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Junior Exploration Sector

CanAlaska Uranium posts top grade at West McArthur – by Blair McBride (Northern Miner – February 6, 2025)

https://www.northernminer.com/

CanAlaska Uranium cut its highest grade intersection yet at the West McArthur project it holds in a joint venture with Cameco in northern Saskatchewan.

Hole WMA076-01 in the Pike zone cut 14.5 metres grading 12.2% uranium oxide (U3O8) from 790.1 metres depth, including 5 metres at 34.38% U3O8, CanAlaska reported Thursday. That result, among the first five holes completed in the company’s winter program, expands the Pike zone’s ultra-high grade footprint at the unconformity by at least 15 metres to the east.

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Will new claim staking rules put a chill on mineral exploration in B.C.? – by Nelson Bennett (Business In Vancouver – Janaury 30, 2025)

https://www.biv.com/

First Nations likely to be deluged with claim referrals under upcoming Mineral Tenure Act changes

Twenty years ago, an NDP government triggered a flight of investment from mineral exploration and mining in B.C. that lasted more than a decade when, in 1993, it ring-fenced the massive undeveloped copper-cobalt Windy Craggy deposit with a new provincial park.

Windy Craggy, still a sore point for miners and prospectors in B.C., was invoked last week at the Association of Mineral Exploration (AME) Roundup conference during a technical panel discussion on the new rules coming for claim staking.

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Ford government looks to tweak mining claims in Ontario – by Charlie Pinkerton (The Trillium/Northern Ontario Business – January 24, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The province’s online claims system, which First Nations have argued allows violations of their rights, wouldn’t be impacted by the proposed changes

As it looks for ways to expedite the extraction of Ontario’s natural resources, the Ford government has proposed changes to how prospectors secure lands’ mining rights.

Draft regulatory changes published by the province’s Ministry of Mines last week would tweak certain requirements and timelines that a claimant to a property’s mining rights must meet before the government confirms their claim.

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B.C.’s new mineral claims rules criticized by those most affected – by Akshay Kulkarni (CBC News British Columbia – January 23, 2025)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/

First Nations say B.C. isn’t meeting its obligations, while prospectors worry about delays

Prospectors wanting to make a mineral claim in B.C. will soon have to consult with local First Nations under new provincial rules. But neither First Nations representatives nor prospectors are happy with them, and a mining professor says the rules could leave some community members feeling left out.

First Nations say the development of a new consultation framework — which goes into effect March 26 — was rushed, and its drafting didn’t meet the province’s obligations to consult under the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA).

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Changes to claim staking gives B.C. prospectors the jitters – by Nelson Bennett(Business In Vancouver – January 20, 2025)

https://www.biv.com/

Mineral Tenure Act changes a hot topic at annual Roundup conference for mineral exploration

While many business leaders in the resources sector are exercised over the threats of American tariffs on Canadian exports, a policy creating even greater angst for prospectors and junior miners in B.C. is a domestic one – revisions to the B.C. Mineral Tenure Act – a hot topic at this week’s annual Association of Mineral Exploration (AME) Roundup conference.

Revisions to the “free entry” claim staking process in B.C. are to be implemented in March, and there are fears that it will put a major chill on investment in mineral exploration in B.C.

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Amarc stock doubles on gold-copper find at JOY in BC – by Staff (Northern Miner – January 20, 2025)

Global mining news

Amarc Resources (TSXV: AHR; US-OTC: AXREF) has more than doubled its share price after announcing a high-grade discovery at its JOY copper-gold project in north-central British Columbia.

The discovery resulted from initial drilling of the Northwest Gossan (NWG) target area, located at the end of a possible 15-km mineralized trend within the 495-sq.-km JOY district that had not been previously drill tested. Work programs are being fully funded by copper giant Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX), which could earn an interest in the JOY project while Amarc serves as the program operator.

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Australian uranium company given go-ahead to absorb Canadian counterpart – by Michael Joel-Hansen (Saskatoon Star Phoenix – December 30, 2024)

https://thestarphoenix.com/

Paladin Energy gets green light from federal government to take over Fission Uranium

A major acquisition in Canada’s uranium sector is going forward after getting approval from the federal government.

Paladin Energy Ltd., which is headquartered in Perth, Australia, has been given the green light to take over Kelowna, B.C.-based Fission Uranium Corp., which has been developing its Patterson Lake South Project (PLS) in northern Saskatchewan’s Athabasca basin. The mine there is set to begin production in 2029.

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Grid Metals, Teck Resources team up to explore nickel sulphide project in Manitoba – by Staff (Mining.com – December 12, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Battery metals explorer Grid Metals (TSXV: GRDM) will team up with Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.A/TECK.B) to advance the Mawka nickel-copper-PGM (platinum group metals) project in southeastern Manitoba.

Under an option agreement entered on Thursday, Teck can acquire up to a 70% interest in the project by spending C$15.7 million on the project and making staged cash payments totalling C$1.6 million to Grid Metals.

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Paladin’s deal to acquire Fission Uranium in doubt amid deepening national security probe involving China – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – December 2, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Paladin Energy Ltd.’s proposed acquisition of Canadian uranium development company Fission Uranium Corp. is hanging in the balance amid a deepening national security probe and a punishing Paladin stock sell-off that has spooked investors.

The Australian miner reached a friendly agreement in June to buy Kelowna, B.C.-based Fission in an all-stock transaction worth $1.14-billion. Fission is developing the Patterson Lake South (PLS) uranium project in the Athabasca Basin region of Saskatchewan.

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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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Osisko Development surges on permitting milestone for Cariboo gold project – by Staff (Mining.com – November 21, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Osisko Development (NYSE: ODV, TSXV: ODV) shares surged as much as 25% on Thursday morning as it reached a significant permitting milestone for the 100%-owned Cariboo gold project in central British Columbia.

The approval of its BC Mines Act permit means that the company can now move forward the construction and operation of the underground mine, which is expected to deliver 164,000 oz. of gold production annually over a 12-year life, as outlined in a 2023 feasibility study.

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Paladin’s Fission Takeover Is Delayed by Canada Security Review – by Jacob Lorinc (Bloomberg News – November 19, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Canada’s federal government is extending a national security review of Paladin Energy Ltd.’s acquisition of Fission Uranium Corp., further delaying a deal that was supposed to close in September.

Australia’s Paladin Energy said Tuesday it received a notice from Canada’s industry ministry that the government’s review period for the transaction, proposed in June, will be extended until Dec. 30. The company also warned that the deal could fall apart.

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Paladin Energy’s Fission deal in limbo as Ottawa probes national security implications of China influence – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – November 11, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Investors are unsure whether Australia-based Paladin Energy Ltd.’s proposed acquisition of Fission Uranium Corp. will succeed, as Ottawa conducts a make-or-break national security review on the transaction, with Chinese influence under scrutiny on both sides of the deal.

In June, Paladin reached a friendly agreement to buy Kelowna, B.C.-based Fission in an all-stock transaction worth $1.14-billion. Fission is developing the Patterson Lake South (PLS) uranium project in the Athabasca Basin region of Saskatchewan, which is projected to eventually account for about 5 per cent of global supply.

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Junior gold miners are appealing takeover targets as bullion prices climb – by Dominique Gené and Andrew Willis (Globe and Mail – November 5, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

For the mining crowd, the annual Denver Gold Forum is a chance to swap speculation on potential deals. At this year’s gathering in September, all the takeover talk revolved around junior companies with promising properties being snapped up by larger rivals.

The country’s smallest gold miners – those developing projects that are years away from producing bullion – are becoming attractive takeover targets. Soaring gold prices have boosted the valuations of senior and intermediate mining companies and left them flush with cash, while stock prices continue to languish at exploration companies.

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Short-seller report aims to poke holes in story told by fledgling gold company – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – September 26, 2024)

https://financialpost.com/

Raises questions about New Found Gold deposit near Gander

Vancouver-based New Found Gold Corp. has been the toast of Canada’s exploration sector for reportedly striking bonanza-grade intercepts, but a short-seller report is trying to poke holes in the company’s story.

The report, released earlier this month by Iceberg Research, raises questions about the deposit’s “lack of continuity,” saying the best drill holes may be too narrow and spread too far away from one another to be economically mined.

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