Latest news with #criticalminerals
National Post
4 hours ago
- Business
- National Post
Fortune Minerals Announces New Convertible Security Agreement With the Lind Partners
Article content Article content LONDON, Ontario — Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF) (' Fortune ' or the ' Company ') ( is pleased to announce that it has entered into a new convertible security funding agreement (' Funding Agreement ') with Lind Global Fund III, LP, an entity managed by The Lind Partners (together, ' Lind ') pursuant to which the Company has agreed to draw down C$3,155,000 in exchange for the issuance of a convertible security to Lind (the ' Convertible Security '). Article content The proceeds from the issuance of the Convertible Security will be used for general working capital purposes and to pre-pay and partially match the costs for government supported work programs currently underway for the vertically integrated NICO Cobalt-Gold-Bismuth-Copper Critical Minerals Project (' NICO Project ') (see news releases dated, May 16, 2024, and December 5, 2023). Fortune is working closely with the Government of Canada, the Government of the United States and the Government of Alberta to expand North American critical minerals production and enhance domestic supply chain resilience and security. The Company has been awarded ~C$17 million of non-dilutive contribution funding from the U.S. Department of Defense through its Defense Production Act Title III program, Natural Resources Canada's Global Partnerships Initiative and Critical Minerals Research Development and Demonstration programs, and Alberta Innovates Clean Resource Intake program. These funds are helping advance the NICO Project toward a construction decision and provide a reliable North American supply of cobalt sulphate, gold doré, bismuth ingots, and copper cement enhancing domestic supply chains for three Critical Minerals with a highly liquid and countercyclical gold co-product to mitigate metal price volatility. Article content The Convertible Security will have a two-year term, with a face value (' Face Value ') of C$3,774,000 and is secured by a lien against the Company's mining assets. Lind will be entitled to incrementally convert the Face Value amount of the Convertible Security over a 24-month period, subject to certain limits, at a conversion price equal to 85% of the five-day trailing volume weighted average price (' VWAP ') of Fortune's common shares (' Common Shares ') prior to the date of conversion. Commencing 60 days following the date on which Lind advances the funds pursuant to the Convertible Security to the Company, Fortune will have the right to repurchase the Convertible Security, subject to Lind's option to convert up to one third of the Face Value into Common Shares prior to such repurchase at a conversion price equal to 85% of the 5-day VWAP. Lind will also receive a closing fee of C$120,000 and 15,641,293 Common Share purchase warrants exercisable at an exercise price of $0.1141 per Common Share for 60 months from the date of closing. Article content The Toronto Stock Exchange (the ' TSX ') has provided conditional approval in respect of the issuance of the Convertible Security. Article content This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities will not be and have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or applicable exemption from the registration requirements. Article content About The Lind Partners: Article content Article content The Lind Partners manages institutional funds that are leaders in providing growth capital to small- and mid-cap companies publicly traded in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK. Lind's multi-strategy funds make direct investments ranging from US$1 to US$30 million, invest in syndicated equity placements and selectively buy on market. Having completed more than 200 direct investments totaling over US$2 billion in transaction value, Lind's funds have been flexible and supportive capital partners to investee companies since 2011. Article content Article content Fortune is a Canadian mining company focused on developing the vertically integrated NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper critical minerals project in Canada. The NICO project is a development stage asset consisting of a planned mine and concentrator in the Northwest Territories and a dedicated hydrometallurgical facility in Alberta's Industrial Heartland Association north of Edmonton. Fortune also owns the Sue-Dianne copper-silver-gold satellite deposit located 25 km north of the NICO deposit and is a potential future source of incremental mill feed to extend the life of the NICO mill and concentrator. Article content Article content Click here Article content Article content @FortuneMineral on X. Article content This press release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. This forward-looking information includes statements with respect to, among other things, issuance of the Convertible Security pursuant to the Funding Agreement, and the Company's plans to develop the NICO Project. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management as well as certain assumptions at the date the information is given (including, in respect of the forward-looking information contained in this press release, assumptions regarding: final approval by the TSX in respect of the Funding Agreement and related matters; the Company's ability to complete construction of a NICO Project refinery; the Company's ability to arrange the necessary financing to continue operations and develop the NICO Project; the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals for the construction and operation of the NICO Project, including the planned NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper mine and concentrator and the timing thereof; growth in the demand for cobalt; the time required to construct the NICO Project; and the economic environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the price of gold, cobalt and other by-product metals, anticipated costs and the volumes of metals to be produced at the NICO Project). However, such forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. These factors include the risks that the TSX may not provide final approval in respect of the Funding Agreement and related matters, that global geopolitical situations may interfere with the Company's ability to continue development of the NICO Project, the Company may not be able to finance and develop NICO on favourable terms or at all, uncertainties with respect to the receipt or timing of required permits, approvals and agreements for the development of the NICO Project, including the related hydrometallurgical refinery, the construction of the NICO Project may take longer than anticipated, the Company may not be able to secure offtake agreements for the metals to be produced at the NICO Project, the Sue-Dianne Property may not be developed to the point where it can provide mill feed to the NICO Project, the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties and in the mining industry in general, the market for products that use cobalt or bismuth may not grow to the extent anticipated, the future supply of cobalt and bismuth may not be as limited as anticipated, the risk of decreases in the market prices of cobalt, bismuth and other metals to be produced by the NICO Project, discrepancies between actual and estimated Mineral Resources or between actual and estimated metallurgical recoveries, uncertainties associated with estimating Mineral Resources and Reserves and the risk that even if such Mineral Resources prove accurate the risk that such Mineral Resources may not be converted into Mineral Reserves once economic conditions are applied, the Company's production of cobalt, bismuth and other metals may be less than anticipated and other operational and development risks, market risks and regulatory risks. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information because it is possible that predictions, forecasts, projections, and other forms of forward-looking information will not be achieved by the Company. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise it to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law. Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Article content Troy Nazarewicz Article content Article content Article content
Japan Times
6 hours ago
- Business
- Japan Times
As China advances and the U.S. retreats, Japan-India ties grow stronger
At a summit in Washington earlier this month, foreign ministers from 'the Quad' nations of Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. agreed to work together to ensure a stable supply of critical minerals and released the following joint statement: 'We are committed to a region where all countries are free from coercion and strongly oppose any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion.' The Quad diplomats were, of course, referring to China's growing economic and military ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region and its gray-zone threats in the South China and East China seas. But 'coercion' is also an accurate description of U.S. President Donald Trump's aggressive trade policies in the region and insistence, as with NATO in Europe, that the nations of the Indo-Pacific increase their military spending and take more responsibility for their own defense. In this environment, bilateral India-Japan relations are more important than ever. Located on two ends of the Indo-Pacific region, India and Japan are pivotal to shaping a stable and viable counterweight to Chinese ambitions and the volatility of Trump's second term. Both countries possess a strategic heft that makes them invaluable to any Indo-Pacific strategy and have a record of success in regional coalition building and strategic autonomy to advance their own shared interests, whether in the Indo-Pacific or Southeast Asia. India-Japan relations have a nuanced history, including collaboration between Japanese forces and the Indian National Army, an Indian nationalist military force allied with Tokyo, in World War II. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's first articulation of the 'Indo-Pacific' took place in New Delhi in a speech to the Indian Parliament on the 'Confluence of the Two Seas' in 2007, when he spoke of how 'the Pacific and Indian Oceans are now bringing about a dynamic coupling as seas of freedom and prosperity.' In addition to the Quad, both Japan and India are members of a clutch of ASEAN-led regional bodies, the Group of 20 and the Group of Four, which is seeking a seat in a reformed U.N. Security Council. In addition to forming the Quad in 2007, India and Japan's contemporary history is built on a robust relationship anchored in the 2011 India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership of 2014. These partnerships sprung from three significant events a decade earlier. First, after years of investing heavily in China, the country's 2005 anti-Japanese riots led to a shift of focus toward India. Second, given Japan's special postwar relationship with the U.S., the Indo-U.S. Civil Nuclear Agreement, announced in July 2005, was necessary for the growth of ties with India. And third, the arrival in Japan of more outward-looking prime ministers like Junichiro Koizumi (2001-2006) and Shinzo Abe (2012-2020) led to deeper diplomatic relations. Moreover, Japan has played a significant role in India's development with nearly $60 billion worth of Official Development Assistance loans, grants and technical cooperation since 2000. This includes around $2 billion for Northeast India through which Japan seeks to forge links to Southeast Asia, where it not only provides oda, but its foreign direct investment is double that of China. Japanese money has helped build the Delhi and Chennai Metros, the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor and other roads, bridges and bypasses. Another prestige project Japan is undertaking is the high-speed rail corridor between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Indeed, FDI from Japan has increased steadily and it is now the fourth-largest investor in the country. Military cooperation is also increasing. In 2004, the Indian, U.S. and Japanese navies came together to provide humanitarian assistance after the devastation caused by the Indian Ocean tsunami. In 2007, at the suggestion of Abe, the Quad was formed. That same year, Japan began to participate in the Indo-U.S. Malabar naval exercises. Japan's Self-Defense Forces have now been participating in it regularly since 2014 after it developed a sharper Indo-Pacific focus. Greater defense cooperation makes sense. India's entire border with China is disputed and remains unsettled — largely due to Chinese mendacity. Today, a rising China flexes its muscles and prioritizes national security; it rubs up against Japan in the Senkaku Islands and its neighbors in the East and South China seas, as well as the Himalayas. Meanwhile, the first Trump administration sounded a warning bell for Japan, signaling a more transactional relationship with the U.S. As a result, in December 2022 Japan announced that it would double its defense expenditure to 2% of gross domestic product and also acquire military capabilities it had previously avoided, such as long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles. It also announced plans to sharply enhance its cybercapabilities, satellites and unmanned aerial- and maritime-systems to support counterstrikes. Structural changes were made to the higher command of the Japanese military and it reached out to the U.K. and Australia for defense-enhanced ties. January 2023 also saw the first time Indian fighter aircraft landed in Japan for a joint military exercise, Veer Guardian. India remains leery of military alliances, but in May Tokyo and New Delhi agreed to organize a new defense cooperation consultation body, and there is considerable scope for bilateral ties in that area. Though both collaborate with the U.S. and see it as a vital balancer of China in terms of security, they also need to hedge against Trump's mercurial ways. In the past, India and Japan have made attempts to work together in areas like long-range amphibious aircraft. New Delhi had at one time also sought information on possibly making Japan's Soryu-class submarines in India but, for a variety of reasons, no deal materialized. Currently, there is an important agreement between Japan and India to transfer and co-develop advanced naval stealth technologies such as the Unified Complex Radio Antenna mast for warships and submarines. The two countries also have an agreement to jointly develop an advanced underwater surveillance system and other maritime technology to enhance their deterrence capacity in the Pacific and Indian oceans. The potential for expanding joint production of defense equipment that would leverage Japan's advanced technology with India's manufacturing capacity has barely been touched. Another focus, which overlaps the Quad relationship, is building economic resilience through supply-chain diversification in areas like semiconductors and rare earths. There is considerable scope to deepen their Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement by boosting trade and investment that will counter U.S. tariff threats and Chinese economic coercion. The two also need to put more energy into their 2017 idea of creating an Asia-Africa growth corridor. Crucial to stronger India-Japan ties are the high-level 'two-plus-two' meetings between the nations' defense and foreign ministers, the last of which took place last August in New Delhi. At that meeting the two sides agreed to enhance cooperation 'to reflect contemporary priorities and be responsive to contemporary security challenges facing them.' Those same challenges — emanating from both Beijing and Washington — will no doubt be high on the agenda next month during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to Japan. Manoj Joshi, a journalist and distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, is former political editor of The Times of India and the author, most recently, of 'Understanding the India-China Border: The Enduring Threat of War in High Himalaya' (2022).
South China Morning Post
8 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
US eyes Philippine rare earths to counter China's ‘chokehold'
When US officials met their Philippine counterparts in Kuala Lumpur this month to discuss critical minerals, few outside industry circles realised the quiet significance of the conversation: a new front in the global contest over resources essential to modern technology and national security. Now, a potential rare earths deal between the United States and the Philippines has drawn attention to the largely overlooked abundance of these strategic resources in the Southeast Asian nation – and to the decades-long flow of Philippine raw materials to China For years, Manila may have been unwittingly supplying China with the vital ingredients for manufacturing items ranging from smartphones and electric vehicles to missiles, satellites and military aircraft, industry insiders say. During the meeting in Kuala Lumpur on July 10, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Philippine Foreign Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro that Washington was interested in 'the Philippines' wealth in critical minerals and stressed the need to diversify critical mineral supply chains', according to a State Department statement. US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr at the White House on July 22. Photo: Reuters
CBC
a day ago
- Business
- CBC
Kinew cabinet uses order to dismiss appeals against Chinese miner's environmental licence
Wab Kinew's NDP cabinet has dismissed four attempts to appeal Manitoba's decision to let a Chinese-owned company continue mining critical minerals alongside a lake in eastern Manitoba's boreal forest. On July 16, Kinew's cabinet issued an order in council that allows Environment and Climate Change Minister Mike Moyes to dismiss appeals of an August 2024 decision to grant the Tantalum Mining Corp. of Canada a new environmental licence. Also known as TANCO, the Chinese-controlled company operates a cesium, tantalum and lithium mine at Bernic Lake, a small body of water located between Whiteshell and Nopiming provincial parks. The mine itself has operated on and off since 1929. The new environmental licence replaces one originally granted by the province in 1983. Sinomine Resource Group, which purchased the TANCO mine in 2019, applied for the new licence in order to continue mining ore and processing it at Bernic Lake — as well as to produce new forms of cesium at the site, once home to two thirds of the world's cesium deposits. The licence application did not include a proposal to drain Bernic Lake in order to create an open-pit mine, something the company mused about in a 2023 Globe and Mail story. There is a worldwide scarcity of cesium, a volatile element used in drilling fluids for oil and gas wells, medical imaging and maintaining time in atomic clocks, among other uses. During the licensing process, the province fielded 49 submissions about the application, mostly involving concerns about road safety and water quality downstream in the Bird River watershed, according to Manitoba Environment and Climate Change. The Kinew cabinet's order in council states those concerns were addressed during the licensing process. Four subsequent appeals involved the same concerns, prompting Moyes to propose dismissing them without holding public hearings, the order stated. "The issues raised by the appellants were similar to those raised during the public review period and were addressed during the environmental assessment process through licensing conditions," the order in council stated. The Kinew government did not make Moyes available for comment. In a statement, the minister repeated cabinet's assurance the concerns raised by the appellants have already been addressed. Dismissal not transparent or accountable: advocate Eric Reder, an environmental advocate who works as a campaigner for the Wilderness Committee, said this was not a transparent, responsible or accountable way for Manitoba to consider appeals under the Environment Act, even though he took no issue with the approval of the TANCO licence itself. Reder said the TANCO mine has a history of conducting its operations reasonably and properly, without creating excess waste outside of its Bernic Lake site. His issue is with the way Manitoba denies environmental appeals in general. He said the province does not name appellants or make their concerns public, does not respond to their concerns in a substantive manner and creates a hostile political environment for appeals in the first place. "The only recourse to appeal an Environment Act licence is to the same minister whose department issued the licence," Reder said. He suggested the province create an independent body to consider environmental appeals or hand that duty off to the arm's-length Clean Environment Commission. A spokesperson for Sinomine did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication. A spokesperson for the Bird River Cottage Owners' Association, several of whose members made submissions in opposition to the mine's new environmental licence, was not available to comment. In recent years, Kinew and his predecessor Heather Stefanson have touted Manitoba's critical mineral deposits as a strategic asset for the province. Nonetheless, the province has lagged behind most others when it comes to major mining, energy and forestry projects.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Fluor Corporation (FLR) Advances U.S. Rare Earth Project with Ramaco
We recently compiled a list of Fluor Corporation stands second on our list among the most undervalued stocks. Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR), a global leader in engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services, is expanding its role in the critical minerals sector, which is vital for high-tech manufacturing and national security. In July 2025, the company completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for Ramaco Resources' Brook Mine, potentially the largest unconventional rare earth deposit in the U.S. The project is technically and commercially viable, projecting a 38% internal rate of return, with an expected steady-state EBITDA of $143 million by 2029 and annual revenue of $378 million. An engineer in her office examining a blueprint, surrounded by engineering components. Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR)'s involvement reflects a strategic shift toward supporting the domestic supply of critical minerals like gallium, scandium, and neodymium, essential for electronics, batteries, and defense technologies. This work aligns with national priorities to reduce dependence on foreign sources and bolster clean energy infrastructure. By leveraging its engineering expertise, the company is positioning itself at the forefront of critical mineral development, moving beyond traditional infrastructure projects to address emerging global demands. While we acknowledge the potential of FLR as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: The Best and Worst Dow Stocks for the Next 12 Months and 10 Unstoppable Stocks That Could Double Your Money. Disclosure: None. Sign in to access your portfolio
