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 consortium that includes Glencore bidding for Sherritt International, a sharp profit and production drop at Iron Ore Company of Canada and a new ICMM report on the mining industry’s persistent safety challenges.

The Government of Canada has launched a $100 million rebate program that aims to lower the cost of moving Canadian steel between provinces and territories. The program will reimburse 50 per cent of eligible rail and marine transportation costs for Canadian steel for up to one year, or until funding runs out. The initiative is intended to strengthen domestic steel demand and help Canadian producers to reach more customers across the country.

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) is seeking industry feedback on its Mine Permit Navigator, a digital tool designed to simplify early-stage federal mine permitting research. Launched in March, the Navigator consolidates regulations, guidance, contacts and application information into one place. NRCan is exploring improvements such as adding provincial and territorial resources and Indigenous consultation information, with the goal of keeping the tool up to date.

Barrick Mining has appointed Sebastiaan Bock as CEO of its rest of world business, a newly structured position that will oversee gold and copper operations outside North America. Bock will manage an asset portfolio spanning Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia Pacific. Barrick sees the ability to partner with Chinese companies through joint ownership and investment as a key advantage of the rest of world portfolio.

Barrick and Newmont have revised their Nevada Gold Mines joint venture (JV) to add several development projects while keeping the existing ownership split, The Globe and Mail reported. The revised agreement adds Barrick’s Fourmile gold project in Nevada to the JV along with Newmont’s Fiberline gold and Mike gold, copper and zinc developments, also in Nevada. Under this updated agreement, Newmont will pay Barrick US$1.95 billion within 30 days. Barrick shares fell following the announcement as some analysts questioned whether the company received enough value for the Fourmile project.

A consortium including Glencore has proposed a rescue deal for Sherritt International that would give the group a controlling 55 per cent stake in the Canadian miner, Bloomberg News reported. The proposal offers an alternative to an earlier deal Sherritt has been pursuing with Gillon Capital, a U.S. investment firm led by former Trump adviser Ray Washburne. Sherritt has been facing financial trouble after suspending its Cuban nickel operations in February amid fuel shortages and tightening U.S. sanctions.

Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) reported a drop in profits and production in the second quarter as it works through operational challenges at its iron ore mine in Labrador City, Newfoundland and Labrador, CBC News reported. Royalty revenue fell by 27 per cent year over year to $33.7 million, while second quarter production dropped by 31 per cent to 3.1 million tonnes. The company said it is undertaking a “strategic operational reset” to catch up on deferred waste removal, improve long-term pit health and restore operational flexibility—a process expected to take several years.

ICMM’s latest safety data shows that while recordable injury rates among its member companies continue to improve, preventing fatalities remains a persistent challenge. The data pointed to critical control failures as a key area for the industry to address, with ICMM urging companies to move beyond simply identifying controls to verifying that they are properly implemented, maintained and effective when needed.

More companies released second quarter results this week, including Barrick Mining, Franco-Nevada, Hemlo Mining, Denison Mines, Sherritt International, Pan American Silver, Skeena Gold & Silver, G Mining Ventures, Wesdome Gold Mines, Osisko Gold and Seabridge Gold.

Apollo-Clad Laser Cladding’s Gentry Wood discussed the opportunities of using machine learning (ML) for defect detection in laser cladding operations in a Q&A with Rosalind Stefanac for CIM Magazine. ML-enabled process monitoring can detect process abnormalities in real time during the repair and manufacturing of high-value components rather than relying on post-process inspection, which helps to reduce rework, scrap and wasted material. Wood will deliver a keynote on this topic at the 65th Conference of Metallurgy and Materials (COM 2026), which will take place from Aug. 17 to 20 in Calgary, Alberta.

A persistent source of confusion in Canada’s mineral project reporting framework is who is actually responsible for setting and enforcing the rules, wrote James Whyte and Craig Waldie for CIM Magazine. They outlined the distinct mandates and roles of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), CIM and stock exchanges, and emphasized that while NI 43-101 governs disclosure, it does not prevent errors or poor professional judgment, which makes technical oversight and peer review important.

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?