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7 Biggest Lithium-mining Companies in 2025

April 25, 2025 Investing 17 Mins Read

For a long time, most of the world’s lithium was produced by an oligopoly of US-listed producers. However, the sector has transformed significantly in recent years.

Interested investors should cast a wider net to look at global companies — in particular those listed in Australia and China, as companies in both countries have become major players in the industry.

While Australia has long been a top-producing country when it comes to lithium, China has risen quickly to become not only the top lithium processor and refiner, but also a major miner of the commodity. In fact, China was the third largest lithium-producing country in 2024 in terms of mine production, behind Australia and Chile.

Chinese companies are mining in other countries as well, including top producer Australia, where a few are part of major lithium joint ventures. For example, Australia’s largest lithium mine, Greenbushes, is owned and operated by Talison Lithium, which is 51 percent controlled by Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia, a joint venture between China’s Tianqi Lithium (SZSE:002466,HKEX:9696) and Australia’s IGO (ASX:IGO,OTC Pink:IPDGF). The remaining 49 percent stake in Talison is owned by Albemarle (NYSE:ALB). Joint ventures can offer investors different ways to get exposure to mines and jurisdictions.

Mergers and acquisitions are common in the lithium space, with the biggest news in the industry recently being Rio Tinto’s (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO) acquisition of Arcadium Lithium for US$6.7 billion in March of this year. The acquisition transforms Rio Tinto into a global leader in lithium production with one of the world’s largest lithium resource bases.

As for Chile, the country’s lithium landscape is changing following the December 2024 announcement that as a part of its National Lithium Strategy toward public-private partnerships, the government opened up the process of assigning special lithium operation contracts to a total of 12 priority areas.

All in all, lithium investors have a lot to keep an eye on as the space continues to shift. Read on for an overview of the current top lithium-producing firms by market cap. Data was current as of April 4, 2025.

Biggest lithium-mining stocks

1. Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO)

Market cap: US$99.83 billion
Share price: AU$112.70

Rio Tinto, a global powerhouse in the resource sector for decades, is mostly known for its iron and copper production. However, in recent years, the mining giant has been expanding its position in the world’s lithium market.

In March 2025, the company cemented its position as one of the biggest lithium-producing companies in the world with the US$6.7 billion all-cash acquisition of Arcadium Lithium, the lithium giant formed after the US$10.6 billion merger of lithium majors Allkem and Livent.

Following the acquisition, Rio Tinto is consolidating Arcadium’s portfolio with its own lithium projects under the name Rio Tinto Lithium. Arcadium’s portfolio includes the Salar del Hombre Muerto and Olaroz lithium brine operations in Argentina, as well as the Mount Cattlin hard-rock mine in Western Australia, which is entering care and maintenance in the second half of this year. It also has lithium hydroxide production capacity in the US, Japan and China.

At the time, Rio Tinto said it will increase its lithium carbonate equivalent production capacity to over 200,000 metric tons (MT) annually by 2028.

Lithium acquisitions are not new to Rio Tinto. In 2022, it acquired the Rincon project in Argentina from Rincon Mining. Rincon has an expected annual capacity of 53,000 MT of battery-grade lithium carbonate over a 40 year mine life, although Rio Tinto plans to expand production at the site to 60,000 MT per year. A pilot battery-grade lithium carbonate plant is scheduled for completion in H1 2025.

As of March 2025, Rio Tinto is also reportedly in talks to develop the Roche Dure lithium deposit in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the world’s largest hard-rock lithium deposits.

2. SQM (NYSE:SQM)

Market cap: US$10.93 billion
Share price: US$37.05

SQM has five business areas, ranging from lithium to potassium to specialty plant nutrition. Its primary lithium operations are in Chile, where it is a longtime producer, and it is also working to bring production online in Australia.

In Chile, SQM sources brine from the Salar de Atacama; it then processes lithium chloride from the brine into lithium carbonate and hydroxide at its Salar del Carmen lithium plants located near Antofagasta.

Chile’s aforementioned National Lithium Strategy has created some uncertainty for SQM, but the government has stated that it will respect its current contracts, which run through 2030. In May 2024, the state-owned mining company Codelco and SQM formed a joint venture in which Codelco will hold a 50 percent stake plus one share to give it majority control. As of 2031, the state will begin receiving 85 percent of the operating margin of the new production from SQM’s operations.

Outside of South America, SQM owns and operates the Mount Holland lithium mine and concentrator in Australia; the mine hosts one of the world’s largest hard-rock deposits. Mount Holland is a joint venture with Wesfarmers (ASX:WES,OTC Pink:WFAFF), which took over Australian lithium-mining company Kidman Resources in 2019.

Overall, the company sees its total sales volumes from all its lithium operations increasing by 15 percent this year.

SQM has a long-term supply deal with Hyundai (KRX:005380) and Kia (KRX:000270) to provide lithium hydroxide for electric vehicle batteries from its future lithium hydroxide supply. SQM also has supply agreements with Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) and LG Energy (KRX:373220).

3. Ganfeng Lithium (OTC Pink:GNENF,SZSE:002460,HKEX:1772)

Market cap: US$7.5 billion
Share price: US$2.51

Founded in 2000 and listed in 2010, Ganfeng Lithium has operations across the entire electric vehicle battery supply chain. Even though it is relatively new compared to some companies on the list, Ganfeng has become one of the world’s largest producers of both lithium metals and lithium hydroxide. This is due to its strategy of investing heavily in overseas projects to secure long-term lithium resources, with its first such investment in 2014.

Ganfeng has interests in lithium resources around the world, from Australia to Argentina, China and Ireland; its operations include a 50/50 joint venture with Mineral Resources for the Mount Marion mine in Western Australia. In Argentina, the company has 51 percent stake in Lithium Americas’ (TSX:LAC,NYSE:LAC) Caucharí-Olaroz lithium brine project.

Ganfeng has a controlling interest in Mexico-focused Bacanora Lithium and its Sonora lithium project; it also has a 50 percent stake in a lithium mine in Mali, as well as a 49 percent stake in a salt lake project in China owned by China Minmetals. It owns the private company LitheA, which holds the rights to two lithium salt lakes in Argentina’s Salta province.

Ganfeng purchased Leo Lithium’s (ASX:LLL,OTC Pink:LLLAF) Goulamina project in Mali in May 2024 and brought it into production in December. Goulamina has a mine capacity of 506,000 MT of spodumene per year. The company’s goal is to double that capacity to 1 million MT per year.

In February 2025, Ganfeng brought its US$790 million Mariana project in Argentina into production. The Mariana mine is situated on the Llullaillaco salt flat, and has the capacity to produce 20,000 MT of lithium chloride per year.

Ganfeng has supply deals with companies such as Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), BMW (OTC Pink:BMWYY,ETR:BMW), Korean battery maker LG Chem (KRX:051910), Volkswagen (OTC Pink:VLKAF,FWB:VOW) and Hyundai.

4. Albemarle (NYSE:ALB)

Market cap: US$6.92 billion
Share price: US$58.88

North Carolina-based Albemarle is dividing into two primary business units, one of which — the Albemarle Energy Storage unit — is focused wholly on the lithium-ion battery and energy transition markets. It includes the firm’s lithium carbonate, hydroxide and metal production.

Albemarle has a broad portfolio of lithium mines and facilities, with extraction in Chile, Australia, China and the US. Looking first at Chile, Albemarle produces lithium carbonate at its La Negra lithium conversion plants, which process brine from the Salar de Atacama, the country’s largest salt flat. Albemarle is aiming to implement direct lithium extraction technology at the salt flat to reduce water usage.

Albemarle’s Australian assets includes the MARBL joint venture with Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN,OTC Pink:MALRF). The 50/50 JV owns and operates the Wodgina hard-rock lithium mine in Western Australia. Albemarle wholly owns the on-site Kemerton lithium hydroxide facility. The company’s other Australian joint venture is the aforementioned Greenbushes mine, in which it holds a 49 percent interest alongside Tianqi and IGO.

As for the US, Albemarle owns the Silver Peak lithium brine operations in Nevada’s Clayton Valley, which is currently the country’s only source of lithium production. In its home state of North Carolina, Albemarle is planning to bring its past-producing Kings Mountain lithium mine back online, subject to permitting approval and a final investment decision. The mine is expected to produce around 420,000 MT of lithium-bearing spodumene concentrate annually.

Albemarle has received US$150 million in funding from the US government to support the building of a commercial-scale lithium concentrator facility on site. The US Department of Defense has given the company a US$90 million critical materials award to boost its domestic lithium production and support the country’s burgeoning EV battery supply chain.

5. Tianqi Lithium (SZSE:002466,HKEX:9696)

Market cap: US$6.61 billion
Share price: 30.26 Chinese yuan

Tianqi Lithium, a subsidiary of Chengdu Tianqi Industry Group, is the world’s largest hard-rock lithium producer. The company has assets in Australia, Chile and China. It holds a significant stake in SQM.

In Australia, Tianqi, as mentioned, has a significant position in the Greenbushes mine and Kwinana lithium hydroxide plant through the Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia JV with IGO. The hydroxide plant, which is one of the world’s largest fully automated battery-grade lithium hydroxide facilities, processes feedstock from Greenbushes with a capacity of 24,000 MT per year.

Construction work for the Phase 2 expansion at Kwinana, which would have doubled its capacity, was terminated in January 2025 due to the current low-price environment for lithium making it economically unviable.

Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia updated the total mineral resources at Greenbushes in February 2025 to 440 million MT at an average grade of 1.5 percent lithium oxide, and its total ore reserve estimate to 172 million MT grading 1.9 percent lithium oxide.

In March 2025, Tianqi Lithium announced collaborations with a number of academic research institutions including the Institute for Advanced Materials and Technology of the University of Science and Technology Beijing on the research and development of next-generation solid-state battery materials and technology.

6. PLS (ASX:PLS,OTC Pink:PILBF)

Market cap: US$2.92 billion
Share price: AU$2.92

PLS, formerly named Pilbara Minerals, operates its 100 percent owned Pilgangoora lithium-tantalum asset in Western Australia. The operation entered commercial production in 2019 and consists of two processing plants: the Pilgan plant, located on the northern side of the Pilgangoora area, which produces a spodumene concentrate and a tantalite concentrate; and the Ngungaju plant, located to the south, which produces a spodumene concentrate.

PLS has recently completed a few critical expansion projects at Pilgangoora. Its P680 expansion, for a primary rejection facility and a crushing and ore-sorting facility, was completed in August 2024. The P1000 expansion, targeting a spodumene production increase at the site to 1 million MT per year, was completed in January 2025 ahead of schedule and within budget. The company says the ramp-up to full capacity is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2025.

PLS and its joint venture partner Calix are developing a midstream demonstration plant at Pilgangoora using Calix’s electric kiln technology to reduce the carbon footprint of spodumene processing, decreasing transport volumes and improving value-add processing at the mine. After garnering a AU$15 million grant from the Western Australian Government, construction of the project is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2025.

The company made a move to expand its footprint in Brazil in August 2024 with the acquisition of Latin Resources (ASX:LRS,OTC Pink:LRSRF) and its Salinas lithium project. The project’s resource estimate, which covers the Colina and Fog’s Block deposits, stands at 77.7 million MT at 1.24 percent lithium oxide. The AU$560 million deal was approved by the Western Australia Government in January 2025.

PLS and joint venture partner POSCO (NYSE:PKX) launched South Korea’s first lithium hydroxide processing plant in late 2024, which will be supplied with spodumene from Pilgangoora. PLS also has offtake agreements with companies such as Ganfeng, Chengxin Lithium Group, and Yibin Tianyi Lithium Industry.

7. Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN,OTC Pink:MALRF)

Market cap: US$2.59 billion
Share price: AU$18.95

Australia-based Mineral Resources (MinRes) is a commodities company that mines lithium and iron ore in the country. As mentioned, both of MinRes’ lithium mines are joint ventures with other companies on this list. In addition to the Wodgina mine in Western Australia, which is operated under the MARBL joint venture with Albemarle, MinRes holds a 50 percent stake in Albemarle’s Qinzhou and Meishan plants in China.

MinRes owns 50 percent of the Mount Marion lithium operation, which is a joint venture with Ganfeng Lithium. Production of lithium concentrate began at Mount Marion in 2017, and all mining is managed by MinRes, which also has a 51 percent share of the output from the spodumene concentrator at the site. MinRes completed the expansion of Mount Marion’s spodumene processing plant in 2023. Currently, the plant has an annual production capacity of 600,000 MT spodumene concentrate equivalent.

However, in late August 2024, in light of lithium’s low demand environment, MinRes decided to reduce its operations at Mount Marion to between 150,000 and 170,000 MT of spodumene production in its financial year 2025 compared to the 218,000 metric tons of output achieved in its financial year 2024.

MinRes acquired the Bald Hill lithium mine, which is also located in Western Australia, in 2023. The company released an updated mineral resource estimate in November 2024 of 58.1 MT at 0.94 percent lithium oxide, up 168 percent from the prior June 2018 estimate. In the same news release, MinRes announced that it would have to place the mine on care and maintenance until global lithium prices improve. The final shipment of Bald Hill spodumene concentrate was made in December 2024.

Other lithium companies

Aside from the world’s top lithium producers, a number of other large lithium companies are producing this key electric vehicle raw material. These include Sigma Lithium (TSXV:SGML,NASDAQ:SGML), Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR,OTC Pink:LINRF), Jiangxi Special Electric Motor (SZSE:002176), Yongxing Special Materials Technology (SZSE:002756), Sinomine Resource (SZSE:002738) and Youngy (SZSE:002192).

FAQs for investing in lithium

Is lithium a metal?

Lithium is a soft, silver-white metal used in pharmaceuticals, ceramics, grease, lubricants and heat-resistant glass. It’s also used in lithium-ion batteries, which power everything from cell phones to laptops to electric vehicles.

How much lithium is there on Earth?

Lithium is the 33rd most abundant element in nature. According to the US Geological Survey, due to continuing exploration, identified lithium resources have increased to about 115 million metric tons worldwide. Global lithium reserves stand at 30 million MT, with production reaching 240,000 MT in 2024.

How is lithium produced?

Lithium is found in hard-rock deposits, evaporated brines and clay deposits. The largest hard-rock mine is Greenbushes in Australia, and most lithium brine output comes from salars in Chile and Argentina.

There are various types of lithium products, and many different applications for the mineral. After lithium is extracted from a deposit, it is often processed into lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide or lithium metal. Battery-grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide can be used to make cathode material for lithium-ion batteries.

What country produces the most lithium?

The latest data from the US Geological Survey shows that the world’s top lithium-producing countries are Australia, Chile and China, with production reaching 88,000 metric tons, 49,000 metric tons and 41,000 metric tons, respectively.

Global lithium production reached 240,000 metric tons of lithium in 2024, up from 204,000 MT in 2023, according to the US Geological Survey. About 87 percent of the lithium produced currently goes toward battery production, but other industries also consume the metal. For example, 5 percent is used in ceramics and glass, while 2 percent goes to lubricating greases.

Who is the largest miner of lithium?

The world’s largest lithium-producing mine is Talison Lithium and Albemarle’s Greenbushes hard-rock mine in Australia, which put out 1.38 million MT of spodumene concentrate in the fiscal year 2024. The top-producing lithium brine operation was SQM’s Salar de Atacama operations in Chile, with 2023 production of 166,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate.

Who are the top lithium consumers?

The top lithium-importing country is China by a long shot, and second place South Korea is another significant importer. China is also the top country for lithium processing, and both are home to many companies producing lithium-ion batteries.

Why is lithium so hard to mine?

The different types of lithium deposits come with their own challenges.

For example, mining pegmatite lithium from hard-rock ore is known for being expensive, while extracting lithium from brines requires vast amounts of water and processing times that can sometimes be as long as 12 months. Lithium mining also comes with the difficulties associated with mining other minerals, such as long exploration and permitting periods.

What are the negative effects of lithium?

Both major forms of lithium mining can have negative effects on the environment. When it comes to hard-rock lithium mining, there have been incidents of chemicals leaking into the water supply and damaging the local ecosystems; in addition, these operations tend to have a large environmental footprint.

As mentioned, lithium brine extraction requires a lot of water for the evaporation process, but it’s hard to understand the scope without numbers. It’s estimated that approximately 2.2 million liters of water are required to produce 1 metric ton of lithium, and that can sometimes mean diverting water from communities that are experiencing drought conditions. This form of lithium extraction also affects the condition of the soil and air.

Will lithium run out?

Although future demand for lithium is expected to keep rising due to its role in green energy, the metal shouldn’t run out any time soon, as companies are continuing to discover new lithium reserves and are developing more advanced extraction technologies. Additionally, there are companies working on technology to recycle battery metals, which will eventually allow lithium from lithium-ion batteries to re-enter the supply chain.

What technology will replace lithium?

Researchers have been working on developing and testing a variety of lithium alternatives for batteries. Some of these options include hydrogen batteries, liquid batteries that could be pumped into vehicles, batteries that replace lithium with sodium or magnesium and even batteries powered by sea water. While nothing looks ready to replace lithium-ion batteries right now, there is potential for more efficient or more environmentally friendly options to grow in popularity in the future.

How to buy a lithium stock?

Investors are starting to pay attention to the green energy transition and the raw materials that will enable it.

When it comes to choosing a stock to invest in, understanding lithium supply and demand dynamics is key, as there are unique factors to watch for in lithium stocks. The main demand driver for lithium is what happens in the electric vehicle industry, which is expected to keep growing, and also the energy storage space. Analysts remain optimistic about the future of lithium, with many predicting the market will be tight for some time.

Investors interested in lithium stocks could consider companies listed on US, Canadian and Australian stock exchanges. They can also check out our guide on what to look for in lithium stocks today.

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

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

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Amazon and Nvidia say AI data center demand is not slowing down

April 25, 2025 Business 2 Mins Read

OKLAHOMA CITY — Amazon and Nvidia executives said Thursday that the construction of artificial intelligence data centers is not slowing down, as recession fears have some investors questioning whether tech companies will pull back on some of their plans.

“There’s been really no significant change,” Kevin Miller, Amazon’s vice president of global data centers, said at a conference organized by the Hamm Institute for American Energy. “We continue to see very strong demand, and we’re looking both in the next couple years as well as long term and seeing the numbers only going up.”

The comments run contrary to worrying buzz building on Wall Street about tech companies changing data center buildout plans. Wells Fargo analysts said Monday that Amazon Web Services is pausing some leases on data center commitments, citing industry sources. The magnitude of the pause was unclear, the analysts said, but the comments raised fears that Amazon was doing something similar to Microsoft’s recent move to pull back on some early stage projects.

Miller said “there’s been little tea leaf reading and extrapolating to strange results” about Amazon’s plans.

Nvidia is also not seeing signs of a slowdown, said Josh Parker, the chipmaker’s senior director of corporate sustainability.

“We haven’t seen a pullback,” Parker said. China’s artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek sparked a sell-off in power stocks earlier this year as investors worried that its artificial intelligence model is more efficient and data centers might need as much energy as originally anticipated.

But Parker said Nvidia sees compute and energy demand only rising due to AI, describing the reaction to DeepSeek as “kneejerk.” Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark said 50 gigawatts of new power capacity will be needed by 2027 to support AI. That is the equivalent of about 50 new nuclear plants.

“Anthropic and the other AI companies, what we’re seeing is tremendous growth in the need for new baseload power. We’re seeing unprecedented growth,” Clark said.

The executives were speaking at a gathering of tech and energy companies at a conference in Oklahoma City organized by the Hamm Institute to discuss how the U.S. can address the growing energy needs for AI. There is a growing consensus in both industries that natural gas will be needed to meet the power needs.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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Amazon and Nvidia say AI data center demand isn’t slowing

April 25, 2025 Business 2 Mins Read

Miller said “there’s been little tea leaf reading and extrapolating to strange results” about Amazon’s plans.

Nvidia is also not seeing signs of a slowdown, said Josh Parker, the chipmaker’s senior director of corporate sustainability.

But Parker said Nvidia sees computer and energy demand only rising due to AI, describing the reaction to DeepSeek as “kneejerk.” Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark said 50 gigawatts of new power capacity will be needed by 2027 to support AI. That is the equivalent of about 50 new nuclear plants.

“Anthropic and the other AI companies, what we’re seeing is tremendous growth in the need for new baseload power. We’re seeing unprecedented growth,” Clark said.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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American liquor exports hit record high in 2024, driven by tariffs

April 25, 2025 Business 3 Mins Read

U.S. spirit exports reached a record $2.4 billion in 2024, driven in large part by tariff concerns and ongoing global trade disputes.

That is according to the American Spirits Exports report published by trade association the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States on Thursday.

“U.S. spirits exports hit a new high in 2024, recapturing lost market share since the UK and EU lifted retaliatory tariffs that were applied between 2018-2021,” said DISCUS President and CEO Chris Swonger. “Unfortunately, ongoing trade disputes unrelated to our sector have caused uncertainty, keeping many U.S. distillers on the sidelines and curtailing sales growth.”

U.S. spirits exports to the EU surged by 39%, fueled by concerns over the potential return of a 50% tariff on American whiskey imports in 2025, which was suspended in 2022.

In March, Trump threatened to put 200% tariffs on French Champagne and other EU spirits, which led European world leaders — specifically from Ireland, France and Italy — to advocate for bourbon tariffs not to return as part of retaliatory measures.

The threat of that specific tariff has faded somewhat as the U.S. and EU continue trade negotiations.

Approximately 50% of U.S. spirits were exported to the EU — totaling $1.2 billion — making it the largest export market.

Exports to the rest of the world, however, declined by nearly 10%, the report found, which reflects the broader softening alcohol category.

Suntory Beam, the Japanese maker of Jim Beam bourbon whiskey, said in December it was preparing for tariffs by stockpiling supply in Europe. The company is already heavily reliant on France and the United Kingdom, which make up over 50% of its global exports market over the last eight years, according to global trade data from Panjiva.

Several of the top states for exports in 2024 are significant bourbon economies, according to the report.

Still, American whiskey exports, which accounted for 54% of all U.S. spirits exports, dipped 5.4% to $1.3 billion.

Swonger said that while outlook for spirits remains highly unpredictable with ongoing trade disputes, one fact rings true in the data: Exports go to countries that have eliminated tariffs.

“We are thankful for President Trump’s early success in securing India’s reduction of its tariff on Bourbon from 150% to 100%,” Swonger said. “It’s our hope that the administration builds on this positive momentum by securing additional tariff reductions in India and reducing trade barriers in other countries.”

Headwinds remain for the industry. Canada, the second largest market for U.S. spirits exports, imposed a 25% tariff in on alcohol coming over the border in March, and several provinces have removed product from shelves.

Distiller and brewers also face steel and aluminum tariffs that impact materials costs for brewers like Constellation Brands, which lowered long-term 2027 and 2028 guidance significantly around “the anticipated impact of tariffs.”

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Hasbro forecasts as much as $300 million impact if China tariffs don’t come down

April 25, 2025 Business 3 Mins Read

If President Donald Trump’s 145% levy against imports from China holds, Hasbro estimates it could see as much as a $300 million hit to its bottom line.

The toy maker posted better-than-expected earnings on Thursday, but investors and analysts were more focused on the ongoing trade war Trump’s White House has waged against the toy industry’s biggest manufacturer.

Hasbro maintained the full-year guidance it issued last quarter, citing the uncertainty of the current tariff environment.

“Our forecast assumes various scenarios for China tariffs, ranging from 50% to the rate holding at 145% and 10% for the rest of world,” said Gina Goetter, chief financial officer and chief operating officer at Hasbro, during Thursday’s earnings call. “This translates to an estimated $100 million to $300 million gross impact across the enterprise in 2025. Before any mitigation.”

CEO Chris Cocks said during the company’s earnings call that “while no company is insulated, Hasbro is well positioned,” noting the company’s unchanged guidance is “supported by our robust games and licensing businesses and our strategic flexibility.”

“Prolonged tariff conditions create structural costs and heighten market unpredictability,” he said, adding, “ultimately tariffs translate into higher consumer prices.”

Cocks also warned of “potential job losses as we adjust to absorb increased costs and reduced profit for our shareholders.”

The company’s U.S. games business benefits from digital and domestic sourcing, as many of its board games are made in Massachusetts. Its Wizards of the Coast division, which includes Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons, has a tariff exposure of less than $10 million, Cocks said, as much of the domestic product is made in North Carolina, Texas and Japan.

The company’s toy segment faces higher exposure, as a larger portion of those goods are made in China. Cocks said the company is exploring options for moving its supply chain to other countries.

“Some of that, though, comes with the cost,” he said. “When we manufacture board games in the U.S., it is significantly more expensive to manufacture here than it is in China.”

He added that the company can shift the sourcing of Play-Doh, for example, from China to its factory in Turkey. Under that scenario, Turkey manufacturers would redirect shipments from Europe to the U.S. and Chinese factories could fill in to supply the European market.

Other products are more difficult to triage, especially those that include electronics, high end deco and foam components, Cocks said.

“China will continue to be a major manufacturing hub for us globally, in large part due to specialized capabilities developed over decades,” he said.

Goetter said that much of the manufacturing changes would be seen in 2026 and are dependent on if those countries already have the capabilities and infrastructure in place to make certain products.

Hasbro is also accelerating its $1 billion cost savings plan in an effort to offset tariff pressures, but noted that price hikes are unavoidable.

“We are going to have to raise prices inside of 145% tariff regime with China,” Cocks said. “We’re just trying to do it as selectively as possible and minimize the burden to the fans and families that we serve.”

Both Goetter and Cocks admitted that Hasbro’s plans are flexible and will change as the tariff situation evolves. The company is hopeful for a “more predictable and favorable U.S. trade policy environment.”

“We’re trying to play both defense and offense at the same time,” Goetter said.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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Hidden Gems: Bullish Patterns Emerging in These Country ETFs

April 24, 2025 Stock 1 Min Read

In this video, Joe highlights key technical setups in select country ETFs that are showing strength right now. He analyzes monthly and weekly MACD, ADX, and RSI trends that are signaling momentum shifts. Joe also reviews the critical level to watch on the S&P 500 (SPX), while breaking down important patterns in the QQQ, IWM, and Bitcoin. As always, he finishes with analysis on your most-requested stocks, applying his trusted multi-timeframe approach.

The video premiered on April 23, 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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How to Shield Your Stocks During a Market Decline

April 24, 2025 Stock 6 Mins Read

When the stock market is turbulent, it makes sense to hedge some of your valuable equity positions. One way to do it is through options.

The adage “Don’t keep all your eggs in one basket” is well-known among investors. While a diversified portfolio reduces your risk, you probably have a handful of favorite stocks that you don’t want to sell. But watching those stocks lose value can be painful.

The good news: There is a way to reduce your losses on those positions.

Hedging With Options

Before diving into the strategies, you need to determine what you want to do with the stocks you want to hold on to. When a market is trending lower, options help protect your investments in the following ways:

Protecting your stocks against losses.
Generating income from declining stock values.
Realizing profits from declining stocks if the stock moves in your favor.

Before proceeding further, look at all your portfolio holdings and determine which stocks you want to hold on to, then determine your hedging objectives.

This article will focus on the strategies you can implement to protect your stocks against losses. You can do this by buying puts, which are similar to an insurance policy. You pay for downside protection to gain unlimited upside potential.

Here’s how it works.

You buy one put contract for 100 shares of an underlying stock. For example, if you own 100 shares of Apple, Inc. (AAPL), you buy one AAPL put contract; if you own 200 shares of AAPL, you could buy 2 put contracts.
You buy a put with a strike price that could generate a profit that you’re comfortable with on your equity position, and a premium (the price of the contract) that you’re willing to pay to protect your position.
If the stock’s price falls below the strike price, you could sell your put contract for a profit. You could also choose to exercise your put contract, i.e., selling the underlying shares at the contract’s strike price.

For example, say you bought 100 shares of AAPL for $110 per share. AAPL stock is trading slightly below $205 but hit a high of $259.81. You want to protect your unrealized gains in case the price falls further. Looking at the daily chart of AAPL below, further downside looks highly probable.

The 50-day simple moving average (SMA) has crossed below the 200-day, the StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR) score is at 32.50, which is relatively low, and the relative strength index (RSI) just below 50, indicating neutral momentum.

FIGURE 1. DAILY CHART OF AAPL STOCK. A declining trend, a technically weak chart, and lukewarm momentum indicate a higher probability of further decline.Chart source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

If you were to buy a put, what strike price and expiration would you choose? That can be a time-consuming exercise, but the OptionsPlay Add-on in StockCharts does it for you quickly. Here’s how.

Below the chart, click the Options menu, found under Tools & Resources. You’ll see the Options Chain by default (Options Summary).
Click the OptionsPlay button above the Options Chain to access the OptionsPlay Explorer. You’ll see the three optimal strategies listed.

FIGURE 2. OPTIMAL OPTIONS STRATEGIES FOR AAPL STOCK. You could sell 100 shares of AAPL, buy a put, or buy a put vertical spread. You can analyze the three scenarios and determine which one will help protect your equity position.Image source: StockCharts.com. For educational purposes.

The recommended long put (displayed in the middle) is the June 20 $205 put, which will cost $1,170. You have to decide if it’s worth paying this much premium to protect your position in the stock. If the stock price rises above $205 by expiration, your contract will expire worthless. You would have lost $1,170. Are you willing to take that risk?

You can modify the strategy by changing the expiration and strike price of the contract. This will help determine if there are more favorable risk-to-reward scenarios. The following scenarios could play out:

Scenario 1: The stock price falls below $205.

You could sell the put option for a profit, which will offset some of the unrealized losses from the decline in the stock’s price.
You could also choose to exercise the option and sell the shares for $205. You would walk away with a profit of $8,330 ($9,500 – 1,170).

Scenario 2: The stock price is above $205 by expiration.

Your put contract will expire worthless.
If you think the stock price will drop as contract expiration gets close, you could roll it to a further-out expiration. You’d sell your $205 June put and purchase another put option with a later expiration.

When buying puts, your maximum risk is limited to what you pay for the premium.

There’s More You Can Do

The strategy on the right shows a put vertical strategy, which has a much lower cost, a higher OptionsPlay score, and a potential reward of $2,145, which is much lower than buying a put.

The put vertical involves adding a lower strike price put with the same expiration. This would be a two-leg options trade—you buy the June 20 205 put and sell the June 20 $175 put.

The benefit of the put vertical is that you limit your risk to $855 (the debit). This will happen if AAPL is above $205 and both puts expire worthless.

Your potential reward is limited to $2,145 (strike price – debit), which you will realize if AAPL’s stock price falls below $175. The probability of profit of the put vertical is 41.79%, versus 37.48% for the long put.

The Bottom Line

Buying puts and put vertical spreads can protect your options positions in a declining market. You still need to evaluate the cost of protection versus your profit potential, just as you would when you’re shopping for insurance.

The benefit of using the OptionsPlay Add-on is that the legwork is done for you. All you have to do is evaluate the different strategies, which are spelled out for you in simple terms. To learn more about the features available in the OptionsPlay Add-on, visit the StockCharts TV OptionsPlay with Tony Zhang YouTube channel.

Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The ideas and strategies should never be used without first assessing your personal and financial situation or without consulting a financial professional.

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What’s the Next US Copper Mine? 27 Copper Projects to Watch

April 24, 2025 Investing 20 Mins Read

Companies with upcoming copper mines in the US could be poised to benefit from tailwinds in the sector, including copper supply deficits and the new administration promising to cut ‘red tape’ for critical minerals projects.

Copper demand is climbing quickly in recent years because of the rapid urbanization of the global south as well as the developing energy transition sectors. However, current copper mines are increasing in age and there is a lack of new copper mines to replace them, both due to limited greenfield exploration and long permitting times.

This has put the world’s copper supply in a difficult situation, and experts expect to see deficits begin to emerge in 2025.

Resource nationalism is also increasing in recent times, with countries heavily focused on building their own critical minerals supply chains. This caused the Biden administration to list copper as a critical mineral in late 2024, which would allow projects accelerated permits, investment incentives and national security enhancements.

Additionally, after new US President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, Trump issued an executive order that would slash red tape to increase domestic critical mineral production, including copper. The move has caused significant environmental concerns, but it could support US copper companies that have previously struggled to receive permits.

Further action to speed up permitting came on March 20, when Trump signed another executive order with the goal of increasing American mineral production. The order included requests to related federal agencies to identify suitable mining sites on federal land and provide a list of priority projects.

This was followed by an announcement by the White House on April 18 that 10 mining projects would be granted increased transparency, accountability, and predictability for the permitting review process, which will improve permitting times for critical mineral projects. The initial list includes two copper sites: the Resolution copper project in Arizona, which is covered in the list below, and an expansion of Lisbon Valley Mining Company’s Lisbon Valley mine in Utah.

In this article we dive into more than 25 US copper projects in the construction, restarting or permitting phase, based on data from mine database Mining Data Online (MDO) as of March 2025. MDO’s database focuses on publicly traded mining companies, so there may be US copper mines being developed by private companies that are not in this list.

Read on to learn about the advanced copper projects that could become new copper mines.

Next US copper mine: Copper mines under construction

Black Butte project

Ownership: 87% – Sandfire Resources (TSXV:SFR)
Mine type: Underground
Deposit type: SEDEX, Stratabound

Once it enters production, the Black Butte copper project in Montana is expected to produce 120,000 metric tons (MT) of copper concentrate annually. The site’s Johnny Lee deposit hosts proven and probable reserves of 8.8 million MT, containing 226,100 MT of copper at a grade of 2.6 percent.

Sandfire had previously begun Phase I construction to mine the Johnny Lee deposit, but a Montana district court ruling overturned the prior Record of Decision in 2022 halted it. However, the Montana Supreme Court ruled in Sandfire’s favor in Q1 2024. With its mining permit reinstated, the company is now assessing Black Butte’s economics as it moves toward a final investment decision.

Florence project

Ownership:Taseko Mines (TSX:TKO,NYSE:TGB)
Mine type: In-Situ
Deposit type: Porphyry

Located in Central Arizona, the Florence project is expected to produce 85 million pounds of copper annually. According to MDO, Florence will be one of the world’s most efficient copper producers, and copper produced on site will meet the London Metal Exchange grade A standard.

Overall, the site’s proven and probable mineral reserves are 2.32 billion pounds of contained copper from 320 million MT of ore with an average grade of 0.36 percent copper. Construction at the site reached the 56 percent mark in December of 2024 and is on track for its first production by the end of 2025.

Idaho Cobalt Operation

Ownership:Jervois Global (ASX:JRV,OTC Pink:JRVMQ)
Mine type: Underground
Deposit type: Vein / narrow vein, sediment-hosted

The Idaho Cobalt Operation (ICO) is located in Northern Idaho near the border with Montana. Even though the project is focused on cobalt production, over the seven-year life of the mine, it is planned to produce more than 15,000 MT of copper.

While the ICO is still listed as under construction, Jervois Global halted development of the mine in March 2023 due to falling cobalt prices. As of Q4 2024, construction activities remain suspended and the company is focused on maintenance and environmental compliance.

Next US copper mine: Mines being restarted

Gunnison mine

Ownership:Gunnison Copper (TSX:GCU,OTCQB:GCUMF)
Mine type: In-Situ Recovery, Open Pit
Deposit type: Skarn

Gunnison Copper, previously named Excelsior Mining, is currently developing its Gunnison mine in Arizona as an open pit mining operation. Gunnison was originally scheduled to begin operating in 2020 as an in-situ recovery project, but startup was delayed due to low flow rates. Gunnison Copper has been evaluating different alternatives to overcome the challenges and obtained permits to begin well simulation using small-scale, shallow-level hydraulic fracking.

However, the company determined that an open-pit operation has ‘substantially improved viability’ compared to the ISR operation at this time, and is now advancing the permitting process for the open pit. Gunnison intends to maintain the option of its fully permitted ISR operation and well stimulation.

Once the open-pit mine is in operation, Gunnison estimates an average annual production of 167 million pounds of copper cathode. The probable mineral reserve for the in-situ operation as of 2016 is 4.5 billion pounds of copper from 782.2 million MT of ore with an average grade of 0.29 percent. The open pit’s 2024 mineral resource estimate showed a measured and indicated resource of 5.1 billion pounds of copper from 831.6 million MT of ore with an average copper grade of 0.31 percent.

Sunshine mine

Ownership: Sunshine Silver Mining and Refining
Mine type: Underground
Deposit type: Vein / narrow vein, mesothermal

The Sunshine mine has seen production dating back to 1904, with the most recent being in 2008. The site sits within one of the most prolific mining areas of the Coeur d’Alene district in Idaho, United States. Since acquiring the project in 2010, Sunshine Silver Mining and Refining has spent more than US$100 million on-site upgrades and developments with the intent of restarting production before the end of the decade.

According to MDO, the Sunshine property hosts “one of the highest-grade, large primary silver deposits in the world.” Once restarted, it will also produce copper and several other metals as byproducts, with planned average annual copper production of 1.12 million pounds.

Next US copper mine: Copper mines in the permitting stage

Antler project

Ownership: New World Resources (ASX:NWC,OTC Pink:NWCBF)
State: Arizona
Mine type: Underground
Deposit type: Volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS)
Commodities: Copper, zinc, lead, silver, gold

As of February 2025, New World Resource’s Antler project is on track to begin construction activities in H2 2025 and complete the permitting process by early 2026. Federally, the only permit remaining is the Mine Plan of Operations, which the Bureau of Land Management stated will be evaluated under an Environmental Assessment. If things proceed as planned, the company will begin shipping concentrate by 2027.

The site hosts numerous targets and a probable copper reserve of 180,000 MT from 11 million MT of ore with an average grade of 1.6 percent copper. The company anticipates a mine life of 12.2 years with an average annual copper production of 36 million pounds and copper equivalent production of 30,100 MT.

Arctic project

Ownership:
50% – Trilogy Metals (NYSE:TMQ)
50% – South32 (ASX:S32,OTC Pink:SHTLF)
State: Alaska
Mine type: Open pit
Deposit type: VMS
Commodities: Copper, zinc, lead, silver, gold

The Arctic project is currently in the feasibility stage. Due to its location, the only significant federal permit required is the 404 wetlands permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers. The remaining permits are issued at the state level.

The site’s indicated copper resource is 2.35 billion pounds from 35.7 million MT of ore with an average grade of 2.98 percent copper. An additional 189 million pounds are inferred from 4.5 million MT of ore with an average grade of 1.92 percent. Once complete, the mine is expected to produce 234,000 MT of copper annually.

Back Forty project

Ownership: Gold Resource (NYSEAMERICAN:GORO)
State: Michigan
Mine type: Open pit and underground
Deposit type: VMS, breccia pipe/stockwork
Commodities: Gold, silver, copper, zinc

Back Forty is planned as two open pits, an underground mine and a processing plant. Once fully permitted, Gold Resource plans for a 21 month construction period before mining commences at its Pinwheel open pit. In 2021, a judge denied a wetlands permit for Back Forty due to its impact on the surrounding area. MDO reports that Gold Resource’s revised mine plan avoids impact on the region’s wetlands, which should support the mine permitting process.

Back Forty will have the capacity to produce 6.8 million pounds of copper concentrate annually. The project hosts an open pit indicated copper resource of 74 million pounds from 9.36 million MT of ore with an average grade of 0.36 percent copper, and an underground indicated copper resource of 47 million pounds from 5.1 million MT with an average grade of 0.41 percent.

Cactus Mine project

Ownership: Arizona Sonoran Copper (TSX:ASCU,OTCQX:ASCUF)
State: Arizona
Mine type: Open pit and underground
Deposit type: Porphyry
Commodities: Copper

Cactus is a brownfield development project in Central Arizona with a 5.5 kilometer mine trend. The site hosts the past-producing Sacaton mine, a mining stockpile and three primary deposits: Cactus East, Cactus West and Parks/Salyer. Arizona Sonoran Copper is working to complete a pre-feasibility study for the second half of 2025.

A Q3 2024 preliminary economic assessment( PEA) outlined a 31 year mine life with on-site production of 86,000 short tons of LME Grade A copper cathode per year. In total, the site has a measured and indicated resource of 7.29 billion pounds from 632.7 million MT of ore at an average grade of 0.576 percent copper.

CK Gold project

Ownership: US Gold (NASDAQ:USAU)
State: Wyoming
Mine type: Open pit
Deposit type: Porphyry, breccia pipe/stockwork
Commodities: Copper, gold, silver

In 2024, the CK Gold project achieved several permitting milestones. In April, US Gold received its mine operating permit, and in November, its subsidiary, Gold King, received its final permit approval from the air quality division of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. These permits were the final hurdles needed before the company began developing the project.

The company plans to produce a copper concentrate that contains gold, copper and silver. CK has a significant copper resource with proven and probable reserves totaling 248 million pounds from 70.4 million MT at an average grade of 0.18 percent copper. US Gold is working towards a feasibility study, and aims to begin construction in late-2025 or 2026 with first concentrate production in 2027 or 2028.

Copper Flat project

Ownership: THEMAC Resources (TSXV:MAC,OTC Pink:MACQF)
State: New Mexico
Mine type: Open pit
Deposit type: Porphyry, breccia pipe/stockwork, hydrothermal
Commodities: Copper, molybdenum, gold, silver

Copper Flat is a brownfield project built on a site that has seen mining dating back to the 1890s, with various companies working to bring the site back online since the 1980s. To date, THEMAC has completed its definitive feasibility and environmental studies and has received several key Federal and State permits. The state mining permit is in the advanced stage.

The site hosts a proven and probable copper reserve of 579.21 million pounds from 113.08 million MT of ore at an average grade of 0.3 percent copper.

Copperwood project

Ownership: Highland Copper (TSXV:HI,OTCQB:HDRSF)
State: Michigan
Mine type: Underground
Deposit type: Sediment-hosted
Commodities: Copper, silver

Copperwood is a fully permitted project and is in active development. Highland spent much of 2024 working to fulfill its obligations to prepare the site as required under the terms of the wetlands and streams permit. Its next development steps are metallurgic testing using ultra-fine flotation technology and community engagement as it moves towards a construction decision.

Copperwood hosts proven and probable reserves of 25.7 million MT of ore at an average grade of 1.45 percent copper for 820 million pounds of contained copper. Highland expects to produce 65 million pounds of saleable copper per year for a total of 675 million pounds over the mine’s 10.3 year life.

Copper World Complex

Ownership: Hudbay Minerals (TSX:HBM,NYSE:HBM)
State: Arizona
Mine type: Open pit
Deposit type: Porphyry, skarn
Commodities: Copper, molybdenum, silver, gold

Copper World is one of the largest copper projects in development in the United States, according to Hudbay. The company is currently in the permitting stage for Phase 1 at Copper World, which will consist of four open pits with an expected mine life of 20 years. The second phase will expand the operation and extend the life of the mine further.

The site has received all necessary state permits to begin construction and operation after it received its air quality permit in January 2025. Hudbay is expecting annual average copper production of 92,000 MT during the first 10 years and 85,000 MT over the 20 year mine life. In year five, it plans to begin copper cathode production to supply the US market.

CuMo project

Ownership: Idaho Copper (OTC Pink:COPR)
State: Idaho
Mine type: Open pit
Deposit type: Porphyry, vein/narrow vein, breccia pipe/stockwork
Commodities: Molybdenum, copper, silver, tungsten, rhenium, sulfuric acid

While Idaho Copper’s focus with CuMo is developing one of the world’s largest molybdenum mines, the company also plans to produce an average of 84 million pounds of copper metal in concentrate per year. CuMo hosts a significant measured and indicated copper resource of 3.81 million pounds.

Idaho Copper is working towards releasing an updated PEA during the first half of 2025. Additionally, the company expects to begin environmental work for its environmental impact statement sometime this year.

Empire project

Ownership:
80% – Phoenix Copper (LSE:PXC,OTCQB:PXCLF)
20% – ExGen Resources (TSXV:EXG,OTC Pink:BXXRF)
State: Idaho
Mine type: Open pit
Deposit type: Skarn, vein/narrow vein, breccia pipe/stockwork
Commodities: Copper, gold, silver

Empire is a brownfield project planned as an open-pit mine atop historic underground workings. Phoenix Copper is developing its mine plan for the Idaho Department of Lands and for federal review by the National Environmental Policy Act. The company is aiming to complete the permitting project in 2025 and begin production in 2026 using on-site, pre-owned milling equipment it purchased in 2024.

Empire’s proven and probable copper reserves are 109.45 million pounds from 10.1 million MT of ore with an average grade of 0.49 percent copper. The mill will produce a copper-gold-silver concentrate and cement copper stream, combining for 89.1 million pounds of payable copper over the nine-year life of mine.

Mason project

Ownership: Hudbay Minerals
State: Nevada
Mine type: Open pit
Deposit type: Porphyry, vein/narrow vein
Commodities: Copper, molybdenum, gold, silver

Planned for a mine life of 27 years, Mason is a significant greenfield copper deposit and one of the largest undeveloped porphyry copper deposits in North America, according to MDO. Hudbay considers Mason a ‘long-term future development asset’ and is working on enhancing project economics through metallurgical studies.

Based on its 2021 PEA, Hudbay expects the mine to produce an average of 112,000 MT of copper concentrate per year and deliver more than 10 million MT over its lifetime.

NorthMet project

Ownership:
50% – Teck (TSX:TECK.A,TECK.B,NYSE:TECK)
50% – Glencore (LSE:GLEN,OTC Pink:GLCNF)
State: Minnesota
Mine type: Open pit
Deposit type: Magmatic
Commodities: Copper, nickel, palladium, gold, platinum, cobalt, silver

The Teck and Glencore NewRange joint venture consists of two deposits: NorthMet and Mesaba. Permitting for NewRange is stalled in part due to concerns with the mine’s tailings plan. In 2025, the companies plan to advance engineering studies at NorthMet and secure updated development permits.

The Trump administration’s executive order to speed approvals of critical minerals projects could potentially help the project clear regulatory hurdles. If it is fully permitted, NorthMet is expected to deliver an average of 60 million pounds of copper concentrate per year over a 20 year mine life.

Palmer project

Ownership: American Pacific Mining (CSE:USGD,OTCQX:USGDF)
State: Alaska
Mine type: Underground
Deposit type: VMS
Commodities: Copper, zinc, silver, gold, barite, lead

American Pacific Mining is assessing its Palmer project through its five-year plan that ends in 2028. In 2024, work included environmental and permitting activities, a variety of studies in preparation for future feasibility plans and drilling to expand the mineral resource.

As of 2018, the site hosts an indicated copper resource of 154 million pounds from 4.68 million MT of ore at an average copper grade of 1.49 percent, and an inferred copper resource of 124 million pounds from 9.6 million MT of ore at an average grade of 0.59 percent.

Pebble project

Ownership: Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX:NDM,NYSE:NAK)
State: Alaska
Mine type: Open pit
Deposit type: Porphyry
Commodities: Copper, molybdenum, gold, silver, rhenium

According to MDO, Pebble is the world’s largest known undeveloped resource of copper as well as gold. The project has been stalled since November 2020, when the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) rejected its permit applications due to environmental concerns. Since then, Northern Dynasty has been suing to overturn the rejection.

In February 2025, court proceedings were suspended for 90 days at the request of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the USACE. This followed the confirmation of a new EPA administrator and Trump’s executive order supporting critical mineral projects. However, it still remains to be seen whether the Trump administration will support Pebble this time around, as the previous rejection was made during his first term.

Pebble is planned to produce an estimated average of 320 million pounds of copper concentrate annually, from a measured and indicated resource base of 52.99 billion pounds of copper.

Pumpkin Hollow project

Ownership: Kinterra Capital
State: Nevada
Mine type: Open pit
Deposit type: Skarn, breccia pipe/stockwork, iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG)
Commodities: Copper, gold, silver

The Pumpkin Hollow project hosts a fully permitted open pit project and a fully permitted and constructed underground mine. Production and development were suspended at the operations after its previous owner Nevada Copper filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2024. That October, Pumpkin Hollow was acquired for US$128 million by an affiliate company of private equity firm Kinterra Capital, which plans to advance the assets.

Proven and probable copper reserves at Pumpkin Hollow’s open pit project total 3.59 billion pounds from 385.7 million MT of ore with an average grade of 0.47 percent copper. The open pit is expected to produce an annual average of 163 million pounds of payable copper. Additionally, the underground mine is projected to produce 50 million pounds of payable copper annually once it is restarted.

Resolution project

Ownership:
55% – Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO)
45% – BHP Group (ASX:BHP,NYSE:BHP,LSE:BHP)
State: Arizona
Mine type: Underground
Deposit type: Porphyry
Commodities: Copper, molybdenum, silver

The Resolution project has the potential to supply 25 percent of the total US copper demand, with planned production of 40 billion pounds of copper over its 40 year mine life.

Permitting for the project has been underway for over a decade, and the US Forest Service published and then rescinded the project’s final environmental impact statement in early 2021. The local Apache Tribe has taken legal action to stop the proposed mine as the deposit sits under a site of religious importance.

According to BHP’s 2024 annual report, the Resolution joint venture and the US Forest Service are focused on further consultation with Native American Tribes to mitigate harm to the region. The agency has said there is currently no timeline for republication of the final environmental impact statement. After Trump took office in January, Rio Tinto’s CEO said he is optimistic the president will grant Resolution’s final permits.

On April 19, Resolution was included as one of the initial 10 projects for the federal government’s permitting transparency initiative. The program is designed to produce greater predictability in the permitting process. According to the federal page for the project, ‘a permitting timetable will be published for this project on or before May 2, 2025.’

Santa Cruz project

Ownership: Ivanhoe Electric (TSX:IE,NYSE:IE)
State: Arizona
Mine type: Underground
Deposit type: Porphyry, breccia pipe/stockwork, vein/narrow vein
Commodities: Copper

The Santa Cruz copper project is located on private land in Arizona. It is designed to minimize environmental impact, with a small surface footprint and the use of modern technology and on-site renewable energy to supply up to 70 percent of its energy demand.

A December 2022 mineral reserve estimate reported an indicated copper resource of 2.8 million MT of copper from 226.72 million MT of ore with an average grade of 1.24 percent copper, and an inferred resource of 1.85 million MT copper from 149 million MT at the same grade.

Ivanhoe Electric is aggressively working through engineering design and permitting applications for the project. As of February 2025, it has received 10 permits or rights supporting exploration activities, land use conversion and land reclamation. The company plans to submit its major site plan, aquifer protection permits and encroachment permit in Q2.

In April, the company received a letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States for potential debt financing of US$825 million. Ivanhoe is on track to release a prefeasibility study in June 2025, and it ‘anticipates permits will be received and initial construction activities will begin in the first half of 2026.’

Tamarack North project

Ownership:
51% – Talon Metals (TSX:TLO,OTC Pink:TLOFF)
49% – Rio Tinto
State: Minnesota
Mine type: Underground
Deposit type: Porphyry
Commodities: Nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum, palladium, gold

Tamarack is one of only three high-grade nickel sulfide deposits discovered in this century. Due to its significance, the US Department of Energy has selected it to receive a US$114.8 million grant for the construction of a battery mineral processing facility.

Despite its nickel primary status, the project will produce 24,000 MT of copper concentrate annually as a by-product material from an indicated resource of 8.56 million MT of ore grading 0.92 percent copper. Talon currently plans to begin construction in 2026, with production beginning in late 2027.

Twin Metals Minnesota project

Ownership: Antofagasta (LSE:ANTO,OTC Pink:ANFGF)
State: Minnesota
Mine type: Underground
Deposit type: Magmatic
Commodities: Copper, nickel, platinum, palladium, gold, silver, cobalt, lead

Twin Metals Minnesota’s development is currently on hold after hitting multiple roadblocks, including the rejection of its mine plan and cancelling of two federal mining leases due to concerns tailings from the mine will impact the Superior National Forest and Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

In 2022, Antofagasta’s subsidiary Twin Metals engaged in litigation against the US government over the actions, and in September 2023, the district court dismissed the company’s claims, siding with the government. Twin Metals filed an appeal in November of that year.

If approved, the mine is expected to produce 158,000 MT of copper annually. The company said it is studying the possible impact of Trump’s executive order.

Van Dyke project

Ownership: Copper Fox Metals (TSXV:CUU,OTCQX:CPFXF)
State: Arizona
Mine type: In-situ
Deposit type: Porphyry, breccia pipe/stockwork, vein/narrow vein
Commodities: Copper

The Van Dyke project covers a project area of 531.5 hectares and hosts historical mine workings, which produced 11.5 million pounds of copper between 1929 and 1945 and an additional 5 million pounds between 1988 and 1989.

In a 2020 PEA, Copper Fox reported an after-tax net present value of US$644.7 million, an internal rate of return of 43.4 percent and a payback period of 2.1 years. The company forecasts a mine life of 17 years and annual average copper production of 85 million pounds. Copper Fox is currently advancing the project towards a pre-feasibility study.

White Pine North project

Ownership:
66% – Kinterra Capital
34% – Highland Copper
State: Michigan
Mine type: Underground
Deposit type: Sediment-hosted
Commodities: Copper, silver

Kinterra Capital is the operator of White Pine North as of 2023, when Highland sold it 66 percent of the project. In June 2024, the company initiated an environmental baseline study for White Pine North that would be key to supporting its ongoing permitting operations. Using room-and-pillar mining, the partners plan to use begin production at the first panel in 2027 and expect a four-year ramp-up to full plant throughput.

The project hosts a measured and indicated copper resource of 3.5 billion pounds from 133.4 MT of ore with an average grade of 1.05 percent copper and an additional inferred copper resource of 2.18 billion pounds from 97.2 MT of ore with an average grade of 1.03 percent. Average annual payable copper metal production is projected at 94 million pounds.

Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, own shares of Northern Dynasty.

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Trump Administration Fast Tracks Permitting for Key US Mining Projects

April 24, 2025 Investing 3 Mins Read

The Trump administration has fast tracked the permitting of 10 US mining projects under the FAST-41 infrastructure initiative, escalating the government’s strategy of bolstering domestic minerals output and reducing foreign reliance.

The announcement, made on April 18 by the White House and the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council), comes in direct response to President Donald Trump’s executive order, which mandates swift and accountable action to facilitate the development of the nation’s vast mineral reserves.

“This is the first use of the Permitting Council’s transparency authority, and we look forward to showcasing the many benefits the Federal Permitting Dashboard can bring to critical infrastructure projects,” said Manisha Patel, acting executive director at the Permitting Council.

The ten projects, which include sites for lithium, copper, antimony, phosphate, potash, and metallurgical coal, have been formally granted FAST-41 status—a designation from the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act that streamlines environmental reviews and interagency coordination for major infrastructure projects.

The status does not exempt them from environmental regulations but aims to cut bureaucratic delays and improve transparency by publishing real-time permitting progress on a federal dashboard.

Among the fast-tracked projects are:

McDermitt exploration project in Oregon — HiTech Minerals
Caldwell Canyon phosphate mine in Idaho
Lisbon Valley copper project in Utah
Michigan potash project
Libby exploration project in Montana

While some of these projects are still in exploration or environmental assessment stages, their inclusion on the dashboard signals priority status.

In practice, this means their permitting timelines will now be coordinated among relevant agencies and tracked publicly to reduce administrative redundancies that have historically delayed US mining ventures for up to a decade.

The move underscores the Trump administration’s broader policy of “American Energy Dominance,” which includes securing domestic supply chains for critical materials used in electronics, electric vehicles, clean energy technologies, and military hardware.

A recent Interior statement warned that continued dependence on imports—especially from geopolitical competitors like China—poses a threat to national security.

“For too long, duplicative processes and regulatory paralysis have delayed the development of the minerals America needs to power everything from national defense systems to smartphones,” Adam Suess, Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management at the Department of the Interior, emphasized in the same release.

“By cutting red tape and increasing accountability, we’re making it clear that under President Trump, the United States is serious about being a global leader in critical minerals,” Suess added.

The designation also includes expansions to lithium projects, with Albemarle’s Silver Peak Mine in Nevada—currently the only operating lithium mine in the US—now poised for accelerated expansion.

The focus on lithium, antimony, copper, and rare earth elements comes as the US seeks to diversify supply away from China, which currently dominates the global trade in many of these strategic materials.

Furthermore, the announcement follows President Trump’s directive earlier this month to launch a federal probe into possible new tariffs on all critical mineral imports, signaling a more aggressive stance toward reshoring key elements of the nation’s industrial supply chain.

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

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Oil and Gas Price Update: Q1 2025 in Review

April 24, 2025 Investing 7 Mins Read

The oil sector faced volatility throughout the first quarter of 2025.

Concerns around weak demand, increasing supply and trade tensions came to head in early April, pushing oil prices to four year lows and eroding the support Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) had above the US$65 per barrel level.

Starting the year at US$75 (Brent) and US$72 (WTI), the oil benchmarks rallied in mid-January, reaching five month highs of US$81.86 and US$78.90, respectively. Tariff threats and trade tensions between the US and China, along with soft demand in Asia and Europe, dampened the global economic outlook for 2025 and added headwinds for oil prices.

This pressure caused oil prices to slip to Q1 lows of US$69.12 (Brent) and US$66.06 (WTI) in early March.

“The macroeconomic conditions that underpin our oil demand projections deteriorated over the past month as trade tensions escalated between the United States and several other countries,” a March oil market report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) notes, highlighting the downside risks of US tariffs and retaliatory measures.

The instability and weaker-than-expected consumption from advanced and developing economies prompted the IEA to downgrade its growth estimates for Q4 2024 and Q1 2025 to about 1.2 million barrels per day.

Despite the uncertain outlook, an announcement that OPEC+ would extend a 2.2 million barrel per day production cut into Q2 added some support to the market amid global growth concerns and rising output in the US.

Prices spiked at the end of March, pushing both benchmarks to within a dollar of their 2025 start values. However, the rally was short-lived and prices had plummeted by April 9.

Oil prices fall as OPEC hikes output and supply risks mount

WTI price performance, December 31, 2024, to April 23, 2025.

Sinking to four year lows, Brent and WTI fell below the critical US$60 per barrel threshold, to US$58.62 (Brent) and US$55.38 (WTI), lows not seen since April 2021. The decline saw prices shed more than 21 percent between January and April shaking the market and investor confidence.

Watch Hansen discuss where oil and other commodities are heading.

According to Hansen, if prices remain in the high US$50 range US production will likely decrease, aiding in a broader market realignment. ‘Eventually we will see production start to slow in the US, probably other places as well, and that will help balance the market,” the expert explained in the interview. “Helping to offset some of the risk related to recession, but also some of the production increases that we’re seeing from OPEC.”

In early April, OPEC+ did an about face when it announced plans for a significant increase in oil production, marking its first output hike since 2022. The group plans to add 411,000 barrels per day (bpd) to the market starting in May, effectively accelerating its previously gradual supply increase strategy.

Although the group cited “supporting market stability” as the reasoning behind the increase, some analysts believe the decision is a punitive one targeted at countries like Iraq and Kazakhstan who consistently exceed production quotas.

“(The increase) is basically in order to punish some of the over producers,” said Hansen. He went on to explain that Kazakhstan produced 400,000 barrels beyond its quota.

If these countries return to their agreed limits, it could offset OPEC’s planned production hikes.

At the same time, US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela may tighten global supply further, while a growing military presence in the Middle East also signals rising geopolitical risks, particularly involving Iran.

Oil price forecast for 2025

As such Hansen expects prices to fluctuate between US$60 to US$80 for the rest of the year.

“(I am) struggling to see, prices collapse much further than that, simply because it will have a counterproductive impact on supply and that will eventually help stabilize prices,” said Hansen.

Hansen’s projections also fall inline with data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). The organization downgraded the US$74 Brent price forecast it set in March to US$68 in April.

The EIA foresees US and global oil production to continue rising in 2025, as OPEC+ speeds up its planned output increases and US energy remains exempt from new tariffs.

Starting mid-year, global oil inventories are projected to build. However, the EIA warns that economic uncertainty could dampen demand growth for petroleum products, potentially falling short of earlier forecasts.

“The combination of growing supply and lower demand leads EIA to expect the Brent crude oil price to average less than US$70 per barrel in 2025 and fall to an average of just over US$60 per barrel in 2026,” the April report read.

Supply concerns add tailwinds for natural gas

On the natural gas side, Q1 was marked by tight conditions amid rising demand. A colder-than-normal winter led to increased consumption, with US natural gas withdrawals in Q1 exceeding the five-year average.

Starting the year at US$3.59 per metric million British thermal units, prices rose to a year-to-date high of US$4.51 on March 10. Values pulled back by the end of the 90 day period to the US$4.09 level, registering a 13.9 percent increase for Q1.

‘Cold weather during January and February led to increased natural gas consumption and large natural gas withdrawals from inventories,” a March report from the EIA explains.

Natural gas price performance, December 31, 2024, to April 23, 2025.

“(The) EIA now expects natural gas inventories to fall below 1.7 trillion cubic feet at the end of March, which is 10 percent below the previous five-year average and 6 percent less natural gas in storage for that time of year than EIA had expected last month,’ the document continues.

Natural gas price forecast for 2025

Following record setting demand growth in 2024 the gas market is expected to remain tight through 2025, amid market expansion from Asian countries.

The IEA also pointed to price volatility brought on geopolitical tensions as a factor that could move markets.

“Though the halt of Russian piped gas transit via Ukraine on 1 January 2025 does not pose an imminent supply security risk for the European Union, it could increase LNG import requirements and tighten market fundamentals in 2025,” the organization notes in a gas market report for Q1.

Although the market is forecasted to remain tight the IEA expects growth in global gas demand to slow to below 2 percent in 2025. Similarly to 2024’s trajectory, growth is set to be largely driven by Asia, which is expected to account for almost 45 percent of incremental gas demand, the report read.

THe US-based EIA has a more optimistic outlook for the domestic gas sector, projecting the annual demand growth rate to be 4 percent for 2025.

“This increase is led by an 18 percent increase in exports and a 9 percent increase in residential and commercial consumption for space heating,” an April EIA market overview states.

The report attributes the expected export growth to increased liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments out of two new LNG export facilities, Plaquemines Phase 1 and Golden Pass LNG.

Venture Global’s (NYSE:VG) Plaquemines LNG facility in Louisiana commenced production in December 2024 and is currently in the commissioning phase.

Once fully operational, it is expected to have a capacity of 20 million metric tons per annum. The facility has entered into binding long-term sales agreements for its full capacity

Golden Pass LNG, a joint venture between ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) and state-owned QatarEnergy, is under construction in Sabine Pass, Texas. The project has faced delays due to the bankruptcy of a key contractor, with Train 1 now expected to be operational by late 2025 . Upon completion, Golden Pass LNG will have an export capacity of up to 18.1 million metric tons per annum.

The EIA forecasts natural gas prices to average US$4.30 in 2025, a US$2.10 increase from 2025. Farther ahead the EIA has a more modest forecast of US$4.60 for 2026.

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

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