CHF WEEKLY ROUNDUP: May 11-15, 2026

World shares have been falling off today just as U.S. President Trump wrapped up his summit in Beijing with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Investors continue to watch for developments from the Iran war. Trump’s visit ended on Friday after a series of meetings with Xi that touched on issues including U.S.-China trade, further economic cooperation, and differences over Taiwan. Investors are monitoring trade deal updates on areas such as American soybeans, beef, airplanes, and AI chips. A lot of detailed analysis and speculation is coming from market analysts after the meetings; there is even some optimism about U.S.-China relations. Looking past the noise, it should be clear that China and America are deeply engaged on a much wider range of issues, not publicized during the trip. They need each other. The much-anticipated summit offered little in the way of relief, especially on the Middle East, and the closing joint statement was long on verbiage and short on concrete actions.

The TSX bounced around this week, not making any real gains but hanging near all-time highs. Gold and metal miners were off, while oil producers gained, helping balance the index. The Venture exchange seems to be recovering as metal prices have stabilized a bit. The future of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) continues to create a climate of uncertainty, hampering economic activity. Presently, Canadian inflation is held down by weakness in the job market. The Bank of Canada has no room to adjust rates in either direction.

U.S. markets are weaker at opening after reaching an all-time high. The U.S.-Iran talks on permanently ending the Iran war appear to be stalled, even as Trump and Xi both agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open. Bond yields climbed across the world, driven by fear of an oil-driven inflation shock and increased expectations of central banks tightening monetary policy. U.S. inflation rose for a second consecutive month, surging in April to 3.8% annually, with no sign of cooling toward the 2% target. On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate also confirmed Kevin Warsh to chair the Federal Reserve (Fed). While Warsh is seen as favourable to the current administration’s desire for rate cuts, he faces inflationary pressures driven by an energy crisis. With the next Fed meeting on June 17, 2026, Warsh will not be positioned to move on rates quickly. The U.S. dollar (USD) continued to rise against other currencies this week amid expectations of rate hikes. Higher-for-longer Fed rates have been seen as a headwind for gold.

In times of inflationary increases and uncertainty, one would expect gold to do well, but it opens lower today at USD$4,546.00/oz. Silver is at USD$76.98/oz. as money moves into treasuries in anticipation of higher yields to come. Still, U.S. banks raised end-of-2026 gold forecasts to between USD$5,400/oz and USD$6,300/oz this week. The Silver Institute reported a sixth consecutive year of supply deficit, with a current forecast of 46.3 million ounces. The supply picture has not increased, and industrial demand from solar, EVs, 5G, and semiconductors continues to widen the gap relative to mine production. The valuations that major miners are willing to pay for undeveloped resource assets continue to rise. Even mid-sized companies are merging to gain scale. There are still attractive deals out there.

Spot copper prices dropped slightly but held at USD$6.19/lb this morning. China has banned the export of sulphuric acid from May through at least December. Sulphuric acid is a critical input for leaching processes that account for roughly a quarter of global refined copper output. Continued large-scale agreements among major technology firms have accelerated data center construction, strengthening the longer-term demand outlook given copper's critical role in electrification and power grid infrastructure. Nickel prices are down at USD$8.43/lb today, and other base and industrial metals are softer as well.

Cobalt is holding USD$25.50/lb, and lithium slipped to a little above USD$28.75/kg. The surge in gasoline prices is driving sales of EVs in many countries, even as Honda just indefinitely suspended its CAD$15-billion electric vehicle complex in Ontario. Elevra Lithium announced a USD$315-million expansion of the North American Lithium (NAL) operation and pre-development work at the Moblan project in Quebec. NAL is Canada’s largest operating lithium mine with a projected operating life of 21 years. The U.S. is actively building a deal pipeline in critical minerals and rare earths across Africa as part of a wider effort to break China's grip on supply chains. China controls 80%–90% of global antimony refining and has restricted exports to the United States, which relies on imports for 100% of its antimony needs. Uranium prices remained flat during the last three weeks at USD$86.20/lb. Tech giants continue to move toward signing deals to co-locate data centers directly at nuclear plants, effectively pulling power supply off the public grid and forcing utilities to compete for new fuel sources. There are a lot of moving parts in the critical mineral space; be open to opportunities.

We are pleased to present our roundup of client news for the week of May 11 to 15, 2026.

Mining

On May 11, 2026, Pirate Gold Corp. (TSXV: YARR) (OTCQB: SICNF) announced that the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") has confirmed the Company's new OTCQB trading symbol will be YARRF, effective at the open of trading on Monday, May 11, 2026. The ticker change aligns the Company's U.S. trading symbol with its corporate branding and TSXV ticker, creating greater consistency for shareholders and improving market recognition across trading platforms and investor communications. The Company's common shares will continue to trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol YARR. No action is required by current shareholders in connection with the ticker symbol change.

On May 13, 2026, Libra Energy Materials Inc. (CSE: LIBR) (OTCQB: LIBRF) (FSE: W0R0) announced assay results from its diamond drilling program at its 100%-owned Stimson project, located approximately 26 km east of Cochrane, Ontario. Although the single-hole program was designed to assess a historically possible spodumene occurrence, drill hole ST26-001 intersected a significant zone of graphitic mineralization, hosted within a graphitic metasedimentary unit.

Koby Kushner, CEO of Libra commented, "Results from drilling at Stimson were unexpected in the best possible way. While the hole did not return spodumene as anticipated, it delivered a compelling graphite intercept. We are only one hole into this system, yet the thickness and grade already compare favourably to many early-stage graphite discoveries in the Superior Craton. This provides significant upside potential for the Company. Graphite remains secondary to our primary lithium strategy, but the discovery meaningfully enhances the value of Stimson. With excellent infrastructure and strong community support, we believe the asset is highly attractive for potential partners. Meanwhile, we continue to advance our large portfolio and look forward to drill results from our Penelope project in Brazil next."

The 2026 winter program at Stimson consisted of a single diamond drill hole (ST26-001), totalling 203 metres. The hole was designed as a follow-up to historic Noranda Exploration hole PT94-11 (1994), which had intersected pegmatite dykes previously interpreted as possibly spodumene-bearing. While the pegmatites encountered in ST26-001 were confirmed to be essentially barren of significant lithium (values ranging from 3 to 116 ppm Li across 84 samples), the hole intersected a meaningful zone of graphite mineralization within the surrounding graphitic metasedimentary package. This unexpected result opens a new commodity vector on the property.

On May 15, 2026, Athena Gold Corporation (CSE: ATHA) (OTCQB: AHNRF) provided an exploration update from its ongoing maiden drill campaign at its flagship Laird Lake project in Ontario's Red Lake Gold District. The Company is currently awaiting on assays from Hole LL-26-001 which intersected a broad zone of sulphidized banded iron formation. Holes LL-26-002 and LL-26-003 were designed to test the prospective Balmer-Confederation assemblage contact on the eastern portion of the project, as well as newly modelled geophysical anomalies. Core logging indicates that both holes successfully intersected this key geological boundary and also intersected alteration, veining, and sulphide mineralization that the Company believes are consistent with a classic Red Lake-style mineralizing environment.

"Intersecting the Balmer-Confederation contact in both Holes 2 and 3 is a major technical milestone for Athena at Laird," said Koby Kushner, CEO of Athena. "This contact is one of the most important gold-bearing structures in the Red Lake Gold District, and our drilling is now confirming that the same architecture exists on our ground. The fact that we are also cutting sulphide mineralization and 'Red Lake-style' alteration along the boundary, as well as intersecting mineralization deeper in the holes near newly-modelled geophysical plates, gives us strong encouragement as we await assays from the first three holes. Meanwhile, we have moved onto Hole 4, which is designed to test the G4 anomaly."

 Greg Matheson, VP Exploration at Pirate Gold Corp. (TSXV: YARR) (OTCQB: SICNF), showcases core from Crippleback Lake displaying strong vuggy silica textures formed by highly acidic hydrothermal fluids. The cavities have since been infilled with sulphide minerals, predominantly pyrite, alongside intense silicification across the system. Key indicators associated with a large and active alteration system. Watch below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1_uGzdDJ8Q

Pirate Gold Treasure Hunters - S1 EP10 - Pyrite Gold

On the ground in Newfoundland, Ken Lapierre, P.Geo., President & Chief Executive Officer & Director of Rocky Shore Gold (CSE: RSG) (OTCQB: RSGLF), is doing what exploration is all about — getting hands-on with the core and staying close to the data that drives discovery.

Gold Anchor Project-completion of the first of 3 temporary bridges to gain access into the Lane Gold Target and the Mosquito Hill Open Pit Deposit.