(Kitco News) – The gold market continues to attract attention as it prepares to end the first month of 2025 at a record high, following the trend of 40 all-time highs in 2024.
With bullish momentum clearly picking up, some analysts have said that this is only the start of what looks to be a bigger move. In a recent interview with Kitco News, Michele Schneider, Chief Strategist at MarketGauge, said that if gold sees a clear break above $2,800 an ounce, it can easily reach $3,000.
China has systematically extended its control over critical minerals essential for the global energy transition and net-zero emissions, using a network of at least 26 state-backed financial institutions over the past two decades, a new report shows.
The database, compiled by AidData at the College of William & Mary in the United States, reveals how Beijing has leveraged an intricate web of financial mechanisms to dominate the global supply chain for critical minerals. These minerals — including copper, cobalt, nickel, lithium and rare earth elements — are vital for emerging technologies such as electric vehicle batteries and solar panels.
https://www.northernminer.com/
Queen’s Park and Aroland First Nation have signed a multi-million-dollar agreement to plan a transmission line in the mineral-rich Ring of Fire area in the province’s north. The deal also includes support for upgrades to Anaconda and Painter Lake Roads, which are important connections on the road, which is under study, to the Ring of Fire, the government said Tuesday.
The Ring of Fire, known for vast potential but only a few projects, lies about 540 km northeast of Thunder Bay. The hydro line is planned near Aroland First Nation, located at what is known as the “gateway” to the Ring of Fire, 60 km north of Geraldton on Highway 584/643.
Shipments of uranium ore from a revived mining operation just south of the Grand Canyon are expected to resume in February after the Navajo Nation reached a settlement with the mining company, clearing the way for trucks to transport the ore across the largest Native American reservation in the U.S.
The agreement announced Wednesday settles a dispute that erupted last summer when Energy Fuels Inc. began trucking ore from the Pinyon Plain Mine to a mill site in Utah. Navajo authorities attempted to put up roadblocks but the trucks already had left tribal roadways.
How the Labrador Trough became the epicentre of Canadian iron ore mining in the 1950s
The first reference to iron in the Labrador Trough, a geologic belt hosting world-class iron deposits that extends for approximately 1,100 kilometres through Labrador and Quebec, was made by Father Louis Babel, who travelled in the area from 1866 to 1870, according to H.E. Neal (Explor. Mining Geol., Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 113-121, 2000). A.P. Low was the first geologist to recognize iron mineralization that was similar to that found in the northern United States while he was on a preliminary reconnaissance survey in 1893 to 1894.
“However, it was not until 1929 that the first iron ore discoveries were made by J.E. Gill and W. F. James in the Burnt Creek (Knob Lake) area,” wrote R.D. Westervelt (CIM Bulletin, November 1957). These iron ore discoveries led to the formation of the Labrador Mining and Exploration Company (LME) in 1936 to explore a 20,000-square-mile concession in Labrador, and of the Hollinger North Shore Exploration Company in 1941 to explore an adjoining 3,900-square-mile concession in Quebec.
Russia’s army is around six kilometres (four miles) from the centre of Pokrovsk, a formerly thriving mining hub on top of Ukraine’s largest coal reserves.
Fighting desperately to cling on to coal mines that were once the lifeblood of its industrial east, Ukraine’s soldiers conceded they were struggling against intensifying Russian attacks. “There’s only so much we can do. No matter what super warriors are fighting in our ranks, the Russians outnumber us. It hurts,” said the chief sergeant of Ukraine’s 59th brigade, deployed in the Donetsk region, who goes by the call sign “San Sanych”.
Russia’s army is around six kilometres (four miles) from the centre of Pokrovsk, a formerly thriving mining hub on top of Ukraine’s largest coal reserves. The capture of the city and surrounding mines — some of which are even closer to Russian positions — would be a painful blow to Ukraine’s army, local communities and the national economy, compounding months of setbacks on the front.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Voters should demand real action and investment commitment from party leaders to revitalize, ‘re-imagine’ this critical sector
As Ontario braces for a snap provincial election called by Premier Doug Ford, the languishing forest industry in rural and Northern Ontario remains a critical yet overlooked issue. The closure of major pulp mills in Espanola and Terrace Bay have dealt a severe blow to the region’s economy, with far-reaching consequences that demand immediate attention.
The indefinite idling of Domtar’s Espanola pulp mill in November 2023 and Aditya Birla’s Terrace Bay mill in January 2024 has resulted in the loss of over 850 direct jobs and the annual production of 600,000 tonnes of Northern Bleached Kraft pulp.
Battle for control of central African nation fuelled by increasing demand for minerals crucial in manufacture of smartphones and laptops
“The source of misery for the people of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo lies in the vast natural treasures beneath their feet,” said The Times. The region boasts a “dizzying array” of riches, such as gold and diamonds, but the “most coveted are the lesser known”: coltan, cobalt and other minerals “crucial in the production of laptops and smartphones”.
It is “no coincidence” that violence has increased alongside consumer demand for tech. But while the slogan “blood diamonds” helped to ease conflicts elsewhere in Africa, a “similarly murderous hunt for smart-tech minerals” has only intensified in the DRC, displacing seven million and “condemning a region to perpetual chaos”.
https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/
Afghanistan and Pakistan possess significant mineral resources that have attracted China’s interest. This fact has shaped what China does to grow its broader economic and geopolitical strategy in the region. This article provides a short survey, for both countries, of the mineral deposits, current mining production, and China’s efforts to increase its influence.
Afghanistan’s mineral resources
Afghanistan is estimated to have mineral deposits worth up to US$1 trillion, including vast reserves of copper, iron, gold, lithium, and rare earth elements. Some of the key mineral resources include the following:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Canada’s Cameco Corp. fought off U.S. tariffs on uranium during President Donald Trump’s first term and it hopes to do so again as the global uranium heavyweight pushes for cooler heads to prevail in Washington.
After he was elected for a second term last fall, Mr. Trump said he was planning to impose 25-per-cent tariffs on all imports of Canadian goods. On the day he was inaugurated, he said those tariffs could take effect on Saturday. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday confirmed that Mr. Trump’s Saturday timeline for tariffs against Canada is still in the cards.
A major Canadian mining prospect upstream from Southeast Alaska is drawing legal challenges from both sides of the border, as tribal groups fear the project could pollute their ancestral waterways.
At the river’s mouth
The Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission, or SEITC, is worried about the region’s rivers. The commission represents 15 Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian nations that came together because they believe mining in British Columbia poses a threat to their spawning salmon and hooligan habitats, like the Unuk and Stikine Rivers.
Southern Alberta is known for its vast farmland, which contributes billions of dollars to the economy and Chris Spearman fears the proposed Grassy Mountain Coal Mine will negatively impact the agri-food sector and southern Alberta.
Spearman, former Lethbridge mayor and a spokesman for the group Water For Food, says he was alarmed at the Dec. 20 announcement and is wondering why the Albertan government would jeopardize the economy for a project that has a limited life span.
Jan 28 (Reuters) – A lightning advance in Congo’s mineral-rich eastern borderlands is set to boost the M23 rebellion’s illegal mining revenues, with analysts predicting a further surge in illicit trade in minerals including coltan and gold through neighbouring Rwanda.
The Rwanda-backed insurgency entered Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s largest city, this week, marking a major turning point in a conflict with government forces that has raised fears of a spillover into a broader regional war.
The same day Premier Doug Ford called an early election, his government announced it had reached a $20-million deal with Aroland First Nation that will, “build roads along the entire route to the Ring of Fire.”
The Shared Prosperity Agreement includes $20 million for infrastructure and new energy transmission projects in Aroland. Ontario promises to upgrade existing roads to the community, located 60 kilometres north of Geraldton, and build a road from Aroland northward to Marten Falls First Nation. Ontario also made a vague commitment to support Aroland in vying for a smelter, and it intends to meet further over potential resource-benefit sharing.
Aroland First Nation has signed a deal worth more than $20 million to develop the Ring of Fire, with the money set for community infrastructure projects related to mineral development, business development and community wellness. “Our line is pro-development,” said Chief Sonny Gagnon. “We have an opportunity with my community to attain the skills that we need to be self-sustaining, to get off government funding.”
Nestled in the remote expanse of the James Bay Lowlands, the Ring of Fire is a mineral-rich region, with long-term potential to produce chromite, cobalt, nickel, copper and platinum, critical to Ontario’s expansion into new economic development.
