VIDEO: Sean Boyd on why smart money is rushing back to gold and Canada
World economies and financial systems are on uncertain ground, and smart money knows it. That’s why it’s moving decisively toward gold, says Sean Boyd, former CEO and current Chair of Agnico Eagle, one of the world’s leading gold producers.
In this interview, Boyd discusses why gold is breaking out across currencies, why critical minerals have become strategic assets, and why Canada’s moment in mining has arrived.
With decades of experience building one of the highest-quality businesses in global mining, Boyd also shares why gold has shifted from a trading instrument to a core investment, why processing — not geology — is the real bottleneck in critical minerals, and why Canada needs speed, coordination, and conviction to compete.
Alex Deluce is the founder of Gold Telegraph, an online news site covering gold, mining, and global economic trends. He has spent over a decade analyzing precious metals and interviewing key figures in finance and mining
Troilus in talks on German funding for Quebec gold-copper mine
The German government is in talks with Canadian firm Troilus Mining Corp. to fund investment in a large mining project, helping secure copper supplies that are key to the energy transition.
The money will come from Germany’s new raw materials fund, which allows a capital injection of as much as €150 million ($176 million) per project, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named as the matter is private.
Copper demand has been soaring on broader optimism around the global energy transition and concerns about future supply disruptions due to mining outages. The metal has benefited from governments worldwide pushing for more green infrastructure, since it’s a key input for electric vehicles, grid upgrades and renewable power.
Montreal-based Troilus plans to revive a gold mine in north-central Quebec, which will also produce copper as a by-product.
Germany’s raw materials fund is a key tool to secure supplies of such critical inputs and is administered by development bank KfW. It can tap as much as €1 billion of budget resources. Earlier this month, the fund provided part of the financing for Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd.’s lithium project that will use geothermal power. It’s also planning to support another project in Australia.
The German Economy Ministry didn’t comment on the talks with Troilus. However, a spokesperson said via email that beyond Vulcan, two other projects were currently undergoing in-depth reviews. Troilus did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Troilus had closed an offtake agreement with Germany’s Aurubis AG for copper concentrate in August. The Canadian company has a market value of about C$850 million ($617 million). It counts Quebec’s pension fund manager Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec among its top shareholders, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Aurubis didn’t comment on the funding talks.
Troilus has also secured as much as $700 million in financing to restart the mine from KfW, Societe Generale SA and Export Development Canada.
(By Petra Sorge and Mathieu Dion)
SolGold agrees to $1.2 billion takeover by top investor Jiangxi Copper
Gold and copper miner SolGold said on Wednesday it had agreed to be acquired by its largest shareholder Jiangxi Copper in a deal valuing it at 867 million pounds ($1.17 billion).
The 28-pence-per-share deal represents an almost 43% premium to Ecuador-focused SolGold’s closing price on November 19, the day before Jiangxi first approached the company for a deal.
SolGold’s shares closed marginally higher at 25.65 pence in a holiday-shortened trading session on Wednesday.
The agreement gives Jiangxi control of SolGold’s Cascabel project in Ecuador’s Imbabura province, as miners race to secure copper supplies amid rising demand driven by electric vehicle and AI infrastructure investments.
The region is home to one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in South America.
The London-listed miner said earlier this month it was inclined to recommend the offer, which was Jiangxi’s third proposal to acquire the company.
“JCC is delighted to have received the unanimous recommendation of the SolGold board and strong support from other large shareholders in favour of the acquisition. JCC is excited by the potential of the Cascabel project,” Shaobing Zhou, vice chairman and general manager of Jiangxi, said in a statement.
SolGold’s other top investors include global miner BHP and Newmont.
($1 = 0.7405 pounds)
(By Shashwat Awasthi; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Kirsten Donovan)
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