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 a new Ontario fund targeting in-province mineral refining and processing, a federal loan lifeline for the Ekati diamond mine, and Equinox Gold’s divestment of its Brazilian assets.

The federal government approved Teck Resources’ merger with Anglo American on Monday, with Industry Minister Mélanie Joly calling it a “net benefit” for Canada, The Canadian Press reported. The deal includes keeping the global headquarters and most senior leadership in Canada, securing about 4,000 Canadian jobs, and committing $4.5 billion in spending over five years.

CIM’s Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Committee has published updated leading practice guidance for evaluating primary diamond deposits, consolidating and replacing previous documents from 2003 and 2008. The new guidelines are meant to strengthen transparency and reliability in diamond reporting by centring resource evaluations on diamond price estimation, introducing a two-phase sampling approach with confidence-based parcel sizes, quantifying pricing uncertainty, and clearly defining responsibilities among valuers, modellers, and lead practitioners.

Artemis Gold announced a roughly $1.44 billion Phase 2 expansion of the Blackwater gold mine in central British Columbia. The project would more than double annual thoughput to 21 million tonnes before the end of 2028. Once in production, Phase 2 is expected to yield an average of 500,000 to 525,000 ounces of gold annually for 10 years. Early works will begin in January, with major construction starting in the third quarter of 2026. The project will support up to 1,500 jobs at peak and about 1,200 ongoing roles once completed.

Ontario introduced a $500 million Critical Minerals Processing Fund to support projects that expand the province’s critical minerals processing and refining capacity. Announced in the province’s 2025 budget in May, the fund aims to ensure Ontario-mined minerals are processed in-province, accelerate development in northern Ontario and the Ring of Fire region, and support sectors including defence, battery manufacturing, and electric vehicle manufacturing.

The Ekati diamond mine in the Northwest Territories will receive a $115 million federal loan to keep operating and protect jobs, after owner Burgundy Diamond Mines said it was close to shutting down and filing for bankruptcy “weeks ago,” CBC News reported. The loan goes to Arctic Canadian Diamond Company, Ekati’s operator, and includes conditions such as job guarantees and loan repayment provisions.

Equinox Gold has agreed to sell its Brazil operations to a subsidiary of the China-based CMOC Group for US$1.01 billion. The assets include the Aurizona mine, the RDM mine and the Bahia complex. Closing of the deal is expected in the first quarter of next year, pending necessary approvals. Sale proceeds will help Equinox reposition itself as a North American-focused gold producer by prioritizing investment in its Canadian Greenstone and Valentine mines, and its Castle Mountain project in California.

One person died from injuries after an underground collapse at Mosaic’s K3 mine in Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, on Monday, CBC News reported. Mosaic has paused operations at the mine and launched an investigation.

Vancouver-headquartered Li-FT Power plans to acquire Australia’s Winsome Resources in an A$130.8 million deal that would add the Adina lithium project in Quebec to its portfolio. Li-FT will also acquire a 75 per cent stake in the adjacent Galinée property from owners Azimut and SOQUEM. The deal is expected to close in January 2026.

Quebec-based mineral exploration company Sirios Resources plans to acquire OVI Mining for roughly $23 million, The Northern Miner reported. The transaction would combine Sirios’ Cheechoo gold project with OVI’s Corvet Est and Plex properties, all located in Quebec’s Eeyou Istchee James Bay region. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of next year.

Tahltan First Nation members voted to approve an impact benefit agreement with Skeena Resources for the Eskay Creek gold-silver project in northwestern B.C., CBC News reported. Results posted Sunday show 1,357 votes in favour and 388 opposed. The full details of the deal are confidential, but it includes an estimated $210 million in royalties, plus community and environmental funding, and comes after a separate $10,000 per-member payment was negotiated for 2026.

For 40 years, the Tahltan Nation Development Corporation (TNDC) has turned mining and infrastructure work on Tahltan territory into career-building opportunities for its community, I, Ashley Fish-Robertson, reported for CIM Magazine. Working closely with companies such as Newmont at the Red Chris mine, TNDC has grown into a major contractor in northwestern British Columbia, reinvesting profits into training and community projects. Its heavy-equipment operator program builds transferable skills close to home, while new partnerships have led to the acquisition of the Port of Stewart bulk terminal and the strengthening of TNDC’s local ownership and influence in regional commerce.

With this, our last weekly recap for 2025, the editors of CIM Magazine selected stories from the last year that we believe capture key developments in the industry and the forces shaping what comes next. This year’s picks include the Raglan impact benefits agreement’s legacy, the opening of B2Gold’s Goose mine in Nunavut, nation-building northern infrastructure, and an update on progress in global tailings management.

The CIM Magazine team wishes you a happy holiday season. We will return on Jan. 9, 2026, with the next recap. 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?