CHF WEEKLY ROUND-UP: December 8-12, 2025

There is an old adage that goes “the amount of Christmas lights on display reflects the level of optimism in the economy.” Optimism appears to be in limited supply this year by that measure. Global markets do not agree with that assessment as World shares continued to track the U.S. stock market’s rise to record highs. Next week is the last whole week of trading in 2025, but expectations are that the bull will continue to run well into next year.  The TSX made another all-time high yesterday. Rotation away from some of the big names drove the Venture Exchange up to a level last seen more than four years ago, although well below the peaks of 2007. So, lots of room to run for the juniors. The Bank of Canada (BoC), as widely expected, held steady on interest rates, keeping the overnight rate at 2.25%. Governor Macklem said the policy rate is intended to keep inflation close to 2%, while also helping the economy through a period of “structural adjustment.” Private sector economists now believe the central bank will hold its current policy interest rate through the first few months of 2026, even though the rate is not low enough to stimulate growth in the Canadian economy, and further cuts in 2026 should not be ruled out. 

The Santa Claus rally continued, but with Tech the only sector in the red. The U.S. markets hit new all-time highs on the S&P 500 and Dow. NASDAQ remained flat throughout the month, and worries persist about a potential bubble in artificial-intelligence technology, the debt levels that AI companies are taking on and how they will pay it off. Rebalancing of holdings could be seen as investors took funds from Technology stocks that had risen so high that they represented a massive overweight position. Movement was out of Communication Services and Technology stocks to Industrials, Financials, and the Health sectors. In line with expectations, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) reduced its key interest rate for the third time in a row on Wednesday by a quarter-point to about 3.6%, the lowest it has been in nearly three years, but also signalled that it may leave rates unchanged in the coming months. The U.S. dollar softened against world currencies following the rate announcement, continuing a month-long slide. The appointment of the new Fed Chair is expected early in the new year, as Chair Powell’s term ends, and could change the dynamic around rates significantly, especially as President Trump thinks more should be done to lower interest rates.  The interest rate cut was positive for precious metals, and gold prices are solidly higher and hit a seven-week high of USD$4,337.60/oz in early U.S. trading today. Silver is higher and hit another record high of USD$64.65/oz overnight, opening at USD$63.93/oz this morning. Even Goldman Sachs said on Wednesday that it sees significant upside beyond its current gold price forecast of USD$4,900/oz for 2026. Other analysts expect silver prices to hit USD$75.00/oz in 2026. The high season for precious metals runs from now into the spring; hang on to your gold, silver and metal shares, and be invested in growth-oriented mid-sized producers and Juniors on a discovery track, with holdings in the prolific camps. Copper prices have risen almost 5% this month, reaching USD$5.40/lb today. Copper is expected to enter a period of demand-driven rising prices next year. If this plays out, the winners will be those issuers sitting on real discoveries and building resources with the ability to move quickly. Nickel prices have declined 2.2% this month, continuing a slump that began at the end of October.  Critical metals markets may see increased cobalt supply as the DRC resumes exports this week, and Russia triples production by restarting an offline plant. Prices ticked up slightly.  Lithium prices have remained rangebound near USD$13.25/kg for two years. It is still a waiting game in battery materials, and the needed catalyst has not appeared. Issuers with high-quality projects across multiple battery commodities and in favourable jurisdictions that have the financial ability to sustain through tight markets should continue to be considered for investment. The massive infrastructure investment focused on energy production and transmission, has not arrived yet.  We are pleased to present our round-up of client news released between December 8 and 12, 2025.

Mining

On December 9, 2025, Arya Resources Ltd. (TSXV: RBZ) announced that the Company's Critical Metals flow-through private placement is now fully subscribed for gross proceeds of $500,000, through the issuance of 1,515,151 flow-through shares at $0.33 per share.  The Company also confirmed the previously announced $600,000 financing of 2,000,000 common shares, priced at $0.30 per share. Arya also reported an increase in the previously announced non-critical flow-through private placement to $720,000 representing 2,181,818 flow-through shares at $0.33 per share.

On December 9, 2025, Athena Gold Corporation (CSE: ATHA) (OTCQB: AHNRF) announced the closing of the first tranche of a non-brokered private placement previously announced to raise up to CDN$3,100,000. An aggregate of CDN$2,727,526.03 has been raised in the first tranche, consisting of the following:

• CDN$1,331,801.03 through the issuance of 19,025,729 flow-through units at a price of CDN$0.07 per FT Unit;

• CDN $1,015,500.08 through the issuance of 14,507,144 Critical Metal flow-through common shares at a price of CDN$0.07 per Share; and

• CDN $380,224.92 through the issuance of 6,337,082 common share units at a price of CDN$0.06 per NFT Unit. 
  

Due to high investor interest the Company expects that the Common Share Units will be oversubscribed by approximately CDN$400,000, to raise a total of CDN$900,000, with the issuance of up to 15,000,000 Common Share Units.

On December 9, 2025, Pirate Gold Corp. (TSXV: YARR) (OTCQB: SICNF) announced the appointment of Dr. Richard J. Goldfarb, one of the world's leading authorities on orogenic gold deposits, as Strategic Advisor, as it advances exploration at its Treasure Island Project along the Valentine Lake Fault Zone. "Having Dr. Goldfarb join Pirate Gold as a strategic advisor is a major milestone," said Denis Laviolette, Executive Chairman and CEO. "His work shaped the global exploration playbook for orogenic gold. Treasure Island is exactly the type of system where his expertise becomes a real differentiator. This strengthens every step of our technical approach."  Dr. Goldfarb spent 36 years as a senior research geologist with the United States Geological Survey and has authored more than 350 scientific publications that define the global understanding of orogenic gold systems. He has delivered more than 350 invited talks across 40 countries, has more than 25,000 citations, and has received the most prestigious honours in the field of economic geology, including the Society of Economic Geologist's Silver and Penrose Gold Medals, as well as the Newmont Gold Medal, awarded by the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits."

Orogenic systems are responsible for many of the world's largest and most continuous gold deposits," said Dr. Goldfarb. "Treasure Island sits in a highly prospective accretionary belt with the right structures, the right chemistry, and the right scale. The opportunity here is significant and I look forward to supporting the team as they develop this emerging district." Pirate Gold has released Season 1, Episode 1 of “Pirate Gold Treasure Hunters”, the Company's new documentary-style video series: View Here.

Pirate Gold Treasure Hunters - S1 EP1 - Welcome to Treasure Island