MAX Power Mining has secured an additional 155,125 acres (628 sq. km) of permits contiguous with its 1,224 sq. km Lawson natural hydrogen project in south-central Saskatchewan, creating the newly named Aurora project on a basement-controlled structural play along the Paleoproterozoic–Archean contact of the Sask Craton. The company has now accumulated 660,263 acres (2,672 sq. km) of provincial permits across the Genesis Trend while running a multi-well commercial validation drill programme at Lawson targeting large-scale natural hydrogen. An MOU with the City of Moose Jaw links potential hydrogen development to a nearby heavy industrial and major data centre corridor, signalling early focus on local offtake and infrastructure integration.

American Mineral Resources is assembling a seven-jurisdiction portfolio across Quebec, British Columbia, Yukon, Chile, New Zealand, Western Australia and Tanzania, with its Piscau North polymetallic project in Quebec earmarked for a separate Canadian Securities Exchange listing, as it targets a Nasdaq uplist within 12 months via the OTCQB. CEO Ryan Cunningham is prioritising projects with existing permits or modest capex and argues that jurisdictional risk now rivals grade, citing Quebec’s Gaspé oil drilling ban as a warning. He also points to Canada’s flow-through share regime as a key financing advantage over US markets still fixated on AI and tech.

Newmont expects a planned nearshore barrier at the Lihir mine in Papua New Guinea’s New Ireland Province to unlock more than 5 million oz of additional gold from 2028, while reaffirming 2026 production guidance after Q2 output of 1.3 million oz of gold, 17,000 tonnes of copper and 7 million oz of silver. Q2 cash flow from operations reached $2.9 billion and free cash flow hit a record $2.2 billion, with all-in sustaining costs of $1,621/oz against a $1,680/oz guidance and an average realised gold price of $4,414/oz. Management also reported regulatory progress at the Red Chris block cave in British Columbia and resumed cave production at Cadia in Australia, but flagged higher sustaining capital in Q3 and rising capital estimates at Red Chris.