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Gold and Silver

SSR to be 3rd-biggest US gold miner with Cripple Creek & Victor acquisition – by Staff (Mining.com – December 6, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

SSR Mining (NASDAQ, TSX: SSRM; ASX: SSR) announced on Friday it has acquired the Cripple Creek & Victor (CC&V) gold mine in Colorado from Newmont (NYSE: NEM, TSX: NGT). With this acquisition, SSR is expected to become the third-largest gold miner in the United States. The transaction includes a $100 million upfront cash payment and up to $175 million in milestone-based payments, for a total of $275 million.

Of the milestone payments, $87.5 million will be paid upon the approval of an amended permit for the CC&V Cresson mine filed by Newmont earlier this year to extend its life by adding leach pad capacity and making operational adjustments.

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Mali issues arrest warrant for Barrick CEO, reports say – by Geoffrey York and Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – December 6, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Authorities in Mali have issued an arrest warrant for Barrick Gold Corp. chief executive officer Mark Bristow in a fresh escalation of a tax dispute in the West African country, Malian journalists have reported.

Copies of the arrest warrant, posted by one of the journalists on social media Thursday, show that Mr. Bristow is being charged with money laundering and violating Mali’s financial regulations during the period from 2019 to 2023.

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B.C. environmental group files judicial review to challenge Northwest gold mine project – by Quinn Bender (Terrace Standard – December 2, 2024)

https://www.terracestandard.com/

The filing is the second petition in a week against the major gold-copper mine in B.C.’s “Golden Triangle”

A coalition of environmental groups has launched a legal challenge against the province’s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO), contending the proposed KSM mine in Northwest B.C. does not meet the criteria for a “substantial start.”

Ecojustice, representing SkeenaWild Conservation Trust and the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC), filed the petition, arguing the mine’s environmental assessment is outdated and poses significant ecological and cultural risks.

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Indigenous Mining Complicates Brazil’s Fight Against Illegal Gold – by Ricardo Brito and Adriano Machado (U.S. News/Reuters – December 2, 2024)

https://www.usnews.com/

JACAREACANGA, Brazil (Reuters) – The involvement of Indigenous people in illegal gold hunting, lured by the prospect of easy money due to record prices, has made Brazil’s task of cracking down on wildcat mining in the Amazon far harder, environmental agents and police say.

The Munduruku territory, a reservation the size of Switzerland on the Tapajos river, a major Amazon tributary, has become a hot spot for illegal mining, which Brazilian law bans on Indigenous land. But increasingly, Munduruku tribe members are entering the illegal trade that is backed by organized crime.

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This educator became a ‘mining ambassador’ after visiting a northern Ontario gold mine (CBC News Sudbury – December 01, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

The Coté Gold Mine has plans to hire around 110 people in the next year

Joanne Sallay, a self-confessed “city dweller”, says she never put much thought into the mining industry until she was invited to visit IAMGOLD’s Coté Gold Mine, located between Sudbury and Timmins. Sallay is the president and CEO of Teachers on Call, a tutoring company based out of Toronto. She was part of a group of 20 educators that visited the mine.

Several groups, including the Ontario Mining Association, Mining Matters and the Canadian Ecology Centre organized the trip to promote mining as a career option for students.

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Poland becomes world’s biggest gold buyer as Russia-Ukraine war prompts safe-haven push in Eastern Europe – by Ernest Hoffman (Kitco News – November 29, 2024)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – With 100 tons in gold purchases in 2024, the central bank of Poland has become the number one sovereign buyer of the yellow metal. But the country is not alone, as the Russia-Ukraine war has forced the Czechs, Serbs, and Hungarians to also bolster their reserves.

While the focus for much of the year was on China’s massive central bank gold purchases – and then on their move to the sidelines as prices hit record highs – the nations of Eastern Europe have quietly emerged as the biggest buyers of the precious metal, and the biggest back stoppers of the gold rally.

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Ontario judge dismisses case alleging human rights abuses against Barrick at Tanzanian mine – by Nial McGee (Globe and Mail – November 27, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

An Ontario court has dismissed a pair of civil suits against Barrick Gold Corp. that alleged it was responsible for human-rights abuses at a Tanzanian mine, with the judge ruling that any such court action should be tried in Tanzania.

The plaintiffs are a group of Indigenous Kurya from villages around the mine who were injured in 2021 and 2022 when the Tanzanian police force allegedly shot at them, as well as family members of victims who were killed during this period allegedly by the police.

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Regulatory ‘overkill’ a barrier to new mines, CEO says – by Devon Tredinnick (NNSL.com – November 2024)

https://www.nnsl.com/

There’s plenty more gold buried near Yellowknife — whether any of it gets mined is still up in the air

Regulatory “overkill” surrounding mine remediation can guarantee two things: a mine is absolutely going to get remediated and, in the last few decades, no new gold mines have come on stream in the NWT, pointed out Dave Webb, president and CEO of 60 North Gold Mining.

And that’s despite gold climbing to more than $2,750 an ounce recently and Yellowknife having a long history of producing the precious metal.

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Newmont signs $795m deal to sell Éléonore gold mine in Canada to Dhilmar (Mining Technology – November 26, 2024)

https://www.mining-technology.com/

The sale forms part of Newmont’s efforts to divest non-core assets, which have now surpassed its initial $2bn target.

US-based gold miner Newmont has signed an agreement to sell its Éléonore underground gold mine in Quebec, Canada, to UK-based private mining company Dhilmar for $795m (£632.16m) in cash. The sale is a part of Newmont’s divestiture programme aimed at offloading non-core assets, which has now surpassed its initial $2bn target.

Located in Eeyou Istchee/James Bay, in a remote corner of the Northern Quebec region, the Éléonore mine commenced commercial production in 2015. Dhilmar previously collaborated with Newmont in 2016 to acquire the Batu Hijau mine in Indonesia.

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Four Barrick Gold employees detained in Mali in second wave of arrests over foreign miners’ revenues – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – November 26, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. says four of its local employees have been “unjustly imprisoned” in Mali in a second wave of arrests of its staff in the West African country where one of its biggest gold mines is located.

Mali’s military regime, which took power in a 2021 coup, has been putting pressure on foreign mining companies to give the government a bigger share of their revenue. It has been seeking US$417-million from Barrick, alleging that the company failed to pay all its required taxes – a charge the company rejects.

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First Nation accuses Ontario of failing to consult on Timmins mine project – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 26, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Taykwa Tagmou Nation wants government approvals halted on Newmont’s plans to restart Pamour gold mine

A northeastern Ontario First Nation is out to halt the restart of Newmont’s Pamour Mine, outside Timmins, claiming the provincial government has failed in its duty to consult.

Taykwa Tagamou Nation filed claim in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Nov. 20 asking the court to stay any government authorizations, permits and approvals on Newmont’s plan to recommission and return Pamour to production, 15 years after it was last mined.

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First Nation goes to court, accusing B.C. of not consulting over major gold mine – by Ashley Joannou (Canadian Press/CTV News B.C. – November 25, 2024)

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/

A First Nation says it wasn’t meaningfully consulted before the British Columbia government “effectively greenlit” what has been called the world’s largest undeveloped gold mining project.

The Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation has applied to the B.C. Supreme Court for a judicial review of the province’s decision to issue a “substantial start determination” for Seabridge Gold’s KSM Mine Project in Northwestern B.C., part of the final stage of the environmental assessment process.

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Troilus Gold brings potential funding from credit agencies to $1.3 billion – by Staff (Mining.com – November 21, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Troilus Gold (TSX: TLG) continues to receive the financial backing of global export credit agencies (ECAs), this time from Export Development Canada (EDC), to support the development of its copper-gold project in Quebec.

On Thursday, the company announced a new letter of intent (LOI) from EDC for up to $300 million. This, together with the LOIs recently signed with the export credit agencies of Germany, Finland and Sweden, brings the total potential funding to $1.3 billion.

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Why police are in a standoff with people working an abandoned South African mine – by Sheena Goodyear (CBC Radio As It Happens – November 21, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/

Illegal mining is a ‘very complicated problem’ that needs more than a police crackdown to fix, says advocate

For weeks, police have been stationed at the opening of an abandoned gold mine in South Africa, trying to smoke out the people illegally working deep inside. Since the standoff began, more than 1,000 miners have emerged to face arrest, one decomposing body has been recovered, and community members have gone to court to ensure their loved ones underground continue to get food and water.

It’s not clear how many miners are still underground in Stilfontein, in the country’s North West province. Police say they number in the hundreds. But community members say there are thousands of people below, either unwilling to come out and face arrest, or too frail to get out on their own.

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Gold price ends the week with 5% gain as safe-haven demand drives price action – by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – November 22, 2024)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – The gold market has ended a three-week selloff with a vengeance, as prices look set to close Friday above $2,700 an ounce. Not only has gold surpassed last week’s losses, but the precious metal is also experiencing its best rally since October 2023.

As of 1:40 p.m. ET, December gold futures were trading at $2,712 an ounce, up 1.39% for the week. Additionally, prices have risen 5.4% since the start of the week. While gold has significantly rebounded since Republican candidate Donald Trump became President-elect, some analysts suggest these gains could be more fragile than they appear.

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