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Strong safe-haven demand sees gold surge as stocks struggle – by Jim Wyckoff (Kitco News – April 10, 2025)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Gold prices are posting very strong gains and silver is modestly up in midday U.S. trading Thursday. More robust safe-haven demand amid a wobbly U.S. stock market again amid worries about a U.S.-China trade war, as well as a cooler U.S. inflation report are propelling the precious metals traders late this week.

Also, there are still some lingering worries about the stability of the U.S. Treasury market. June gold was last up $100.60 at $3,180.50. May silver prices were last up $0.37 at $30.775. Mostly overshadowed by the tariff news Wednesday, today’s key U.S. consumer price index report for March came in at up 2.4%, year-on-year, and was expected to come in up 2.6% and compares to up 2.8% in the February report.

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Agnico Eagle explores extending life of Meadowbank, Meliadine mines – by Jeff Pelletier (Nunatsiaq News – April 9, 2025)

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Hope Bay in Kitikmeot Region is also part of company’s future, VP says

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. is looking at extending the lives of its two Kivalliq Region mines beyond their planned closure dates. “It’s safe to say that Nunavut is an important platform for Agnico Eagle,” said Chris Adams, Agnico Eagle’s vice-president for Nunavut, speaking alongside executives from B2Gold Corp. and Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. on a panel Wednesday at the Nunavut Mining Symposium in Iqaluit.

Agnico Eagle’s Meadowbank site, which produced 504,719 ounces of gold last year and employs 1,831 people, is scheduled to close in 2028.

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Power Metallic CEO sees ‘monster-size’ deposit at Nisk – by Frederic Tomesco (Northern Miner – April 10, 2025)

https://northernminer.com/

Power Metallic Mines’ Nisk polymetallic property is probably at least as large as Anglo American’s 44-million-tonne Sakatti copper-nickel-platinum project in Finland, CEO Terry Lynch said.

Nisk – which is located in Quebec’s James Bay region and includes deposits of copper, nickel, platinum-group metals, silver and gold – could even one day rival Vale’s (NYSE: VALE) Voisey’s Bay mine for size, Lynch said Wednesday. Voisey’s Bay, which has been estimated to contain about 140 million tonnes, is Canada’s biggest nickel mine and one of the world’s largest.

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Prime Minister Mark Carney vows to speed permits, make Canada energy superpower – by Laura Dhillon Kane and Thomas Seal (Bloomberg News – April 9, 2025)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged to make Canada the world’s “leading energy superpower” through a plan that includes establishing a single office that would decide on major projects within two years.

The Liberal Party leader said at a campaign stop in Calgary that his government would create a Major Federal Project Office with a “one project, one review” mandate. The aim would be to eliminate duplication of federal and provincial environmental assessments, speeding up reviews.

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Mine electrification in Canada: An industry in transition – by Amanda Fitch (Canadian Mining Journal – April 9, 2025)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Canada’s mining sector is making strides in electrification, driven by technological advancements, policy support, and infrastructure investments. The increase in demand for critical minerals in Canada is evident and is the result of mining companies integrating electrified solutions.

These solutions include battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and electrified infrastructure to enhance sustainability and efficiency while balancing innovation with operational realities. Canadian mines have been pioneers in integrating BEVs into their operations with over a decade of use in the industry.

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Why Canada’s long-term fate could hang on unlocking the Arctic — now – by Joe O’Connor (Financial Post – April 9, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

Donald Trump has forced a new urgency on the campaign trail and up and down the country to unleash the North’s potential or risk Arctic sovereignty and a northern treasure trove of resources

Brendan Bell knows what it is like to be ignored. It wasn’t so many months ago that the chief executive of West Kitikmeot Resources Corp., an Inuit-owned company proposing to build a road and deepwater ocean port in the Arctic, was spending a chunk of each day waiting for non-Arctic people to return his phone calls to discuss the project.

“This road is not a new idea,” he said. “Roads have a long history in the North.” Do they ever. Yet that history can be summarized as roads — and major infrastructure projects of all types — may get proposed for the Arctic, but they generally don’t get built. No surprise then that Bell had been contending with an utterly non-urgent vibe from other people in relation to the Grays Bay Road and Port Project. That is until recently, when a lot of those same people started calling him back.

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Northeast First Nations team up with province on two proposed hydro power projects – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – April 9, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Moose River, Albany River basins contain an estimated 3,570 megawatts of future hydroelectric power

To Taykwa Tagamou Nation (TTN) Chief Bruce Archibald, Indigenous involvement in the selection process of two proposed hydroelectric projects in the Moose River basin is what economic reconciliation should look like.

Archibald spoke at an April 9 news conference at the Sandy Falls Generating Station, outside Timmins, to reveal a pair of new power stations that will be added to Ontario Power Generation’s power-producing fleet in the coming years. The event was livestreamed on YouTube.

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Smith introduces bill to ban copper-nickel mining near Boundary Waters – by Jimmy Lovrien (Duluth News Tribune – April 9, 2025)

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

The legislation would make permanent a 20-year ban on that type of mining on 225,000 acres of Superior National Forest in the Rainy River Watershed, a Biden-era move Trump has vowed to reverse.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., has introduced a bill to ban copper-nickel mining on nearly a quarter-million acres of federal land in the same watershed as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

The bill would make permanent a 20-year ban on that type of mining on 225,000 acres of Superior National Forest land in the Rainy River Watershed, which is shared with the BWCAW. The status of mining in that watershed and Twin Metals, which wants to build an underground mine, tailings storage facility and processing plant upstream of the BWCAW along Birch Lake, has bounced back and forth depending on who is in the White House.

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OPINION: A bold Canadian Arctic strategy isn’t just good policy – it’s good business – by Gary Mar and Mark Norman (Globe and Mail – April 9, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Gary Mar is the president and CEO of the Canada West Foundation. Vice-Admiral (Ret’d) Mark Norman is a former vice-chief of the defence staff.

Canada is an Arctic nation. It’s about time it started acting like it. Unlike the Scandinavian countries and Russia, Canada has reluctantly viewed itself in this manner, instead considering the North as a sort of national park where development is frowned upon.

The economic value of the region has been played down, and the need to defend that value was discounted under a rosy view of a peaceful world anchored to the benevolent hegemony of the United States. That all changed with the second inauguration of Donald Trump in January, and his rhetoric that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state.

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In Potential Russia Sanctions Removal, Diamonds Illustrate the Complexities – by Brad Brooks-Rubin (Just Security – April 10, 2025)

https://www.justsecurity.org/

Amid intense uncertainty and speculation about the future of sanctions related to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, companies across all sectors are beginning to imagine what a future of sanctions relief may mean for them.

One of those sectors is that of mining and sales of natural diamonds, which is navigating a number of major challenges, only some of which are directly or indirectly connected to business involving Russia. In any case, what happens in the diamond industry related to Russia could be particularly instructive for other sectors because of its exposure to Western consumers, the physical capability of tracing the product along the supply chain from beginning to end, and its experience with mechanisms intended to improve and promote standards for responsible business.

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In the rush for Canada’s critical minerals, Indigenous rights and sovereignty are being ignored – by Jon Thompson (Ricochet Media – April 9, 2025)

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First Nation leader warns that a proposed gold mine in northwest Ontario would impact their water source

A First Nation chief in northwestern Ontario says political rhetoric about running roughshod over Indigenous consultation to fast-track mining and other extraction projects is emboldening an abusive approach to resource engagement.

Onigaming Chief Jeff Copenace says his community “fundamentally opposes” a proposed gold mine and warns that the development “will be opposed at any cost necessary including peaceful protest and direct action.”

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Column: China primes rare earths weapon as trade war escalates – by Andy Home (Reuters – April 10, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

As U.S. President Donald Trump turns up the tariff heat on China, Beijing is targeting ever more of the United States’ critical material supply chains.

Weird and wonderful metals such as antimony, gallium and germanium have already been sucked into the escalating trade war with China restricting exports and banning sales to the United States. Beijing has just raised the mineral threat another level by adding seven rare earths to its dual-use list of restricted exports.

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FPX Nickel extends exploration partnership with JOGMEC (Mining Technology – April 8, 2025)

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

FPX Nickel has secured 60% ownership in new JV projects.

Canada-based nickel mining company FPX Nickel has extended its Global Generative Exploration Alliance with the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC), turning it into an open-ended joint venture (JV).

After two years of collaboration, the partnership will continue to focus on identifying and acquiring high-quality awaruite nickel properties globally, particularly those geologically similar to FPX’s flagship Baptiste Nickel Project in British Columbia. The Generative Alliance has established a budget of C$1.5bn for its third year, running from April 2025 to March 2026.

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Unlocking lithium: Pairing technology and expertise to increase project value – by Victoria Martinez (Canadian Mining Journal – April 7, 2025)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

The number of batteries used in energy storage is rising as the world adopts more advanced technologies, particularly green energy and electric vehicles (EVs), thus increasing the demand for critical minerals such as lithium.

Lithium extraction, like many resources, can be a complicated and expensive proposition for mining companies. Typically found in low concentrations, lithium deposits vary from rock to clays to brines with unique impurities from location to location. Lithium supply chains also require high degrees of purity.

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Wesdome to acquire Angus Gold in $28 million deal – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – April 7, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

Wesdome Gold Mines  is acquiring junior explorer Angus Gold in a cash-and-share deal valued at approximately C$40 million ($28 million), expanding its footprint in Ontario’s Mishibishu Lake greenstone belt.

The transaction will quadruple Wesdome’s land position at its Eagle River operation, creating a 400 km² contiguous land package. Wesdome already owns 6.3 million Angus shares, about 10.4% stake in the target company.

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