Gold bugs be warned. Your party is ending with only enough time left for a last round of drinks before the fun ends as the gold price heads for a 20% fall.
That’s the latest forecast from Citi, an investment bank, with another bank, UBS, adding its note of caution about the outlook for gold which has been one of the best investments for the past three years but is struggling to continue rising.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel said Wednesday they have finalized their “historic partnership,” a deal that gives the U.S. government a say in some matters and comes a year-and-a-half after the Japanese company first proposed its nearly $15 billion buyout of the iconic American steelmaker.
The pursuit by Nippon Steel for the Pittsburgh-based company was buffeted by national security concerns and presidential politics in a premier battleground state, dragging out the transaction for more than a year after U.S. Steel shareholders approved it.
LAWTON, Oklahoma, June 18 (Reuters) – Nestled beneath Oklahoma’s Wichita Mountains sits a two-story warehouse containing the only machine in the United States capable of refining nickel, a crucial energy transition metal now dominated by China.
The facility, owned by startup Westwin Elements, aims to help Oklahoma become the epicenter for U.S. critical minerals processing, a sector the country largely abandoned decades ago. The state will have to overcome several obstacles to get there, including a lack of major critical mineral deposits, a weak education system and its location at the center of the United States – far from international shipping lanes.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/
The proposed project includes two open-pit gold mines in Guysborough County
The company hoping to open Nova Scotia’s next gold mine says the province has accepted its application for industrial approval, meaning the environment minister will issue a decision about the project’s future within 60 days.
NexGold Mining Corp. said in a news release Tuesday that its Goldboro Gold project is now under review for industrial approval — the final provincial regulatory hurdle that must be overcome before operations can get underway.
Once nearly eradicated, the “old man’s disease” is back and suffocating younger miners. Federal cuts risk putting a solution further out of reach.
Denver Brock and his son Aundra used to spend early mornings hunting rabbits in the wooded highlands of Harlan County, Ky. But they don’t get out there much these days. They both get too breathless trying to follow the baying hounds. Instead, they tend a large garden alongside Denver Brock’s home. Even that can prove difficult, requiring them to work slowly and take frequent breaks.
“You get so dizzy,” Denver Brock said, “you can’t hardly stand up.” The Brocks followed a long family tradition when they became Appalachian coal miners. For it, they both now have coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, a debilitating disease characterized by masses and scarred tissue in the chest, and better known by its colloquial name: black lung.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Premier throws down the gauntlet to convince Indigenous communities to be development partners or choose economic stagnation
Premier Doug Ford said First Nations can’t keep coming “hat in hand” to government for assistance when there’s untapped precious and critical minerals on their traditional lands.Ford made the comment in St. Catharines, June 18, to announce housing funding from the Building Faster Fund for three Niagara Region communities.
His remarks should set the stage for an interesting “conversation” tomorrow at Queen’s Park with 40 undisclosed Ontario chiefs to secure their support to expedite speedier approvals for critical minerals mine developments in the province.“There’s an opportunity of a lifetime for them,” said Ford.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Torngat Metals Ltd. is raising $165-million from the federal government as it attempts to put a rare earths mine and refinery into production in Quebec at a time when China’s dominance of the sector is causing high anxiety for the West.
Montreal-based Torngat said in a news release Tuesday that Export Development Canada has agreed to provide it with a bridge loan of $110-million, while Canada Infrastructure Bank will lend $55-million. The company plans to put the funds toward engineering work, environmental studies and early construction efforts to move along its Strange Lake project in the remote Nunavik region of northern Quebec.
This article originally appeared in The Hill Times.
Being a mining superpower isn’t just about mining the most. It’s also about having the ability to supply the material needs of our allies in a reliable and secure manner.
As the world’s second-largest country, Canada, in theory, has the world’s second-largest mineral bounty. But we also have difficult geography and burdensome processes. In the past few decades, we’ve punched well below our weight, losing market share across a variety of critical minerals and products. Canada has unfulfilled mining potential.
The silver lining is that as our allies and trading partners look to secure their raw material needs—for the digital economy, the energy transition, defence supply chains, you name it—Canada still has vast untapped reserves that it can develop to satisfy those needs. With just 41 million people, we have more than we could ever use ourselves.
A new era of resource development must start with full Indigenous engagement and a bold federal commitment to shared prosperity
There aren’t many absolute truths in Canadian public life, but there are some. Here’s a few on that short list: First Nations people require — and deserve — far greater economic opportunities, Canada’s economic prosperity rests on the cautious but timely development of natural resources, and the current rate of government spending cannot be maintained.
As Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new government engages provincial and territorial counterparts seeking to fast-track major development projects, First Nations, Métis and Inuit warn that unchecked development, undertaken without Indigenous involvement and approval, must be stopped in its tracks.
Chevron USA, a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, became on Tuesday the latest oil major to enter the lithium market in the United States with the acquisition of lease rights to about 125,000 net acres in northeast Texas and southwest Arkansas.
The company secured the lithium-rich acreage from TerraVolta Resources and East Texas Natural Resources but did not disclose financial details. “This acquisition represents a strategic investment to support energy manufacturing and expand US-based critical mineral supplies,” Chevron New Energies president Jeff Gustavson said.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/
Deal puts First Nation ‘in the driver’s seat’ over what happens on its traditional territory
On Friday, the Yukon Supreme Court approved the second half of the Minto mine sale to Selkirk First Nation (SFN), marking a major milestone in the First Nation’s control of activities on its own land. Minto mine, a gold and copper mine about 240 kilometres northwest of Whitehorse on SFN land, was abandoned by previous owners Minto Metals Corp. in May 2023 and PricewaterhouseCoopers has acted as receiver. .
In September, the First Nation acquired the tangible assets at the site, such as buildings and equipment, for $5.3 million. As of this week, it now has approval to buy mineral claims and leases that grant the right to extract minerals, for $740,000. The sale is expected to close in the coming days.
First Nations have just as much interest in seeing major development projects that benefit our communities go ahead as industry and government
Last week, Justice Minister Sean Fraser apologized for saying that the duty to consult First Nations on infrastructure projects “stops short of a complete veto.” The apology came in response to a letter from Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, who expressed concern about plans to fast-track infrastructure projects, citing the principal of “free, prior, and informed consent” enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
For decades in this country, Indigenous rights have been trampled upon and trust has been lost. Years of negligence has caused our people not to trust the process and to second guess commitments made by government and industry.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Barrick Mining Corp. ABX-T is set to lose control of its Malian operations after a local court ordered a state-appointed administrator to temporarily take over the Loulo-Gounkoto gold mine. The Bamako Commercial Tribunal’s ruling Monday follows months of tension between Toronto-based Barrick and Mali over a new fiscal agreement for the massive gold mine in the West African country.
The court named Soumana Makadji, a former health minister in Mali, as the administrator of the mine for the next six months. The Bamako Commercial Tribunal did not respond to a request for comment.
‘Carney recognizes the resource strength that Canada has,’ said Leigh Curyer
As Prime Minister Mark Carney looks to pass legislation to fast-track major projects, the chief executive of the company planning Canada’s largest uranium mine currently under development in northern Saskatchewan is hoping its project will be a beneficiary.
Leigh Curyer, chief executive of Vancouver-based NexGen Energy Ltd., which is working to develop the $2-billion Rook I Project in the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan’s Far North, said he’s optimistic about Carney’s plans to turn Canada into an “energy superpower” and speed up development of major projects.
Shares of the Canadian mining company were down 6%
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. executives told investors on Thursday it’s too soon to provide output guidance for its massive copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo after seismic activity last month caused flooding deep underground.
The company held a call after slashing its 2025 output guidance for its Kamoa-Kakula complex even after restarting parts of the flood-hit operation. Chief executive Marna Cloete said Ivanhoe can’t offer guidance for 2026 or 2027 in light of the incident.
