Latest news with #Ferber
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Germany stores 1,200 tons of gold at the Fed—now Trump fears are sparking repatriation demands
Ever since the end of the Second World War in 1945, a rehabilitated Germany has built close ties to the U.S. and committed to Western democratic values. The country has put its money—or rather, its gold—where its mouth is. That financial commitment to the U.S. is now being put to the test, as calls from within Germany grow louder to pull the country's vast stock of gold reserves out of the Federal Reserve. Germany has the world's second-highest stockpile of official gold reserves, at 3,352 tons. More than a third of that, around 1,200 tons, is stored in the Fed, equivalent to about $130 billion in value. Yet President Donald Trump's adversarial rhetoric against the country and its allies has prompted calls to check on those reserves, and, if possible, bring them home. Following the Second World War, Germany had effectively depleted its gold reserves to fund its various conflicts. The blank slate on which the country built up its fresh batch of reserves mirrored the country's new diplomatic strategy. Germany prioritized moving vast amounts of gold out of the country and far from the Soviet Union, fearing for its status during the Cold War. The country's close ties with the U.S., which has historically held up the Western World order, made the Fed an obvious resting place for the commodity. In a whirlwind opening salvo to his presidency, though, Trump has rocked the established geopolitical order, slapping import tariffs on traditional allies like the European Union and threatening to take control of the territory of Greenland by force. Germany has also been prompted into a multibillion-dollar pledge to beef up its military, partly motivated by Trump's rhetoric on NATO and the war in Ukraine. Several voices across Germany now believe the U.S. is no longer a safe haven for its multibillion-dollar gold reserves. Speaking to German publication Bild last month, Christian Democratic Union politician Markus Ferber said: 'I demand regular checks of Germany's gold reserves. Official representatives of the Bundesbank must personally count the bars and document their results.' In a follow up interview with Reuters, Ferber said: 'Trump is erratic and one cannot rule out that someday he will come up with creative ideas how to treat foreign gold reserves. 'The Bundesbank's policy for gold reserves has to reflect the new geopolitical realities.' Ferber's latest comments came as the German Taxpayers Federation sent a letter to the Bundesbank asking for Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, to repatriate the country's gold. 'Trump wants to control the Fed, which would also mean controlling the German gold reserves in the U.S,' the federation's vice-president, Michael Jaeger, told Reuters. 'It's our money, it should be brought back.' To date, the Bundesbank has been careful not to ruffle feathers in the U.S. with regard to the status of its gold reserves, publicly backing the Fed as a protector of its assets. Countries have been taking different approaches to how they think about the location of their gold since Trump. Indeed, many nations have decided to create closer ties between their assets and the country to avoid negative repercussions. In late January, the FT reported that waiting times to get gold out of the Bank of England had increased eightfold as countries rushed to get their reserves across to the U.S. to safeguard the commodity from potential tariffs. Germany itself holds about 13% of its gold reserves at the Bank of England. This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
EMX Royalty Executes an Agreement with Galileo Resources to Acquire a Royalty over the Ferber Polymetallic Project, Nevada, USA
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 13, 2025) - EMX Royalty Corporation (NYSE American: EMX) (TSXV: EMX) (the "Company" or "EMX") is pleased to announce the execution by its wholly-owned subsidiary Bronco Creek Exploration Inc., of an exploration royalty agreement (the "Agreement") with St. Vincent Minerals US, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Galileo Resources, PLC (AIM: GLR) ("Galileo"), for the Ferber polymetallic project (the "Project" or "Property") located in Elko County, Nevada. The Agreement provides EMX with the opportunity to earn up to a 1% net smelter returns ("NSR") royalty on Ferber by providing Galileo with exploration and management services to identify and drill test prospective targets on the Property. This exploration work will be funded by Galileo. Additionally, upon completion of the work programs, EMX will have the option to purchase an additional 0.5% NSR royalty interest for $1.0 million (note: all dollar amounts in USD). The Ferber Project is a copper-gold system located in eastern Nevada, near the border with Utah, approximately 55 kilometers south of Wendover. The district, has undergone intermittent, small-scale but widespread historical production of copper, lead, silver and gold commencing in the late 1800s. Historical drilling and sampling conducted in the 1980s-1990s returned gold and copper results that are encouraging given current metal prices and a better understanding of Ferber's favorable geological setting from EMX's current work in the area. Mineralization at Ferber appears centered around an Eocene-age composite intrusive center that has exploration potential for a porphyry copper-gold system, as well as associated skarns and replacement bodies in the surrounding Paleozoic carbonate rocks. In addition, jasperoids and structurally controlled zones of alteration and mineralization observed at Ferber underscore the exploration potential for sediment-hosted gold mineralization. The geologic setting, hydrothermal alteration, and mineralization at Ferber have exploration analogues to other Eocene-age porphyry systems and districts in the Great Basin such as Copper Canyon and Copper Basin at Battle Mountain, Nevada, and Bingham Canyon, Utah. EMX had previously identified the Ferber area as an under-explored, structurally dismembered hydrothermal system with interesting exploration upside and is excited about the opportunity to work with Galileo Resources to evaluate and advance the Ferber Project. Work on the Target Generation program is planned to commence imminently. Commercial Terms Overview The agreement was executed on April 23, 2025. Under the terms of the Agreement, EMX can earn up to a 1% NSR royalty by advancing exploration at the Ferber Project through two milestones. The first is the "Target Generation" milestone whereby EMX will earn a 0.33% NSR royalty by conducting fieldwork that includes, but is not limited to, mapping, sampling, and structural analysis to develop targets on the Property. EMX can then earn an additional 0.67% NSR, 1.0% NSR in total, by managing the first phase of exploration drilling, which comprises the "Reconnaissance Drilling" milestone. These work programs will be fully funded by Galileo, with EMX receiving a 7.5% Management Fee for the Reconnaissance Drilling program in addition to earning royalty interests. Additionally, once the obligations for these two milestones have been met, EMX then has the right to purchase an additional 0.5% NSR royalty for $1.0 million at any time prior to the completion of a feasibility study. Should Galileo wish to extend the exploration program beyond the Reconnaissance Drilling phase, any further EMX assistance with the program would be subject to an additional agreement between the two parties. This transaction results from the royalty generation business aspect to EMX's business model whereby the Company identified a Property with particular exploration upside, controlled by another party, and found a creative way to leverage its geological expertise to add value to partner funded exploration programs in exchange for royalty interests. Michael P. Sheehan, CPG, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and employee of the Company, has reviewed, verified and approved the disclosure of the technical information contained in this news release. Comments on Adjacent or nearby Districts, Mines, and Deposits. The districts, mines, and deposits discussed in this news release provide context for EMX's projects, which occur in similar geologic settings, but this is not necessarily indicative that the Company's projects host similar tonnages or grades of mineralization. About EMX. EMX is a precious and base metals royalty company. EMX's investors are provided with discovery, development, and commodity price optionality, while limiting exposure to risks inherent to operating companies. The Company's common shares are listed on the NYSE American Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "EMX". Please see for more information. About Galileo Resources PLC. Galileo is an opportunity-driven company focused on building strategic partnerships in key mining jurisdictions. Specializing in copper and critical battery metals crucial for the green energy transition, Galileo leverages advanced project acquisitions with unrealized potential and accelerates them towards production via innovative data-driven solutions. For further information contact: David M. ColePresident and CEOPhone: (303) 973-8585Dave@ Stefan WengerChief Financial OfficerPhone: (303) 973-8585SWenger@ Isabel BelgerInvestor RelationsPhone: (303) 973-8585IBelger@ Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain "forward looking statements" that reflect the Company's current expectations and projections about its future results. These forward-looking statements may include statements regarding perceived merit of properties, exploration results and budgets, mineral reserves and resource estimates, work programs, capital expenditures, timelines, strategic plans, market prices for precious and base metal, or other statements that are not statements of fact. When used in this news release, words such as "estimate," "intend," "expect," "anticipate," "will", "believe", "potential" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which, by their very nature, are not guarantees of the Company's future operational or financial performance, and are subject to risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and factors may include, but are not limited to unavailability of financing, failure to identify commercially viable mineral reserves, fluctuations in the market valuation for commodities, difficulties in obtaining required approvals for the development of a mineral project, increased regulatory compliance costs, expectations of project funding by joint venture partners and other factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release or as of the date otherwise specifically indicated herein. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified in this news release, and other risk factors and forward-looking statements listed in the Company's MD&A for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 (the "MD&A"), and the most recently filed Annual Information Form ("AIF") for the year ended December 31, 2024, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. More information about the Company, including the MD&A, the AIF and financial statements of the Company, is available on SEDAR at and on the SEC's EDGAR website at To view the source version of this press release, please visit Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Yahoo
Legal fight against AI-generated child pornography is complicated – a legal scholar explains why, and how the law could catch up
The city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was shaken by revelations in December 2023 that two local teenage boys shared hundreds of nude images of girls in their community over a private chat on the social chat platform Discord. Witnesses said the photos easily could have been mistaken for real ones, but they were fake. The boys had used an artificial intelligence tool to superimpose real photos of girls' faces onto sexually explicit images. With troves of real photos available on social media platforms, and AI tools becoming more accessible across the web, similar incidents have played out across the country, from California to Texas and Wisconsin. A recent survey by the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit, found that 15% of students and 11% of teachers knew of at least one deepfake that depicted someone associated with their school in a sexually explicit or intimate manner. The Supreme Court has implicitly concluded that computer-generated pornographic images that are based on images of real children are illegal. The use of generative AI technologies to make deepfake pornographic images of minors almost certainly falls under the scope of that ruling. As a legal scholar who studies the intersection of constitutional law and emerging technologies, I see an emerging challenge to the status quo: AI-generated images that are fully fake but indistinguishable from real photos. While the internet's architecture has always made it difficult to control what is shared online, there are a few kinds of content that most regulatory authorities across the globe agree should be censored. Child pornography is at the top of that list. For decades, law enforcement agencies have worked with major tech companies to identify and remove this kind of material from the web, and to prosecute those who create or circulate it. But the advent of generative artificial intelligence and easy-to-access tools like the ones used in the Pennsylvania case present a vexing new challenge for such efforts. In the legal field, child pornography is generally referred to as child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, because the term better reflects the abuse that is depicted in the images and videos and the resulting trauma to the children involved. In 1982, the Supreme Court ruled that child pornography is not protected under the First Amendment because safeguarding the physical and psychological well-being of a minor is a compelling government interest that justifies laws that prohibit child sexual abuse material. That case, New York v. Ferber, effectively allowed the federal government and all 50 states to criminalize traditional child sexual abuse material. But a subsequent case, Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition from 2002, might complicate efforts to criminalize AI-generated child sexual abuse material. In that case, the court struck down a law that prohibited computer-generated child pornography, effectively rendering it legal. The government's interest in protecting the physical and psychological well-being of children, the court found, was not implicated when such obscene material is computer generated. 'Virtual child pornography is not 'intrinsically related' to the sexual abuse of children,' the court wrote. According to the child advocacy organization Enough Abuse, 37 states have criminalized AI-generated or AI-modified CSAM, either by amending existing child sexual abuse material laws or enacting new ones. More than half of those 37 states enacted new laws or amended their existing ones within the past year. California, for example, enacted Assembly Bill 1831 on Sept. 29, 2024, which amended its penal code to prohibit the creation, sale, possession and distribution of any 'digitally altered or artificial-intelligence-generated matter' that depicts a person under 18 engaging in or simulating sexual conduct. While some of these state laws target the use of photos of real people to generate these deep fakes, others go further, defining child sexual abuse material as 'any image of a person who appears to be a minor under 18 involved in sexual activity,' according to Enough Abuse. Laws like these that encompass images produced without depictions of real minors might run counter to the Supreme Court's Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition ruling. Perhaps the most important part of the Ashcroft decision for emerging issues around AI-generated child sexual abuse material was part of the statute that the Supreme Court did not strike down. That provision of the law prohibited 'more common and lower tech means of creating virtual (child sexual abuse material), known as computer morphing,' which involves taking pictures of real minors and morphing them into sexually explicit depictions. The court's decision stated that these digitally altered sexually explicit depictions of minors 'implicate the interests of real children and are in that sense closer to the images in Ferber.' The decision referenced the 1982 case, New York v. Ferber, in which the Supreme Court upheld a New York criminal statute that prohibited persons from knowingly promoting sexual performances by children under the age of 16. The court's decisions in Ferber and Ashcroft could be used to argue that any AI-generated sexually explicit image of real minors should not be protected as free speech given the psychological harms inflicted on the real minors. But that argument has yet to be made before the court. The court's ruling in Ashcroft may permit AI-generated sexually explicit images of fake minors. But Justice Clarence Thomas, who concurred in Ashcroft, cautioned that 'if technological advances thwart prosecution of 'unlawful speech,' the Government may well have a compelling interest in barring or otherwise regulating some narrow category of 'lawful speech' in order to enforce effectively laws against pornography made through the abuse of real children.' With the recent significant advances in AI, it can be difficult if not impossible for law enforcement officials to distinguish between images of real and fake children. It's possible that we've reached the point where computer-generated child sexual abuse material will need to be banned so that federal and state governments can effectively enforce laws aimed at protecting real children – the point that Thomas warned about over 20 years ago. If so, easy access to generative AI tools is likely to force the courts to grapple with the issue. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Wayne Unger, Quinnipiac University Read more: Watermarking ChatGPT, DALL-E and other generative AIs could help protect against fraud and misinformation Generative AI could leave users holding the bag for copyright violations Could Apple's child safety feature backfire? New research shows warnings can increase risky sharing Wayne Unger does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
