In April, BHP tabled an initial £31.1 billion ($20.4 billion) scrip proposal for Anglo, and after it was rejected, it increased the proposed bid twice, which enticed Anglo to negotiate over a possible binding offer.

On May 29, BHP walked away, citing capital discipline and “South African regulatory risk and cost”.

Under UK takeover laws, BHP has to wait at least six months before it can consider another tilt for Anglo, a period which is due to expire late next month.

Speaking at BHP’s annual general meeting in Brisbane, Australia, this morning, chairman Ken MacKenzie said the company’s approach to Anglo was deliberate rather than opportunistic. 

“We plan these things and keep an eye on market activity and it looked like where their share price was trading sort of came within the window of opportunity that made sense for how we were valuing the company,” he said in response to a shareholder question.

“So we moved and we thought there was an opportunity here to create something unique and special, a sort of ‘one plus one equals three’ opportunity. By putting these companies together, there were a lot of synergies and opportunities, and we had a clear view in our mind around the value that we could create and the value that we were prepared to pay. 

“Unfortunately, Anglo American shareholders had a different view, and they thought there was more value in the plan that their management wanted to execute, and so they moved on. And quite frankly, so have we. 

“It was never a transaction that we had to do. It was a nice to have, not a must do. And so we’ve moved on as well.”

Remain disciplined

In late July, BHP and Lundin Mining (TSX: LUN) announced a joint $3 billion bid for Toronto-listed copper explorer Filo Corp (TSX: FIL), owner of the Filo del Sol copper project on the border of Chile and Argentina.

BHP will also buy 50% of Lundin’s Josemaria project for US$690 million.

Chief executive Mike Henry said once the transactions closed in the March 2025 quarter, the company would “have the opportunity to advance what we consider to be one of the most significant copper discoveries in decades”.

Henry stressed that mergers and acquisitions were only one growth option for the company.

“It’s really, really, really important that we all understand that transactions are about one avenue for growth for the company – they’re actually not the fundamental avenue,” he said.

“Before that, we have growing value through productivity – still the biggest single value growth lever for the company. We have greenfields exploration. We’ve increased our activity in greenfields exploration for copper resources globally. 

“We have getting more out of the resources that we already have, and BHP has the largest endowment of copper resources of any company in the world, and we see the fruits of that coming through now.”

BHP is aiming to increase South Australia copper production from 310,000-340,000 tonnes per annum to 500,000tpa in the early 2030s and 650,000tpa in the mid-2030s, and add 200,000tpa of production at Escondida in Chile.

“So we have lots of attractive growth ahead of us before we start contemplating acquisitions,” Henry said. 

“Now, where we do consider acquisitions, we are very disciplined about it. It has to be for the right assets – large, long-life, low-cost – and there has to be an opportunity for BHP to unlock further value through our ownership, through synergies.”

Facing protests

Hundreds of people rallied outside the meeting in Brisbane this morning, protesting BHP’s opposition to Australia’s new labor laws, as well as the miner’s coal operations.

BHP has been a vocal opponent of the Same Job, Same Pay industrial relations legislation, which have passed through Australia’s Parliament and will become law on Friday.

BHP has argued the legislation would require it to pay inexperienced labor hire workers the same as a worker with decades of experience, impacting costs and productivity.

While the issue was not mentioned during the AGM, almost 500 members of the Mining and Energy Union marched to protest BHP’s opposition to the legislation.

Roughly two hours in, the meeting was paused for several moments after being interrupted by anti-coal protesters.

The meeting received only two questions on coal, around reducing methane emissions and growth.

Henry reiterated that BHP would not be investing in growth in its Queensland coal business.

MacKenzie said BHP was investing “appropriate capital” in the development of green steel initiatives.

“We haven’t identified the right pathway yet on steel decarbonization,” he said. 

“We’re at the front end of the funnel where we’re looking at opportunities, and we’re trying to narrow it down to what we think will be the successful technology going forward. 

“I think the amount of money right now is appropriate, but if commercial opportunities arise going forward, the capital will flow.”

Total ore reserves at the are estimated at 4.8 million tonnes grading 53.8 grams per tonne of silver, containing 8.4 million oz. of the precious metal. This is part of a total estimated resource that comprises 38.3 million tonnes at 41.3 g/t for 51 million oz.

Wonawinta was previously developed as a shallow silver oxide project with four approved mine pits. Manuka took over the project in 2016 and, following a review period, began implementing a restart plan. The project currently has all mining approvals current and intact, and a process plant fully constructed.

The reserve estimate, says Manuka, gives the company a clear production pathway and the potential for revenues from gold and now silver following the restart of the Mt Boppy gold project located 150 km away from Wonawinta.

Manuka’s team has been infill drilling the current oxide resources on the Wonawinta mining lease while also testing the deeper mineralized sulphide ores (silver, lead and zinc). This was occurring whilst toll processing of the Mt Boppy gold ore is carried out at the Wonawinta plant.

Mt Boppy is the site of a historical mine that operated between 1901-1923, and at one time was one of the largest gold producers in Australia.

According to Dennis Karp, Manuka’s executive chairman, the process plant at Wonawinta has been kept in good working condition and has been on active care and maintenance since the processing of the gold bearing stockpiles hauled from Mt Boppy ceased in February 2024.

“It therefore stands ready to come back online at short notice,” he said, adding that the prospect of restarting Wonawinta following gold production from Mt Boppy provides “an excellent optionality on silver and the potential to take advantage of the very buoyant precious metals prices.”

Manuka is now reviewing its economic model for the Wonawinta mine development, which will include re-entering the two existing pits (Boundary and Manuka) plus the development of two new pits (Belah and Bimble). The company expects to announce the outcomes from this analysis during the current quarter.

Based on the current silver forward curve and an all-in sustaining cost of A$40.51/oz., the mine plan would deliver net operating cash flows of approximately A$100 million based on the ore reserve alone, Manuka estimates.

This Series B financing round was also supported by Andium’s existing investors Climate Investment, Intrepid Financial Partners and former Citadel chief information officer, Thomas Miglis.

Combined with the company’s $15 million Series A funding in 2021, this investment brings the total funding to over $40 million.

The new capital will help Andium accelerate its global expansion, including scaling operations across oil and gas basins in the US and the Middle East. It will also reduce technology and equipment costs, support ongoing research and development, and enhance the range of services Andium offers in industrial automation and emissions monitoring.

Andium’s solution combines AI-powered software with on-site sensors and cameras to provide a comprehensive, real-time solution for remote field monitoring. This enables accurate tracking of environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics, detecting issues like methane leaks, fires and equipment malfunctions.

By providing instant insights, Andium helps companies ensure continuous asset performance and regulatory compliance. The technology has already proven effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 65% per location while lowering field operational costs by up to 45% for major energy companies like BP and ConocoPhillips, the company says.

Andium’s real-time monitoring automation is also able to reduce windshield time by over 80%, addressing labor challenges, empowering workers, and improving efficiency across remote locations, it adds.

“This investment is a powerful endorsement of our platform, which will be pivotal as we enter our next stage of growth,” said Jory Schwach, founder and CEO at Andium.

“Our end-to-end operating system, which monitors and provides real-time, verifiable emissions data from remote locations, has already been proven to lower operational costs, cut emissions, and improve safety — helping energy, mining and waste companies meet their net-zero and zero-harm goals.”

Aramco Ventures’ $1.5 billion sustainability fund supports innovative technologies that reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions. This investment aligns with Aramco’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, the group said.

Bruce Niven, executive MD at Aramco Ventures, commented: “We are delighted to be partnering with Andium. This technology platform has the potential to reduce fugitive emissions as well as provide operational benefits in a variety of applications. It is an elegant and cost-effective solution.”

The financing from the federal agency could be for a 15-year term, the Vancouver-based company said on Monday. No interest rate was given. It follows a $22.8 million streaming loan in two tranches this year from Phoenix-based Monetary Metals & Co. and a $67 million funding deal with Sprott Private Resource Streaming and Royalty in May 2023.

The project is fully funded to start concentrate production by March or April using stockpiles, then ramp up mill throughput to 1,800 tonnes a day in about six months, Bunker Hill executive chairman Richard Williams told The Northern Miner by phone on Tuesday.

The new potential loan could help the mine expand to 2,500 tonnes a day. Depending on engineering studies due next year, the work may include a new 10,000-foot ramp, moving the crusher and installing underground conveyors, Williams said.

“We put a really great team on the ground in Idaho and the American government has paid attention,” he said. “Five years ago this site was rotting in a Superfund (cleanup program), didn’t have a processing facility and had no hope.”

Consolidation?

The expansion may encourage local M&A because it will dwarf nearby output by Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL) and Americas Gold and Silver (TSX: USA; NYSE USAS), Williams said.

“Why aren’t we doing all this together?” he said. “It’s not an accident we’re taking all these steps.”

Bunker Hill received a letter of intent from the bank which is to conduct due diligence on the project. The developer says it will submit a formal loan application to the bank by year’s end.

The first stage of the restart, due to begin by June, carries a $54.8 million capital cost, according to a 2022 prefeasibility study. However, the company said this year it’s choosing a more expensive pressure filtration system for tailings, over the disk filter system in the study, for better environmental management and easier expansion.

Bunker Hill plans an updated resource in next year’s first quarter followed by more drilling as the company preps the initial 1,800-tonne-per-day operation. Expansion plan details are to be published next year and the project might eventually tap the $150 million loan in late 2025 or 2026, Williams said.

Deeper veins

The expansion would increase mining and processing of the Quill-Newgard ore zones, the company said. It would later access the deeper, higher-grade silver-bearing galena veins that were extracted from the mine’s lower levels when Gulf Resources closed it in 1981, Bunker said.

Higher costs for environmental compliance and declining metal prices forced the shutdown, it said. Little production occurred under a new owner from 1988 to 1991, which also faced low metal prices.

“This the first positive statement of investment by the US government into Silver Valley mining since the mine shut,” Williams said. “That’s huge for Hecla, that’s huge for Americas Gold and Silver. That’s huge for us.”

It’s also good for New York-based Electrum Group, a finance company that owns a majority of the nearby Sunshine mine that’s been on care and maintenance for several years, Williams noted. From 1904 to 2001 the mine produced 364 million oz. silver as one the country’s largest silver operations.

Shares in Bunker Hill traded at C$0.16 apiece on Tuesday, valuing the company at C$52.4 million. They’ve traded in a 52-week range of C$0.09 to C$0.19.

Coeur d’Alene

Bunker Hill mine, in Idaho’s historical Coeur d’Alene mining district, started in 1887 and produced 35 million tons of mineralization grading 8.76% lead, 3.67% zinc and 5.49 oz. per ton (188.2 grams per tonne) silver. The mine remained in care and maintenance until 2020 when Placer Mining took over the project, and sold it to Bunker Hill in 2022.

The new project has a five-year life, an after-tax net present value of $52 million at an 8% discount rate and an internal rate of return of 36%, according to the 2022 prefeasibility study.

The site holds 3.2 million probable tonnes grading 1.12 grams silver per tonne, 2.59% lead and 5.81% zinc for 3.6 million oz. silver, 166 million lb. lead and 372.1 million lb. zinc, according to a 2022 resource.

”We are thrilled to announce this first step in a potential partnership with the Export Import Bank to rapidly expand Bunker Hill’s contribution to US domestic production of critical zinc and silver,” Bunker president and CEO Sam Ash said in a release.

“In the face of competition from China, Bunker Hill is proud to play its part in strengthening the US metals supply chain and creating new US mining jobs within the disadvantaged Shoshone County of northern Idaho.”

(With files by Henry Lazenby)

The study, published just a day after the United Nations warned the world is falling “miles short” of what’s needed to curb devastating global warming, indicates that an investment of $78 trillion will be needed to change this course and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, nations committed to limiting global warming to “well below” two degrees Celsius above the average temperatures recorded between 1850 and 1900, aiming for a target of 1.5 degrees Celsius if feasible. Efforts to date have not succeeded in meeting this challenge, the annual “Energy Transition Outlook” from Wood Mackenzie shows.

Unlike the UN pessimistic outlook, the Scottish consultancy believes that while major obstacles hinder short-term targets, particularly for 2030, a 2050 net-zero goal remains feasible. Immediate and coordinated global action would be necessary, WoodMac warns.

Threats to climate progress

A series of global crises, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, escalating Middle East violence, rising populism in Europe and global trade tensions with China, are undermining the pace of the energy transition, Wood Mackenzie’s vice president head of scenarios and technologies, Prakash Sharma, said. 

He explains that without urgent policy changes and enhanced investment, a warming trajectory of 2.5˚C to 3˚C could become inevitable.

“We are under no illusion as to how challenging the net zero transition will be, given the fact that fossil fuels are widely available, cost-competitive and deeply embedded in today’s complex energy system,” Sharma added. “A price on carbon maybe the most effective way to drive emissions reduction but it’s hard to see it coming together in a polarized environment.”

Key investment are needed across several critical areas, according to WoodMac. As renewable energy sources grow, substantial upgrades to power supply and grid infrastructure are essential to meet the growing demand. Additionally, the need for critical minerals, such as lithium, nickel and cobalt, is projected to increase five- to ten-fold by 2050, as demand for batteries and other technologies essential for the energy transition continues to grow. 

WoodMac sees the need to back the development of emerging technologies, including carbon capture, low-carbon hydrogen, and nuclear power, are vital for facilitating the shift towards cleaner energy sources.

Securing this funding won’t be easy, the consultants noted. “Doubling annual investments to $3.5 trillion by 2050 will be necessary in our net zero scenario,” Sharma said, adding that it will require unprecedented policy coordination globally.

The role of electrification

The electrification of energy systems will play a pivotal role in decarbonization. Transitioning from fossil fuels to electric power, Wood Mackenzie forecasts that electricity’s share of global energy demand will increase from 23% to 35% by 2050 in a base case, and could reach as high as 55% in a net-zero scenario.

Wood Mackenzie’s analysis reveals that global energy demand is set to rise by 14% by 2050. Emerging economies are projected to see even steeper growth at 45%, driven by rising populations and economic advancement. 

In parallel, data centres, electric vehicles, and AI are emerging as new drivers of electricity consumption, with AI-related energy use alone expected to increase from 500 TWh in 2023 to up to 4,500 TWh by 2050.

Including renewable energy source to meet electrifications demand could help reduce emissions, the report says.

According to Wood Mackenzie, solar and wind currently account for 17% of the global power supply, and renewables capacity is expected to double by 2030 in its base case. Yet, this increase still falls short of the COP28 commitment made in 2023 to triple renewables by 2030.

Transition or coexistence?

While nuclear energy holds promise for providing consistent, zero-carbon electricity, its high cost and frequent project delays pose significant challenges. WoodMac says that nuclear power could play a more significant role as it has attracted interest, particularly from tech companies looking to power data centres sustainably.

While fossil fuels is expected to plateau in the 2040s before beginning a gradual decline, Wood Mackenzie predicts that the high capital costs of low-carbon technologies coupled with strong demand for energy, will require the continued use of oil and gas in the near term.

Wood Mackenzie says to meet climate targets there will be necessary that nations gathered at the COP29 meeting in Azerbaijan next month finalize Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. This section focuses on carbon markets and aims to establish a new climate finance goal to replace the previous annual target of $100 billion, which experts consider insufficient.

The consultancy’s report echoes concerns included in a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) study released last week. The document says the next decade is crucial in the battle against climate change, adding that failing to act now will jeopardize any chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. According to the UN body, the current rate of climate action could lead to a catastrophic increase of 3.1 degrees Celsius this century. 

“Either leaders bridge the emissions gap, or we plunge headlong into climate disaster, with the poorest and most vulnerable suffering the most,” Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned.

Even if all existing commitments to reduce emissions are fulfilled, global temperatures would still rise by 2.6 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, experts agree.

Centamin noted that the necessary majority of its shareholders, equivalent to more than 75% of the voting rights, backed the deal at a court and general meeting held on Monday.

The deal would make the South African gold miner the world’s fourth largest producer of the precious metal as it hands it the key to the Sukari mine in Egypt.

Sukari is the country’s largest and first modern gold operation, as well as one of the world’s largest producing mines.

The addition of the Sukari mine to its portfolio will increase AngloGold’s annual production by around 450,000 ounces, bringing its total output to 3.1 million ounces. 

Since production began in 2009, Sukari has produced more than 5.9 million ounces of gold, and has a projected mine life of 14 years.

The acquisition of Centamin has already received clearance from Egypt’s competition authorities.

There is still one obstacle to overcome, AngloGold said, which is the approval of the scheme by the Jersey Court, withe the hearing scheduled for November 20.

Once the deal goes through, AngloGold shareholders will hold about 83.6% of the combined entity, while Centamin investors will own roughly 16.4% of the enlarged share capital.

The acquisition is the latest in a flurry of gold deals fuelled by record-breaking prices for the precious metal. It is also the latest blow to the London stock market, which has seen an exodus of companies over the past few years. The exchange has faced challenges since Randgold’s delisting after its merger with Barrick Gold in 2018, and the massive departure of Russian gold miners following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Cadia becomes Newmont’s first site globally to receive these awards after successfully meeting more than 30 criteria needed in critical areas including environment, community, human rights and governance, amongst others.

Cadia is currently host to Australia’s largest underground mine, and now becomes the third copper mine in the country to receive The Copper Mark. It is also the only operating molybdenum mine in Australia, thus becoming the first to achieve The Molybdenum Mark.

The Copper Mark represents the leading assurance framework to promote responsible, sustainable and ethical practices across the copper, molybdenum, nickel and zinc value chains.

“Meeting growing global demand for copper brings an obligation to sustainability and responsible mining which prioritizes environmental stewardship, social responsibility and economic development for the communities in which we operate,” commented Newmont’s chief safety and sustainability officer Suzy Retallack.

In achieving The Copper Mark, she said the company’s global customers can now choose to source copper concentrate from an independently evaluated mine that “meets the highest standards in environmental, social and governance practices, responding to the increasing demand for sustainable supply chains.”

With this, about 35% of Australia’s copper is produced at sites that have obtained The Copper Mark, noted Michèle Brülhart, The Copper Mark’s executive director.

The Cadia operation is located approximately 25 km south-southwest of Orange in New South Wales and 250 km west of Sydney. It comprises the Cadia East underground mine, one of the largest gold and copper deposits in the world, and the Ridgeway underground mine, which is currently in care and maintenance.

In 2020, Cadia entered into a 15-year renewable power purchase agreement (PPA) with Tilt Renewables Limited to buy 55% of the wind farm’s output. Now fully operational, Rye Park is supplying approximately half of Cadia’s power needs.

“Cadia’s commitment to the community supported an investment of almost A$6 million in the 18 months to December 2023 to support community projects, education and infrastructure,” Retallack said.

Nations Royalty Corp. (CVE: NRC) is 77% Indigenous owned and its unique approach has attracted the backing renowned mining entrepreneur Frank Guistra.

The company enables Indigenous groups to keep ownership of royalty assets while receiving early economic benefits from mining projects on their land.

Royalties are not negotiated directly with mining companies, but through partnership with First Nations and Indigenous groups that have existing royalties. 

Nations Royalty chief investment officer Derrick Pattenden says the sharing of royalties between Indigenous groups has benefits beyond increased diversification.

Watch the full interview with MINING.com’s Devan Murugan:

The Caribou mill complex includes a 3,000-t/d mineral processing facility with a primary grinding circuit, one semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill and one ball mill. There are two regrinding circuits with three ISA mills and one pall mill.

A differential sulphide flotation plant and regent system, laboratories, a tailings management facility, an underground mine, connection to the hydro grid, and a water supply for operations are included.

Canadian Copper has agreed to pay approximately C$6.2 million for the fully permitted complex, consisting of a C$225,000 deposit, half of which is refundable against the purchase price. The transaction is scheduled to close next July.

Simon Quick, CEO of Canadian Copper, hailed the agreement, stating that “the proposed transaction creates important synergies for Canadian Copper.”

“By integrating our large Murray Brook deposit with an already permitted and constructed Caribou complex that operated as recently as August 2022, we aim to significantly reduce the schedule, capital cost, and permitting time required to produce copper, zinc and lead concentrate from Murray Brook,” he said.

The company has already hired consultants to design, engineer and develop the mining and milling processes for the Murray Brook deposit. A preliminary economic assessment is due in the first half of 2025. Modifications to the water and tailings facilities are also under consideration.

The Murray Brook deposit contains measured and indicated sulphide resources of 21.1 million tonnes grading 0.45% copper, 0.91% lead and 2.49% zinc. There is also a measured and indicated oxide resource of 2 million tonnes at 1.03% copper, 0.74% lead and 2.22% zinc.

Resources in the inferred category comprise 110,000 tonnes of sulphides grading 0.41% copper, 0.68% lead and 1.82% zinc.

The move sets a precedent for future private-sector missions beyond Earth’s orbit as it gives AstroForge both approval for their upcoming mission, Odin, and the green light to establish communication networks with their ground partners

The Odin mission, to be launched in January 2025, is part of the firm’s ambitious plan to harvest precious metals from asteroids, offering an alternative to Earth’s dwindling critical resources.

This is not the first launch for the company. In April 2023, AstroForge launched a small cubesat called Brokkr-1 on a SpaceX Transporter flight, but was unable to transmit the necessary commands to demonstrate its space-based minerals and metals refining technology. 

The company also ran into issues when preparing a second mission, originally called Brokkr-2 and later renamed Odin, which is now ready to be launched.

A third attempt is planned for late 2025, when the company will launch Vestri. The craft  is about twice the size of Odin and is designed to return to the targeted metallic asteroid and dock with it by using magnets, as it is expected the asteroid will be rich in iron.

If successful, AstroForge plans to send a fourth mission, which will focus on extracting and refining asteroids’ metals before returning to Earth.

The Huntington Beach, California-based company is the most advanced private asteroid miner to date. Two previous companies, Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries emerged about a decade ago, but neither company arrived on any asteroids and were eventually acquired and rerouted to other endeavours.

The fatal incident occurred at the SimFer port site of the project on Saturday and the company said is collaborating with its partners and relevant authorities to conduct a comprehensive investigation.

Chief executive Jakob Stausholm extended his condolences to the family, friends, colleagues and communities affected by the tragedy. 

This is Rio Tinto’s fifth fatality in 2024. Four employees died in January when a charter flight to the Diavik diamond mine in northern Canada crashed. Before this accident, Rio had five consecutive years without fatalities at its managed operations.

The world’s second largest miner obtained in July all necessary regulatory approvals to resume construction at its vast Simandou iron ore asset, the world’s biggest mining project.

The mine, which Rio is co-developing with a Chinese consortium, is set to be the world’s largest and highest grade new iron ore mine, adding around 5% to global seaborne supply when it comes on line. 

First production from Simandou is scheduled for next year. The mine will contribute an annual supply of nearly 120 million tonnes of high-quality iron ore once it reaches full capacity.

The project, previously jointly and equally owned by the two companies, is expected to help Gold Fields balance its aging assets in Ghana and Peru, adding 300,000 ounces per year at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of under $800 per ounce, from early 2027.

The deal, announced in August, drew some criticism as Gold Fields paid a 55% premium for the second batch of Osisko shares. Chief executive Mike Fraser assured the market on Monday that Gold Fields remained in a strong financial position following the acquisition, maintaining its investment-grade credit rating.

Analysts have pointed that Gold Fields paid a premium for Osisko mainly to acquire a high-quality project and prevent being outbid for a growth asset in a strongly supportive gold market. Several banks and agencies forecast that prices for the precious metal will surpass $2,800/ounce this year and reach $3,000/ounce by 2025.

Gold Fields’ top executive said the company’s financial position was anticipated to strengthen further, thanks to cash flow growth projected for the remainder of the year and into 2025, driven by increased production volumes at various operations.

“Deposits of the scale and quality of Windfall with highly prospective exploration camps are rare, particularly in a world-class jurisdiction like Québec,” Fraser said. “This transaction therefore marks an important step in our journey to continue improving the quality of our portfolio.”

Growth “anchor”

Gold Fields plans to bring the Windfall mine into production by the end of 2026 or early 2027. The project, along with the recently commissioned Salares Norte project in Chile, is central to the company’s growth strategy.

“Windfall will be a real anchor for Gold Fields’ portfolio,” Fraser told our sister publication The Northern Miner in September. “It’s a place we’ve long looked at to grow our footprint.”

The asset holds an estimated 3.2 million ounces gold in 12 million tonnes at 8.1 grams gold per tonne in proven and probable reserves. Further exploration could extend the project’s lifespan, adding more long-term value, the company says.

Founded in 1887 by Cecil John Rhodes, Gold Fields has reshaped itself throughout the years. It sold all but one of its South African assets a decade ago, refocusing on newer, more profitable deposits in Ghana, Australia, and the Americas.

The gold producer projects output this year to total 2.2 million to 2.3 million ounces of the precious metal, revised down from an original estimate of 2.3 million to 2.4 million ounces to account for the delays in the Salares Norte ramp up.

The move, Blue Evolution said, creates a combined entity that will leverage enhanced R&D capabilities to drive innovation and commercialize new seaweed-based products across multiple sectors – agriculture, biomaterials – and critical minerals.

In December of last year, the US Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) first announced its selection of scientific teams to explore the feasibility of extracting critical minerals from ocean macroalgae.

In July this year, Blue Evolution announced a groundbreaking advancement in sustainable biomining after it partnered with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Virginia Tech to develop a revolutionary method for sustainably extracting critical minerals and rare earth elements from seaweed.

The company operates seaweed farms in California and Alaska, and this month finalized a joint venture with the Māori Iwi Tribe to scale regenerative seaweed farming in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

From biofuels to rare earths

Blue Evolution CEO Beau Perry has been working with ARPA-E since 2017, first on large-scale systems for cultivation of seaweed for biofuels in Kodiak, Alaska, testing new hardware to grow seaweed in abundance, sustainably and economically.

Alaska is unparalleled in the US in terms of seaweed farming because of its size, environmental conditions and infrastructure. Perry noted both the state and the public are much more receptive to seaweed farming than to mining projects.

“It’s a relatively new industry. In post-war Japan, the coastal seaweed the Japanese had harvested for a long time was kind of destroyed…A British woman had closed the life cycle on nori in the early 50s. Seaweed farming was fairly new as a major agricultural sector, but now we grow, globally, 30 million tons of it,” Perry told MINING.com in an interview.

More than half of it is grown in China, but also Japan, Korea, Philippines and Indonesia.

The United States only entered the market ten years ago, and Perry said the US has grown a couple thousand tons so far.

Of over 10,000 species of seaweed worldwide, 300 species have been commercialized. Blue Evolution is working with six different species – four that they are growing in Alaska. Perry said seaweed has the potential to enter multiple markets because of its sustainability.

“It soaks up a lot more carbon than any terrestrial biomass per area, and it really only needs sunlight and seawater,” he said.

“We were looking [at] how to render biofuels from seaweed. PNNL was doing very in-depth content analyses of different samples of different species from different locations in our farmer network. We worked with different farmers that we’ve helped set up in Alaska, including the first ever commercial farm in Kodiak.”

The team started to find some unusual levels of minerals designated as in the strategic interest of US economic development and national security, but Perry said what got the Department of Energy’s attention was the rare earths.

The discovery is a positive development for a nascent North American rare earths market and taps into the broader issue of the glaring lack of domestic production. China has a near monopoly on mining and refining the group of 17 metals that are crucial to the development of smart electronic devices and wind turbines, and which are notoriously difficult to extract and expensive to process.

“This was sort of a beautiful accident, and it’s all a function of what’s in the water where the seaweed is growing,” Perry said.

“They’re a prolific sponge – they soak up nitrogen, phosphorus, carbon and a lot of minerals, and so in this first pass at the content analysis, we got a certain set of signals around REEs and precious metals, like rhodium, palladium and scandium.”

Each species of seaweed is metabolically prone to take up a certain set of minerals, and Perry noted some are really fascinating.

“We’ve seen sort of peaks and flat lines from different locations around the globe, and now we’re starting to fill in the puzzle of which seaweed could grow where to get what minerals,” he said.

“It’s clear that each one is taking up some combination of precious minerals, REEs and these other strategic minerals.”

The team has preliminary data and is working to understand which species, where, how they are grown, and determining scalable extraction methods.

“There’s kind of this matrix of ‘what am I growing the seaweed for?’ I think critical minerals past a certain scale will always be part of that based on what we’re seeing,” Perry said. “ In certain locations, that might be the primary one if we find a species that really soaks this stuff up. We’re talking parts per million, and even parts per billion as a baseline. It’s perfectly standard in mining.”

Doubling seaweed value

Perry said the company is forging ahead with a “very critical mineral centric expedition” to find if there are places to focus on critical minerals and develop farms that are primarily oriented towards producing them.

“It’s possible that the critical minerals are disruptive to seaweed farming economics generally. They could double the value of the biomass,” he said.

“If I were to grow at a level where … at a significant scale relative to that market, the amount of critical minerals that will be running through our supply chain will be significant. In some cases, maybe fundamentally changing the supply picture for specific critical minerals.”

“There are some tricks that we’re going to explore to really enhance the amount of rare earths per ton of biomass. It’s taking these things up all the time.

There are ways to coax maybe orders of magnitude more than we’re finding by accident, not really trying. We can do things at the genetic level, selecting for strains that are going to bioaccumulate more of a given target critical mineral.”

The goal, Perry said, is to really understand what’s possible from an extraction standpoint.

“There’s a certain amount of critical minerals that are economically recoverable from a site, but around it are a million years of sediment that the seaweed will be sort of steeped in, like a sponge. And that yield should actually increase over time, given that the baseline of those minerals should stay the same pretty much over a long period of time. And we’re going to get better at getting the seaweed to accumulate them and getting them out.”

When you think about a seaweed farm as a mine, it’s unlikely to run out anytime soon,” Perry said. “It will be replenished constantly by the ocean. So that, I think, from a mining perspective is pretty radical – I don’t need to spend $100 million to maybe break ground on a mine in 20 years.”

The junior, which acquired the Yellowknife project in The Northwest Territories two years ago, is selling 2.7 million shares for C$5.6575 apiece in an unbrokered private placement that’s due to close by Nov. 12. The deal included an additional 1.6 million shares at $3.65 each to the same shareholder.

The capital raising is excellent news for Li-FT as it’s now likely fully funded with C$27 million for a Yellowknife preliminary economic assessment due by next June and environmental studies for permitting, Cormark Securities mining analyst Shannon Gill said in a note on Friday.

“The strategic investment is another positive indicator for the sector, and hard rock lithium assets in particular,” Gill said.

“Continued M&A in the lithium space supports a potential pricing floor — recalling SQM (NYSE: SQM) and Hancock Prospecting’s May takeover of pre-resource Azure Minerals for a more than 40% premium and Pilbara Minerals’ (ASX: PLS) 67% premium offer to acquire Brazilian developer Latin Resources in August.”

Secrecy trend?

The secret investment could be part of a mini-trend among juniors after undisclosed investors bought the same stakes in Asante Gold (CSE: ASE) in September to expand gold mines in Ghana, Collective Mining (TSX: CNL; NYSE: CNL) in March for its Colombian properties and Foran Mining (TSX: FOM) last December. There was also TDG Gold (TSXV: TDG) last October.

The C$200 million financing for Foran to advance its McIlvenna Bay copper-zinc-gold-silver project was a mixture of equity and debt. It included the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund and Fairfax Financial. Fairfax holds 23% of Foran after C$360 million in financing this year, which also saw Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM; NYSE: AEM) take a 9.9% stake.

The TDG Gold investment was part of a private placement aimed at raising C$2.75 million. The proceeds targeted exploration at TDG’s projects in British Columbia, including the former producing Shasta gold-silver mine in the Toodoggone district.

Securities rules allow a backer to buy less than 10% of a publicly traded company anonymously. However, companies with 5% who are intending to buy more must notify the market, and investments considered material to the company must usually be disclosed in quarterly financial statements.

Li-FT CEO Francis MacDonald may comment on the undisclosed investor when the financing closes, investor relations manager Daniel Gordon told The Northern Miner Group by email on Friday.

Shares in Li-FT Power closed C$0.02 higher at C$4.00 apiece on Wednesday in Toronto after the financing news. They were at C$3.92 by mid-afternoon Friday, valuing the company at C$154.6 million.

Yellowknife project

Li-FT said the financing would be used to advance the resource-stage Yellowknife project with more exploration as it plans the economic study by June.

Cormark’s Gill noted the project consists of clustered spodumene pegmatite dykes – similar to Sigma Lithium‘s (TSXV: SGML; NASDAQ: SGML) Grota do Cirilo project in Brazil – in a mining-friendly jurisdiction adjacent to the Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO; ASX: RIO) and De Beers diamond operations. He said the project could potentially generate 112 million tonnes of ore and has a skilled technical team behind it.

“As first movers in lithium exploration in the area, Li-FT’s land package hosts high potential for additional regional success as it continues to explore,” Gill said.

“Along with a responsible approach to land use that involves all stakeholders and proximity to road and rail infrastructure, Li-FT’s potentially generational Yellowknife project should set it apart from its peers in attracting future development partners and offtake agreements — necessities for developing North America’s future lithium assets.”

The project comprises seven targets along the all-season Ingraham Trail highway. The site hosts 50.4 million inferred tonnes grading 1% lithium oxide (Li₂O) for 506,000 tonnes of Li₂O, or 1.25 million tonnes of lithium carbonate-equivalent, according to the resource issued this month.

CEO MacDonald said at the time the resource ranked among the 10 largest hard-rock projects in the Americas and had “excellent potential to significantly grow through further drill programs.”

An earlier version of this story said Li-FT Power has Canada’s third-largest hard rock lithium resource. It is instead the third-largest maiden hard rock lithium resource.

Ioneer can now access a $700 million loan from the US Department of Energy (DOE) and a $490 million equity investment from Sibanye Stillwater (JSE: SSW; NYSE: SBSW) for Rhyolite Ridge that has an estimated life of 22 years.

The Sydney, Australia-based Ioneer aims to finalize its financing agreements for the $785 million project before year-end. However, legal battles, regulatory adjustments, and political uncertainty remain obstacles as the company pushes toward construction, CEO Bernard Rowe said on a late Thursday webcast.

“Legal challenges are almost inevitable,” he told investors, referring to lawsuits that environmental groups are expected to file over the mine’s impact on Tiehm’s buckwheat, an endangered plant found only at the project site, located about 362 km north of Las Vegas.

The plant’s presence forced Ioneer to redesign parts of the mine, creating buffer zones and a greenhouse propagation program. Rowe remains confident that regulatory efforts will hold up under scrutiny. “We are well-prepared, and we’ve built a solid scientific case around our environmental work,” he said.

Following six years of regulatory scrutiny, Rhyolite Ridge is the first lithium mine approved under the Biden administration. It reflects Washington’s push to secure domestic sources of critical minerals. The project also marks the first new lithium production in the US in over 60 years and the first boron mine in over a century, Rowe said. The operation will produce lithium carbonate and boric acid on-site, with the large chemical processing plant just a few kilometres from the mine.

Ioneer shares briefly spiked 9% to A$0.305 on Friday, a fresh 12-month high for the company, giving it a market capitalization of A$651 million. Shares come off a period low at A$0.105.

With the US federal election approaching, investors pressed management for their take on the potentially shifting political landscape. Still, Rowe dismissed the idea that a new administration could derail the project.

“There is strong bipartisan support for developing critical minerals in the US,” he said. “We’ve worked with both Republican and Democratic administrations, and the project has broad backing at the state and federal levels.”

Once operational, the mine will rival Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) and Lithium Americas (TSX: LAC; NYSE: LAC) as a top domestic producer. Albemarle operates the only active domestic lithium mine in Silver Peak, Nevada, and Lithium Americas is developing the Thacker Pass project, like Rhyolite Ridge another lithium clay site in Nevada.

Liquidity questioned

The DOE loan and Sibanye-Stillwater’s equity investment hinge on completing updates to the mine plan, reserve estimates, and project economics. Rowe stressed the importance of staying on schedule to avoid setbacks. “Permitting was the biggest hurdle, but we’re on track to close financing in the next few weeks.”

BMO Capital Markets mining analyst Raj Ray noted liquidity risks for Sibanye-Stillwater. It is set to invest $490 million in five equal tranches over 12 months. While the federal permit approval marks a positive step, Ray cautioned that Sibanye’s ability to meet its financial commitments remains uncertain.

Sibanye has net debt of $1.01 billion. It faces rising costs at Rhyolite Ridge and potential legal issues from a dispute with Appian, which could further strain liquidity. Earlier this month, Appian Capital, a London-based investment firm, won a UK court ruling forcing Sibanye to pay for terminating a $1.2 billion deal to acquire two Brazilian mines. The damages have not yet been determined.

“The 2020 DFS capex estimate of $785 million is stale (we currently model capex of $1.1 billion) and capex escalation beyond this sum is likely,” Ray said Friday in a note to clients. “However, between the DOE conditional loan and Sibanye’s investment, the project could potentially be fully funded.”

Ray said it remained to be seen how Sibanye manages its liquidity position over the next 12 months.

Boron kicker

Construction, scheduled to start early next year, will take about 30 months, putting the project on course for production in 2028.

The Rhyolite Ridge mine will run for 22 years. It will produce 22,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate a year. That’s enough to power 370,000 electric vehicles. It will also produce 170,000 tonnes of boric acid, according to the company.

The boron contributes 30% to 40% of the mine’s revenue, providing a buffer against lithium market volatility.

An April 2020 definitive feasibility study on the project pegged the after-tax net present value (8% discount) at $1.3 billion and the internal rate of return at 20.8%.

Rowe said that boric acid has had stable prices for decades, which helps balance the fluctuations in lithium prices. “We designed the process around known technologies, borrowing methods from copper leaching. This project will be a cornerstone for the US critical minerals supply chain.”

While confident in the path forward, Rowe stressed the importance of timely execution. “We have to make the final investment decision early next year, finalize contracts, and place long-lead orders,” he said. “We’re already gearing up, but delays could jeopardize our momentum.”

Ioneer expects the project to generate $125 million in annual wages, create 500 construction jobs, and employ 350 workers during operations. Though environmental groups remain opposed, Rowe believes the project’s benefits outweigh the risks.

“We’ve been at this for eight years, and reaching this point’s a tremendous feeling,” Rowe said. “Now it’s time to move forward.”

The permit allows the company to begin the disposing of tailings – discarded mined material – by December 2024. It comes after a July court decision that restricted Adriatic’s use of state forest land for storing mining waste. 

The company chose an alternative site at the former Veovaca open-pit mine, about two kilometres from the Vares processing plant, where Adriatic has full ownership rights.

The approved facility will employ a “dry stack” method, which stores solid tailings without requiring a liquid reservoir, and is regarded as a safer and more stable approach compared to conventional tailings ponds.

The Veovaca tailings storage facility (TSF) will be built in two phases, with the first designed to handle four to five years of production waste. This initial stage is projected to cost $5 million and is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

Adriatic’s current tailing storage facility has a maximum capacity of around 133,000t, which is projected to allow tailings deposition until the first one to two months of 2025. Adriatic plans to complete the initial construction phase of the Veovaca TSF before that to ensure no impact on production or the current ramp up to commercial production due to tailings storage capacity, the company said.

Vares began production early this year, becoming Europe’s first new mine in over a decade. The newly named chief executive officer, Laura Tyler, said in early October the operation was in the final phase of reaching nameplate processing capacity of 800,000 tonnes.

In 2023, Adriatic contributed nearly 22% of foreign direct investment into Bosnia and 2% of its GDP. The miner deployed 69% of total capital domestically, the equivalent of $155 million, across 739 companies.

Shares in Adriatic Metals climbed on the news in both Sydney and London. In Australia, they closed up more than 4% to A$4.30 each. In the UK, the stock was up 3.7% at 221p by 2pm local time Friday, leaving the miner with a market capitalization of £720 million ($935m).

Other updates and enhancements to its suite of products will empower users with cutting-edge tools to streamline workflows, ensure data consistency, and boost overall efficiency, the company said.

“We’re thrilled to expand Micromine’s product ecosystem with Micromine Advance – the first and only dedicated tool designed to model the operational complexity of underground operations,” Micromine CEO Andrew Birch said in a news release.

“Earlier this year, mine design and scheduling software Micromine Beyond introduced a powerful dynamic pit design toolset that provides an interactive user experience,” Birch said. “This allows mine planners to achieve optimal pit designs faster. Its functionality has been further enhanced, minimizing manual interaction and accelerating decision-making.”

Micromine Spry, mine planning for open-pit soft rock, provides a detail-oriented and flexible approach to assist with the intricacies of complex operations. The new Repair Solids Wizard feature does all the detective work, identifying problems such as self-intersections, holes, or invalid geometries and automatically resolving them, the company said.

Widely adopted by some of the world’s most significant operations, Micromine Alastri, mine planning for open-pit hard rock, introduces a new Expression Builder feature that provides a straightforward and guided process for calculating site-specific scheduling data such as drilling meters or explosive quantities.

Another key functionality introduced is that users can now forecast how long broken stocks can sustain production whilst meeting all necessary blend and grade targets.

Operation OEM-agnostic fleet management and mine control solution, Micromine Pitram, has also introduced new features. Real-time Deviation Tracking allows users to configure parameters tailored to specific operational needs. This functionality provides faster detection of variances, enabling immediate corrective actions, the company said.

In June, McEwen Copper announced a private placement financing of up to $70 million through the issuance of approximately 2.33 million shares at $30 per share. Under the first tranche, the McEwen unit received a $14 million investment its parent company and a $5 million investment from Rob McEwen, its chairman and chief owner.

Nuton’s $35 million investment represents the second tranche of that financing, with the purchase of nearly 1.17 million shares. Two other investors also participated in this tranche for a total of $2 million.

Together with the first tranche, McEwen Copper has now raised a total of $56 million for the Los Azules project.

Los Azules project

Los Azules is an open-pit copper deposit located 80 km northwest of the town of Calingasta and 6 km east of the border with Chile at an elevation of 3,500 metres in the Andes Mountains. The extent of mineralization along strike exceeds 4 km and the distance across strike is approximately 2.2 km.

The copper resource contains 10.9 billion lb. in ore that grades 0.40% copper in the indicated category and 26.7 billion lb. in material averaging 0.31% copper in the inferred category. This resource is expected to support average production of 322 million lb. of copper in cathodes per year over a projected 27-year life.

According to a June 2023 preliminary economic assessment, Los Azules would have an estimated after-tax net present value (at a discount rate of 8%) of $2.7 billion and internal rate of return of 21.2%, based on an assumed copper price of $3.75/lb. Its payback period is 3.2 years.

McEwen Copper is currently working a bankable feasibility study for the project, which is scheduled for publication in the first half of 2025.

Shareholding update

The copper subsidiary was created by McEwen Mining in mid-2021 with a view of maximizing the value of its copper assets. A year later, it received its first investment from Nuton, while also establishing a partnership with the Rio venture to assess the potential application of its heap leach technology at Los Azules.

According to the companies, heap leaching would offer superior economic and environmental benefits over the conventional milling methods. The project is also expected to be powered by 100% renewable energy, with a commitment to reach carbon neutrality by 2038.

Following the latest round of financing, Nuton now owns 17.2% of McEwen Copper on a fully diluted basis, nearly doubling its initial shareholding. Its other notable shareholders are: McEwen Mining (46.4%), Stellantis (18.3%), Rob McEwen (12.7%) and Victor Smorgon Group 3.0%.

With the new share issuances, McEwen Copper now has approximately 32.8 million common shares outstanding, giving it a post-money market value of $984 million.

The funding involves Wheaton Precious Metals (TSX, NYSE, LON: WPN) and strategic shareholder Zijin Mining, increasing Montage’s available liquidity to approximately $968 million, including $143 million in cash reserves.

Wheaton has committed to acquire 19.5% of payable gold production from the Koné mine, until 400,000 ounces delivery, for a total upfront cash consideration of $625 million. The sum will be paid in four equal instalments during construction. Wheaton will then reduce the amount of gold to be purchased to 10.8% until 130 additional Koz, then 5.4% for the mine’s life. 

Additionally, the company is providing Montage a $75 million secured debt facility for project costs.

“With essential permits in place coupled with its impressive scale, we believe the Koné Project stands out as one of the premier gold assets in Africa,” Wheaton Precious Metals chief executive officer Randy Smallwood said in a separate statement.

“Supported by strong shareholder backing from the Lundin Group and Zijin Mining, the Koné project is expected to significantly boost Wheaton’s near-term annual gold production and further strengthen our peer-leading growth trajectory,” Smallwood noted. 

Zijin Mining is providing Montage with $125 million in funding, comprised of a $50m loan facility with a nine year tenure and a $75m fully redeemable subordinated gold stream.

“We are extremely pleased to have concluded our financing through the formation of strategic partnerships with both Wheaton and Zijin who share our vision of creating a premier African gold producer,” Montage CEO Martino De Ciccio said.

“With the financing milestone now achieved, we look forward to soon launching the construction of our Koné project, which is set to become West-Africa’s next sizable, long-life, low production-cost gold mine, and poised to unlock value for all stakeholders,” De Ciccio said.

This is Montage’s third successful financing of 2024, following an upsized private placement of $180 million in August and a $35 million placement in March.

The Koné mine is expected to produce 300,000 ounces of gold annually in the first eight years, with production starting in early 2027. The estimated mine life of Koné has been pegged at 16 years.

Among the 19 holes released late Tuesday were some of the best at Arakompa yet. Hole KARDD0029 hit 20.6 metres at 9.87 grams of gold equivalent per tonne from 240.6 metres depth. This included 10.7 metres at 14.97 grams gold equivalent. Hole KARDD0025 returned 23.6 metres at 6.57 grams gold equivalent. Drilling confirmed bulk mining potential given broad intercepts such as 100.8 metres at 1.92 grams gold equivalent and another that cut 111.62 metres at 1.53 grams gold equivalent per tonne.

The company’s executive vice president for exploration Chris Muller says Arakompa mineralization is comparable to the company’s producing Kainantu mine’s Kora and Judd veins. Kainantu is expected to operate until 2034, but the company aims to extend its lifespan further through expansions and exploration at the Kora, Judd, and Arakompa deposits.

“The grades and thicknesses at Arakompa mirror the Kora veins, making it just as prospective,” Muller said in a news release.

Located 4.5 km from the cornerstone Kainantu mine in the country’s Eastern Highlands, the Arakompa deposit hosts a historical resource of 800,000 oz. at 9 grams gold per tonne. It’s seen as critical for sustaining K92’s future production and could cut development costs by using existing infrastructure.

K92’s CEO, John Lewins, said the results opened up selective and bulk mining opportunities. “With Arakompa delivering grades and thicknesses like these, it fits seamlessly into our long-term strategy,” he said in the release.

Running the first drill program in 32 years on Arakompa, K92 has ramped up exploration, increasing from one to four drill rigs this year. The deposit is open along strike and at depth. The company plans to release an initial resource estimate by early next year.

Growth platform

Last year, Kainantu produced 117,607 oz. gold equivalent, including 100,533 oz. gold, 7.7 million lb. copper, and 160,628 oz. silver, beating guidance of 111,000 to 116,000 gold equivalent ounces. It forecasts 2024 output at about 130,000 oz. gold equivalent at the midpoint.

K92 released updated resource estimates for Kora and Judd deposits in December. Kora’s measured and indicated resource now stands at 6.9 million tonnes grading 10.24 grams gold equivalent per tonne, up 8% from 2.1 million oz. in October 2021. Its inferred grew to 14.3 million tonnes at 8.6 grams per tonne for 3.9 million oz., a 58% jump, thanks to drilling along the deposit’s southern extensions of the K1 and K2 lodes.

Judd’s measured and indicated resource increased to 1.2 million tonnes at 8.7 grams gold equivalent for 350,000 oz., a 167% rise from the Dec. 2021 estimate. The inferred resource tripled to 2.3 million tonnes grading 7.7 grams gold equivalent per tonne for 560,000 oz., driven by more drilling and a 130% increase in the strike length since the end of 2021.

Kainantu has measured and indicated resources of 8.7 million tonnes at 10.2 grams gold equivalent per tonne, or 2.9 million ounces. It also has inferred resources of 17.1 million tonnes at 8.6 grams per tonne, or 4.7 million ounces.

The company’s Toronto-quoted shares last traded down 1% at C$9.37, having touched C$4.64 and C$9.90 over the past 12 months. It has a market capitalization of C$2.2 billion.

Shares were up 7.3% at £2.50 each in early morning trading in London, stabilizing by mid-afternoon at around £2.38 each, leaving the company with a market capitalization of £1.24 billion ($1.6bn).

The South America-focused miner said it mined 16% more gold and silver in the third quarter of the year than it did in the same period of 2023, with 96,327 ounces on a gold-equivalent basis. The company uses equivalent ounces to reflect an amalgamation of both gold and silver production.

Gold production in the three months to the end of September increased 40%, boosted by the continuing ramp up of its Mara Rosa mine in Brazil, which started production early this year.

Output from the company’s flagship Inmaculada mine in Peru rose 6%, resulting from the implementation of continuous improvement projects at site. This increase helped offset a silver production fall of 17%.

Strong gold and silver prices boosted Hochschild’s cash flow, helping the miner to pay down $45 million of its net debt in the quarter.

“Hochschild Mining’s third quarter has been the strongest in almost five years,” chief executive officer Eduardo Landin said in a statement.

The company reaffirmed its annual production and cost targets, anticipating output of 343,000 to 360,000 gold equivalent ounces at all-in sustaining costs of $1,510-1,550 per gold equivalent ounce.

Hochschild Mining has operations in Peru, Argentina and Brazil and development projects in Chile and Peru.

After receiving the last permit needed in August, the Canadian companies have focused on preparing to begin early works, with first production expected by the end of 2026.

“Early works will take place from November to the end of the year with construction expected to start after the rainy season in the area, towards the second quarter,” Salazar Resources president and chief executive Fredy Salazar told BNamericas on Wednesday.

Construction of the project has been delayed on various occasions due to mining rules changes in the Andean country, legal challenges, and the takeover of one of the project’s owners — Adventus Mining.

Located about 150 km northeast of Guayaquil, the Curipamba-El Domo asset spans seven concessions over 21,500 hectares. It was originally owned by Salazar in partnership with Adventus Mining, which was acquired by Silvercorp Metals (TSX: SVM) (NYSE: SVM) in July.

Construction will be fully funded from Silvercorp’s existing cash balance combined with a $175.5 million streaming deal Adventus had signed with Wheaton Precious Metals in 2022.

The mine is considered one of the highest grade and lowest capital intensive copper-gold projects globally, and the next big mine in Ecuador after Mirador, run by China-backed Ecuacorriente, and Lundin Gold’s (TSX: LUG) Fruta del Norte.

The $250-million project is protected by an investment contract with the Ecuadorian government that grants it several incentives, such as reductions in income tax, exemption of import duties and tax stability until March 2033.

The country’s government anticipates generating over $4 billion in annual mining exports by 2025, with four new operations coming online before the end of President Guillermo Lasso’s term, including the Cascabel copper-gold project operated by Australia’s SolGold (LON, TSX: SOLG).

• Stockpiling. The Trump Administration supported and the Harris campaign supports increased mineral stockpiling. According to the Department of Defense, the National Defense Stockpile (NDS), as of March 2023, only had inventories to cover 6 percent of the US military’s and essential civilian demand’s estimated material shortfalls in a hypothetical one-year conflict with China, followed by a three-year recovery. The president could tap the NDS Transaction Fund for mineral stockpiling, as well as the Defense Production Act (DPA) fund. The Eisenhower Administration used DPA funds for mineral stockpiling during the Cold War, and the president still has this authority (50 USC §4533). Importantly, the next administration’s Department of Defense should prioritize stockpiling minerals extracted and processed in the United States.

• Subsidies. The Trump Administration supported and the Harris campaign supports subsidies for critical mineral projects. The Trump Administration deemed critical mineral processing projects eligible for direct loans under the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program, and the Biden-Harris Administration has loaned to such projects. The next administration’s Department of Energy could also deem mining projects eligible under the ATVM program by issuing a draft rule that adds “mining” to 10 CFR 611.2 “Eligible Project” (3). To specifically lower costs for US mineral processing facilities, the next administration’s Internal Revenue Service could propose new regulations extending the production costs covered by the Section 45X 10-percent production tax credit to feedstock acquisition, as has been urged by several organizations and mining companies.

• Procurement. Both the Trump and Biden-Harris administrations support increased domestic content requirements for government procurement. Under the authority of Executive Order 14005, the next administration’s Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council could issue a draft rule that adds a new part to the Federal Acquisition Regulations, requiring that acquisitions of specified clean energy technologies contain a certain threshold percentage of minerals extracted in the United States. For example, the draft rule could ultimately require that the General Services Administration—the federal government’s main source for procuring non-tactical vehicles—only acquire electric vehicles with batteries containing a high percentage of chemicals derived from US-extracted minerals. The next administration’s US Postal Service could adopt a similar content requirement in its Supplying Principles and Practices for electric vehicle acquisitions.

• Tariffs. Trump has pledged significant tariff increases, while the Biden-Harris Administration increased tariffs on several minerals imported from China. Domestic mineral projects like South32’s Hermosa manganese-zinc project support such trade protections to reduce US reliance on foreign minerals. The next president could (likely) impose tariffs on any mineral imports immediately under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The only prerequisite is a national emergency declaration, like the now-expired critical minerals executive order. If concerned about the legality of levying tariffs under IEEPA, the president could also direct the secretary of commerce to open a Section 232 investigation into mineral imports, although the tariff imposition would likely take several months to occur.

• Permitting. Both Trump and Harris support expedited permitting for building major projects. Previously, most US mining projects required Clean Water Act section 404 permits—which trigger the National Environmental Policy Act—but the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (2023) circumscribed the areas requiring these permits, possibly lowering the permitting requirements for many mine projects. Determining whether a project requires a section 404 permit, however, can take up to one year based on the district. To expedite this process, the next administration’s US Army Corps of Engineers could issue a regulatory guidance letter directing district engineers to prioritize the review of approved jurisdictional determinations for sites of potential mining projects.

In short, the next president’s administration has significant unilateral authority to support US mining of critical minerals. First, it could increase mineral stockpiling by tapping both the NDS Transaction Fund and DPA fund for mineral acquisitions.

The next administration could also expand existing subsidies—like the ATVM direct loan program—to mining projects. For government acquisitions of clean energy technologies, it could set content requirements for US-extracted minerals.

The next administration could, additionally, impose tariffs on mineral imports of their choosing by issuing a national emergency declaration concerning mineral imports under IEEPA.

Lastly, it could expedite permitting by prioritizing jurisdictional determinations for sites of potential mining projects. On January 20, 2025, the next US president could—and should—take these actions to bolster US mining of critical minerals.

** Gregory Wischer is the founder of Dei Gratia Minerals, a critical minerals consulting firm.

The report pinned the after-tax net present value at $222 million (at a 5% discount rate) and gave a 40% internal rate of return. The company, with a market cap of C$100 million, says it expects the $87 million mine to achieve payback within two years.

“With such positive parameters, we are confident we will be able to advance the project very quickly,” CEO Glenn Jessome said in a news release.

Shares in the Halifax, Nova Scotia-based company plunged 15.5% Tuesday to C$0.275, ranging between C$0.135 and C$0.355 over the past 12 months. But Jessome said management now has a “clear path” to making a construction decision.

Silver Tiger plans to develop a modest, open pit, heap-leach mine at El Tigre. The 10 year mine plan will see El Tigre in total produce 8.6 million oz. silver and 408,000 oz. gold. The project is expected to generate an undiscounted after-tax cash flow of $318 million over its life.

The report estimates all-in sustaining costs of $14.40 per silver-equivalent ounce.

The open-pit design benefits from a low strip ratio of 1.7:1 and mineralization averages 48 grams silver-equivalent per tonne in the pit from surface, enabling efficient operations. Initial processing capacity will start at 7,500 tonnes per day, but a $15 million expansion could see it scaling up to 15,000 tonnes per day by year four.

The prefeasibility study was based on the Stockwork Zone outlined in an accompanying resource update using $26 per oz. silver and $2,159 per oz. gold. The new El Tigre resource estimate holds 61.8 million tonnes of oxide and sulphide material in the measured and indicated categories. It grades 16 grams silver per tonne for 31.3 million oz. of metal, and 0.4 gram gold for 778,000 oz. of contained gold.

Underground upside

The project also holds an out-of-pit measured and indicated resource of 5.3 million tonnes at 255 silver-equivalent for 44 million oz., and 10.1 million tonnes inferred at 216 grams silver-equivalent for 70 million ounces. Jessome says the company plans to wrap an initial economic assessment around the deposit in the first half of next year.

Silver Tiger believes critical mass for the underground project means hitting an exploration target of 10 to 12 million tonnes at 225 to 265 grams of silver equivalent for 73 to 100 million silver-equivalent ounces.

This near-mine underground resource provides long-term resource upside, coupled with the fact that only 30% of the 284 sq. km property has been explored. The company plans to begin underground drilling immediately.

The projects, led by small-and medium-businesses in communities with de-commissioned coal facilities, were selected by DOE’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC) to address critical energy supply chain vulnerabilities.

Five of the projects will be in, or adjacent to, disadvantaged communities, the DOE said, adding that every project will include a community benefits plan developed to maximize economic, health and environmental impacts.

The projects aim to strengthen US national security by building supply chains for existing and emerging technologies built by American workers with American materials. The projects will leverage over $500 million in private sector investment into small- and medium-manufacturers and create over 1,900 good-paying, high quality jobs, the DOE said.
 
“The transition to America’s clean energy future is being shaped by communities filled with the valuable talent and experience that comes from powering our country for decades,” US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in the statement.

“By leveraging the know-how and skillset of the former coal workforce, we are…helping advance forward-facing technologies and revitalize communities across the nation.”
 
White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi said the initiative is leading “an unprecedented expansion of American energy production, a manufacturing renaissance and the essential work of rebuilding our middle class.”

Zaidi said former coal communities are mounting a clean energy comeback by harnessing the urgent climate challenge.

The global market for clean energy and carbon reduction technologies is anticipated to reach a minimum of $23 trillion by 2030.  As demand grows for clean energy technology, the projects will help prepare the manufacturing industry for what lies ahead, the DOE noted.

The 14 projects selected for negotiation of award focus on manufacturing products and materials that address multiple needs in the domestic clean energy supply chain. The selections will address five key supply chains – grid components, batteries, low-carbon materials, clean power generation and energy efficiency products.

The lead organizations and proposed project locations are:

Anthro Energy – Louisville, KY

A $24.9 million selection to retrofit a facility to enable the domestic production of advanced electrolyte for use in Lithium-ion battery (LIB) cells in electric vehicles (EV), defense applications, and consumer electronics. The project will create an estimated 115 permanent  jobs.

CleanFiber – Chehalis, WA and Ennis, TX

CleanFiber’s locations in Washington and Texas are selected to receive $10 million each to establish two separate 60,000 square-foot production facilities produce an advanced form of cellulose insulation from recycled cardboard.  The facilities, once operational, will produce enough advanced insulation to weatherize more than 20,000 homes a year and support 80 full time employees.

TS Conductor – Erie, MI

A $28.2 million selection to establish US-based manufacturing of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) conductors and other advanced conductors that enable a secure and resilient clean grid. The new factory will create 425 construction jobs and 162 operating jobs with wages above the local prevailing rate.

Furno Materials Inc – Chicago, IL

A $20 million selection to construct a new circular, low carbon cement production facility. The facility will use recycled industrial waste materials as feedstock to make low-carbon Ordinary Portland Cement, reducing carbon intensity by 47%, and creating 80 total jobs with above average wages and benefits.

Hempitecture Inc – Rogersville, TN

An $8.42 million selection to create an industrial fiber hemp processing and manufacturing facility produce high performing products, with a 60-80% reduced carbon intensity, for the building materials, packaging, and automotive industry. When completed, the facility will create 25 full time jobs 15% above prevailing hourly rate.

Infinitum – Rockdale, TX

A $34 million selection to establish a manufacturing facility to produce heavy copper, high-powered printed circuit board (HP-PCB) stators, the key component of Infinitum’s high-efficiency axil-flux motors. The Rockdale facility is expected to create 170 operating jobs and 125 construction jobs.

MetOx International – Southeast, US

An $80 million selection to establish Project Arch, an advanced superconductor manufacturing facility, critical to expanding grid capacity to enable accelerated deployment of renewable energy, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, hyperscale AI data centers, and large manufacturing loads. Project Arch will create 230 jobs, supporting economic revitalization in a coal community to be determined in the Southeast.

Moment Energy Inc – Taylor, TX

A $20.3 million selection to establish the first UL1974 Certified manufacturing facility in the US to repurpose EV batteries to produce safe, reliable, and affordable battery energy storage systems. The project will create 50 construction jobs and a total of 200 new jobs within their facility, which will produce an annual output of 1 GWh once fully operational.

Mainspring Energy Inc – Coraopolis, PA

An $87 million selection to establish a state- of-the-art manufacturing facility near Pittsburgh to produce 1,000 linear generators that can run on any gaseous fuel, and change fuels without any hardware changes. The project will create 291 construction-related jobs, at least 80% of which will seek to be unionized. The facility will create 600 operations positions, offering above-average pay, benefits, and growth opportunities.

RG Resource Technologies Inc – Lansing, MI

A $5 million selection to retrofit a manufacturing facility in Lansing to produce 120,000 units/yr production of their solar photovoltaic + thermal capture (PVT) system. Through this project, RG Resource Technologies plans to hire 160 workers in new full-time positions, with a goal that 64 of those positions will be filled from workers living in disadvantaged communities.

Sparkz Inc – Bridgeport, WV

A $9.8 million selection to create a first-of-its-kind battery-grade iron phosphate (FePO4) plant in the United States. As part of this project, Sparkz will be creating and retaining 75 high quality jobs, and has signed a neutrality agreement with the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Labor Union and will work with UMWA on providing training to coal workers.

Terra CO2 Holdings – Magna, UT

A $52.6 million selection to establish a new manufacturing facility to produce an innovative high-performing Supplementary Cementitious Material (SCM), a 70% lower emission and cost-effective replacement for traditional Ordinary Portland Cement. This project will create 61 new jobs with wages and benefits above the 75th percentile compared to national wages, and will train and upskill up to 144 people from underrepresented populations.

Urban Mining Industries – Indiantown, FL and Baltimore, MD

A $37 million selection to develop manufacturing plants that will convert recycled glass, most of which would have otherwise gone to landfill, into a ground glass pozzolan, which is used to replace up to 50% of carbon-intensive cement in concrete mixes, which can drastically reduce embodied emissions while increasing resistance to road salts and increasing reflective properties. The project will create 20 new skilled jobs.

Learn more about the projects selected here.
 

Following successful ore sorting trials, St Barbara (ASX: SBM) is looking hard at the Cochrane Hill gold project in Nova Scotia. The company is evaluating an alternative design that would process the ore at the proposed 15-Mile mill.

The deposit has measured resources of 10.7 million tonnes grading 1.1 g/t gold (370,000 contained oz.), indicated resources of 7.7 million tonnes at 1.0 g/t gold (240,000 oz.) and inferred resources of 21 million tonnes at 1.0 g/t gold (690,000 oz.).

Approximately half that tonnage is considered as proven an probable reserves: 15.4 million tonnes at 1.1 g/t gold (1.35 million oz.), in compliance with JORC guidelines.

The ore sorting trial was done on an 840-kg using X-ray transmission technology. The results recovered 89.7% of the gold from the bulk sample into a mass only 54.3% of the original sample, and the head grade was boosted 1.65 times in the concentrate.

With the ore sorting done, the idea of trucking it about 70 km by road to the site of the proposed 15-Mile mill makes economic sense, said the company.

Other de-risking considerations for the Cochrane Hill project include better recoveries using the 15-Mile mill and no need to establish a tailings management facility at the mine. The pit design could be optimized to eliminate the need to relocate a public road.

With no mill on site, water use would be considerably reduced, and the long-term waste rock storage could be altered to further reduce the project footprint and improve the landform design post-reclamation.

St Barbara’s Atlantic Gold division includes the now-closed Touquoy mine, development of the 15-Mile underground mine mill, the Beaver Dam open pit project and the Cochrane Hill open pit deposit. The mill from the Touquoy carbon-in-leach (CIL) mill can be relocated to the 15-Mile mine and its processing capacity increased to 2.1 million t/y.

Meanwhile, St Barbara is working on a feasibility study for a pumped hydro energy storage facility at the Touquoy mine. Capacity has been upgraded to 80 MW of power available to the grid for seven hours. Collaboration continues with Natural Forces Solar.

The partners also plan to evaluate the potential for similar pumped hydro energy storage at the 15-Mile and Cochrane Hill projects.

Shares of Guanajuato Silver gained 0.9% at C$0.28 apiece following the Sprott investment. This gives the Mexico-focused precious metals miner a market capitalization of approximately C$111 million ($80.2m).

 “We are extremely pleased to welcome the participation of Eric Sprott in this financing. His continued support is a strong endorsement of Guanajuato Silver’s vision and potential,” CEO James Anderson said in a news release.

He added that this financing will provide the company with necessary capital to accelerate production in response to rapidly rising silver prices. Earlier this week, the price of silver surged to its highest in 12 years, topping $34 an ounce.

Guanajuato Silver currently operates four mines: El Cubo, Valenciana mines complex and San Ignacio mine in Guanajuato, and the Topia mine in northwestern Durango. Last year, the company saw its highest ever production in silver-equivalent terms at 3.5 million ounces, a 64% increase over 2022.

Due to rising precious metals prices, the miner is coming off its best revenue-generating quarter, recording $20.5 million for the second quarter, a 22% improvement over the same period of 2023.

Australia’s Lucapa achieved third-quarter revenue of $16.9 million, an 86% year-on-year increase, driven mainly by the sale of high-quality diamonds, averaging $3,033 per carat. 

This growth was also attributed to the company’s access to higher-grade mining blocks, a result of strategic river diversions aimed at mitigating the impact of flooding at the Lulo operation in Angola.

Nick Selby, Lucapa’s managing director, expressed optimism about the future, especially with the access gained to the higher-grade Lazaria gravel, historically known for producing large, high-value diamonds. 

“We are aiming for a strong finish to the year,” Selby said, noting that the company sold a 176-carat diamond for $3 million, further boosting results.

Africa-focused Petra Diamonds also reported promising figures, with production rising by 7% to 679,625 carats for the quarter ended September 30. The increase was driven by higher grades at the company’s flagship Cullinan mine in South Africa and its Williamson mine in Tanzania.

Petra’s chief executive officer, Richard Duffy, attributed this growth to “solid performances” from these mines, despite weaker market conditions.

To counteract the softness in the rough diamond market, Petra deferred in August the sale of a significant portion of its South African diamonds. Its combined first and second tenders, however, indicated a 13% increase in overall average prices, thanks to an improved product mix, which included a standout 18.85-carat blue diamond from Cullinan that fetched $8.5 million.

Despite ongoing challenges in the global diamond market, both Lucapa and Petra’s results reflect resilience and strategic adjustments, injecting cautious optimism into a sector eager for recovery. 

As both companies continue to leverage high-value diamonds and strategic planning, industry observers remain hopeful for sustained market improvements heading into the end of the year holidays, which tend to help boost diamond sales.

The Americas-focused mid-tier gold miner cut its full-year production forecast to 235,000 oz. at the midpoint, according to operating results for the three months to Sept. 30 issued on Friday.

A pit wall slide in May at Calibre’s Limon Norte mine in Nicaragua hurt production, CEO Darren Hall told a conference call after the results. As well, the company found previous artisanal miners had scooped out more than thought. In Nevada, where production is centred on the Pan mine, output also underperformed expectations.

“This setback is on us—management dropped the ball by not following the plan,” Hall said about Limon Norte. “We’ve now corrected course.”

Calibre said the Valentine project’s capital budget climbed by C$91 million to C$744 million in part because contractors underestimated infrastructure material needs. For instance, cement contributed to about 30% of the cost increase. However, it said the project is on track to start output next year.

The company’s shares closed at C$2.61 on Monday, down 6.5% from Thursday’s close of C$2.79 before the operating update. The stock has dropped about 10% from its 12-month high of C$2.90 earlier this month but is 76% stronger year-over-year.

Analyst perspectives

Analysts remain cautiously optimistic. Both BMO Capital Markets and Cormark Securities acknowledged the company’s recent stumbles but pointed to long-term potential.

Cormark mining analyst Nicolas Dion sees the company as an “excellent operator” with ample exploration targets. “Even with the cost overrun at Valentine, Calibre remains well funded to see the project through,” Dion said Monday in a note to clients. “We will continue to monitor construction progress, especially as winter nears in Newfoundland.”

Dion noted the firm’s track record and its strong management. He sees a chance for a share price increase once Valentine starts producing.

BMO’s mining analyst Brian Quast maintains an outperform rating on the stock due to the company’s long-term growth plans. He has a target price at C$4.40 per share.

Gold sales

The company reported total gold sales during the quarter of 46,076 oz., well below earlier estimates of 74,000-76,000 ounces. Cash costs rose to $1,580 per oz., driving the company to revise its 2024 all-in sustaining cost guidance to $1,550-$1,600 per oz., up from $1,275-$1,375 forecast earlier.

Calibre plans to boost ore haulage to Nicaragua’s Libertad mill by 30% in the current quarter, targeting production of 70,000-80,000 oz. and a stockpile of 30,000 oz. for 2025. With C$300 million in cash and credit, the company confirmed it is fully funded to complete Valentine’s construction.

The project, which it acquired last year through a buyout of Marathon Gold, may produce 195,000 oz. annually for the first 12 years of a 14.3-year mine life, according to a 2022 feasibility study.

The company already has a three-year, C$30 million earn-in agreement with Glencore (LSE: GLEN), and a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the project, where mining goes back more than 60 years. Glencore was among a handful of miners in the region, and from 2013 until 2022 operated Bracemac McLeod.

Peter van Alphen, NuVau president and CEO, says listing on the TSX Venture Exchange will help NuVau tap some of the billions of dollars in the province’s funding agencies aimed at mining.

“Quebec is…I would say one of the best if not the best jurisdiction to be in mining,” van Alphen told The Northern Miner in an interview. “(Government funds) will work with you to finance development. But some of them won’t do it for a private company. We’re not primarily an exploration company, we’re a mining company looking to do exploration.”

Glencore deal winding down

NuVau is approaching the end of its deal with Glencore to explore and gain full interest in the Matagami camp, located in the province’s west, about 800 km north of Montreal.

The agreement, which ends next March, includes the option to acquire the infrastructure at Matagami, comprising the Bracemac McLeod mine and its mill

NuVau’s 2023 PEA, which focused on the Caber Complex deposits west of Bracemac McLeod, outlined a project of almost 10 years with a net present value (at 8% discount) of C$115.9 million. Initial capital costs were pegged at C$172.3 million, with a 20% internal rate of return.

Quebec’s helping hand

Quebec is well-known for its institutional funds that back mineral activity, such as Investissement Québec, the provincial pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, and Diversification of Exploration Investment Partnership (Sidex). Tapping into that ecosystem will help NuVau advance its project faster, van Alphen said.

“We saw them coming as an investor, (and) the credibility that these groups would add to us is of great value to us,” the CEO said. “So we decided to take the company public to bring these groups in.”

While van Alphen says NuVau could use the existing mill at Bracemac McLeod, it needs to build a tailings facility before it’s ready for production, as well as raise C$50 million.

“We’re lucky with our access to infrastructure that we can take advantage of,” he said. “(The mill) has 3,000-tonne-per-day capacity, there’s a rail siding there, and we can ship concentrate there by rail. I don’t like the term, but it’s a hub and spoke. We can own the hub.”

If the listing is successful, the company’s milestones for next year are an updated PEA and submission of permits to the Quebec government. In 2026 it aims to complete a feasibility study, with production starting the same year or in 2027.

“We believe we will be able to take advantage of revenue from production from the existing resource to fund part or possibly all of this exploration going forward,” he said.

Exploration bonanza

Van Alphen stresses that the real prize for NuVau is exploring its vast land package along the Abitibi Greenstone belt. Roughly bordered to the east by the Bracemac McLeod mine, the property runs 85 km to the west, and 30 km from north to south. Maple Gold’s (TSXV: MGM) Joutel mine sits just south of the property.

“It’s very large… and less than 5% of it has had significant exploration,” he said. “It has potential to be a major producer in base metals and precious metals as well.”

Exploration in the Matagami area dates back to 1957, when six companies including Leith Gold Mines, Dome Mines and Iso Uranium Mines merged to form the Mattagami Syndicate. A year later, an agreement between that syndicate, Canadian Exploration and Noranda and McIntyre Mines was made to create Mattagami Lake Mines. Production by various companies, including Glencore, ran from 1963 until 2022, during which almost 60 million tonnes of copper and zinc were produced from 12 mines.

20+ year potential

The Caber deposit, part of Caber Complex, hosts 2.6 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 6.11% zinc, 1.15% copper, 10 grams silver per tonne and 0.21 gram gold for 91,200 tonnes zinc, 17,100 tonnes copper, 481,000 oz. silver and 9,990 oz. gold. Inferred resources total 109,000 tonnes at 4.96% zinc, 1.01% copper, 8.12 grams silver and 0.19 gram gold.

Caber Nord, also in the Caber Complex hosts 1.1 million indicated tonnes at 4.96% zinc, 1.23% copper, 18.1 grams silver and 0.13 gram gold for 54,900 tonnes zinc, 13,600 tonnes copper, 645,000 oz. silver and 4,700 oz. gold. Inferred tonnes come to 5.7 million grading 1.96% zinc, 1.34% copper, 10.3 grams silver and 0.11 gram gold for 112,300 tonnes zinc, 76,700 tonnes copper, 1.8 million oz. silver and 19,800 oz. gold.

Remaining resources under Bracemac McLeod, such as the McLeod Deep and Extension could yield another three or four years of production, according to the PEA. Another target, the Renaissance discovery, a volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit northeast of Caber North, could hold a mine life of more than 20 years. The company plans to start a 10,000-metre drill program at Renaissance this winter.

In total, McEwen will buy 10 million units of Inventus at a price of C$0.04 per unit. Its chairman and chief owner Rob McEwen currently holds approximately 21% of Inventus’ equity, having built his take over the years since Inventus operated under its old name Ginguro Exploration.

Shares of Inventus Mining gained 50% to C$0.045 apiece by 1:20 p.m. ET, for a market capitalization of C$7.6 million.

The company’s main asset is the Pardo paleoplacer gold project located 65 km northeast of the Sudbury mining district. The current exploration target is a near-surface gold-bearing conglomerate reef that ranges from 1 to 4 metres thick.

A 2018 technical report on Pardo outlined three target ranges for the gold-bearing conglomerate based on the limited exploration work to date, with the largest estimated at 12.5 million tonnes grading 3.5 g/t for a gold content of 1.4 million oz.

The conglomerate, if economically feasible, would be subject to low-cost surface strip mining methods, Inventus said on its website. The company had also billed the project as the “first large-scale paleo-placer gold deposit in North America”.

In 2022, Inventus conducted the first phase of a 50,000-tonne advanced exploration bulk sampling program at Pardo, returning an average head grade of 3.4 g/t gold. The bulk sample program has built confidence of the gold grade and paved the way for an initial resource estimate on the property, the company said.

Its stock rose to $5.23 apiece during early trading hours in New York, before pulling back to $5.10 by 11:00 a.m. ET. The company has a market capitalization of approximately $1.25 billion.

According to the company, surface mill and infrastructure construction have reached 90%, with more than $258 million of the project’s budget spent to date. Project commitments total $270 million, representing 99% of the $271 million capital budget.

During the third quarter, 1,051 meters were developed underground, bringing the project’s total to 5,544 meters.

Underground explosive magazines have been completed, and the application for an explosive use permit has been submitted, with approval expected later this year.

According to the company, the focus continues on the lower platform, where concrete work is well underway, and on the tailing storage facility, where underdrain embankment fill and pipe installation are advancing at a good pace.

“We’re in the final construction phase with the finish line in sight,” commented Don Gray, chief operating officer at Endeavour Silver.

Commissioning of the mine is expected in the fourth quarter, with an anticipated 10-year mine life. The Terronera project is situated within the Sierra Madre volcanic belt, which hosts most of Mexico’s silver and gold deposits.

Terronera has total proven and probable reserves of 7.4 million tonnes, grading 197 g/t silver and 2.25 g/t gold. The mine consists of the Terronera and La Luz underground deposits, both of which will be mined using a combination of long-hole and cut-and-fill methods. The processing plant will have a capacity of 2,000 tonnes per day.

A feasibility study forecasts that the project will produce 4 million oz. of silver and 38,000 oz. of gold annually the 10-year period.

Ascot Resources (TSX: AOT) said on Monday it plans to raise at least C$40 million ($29 million) to get its Premier gold project in British Columbia’s Golden Triangle back on track after shutting it down just months into its first gold pour.

The financing will consist of a new $11.25 million loan with the company’s main creditors and a minimum C$25 million private placement of shares priced at C$0.16 that can rise to C$35 million depending on demand.

This funding package, said Ascot chief executive Derek White, will enable the company to undertake mine development activities necessary to advance the Premier Northern Lights (PNL) and Big Missouri (BM) deposits located 25 km from Stewart, BC.

In September, Ascot revealed that the PNL and BM deposits have not been advancing on schedule, leading to insufficient ore feeds to the Premier mill and missed production targets. As a result, it decided to place the Premier project on care and maintenance until further development is completed, which is estimated to take 3-6 months.

At the time, the company had C$15 million in cash, which was enough to endure the suspension of operations for winter season, but additional funding was required to complete the necessary mine development work and restart operations.

Ascot’s shares plummeted to its lowest in over five years (C$0.14) following that announcement, and since then has been hovering between C$0.16 and C$0.19 a share. Monday’s financing sent the stock to C$0.22, for a market capitalization of C$155.3 million.

“While the timeframe and funding required to undertake this work has been challenging for the company, recent actions were required to ensure sustainable feed for profitable mill operations,” CEO White said in Monday’s news release, adding that Ascot is focused on returning to gold production in the second quarter of 2025.

The company achieved first pour at Premier in April and had initially expected to declare commercial production at the historical mine during the third quarter of 2024. Mining is expected to occur from total probable reserves of 3.6 million tonnes grading 5.45 g/t gold and 19.1 g/t silver, containing 637,000 oz. of gold and 2.23 million oz. of silver.

Once upon a time, the Premier mine was the largest gold mine in North America until fire destroyed its surface buildings. Before its closure in 1952, it had produced over 2 million oz. of gold and 45 million oz. of silver.

Since construction began earlier this year, nearly 300,000 work hours have been logged without any reported injuries or environmental incidents, Taseko said. Currently, 280 workers are on-site, and all project activities are proceeding as scheduled, it noted.

Taseko’s focus has been on earthworks, concrete pouring, and wellfield drilling, achieving new milestones, such as the installation of structural steel and process equipment.

“With approximately 75% of total construction costs now committed, we expect total costs to be within 10-15% of the original $232 million estimate,” president and chief executive Stuart McDonald said in the update.

Getting to this point hasn’t been easy. Taseko faced initial opposition and legal challenges over fears of the mine’s environmental impact.

The US Environmental Protection Agency cleared the way in November last year, issuing the final permit required to begin construction at Florence.

Shortly after, Taseko secured additional fundings totalling $100 million for the proposed copper mine, supplementing the previous financings from its partner Mitsui as well as Bank of America.

When fully operational, the mine will have an annual capacity of 85 million pounds of LME Grade A copper and a mine life of 22 years.

The operation is projected to boost Taseko’s copper production by 120%, based on a 2024 guidance of 110 million-115 million pounds of the metal.

The Vancouver-based miner’s portfolio also includes the Gibraltar mine in south-central British Columbia, and the New Prosperity copper-gold project, near Williams Lake, also in B.C.

The rare earths company has agreed to purchase an 80% interest in these three projects by investing A$3 million ($2m) over three years, Havilah said. This investment includes a minimum of A$1 million in the first year for exploration and development activities.

The three assets, located in the uranium-rich Curnamona province, are situated near two operating in-situ leach (ISL) mines at Honeymoon, owned by Boss Energy (ASX: BOE), and Four Mile, owned by the private company Heathgate Resources.

“These agreements with HRE provide a way for Havilah to monetize a portion of its remaining uranium assets, for which it is currently receiving neither market recognition nor value,” said the company’s technical director, Chris Giles.

Havilah will retain 100% ownership of its exploration licenses and mineral rights, excluding rare earth elements and scandium at the Radium Hill extensions. Heavy Rare Earths will assume responsibility for further exploration expenditures and fieldwork.

Demand for uranium has surged after more than 20 nations committed to tripling nuclear capacity by 2050 at the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai late last year.

Canada, Australia, and the United States have led the sector’s revival this year, with companies announcing production increases and the restart of previously halted projects.

The trial, expected to last up to 12 weeks, will determine whether BHP is legally responsible for the collapse of the Fundão tailings dam in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The structure failure caused a massive flood that claimed 19 lives, destroyed villages and severely polluted water sources for local communities. The dam was owned by Samarco, a joint venture between BHP and Brazilian mining giant Vale (NYSE: VALE).

The case has been winding its way through the English judicial system for six years, with various judges holding conflicting opinions on whether the case can proceed. In 2022, appeal judges cleared the path for a full trial to take place.

The plaintiffs in the case include more than 600,000 Brazilian citizens, 46 municipalities and 2,000 businesses, all challenging BHP’s role in the disaster. Lawyers representing the victims argued on Monday that BHP has been attempting to evade its responsibility.

The world’s largest mining company is disputing liability, arguing that the London lawsuit duplicates legal proceedings and reparation programs in Brazil, and should be dismissed.

It also claims that nearly $8 billion has already been paid to those affected through the Renova Foundation, with around $1.7 billion going to claimants in the English case.

BHP’s lawyers stated in court that no law or contract imposes a duty of safety on the parent company of a non-controlling shareholder or the other parent company in the same group. They also argued the miner did not breach any safety duty, nor did its actions cause the collapse.

BHP further described parts of the lawsuit as “implausible or exaggerated.”

Settlement in Brazil

This trial comes shortly after BHP and Vale announced they were in talks with Brazilian authorities regarding a potential settlement of $31.7 billion to compensate for the damage caused to people, communities, and the environment.

Pogust Goodhead, the law firm representing the plaintiffs in London, said that the settlement talks in Brazil will not affect the UK case. 

“The timing of these negotiations only highlights how the companies responsible for Brazil’s largest environmental disaster are doing everything possible to prevent the victims from obtaining justice. It reflects the same shameful conduct they have displayed over the past nine years,” the firm said in a statement.

The multi-week hearing, the largest group litigation in English legal history, will also examine whether Brazilian municipalities can bring legal action, the effect of any agreements made by English claimants with BHP, and whether the claims were filed too late.

BHP and Vale agreed in July to equally share the cost of any damages related to proceedings in the UK.