Mining & Resources
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Trafigura’s $700M LME Withdrawal and What It Means for Junior Players
Gold spent the week stuck. Iran peace talks gave it brief bounces but nothing that held. The 10-year Treasury hit 4.6653% on May 19, its highest since January 2025, and rate hike odds for December firmed toward 40%. That combination kept a ceiling on bullion and pushed the junior gold miner index to its worst…
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Mining & Minerals Weekly: Four Junior Stories Worth Knowing
Gold sold off hard mid-week on a stronger dollar and rising Treasury yields, then partially recovered on Middle East de-escalation signals that did not hold. Silver swung between $73 and $83. Rough week for prices. Not a rough week for drill results. Four junior companies published meaningful news. One holds the only known rhodium resource…
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Metallium Wins $1M DoD Contract to Pull Gallium and Germanium From US E-Waste
China imposed export controls on gallium in 2023. By 2025 the restrictions had expanded. The US imports more than 50% of its gallium supply and over 70% of its germanium, both designated critical materials essential for radar systems, missile guidance, satellite electronics, 5G infrastructure, and advanced semiconductors. Neither has a meaningful domestic primary production base.…
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Critical Minerals Weekly: Gold Firms, Silver Rips, Teck Bets on Arizona
Gold closed Friday May 8 at $4,722.55 per ounce, up 2.3% for the week. Silver was the real mover — up 9.18% to $80.46. Copper hit $6.30 per pound on COMEX, a 4.49% weekly gain and its strongest close in months. Three metals, all up hard in the same week. The macro driver is the…
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16 g/t Gold at Hemlo Mine’s New South-Rim Zone After 40 Years of Production
The Hemlo Gold Mine in northwestern Ontario has produced approximately 25 million ounces of gold since 1985. It is one of Canada’s most storied mines. It is also, apparently, not finished surprising its geologists. Hemlo Mining Corp. (TSXV: HMMC | OTCQX: HMMCF) reported initial results this week from its newly defined South-Rim Zone, a structurally…
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Trump in Beijing: China’s Rare Earth Squeeze Is Already Working
Trump landed in Beijing this morning. Thirty-six hours. Xi Jinping across the table. Rare earths on the agenda alongside AI chips, Taiwan, and a war that has closed the Strait of Hormuz. The rare earths are the reason he went. Germany has received zero dysprosium from China since April 2025. Japan received four percent of…
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OceanaGold Reports High-Grade Drill Results at Haile Gold Mine in South Carolina
OceanaGold Corporation (TSX: OGC | NYSE: OGC) released new high-grade drill results from its Haile Gold Mine in Lancaster County, South Carolina, showing mineralization expanding in multiple directions across three target areas. The headline intercepts are hard to ignore. Horseshoe Underground returned 15.5 metres at 30.64 g/t gold and 30.5 metres at 13.86 g/t gold.…
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VR Resources Drills Nevada Porphyry for Molybdenum, Tungsten, Copper, Silver
Beijing moved quietly in February 2025, adding molybdenum to its list of controlled critical mineral exports. Tungsten restrictions had already tightened. The US Department of Defense, which bans Chinese-sourced tungsten from defense procurement starting January 2027, is watching both developments closely. Finding domestic supply of either metal has become a genuine national security priority. VR…
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US-Japan Deal Tackles Tungsten Supply Chain Before 2027 DoD Deadline
China controls 80% of the world’s tungsten supply. A new partnership in Beaver County wants to change the math — starting with what’s already been dug up. The United States hasn’t commercially mined tungsten in roughly a decade. In the meantime, China built a stranglehold over global tungsten supply chains, accounting for about 80% of…
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Critical Minerals Weekly: Washington Acts While China Tightens Supply Chains
Copper held above $5.94 per pound on Monday, up 27.8% from this time last year and up 6.4% in just the past month. Gold sat near $4,600 per ounce, down roughly 12% since the Middle East conflict began in late February but structurally supported by central bank buying. Cobalt traded flat at $56,290 per metric…
