Canada’s Supreme Court will hear British Columbia’s appeal of the Gitxaala v. British Columbia (Chief Gold Commissioner) ruling, which found the province’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) incorporates UNDRIP and creates immediate, legally enforceable obligations. The case follows a 2023 BC Supreme Court decision that the province’s automatic online mineral claim staking system breached the constitutional duty to consult Indigenous nations. Mining executives say the evolving interpretation of DRIPA is injecting significant uncertainty into BC mineral tenure and project approval processes, with no hearing date yet set.

US Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jim Risch have introduced the bipartisan System Integrity through Licensed Vault Expansion and Resilience (SILVER) Act to amend the Commodity Exchange Act and mandate at least two licensed precious metal depositories in each US time zone, breaking the current concentration around New York City. The bill aims to cut systemic and national security risk, improve market liquidity and reduce storage and transport costs for miners and traders in Western states such as Nevada. Backers include Money Metals Depository, The Silver Institute, A‑Mark Precious Metals/Gold.com and Texas Precious Metals Depository, with a companion bill already filed in the House.

Midway through 2026, the Institution of Civil Engineers is moving to formalise its next phase of work after a first half-year focused on asset maintenance, ethics, intelligence and stewardship across the profession. Trustees are steering efforts towards more data‑driven asset management, with emphasis on whole‑life performance of critical infrastructure and clearer ethical frameworks for use of digital tools and automation. For practitioners, this signals tighter expectations on maintenance strategies, evidence‑based decision‑making and governance around intelligent infrastructure systems.