CHF WEEKLY ROUND-UP: May 5-9, 2025

Global markets are advancing as investors are hopeful for weekend trade talks between China and the U.S., following the announcement of a trade agreement with the USA and the UK that would lower some tariffs between the two countries. However, the details still need to be worked out and passed by the UK Parliament. India is rumoured to be close behind but needs to avoid a war with Pakistan. President Trump needs to declare some victories in his trade wars, sooner rather than later, and work to keep markets buoyant and avoid a recession caused by those tariff wars. We are five weeks into the 90-day pause in full tariff implementation, and no rush of deals, so expect more “Agreements in Principle” and an extended period to work them out.

Canadian markets have been positive since election day, with the TSX up 2.1% and the Venture exchange up 3.6% in the last two weeks. Prime Minister Carney went to Washington and met with President Trump, but it was mostly posturing, and no Trade agreement or tariff relief was expected nor obtained. Statistics Canada says the economy added 7,400 jobs in April, but the unemployment rate rose for the second straight month, up two-tenths of a point to 6.9% in April, as employers are not hiring as quickly as the still-growing population.

The Bank of England (BoE) cut interest rates to 4.25% on lower inflation, as the BoE governor welcomed the U.S. tariff deal, but remained unsure of what it provided.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged at 4.3% for the third consecutive meeting, despite President Donald Trump’s ongoing demands to lower borrowing costs. Chair Powell underscored that the tariffs have dampened consumer and business sentiment and that while the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen, they have not yet begun to noticeably harm the economy. Powell said, “There’s just so much that we don’t know, but we’re in a good position to wait and see.” The U.S. dollar (USD) was a bit stronger on the rate hold. Many economists and Wall Street investors expect the Fed will reduce rates two or three times this year, but there is fear that all the uncertainty created by tariffs could be enough to force the economy into a recession.

On Wednesday, China’s central bank cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to 1.5% in another effort to bolster its economy amidst the country’s ongoing trade war with the United States. The move included cutting short-term interest rates and the amount of funds banks are required to hold in reserve.

Gold opens today at USD$3,325.50/oz, rebounding from some selling pressure as it continues to build a base of support over USD$3,300/oz since the peak of USD$3,500/oz on April 22, 2025. The head of global investment strategy at JPMorgan has a base-case scenario where U.S. and global GDP are rising as gold goes to USD$4,000/oz during the next 12 months. Led by excellent results from the major producers, gold stocks have recently broken out of a major five-year base, and mid-sized companies are about to follow. Australian-based Gold Road Resources announced it has agreed to a USD$3.7 billion takeover by South Africa's Gold Fields. 

Base and industrial metal prices have been impacted by significant pre-tariff stockpiling, but optimism surrounding the U.S.-China trade meetings has them moving up today. Copper is at USD$4.30/lb. This morning, Nickel is at USD$7.09/lb. Aluminum, Lead, and Zinc have also bounced up. Global electrification is expected to increase annual copper demand to 36.6 million tonnes by 2031. Prices for nickel fell by more than 7% in 2024 and are up about 3% so far this year. Share prices of the major metal producers remain fundamentally solid opportunities, with issues related to growing resources on the ground being attractive.

Battery, electric, and energy commodity prices remained weak after the rush to stock up on these materials ahead of tariff implementation subsided. Under tariff pressure, prices continue to be at multi-year lows. Producers are investing in sources for these materials outside of China, especially Rare Earth Elements (REEs). Shares in this area are massively undervalued.

We are pleased to present our round-up of client news released between May 5 and May 9, 2025.

Mining

On May 6, 2025, Athena Gold Corporation (CSE: ATHA) (OTCQB: AHNRF) announced that its common shares have resumed trading on the OTCQB in the United States under the new symbol "AHNRF" effective at the opening of trading on May 6, 2025.

The change in the trading symbol is due to the recent completion on April 15, 2025, of Athena Gold's redomicile from Delaware to British Columbia and merger with its British Columbia subsidiary, Nova Athena Gold Corp., with the Company retaining the name Athena Gold Corporation. The Company's trading symbol on the Canadian Securities Exchange remained unchanged at "ATHA". Pursuant to the Securities and Exchange Commission rules and regulations, the Company qualified as a Foreign Private Issuer effective April 15, 2025.

On May 7, 2025, Sokoman Minerals Corp. (TSXV: SIC) (OTCQB: SICNF) announced that, Company has received conditional approval for its CAD$400,000 non-brokered flow-through private-placement financing. Sokoman also received approval to close the first tranche of 6,000,000 FT common shares at CAD$0.05, for aggregate gross proceeds of CAD$300,000. All securities issued pursuant to the FT Financing are subject to a four-month and one-day hold period.

Timothy Froude, P. Geo., President and CEO, stated, “With spring break-up nearly complete, we’re preparing to resume work at our traditional bulk sample project. We’re grateful for the continued support from investors and the Mineral Incentive Program, which together will strengthen our treasury to approximately CAD$1.3 million and position us well for the upcoming exploration season.”

The Company intends to spend an amount equal to the gross proceeds from the flow-through shares on the Company’s exploration projects. on or before December 31, 2026, and to renounce the qualifying expenditures in favour of the subscribers of the FT Shares at that date.

SAVE THE DATE

The Gander and Area Chamber of Commerce presents Central MinEx 2025, the Mining Industry Development Supplier Showcase from May 13-15, 2025, at the Steele Community Centre in Gander, NL.

Our clients Anteros Metals, Sokoman Minerals (Booth #21) and Rocky Shore Gold (Booth #41) will be attending Central MinEx, so please make sure to stop by and say hello!