53rd Geological Open House Highlights Saskatchewan’s Leadership in Critical Minerals

The Saskatchewan Geological Society’s 53rd Open House took place in the beginning of December in Saskatoon, SK. The open house profiled the strong opportunities in critical minerals within Saskatchewan that are driving global investment in mineral exploration.

“The high-quality, public geological data available in Saskatchewan has set the stage for a dramatic increase in uranium exploration, as well as for other emerging critical minerals such as lithium, helium, copper, zinc, and nickel,” said the Honourable Colleen Young, Energy and Resources Minister for Saskatchewan. 

The Geological Open House was co-hosted by the Ministry of Energy and Resources’ Saskatchewan Geological Survey and the Saskatchewan Geological Society. The Province of Saskatchewan credits the survey’s accessible research as a major reason why exploration companies choose to invest in the province.

2024 was another strong year for the province’s exploration sector. Saskatchewan’s Energy and Resources estimates exploration activity will reach $410 million this year – up 15% compared to last year and 40% compared to 2022. Uranium is driving much of the increase, expected to reach $200 million in exploration investment in 2024 compared to $150 million in 2022. 

“The exploration story for 2024 is uranium development in the Athabasca region, which is home to the highest-grade uranium deposits in the world,” Young said. “Saskatchewan uranium is foundational to the global nuclear renaissance, with countries around the world turning to nuclear as a key part of their low-emissions power generation plans.”

The Province of Saskatchewan introduced the its Critical Mineral Strategy in 2023, which aims to support growth opportunities in the sector. 

The Targeted Mineral Exploration Incentive offers a 25% grant for hard-rock mineral exploration drilling costs anywhere in the province. Saskatchewan residents can take advantage of the Saskatchewan Mineral Exploration Tax Credit which provides a 30% credit on eligible flow-through share purchases, the highest level in the country. 

“In a volatile world – politically and economically – investors are seeking stability,” Young said. “Saskatchewan offers this, along with an abundance of critical minerals that are vital to national security, global food production and dependable energy supply chains.”

Information about the Government of Saskatchewan’s minerals incentive programs can be found at www.investsk.ca/sectors/mining-critical-minerals. Keep an eye on www.sgoh.ca for information about the 54th Geological Open House. 

 

Saskatchewan Budget Invests in Energy and Resource Sectors

On March 19, the Government of Saskatchewan released its 2025-2026 Budget, which reinforces the Province’s position as a global leader in sustainable natural resource development.

This year’s budget invests $350,000 into the Public Geoscience Initiative to support exploration and promote new critical mineral discoveries by providing industry access to new, high-quality geoscience information. This is the second year of funding under the initiative, and part of a $10 million commitment over 10 years to help identify new critical mineral potential in the province as part of Securing the Future: Saskatchewan’s Critical Minerals Strategy. 

“Saskatchewan’s energy, mining and forestry sectors continue to deliver for the people of Saskatchewan,” said the Honourable Colleen Young, Energy and Resources Minister. “The 2025-2026 Budget ensures that strategic investments in geoscience, oil and gas, and critical minerals will continue to support industry and enhance the lives of Saskatchewan residents.”

Saskatchewan continues to be a great place to invest, with world-class natural resource industries, competitive exploration support programs, and a transparent regulatory environment. Doing so means a strong and growing economy that allows the government to deliver the health, security, and social programs for its residents. 

First Cohort Begins at BHP Potash Academy at Carlton Trail College in Humboldt

BHP and Carlton Trail College have launched the BHP Potash Academy and accepted 13 people into the program’s inaugural cohort of trainees.

The eight-month paid traineeship is designed to equip those new to the mining industry with essential skills required for production or maintenance technician roles at the Jansen mine site in Saskatchewan. The program includes a mix of classroom-based theory learning, as well as practical workshop training for hands-on experience. At the end of the program, trainees will earn a Certificate in Mining Essentials, an Applied Certificate in Industrial Mechanics and lead to full-time employment at Jansen, contributing to its long-term success “With the launch of this new partnership between our College and BHP, we are bridging the gap between workforce need, classroom learning and the real-world application of skills,” said Amy Yeager, President and CEO at Carlton Trail College. “We look forward to delivering this unique initiative that will shape the future of both training and industry.”

“BHP is a strong partner that supports Carlton Trail College and other post-secondary institutions in developing a skilled and representative workforce,” said the Honourable Ken Cheveldayoff, Minister of Advanced Education. “This partnership is a clear demonstration of the success that comes from Saskatchewan post-secondary institutions working with key industry partners to create training opportunities that meet the needs of students and employers in the region.”

The BHP Potash Academy, officially formed in July 2024 by BHP and Carlton Trail College, was created to help kickstart additional career pathways to the Saskatchewan mining industry. It is an extension of a long-term partnership between BHP and Carlton Trail College that previously delivered pre-apprenticeship and related industry training.   

BHP anticipates approximately 5,500 workforce opportunities during construction of the Jansen mine and 900 long-term jobs once operational.

Since 2015, BHP has invested $14 billion in the Jansen Project, located approximately 140 km east of Saskatoon. The project is 100%-owned and is expected to start production in late 2026. According to BHP, once production is fully ramped up at Jansen, the project will become one of the world’s largest potash mines, producing approximately 8.5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa). Learn more at www.bhp.com/what-we-do/global-locations/canada/jansen.

Argo Acquires Gold and Silver Mineral Claims in the Rottenstone Belt

Argo Gold Inc. has entered a mineral claim option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the 1155-hectare (ha) Dreaver Lake property, which sits within the Rottenstone Belt. 

To exercise the option and acquire the claim, Argo must: 

• Make a cash payment of $1,000.

• Incur or expend at least $40,000 in exploration work by September 3, 2026.

• Grant to the vendor a 2% net smelter returns royalty on any minerals produced from the claim.

According to Argo Gold, Dreaver Lake has weak gold and silver anomalies in lake sediments, alongside a strongly anomalous halo of coincident gold and silver in lake sediments for 10 km in the down-ice direction. 

The Dreaver Lake mineral claims are located approximately 12 km southeast of the Ramp Metals property. In 1968, prospecting at Dreaver Lake identified outcrops of quartz diorite rock consistent with rock hosting the gold mineralization in the Ramp Metals discovery hole Ranger 1. However, exploration work in the 1960s was focused on nickel and copper, not gold. An airborne survey conducted in 1966 at Dreaver Lake delineated three conductors, all with associated magnetic highs, in the metasediments flanking the intrusive granites. Today, the highest priority target is a strong, wide EM conductor that is approximately 1.5 km in length with associated magnetic highs on both sides. All three conductors remain undrilled. 

Argo recently completed a compilation of all historic data on its mineral claims acquired this past year and identified additional prospective mineral exploration ground where anomalous gold, silver, and copper in lake sediments coincide with an interpreted fold axis from historic geophysical data. Argo’s mineral claim position in the Rottenstone Belt covers areas of interest including: anomalous copper in soils, electromagnetic conductors identified by historic geophysical surveys, ultramafic rocks, the Gow Lake meteor crater area, and the geological strike extension of the Rottenstone Mine.

Argo Gold is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company, and an oil producer. The company has three projects in Northwestern Ontario – the Uchi Gold Project, Talbot Lake Gold Project, and Angela Lake Gold Project – and is also exploring mineral claims in Northern SK and within the Athabasca Basin. Learn more at www.argogold.com.

Cosa Resources Enters into Option Agreement for Astro Uranium Project

Cosa Resources Corp. has signed an option agreement with Global Uranium Corporation for Cosa’s Astro Uranium Project, which covers just under 45,000 ha in the eastern Athabasca area. 

As a result of the agreement, Global Uranium has the right to earn up to an 80% interest in Cosa’s Astro Uranium Project by sole funding work and completing cash and share payments over five earn-in phases. 

Upon completion of phase 2 and each phase after, Global Uranium will have the option to continue the earn-in or elect to enter a Joint Venture with Cosa. Global Uranium is also entitled to expedite the earn-in and advance the exploration work plan as desired. However, should Global Uranium terminate the Agreement before completion of phases 1 and 2 by the respective deadlines, all consideration paid to Cosa will be forfeited and Global Uranium’s interest in the Astro Project will revert to 0% interest. In that case, Cosa will be the initial operator for the earn-in and is entitled to charge an industry standard operatorship fee.

Shares of Global Uranium that are issued to Cosa will be subject to a standard hold period of four months and one day following the date of issuance, pursuant to Canadian securities regulations.

With Global Uranium’s support, Cosa’s exploration team will deploy a work plan similar to what has been successfully completed at Cosa’s neighbouring Ursa Project where the fall 2024 drilling campaign intersected basement hosted uranium mineralization and several intervals of hydrothermal alteration and elevated radioactivity.

Global Uranium’s management team brings decades of experience in junior mining finance and exploration to support and rapidly advance Astro towards discovery. 

Astro hosts more than 40 km of unexplored magnetic low strike and multiple conductive trends, which have never been explored for the extension of structures related to the McArthur River and Fox Lake uranium deposits.

Cosa Resources is a Canadian uranium exploration company operating in northern Saskatchewan. The portfolio comprises roughly 237,000 ha across multiple 100%-owned-and-operated Joint Venture projects in the Athabasca Basin region, all of which are underexplored, and the majority reside within or adjacent to established uranium corridors.

Global Uranium Corp. operates with a focus on exploring and developing uranium assets primarily in North America. Its uranium portfolio includes the Wing Lake Property in the Mudjatik Domain of Northern SK; the Northwest Athabasca Joint Venture with Forum Energy Metals Corp. and NexGen Energy Ltd. in the Northwest Athabasca region of SK; and three projects in Wyoming. 

 

Dark Star Minerals Signs Definitive Agreement to Purchase Bleasdell Uranium Project

On April 22, Dark Star Minerals Inc. announced that it has entered into a definitive mineral purchase agreement with two arm’s length vendors to acquire a 100% interest in the Bleasdell Lake Uranium Project, which consists of more than 515 ha in Northern SK. 

• Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, the company will acquire a 100% interest in the project subject to making the following:

• A cash payment of $25,000 from Dark Star to the vendors, payable within five days of the execution of the previously announced non-binding letter of intent between the parties;

• A cash payment of $75,000 from Dark Star to the vendors within 15 days of receipt approval from the Canadian Securities Exchange with respect to the acquisition;

• A cash payment of $150,000 from Dark Star to the vendors within six months of the entry into of the agreement;

• The issuance of 5,000,000 common shares of Dark Star at a deemed price per share equal to the greater of: 1) $0.06 per share; and 2) the lowest permitted price per share pursuant to the policies of the CSE, to the vendors on a pro rata basis within fifteen days of Dark Star’s receipt CSE Approval; and

• The granting a 2.0% net smelter return royalty on the project in favour of the vendors, subject to the buy-back right. 

The Bleasdell Project has had significant historic exploration and development including a historic deposit consisting of 620,700 pounds of U3O8 (triuranium octoxide), identified within the Horn and Jackpine zones. This historic estimate was originally reported in 1957 and is based on data from closely spaced shallow drill holes and more widely spaced deeper drill holes. The Horn and Jackpine zones are known for uranium-bearing pegmatite dykes. Historic drilling at the project returned notable results, including 2.56m returning 0.12% U₃O₈ and 1.21m returning 0.62% U₃O₈, both within mineralized intervals with strike lengths of 91m and 33.5m, respectively.

Three additional zones have also been identified by previous modern-day explorers for deposit expansion opportunities.

Established in 2021 and headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Dark Star Minerals Inc. is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of critical mineral resources, specifically the rare earth complex. Learn more at
www.darkstarminerals.com. 

Fortune Bay Announces Plans for Goldfields Project 

Fortune Bay Corp. has announced plans to advance its 100%-owned Goldfields Project. The plans are designed to materially advance the project, demonstrate its intrinsic value, and deliver key value drivers for the company as it embarks on the process of unlocking value in the project. 

The plans include commissioning an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), which is expected to be completed in Q3 2025. The updated PEA will be led by Ausenco Engineering Canada ULC and will rescope the project based on current gold pricing and incorporate key recommendations from a recently completed study by Fuse Advisors Inc. that assessed the Goldfields Project’s optimal path to production from both an economic and permitting standpoint. This updated PEA is expected to
set the stage for further de-risking through Pre-Feasibility or Feasibility Study.

The company has initiated planning for permitting activities and intends to commence 1) the project development community consultation, in accordance with the company’s social and environmental commitments, and
2) environmental baseline studies in Q3 2025.

Fortune Bay intends to commission a gap analysis to define optimal regulatory and community engagement strategies, that are based on the updated project engineering and economics. To support these strategies, any additional environmental baseline studies and other technical Environmental Assessment work programs will be planned, with the longer lead-time studies to be initiated in summer 2025. Project development community consultation is also planned for summer 2025. The company has an existing exploration agreement with the Goldfields Project communities that provides consent for exploration and development activities up to and including a bankable feasibility stage.

Fortune Bay Corp. owns two advanced gold projects: the Goldfields Project (in SK) and Poma Rosa Project (in Mexico), both with exploration and development potential. The company is also advancing seven uranium exploration projects on the northern rim of the Athabasca Basin, which have high-grade potential. Learn more at www.fortunebaycorp.com.

Agnico Eagle Increases Stake in Foran Mining 

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited recently increased its stake in Foran Mining, subscribing for 30,000,000 voting common shares in a non-brokered private placement at a price of $3.00 per Common Share for total consideration of $90,000,000. 

Agnico Eagle’s increased stake was included in Foran Mining’s announced pricing of non-brokered private placement common shares for gross proceeds of $350 million. The private placement will consist of the issuance of 116,666,667 common shares at a price of $3.00 per common share for gross proceeds of $350 million. It consists of the subscription of $90 million from Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (Agnico Eagle), approximately $156 million from Canada Growth Fund Inc. (CGF), approximately $75 million from certain affiliates of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, and approximately $28 million from a significant institutional equity investor. As part of the private placement, Dan Myerson, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Foran Mining, will subscribe for approximately $1 million of the offering.

The net proceeds will be used to complete construction at McIlvenna Bay, as well as for advancing exploration at near-mine and regional targets.

“This financing marks another key milestone towards realizing our vision for the McIlvenna Bay project,” said Dan Myerson, Executive Chairman and CEO of Foran Mining. “Fairfax and Agnico Eagle are existing shareholders and we are proud and grateful to welcome Canada Growth Fund as a new strategic shareholder of Foran.”

The private placement will result in the issuance of a number of common shares that exceeds 25% of the company’s currently issued and outstanding common shares, and as such, is subject to shareholder approval in accordance with the rules of the TSX. As a result, the offering is expected to be completed in two tranches, with the first tranche of approximately $296 million closed on May 28, 2025. Closing of the first tranche was subject to customary conditions, including but not limited to the conditional approval of the TSX.

In order to complete the second tranche of the offering of approximately $54 million, the company will be calling a special meeting of shareholders as soon as practicable to seek approval for the issuance of such shares. Closing of the second tranche will occur as soon as practicable following shareholder approval.

In connection with the offering Foran Mining has agreed to enter into an investor rights agreement with CGF on the closing of the first tranche, which will contain customary terms for a transaction of this nature. Foran Mining will also enter into an amended and restated investor rights agreement with Agnico Eagle in conjunction with closing of the first tranche of the offering.

Foran Mining is a copper-zinc-gold-silver exploration and development company, committed to supporting a greener future and, empowering communities while creating value for its stakeholders. The McIlvenna Bay project is located entirely within the documented traditional territory of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, comprises the infrastructure and works related to development activities of Foran Mining, and hosts the McIlvenna Bay Deposit and Tesla Zone. 

Agnico Eagle is a Canadian based and led senior gold mining company and the third largest gold producer in the world, producing precious metals from operations in Canada, Australia, Finland, and Mexico, with a pipeline of high-quality exploration and development projects.