CHF WEEKLY ROUND-UP: April 14-17, 2025

This is a shortened trading week as markets head into Easter weekend. Markets are closed tomorrow, and open on Monday. Globally markets continue to struggle with the U.S. tariff-caused turmoil.  Canadian markets held their own this week, with the TSX gaining 1.2% so far, and the Venture exchange up 2.4% this week. The heavy nature of commodities in Canadian stock listings seems to be benefiting the domestic investor. Wednesday, the Bank of Canada (BoC) kept its interest rate on hold at 2.75 per cent, following seven consecutive cuts since June 2024. BoC governor Tiff Macklem said: “The dramatic protectionist shift in U.S. trade policy and the chaotic delivery have increased uncertainty, roiled financial markets, diminished global growth prospects and raised inflation expectations”. There may be a few more rate cuts in before the end of the easing cycle, with as much as a half-point cut in June 2025, dependent on what happens during the next six weeks in terms of U.S. trade policy.  U.S. markets were up one day and down the next, depending on the trade/tariff announcement of the day, with all major indices down 2- 3 % so far in the trading week. Tariff exemptions on some auto parts and semiconductors were announced, and additional random tweaks may be forthcoming in response to market action. The ninety-day clock to full-tariff implementation is ticking away, and some negotiations have started, but progress with major trading partners is slow. The Federal Reserve is under pressure from the President to cut rates, but with a month to go before making any interest rate announcements, Chair Powell seems unready to provide any relief as the inflationary impact of tariffs is still unknown. The European Central Bank (ECB) cut interest rates by a quarter point this morning. On Wednesday, Powell said, “Unemployment is likely to go up as the economy slows, and inflation is likely to go up as tariffs find their way into the economy, and some part of those tariffs comes to be paid by the public. The U.S. dollar (USD) remains at its lowest level against global currencies since the beginning of 2022, which may be good for exports but also increases inflation.  On Wednesday, gold had an unprecedented climb to new all-time highs above USD$3,357/oz and continued to hold its ground at USD$3,327 this morning. Yet U.S. consumers remain resilient in the face of growing recession and inflation fears. Silver continues to underperform gold, unable to rise beyond USD$33/oz and falling to USD$32.30/oz this morning. Analysts believe that silver should do well as robust industrial demand overshadows diminishing supplies, noting that production of the precious metal is expected to see its fifth consecutive annual deficit. The “Gold to Silver” ratio is over 100, at all-time highs, and a significant increase in silver prices is being called for. Hang on to your gold and gold shares, all signs continue to point upward.  Gold producers are actively contacting juniors with attractive projects looking to participate and possibly acquire additional resources on the ground.  Base and industrial metals prices made lows for the year at the beginning of April and are showing some recovery, mostly due to the decline in the USD.  Copper is the target of a review under Section 232 (national security provision) of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the same U.S. law used to impose 25% global tariffs on steel and aluminum. Overall signs are still that demand is expected to be very weak in expectation of a global slowdown caused by the tariff turmoil. Copper continues to be a metal of interest, and larger companies are still looking at juniors with well-located projects with resources in the ground.  Battery and critical materials have shown little inclination to rise in price. Chinese control of these markets continues, and the list of materials banned for export to the U.S. in retaliation for tariffs is growing.  We are pleased to present our round-up of client news released between April 14 and 17, 2025.   Mining On April 16, 2025, Athena Gold Corporation (CSE: ATHA) (OTCQB: AHNR) announced the completion of its redomicile from the State of Delaware to the Province of British Columbia, Canada, by way of a merger into its British Columbia subsidiary, Nova Athena Gold Corp. under section 275 of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia), together with concurrent name change, to form the amalgamated corporation which will continue under the name "Athena Gold Corporation” and the current trading symbols  "ATHA" on the Canadian Securities Exchange and on the OTCQB under trading symbol "AHNR" remain in use. 

The Redomestication was approved by the shareholders at its Annual General and Special Meeting, held March 27, 2025, with approximately 78.75% of the votes cast in favour thereof. The Company has set April 24, 2025, as the "Record Date", subject to approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange. At that time, the Resulting Issuer's common shares will commence trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange under its new ISIN/CUSIP Number. The new ISIN Number is CA04684R1055 and the new CUSIP Number is 04684R105. 

The Company's transfer agent, Endeavor Trust Corporation, has mailed a letter of transmittal to all registered shareholders of Athena Gold whose common shares are held in the form of physical share certificates. Registered shareholders are required to deposit their original share certificate(s), together with a duly completed Letter of Transmittal, with Endeavor. Once received, Endeavor will deliver shares in the name of the Resulting Issuer to the registered shareholder. 

On April 16, 2025, Rocky Shore Gold Ltd. (CSE: RSG) announced that its initial prospecting and surface sampling program at its 100%-owned, district-scale Gold Anchor Project, located in Newfoundland, has identified a highly prospective 6.0-kilometre-long gold target termed the Lane Pond Gold Target. The Target is located above the Appleton Fault Corridor, a known gold-bearing fault on the adjoining Queensway Project controlled by New Found Gold Corp. Additional gold-bearing targets have also been identified proximal to the JBP Fault Corridor and the newly discovered North and South Fault Corridors. The Company now controls more than 20 kilometres of the Appleton Fault Corridor, more than 50 kilometres of the JBP Fault Corridor and prospective additional major underexplored faults. The Appleton Fault Corridor and JBP Fault Corridor are known to host significant gold discoveries and gold deposits northeast of the Gold Anchor Project in central Newfoundland (see Map 1).

Map 1: Emerging Central Gold District with Extensive Gold-Bearing Faults

Ken Lapierre, President and CEO of Rocky Shore, commented, “This is an exciting time to be shareholders of Rocky Shore Gold. The Gold Anchor Project, part of a promising gold district, continues to yield excellent results. Despite limited exploration on less than 10% of the project, we've identified numerous high-priority areas, including the 6.0-kilometre-long Lane Pond Gold Target along the Appleton Fault Corridor, known for major gold deposits. This spring, we'll conduct surface geophysics and basal till sampling at Lane Pond to prioritize areas for our first-ever diamond drill core program. Additionally, we look forward to expanding our reconnaissance program of soil/till sampling and “boots on the ground” prospecting over prospective gold target areas identified to date once winter breakup is complete!” 

2024-25 Updated Exploration Summary Highlights 

Gold-Bearing Structures Identified: known major faults identified trending southwest onto the Gold Anchor Project, including the Dog Bay Line Fault, the gold-bearing Appleton and JBP Fault Corridors and the Grub Line Fault.

• Additional Faults Identified: preliminary studies identify the newly discovered North and South Fault Corridors. Both faults are located between the gold-bearing Appleton and JBP Fault Corridors.

• Lane Pond Gold Target Identified: the 6.0-kilometre-long Lane Pond Gold Target discovered along trend to the southwest of the known gold-bearing Appleton Fault Corridor. The Appleton Fault hosts significant gold discoveries and gold deposits on the adjoining ground. Values from soil, till and historic till and float samples at Lane Pond ranged from 0.005 g/t gold up to 8.7 g/t gold. Future planned exploration will include a diamond drill program in the summer of 2025.

• Additional Gold Target Areas Identified: Seven (7) additional gold target areas were discovered along the JBP, North and South Fault Corridors and the Grub Line Fault. Follow-up surface work planned for the summer of 2025.

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On April 16, 2025, Libra Lithium Corp. accepted the 2024 Bernie Schnieders Discovery of the Year Award for its spodumene discovery at its Soules Bay-Caron Project in Ontario, Canada ("SBC" or the "Project"). 

Awarded annually by the Northwestern Ontario Prospectors Association, this prestigious honour celebrates groundbreaking discoveries made in Northwestern Ontario during the previous calendar year. It was presented to Libra on April 15, 2025,  at the annual awards banquet during the 2025 Ontario Prospectors Exploration Showcase in Thunder Bay, Ontario. With this achievement, Libra has joined the ranks of past winners, including Great Bear Resources and Frontier Lithium. 

The award is named in honour of the memory of Bernie Schnieders, P.Geo, a long-time supporter of exploration and mining in Northwest Ontario and Thunder Bay District Region Resident Geologist at the Ontario Geological Survey, and with the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development & Mines. 

Koby Kushner, CEO of Libra Lithium and Athena Gold Corp  (CSE: ATHA) (OTCQB: AHNR) said: “Ben Kuzmich MSc. PGeo. said it best during his speech last night: there's more discoverers than there are discoveries. 

Thank you to everyone at Team Libra Lithium Corp., Ben Kuzmich MSc. PGeo., Andrew Jedemann, M.Sc., P.Geo, Andrew Best, Lot Koopmans, the Bayside Geoscience crew (Cameron Mitchell, Stephen Greiner, Steven Flank), Jason LeBlanc of Bounty Gold Corp (two winning years in a row for this legendary prospector), and importantly, our supportive investors, who I consider to be our partners, and everyone else who participated with us at any step of the journey. There's only a handful of investors in Libra, you know exactly who you are. 

Thanks for believing in the story. Looking forward to continuing to work with some amazing people as we approach the next exploration season with KoBold Metals and go-public with PowerStone Metals (CSE:PS): Alex McAulay, Carlo Rigillo CPA, CA, Zachary Goldenberg, Ray D. Harari, Cathy Hume.”

Left to right: Andrew Jedemann (Exploration Manager), Ben Kuzmich (VP Exploration), Koby Kushner (CEO), Percy Clark (Director, NWOPA) 

On April 17, 2025, Athena Gold Corporation (CSE: ATHA) (OTCQB: AHNR) announced plans for its upcoming exploration program at its recently acquired Laird Lake project, located in Ontario’s prolific Red Lake Gold District. The Laird Lake project, spanning 4,158 hectares and covering more than 10 km of Balmer-Confederation Assemblage contact, represents an underexplored portion of the camp. The project is road-accessible and lies approximately 10 km west of West Red Lake Gold Mines’ flagship Madsen mine, and 34 km northwest of Kinross Gold’s Great Bear project. Laird Lake 2025 Field Season: Starting May 2025, the Company plans to collect approximately 2,000 till samples over its Laird Lake project (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Map over Laird Lake project, showing proposed till sample locations, key structures, and areas of known mineralization.

The program will range from 100 m x 100 m grid spacing within the Balmer and Confederation assemblages and expand to 200 m x 200 m within the surrounding felsic intrusive bodies.  With the results from this upcoming program, Athena hopes to outline zones of new mineralization within the Laird Lake project, where recent grab samples returned up to 373 g/t Au. Athena is aiming to use the same sampling methodology used at West Red Lake Gold’s nearby Madsen project, which successfully confirmed existing mineralization and outlined potential new zones. Athena expects to have the final results from the program in mid-summer, which will guide follow-up field work focused on de-risking the Company’s maiden drill program at Laird Lake. “The proposed till survey is an important de-risking exercise for the Laird Lake project. Our philosophy is never to rush into a drill program; we want to do all our homework first and maximize our chances of knocking it out of the park the first go-around. This will be an extensive, tightly spaced survey, and we expect supplementing the results with our existing dataset, which includes LiDAR, detailed mapping, magnetics, and EM, will help to better define priority drill targets,” said Koby Kushner, CEO of Athena.  Nevada Update: The Company recently completed a regional prospecting and mapping program over its 100%-owned Excelsior Springs Au-Ag project in Nevada, where initial results returned surface grab samples up to 6,630 g/t Ag. All analytical results from the program are in hand, and on the back of these results, it has mobilized staking activities to expand its land holdings near its Excelsior Springs project. The Company plans to release additional results from the program after staking activities have been completed. The Company has received third-party interest regarding potential joint venture partnerships and earn-in agreements across its Nevada portfolio.