THE DISPATCH

The Friday Dispatch

🟡 Precious Metals

• Gold at ~$4,520 USD/oz this morning — holding the $4,500 line as Iran peace talks stall again

• Silver down slightly to $75.91 USD/oz on May 22 — still up 126% year-over-year

• Gold in CAD sitting at ~$6,237/oz — record territory for Canadian producers

• Troilus Gold drawing takeover speculation as M&A activity heats up in a $4,500 gold market

• Critical minerals are now the primary driver of a new wave of Canadian mining M&A in 2026

⛽ Energy & Oil Markets

• Brent crude back above $104 USD/barrel after three days of declines — Iran toll threat reignites risk premium

• WTI settling around $98 USD/barrel on the day as ceasefire uncertainty keeps markets on edge

• Iran moving to formalize a permit-and-toll system at Hormuz despite US naval blockade and warnings from Rubio

• LNG Canada Phase 2 FID co-operation agreement between Ottawa and B.C. signed this week — decision expected by year end

🍁 Canada: The Cards Are Showing

• New Brunswick introduces Mineral Resources Act — first overhaul of the province's mining law since 1985

• Teck's Highland Valley Copper Mine Life Extension — Canada's largest copper mine — under active construction, extended to 2046

• Osisko Development advancing Cariboo Gold Project toward FID — fully permitted, 220,000 oz/year target, commissioning eyed for 2028–29

• Silverco Mining completes acquisition of Nuevo Silver — becomes Canada's newest silver producer

🔋 Critical Minerals & Battery Metals

• Copper at $6.20/lb — up 33% year-over-year, with supply constraints still outpacing demand concerns

• Cameco finalizes $2.6 billion, 10-year uranium supply agreement with India — signed in March, now in effect

• Saskatchewan's two new uranium mines — Denison's Phoenix and NexGen's Rook I — first approvals since 2004, both advancing toward construction

• Canada Growth Fund's $145M lithium investment in North American Lithium, Abitibi — part of $5B+ CGF deployment across six provinces

💥 Conflict Watch

• Rubio: "Slight progress" in Pakistan-mediated Iran talks — but warns Iran's Hormuz toll plan is a non-starter for every country on earth

• Iranian FM meets Pakistani minister in Tehran today — key sticking points remain uranium enrichment and strait control

• ISW: Iran using ceasefire period to normalize control over Hormuz — compelling oil importers to accept new terms

• Trump rejects Hormuz toll system outright — but ceasefire holds, for now

🌍 Geopolitics & Trade

• CUSMA formal review begins July 1 — critical minerals and energy at the centre of what Washington wants

• Carney holds firm: Canada's resources are a value proposition, not a concession

• Cameco's India uranium deal locks in $2.6B in demand over 10 years — a signal to Washington of what supply diversification looks like

• Mining M&A boom accelerating in Q2 2026 as buyers chase permitted, de-risked Canadian assets

// NOTES FROM THE NORTH

Iran wants to charge ships to use the Strait of Hormuz.

Not a rumour. Not a negotiating bluff. They're building the legal and administrative framework for a formal toll system, and they're trying to get Oman to co-sign it. Rubio told reporters this morning that no country on earth should accept it. Brent added four dollars anyway.

This is what the world looks like now. A chokepoint that used to move 20% of global oil and gas is becoming a toll road operated by the country at war with the United States.

And the discussion in Canada this week is about permit timelines.Which, fine, it has to happen.

New Brunswick just introduced its first new Mineral Resources Act since 1985. Teck is running construction equipment at Highland Valley. Osisko is two kilometres underground at Cariboo. The CGF is deploying billions. Things are moving.

But the gap between how fast the world needs Canada to move and how fast Canada is actually moving keeps showing up in the same places. A bridge in Saskatchewan. A 19-year permitting average. A phase 2 LNG decision that still isn't made.

Cameco just locked in $2.6 billion in uranium sales to India. India, the country that raised fuel prices this week because it can't absorb the Hormuz shock anymore. They're not buying Canadian uranium because it's cheap. They're buying it because they need a supplier they can count on.

The world is paying for reliability now. Canada keeps having it to sell. The question is whether we can move fast enough to matter.

Enjoy the weekend everyone.