Panama’s Cobre Panamá Audit: Leverage For First Quantum But Not Yet A Restart

Panama’s long-awaited audit of Cobre Panamá has not settled the future of First Quantum Minerals’ shuttered copper mine but it has made the next fight more concrete. Instead of a binary debate over whether the project should exist, the government now has a technical file it can use to define conditions, demand remediation, test public […]

Canadian Retail Sales Rose 0.5% in April but Consumer Spending Remains Strained

A pump-driven surge at gas stations and a run of strong auto sales pushed Canadian retail trade up 0.5% to $73 billion in April, but the headline figure obscures a deteriorating picture beneath the surface, with core spending falling for the second month running. Strip out gas stations and auto dealers and the numbers look […]

Iran Closes Hormuz Again Despite Peace Deal After Israel Strikes Lebanon

Oil traders were not handed a peace deal this week but a contract with three different enforcement mechanisms and one major party outside the room. Iran’s reported move to again restrict the Strait of Hormuz after Israeli strikes in Lebanon has turned the new US-Iran framework into a test of leverage rather than diplomacy. The […]

Iran Moves to Control Hormuz Transit with Mandatory Insurance Scheme

Iran’s newly created Persian Gulf Strait Authority has imposed mandatory insurance requirements on all vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, demanding that ships carry a coverage policy approved by Tehran before receiving a passage permit. The insurance carries no charge during an initial 60-day window, but Tehran has explicitly reserved the right to introduce fees […]

Alamos Gold Trims Guidance After Seismic Events Rattle Young-Davidson

Alamos Gold (TSX: AGI) cut its second quarter production outlook on Thursday after two seismic events struck its Young-Davidson mine last week, damaging infrastructure and locking the company out of higher grade ore it had counted on for the quarter. One of the events occurred at an active mining front. No one was hurt, but […]

Silver Elephant Sues Andean Precious Metals Over Lost Bolivian Silver Contract

Silver Elephant Mining (TSX: ELEF) has taken its long running feud with Andean Precious Metals (TSX: APM) to court, filing a Notice of Civil Claim in the Supreme Court of British Columbia that accuses Andean of muscling it out of a major Bolivian silver project. The claim, brought by Silver Elephant alongside subsidiaries Apogee Minerals […]

What Cuba’s Free-Market Reforms Actually Mean

Cuba’s Communist Party just approved its most sweeping economic reforms since the revolution. Here’s what’s actually in them, why they happened now, and why the history suggests caution.