Trump admin moves to roll back mining moratorium near Boundary Waters

The Trump administration is starting the process of reversing the Biden-era 20 year moratorium on copper-nickel mining in a 350-square-mile area upstream of Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

The decision could allow the restart of development at the proposed Twin Metals underground mine, owned by Chile’s Antofagasta (LSE:ANTO,OTC Pink:ANFGF). The Biden administration had cancelled the leases for the project, located in the region affected by the moratorium, as part of the 2022 decision.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum argue that the original mineral withdrawal was unnecessary and pledged to boost domestic critical mineral supply.

Rollins shared the news on her social media account.

.@SecretaryBurgum and I have been working together to unleash American Energy and today we are taking another step to ensure we are getting back in the mining and energy development game.

Today, @USDA is proud to announce that we are initiating the process to cancel the mineral…

— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) June 11, 2025

The news was quickly denounced by the Save the Boundary Waters advocacy group and Tina Smith, US Senator for Minnesota.

“The announcement by Secretaries Burgum and Rollins is shocking,” said Ingrid Lyons, the group’s executive director. “They claim to have consulted with the people of Minnesota about the Boundary Waters when they clearly have not. We deserve so much better than this, as Minnesotans and as Americans.”

Senator Smith took to social media to highlight her dismay and condemn what she described as ‘pseudoscience (used) to justify bad actions.’

The Trump admin decision aligns with a broader push to accelerate mining approvals and reduce red tape, aiming to enhance US supply chain security for critical minerals.

Dundee Precious Metals to acquire Adriatic in US$1.3 billion deal

Canada’s Dundee Precious Metals has agreed to acquire UK-based Adriatic Metals (LSE:ADT1,OTCQX:ADMLF) in an approximately US$1.3 billion cash-and-stock transaction.

The deal secures Dundee full control of Adriatic’s high-grade Vareš underground silver-lead-zinc-gold mine in Bosnia and Herzegovina, plus its Raška zinc-silver project in Serbia.

Vareš offers an estimated 15 year mine life with annual payable output around 168,000 ounces gold equivalent and low all-in sustaining costs of US$893 per ounce.

“Vareš is a logical fit with our portfolio, as it significantly increases DPM’s mine life while adding near-term production growth, a highly prospective land package, and cash flow diversification,” said David Rae, president and CEO of Dundee Precious Metals.

Upon closing, Dundee shareholders will own 75.3 percent of the combined entity, with Adriatic shareholders holding 24.7 percent. The transaction is expected to close by year-end, pending shareholder, regulatory and Bosnian competition approvals.

China tightens grip on Myanmar’s rare earths

The United Wa State Army (UWSA), a China-supported militia, has taken control of newly established rare-earth mining operations in Myanmar’s Shan State, according to a Reuters report. Satellite imagery confirms the construction of leaching pools and chemical extraction facilities, with Chinese-speaking managers overseeing operations and trucks ferrying ore across the border.

As noted in the report, China currently relies heavily on Myanmar for heavy rare-earth elements like terbium and dysprosium, critical materials for high-tech industries including EVs, wind turbines and electronics. The country supplied nearly half of China’s imports during the first four months of 2025.

Rare earth exports to China have surged since Myanmar’s military junta took power in 2021. Between 2021 and 2024, Myanmar exported US$3.6 billion worth of rare earth metals to its neighbor, a dramatic increase compared to just US$400 million in the prior four year period.

The majority of these imports previously came from mineral belts in Kachin State, but this supply was disrupted in October 2024 when the Kachin Independence Army seized control of the region from the junta.

Analysts suggest this move to protect operations in Shan State helps Beijing reinforce its global dominance in rare earth supply chains by tapping into more stable regions under Chinese-aligned militia protection.

China has further tightened its grip on the global rare earth industry over the past year, reinforcing control across multiple fronts. Domestically, Beijing implemented new regulations in late 2024 to centralize mine quotas, smelting, separation and export licensing, reinforcing state dominance across the entire rare earth supply chain.

Bitcoin and Ethereum price update

Bitcoin (BTC) was priced at US$105,555, a decrease of 1.6 percent in 24 hours after an earlier slide of over 4 percent. The day’s range for the cryptocurrency brought a low of US$104,309 and a high of US$105,918.

Bitcoin price performance, June 13, 2025.

Chart via TradingView.

Bitcoin dropped sharply after Israel’s airstrikes on Iran, with over US$400 million in long trades wiped out before its price consolidated at around US$105,000. This came just days after Bitcoin came close to its May 22 record of US$111,940.

Gold and oil prices rose while Bitcoin fell, and a Bollinger band analysis shows a typical three-push pattern, often signaling the end of a rally. Popular trader CrypNuevo said there could be “more upside” to come as long as the price doesn’t dip below the US$100,000 level.

Ethereum (ETH) ended the day at US$2,529.19, a 6.3 percent decrease over the past 24 hours, after reaching an intraday low of US$2,513.97 and a high of US$2,576.80.

Altcoin price update

• Solana (SOL) closed at US$145.08, down 6.3 percent over 24 hours. SOL experienced a low of US$144.19 and reached a high of US$148.20 on Friday.

• XRP was trading at US$2.13, down by 3.6 percent in 24 hours. The cryptocurrency’s lowest valuation today was US$2.12, and its highest was US$2.16.

• Sui (SUI) was trading at US$3.01, showing a decreaseof 7.5 percent over the past 24 hours. It reached an intraday low of US$2.98 and a high of US$3.07.

• Cardano (ADA) closed at US$0.6319, down 5.5 percent over the past 24 hours. Its lowest valuation on Friday was US$0.6291, and its highest valuation was US$0.6426.

Today’s crypto news to know

Tether expands gold exposure

Tether Investments has acquired a 31.9 percent stake in Canadian gold royalty firm Elemental Altus Royalties through the purchase of 78,421,780 common shares from La Mancha Investments. Valued at C$1.55 (US$1.14) per share, the transaction cost Tether roughly US$89.4 million and brings its total stake in the royalty firm to 33.7 percent.

While the official announcement didn’t come until Thursday, the deal was finalized on Tuesday, June 10. The company also shared that it signed an option agreement that will allow it to acquire a further 34,444,580 common shares owned by AlphaStream subsidiary Alpha 1 SPV. Executing the option would bring Tether’s interest in Elemental Altus to 47.7 percent.

“Tether’s growing investments in gold and Bitcoin reflect our forward-looking strategy to build a more resilient and transparent financial system,” Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said. “By gaining exposure to a diversified portfolio of gold royalties through Elemental, we are strengthening the backing of our ecosystem while advancing Tether Gold and future commodity-backed digital assets.”

Retail giants explore stablecoin issuance

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) are reportedly in talks to launch their own stablecoins, according to sources cited in a Wall Street Journal report published early on Friday morning. The move would mark a shift in how these two major retailers manage payments, with the potential to eliminate billions in bank fees and streamline e-commerce and cross-border transactions.

This report comes days after the US Senate advanced the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, in a 68-30 procedural vote. On Thursday, a notice was issued by Senate Democrats of a full chamber vote on the GENIUS Act scheduled for Tuesday, June 17, coinciding with the start of the Federal Open Market Committee two-day meeting.

Betting platform becomes second-largest ETH holder after Ethereum Foundation

Sports betting platform SharpLink Gaming (NASDAQ:SBET) has become the world’s largest publicly traded ETH holder with its latest acquisition of 176,271 ETH for approximately US$463 million, an average acquisition price of US$2,626 per coin.

According to an announcement on the company’s page on Friday, the company has increased its ETH holdings by 11.8 percent per share since June 2, 2025, primarily using US$79 million raised through its stock sales, in addition to an earlier private investment.

The company said over 95 percent of its ETH was deployed in staking and liquid staking platforms, earning yield while contributing to Ethereum’s network security.

“This is a landmark moment for SharpLink and for public company adoption of digital assets,” said Rob Phythian, CEO of SharpLink Gaming. “Our decision to make ETH our primary treasury reserve asset reflects deep conviction in its role as programmable, yield-bearing digital capital.”

Coinbase announces several new offerings

Coinbase made a series of announcements on Thursday at its annual State of Crypto Summit, unveiling a plan to evolve from a crypto exchange into a full-scale decentralized and centralized financial app.

First, the company’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, revealed that all tokens on Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer 2 network, Base, are now tradable directly on the Coinbase platform, giving developers building on Base access to Coinbase’s ecosystem of over 100 million users. Meanwhile, Max Branzburg, Coinbase’s vice president of consumer and business products, announced that the company will soon offer perpetual futures contracts under Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversight, marking a major easing of restrictions for US crypto traders.

Also at the event, a partnership was announced between Coinbase and Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) that Shopify has begun accepting payments in USDC stablecoin from customers on Base. Currently in early access, the new payment option could help normalize on-chain payments among mainstream e-commerce businesses and consumers.

Coinbase also introduced the Coinbase One Card, a co-branded American Express (NYSE:AXP) credit card slated for release this fall that will offer up to 4 percent cashback in Bitcoin. Finally, it revealed Coinbase Business, a new full-stack platform offering for streamlining financial workflows with features including instant crypto payment settlements, up to 4.1 percent annual percentage yield on USDC and streamlined integration with accounting tools such as Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) QuickBooks and XERO (NASDAQ:XRX).

These announcements help further Coinbase’s vision to position itself as a one-stop shop for businesses operating in the Web3 space.

Investor Insight

A Canadian exploration company poised for discovery, Bold Ventures is focused on the exploration and development of high-potential precious and battery minerals projects in tier 1 jurisdictions in Canada.

Overview

Bold Ventures (TSXV:BOL) is a Canadian mineral exploration company focusing on battery, critical and precious metals located in Northern Ontario and Quebec. The company’s asset portfolio demonstrates its focus on these commodities to create consistent value with gold and meet the growing demand for battery and critical metals.

Bold Ventures’ key projects are located within three active regions throughout Ontario: Thunder Bay West, Wawa West and the Ring of Fire camp located in the James Bay Lowlands. The Thunder Bay properties host gold and copper mineralization, while the Wawa and Ring of Fire properties have copper, gold, and chromium mineralization with additional potential for zinc, nickel, silver and PGE mineralization. The newly added Springpole East gold and Joutel gold and base metal projects expand Bold’s footprint into additional high-potential areas.

The Burchell gold and copper project, west of Thunder Bay, is Bold’s flagship property with a newly discovered high-grade gold occurrence as well as historical drill intersections of highly anomalous gold and copper. The project is ideally positioned next to Goldshore Resources Inc.’s Moss Gold Project hosting the Moss Gold Deposit of nearly 6 million ounces of gold in the indicated and inferred resource categories.

The 100 percent owned Traxxin gold project, west of Thunder Bay, has shown numerous high-grade gold intersections in drilling. The project is a joint venture between Bold Ventures, as the operator, and Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation, where the joint venture can earn up to 100 percent of the property.

An experienced team of explorers leads the company toward fully realizing the potential of its portfolio. The company’s leadership team has participated in three significant world-class discoveries, including:

• Eagle River Mine: Discovered in 1987 by Central Crude/Noranda and has produced over 1 million ounces (Moz) of gold.
• Windfall Lake: Discovered by Noront circa 2006, currently owned by Osisko (purchased by Goldfields for $2.16B), it contains 4.1 Moz @ 11.4 grams per ton (g/t) gold indicated and 3.3 Moz gold @ 8.4 g/t gold inferred for a total of 7.4 Moz gold in all categories.
• Ring of Fire Deposits: Discovered in 2007 and contain multiple significant deposits including Eagle’s Nest, Eagle Two and Blue Jay (AT-12) Nickel-Copper Massive Sulphide Deposits, Blackbird Chromite Deposit and Thunderbird Vanadium Occurrence.

This wealth of experience allows Bold Ventures to strategically acquire undervalued assets and apply sophisticated exploration techniques to identify significant mineral deposits.

Company Highlights

• Bold Ventures is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on exploring and developing its precious and critical mineral projects in Northern Ontario.
• The company owns and operates several projects throughout three key regions of Ontario: Thunder Bay West, Wawa West and the James Bay Lowlands-Ring of Fire.
• The company has been advancing its copper and gold projects to the drill stage.
• The Burchell gold and copper project is located 100 km west of Thunder Bay and enjoys major road access, rail, power, and an experienced mineral exploration workforce and mining supply located within hours of the property. The project hosts the newly discovered (Nov 2024) 111 Gold Zone as well as historical gold anomalies on surface and drill core along strike from the Moss Deposit to the west, owned by Goldshore Resources Inc.
• The Traxxin gold project is located 130 km west of Thunder Bay and is similarly accessible. It boasts the Company’s best gold intersection in drill core which is hosted in a similar geological setting to Agnico Eagle’s Hammond Reef Gold Deposit in the district.
• The Koper Lake project is located within 300 meters of Ring of Fire Metals’ (formerly Wyloo/Noront) flagship Eagle’s Nest Nickel-Copper deposit. It hosts a large chromite resource and attractive nickel potential.
• Bold Ventures continues to expand its portfolio with two promising new acquisitions – the Springpole East gold project in Ontario and Joutel gold and base metals projects in Quebec – both strategically positioned in established mining districts.
• Bold Ventures’ management team has decades of experience within the mining sector. The management and technical teams have participated in three world-class discoveries and have the right experience to guide the company toward its goals.

Key Projects

Burchell Gold and Battery Metals Project

The Burchell claim group covers 4,607 hectares (11,384 acres) comprising 242 claims and is located 100 kilometers west of the port city of Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. The project is road-accessible south of the Trans-Canada Highway 11.

Project Highlights:

• Located in the Western Shebandowan Greenstone Belt: The Burchell project is located on this high-potential, active mineral belt and contains copper, gold, silver, nickel, zinc, molybdenum and other minerals.
• Contiguous with Significant Gold Property: The Burchell property is contiguous with Goldshore Resources’ Moss gold project. The Moss Lake gold deposit lies within a major 25 km NE-trending structural corridor which also hosts the past-producing North Coldstream Mine and the East Coldstream gold deposit. Approximately 1.8 km of this mineralized trend lies in the NW corner of the Burchell property, hosting historical gold occurrences.
• New Discovery (November 2024): A new zone called ‘111 Zone’ was discovered in the center of the property, situated within a prominent magnetic low. Samples ranged from 10 ppb gold to 68 g/t gold in sheared, silicified, sericitized volcanic rocks. Historical trenches along strike to SW of 111 Zone in SW corner of property yielded rock samples up to 42 g/t gold. Historical Newmont drilling in the NW corner of the property returned 0.9 g/t gold over 6.4 m.
• Recent MMI Samples (November 2024): Soil samples in the NW corner of the property, along strike from the Moss Trend, returned high response ratios for gold (up to 40), copper (up to 61), molybdenum (up to 369), zinc (up to 93), and uranium (up to 52). Several samples in the northern half of the survey showed coincident gold, copper, molybdenum response ratios >10.
• Hermia Lake Copper-Gold Prospect: This prospect extends for 2.8 km along a northeast trend. Historical diamond drilling includes intercepts of 0.8 percent copper over 4.3 m (Great Lake Copper Mines in 1956), 0.25 percent copper over 51.9 m (Gulf Minerals in 1981), and 1.4 g/t gold over 7.2 m (Mengold in 2008).

Traxxin Gold Project

The 100 percent owned Traxxin gold project is 130 km west of Thunder Bay and has 209 claims covering 3,885 hectares (9,600 acres). The project has excellent existing infrastructure and is road-accessible, located between two major highways, cutting down on future development costs.

Project Highlights:

• Close Proximity to Significant Gold Deposit: The project is 40 km east of Agnico Eagle’s Hammond Reef deposit, which contains 5.6 Moz of gold at 0.71 g/t, including reserves, measured and indicated.
• Promising New and Historical Exploration Results: Bold Ventures’ 2021 drill hole campaign results indicated 3.57 g/t gold over 12.29 meters, including 6.13 g/t gold over 4.88 m. Additional historical results include:
  • Grab samples 1281, 152, 116, 21.1 and 3.73 g/t gold
  • Five historical drill holes with greater than 5 g/t gold over various intervals
  • One historical drill hole greater than 37 g/t gold over 1 meter
• Exploration Campaigns: Trenching at the Main Zone and Tear Drop Lake in 2021 returned channel samples up to 9.08 g/t gold. In 2024, shoreline prospecting on Bedivere Lake yielded gold values up to 345 (parts per billion (ppb)) gold on an island northeast of Traxxin Main Zone.
• The gold bearing shear zone remains open in all directions with potential for extending the Main Zone to the north via geophysics and exploring the southern extension.

Farwell Gold-Copper Project

The Farwell project covers 6,440 hectares (15,914 acres) comprising 133 claims. The property is located in the Lake Superior east region of Northeastern Ontario, approximately 55 km northwest of Wawa, and in a proven gold camp.

Project Highlights:

• Promising Geological Formations: The claim group hosts gold-bearing quartz veins located within an iron formation that stretches along the western extensions of a major deformation zone. Additionally, there is base metal volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) style mineralization of copper, zinc, lead and silver. The property also features deformed ‘Timiskaming’ style conglomerates along the gold mineralizing trend (similar to Kirkland Lake, Geraldton).
• Exploration Highlights and Future Drill Targets: A versatile time domain electromagnetic (VTEM) survey has identified multiple anomalous areas for future drilling. Additional results and interpretation were incorporated into the existing database for future exploration and, ultimately, for drill testing. The company completed geophysical modelling of six high priority electromagnetic conductors identified by a helicopter-borne, VTEM and magnetic survey.
• Road-accessible: The claim group is accessible via the Eagle River gold mines haulage road and is located approximately 6 km from the Eagle River Mill complex that also connects to major highways suitable for future material transportation.

Wilcorp Gold Project

The Wilcorp gold project covers 264 hectares (652 acres) and consists of four patented claims, 15 single cell and three boundary cell mining claims. The asset is 17 kilometers south of Agnico Eagle’s Hammond Reef Deposit and 32 kilometers west of Traxxin, within the Thunder Bay Mining Division. New drill targets have been identified for follow-up exploration.

Project Highlights:

• Historical Results: The ‘Eagle Prospect’ area has significant historical gold discoveries. Maps from 1946 indicate values up to 11.1 g/t gold over 4.1 m including 30.8 g/t gold over 0.8 m in core (unsubstantiated in the modern era). Recent values include up to 16.3 g/t gold in an area where 1990s drilling returned 1.8 g/t gold over 7.6 m.
• Sampling Results: In 2012, 62 grab samples ranged from <5 ppb gold up to 14,403 ppb gold (14.4 g/t gold), and in 2024, 39 grab samples ranged from <5 ppb gold up to 16,300 ppb gold (16.3 g/t gold).
• Induced Polarization (IP) Surveys: A 2012 IP survey identified several trends that are targets for exploration.
• Geological Setting: The property is proximal to the Quetico Fault, a major east-west fault zone. Gold mineralization is hosted in shear zones in volcanic and dioritic rocks which are subparallel to the Quetico Fault.

Significant Historical Work: The property has pre-existing historical work, including stripping, trenching and diamond drilling which identified significant gold zones.

Koper Lake Project (Ring of Fire)

Project Highlights:

• Multiple Commodity Streams: The Koper Lake project has significant potential for critical minerals. The property has the potential to develop battery metals, chromite and precious metals for multiple revenue streams.
• Within the Koper Lake project, the Black Horse Chromite Deposit contains an NI 43-101 inferred resource of 85.9 MT at a grade of 34.5 percent chromium (III) oxide (Cr2O3) using a cutoff grade of 20 percent Cr2O3.
  • Black Horse Chromite Ownership Interests:
    • Bold 10 percent carried interest (through to production), KWG 90 percent working interest
• All Other Metals (Green and Battery Metals including Nickel, Copper, PGEs; Precious Metals including Gold and Silver) Ownership Interests:
  • Bold 40 percent working interest, KWG 60 percent working interest
  • Bold has option to earn up to 80 percent working interest leaving KWG with a 20 percent working interest

The asset comprises 1,024 hectares and is located less than 300 meters from Ring of Fire Metals’ (formerly Noront Resources) Eagle’s Nest Nickel-copper massive sulphide deposit, which is in the permit stage.

Ring of Fire Claims

The Ring of Fire asset is a future key project that will be given further attention as the Ring of Fire regional infrastructure and First Nation agreements are developed.

Project Highlights:

• The Ring of Fire Claims project is a grassroots exploration project that has significant potential targeting the battery metals nickel, copper and platinum group elements.
• Bold carried out a VTEM airborne survey in 2013 that located numerous geophysical anomalies that are prospective for battery metals.
• Further exploration is pending the development of access, infrastructure and First Nation agreements.

In June 2024, Bold Ventures signed an agreement to option a 100 percent interest in two claim groups out of the 14 claim groups within the Ring of Fire region to an arm’s-length party. The two claim groups total 1,050 hectares and comprise approximately 90 claim units. The option agreement includes aggregate cash payments totaling C$135,000 and aggregate exploration expenditures of C$250,000 over a four-year period. The deal also includes a 3 percent net smelter royalty for Bold, after the optionee earns a 100 percent interest by fulfilling the terms of the agreement.

Springpole East Gold Project

The Springpole East gold project is one of Bold Ventures’ newest project acquisitions strategically positioned in an established mining district. This property covers 4,180 hectares across 208 single cell claims in northwestern Ontario, located just 120 km east-northeast of Red Lake and merely 9 km east of First Mining Gold’s substantial Springpole gold deposit (containing 4.6 Moz of gold at 0.94 g/t in the indicated category and an additional 0.3 Moz at 0.54 g/t in the inferred category). The project shares a boundary with First Mining’s land package, positioning it within a proven gold-bearing geological trend.

Despite its promising location, Springpole East has seen relatively limited systematic exploration. The most recent work in 2022 by GoldON Resources included high-resolution airborne magnetic surveys and prospecting that yielded encouraging results, including the discovery of altered granitic boulders with gold values ranging from 191 to 1,270 ppb. Of particular interest is the nearby Canamer or Birch Lake East Occurrence just 1.3 km west of the property boundary, where First Mining reported impressive grab samples yielding 15.3 g/t gold in 2022. This showing occurs in banded iron formation – a rock type that has been mapped in the northwest portion of Springpole East and corresponds with prominent magnetic anomalies identified during previous surveys.

Joutel Gold and Base Metal Project

Complementing its Ontario-based acquisition, Bold has also added the Joutel gold and base metal project in Quebec to its exploration portfolio. Located 140 km northwest of Val d’Or with favorable logging road access, this property comprises 41 claims across two claim groups covering 2,269 hectares. Bold is already familiar with the area, having conducted airborne VTEM and magnetic surveys in 2012, identifying several anomalies that remain underexplored.

The Joutel project sits in a historically productive mining region, just 6.5 km south-southeast of the former mining town of Joutel in Poirier Township. Its strategic location places it within 12 km of the past-producing Joutel gold mine and less than 10 km from previous base metal operations. A particular point of interest is its proximity (6 km) to the Explo-Zinc deposit, which hosts a 2006 mineral resource estimate of 588,000 tons grading 7.63 percent zinc and 0.35 percent copper in the indicated category, plus 273,000 tons at 6.64 percent zinc and 0.21 percent copper in the inferred category.

Historical drilling of VTEM anomalies in the area has produced encouraging results, including intersections of 0.83 percent nickel over 3.7 meters (including a higher-grade section of 1.27 percent nickel over 2.3 meters) and 0.51 g/t gold over 3.05 meters. These results highlight the property’s polymetallic potential, with Bold targeting nickel, gold, silver, copper and zinc mineralization.

Management Team

David Graham – Chief Executive Officer and Director

David Graham has been active in the mineral exploration industry for over 40 years. Between 1997 and 2004 he was co-founder, president and CEO of Normiska Corporation, an industrial minerals and materials company with four production facilities in Canada and the United States.

Between 2006 and 2010 he was a director and vice-president of Noront Resources. During this time the company made major discoveries at Windfall Lake in Urban Twp., Quebec and the Ring of Fire in the James Bay Lowlands of Ontario. From 2010 until 2017 he was executive vice-president of Bold Ventures Inc. at which time, he was appointed president and CEO.

Mr. Graham has worked extensively in Canada as well as in the United States, Scandinavia and Africa. His experience has frequently included working with First Nations and regulatory agencies on projects that ranged from a grassroots stage to advanced development. He is a member of the discovery team for Eagle River, Windfall, and the ‘Ring of Fire’ Noront deposits.

Bruce MacLachlan – President and Chief Operating Officer

With over 40 years of experience in the exploration industry, Bruce MacLachlan is a proven exploration manager and has been a key member of a number of mineral discovery teams, including Eagle River. He has managed a wide range of exploration projects from grassroots through to the post-discovery stage. MacLachlan has been responsible for project presentation, marketing and coordination within the investment space. He has worked with multiple exploration companies, including Noranda Exploration, Battle Mountain Gold and CanAlaska Uranium. He was the exploration manager at Noranda Exploration, Battle Mountain Gold, and CanAlaska Uranium. He is a co-founder and president of Emerald Geological Services (EGS), a consulting company created in 2001.

Coleman Robertson – Vice-president of Exploration

Coleman Robertson is a professional geologist who has worked exploring for gold, base metals and rare earth elements. His experience includes a wide range of exploration activities from grassroots to discovery stage projects. Employed by EGS since 2017, Robertson is vice-president of exploration for EGS and has experience with multiple projects in multiple jurisdictions, including Bold’s gold and copper projects in Northwestern Ontario.

Robert Suttie – Chief Financial Officer

Robert Suttie currently serves as CFO with over 40 years’ experience as a consultant raising capital for emerging companies. He has been a director/executive at several private/public corporations.

William Johnstone – Corporate Secretary and Legal Counsel

William Johnstone is the company’s corporate counsel and corporate secretary. Johnstone has been a partner at Gardiner Roberts LLP since February 2005, practicing in the areas of corporate and securities law for over 40 years.

Ian Bodie-Brown – Director

Ian Bodie-Brown is an industry consultant with over 35 years’ experience. He is chairman of Rio Silver (on the TSX Venture Exchange) and a professional geologist.

Steve Brunelle – Director

Steve Brunelle is a professional geologist with over 35 years’ experience and is the chairman of Rio Silver (on the TSX Venture Exchange).

Markets and commodities react

In Canada, major indexes were mixed at the end of the week. The S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) was largely flat, posting a small 0.32 percent gain during the week to close at 26,504.35 on Friday. The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) fared worse, losing 1.16 percent to 721.13, and the CSE Composite Index (CSE:CSECOMP) slid 2.48 percent to 114.88.

US equities were also in negative territory this week, with the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:INX) losing 0.46 percent to close at 6,976.96, the Nasdaq-100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) slipping 0.79 percent to 21,612.68 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) sinking 1.38 percent to 42,197.80.

On the other hand, the gold price was up significantly this week, gaining 3.68 percent to US$3,432.17 as investors sought safe-haven assets amid the threat of war between Israel and Iran. The silver price climbed 0.91 percent during the period to end the week US$36.31, although it spiked as high as US$36.86 during trading Monday.

In base metals, the COMEX copper price sank 1.44 percent over the week to US$4.80 per pound. Meanwhile, the S&P GSCI (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) posted a gain of 4.4 percent to close at 568.42.

Top Canadian mining stocks this week

How did mining stocks perform against this backdrop?

Take a look at this week’s five best-performing Canadian mining stocks below.

Stock data for this article was retrieved at 3:30 p.m. EDT on Friday using TradingView’s stock screener. Only companies trading on the TSX, TSXV and CSE with market capitalizations greater than C$10 million are included. Mineral companies within the non-energy minerals, energy minerals, process industry and producer manufacturing sectors were considered.

1. St. Augustine Gold and Copper (TSX: SAU)

Weekly gain: 66.67 percent
Market cap: C$116.31 million
Share price: C$0.125

St. Augustine Gold and Copper is a development company focused on its King-king copper-gold project in the Philippines’ Davao de Oro province. The project consists of 184 mining claims.

According to the most recent preliminary economic assessment from 2013, the company projects an after-tax net present value of US$1.78 billion, with an internal rate of return of 24 percent and a payback period of 2.4 years using a base case scenario of a copper price of US$3.00 per pound and a gold price of US$1,250 per ounce. The company is currently working towards an update to the study.

The most recent news from the project was announced on May 30, when St. Augustine stated that it had entered into an agreement with the National Development Corporation (Nadecor) to acquire a 100 percent interest in Nadecor’s wholly owned subsidiary Kingking Milling, which holds the development rights to King-king. Under the terms of the deal, Nadecor will receive C$9.02 million convertible into 185 million shares.

The project’s exploration and development permits are held by Kingking Mining, which remains a 40/40/20 joint venture between St. Augustine, Nadecor and Queensberry Mining and Development. The release also included details of new ore sales and royalty agreements between Kingking Milling and Kingking Mining.

Shares in St. Augustine rose this week after the company announced Tuesday (June 10) it had entered into a non-brokered private placement for up to 341 million shares for gross proceeds of C$24.9 million.

The company said it will use the proceeds to fund the completion of a feasibility study and organizing financing for the King-king project. The first tranche of the placement is expected to close on June 20.

2. Barksdale Resources (TSXV:BRO)

Weekly gain: 50 percent
Market cap: C$12.88 million
Share price: C$0.105

Barksdale Resources is a copper exploration company focused on advancing its assets in Arizona, US.

The company’s flagship Sunnyside project has been in focus in 2025. The site is located in the Patagonia Mountains of Southern Arizona and covers approximately 21 square kilometers. Sunnyside is located adjacent to South32’s (ASX:S32,OTC Pink:SHTLF) Hermosa project.

The most recent news from the project came on May 13, when the company completed the drilling campaign and expenditures necessary to acquire the initial 51 percent interest in the property as part of an earn-in agreement with Regal Resources. Under the terms, Barksdale was required to complete 7,620 meters of drilling and make C$6 million in total expenditures.

The company has until September 2025 to provide an additional C$1 million in cash payment and 5 million shares to Regal to complete the transaction. Once complete, the company will have 20 days to decide whether to proceed to Phase 2 for the option to increase its interest to 67.5 percent, which it can earn by completing another 7,620 meters of drilling, paying Regal C$550,000 and issuing Regal 4.9 million shares within a two year period.

3. Avalon Advanced Materials (TSXV:AVL)

Weekly gain: 50 percent
Market cap: C$18.91 million
Share price: C$0.03

Avalon Advanced Materials is an exploration and development company focused on lithium projects in Canada.

Its flagship project is its 40 percent owned Separation Rapids lithium project in Ontario, a joint venture with SCR-Sibelco, which owns the remaining 60 percent. The project consists of three primary lithium targets: the Separation Rapids deposit; the Snowbank target, located near Kenora; and the Lilypad project near Fort Hope, which also hosts tantalum and cesium mineralization.

The pair increased the project’s measured and indicated mineral resource by 28 percent in late February.

Although the company didn’t release news this week, its share price jumped significantly during the period.

4. Excellon Resources (TSXV:EXN)

Weekly gain: 48.44 percent
Market cap: C$12.88 million
Share price: C$0.105

Excellon Resources is an exploration and development company working to advance a portfolio of assets around the world.

Its most advanced project is the past-producing Mallay silver mine in Central Peru. The company executed a definitive agreement to acquire the project, as well as the Tres Cerros gold-silver project, in March. Between 2012 and 2018, mining at the site produced 6 million ounces of silver, 45 million pounds of zinc and 35 million pounds of lead before the operation was placed on care and maintenance.

On May 23, Excellon announced it had entered into an offtake and financing agreement with Glencore plc (LON:GLEN) that will provide the final piece of funding to allow Excellon to restart mining operations at Mallay, bringing its available capital to US$18 million.

Under the terms of the agreement, Glencore will provide up to US$7.5 million in funding through a pre-export finance loan agreement backed by concentrate production at the mine. Glencore has also agreed to purchase 100 percent of zinc-lead concentrate until 2028 or 2029 depending on certain conditions.

5. Latin Metals (TSXV:LMS)

Weekly gain: 42.86 percent
Market cap: C$23.77 million
Share price: C$0.20

Latin Metals is a South America focused project generator company with 18 projects across Argentina and Peru.

Its primary focus for 2025 has been on its Argentine portfolio, which includes the Organullo gold project in the Salta province, as well as the Cerro Bayo and La Flora gold projects in the Deseado Massif metal belt in the Santa Cruz province.

The company’s most recent news came on Monday when it announced it had secured drill permits for the Organullo site. The permits provide approval for up to 11,900 meters of diamond drilling as well as other exploration activities. Latin Metals said the permit is a key milestone for the project.

The project is subject to an option agreement with AngloGold Argentina, a subsidiary of AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU), which has the right to earn up to an 80 percent stake in the site. AngloGold is preparing to ‘test targets that have potential scale and alteration characteristics consistent with Tier 1 high-sulphidation epithermal gold systems.’

FAQs for Canadian mining stocks

How much does it cost to list on the TSXV?

There are a variety of different fees that companies must pay to list on the TSXV, and according to the exchange, they can vary based on the transaction’s nature and complexity. The listing fee alone will most likely cost between C$10,000 to C$70,000. Accounting and auditing fees could rack up between C$25,000 and C$100,000, while legal fees are expected to be over C$75,000 and an underwriters’ commission may hit up to 12 percent.

The exchange lists a handful of other fees and expenses companies can expect, including but not limited to security commission and transfer agency fees, investor relations costs and director and officer liability insurance.

These are all just for the initial listing, of course. There are ongoing expenses once companies are trading, such as sustaining fees and additional listing fees, plus the costs associated with filing regular reports.

How do you trade on the TSXV?

Investors can trade on the TSXV the way they would trade stocks on any exchange. This means they can use a stock broker or an individual investment account to buy and sell shares of TSXV-listed companies during the exchange’s trading hours.