2029 or early 2030.

The hearings “come much later than anticipated,” Red Cloud Securities head of research David Talbot said in a note in March. “This is contrary to what was conveyed to NXE and Indigenous communities.”

The elongated permitting timeline is “an ominous read-through for any other projects just entering the process,” he added.

Delaying Rook I’s approval until after the second hearing is “beyond comprehension, inconsistent with previous direction from the CNSC and extremely detrimental to the interests of our communities, the people of Saskatchewan and Canadians across the country,” the Clearwater River Dene Nation, Metis Nation-Saskatchewan and Metis Nation-Saskatchewan Northern Region II said in a joint statement in March. Canada’s regulatory process has become “a tyranny of inaction, deceit and dishonesty,” they said.

For Ciampaglia, Rook I is “a case study in delays” typical of Canadian mining projects.

“The mine originally was supposed to come online in 2028. Now it’s 2030. Why 2030? Is it the capital or the deposit? No, it’s the federal permitting process. The provincial permit came quickly and it’s been bogged down with the federal permit ever since,” he said.

Construction boom

Global utilities aren’t waiting for Canada to pick up the pace.

Some 65 nuclear reactors are being built worldwide. By 2030, they could generate an additional 70 gigawatts of additional power – assuming enough uranium is available.

“People sometimes get distracted by the new shiny object in the room, whether it’s AI or data centres, but the reality is that out of the 60-plus reactors that are under construction today, half of them are in China,” Ciampaglia said. “China and India are driving the growth. For them it’s business as usual.”

Even Europe, which had seemingly sworn off nuclear power, has changed course.

“Since 2021, almost every Western country that was going down the path of letting nuclear reactors close prematurely and focusing on renewable energy has stopped and shifted,” he said. “The Netherlands, Belgium, France and the UK have all done complete flip-flops back to nuclear and have signalled they want to build more capacity. Countries like Poland are going to be building reactors for the first time. The shift has been monumental, and it’s been driven by net zero decarbonization goals, energy security and the growing realization that you cannot run highly industrialized economies on renewable energy.”

Long-term bull

These long-term trends are the main reason Ciampaglia remains bullish about uranium – despite the current spot market dynamics.

“We’re frustrated by the spot price right now but we remain very constructive on the medium and long-term fundamentals, which we think ultimately will pull the price higher,” he said.

“Obviously we’ve had a correction in the last few months, but we think it’s transitory,” he said. “With all the uncertainty going on in the world, our sense is that utilities have stepped away from the market waiting for more clarity on tariffs. They should get back to buying uranium in larger quantities.”

How high could spot prices go? While uranium’s “geopolitically charged” nature makes predictions risky, Ciampaglia points out that the spot price hit an all-time high of $136 per lb. in 2007 during the last boom cycle. When adjusted for inflation, that translates to about $200 per lb. today, he calculates.

With the spot price hovering just above $65 as of Thursday, “we’re a long way off from peak-cycle pricing,” he said.

A nuclear accident, of course, would change all that.

“Having a large-scale accident that shifts public sentiment away from the technology is always the bear case,” Ciampaglia said. “After (the 2011 accident at) Fukushima, we went into a 10-year bear market.”

Result highlights from drillhole DDH-LC25-006 include 114 metres of 0.7% copper, 0.07 gram per tonne gold and 81 parts per million (ppm) molybdenum from 410 metres downhole, which has been interpreted as a secondary enrichment zone, AbraSilver said Thursday in a statement. A higher-grade interval of 20 metres at 1.03% copper, 0.08 gram per tonne gold and 71 ppm molybdenum from 412 metres depth was also reported.

Combined, the intercepts comprised 621 metres grading 0.38% copper, 0.07 gram gold and 62 ppm molybdenum, which AbraSilver said demonstrates the scale of the mineralized system.

“Wide intercept with moderate copper and modest gold piques interest and puts the project back in focus, and while still early, this hints at potential material upside in a copper belt,” National Bank Financial analyst Don DeMarco said in a note. He has an “outperform” rating on the stock.

AbraSilver shares fell 0.7% to C$2.92 apiece in afternoon trading in Toronto Thursday, giving the company a market capitalization of C$448 million. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of C$1.93 to C$3.64.

Teck earn-in

The drill program at La Coipita is fully funded and operated by a subsidiary of Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.A, TECK.B; NYSE: TECK) as part of an earn-in and joint venture agreement. Teck is planning to spend $20 million in exploration at La Coipita over five years.

“These results confirm the presence of a well-developed porphyry system with large-scale potential,” AbraSilver CEO John Miniotis said in a statement. “With drilling fully funded and operated by Teck, we believe this discovery represents a major step forward in unlocking the value of this underexplored district, which is located in a major copper belt.”

AbraSilver is waiting for assay results for two more holes.

Hole DDH-LC25-007, which is located about 500 metres east of DDH-LC25-006, was completed to a depth of 846.1 metres. It has intercepted two separate secondary enrichment zones between 40-275 metres and 422–593 metres, AbraSilver said.

Hole DDH-LC25-008, located about 500 metres north of DDH-LC25-006, was completed to a depth of 915 metres. It intersected low-grade high-sulphidation copper mineralization.

Second year

Last year, Teck completed 2,476 metres of diamond drilling in five holes, along with geophysical surveys and target mapping. The 2025 drill campaign marks the second year of the earn-in program.

La Coipita is a district-scale property covering over 700 sq. km in western San Juan province near the Chilean border. Elevation across the property ranges between 3,500 and 4,500 metres above sea level.

The property lies within the Miocene porphyry-epithermal belt of Argentina and Chile, which is host to deposits such as the Filo del Sol equal partnership between BHP (NYSE, LSE, ASX: BHP) and Lundin Mining (TSX: LUN), McEwen Mining’s (TSX, NYSE: MUX) Los Azules, and Barrick Gold’s (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) El Indio, Veladero and Pascua Lama.

AbraSilver is also advancing the Diablillos project in northwest Argentina. It hosts proven and probable reserves of about 42.3 million tonnes grading 91 grams silver and 0.81 gram gold for 123.5 million contained oz. silver and 1.1 million oz. contained gold.

Alpayana will make an offer to buy all of Sierra’s common shares for C$1.15 apiece in cash, the Toronto-based company said Wednesday in a statement. That’s 3.6% more than the C$1.11 hostile bid that Sierra rejected earlier this month.

To give Sierra shareholders enough time to tender their shares, Alpayana has extended its existing takeover bid until 5 p.m. Toronto time on May 12.

Sierra shares soared 19% to C$1.08 in Toronto Wednesday morning, still shy of the revised offer price. That gave the company a market value of about C$230 million.

Family-owned Alpayana has been operating mines in Peru for over 38 years. The company, which has no debt and more than $500 million in annual revenue, said this month it was “uniquely positioned” to cut costs at Sierra and “eliminate” its debt, which stood at C$96.3 million as of Dec. 31, up from C$78.5 million a year earlier. Alpayana’s controlling shareholders are minority investors in Minera Corona, Sierra’s Peruvian unit.

Sierra’s board of directors unanimously supports the revised takeover bid, as does the special committee of independent directors, the company said Wednesday. Sierra also said its board will unanimously recommend that shareholders tender their shares to the bid.

Rising profits

BMO Capital Markets, which is advising Sierra, called the new amount that Alpayana is prepared to pay “fair” from a financial point of view.

Sierra operates two copper mines, Peru’s Yauricocha and Bolivar in Mexico. Earlier this year it forecast 2025 earnings before interest, tax, amortization and depreciation of $130 million compared with $74 million in 2024.

Costs have been cut by increasing mill capacity at Bolivar and Yauricocha, while higher copper and gold prices have lifted margins. In December, the company refused a first buyout offer of C$0.85 a share from Alpayana.

“Sierra has high levels of expensive debt, a large working capital shortfall, an unpaid C$56.1 million obligation to its publicly traded Minera Corona unit, and high corporate expenses, along with being one of the highest cost-per-pound copper producers in the industry,” Alpayana said April 2 after raising its bid a first time.

“Given Sierra’s thin margins, it is vulnerable to withstanding any potential unexpected production, labor, social, political, regulatory and/or macro challenges.”

Since 2010, a trio of its team members have helped discover the Waterbury Lake and Patterson Lake South (PLS) deposits in the basin, projects later acquired by Paladin Energy (ASX, TSX: PDN) and Denison Mines (TSX: DML; NYSE: DNN), who have become C$1.5-billion-plus market cap uranium players. Strong results this spring from F3’s Broach Lake target, about 700 km north of Saskatoon, suggest the team might have found a third.

“Hardly anybody’s found one [big deposit], F3 CEO Dev Randhawa told The Northern Miner in an interview in Toronto. “Nobody’s found two. We found three. That just goes to the ability of the technical team.”

Uranium explorers have over the last 18 months been riding demand for nuclear as interest grows in zero-emissions energy to power artificial intelligence servers.

‘Where’s the fire?’

Broach Lake, located in the basin’s west about 12 km south of F3’s high-grade JR zone and north of Paladin’s Triple R deposit, is an area with “smoke,” Randhawa said.

“It’s a term geologists use when they haven’t found it yet. So, where’s the fire? The next step is to vector in and find that,” said Randhawa, who in 2013 was named one of The Northern Miner‘s Mining Persons of the Year, along with Fission Uranium’s president Ross McElroy.

Drillhole PLN25-205 at Broach intersected 33 metres of radioactivity, including a 0.56-metre interval registering more than 10,000 counts per second (cps) by spectrometer readings from 325 metres depth, F3 reported in mid-April. One 23.5-metre interval encountered 37,700 cps from 384 metres depth.

“This discovery is particularly meaningful as it is within the Clearwater Domain – a geological package predominantly thought to consist of intrusive rocks and historically considered less prospective for uranium mineralization,” Sam Hartmann, vice-president for exploration, said in a release. Hartmann worked on the Waterbury Lake and PLS finds as part of the geology team with Fission Energy and chief geologist with Fission Uranium.

‘Proven’ track record

“F3’s technical team has yet again proven their ability to unlock and define novel high-grade uranium domains within the western Athabasca Basin,” Haywood Capital Markets mining analyst Marcus Giannini said in a note.

Drilling in March at Broach intersected six zones of radioactivity ranging between 300 cps and 720 cps over a 90-metre interval in hole PLN25-202.

Finding the structure

But the key to making sure Broach is more than just a potential high-grade pod is connecting it with a larger structure, Randhawa said.

He cited drill results from December at JR – adjacent to Broach – that cut 7.5 metres at 30.9% uranium oxide (U3O8), including an ultra-high grade core with 4.5 metres of 50.1% U3O8.

The high-grade core “indicates potential for a major new Athabasca discovery,” SCP Resource Finance mining analyst Justin Chan said in a note then.

“When you start talking about mergers and acquisitions, we need to show that we have more than one pod now, and hopefully this Broach is one of them,” Randhawa said. “If you look at Triple R, we found very little bits, then massive amounts. It was just like pearls on a necklace, because [uranium] conductors generally tend to be straight. We need to show it’s a system. So that’s what a bigger company would secure. We need to acquire it.”

Deposit finders

Randhawa initially helmed Fission Energy, which discovered the high-grade J zone at Waterbury in the basin’s west in 2010. Denison acquired Fission for C$70 million in 2013. Under Fission Energy, the team also found PLS’ Triple R deposit, one of the basin’s largest uranium resources.

Randhawa also led spinout Fission Uranium, which Paladin acquired along with PLS last December in a C$1.1 billion deal. F3 president Raymond Ashley worked as vice-president exploration for Fission Energy.

“Real estate is ‘location, location, location’” Randhawa said. “Rick Rule and other smart people will tell you that when it comes to junior mining, it’s management, management, management. That’s where our big advantage is over a lot of other companies, having management that knows how to monetize, but also knows how to find it first, then cut deals with it.”

The IPO is fully underwritten by joint lead managers Euroz Hartleys and Canaccord Genuity, Quebec City-based Robex said Thursday in a statement. Robex is planning to issue about 38.6 million Clearing House Electronic Subregister System depositary interests, or CDIs, at A$3.11 each under the IPO. Each CDI will represent one underlying common share of the company.

“While we are already listed on the TSX-V, we hope our listing on the ASX will increase our trading activity and volume, thereby allowing all our shareholders to benefit,” Robex CEO Matthew Wilcox said. He called the listing “an important and long-awaited milestone” for the company.

Moves towards ASX

Robex, the operator of Mali’s Nampala mine since 2017, joins a group of Canadian-listed resource companies that have pursued a secondary Australian Stock Exchange listing in recent months amid weak domestic liquidity. Toronto Stock Exchange-listed miner Marimaca Copper (TSX: MARI) now trades on the ASX, while Orezone Gold (TSX: ORE) and Canadian Securities Exchange-listed Pampa Metals (CSE: PM) are in the process of following suit.

Robex rose 2.6% to C$3.18 Thursday in late morning trading in Toronto. That gave the company a market capitalization of C$536 million.

The IPO’s completion will allow Robex to develop and build the Kiniero gold project. Kiniero is now fully funded through to first production, which is expected in late 2025, Robex said.

Construction at Kiniero “continues to progress on schedule and budget, overseen by a team that has decades of experience of building and operating projects in West Africa,” Wilcox said. “We are confident of achieving first gold at Kiniero in December.”

The offer is expected to run from April 30 to May 2. It represents a 14.8% discount to the April 14 TSX-V closing price of C$3.20 and a 10.3% discount to the five-day volume weighted average price on the TSX-V of C$3.04, Robex said.

Robex’s CDIs are expected to start trading on the ASX on or about June 3.

“With the gold price currently at record highs, it is an exciting time to be taking Kiniero into production and delivering on its potential,” Wilcox said.

The mining industry is under pressure to engage more with First Nations communities, and Indigenous leaders should be assertive in protecting their interests, Day said in an interview last month. Through his new venture, Thadu Consulting, Day wants to change the way industry and Indigenous nations collaborate for everyone’s benefit.

“You teach people how to treat you,” Day said at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s annual conference in Toronto. “Indigenous people shouldn’t just be involved in the decision making and when it comes to talking about the environment, they should be part owners in these projects.”

Day is using his 12 years of government experience to challenge industry practices, which often limit Indigenous voices to just token consultations. Thadu aims to foster stronger relationships that deliver real benefits and shared ownership in resource development, he said.

Watch the full interview below with The Northern Miner’s western editor, Henry Lazenby.

The case filed with the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne contends that Paladin made misleading representations and contravened its ASX continuous disclosure obligations between June 27 and Nov. 11, according to Paladin and Melbourne-based law firm Slater and Gordon.

“Paladin intends to strongly defend this claim,” the miner said in .

The Perth, Australia-based company restarted its main producer, the Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia, in late 2023 after being on care and maintenance since 2018. The first official production guidance was announced on June 27 for the fiscal year 2025 (July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025), projecting an output of 4 million to 4.5 million lb. of uranium oxide (U₃O₈). This guidance was later revised on Nov. 12 to 3 million to 3.6 million lb. due to operational challenges including variability in stockpiled ore and water supply disruptions.

Then last month Paladin withdrew its 2025 guidance entirely following unseasonal heavy rainfall that disrupted mining operations.

Shares in Paladin fell 2% to C$3.95 apiece in Toronto on Wednesday morning, giving it a market capitalization of about C$1.54 billion. They’ve traded in a range of C$3.34 to C$8.55 since they listed in Canada in December.

Ian Weatherlake

Paladin’s ASX share price dropped by 22% across two trading day after the Nov. 12 output downgrade, says Slater and Gordon. The firm is leading the class action seeking undisclosed damages on behalf of Ian Weatherlake, the trustee for the Ian Weatherlake Staff Superannuation Fund and the Ian Weatherlake Family Trust. Their assets aren’t publicly disclosed.

“This claim alleges that Paladin knew or ought to have known that its June guidance was unreasonably optimistic and there was a material risk it would not be met,” the law firm says. “We allege that the plaintiff and group members paid more for shares in Paladin than would have been the case had the company revealed the true situation and alternatively, that some group members would not have purchased shares at all.”

A timeline for the class action isn’t yet clear, Ian Hamilton, a Paladin spokesperson based in Toronto, said by email Wednesday. There’s nothing more to add to the company’s statement at this point, he said.

Investors who purchased Paladin shares between April 2, 2024, and Nov. 12, 2024, may be eligible to participate in the class action. Slater and Gordon has provided a registration form on its website for interested shareholders.

Fission takeover

In December, the Canadian government approved Paladin’s $1.1-billion all-share takeover of Fission Uranium after a three-month national security review since Chinese state-owned companies held stakes in both firms. The approval bars Paladin from selling uranium, sourced from the Patterson Lake South (PLS) project that Fission was developing, to end-users in China.

PLS is an advanced-stage project in Saskatchewan hosting the high-grade Triple R deposit. It is expected to produce about 9.1 million lb. of U₃O₈ annually over a 10-year mine life starting in 2029, according to a 2023 feasibility study.

The company also holds the Michelin project in Newfoundland and Labrador, an advanced exploration project with a resource of 127.7 million lb. at 860 parts per million (ppm) U₃O₈. It has the potential for both open-pit and underground mining operations.

The Mount Isa project in Queensland, Australia, has a resource of 148.4 million lb. at 680 ppm U₃O₈, with potential for a 5 million to 7 million lb. a year open-pit mine. In Western Australia, the Manyingee and Carley Bore projects have a combined resource of 41.5 million lb. at 510 ppm U₃O₈, with potential for in-situ recovery mining methods.

Even with Tuesday morning’s slight pullback to $3,223.70, gold has still gained 23.7% this year to date. This follows last year’s 27.23% increase.

“The migration of capital to gold and possibly other monetary metals could result in a price that is multiples of the current price of $3,000 per ounce,” John Hathaway, a managing partner at Sprott, wrote Friday in the Sprott Gold Report.

Gold prices have benefited as investors sought safe assets amid geopolitical tensions, central bank gold buying, inflation and a weakening US dollar.

Gold ETFs rise

Meanwhile, gold-back exchange traded funds (ETFs) are likely to benefit from shifts in capital flows, Hathaway said.

“Expanded flows into most gold ETFs must be accommodated by the purchase of physical metal,” he said.

Gold ETF growth this year has been significant. Fund assets grew by $21 billion in the first quarter to reach their second highest quarterly level by value since the second quarter of 2020, according to data from ETF research firm MineralFunds.

As the end of March, the 70 unhedged gold ETFs tracked by MineralFunds had combined assets of $261.7 billion.

“Having this domestic supply is going to be very important for the U.S.,” Smith said last month in a video interview at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s annual event in Toronto.

The projects in question are Palmer VMS in southeast Alaska and the Madison copper-gold project in Montana.

American Pacific has consolidated control of its assets during the past year while more than quintupling cash reserves to $16 million, the CEO said.

The company has launched a 3,000-metre second-phase drill campaign at Madison. Smith aims to deliver a maiden resource at the past-producing mine within 18 months.

At Palmer, the company’s January resource update put indicated and inferred resources at 16 million tonnes grading roughly 1.7% copper plus zinc, gold and silver. The district‑scale volcanogenic massive sulphide discovery, which has drawn interest from majors, could result in a joint venture or a sale as U.S. buyers hunt for secure copper sources, Smith said.

Watch the full interview below with host Devan Murugan.

Seequent built Evo to solve a problem its first platform, Leapfrog, first exposed 20 years ago when it brought digital geological modelling to an analog industry. The new platform can process data from exploration, geochemistry, geotechnical studies and more, then feed results back into any tool or workflow, the CEO said last month in Toronto.

“We’re launching Evo, a cloud‑native industrial‑strength open ecosystem that enables data to pass into and out of any application and puts power back in the hands of the mining customer,” Grant said during the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s annual event.

Evo also underpins Driver, another new cloud‑based machine‑learning solution for structural geology that speeds up trend interpretation. These tools will help geologists automate file handling. They will keep audit trails and let experts focus on interpretation instead of data wrangling, Grant said.

Watch the full interview with The Northern Miner’s western editor, Henry Lazenby.

Coupled with other non-equity sources of financing such as grants, the EXIM Bank money “could cover the construction cost for Santa Cruz,” Ivanhoe Electric said in a statement Tuesday. The loan, which is outlined in a letter of interest, would need to be repaid over 15 years. It would be provided through the lender’s “Make More in America” initiative, which aims to increase the US supply of critical minerals

Ivanhoe Electric is putting together a prefeasibility study for Santa Cruz that’s due to be completed in June. It expects to receive permits and start construction activities in the first half of 2026. The Santa Cruz resource is entirely beneath privately owned land, which Ivanhoe Electric said will simplify permitting process and timelines.

“This is clearly a positive de-risking milestone and will enable the company to fast track the remaining permitting and start of construction,” Andrew Mikitchook, a BMO Capital Markets mining analyst, said in a note Tuesday.

He called Santa Cruz “one of the largest ‘Made in USA’ high-grade, shovel-ready copper projects.”

Ivanhoe Electric shares soared 22% to C$8.60 apiece in mid-morning trading in Toronto. That gave the company a market value of about C$1.1 billion.

Due diligence

Ivanhoe Electric said it’s assessing EXIM Bank’s interest as well as other financing options to develop Santa Cruz. Should then company proceed with a formal application, EXIM Bank will need to conduct due diligence to determine if a final lending commitment would be made.

“Santa Cruz is positioned perfectly to be a source of pure copper cathode to help the United States achieve its strategic mission of greater self-reliance on domestic production of critical metals,” executive chairman Robert Friedland said in the statement.

“The United States urgently needs more domestically produced copper to support the rapid expansion and rebuilding of its electric transmission and transportation infrastructure, national defense capabilities, and technologies of the future.”

Located in Casa Grande, about 77 km south of Phoenix, the project encompasses 24.2 sq. km of private land, including associated water rights. Last June, Ivanhoe secured approval to zone over half of the property for industrial use, a major permitting milestone for the proposed copper mine.

Ivanhoe acquired its land title in May 2023. It obtained full ownership of the mineral rights comprising the project a year later after taking up its purchase option.

Since late 2022, the company has conducted about 120,000 metres of drilling on the project. Santa Cruz has a resource estimate of 2.8 million tonnes of copper in the indicated category (226.7 million tonnes grading 1.24% total copper) and 1.8 million tonnes of copper in the inferred category (149 million tonnes grading 1.24% total copper).

Ivanhoe Electric’s initial assessment estimates copper production to be 1.6 million tonnes over a 20-year mine life. Building the underground mine could take three years and cost about $1.15 billion, according to the most recent company estimate.

The Toronto-based company says it’s investigating the fire’s cause and assessing the damage and any impacts on the site.

Initial investigations show the blaze was limited to the semi-autogenous grinding mill’s discharge area. Essential spare parts are on hand at the site and Kinross doesn’t anticipate its guidance for Tasiast to change.

Kinross shares gained 1% to C$20.13 apiece on Tuesday morning for a market capitalization of C$24.7 billion. Its shares traded in a 52-week range of C$8.58 to C$20.34.

Tasiast, located about 300 km north of the capital Nouakchott, last year produced 622,394 gold-equivalent oz. and hosts proven and probable reserves of 4.7 million ounces.

“This is going to be one of the first, if not the first, potash producers in Africa,” Abasov said last month at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s annual event in Toronto. “We want to supply African agriculture and become a local supplier to Brazil as well.”

The company is to drill two new holes, building on a resource estimate from last March of 656 million indicated tonnes grading 15.9% potassium chloride and 1.16 billion inferred tonnes at 16%. The updated drilling and environmental baseline studies will support a revised NI 43-101 report, feeding into a feasibility study by March next year, he said.

Millennial’s April 2024 preliminary economic assessment outlines a $1.07-billion after-tax net present value at a 10% discount, a 32.6% internal rate of return and a target production rate of 800,000 tonnes a year. The company estimates $480 million in initial capital costs and $61 per tonne in operating costs, with a planned port and processing facility 50 km away at Mayumba on Gabon’s Atlantic coast.

Millennial’s team, which also built and sold Millennial Lithium and Allana Potash, owns 35% of the company’s shares. A Singapore-based fertilizer group holds about 26%, with institutional backers in Canada and London holding up to 20%.

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Upgraded and expanded resources could lift the company’s valuation, Alexander said, as the company works to finish a prefeasibility study by mid-2026.

“Where a lot of these greenstone-hosted deposits really grow in size is as you start to find these high-grade feeder zones at depth,” Alexander said last month at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s annual event.

Backed by institutional investors after a C$15-million financing in February, Newcore aims to upgrade and grow the Jan. 2023 resource. Enchi holds 41.7 million indicated tonnes grading 0.55 gram gold per tonne for 743,500 contained oz. and 46.6 million inferred tonnes at 0.65 gram gold for 972,000 ounces.

A 2024 preliminary economic assessment outlined a $371-million after-tax net present value (at a 5% discount) and a 58% internal rate of return at $1,850 per oz. gold, based on a low-capex, open-pit, heap-leach operation producing 1.1 million oz. over nine years. Noteworthy recent drill intercepts include 1 metre at 204 grams gold and 60 metres at 1.85 grams gold from surface.

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All five holes drilled in the past three months intersected significant disseminated mineralization within the volume of the company’s 2024 resource, CEO Robert Wares said in a statement Monday. New mineralization was also added at depth well below the base of the 2024 estimate.

Osisko is working to expand the Gaspé copper system’s resource with a view to potentially reopening the former Noranda mine in Murdochville, about 825 km northeast of Montreal. It’s targeting permits and construction by the early 2030s, with initial capital spending estimated at about C$1.8 billion.

“Today’s results advance two of Osisko’s stated goals for the 2025 drill campaign: conversion of its large-scale resource to measured and indicated, and expansion at depth and to the south,” National Bank Financial mining analyst Rabi Nizami said in a note Monday. He calculates an average grade and length of 0.4% copper-equivalent over 109 metres on all mineralized intercepts in Monday’s release.

The project is “a re-emerging Canadian copper asset with scale, infrastructure and a clear path to redevelopment,” he added.

Osisko jumped 6.6% to C$0.41 in early afternoon trading in Toronto. That gave the company a market capitalization of about C$247 million.

2024 model

Four of the five holes were completed drilling within the limits of the 2024 model, Osisko said.

That estimate, released in November, included indicated pit-constrained resources of 824 million tonnes grading 0.27% copper, 0.015% molybdenum and 1.74 grams per tonne silver, and inferred resources of 670 million tonnes grading 0.3% copper, 0.02% molybdenum and 1.37 grams silver.

Drill hole 30-1059 intersected 300 metres grading 0.39% copper and 3.17 grams silver from 8 metres downhole, Osisko said Monday. It’s within the 2024 resource model where there was limited historical data.

Hole 30-1060 intersected 220.5 metres grading 0.29% copper and 2.09 grams silver within the 2024 model, as well as 211 metres grading 0.42% copper and 2.27 grams silver at depth below the 2024 model. Mineralization was extended to a depth of 598 metres.

A fifth target, Hole 30-0947, is a previously un-assayed historical hole. Its drill results yielded five significant intersections, including 82 metres grading 0.31% copper and 2.55 grams of silver from 229-metre depth. This indicates that the deposit is open to the south, Osisko said.

All drill holes were drilled sub-vertically into the Gaspé copper altered calcareous stratigraphy that dips 20 to 25 degrees to the north.

Fully funded

The drilling campaign, which is fully funded, began in February.

“This is an excellent start to the 2025 drill program, and we look forward to a regular flow of results from our 110,000-metre program as we confirm our large existing copper resource, and aim to expand it at depth, to the south and to the west,” Wares said Monday.

Montreal-based Osisko acquired full interest in the project in July 2023 from Glencore (LSE: GLEN).

“We expect results from within the pit shell will tighten drill spacing and be helpful in reducing strip and upgrading resources ahead of economic studies, while extensions below the resource and to the south already demonstrate significant expansion potential to be uncovered” through the large-scale drilling campaign,” Nizami said.

Through its investment of C$30 million in the mine, and aided by the company’s financial discipline, Blue Lagoon only needs about another C$3.5 million to start production, CEO Rana Vig says.

“We’re only one of nine projects to be permitted in the last 10 years in B.C., [and] two of those were coal so really we’re one of seven,” Vig said in an interview last month at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto. “It’s very rare and we’re very proud to have achieved this accomplishment.”

Since it acquired the mine five years ago, the company has focused on developing infrastructure. The final item on its list before production is the water treatment plant.

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Following the success of its high-grade at Marimaca last December, the company compressed its exploration budget for 2025 into the first quarter, Nico Cookson, head of corporate development and strategy, says in a new video.

“[The definitive feasibility study] will demonstrate we have a very high quality and robust development project,” Cookson said in an interview last month at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto. “We want to demonstrate through things like Pampa Medina that we have a vision for the growth of this district.”

The project also benefits from its location just 25 km from the Pacific coast, good access to infrastructure and an orebody that’s fairly close to the surface.

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To avoid focusing on just one asset, the company last year bought the Tanbreez rare earths project in Greenland, one of the world’s largest hard rock deposits of the rare metals.

“Geopolitics is one of the main reasons I got into rare earths,” Sage said in an interview last month at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto. “[With the tariff situation], it’s had a reaction from China straight away. Our asset in Greenland is now very valuable, because the flow of those minerals will now come to the west.”

After the company closed a $22.5 million financing in February, it plans to split the cash between building roads to the mine in Greenland and for developing land at Wolfsberg to build a concentrator plant.

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Toronto-based Sierra said Wednesday that its board had unanimously recommended shareholders reject Alpayana’s C$1.11 a share offer by not tendering their shares. It called the bid “opportunistic,” saying it undervalues the company and remains “significantly below” the valuations seen in comparable transactions. BMO Capital Markets, Sierra’s financial adviser, deemed the proposal to be “inadequate.”

Family-controlled Alpayana last week raised its unsolicited offer for Sierra by 31%, saying it was “uniquely positioned” to cut costs at the Canadian miner and “eliminate” its debt. Sierra – which operates two copper mines, Peru’s Yauricocha and Bolivar in Mexico – has cut costs by boosting mill capacity while benefiting from higher copper and gold prices.

“We recognize that shareholders rely on the recommendations of boards and financial advisors particularly in vulnerable situations in highly volatile environments regardless if competing offers are absent,” Alpayana said Thursday in a statement.

The bid, which is set to expire April 25, was designed to “provide an opportunity for Sierra shareholders to exit their investment at a significant premium in very uncertain times and despite Sierra’s vulnerable situation,” Alpayana CEO Fernando Arrieta said in the statement. “Regardless of the outcome, Alpayana wishes the employees and shareholders of Sierra Metals all the best.”

‘Best and final’

The Peruvian miner stressed it has no intention of bidding more than C$1.11, calling the offer “best and final.” Alpayana plans to focus instead on “actionable inorganic opportunities that are currently available in this volatile global environment,” it said without providing specifics.

Sierra shares rose 1.2% to C$0.87 in early afternoon Toronto trading Thursday, giving the company a market value of about C$184 million. The stock has ranged between C$0.62 and C$1.05 during the past year.

Selling out to Alpayana is not in the best interests of the company or its shareholders, Sierra chairman Miguel Aramburu said.

“Alpayana continues to offer an inadequate price that undervalues Sierra Metals and does not reflect full and fair value,” Aramburu said in a statement. “The board believes there is far greater value inherent in the company’s assets, particularly in light of our strong financial and operating performance.”

Earnings target

The improved proposal indicates a “lack of success in persuading shareholders to tender their common shares to the initial offer price of C$0.85 a share,” Sierra said. None of Sierra’s directors or officers intend to tender their shares, the company added.

Sierra also reaffirmed a previously disclosed goal of boosting earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by 75% to about $130 million this year.

Attempts by Alpayana to cast doubt on Sierra’s financial outlook are “misleading and fail to recognize the significant operational and financial turnaround delivered by the company over the past two years,” Sierra said.

In the meantime, Sierra said its special committee is working with external financial and legal advisors to evaluate “a range of strategic options” for the company. The “robust” process aims to maximize long-term value for all shareholders and stakeholders, Sierra said. Recommendations will be announced at a later date.

Alpayana, which has been operating mines in Peru for over 38 years, has no debt and more than $500 million in annual revenue. Its controlling shareholders are minority investors in Minera Corona, Sierra’s Peruvian unit.

Production at Halleck Creek could start in 2029, Gibbs said. With a JORC-compliant resource of more than 2.6 billion tonnes total rare earth oxides, Halleck Creek hosts one of the largest deposits of the critical metals in North America, a feature that has drawn significant interest in the United States.

“Three years ago we got ourselves dual listed on OTC markets [and] we were the third-largest traded stock of all OTC markets in 2024,” Gibbs said in an interview last month at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto. “We’re getting more volumes from the OTC than we’re getting on the ASX. It shows the interest we’re attracting now from investors in the U.S.”

The company is now focused on permitting after Wyoming in January granted it a licence to explore by bulk testing.

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Leveraging $500,000 from BHP’s (NYSE, LSE, ASX: BHP) Explor accelerator program, the company intercepted more than 100 metres of mineralization, including 8.8 metres grading 6% copper and more than 3% nickel at Oval, Gan-Ochir said.

“As a country Mongolia is much more mature compared to newcoming jurisdictions,” Gan-Ochir said in an interview last month at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto. “All our projects are close to infrastructure and accessibility is good.”

The company has $4 million earmarked for exploration this year at Oval, including 5,000 to 6,000 metres of drilling that’s already started.

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Joint venture videos are paid-for content in arrangement with The Northern Miner.

As BHP moves its portfolio away from steelmaking materials and towards what Gistelinck calls “future-facing commodities,” it’s striving to align its sustainability goals with how it produces potash.

“By design the mine in Saskatchewan is about 30% more energy-efficient than an average mine in Saskatchewan,” Gistelinck said in an interview last month at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto. “And (it’s) also more than 40% more water-efficient than any mine in Saskatchewan.”

With tariff tensions dominating headlines and the United States a major potash consumer, Gistelinck says BHP is focusing on diversifying its customer base to help it weather political headwinds.

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The Canadian company – which operates mines in Turkey, Greece and Canada – forecasts production to hit between 660,000 and 720,000 oz. gold by 2027. That’s almost 50% more than its 2023 output.

“Meeting these targets depends on controlling costs and staying on schedule,” Burns said last month in an interview at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada event in Toronto.

Eldorado’s Skouries project in Greece, which is projected to cost C$1.06 billion, has received support from the National Bank of Greece and Piraeus Bank through a €680 million (C$1.05 billion) debt package and a C$81.5 million investment from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The mine is due to begin production early next year.

Other operations produced 520,293 oz. gold last year at an all-in sustaining cost of $1,285 per ounce. Eldorado’s gold production this year is forecast to range from 460,000 to 500,000 ounces.

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