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Ontario Tables Sweeping Bill to Restrict Foreign Access to Critical Minerals

Investing 4 Mins Read

Ontario has introduced legislation aimed at tightening control over the province’s mining and energy sectors by limiting foreign involvement, fast-tracking resource development and scaling back species-at-risk protections.

The Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, 2025, also known as Bill 5, was announced at the Toronto Stock Exchange on April 17 by Premier Doug Ford and Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce.

According to the government, the new bill is designed to “safeguard Ontario’s critical minerals, secure the province’s energy infrastructure, and reduce regulatory bottlenecks that hamper development.”

“With President Trump taking direct aim at our economy, it cannot be business as usual,” Ford declared during the announcement, referring to recent US moves to prioritize domestic supply chains for critical resources.

The proposed law would grant the Ontario government sweeping new powers over the mining sector.

These would include the ability to suspend or revoke mining claims, deny transfers or leases and limit access to Ontario’s Mining Lands Administration System — particularly for entities linked to “hostile foreign regimes.”

It would also allow the government to restrict foreign participation in the province’s energy sector.

“In today’s changing world, we need to be clear-eyed about the risks from those who want to exploit our resource bounty,” Lecce said in an April 25 press release that covers the legislation. “That is why it is essential that Ontario is protecting our critical minerals and energy sector from getting into the wrong hands.”

Kevin Holland, member of provincial parliament for Thunder Bay-Atikokan, added that the measures are especially significant for Northern Ontario, where the economy is deeply tied to resource extraction.

“Ontario is taking important actions to protect our mining and energy assets during this volatile time,” he said.

Rolling back environmental protections

According to the provincial government, the legislation is partially a response to concerns raised in a 2021 national security report in which Canada’s natural resources are identified as a strategic vulnerability.

However, the proposed legislation has sparked sharp criticism from environmental advocates who warn that Bill 5 undermines Ontario’s Endangered Species Act. It would be replaced with a much narrower Species Conservation Act that redefines what constitutes a species’ habitat.

Under current law, a habitat includes all areas a species needs to live, migrate and reproduce. The new definition reduces this to “a dwelling place, such as a den, nest or other similar place,” plus the immediate surrounding area.

Critics argue that this change all but guarantees habitat loss for vulnerable species.

“The definition of habitat is so narrow that what it means is less habitat than the species has now,” Laura Bowman, a lawyer with the environmental law charity Ecojustice, told CBC. “And less habitat than the species has now, for a species already in decline, virtually ensures extirpation or extinction,” she added

The bill would also eliminate the requirement for recovery strategies once a species is declared at risk — a key mechanism under the current law that sets out steps to restore populations to sustainable levels.

The legislation is part of Ontario’s push to accelerate development in the Ring of Fire, a mineral-rich region in the province’s far north. The Ford government has long touted the area’s potential to supply key inputs like nickel, lithium and chromite for electric vehicles and clean technologies. According to the government, Bill 5 will “cut red tape and streamline approvals” to jumpstart projects that are currently mired in lengthy environmental and consultation processes — often involving Indigenous communities whose territories overlap with planned developments.

Despite the growing need for secure critical minerals supply chains, the decision to pair national security rhetoric with the rollback of environmental protections is likely to ignite political and legal challenges in the months ahead.

Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

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Deep-Sea Crisis: Can the ISA Regain Control of the Deep Ocean?

Investing 6 Mins Read

The world’s oceans are increasingly becoming an important new frontier in the geopolitical and economic race for critical minerals, with countries fast-tracking plans for deep-sea mining.

Meanwhile, the global body tasked with regulating such activities is struggling to keep pace.

As sovereign states ramp up efforts to access seabed resources crucial for clean energy and defense technologies, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) finds itself sidelined — raising alarms among environmentalists and nations alike.

Stoking these tensions, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this month with the aim of expediting deep-sea mineral extraction in both national and international waters.

The directive, which calls for faster permitting and exploration, bypasses multilateral negotiations at the ISA and uses a 1980 domestic statute — the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act — to justify the unilateral action.

The order “establishes the US as a global leader in seabed mineral exploration and development both within and beyond national jurisdiction,’ signaling Washington’s intent to secure independence from Chinese mineral supply chains.

But the move has drawn fierce criticism from multiple fronts.

“The US authorization … violates international law and harms the overall interests of the international community,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun. Such sentiments echo concerns that unilateral actions could unravel decades of work toward collective seabed governance under the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Law of the Sea.

At the heart of the dispute lies the ISA, the UN agency responsible for regulating mining in international waters.

Though it has issued over 30 exploratory permits, it has yet to finalize rules for commercial extraction. That regulatory vacuum has encouraged countries to approach the issue alone and in accordance with their own different agendas.

Norway reverses course on deep-sea mining

In January 2024, Norway became the first country to approve commercial-scale deep-sea mining within its own exclusive economic zone, greenlighting exploration across 280,000 square kilometers — an area larger than the UK.

The move, passed through parliament despite strong domestic and international opposition, is part of the country’s bid to secure metals like cobalt, scandium and lithium for green technologies.

“We will have a relatively long period of exploration and mapping activity to close the knowledge gap on the environmental impact,” Walter Sognnes, co-founder of Loke Marine Minerals, a Norwegian company focused on deep-sea exploration, told the BBC in an interview at the time the news was announced

However, environmentalists argued that the plan undermined Norway’s own standards.

“The Norwegian government always highlighted that they want to implement the highest environmental standards,” said Martin Webeler of the Environmental Justice Foundation.

“That is hypocritical whilst you are throwing away all the scientific advice.”

The Norway Institute of Marine Research also criticized the government’s decision, saying the existing environmental impact assessment was based on limited data and not representative of the vast areas opened for mining. It called for an additional five to 10 years of research before proceeding.

Against that backdrop, Norway reversed course, suspending its deep-sea mining plans at the end of 2024 following mounting political and environmental pressure.

The first licensing round, originally set for 2025, was blocked after the Socialist Left Party threatened to withhold support for the government’s budget unless the initiative was halted.

India eyes Clarion-Clipperton zone, Pacific Islands at crossroads

For its part, India has announced plans to ramp up its presence in the Pacific’s Clarion-Clipperton zone, one of the world’s most mineral-rich deep-sea regions. Although the ISA has already granted India two exploration contracts, the country has opted to hold off on operations as regulations remain in flux.

M. Ravichandran, secretary of the country’s Ministry of Earth Sciences, said the country is seeking to apply to the UN-backed ISA next year to focus on exploring the zone.

Meanwhile, the resource-rich Pacific Islands are emerging as battlegrounds in this high-stakes race.

Kiribati, a small island nation with jurisdiction over 75,000 square kilometers of prospective seabed, is reportedly in talks with China after a previous deal with Canada’s The Metals Company (NASDAQ:TMC) collapsed late last year.

In a statement dated March 17, the Kiribati government called discussions with Chinese ambassador Zhou Limin “an exciting opportunity” to explore its deep-sea resources.

But critics say such moves by smaller nations are often driven by economic desperation and can lead to exploitative outcomes. This tension is familiar in Papua New Guinea, where the failure of the Nautilus Minerals project left environmental damage and financial losses in its wake.

Some Pacific nations are now calling for a global moratorium on seabed mining, citing concerns about the unknown risks to ecosystems and the climate.

Patchwork governance, fragmented oversight

The race toward seabed mining is exposing a critical flaw in global governance: fragmentation. The ISA, which was supposed to provide a unified framework, is losing relevance as more countries chart independent courses.

“The harm caused by deep-sea mining isn’t restricted to the ocean floor: it will impact the entire water column, top to bottom,” Jeff Watters, vice president for external affairs at the Ocean Conservancy, told the Guardian.

A study by the Natural History Museum and the UK’s National Oceanography Center analyzing a 1970s test site concludes that some sediment dwellers were able to recover, but larger animals dependent on polymetallic nodules did not return — likely because the nodules, which take millions of years to form, were destroyed.

Despite these warnings, the Metals Company continues to push forward. It has said it plans to mine by the year’s end, pending US government approval, as CEO Gerard Barron remains unfazed by the backlash.

“Here there’s zero flora,” Barron told the BBC in a January 2024 interview. “If we measure the amount of fauna… in the form of biomass, there is around 10g per square metre. That compares with more than 30kg of biomass where the world is pushing more nickel extraction, which is our equatorial rainforests.”

Beyond environmental concerns, the deep-sea mining surge is reshaping geopolitical dynamics. China, which dominates global production and processing of rare earths, has long used its position as leverage in trade disputes. In response to US tariffs, Beijing recently introduced new export controls on rare earths — further intensifying the mineral arms race.

Trump’s executive order makes clear that seabed mining is now viewed as a national security imperative.

“It’s not just drill, baby, drill. It’s mine, baby, mine,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum at a recent conference. “We will literally be at the mercy of others that are controlling our supply chains,” he warned.

But this approach risks setting a dangerous precedent. If powerful nations begin issuing their own licenses outside multilateral systems, others are likely to follow suit. The result could be a patchwork of conflicting claims and reduced protections, particularly for vulnerable maritime nations.

With the ISA still developing a mining code and more countries rejecting its pace, the world faces a dilemma: how to balance the urgent demand for critical minerals with the equally pressing need to preserve fragile marine ecosystems.

Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

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John Rubino: Gold on “Epic Run” as Chaos Unfolds, What About Silver?

Investing 1 Min Read

John Rubino, who writes a newsletter on Substack, explains the factors behind gold’s ‘epic run,’ pointing to underlying elements like Basel III and BRICS demand, as well as current events.

He believes gold has the wind at its back, although silver might be the better buy right now.

Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

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Finlay Minerals Receives TSX Venture Exchange Approval for PIL Earn-In Agreement

Investing 9 Mins Read

finlay minerals ltd. (TSXV: FYL) (OTCQB: FYMNF) (‘Finlay’ or the ‘Company’) is pleased to announce the receipt of TSX Venture Exchange (the ‘ Exchange ‘) conditional acceptance for its previously announced earn-in agreement (the ‘ PIL Earn-In Agreement ‘) with Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc. (‘ Freeport ‘), a wholly owned subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) relating to its PIL property (‘ PIL Property ‘). The PIL Property consists of 50 mineral claims in the Toodoggone District of northern British Columbia . The Company also entered into an earn-in agreement (the ‘ ATTY Earn-In Agreement ‘) with Freeport relating to its ATTY property (the ‘ ATTY Property ‘, together with the PIL Property, the ‘ Properties ‘). The ATTY Earn-In Agreement is not subject to Exchange approval, as it qualifies as an ‘Exempt Transaction’ under Exchange Policy 5.3 Acquisitions and Dispositions of Non-Cash Assets . The PIL and ATTY earn-in agreements are arm’s length transactions, and no finder’s fees are payable in connection with either earn-in agreement.

Pursuant to the PIL Earn-In Agreement, Freeport may acquire an 80% interest in the PIL Property by making aggregate cash payments of CAD $3,000,000 to Finlay and completing an aggregate of $25,000,000 of exploration expenditures on the PIL Property over a 6-year period.  Pursuant to the ATTY Earn-In Agreement, Freeport may acquire an 80% interest in the ATTY Property by making aggregate cash payments of CAD $1,100,000 to Finlay and completing an aggregate of $10,000,000 of exploration expenditures on the ATTY Property over a 6-year period.  The earn-in in respect of each of the Properties may be exercised separately, and the full details of the exercise requirements for each earn-in are set out in the table below.  Following the completion of the earn-in on either of the Properties, Freeport and Finlay will respectively hold interests of 80% and 20% in such Property, and a joint venture company will be formed for further exploration and development.  In the event that a party does not fund their portion of further joint venture programs, their interests in the joint venture company will dilute. Any party that dilutes to below a 10% interest in the joint venture company will exchange its joint venture company interest for a net smelter returns (‘ NSR ‘) royalty of 1% on the applicable Property, which is subject to a 0.5% buyback for USD $2,000,000 .

Table 1 . Staged cash and expenditure terms for the PIL and ATTY earn-in agreements.

PIL

ATTY

Cash

Work

Cash

Work

Year 1

$ 550,000

$    750,000

$    150,000

$      500,000

Year 2

$ 350,000

$ 1,000,000

$    100,000

$   1,000,000

Year 3

$ 375,000

$ 3,000,000

$    125,000

$   1,500,000

Year 4

$ 400,000

$ 5,250,000

$    150,000

$   2,000,000

Year 5

$ 500,000

$ 5,500,000

$    275,000

$   2,000,000

Year 6

$ 825,000

$ 9,500,000

$    300,000

$   3,000,000

Total (CAD)

$3,000,000

$25,000,000

$1,100,000

$10,000,000

These earn-in requirements can be accelerated by Freeport at its discretion. During the earn-in period, Finlay will be the operator on the Properties, collecting an operator’s fee, under the direction of a joint technical committee that will approve work programs and budgets during the earn-in period.

The PIL & ATTY Properties are each subject to a 3.0% NSR royalty held by Electrum Resource Corporation (‘ Electrum ‘), a private company, the outstanding voting shares of which are held by Company directors John A. Barakso and Ilona B. Lindsay . The Company has a current right to buy back ½ of the royalty (1.5%) on each property for an aggregate payment of $2,000,000 and $1,500,000 respectively.  Finlay and Electrum have entered into amended and restated royalty agreements (the ‘ A&R Royalty Agreements ‘) relating to each of the PIL and ATTY Properties, pursuant to which upon and subject to the exercise of the earn-in in respect of each Property by Freeport , the buy-back right will be amended to provide for a 2.0% royalty buy-back for each Property, in consideration for an increased buy-back payment that will be sole-funded by Freeport without joint venture dilution to Finlay, and will be divided equally between Finlay and Electrum. For the PIL Property, the increased buy-back will be:

    For the ATTY Property, the increased buy-back will be:

      1. USD$5,000,000 if the buy-back is exercised on or before the date that is 60 days following the report of an initial Pre-Feasibility Study on the ATTY Property;
      2. USD$7,500,000 if the buy-back is exercised on or before the date that is 60 days following the report date of an initial Feasibility Study on the ATTY Property; or
      3. USD$10,000,0000 if the buy-back is exercised on or after commercial production.

    Under the A&R Royalty Agreements, Finlay and Electrum have also agreed, subject to the exercise of the applicable Freeport earn-in, to extinguish share issuance obligations of 1,000,000 common shares and 500,000 common shares owing to Electrum prior to or on a production decision on the PIL and ATTY Properties respectively.

    Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) is a leading international metals company focused on copper, with major operations in the Americas and Indonesia and significant reserves of copper, gold, and molybdenum.

    About the PIL Property:

    The 100% owned PIL Property covers 13,374 hectares of highly prospective ground in the prolific Toodoggone mining district of north-central British Columbia. The core PIL claims were staked over 30 years ago by the founders of the Company. Over the decades, numerous Cu-Au-Mo porphyry and porphyry-related Au-Ag epithermal targets have been identified at PIL. The identified targets are central to a broader 70 km porphyry corridor trend, which includes: Centerra Gold’s past producing Kemess South Cu-Au porphyry mine and Kemess Underground Cu-Au-Ag porphyry resource, Thesis Gold’s Lawyers-Ranch Au-Ag epithermal resource, and the newly discovered Amarc Resources and Freeport AuRORA Cu-Au-Ag porphyry.  Readers are cautioned that mineralization on the foregoing regional properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the PIL Property. The PIL Property is road accessible and permitted for the 2025 season.

    About the ATTY Property:

    The 100% owned ATTY Property covers 3,875 hectares in the prolific Toodoggone mining district of north-central British Columbia. The ATTY Property adjoins Centerra Gold’s Kemess Project and Amarc Resources and Freeport’s JOY property. Several epithermal-style Ag ± Au ± Cu ± base-metal veins are exposed on the ATTY Property, and geochemical and geophysical work have outlined at least two promising porphyry targets, including the drill-ready KEM Target. The ATTY Property is road accessible and permitted for the 2025 season.

    Qualified Person:

    Wade Barnes , P. Geo. and Vice President, Exploration for Finlay and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.

    About finlay minerals ltd.

    Finlay is a TSXV company focused on exploration for base and precious metal deposits with five 100% owned properties in northern British Columbia : the PIL and ATTY properties in the Toodoggone, the Silver Hope Cu-Ag Property (21,322 ha) and the SAY Cu-Ag Property (26,202 ha) and JJB Property (15,423 ha) in the Bear Lake Corridor of BC.

    Finlay Minerals is advancing the ATTY, PIL, JJB, SAY and Silver Hope Properties that host copper-gold porphyry and gold-silver epithermal targets within different porphyry districts of northern and central BC. Each property is located in areas of recent development and porphyry discoveries with the advantage of hosting the potential for new discoveries.

    Finlay trades under the symbol ‘FYL’ on the TSXV and under the symbol ‘FYMNF’ on the OTCQB. For further information and details, please visit the Company’s website at www.finlayminerals.com

    On behalf of the Board of Directors,

    Robert F. Brown
    President, CEO & Director

    Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

    Forward-Looking Information: This news release includes certain ‘forward-looking information’ and ‘forward-looking statements’ (collectively, ‘forward-looking statements’) within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements in this news release that address events or developments that we expect to occur in the future are forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, although not always, identified by words such as ‘expect’, ‘plan’, ‘anticipate’, ‘project’, ‘target’, ‘potential’, ‘schedule’, ‘forecast’, ‘budget’, ‘estimate’, ‘intend’ or ‘believe’ and similar expressions or their negative connotations, or that events or conditions ‘will’, ‘would’, ‘may’, ‘could’, ‘should’ or ‘might’ occur. All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding, among others, the exploration plans for the Properties and the potential exercise of Freeport’s option to acquire an interest in the Properties. Although Finlay believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploration successes, and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. These forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions including, among other things, assumptions regarding general business and economic conditions, the timing and receipt of regulatory and governmental approvals, the ability of Finlay and other parties to satisfy stock exchange and other regulatory requirements in a timely manner, the availability of financing for Finlay’s proposed transactions and programs on reasonable terms, and the ability of third-party service providers to deliver services in a timely manner. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements,   and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. Finlay does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

    SOURCE finlay minerals ltd.

    View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2025/02/c5071.html

    News Provided by Canada Newswire via QuoteMedia

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    Top 5 Canadian Mining Stocks This Week: Lion Rock Jumps 60 Percent

    Investing 11 Mins Read

    The Liberal Party of Canada and Prime Minister Mark Carney will form a minority government following their victory in Canada’s national election on Monday (April 28). The Liberals won 168 seats, just shy of the 172 required to form a majority, meaning the Liberal government will have to work with the Bloc Québécois or the NDP, which won 23 and 7 seats, respectively.

    The Conservative Party of Canada, led by Pierre Poilievre, won 144 seats. While the CPC was originally expected to win the election, the trade war and sovereignty threats from new US President Donald Trump turned the tide in favor of Carney, who took a firmer stance against Trump. Other election issues included the high cost of living, housing, immigration and crime.

    Both parties came into the election with visions for Canada’s economy, which included energy and infrastructure corridors, a commitment to energy production and a focus on resource nationalism.

    Statistics Canada released February’s gross domestic product by industry figures on Wednesday (April 30). According to the data, the resource sector’s January gains were largely erased by contractions in February. Oil and gas extraction slipped by 2.8 percent, while mining and quarrying contracted by 2.6 percent during the month. Metal ore mining posted its second month of declines, falling 2.5 percent. On the other hand, non-metallic mineral mining climbed by 2.7 percent, including a 3.5 percent rise in potash mining.

    South of the Border, The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics released its April employment situation summary on Friday (May 2). In the report, the agency said that 177,000 new nonfarm jobs were added to the economy in April, which exceeded analysts’ expectations of 133,000 jobs.

    The biggest gains came in the healthcare sector, which added 51,000 workers, followed by transportation and warehousing, where 29,000 people found new employment.

    Overall, the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.2 percent, and the participation rate was unchanged at 62.6 percent.

    However, there were some caveats, most notably, downward revisions of 15,000 fewer jobs in February and 43,000 jobs in March than initially reported.. Long-term unemployment also ticked up by 179,000 to 1.67 million in April, the highest since March 2022.

    While the number showed strength in the job market, many analysts expect these gains to be temporary, as the effects of US tariffs have yet to be felt in the economy.

    The US government also announced on Wednesday that it signed a critical minerals deal with Ukraine. Under the terms of the agreement, the US will provide funding for Ukraine’s reconstruction in exchange for preferential access to the country’s natural resources, including rare earth minerals, which are critical to tech and military development and supply chains.

    Additionally, the Trump administration announced it added 10 new projects to be fast-tracked to its federal permitting dashboard on Friday. The projects include the NorthMet copper and nickel project in Minnesota, which is a 50/50 joint venture between Teck (TSX:TECK.A,TECK.B,NYSE:TECK) and Glencore (LSE:GLEN,OTC Pink:GLCNF), as well as Sibanye Stillwater’s (NYSE:SBSW) Stillwater platinum and palladium project in Montana.

    Markets and commodities react

    In Canada, major indexes posted gains by the week’s close. The S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) gained 1.32 percent during the week to close at 25,031.51 on Friday, the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) moved up 0.01 percent to 656.40 and the CSE Composite Index (CSE:CSECOMP) climbed 2.52 percent to 122.75.

    US equity markets also posted gains by close on Friday, with the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:INX) increasing 2.85 percent to close at 5,686.66, the Nasdaq-100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) gaining 3.45 percent to 20,102.61 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) rising 2.8 percent to 41,317.44.

    The gold price fell from recent highs, closing out Friday at US$3,233.98, down 2.56 percent over the week. The silver price was also down, shedding 3.21 percent during the period to US$32.03.

    In base metals, the COMEX copper price fell 4.29 percent over the week to US$4.69 per pound. Meanwhile, the S&P GSCI (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) was down 3.17 percent to close at 520.19.

    Top Canadian mining stocks this week

    So 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. Companies within the non-energy minerals and energy minerals sectors were considered.

    1. Lion Rock Resources (TSXV:ROAR)

    Weekly gain: 60 percent
    Market cap: C$20.51 million
    Share price: C$0.32

    Lion Rock Resources is a gold and critical mineral exploration company focused on advancing its Volney gold-lithium-tin project in South Dakota, United States.

    The property is situated on 142 hectares of private land with surface and mineral rights in place. The site hosts historic gold and tin mining operations dating back to the 1920s. Additionally, the site contains the Giant Volney pegmatite body, from which 15 grab samples graded an average of 4.4 percent lithium oxide, with the highest grading 5.4 percent.

    The most recent news from the project came on Thursday (May 1) when Lion Rock announced that it had started its 2025 exploration program, including a high-resolution magnetic survey, mapping and sampling. The company said that the program will target high-grade lithium, gold and tin, and results will be used to refine drill targets and expand known mineralized zones.

    The company also released its year-end 2024 financial report on Tuesday (April 29).

    2. Foremost Clean Energy (CSE:FAT)

    Weekly gain: 42.86 percent
    Market cap: C$14.27 million
    Share price: C$1.30

    Foremost Clean Energy is a uranium exploration company working to advance projects in the Athabasca Basin in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada.

    In 2025, its primary focus has been its Hatchet Lake property, part of its Eastern Athabasca projects. The site consists of nine mineral claims within two blocks covering an area of 10,2012 hectares and has seen exploration dating back to the 1960s.

    Foremost announced in October 2024 that it had completed the first phase of an option agreement with Denison Mines (TSX:DML,NYSEAMERICAN:DNN) to acquire a 20 percent stake in 10 uranium properties, including Hatchet Lake, in exchange for 1.37 million common shares.

    Under the terms of the agreement, Foremost can earn up to a 70 percent stake in the properties in exchange for meeting certain milestones within 36 months.

    This Thursday, Foremost announced a new uranium discovery at Hatchet Lake from initial results of the company’s ongoing inaugural drill program.

    In the announcement, the company said the discovery included multiple intervals of mineralization, highlighting one grading 0.22 percent equivalent U3O8 over 0.9 meters, including an intersection of 0.5 percent over 0.1 meters.

    3. Baru Gold (TSXV:BARU)

    Weekly gain: 42.86 percent
    Market cap: C$13.53 million
    Share price: C$0.05

    Baru Gold is a development company working to advance its Sangihe gold project in Indonesia.

    The company holds a 70 percent stake in the 42,000 hectare project, with the remaining 30 percent interest held by three Indonesia-based companies.

    Baru Gold is progressing towards approval of its production operations plan, which was redesigned due to the significant macroeconomic shift and increase in the gold price since its last mineral resource estimate in May 2017.

    On February 14, the company published a technical report with an updated mineral resource estimate. The mineral resource estimate demonstrated an indicated resource of 114,000 ounces of gold and 1.93 million ounces of silver from 3.15 million metric tons of ore with grades of 1.12 grams per metric ton (g/t) gold and 19.4 g/t silver. The project also hosts an inferred resource of 91,000 ounces of gold and 1.08 million ounces of silver from 2.3 million metric tons of ore with grades of 1.22 g/t gold and 14.5 g/t silver.

    The update marks a significant step towards government approval for production operations status, with the only remaining requirement being the payment of taxes.

    The most recent news came on April 2 when the company announced the closing of the first tranche of a private placement for C$336,321.88. Funding raised through the placement will be used in part for payment of land use taxes on the Sangihe property.

    4. Taranis Resources (TSXV:TRO)

    Weekly gain: 42.5 percent
    Market cap: C$21.07 million
    Share price: C$0.285

    Taranis Resources is a copper explorer focused on advancing work at its Thor project in Southeast British Columbia, Canada.

    The site has seen previous mining dating back to the early 1900s and hosts at least seven different epithermal zones. In a February mineral resource estimate update, the company reported an indicated resource of 1.14 million metric tons of ore containing 27,400 ounces of gold, 5.58 million ounces of silver, 3.1 million pounds of copper, 47.8 million pounds of lead and 77.9 million pounds of zinc.

    The most recent news from the Thor project came on April 9, when Taranis provided an update on its 2024 deep drilling program. The company finalized an alteration study of the drill holes, which encountered anomalous gold, zinc and arsenic, and plans to use the results to improve targeting and lower costs for its 2025 drilling program.

    5. Black Iron (TSX:BKI)

    Weekly gain: 41.18 percent
    Market cap: C$38.02 million
    Share price: C$0.12

    Black Iron is an exploration and development company working to advance its Shymanivske iron project in Ukraine.

    The 300 hectare property is located approximately 330 kilometers south-east of the capital of Kiev and is situated within the well-known iron ore mining district of KrivBass.

    According to a March 2020 preliminary economic assessment, project economics demonstrated an after-tax net present value of US$1.44 billion at a discount rate of 10 percent with an internal rate of return of 34.4 percent and a payback period of 3.3 years.

    The included mineral resource estimate reported a measured and indicated resource of 645.8 million metric tons of ore with an average grade of 31.6 percent total iron and 18.8 percent magnetic iron.

    Although Black Iron did not release any news this week, the company’s share price gained alongside news of the US and Ukraine reaching a critical minerals agreement.

    FAQs for Canadian mining stocks

    What is the difference between the TSX and TSXV?

    The TSX, or Toronto Stock Exchange, is used by senior companies with larger market caps, and the TSXV, or TSX Venture Exchange, is used by smaller-cap companies. Companies listed on the TSXV can graduate to the senior exchange.

    How many mining companies are listed on the TSX and TSXV?

    As of February 2025, there were 1,572 companies listed on the TSXV, 905 of which were mining companies. Comparatively, the TSX was home to 1,859 companies, with 181 of those being mining companies.

    Together the TSX and TSXV host around 40 percent of the world’s public mining companies.

    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.

    Article by Dean Belder; FAQs by Lauren Kelly.

    Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

    Securities Disclosure: I, Lauren Kelly, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

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    This post appeared first on investingnews.com

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    Business

    Data center boom in world’s largest market isn’t slowing down, Dominion Energy says

    Business 2 Mins Read

    Data center demand is not slowing down in the world’s largest market centered in northern Virginia, executives at Dominion Energy said Thursday.

    Dominion provides electricity in Loudoun County, nicknamed “Data Center Alley” because it hosts the largest cluster of data centers in the world. The utility works closely with the Big Tech companies that are investing tens of billions of dollars in data centers as they train artificial intelligence models.

    “We have not observed any evidence of slowing demand from data center customers across our service area,” Dominion’s chief financial officer, Steven Ridge, told analysts on the company’s first-quarter earnings call.

    Wall Street has speculated that the tech sector might pull back investment in data centers as President Donald Trump’s tariffs make it more difficult to source parts and raise the risk of a recession. The emergence of China’s DeepSeek AI lab sparked a sell-off of power stocks earlier this year as investors worried that its model is more energy efficient.

    Dominion has 40 gigawatts of data center capacity in various stages of contracting, Ridge said. Data center customers have not paused spending on new projects in Dominion’s service area and they have not shown any concerns about economic uncertainty, Dominion CEO Robert Blue said.

    “We’re seeing continued appetite for additional data center capacity in our service territory,” Blue said. “They want to go fast, they always want to go fast. That’s their business, that’s always been their business. We’ve been effective at serving them thus far. I don’t see any reason why that’s going to change in the future,” he said.

    Executives with Amazon and Nvidia said last week at an energy conference in Oklahoma City that data center demand is not slowing. Dominion shares rose about 1% in Thursday trading as the utility maintained its full-year operating earnings guidance of $3.28 to $3.52 per share.

    This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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    Tesla denies report it’s looking to replace Elon Musk

    Business 2 Mins Read

    Shares of Tesla were flat in premarket trading Thursday after the EV maker denied a Wall Street Journal report that its board was searching for a replacement for chief executive Elon Musk.

    The report, citing comments from sources familiar with the discussions, said that Tesla’s board members reached out to several executive search firms to work on a formal process for finding the company’s next CEO. Shares of Tesla fell as much as 3% in overnight trading on trading platform Robinhood following the news, before paring losses.

    Tesla chair Robyn Denholm wrote on the social media platform X that the report was “absolutely false.”

    “Earlier today, there was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company,” she wrote.

    Elon Musk during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday.Evan Vucci / AP

    “This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published). The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead.”

    It comes after a sharp drop in the electric vehicle giant’s sales and profits, with its top and bottom lines missing estimates in the first quarter. Musk has admitted that his involvement with the Trump administration could be hurting the automaker’s stock price.

    The mega-billionaire said on a Tesla earnings call last week that he plans to spend just a “day or two per week” running the so-called Department of Government Efficiency beginning in May.

    Tesla’s total revenue slipped 9% year-on-year to hit $19.34 billion in the January-March quarter. This falls short of the $21.11 billion forecast by analysts, LSEG data shows.

    Revenue from its automotive segment declined 20% year-on-year to $14 billion, as the company needed to update lines at its four vehicle factories to start making a refreshed version of its popular Model Y SUV. Tesla also attributed the decline to lower average selling prices and sales incentives as a drag on revenue and profit.

    Its net income plunged 71% to $409 million, or 12 cents a share, from $1.39 billion or 41 cents a year ago.

    Since the start of the year, its shares have plunged over 30%.

    This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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    Jeff Bezos discloses plan to sell up to $4.8 billion in Amazon stock

    Business 2 Mins Read

    Amazon founder Jeff Bezos plans to sell up to 25 million shares in the company over the next year, according to a financial filing on Friday.

    Bezos, who stepped down as CEO in 2021 but remains Amazon’s top shareholder, is selling the shares as part of a trading plan adopted on March 4, the filing states. The stake would be worth about $4.8 billion at the current price.

    The disclosure follows Amazon’s first-quarter earnings report late Thursday. While profit and revenue topped estimates, the company’s forecast for operating income in the current quarter came in below Wall Street’s expectations.

    The results show that Amazon is bracing for uncertainty related to President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariffs. The company landed in the crosshairs of the White House this week over a report that Amazon planned to show shoppers the cost of the tariffs. Trump personally called Bezos to complain, and Amazon clarified that no such change was coming.

    Bezos previously offloaded about $13.5 billion worth of Amazon shares last year, marking his first sale of company stock since 2021.

    Since handing over the Amazon CEO role to Andy Jassy, Bezos has spent more of his time on his space exploration company, Blue Origin, and his $10 billion climate and biodiversity fund. He’s used Amazon share sales to help fund Blue Origin, as well as the Day One Fund, which he launched in September 2018 to provide education in low-income communities and combat homelessness.

    This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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    Netflix stock is trading at all-time high levels in unprecedented win streak

    Business 3 Mins Read

    Netflix is on a winning streak.

    The streaming giant’s stock has traded for 11 straight days without a decline, the company’s longest positive run ever.

    Its previous record was a nine-day stretch in late 2018 and early 2019 when the stock traded up for four days, was unchanged for a day and then traded positively for another four days.

    The stock is also trading at all-time high levels since it went public in May 2002.

    This new streak comes on the heels of Netflix’s most recent earnings report on April 17, in which it revealed that revenue grew 13% during the first quarter of 2025 on higher-than-forecast subscription and advertising dollars.

    Netflix has been one of the top performing stocks during the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term, with shares up more than 30% since mid-January. The company has been largely unaffected by Trump’s tariffs and trade war with China and is a service that consumers are unlikely to cut during a recession.

    Meanwhile, traditional media stocks have been slammed by a tumultuous market prompted by Trump’s trade policy. Warner Bros. Discovery has lost nearly 10% since Trump took office, while Disney is down 13% in that same period.

    Netflix continues to forecast full-year revenue of between $43.5 billion and $44.5 billion.

    “There’s been no material change to our overall business outlook,” the company said in a statement last month.

    As investors worry about the potential impact of tariffs on consumer spending and confidence, Netflix’s co-CEO Greg Peters said on the company’s earnings call, “Based on what we are seeing by actually operating the business right now, there’s nothing really significant to note.”

    “We also take some comfort that entertainment historically has been pretty resilient in tougher economic times,” Peters said. “Netflix, specifically, also, has been generally quite resilient. We haven’t seen any major impacts during those tougher times, albeit over a much shorter history.”

    JPMorgan said Thursday that it sees more upside for shares.

    “NFLX has established itself as the clear leader in global streaming & is on the pathway to becoming global TV…Advertising Upfronts in May should serve as a positive catalyst to shares,” analysts wrote.

    While Netflix has hiked its subscription prices — its standard plan now costs $17.99, its ad-supported plan is $7.99 and premium is $24.99 — it appears to have retained its value proposition for customers. But it’s unclear if the subscriber base is growing or shrinking because the company recently stopped sharing details on its membership numbers, instead focusing on revenue growth.

    This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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    Master the 18/40 MA Strategy: Spot Trend, Momentum & Entry

    Stock 1 Min Read

    In this video, Joe demonstrates how to use the 18-day and 40-day moving averages to identify trade entry points, assess trend direction, and measure momentum. He breaks down four key ways these MAs can guide your trading decisions—especially knowing when to be a buyer. Joe also analyzes commodities, noting recent weakness, and highlights key technical levels to watch on the SPY, QQQ, and IWM. The session wraps with detailed viewer stock chart requests.

    The video premiered on April 30, 2025. Click this link to watch on Joe’s dedicated page.

    Archived videos from Joe are available at this link. Send symbol requests to stocktalk@stockcharts.com; you can also submit a request in the comments section below the video on YouTube. Symbol Requests can be sent in throughout the week prior to the next show.

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