Backing from the Pentagon, White House, and Capitol Hill, coupled with soaring metals prices, is fueling new growth for the sector. With the price of copper, gold, and silver hitting new all-time highs, the Pentagon looking North for secure supplies of critical minerals, and a White House administration focused on unleashing the resource potential of America’s Last Frontier, the mining sector in Alaska has reached critical mass in 2025. While Alaska’s mining industry has been building toward critical mass for decades, the 2024 election started a reaction that could sustain sector growth over the coming decade. This chain reaction is…
Author: TJ Markle
Brazilian public health researchers have found mounting evidence in the state hosting COP30 that mercury poisoning from illegal gold mining has caused widespread neurological problems and disabilities in Indigenous children.’ Deep in the Amazon, Indigenous women say they fear getting pregnant. Rivers that have been the lifeblood of their people now carry mercury from illegal gold mining, threatening the health of their unborn children. “Breast milk is no longer reliable,” said Alessandra Korap, a leader of the Munduruku people. At Sai Cinza, a Munduruku community surrounded by illegal mines, the family of three-year-old Rany Ketlen struggles to understand why she…
The Bahrain Golden License program, which could likely be an effective model for economic growth for this Middle Eastern nation, may have been played by a Russian composer who conducts himself as both a classical pianist and a metals industry player. This time, his sonata is called Bahrain Titanium. The Golden License program is a tool to stimulate Bahrain’s national economy through a small group of highly profitable diversified commercial investments. It’s a way to diversify the economy, create new business opportunities for the citizens, and revenues for the Kingdom. Mumtalakat, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, introduced the ‘Golden License’ economic…
Coeur Mining (NYSE: CDE) is acquiring Canada’s New Gold (TSX: NGD) in an all-stock deal valued at about $7 billion, creating a new North American mining heavyweight amid record gold prices and renewed investor enthusiasm for precious metals. Chicago-based Coeur, which operates mines in the US and Mexico, will combine with New Gold’s two Canadian gold-producing sites to form a company valued at roughly $20 billion. The merged miner will produce an estimated 900,000 ounces of gold and 20 million ounces of silver next year. The deal strengthens Coeur’s balance sheet and cash flow, giving it greater strategic flexibility, the company said.…
Brazilian police backed by Interpol have destroyed hundreds of dredges used in illegal gold mining along the Madeira River, in one of the biggest coordinated crackdowns yet on criminal networks operating across the Amazon Basin. The international police agency said officers dismantled 277 floating mining rafts worth an estimated $6.8 million. When factoring in lost gold, equipment and environmental damage, officials estimated the total financial blow to organized crime groups at about $193 million. The Madeira River, one of the Amazon’s largest tributaries, flows from the Andes through Bolivia into northern Brazil before joining the main Amazon River — an…
Pleading details toxic pollution violations from breaches in waste lake levees An environmental group has filed a federal lawsuit against a River Parishes alumina refinery that state regulators have repeatedly cited for allowing toxic pollution to escape into public drainage areas and waterways. The Louisiana Environmental Action Network filed suit Friday against Atalco Gramercy LLC in the federal court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The company operates the Atlantic Alumina facility that straddles the border of St. James and St. John the Baptist parishes on the west bank of the Mississippi River. The 17-page pleading is based largely on pollution discharges…
Higher prices draw fresh attention from critics, curious about the absence of the precious metal in Canada’s financial reserves. With gold prices rocketing to record highs in recent weeks, Canada’s lack of significant gold reserves is drawing fresh attention and a new round of criticism. In September, America’s northern neighbor (or eastern neighbor if you are reading this in Alaska) reported about 77 ounces of actual gold in its multibillion-dollar financial reserves, most of which is foreign currencies, including the U.S. dollar. This is especially curious, given that the Land of Maple Syrup, where output from substantial gold mining ranks…
Resulting Anglo Teck group would be a globally significant producer of copper, zinc, and iron. In a landmark deal that reshapes the global mining landscape, Teck Resources Ltd. and Anglo American plc have agreed to a $53 billion merger-of-equals to form Anglo Teck, a new global critical minerals champion with copper at its core. “We are unlocking outstanding value both in the near and longer term – forming a global critical minerals champion with the focus, agility, capabilities, and culture that have characterized both companies for so long,” said Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad. The resulting Canada-headquartered Anglo Teck group…
Unlike the name suggests, rare earths are not very rare at all. Many countries — including Australia — are rich in the critical minerals that have become vital for modern technology. Rare earths are used to manufacture everything from smartphones and electric vehicles to wind turbines, weapons and medical equipment. Although the minerals can be found in abundance in some countries, there is still only one main supply chain powerhouse: China. This is how rare earths are mapped around the world, and why being big on reserves may not mean big business. Not rare, but critical In Australia, 31 minerals are…
Angola’s state diamond company Endiama has submitted a formal bid for Anglo American’s majority stake in De Beers, in a sharp shift from its earlier position of seeking only a minority share. Endiama chief executive officer José Manuel Ganga Júnior told Bloomberg News the company had presented “a concrete and well-defined proposal” to Anglo and was moving ahead with “subsequent actions.” The move intensifies the scramble for control of the world’s largest diamond producer, pitting Angola against neighbouring Botswana, which already owns 15% of De Beers. Botswana holds the right to match any external offer and has framed its potential bid as…