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 shareholder approval of the Eldorado-Foran acquisition deal, a federal security review clearing Zijin Gold’s purchase of Allied Gold, and Nouveau Monde securing funding for its Matawinie project in Quebec.

Versamet Royalties will acquire a 3.52 per cent gold stream on Skeena Resources’ Eskay Creek project in British Columbia for US$360 million. Eskay Creek is expected to reach first production in 2027, with output projected at over 300,000 ounces of gold annually for the first five years, followed by an average of about 230,000 ounces over the remaining seven years of its 12-year mine life.

First Quantum Minerals said on Tuesday that the Government of Panama has approved the processing and export of recovered copper from around 38 million tonnes of stockpiled ore at its idled Cobre Panama copper mine. Preparation works are expected to take approximately three months before the stockpile processing can begin. The company said the activity will not involve a restart of mining operations. The mine was ordered to close in 2023 after Panama’s Supreme Court ruled First Quantum’s contract with the government unconstitutional amid widespread protests.

B.C. Premier David Eby said this week the proposal to suspend sections of its Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) for up to three years was necessary as lawsuits against the province have mounted, CBC News reported. The conflict revolves, in part, around the application of the province’s Minerals Tenure Act and the provisions of DRIPA, which give Indigenous groups a more active role in decisions affecting them. In December 2025, the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled the practice of staking mineral claims online was inconsistent with Indigenous rights under DRIPA.

Shareholders of both Eldorado Gold and Foran Mining approved Eldorado’s $3.8 billion acquisition of Foran on Tuesday, The Globe and Mail reported. The transaction, which includes the McIlvenna Bay project in Saskatchewan, is expected to strengthen Eldorado’s gold and copper portfolio. The deal still requires final court approval and other closing conditions, with completion anticipated next week.

Canada’s national security review has raised no objections to Zijin Gold’s planned $5.5 billion acquisition of Allied Gold, allowing the deal to move forward past a key regulatory hurdle, The Globe and Mail reported. While the transaction has been cleared on national security grounds, it still requires approval under a federal net economic benefit review to assess its potential impact on the Canadian economy, employment and domestic supply chains. That decision is expected in May.

Nouveau Monde Graphite has secured a US$297 million equity financing package to fully fund the second phase of its Matawinie graphite project in Quebec. Key investors include the Canada Growth Fund, the Quebec provincial government and energy company Eni. The financing will help to move the project towards a final investment decision and future construction of an integrated domestic graphite supply chain for battery materials.

Rock Tech Lithium has secured a partnership with Canada’s BMI Group to support the development of its lithium converter facility in Ontario, with BMI committing $200 million, Canadian Mining Journal reported. Under the agreement, Rock Tech will maintain full control of project development and operations. A final investment decision is expected to be made by the end of 2026.

Cameco is donating $5 million to Saskatchewan Polytechnic to support mining education, CKOM News reported. The funding will help to create a virtual reality mine lab for hands-on training at the school’s Saskatoon campus and to support a pilot industrial mechanic certification program for Indigenous women at its campus in Prince Albert.

Rare earth elements were highlighted in a recent Mission Critical webinar, hosted by CIM Magazine and SGS Natural Resources, as strategically important due to their critical role in clean energy, defence and technology. With supply chains concentrated in a few countries, Canada, the United States and allied countries are pushing to diversify sources and expand processing capacity. The discussion also emphasized technical challenges in processing and the need for coordinated investment, policy support and disciplined project development to strengthen supply chain resilience.

Mining engineering programs at Canadian universities are increasingly embedding sustainability into their curriculum to align graduates with industry needs, Tijana Mitrovic reported for CIM Magazine. Post-secondary institutions such as the University of British Columbia, Queen’s University and the University of Saskatchewan integrate environmental, social and governance topics, Indigenous relations and responsible project design into the coursework. Collaboration with industry and co-op experience are seen as essential, as students may struggle to immediately connect sustainability concepts learned in class with real-world mining practice.

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?