The M&E Dispatch // 071

Hello Everyone,

Yes, I’m having a bit of a laugh with this one, but truthfully, it’s better news than I let on. It’s not directly M&E-related, but I think there’s reason to believe it could matter to our world soon enough. And frankly, we need what this could become.

Once upon a time, Hudson’s Bay wasn’t just a retailer, it was a geopolitical force.

They didn’t just sell fur coats.
They built forts, charted rivers, and held the Americans at literal bay in their bid for continental dominance.

This week, that legacy got handed a wrench set and a triangle card.

Canadian Tire has acquired the brand assets of Hudson’s Bay Company.
Yes, the stripes, the coat of arms, the legacy of 1670. All of it.

And now, as we head into the May Long Weekend, we ask the only reasonable question:

Is Canadian Tire ready to carry the torch?

Honestly? Probably more than The Bay has been in a long time.

Because let’s face it, recent incarnations of HBC have felt less like a national outfitter and more like a liquidation sale in a beige corridor.

Meanwhile, Canadian Tire has quietly become the place you go for everything from spark plugs to survival gear to that one last-minute propane tank before a shutdown.

They’ve got reach. They’ve got parking. And they’ve got the kind of multi-generational trust that The Bay once had, but misplaced somewhere between the scented candles and the Calvin Klein clearance rack.

So what now?

If they play it right, really right, this could be the moment we get our national outfitter back.

Not just for families on long weekends, but for field crews, site leads, and project managers across Mining and Energy who are tired of ordering gear from who-knows-where and hoping it holds up.

• HBC-stripe field tents on the drill pad

• Workwear that’s made for frost, not fashion

• Pop-up logistics kits that outfit a whole crew faster than an Amazon drone

• And maybe, just maybe, a return to buying Canadian gear built for Canadian work

I joke, but here’s the thing:

Canada’s industrial backbone was built by people who outfitted themselves for the terrain, not the trends.
And if Canadian Tire manages to honour that, if they lean into the duty that comes with those stripes, we might just see the return of something we’ve badly missed:

A national outfitter that actually knows what the job site looks like.

// The Dirt

Patriot Battery Metals Upgrades Lithium Resources at CV5 and CV13
New estimates confirm the project as the largest indicated lithium pegmatite resource in the Americas, with CV5 up 30% and CV13 up 306%.
Read more →

Northern Superior Drills 18m of 2.48 g/t Au at Philibert
New intercepts at the Quebec gold project include 4.9m of 7.02 g/t and a step-out of 50.3m at 0.70 g/t.
Read more →

Wyloo Extends Invitation to Engage with Eagle’s Nest Project
Wyloo is hosting community visits to discuss updates and foster relationships around its Ontario-based nickel-copper project.
Read more →

Empress Royalty Reports 2.8x Revenue Growth in Q1
Streaming and royalty income for Q1 2025 nearly triples compared to last year’s first quarter.
Read more →

Homerun Signs MOU for Land & Infrastructure in Bahia, Brazil
The deal supports fast-tracked development of its industrial projects, backed by local government and energy partners.
Read more →

NioCorp to Present Elk Creek Project to EU Investors
CEO Mark Smith and COO Scott Honan will speak in Antwerp to highlight the strategic U.S. critical minerals project.
Read more →

Northisle Commences Trading on OTCQX as NTCPF
The move improves U.S. investor access as the company advances its C$2B NPV copper-gold project on Vancouver Island.
Read more →

Silver47 and Summa Silver Merge in $5M Deal
Two high-grade U.S. silver explorers combine under the Silver47 name to scale operations and capital access.
Read more →

TNR Gold Confirms July DFS for Los Azules
McEwen Mining provides timeline update on its large-scale copper project; TNR holds an NSR royalty interest.
Read more →

Sage Potash Launches $4M Private Placement
The non-brokered raise aims to issue up to 16 million shares at $0.25 each to support continued development.
Read more →

Happy May Long, everyone.

I’m building a fence this weekend, and I know I’ll be stopping by Canadian Tire at least once.

At this point, it feels like my patriotic duty.

- Lee