THE DISPATCH

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The Friday Dispatch

Mining the Mess Someone Else Left Behind

Sasquatch Resources is going after legacy waste rock at the abandoned Mount Sicker site on Vancouver Island, material that was mined, processed, and discarded as worthless more than a century ago. No drilling, no tailings pond, no new mine. CEO Peter Smith walks through how the project actually works, where the risks sit, and what the path to production looks like for something that does not fit any of the usual templates.

Interview with Pete Smith of Sasquatch Resources

Albarrie

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Canadian Mining & Energy

Verecan

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Canadian Mining & Energy

🟡 Precious Metals

• Gold trading around ~$4,538 USD/oz this morning — holding firm as new US strikes in Iran send safe-haven bids higher

• Gold in CAD at ~$6,247/oz — down slightly from last week's high but still near record territory for Canadian producers

• Silver at ~$75.90 USD/oz — up 127% year-over-year, still considered undervalued relative to gold by most analysts

• Goldman Sachs end-2026 gold forecast remains at $5,400/oz — debasement and central bank demand unchanged

⛽ Energy & Oil Markets

• US Central Command confirms "self-defense strikes" on Iranian missile launch sites and boats around the Strait of Hormuz this morning

• Iran claims it shot down a US drone and fired on a US fighter jet — ceasefire technically still in place, per Washington

• Brent rebounding — up ~2.5% this morning on Hormuz risk after three days of declines

• WTI settling around $98–99 USD/barrel as markets price in prolonged strait uncertainty

• Rubio: "A deal with Iran is still possible" — but warns talks may take a few more days

• Trump issues ultimatum: Iran must surrender enriched uranium or there is no deal

🍁 Canadian Focus

• Temporary bridge over the Smoothstone River expected to be completed by end of May — Cameco's Key Lake and McArthur River restarts now in sight

• Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways has contractor on-site — crossing targeted for completion before June

• CUSMA formal review begins July 1 — Carney has secured 85% of Canada-US trade tariff-free, but the hard negotiations start now

• Rising diesel and fuel costs from the Hormuz shock now flowing through to Canadian mining operating costs — structural, not temporary

🔋 Critical Minerals & Battery Metals

• BNN Bloomberg: Warning to critical minerals buyers — avoid oversupply in certain metals as not all critical minerals are created equal

• Denison Mines began construction at Phoenix in March — Canada's first new uranium mine since Cigar Lake in 2014

• NexGen's Rook I CNSC decision expected by June — $2.2B project, four-year construction timeline

• Cameco's $2.6B uranium supply deal with India — 22 million pounds from 2027 to 2035 — now in effect

• Copper up 33% year-over-year — Teck's Highland Valley Mine Life Extension actively under construction, extending Canada's largest copper mine to 2046

💥 Conflict Watch

• US forces struck Iranian missile launch sites and minesweeping boats in southern Iran overnight — the third exchange of fire during the ceasefire period

• Iran's President Pezeshkian praises military response — calls US strikes a "significant breach" of the ceasefire

• Iran reportedly attempting to mine the Strait of Hormuz — the trigger for this morning's US strikes

• 30+ vessels crossed the Strait in the last 24 hours — a positive sign, but the situation remains hour-to-hour

🌍 Geopolitics & Trade

• Iranian FM meets Pakistani officials in Tehran today for US-backed talks — uranium stockpile and Hormuz control remain the two sticking points

• ISW: Iran using ceasefire to normalize permanent control over the strait — each day the blockade holds, Tehran builds its case

• Canada-US trade officials exchange remarks as CUSMA review approaches — no date set for formal trilateral talks yet

• LNG Canada Phase 2 FID timeline: Ottawa and B.C. co-operation agreement in place — partners expected to decide before year end

// NOTES FROM THE NORTH

HUGE update from me today, one I am really proud of.

Introducing: Mining & Energy Insights. 

An analytics dashboard for the people who need to keep an eye on the moves, the signals and the trends.

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