Welcome back to your weekly mining news recap, where we catch you up on some of the news you may have missed. This week’s headlines include NexGen gaining full ownership of its mineral claims in the Athabasca Basin, Foran advancing the McIlvenna Bay project post-wildfires, and Winsome dropping the Renard mine option.  

Torex Gold Resources will acquire Prime Mining in an all-share deal worth $449 million, adding the high-grade Los Reyes gold-silver project in Mexico to its Americas-focused portfolio. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025 pending approvals including Mexican antitrust clearance. Torex said it aims to use the cash flow from its Media Luna project in Mexico to drive the development of Los Reyes. 

McEwen Mining will acquire Canadian Gold in an all-share deal, giving the company control of the Tartan Lake gold project near Flin Flon, Manitoba, Mining Weekly reported. McEwen chief owner Rob McEwen said he sees the potential to restart the past-producing Tartan in the near term. The deal, pending approval by the end of the year, will make Canadian Gold a McEwen subsidiary, with its shareholders owning 8.2 per cent of the combined company.   

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday the country would apply a 50 per cent tariff on imported copper products starting Aug. 1, but exempted key Canadian exports such as concentrates, anodes, cathodes, semi-processed materials and scrap, The Globe and Mail reported. Some products, such as wire and cable, face tariffs, but Canadian firms may be able to shift trade elsewhere. Trump said the administration will decide by June 2026 whether to expand tariffs to mined and refined copper. The U.S. Treasury Secretary indicated willingness to ease aluminum and steel tariffs hurting both Canadian and U.S. economies. 

NexGen Energy has acquired Rio Tinto’s minority interest in 39 mineral claims in the southwest Athabasca Basin, including the PCE uranium discovery, thereby gaining full ownership over the assets, The Northern Miner reported. The claims lie near NexGen’s Arrow deposit, part of the company’s Rook I uranium project in Saskatchewan. NexGen said the move supports its goal of becoming a global uranium leader as demand for nuclear energy rises.  

Foran Mining continued construction at its McIlvenna Bay project in Saskatchewan following wildfire-related disruptions, Canadian Mining Journal reported. With construction now 42 per cent complete, the project remains on track for commercial production in mid-2026. Key milestones include structural mill completion, paste plant startup and 1,232 metres of underground development. The company also reported that key infrastructure, including the battery charging bay and refuge station, has been completed. 

Winsome Resources has withdrawn from its option agreement to acquire the Renard diamond mine in Quebec, citing falling lithium prices and economic headwinds, Mining Weekly reported. The option was seen as a way to accelerate lithium production at its nearby Adina project by repurposing Renard’s plant to process lithium. Despite ending the $52-million agreement, Winsome said it still sees value in Renard’s infrastructure and may revisit the opportunity in the future.  

Electra Battery Materials has launched metallurgical testing on cobalt feedstock from Ontario’s historic Cobalt camp and Electra’s Iron Creek project in Idaho. The goal is to diversify the cobalt supply to its Ontario refinery using domestic sources. Electra said the results will guide potential upgrades to the refinery’s leach circuit to handle arsenic-bearing concentrates.  

Computer vision, a branch of artificial intelligence that enables machines to interpret visual data, has the potential to transform mining by improving safety, efficiency and ore recovery, Rosalind Stefanac reported in the June/July issue of CIM Magazine. From autonomous vehicles to real-time ore sorting, the technology could reduce reliance on manual inspection and improve decision-making. Despite challenges like legacy system integration, the technology’s potential for automation, cost savings and predictive capabilities is driving adoption across Canada’s mining sector and beyond. 

While lithium is essential for electrification, its supply chain is “deeply uneven, technologically demanding and environmentally burdensome,” industry expert Sasan Maleki wrote in the June/July issue of CIM Magazine. He warned against the myth of limitless, consequence-free production and urged investment across the full lithium value chain, including refining, recycling and partnerships. 

That’s all for this week. If you’ve got feedback, you can always reach us at editor@cim.org. If you’ve got something to add, why not join the conversation on our Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram pages?