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The sinister history of America’s ‘uranium gold rush’ – by Erin Blakemore (National Geographic – July 12, 2024)

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/

The success of the Manhattan Project sent demand for uranium skyrocketing, and enterprising prospectors went out West in search of an overnight fortune. But many were exposed to lethal radiation in the mines.

Armed with picks and shovels, the prospectors turned to the American West intent on finding deposits of the mineral that would make their fortunes. Their pursuit of wealth led to vast riches—and left ghost towns in its wake.

But the year wasn’t 1849, and the miners weren’t in search of gold. Instead, it was the 1950s, and they carried Geiger counters along with their shovels. They were part of the United States’ last big mineral rush—a forgotten race to find uranium deposits at the dawn of the nuclear age.

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Teck stumbles again at QB2 copper mine, while zinc business outperforms – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – April 25, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Teck Resources Ltd. stumbled once again in its latest quarter, as it encountered more ramp-up problems at its giant QB2 copper mine, while its zinc business fired on all cylinders.

Teck put the high-altitude QB2 mine in the mountains of northern Chile into production in 2023, but the US$8.7-billion project went way over budget. The ramp-up has been difficult, with grade shortfalls and production misses among the early challenges.

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Op-Ed: A credible strategy emerging to secure US critical supply chains – by Dominic Raab (Mining.com – April 24, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

Dominic Raab is head of global affairs at Appian Capital, and former UK deputy prime minister and foreign secretary.

Amidst the polarized debate over the new US Administration’s trade policy, President Trump has taken a series of measures – from permitting reform to the nascent peace plan for Ukraine – demonstrating a concerted, new, strategic commitment to securing critical minerals supply chains.

The bedrock of the modern digital economy, from EV cars and smartphones to F-35 fighter aircraft, demand for critical minerals has doubled, creating a $320 billion market, and is set to double again by 2030. So too, today’s cutting-edge military hardware, on which our national security rests, depends on rare earths – from drones to submarines.

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N.W.T. government announces tax break, funding for ailing diamond mines (CBC News North – April 22, 2025)

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

Measures include ramping up local diamond valuations, temporary property tax relief

The Northwest Territories government has announced several new policies aimed at propping up the territory’s diamond mines. The targeted measures are aimed to provide financial relief to diamond mines while low diamond prices, supply chain disruptions and potential U.S. tariffs wreak havoc on the industry.

Mining is the largest private-sector contributor to the N.W.T.’s economy, with the N.W.T. government saying its three operating diamond mines collectively account for about 20 per cent of the territory’s GDP. All three N.W.T. diamond mines reported losses in 2024, and mining companies called for government support earlier this month.

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Chinese takeover of Vancouver gold miner unlikely to be blocked by government, analyst says – by Naimul Karim (National Post – April 22, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

In recent years, the government blocked deals involving Chinese companies and Canadian miners developing critical minerals

A Chinese company’s subsidiary is buying a Vancouver-based gold miner for about $581 million amidst rising gold prices, subject to approval by the Canadian government, among others.

Lumina Gold Corp., which is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, isn’t producing gold yet but is developing the Cangrejos project in Ecuador, which it describes as that country’s “largest primary gold deposit,” based on a study conducted in 2023. The project is being sold to a Singaporean entity of China’s CMOC Group Ltd.

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Bad News for China: Rare Earth Elements Aren’t That Rare – by Zeyi Yang (Wired Magazine – April 23, 2025)

https://www.wired.com/

China is limiting US access to critical minerals in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but the move isn’t as devastating as Beijing wants it to be.

As the trade war between China and the United States continues to escalate, Beijing is responding by turning to one of its favorite retaliation tactics: limiting the export of critical minerals used in many high-tech electronics, from fighter jets to wind turbines.

While China’s mineral restrictions may sound scary, the reality is that they haven’t been very effective in the past and stand to become even less so if the US and other countries finally get their acts together. It all started in July 2023, when the Chinese government announced it would restrict the export of gallium and germanium, two critical minerals that are mostly used in making solar panels and semiconductors.

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Minerals reserve to be used as leverage with Trump, foreign investors – by Phillip Coorey (Australian Financial Review – April 24, 2025)

https://www.afr.com/

The Albanese government says it will use a critical minerals reserve as leverage with the Trump administration over tariffs, as the mining industry warned that establishing the stockpile could push down commodity prices.

The opposition was ambiguous towards the proposal to establish the reserve, with Peter Dutton saying “we’re not supporting the plan because it is a refit and rehash and reannouncement with no delivery”. But he went on to support the concept. “Critical minerals are absolutely essential for us and for our partners and whether that looks like an offtake agreement or whether it looks like an agreement to stockpile it to work with the US, in the UK, in Japan, etcetera, we will work all that detail in government.”

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Trump aims to fight China’s control of minerals by investing in miners – by Spencer Kimball (CNBC.com – April 24, 2025)

https://www.cnbc.com/

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Trump administration is considering investing in companies that mine and process critical minerals in an effort to end U.S. dependence on imports from countries including China, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said this week.

“We should be taking some of our balance sheet and making investments,” Burgum said late Wednesday at a conference organized by the Hamm Institute for American Energy. The U.S. may need to make an “equity investment in each of these companies that’s taking on China in critical minerals,” he said.

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BHP prepares to start succession process for mining’s top job – by Paul-Alain Hunt, Thomas Biesheuvel and Archie Hunter (Bloomberg News – April 22, 2025)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

BHP Group is preparing to begin looking for a new chief executive officer in the coming months, with key lieutenants already jostling for position to succeed boss Mike Henry at the top of the world’s biggest miner.

The understanding at BHP is that Henry is now heading toward the end of his tenure, according to company insiders. They emphasized that no decision has been made. But some people close to the company say a change could come as soon as early next year, and some top executives have begun increasing their interaction with investors and other stakeholders ahead of a likely succession process.

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‘Special economic zones’ bill would let Ford government exempt any project from provincial laws – by Jessica Smith Cross (The Trillium – April 24, 2025)

https://www.thetrillium.ca/

It also repeals Ontario’s Endangered Species Act, ‘gutting’ legal protections for species, environmentalists warn

The Ford government is proposing to give itself sweeping powers to exempt any project from provincial and municipal laws.The “Protecting Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act,” tabled Thursday, if passed, would give the province the power to designate “special economic zones,” as well as “trusted proponents” and projects that fit criteria to be developed by cabinet.

Cabinet would then be allowed to exempt these proponents and projects from requirements under any provincial law or regulation, including bylaws of municipalities and local boards, that would otherwise apply in that zone.

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Canada needs to attract private investment in infrastructure – and Indigenous communities hold the key – by Mark Podlasly (Globe and Mail – April 23, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

From Pierre Poilievre’s “national energy corridor” and promise to fast-track permits for Ontario’s Ring of Fire to Mark Carney’s promised $5-billion for trade infrastructure, major projects are receiving all-party recognition as crucial components of Canada’s long-term economic stability.

This prevailing national consensus suggests that if Canada is going to be a strong leader on the world stage, it needs to reliably deliver on big-ticket natural resource and infrastructure projects – something it has struggled with in recent years.

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Trump signs executive order boosting deep-sea mining industry – by Jarrett Renshaw and Ernest Scheyder(Reuters – April 24, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at boosting the deep-sea mining industry, the latest attempt to boost US production of nickel, copper and other critical minerals used widely across the economy.

The broad order avoids a direct confrontation with the United Nations-backed International Seabed Authority and seeks essentially to jumpstart the mining of US waters as part of a push to offset China’s sweeping control of the critical minerals industry.

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Northern Prospectors Association supports proposed mining legislation – by Brad Sherratt (Kirkland Lake Northern News – April 21, 2025)

https://www.northernnews.ca/

The president of the Northern Prospectors Association says his organization is supportive of legislation that was introduced by the province, legislation that is designed to speed up the process for mineral development and resource projects.

On April 18, the Ford government introduced the “Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025.” According to a media release from the province, if passed, the legislation would cut the red tape and duplicative processes that have held back major infrastructure, mining and resource development projects, including in the Ring of Fire.

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Diamond industry in crisis as Trump tariffs rock market – by Leslie Hook (Financial Times/Financial Post – April 15, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

Traders warn of ‘standstill’ as shipments through Antwerp drop 85%

Diamond traders are warning that the US$82-billion industry has “ground to a halt” because of Donald Trump‘s tariffs and the global trade war, with shipments through the gem-trading hub of Antwerp down to about one-seventh of usual levels.

Trump’s sweeping tariffs include a 10 per cent levy on diamond imports as well as proposed variable “retaliatory” duties by country of origin, even though many other minerals, such as gold and copper, are excluded from the measures.

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Surging gold stocks lift mining’s top 50 companies above tariff chaos – by Frik Els (Mining.com – April 21, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

Two weeks into the second quarter, the MINING.COM TOP 50* ranking of the world’s most valuable miners had a combined market capitalization of $1.36 trillion, up $79.7 billion so far in 2025. The total stock market valuation of the world’s biggest mining companies remains almost $400 billion below the peak hit in the second quarter of 2022.

This snapshot was taken at the close of trading on April 17 and not at the start of Q2 as usual to avoid some of the market distortions brought on by the chaotic weeks following Trump’s on-again off-again tariffs. This flatters the index to some extent as gold stocks rode the coattails of the record setting bullion price and almost all big names regained some ground after the severe sell-off during the first week of April.

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