Garrett Goggin, founder of Golden Portfolio, says although gold and silver haven’t gone mainstream yet, the metals — and the mining sector overall — have entered a new era.
‘It’s a real mind shift — it’s a new era in mining right here,’ he said.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
U.S. stocks rose Wednesday and global oil prices fell in yet another volatile trading session as traders and investors were buffeted by constant headlines about the war in Iran.
News of a 15-point U.S. peace plan proposal sparked hopes early in the day that the Trump administration was moving to end its monthlong war against Iran. Initially, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 futures rose more than 1%.
But reports that Iran had responded negatively to the proposal briefly knocked index futures off their pre-market highs and lifted oil prices off their morning lows.
Despite the early setback, stocks closed the trading day higher. At 4 p.m. ET, the S&P 500 index was up about 0.4%, the Nasdaq Composite closed 0.7% higher, and the Dow jumped 305 points. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 1.1%.
The price of U.S. crude oil also traded off its lowest levels of the day and was down only 1.4% to about $90 per barrel by late afternoon. West Texas Intermediate crude oil has soared more than 30% since the start of the war on Feb. 28. The cost per barrel is up 50% since the beginning of the year.
International Brent crude prices traded near breakeven, at around $102 per barrel. The price of heating oil, a proxy for jet fuel, dropped 6%.
The global price of oil directly affects what Americans pay at the gas pump and what it costs them to heat and cool their homes. The average nationwide price of unleaded gas Wednesday was $3.98 per gallon, according to AAA data.
“Markets desperately want to believe in the positive,” UBS Global Wealth Management chief economist Paul Donovan wrote. “Focus on the apparent 15-point US plan to end the war has received more attention than Iranian dismissals of this, or the fact that passage through the Strait of Hormuz is minimal.”
Iran’s response to the U.S. proposal included a list of five conditions for ending the war, according to Iranian state TV, which cited a senior political-security official with knowledge of the details of the proposal.
Pakistan has also offered to mediate talks to end the hostilities, four sources told NBC News. A Persian Gulf official said Pakistan had been passing messages between the two countries for the past two days.
An in-person meeting between the U.S. and Iran could be held in the coming days, two sources added.
But President Donald Trump has continued to give conflicting signals.
On March 16, Trump said he was delaying his scheduled visit to China “by a month or so” to monitor the war. On Monday, he said the Strait of Hormuz would be “open very soon.”
And on Tuesday, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, “This war has been won.” At the same time, the U.S. is sending more than 1,000 additional troops to the Middle East, sources said.
Since the war started, the market has experienced several days like this, when markets are whipsawed by constant back-and-forth comments.
“There’s really no way to know at this point what the facts are regarding the state of negotiations, as neither side has any real incentive to conduct talks via the press, so expect more whipsaw action as things continue to progress,” analysts at Bespoke Investment Group wrote in a client note.
They added that the “ongoing tensions continue to support higher prices [and] stoke inflation concerns” and are likely to cause central banks to remain on hold, rather than cut rates.
On the contrary, traders believe the European Central Bank and the Bank of England will both raise interest rates.
“Uncertainty remains high,” analysts at ING wrote in a note Wednesday morning. “Overall, volatility remains elevated and a geopolitical risk premium persists.”
In the 18 trading sessions since the war began, U.S. oil prices have closed down only five times. Likewise, over the same period, the S&P 500 has closed higher only seven times. Three of those higher closes were only fractional.
After Wednesday’s close, the Nasdaq was down nearly 6% for the year, while the S&P 500 was on track for a 3.5% loss so far. The majority of those losses were concentrated in the weeks since the war began.
Meanwhile, the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil supply typically passes, has remained at a near standstill since the war began.
On Monday, just five ships passed through the strait, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence. On Tuesday, the total was six. On many days since the war started, not a single ship has passed through.
However, some of the ships passing through the strait have taken an unusual course that put them close to the Iranian coastline, potentially signaling that Tehran was keeping a tight grip on traffic flows. Two Indian ships were granted passage Tuesday after a deal with Iran, Bloomberg News reported. The Iranian navy also guided the ships.
Otherwise, hundreds of other ships loaded up with cargo, oil and liquefied natural gas remain stuck.
At least 40% of Russia‘s oil export capacity is at a halt following Ukrainian drone attacks, a disputed attack on a major pipeline and the seizure of tankers, according to Reuters calculations based on market data.
The shutdown is the most severe oil supply disruption in the modern history of Russia, the world’s second largest oil exporter, and has hit Moscow just as oil prices exceeded $100 a barrel due to the Iran war.
Russia’s oil output is one of the main sources of revenue for the national budget and is central to the $2.6 trillion economy.
Ukraine intensified drone attacks on Russia‘s oil and fuel export infrastructure this month, hitting all three of Russia‘s major western oil export ports, including Novorossiysk on the Black Sea and Primorsk and Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea.
According to Reuters calculations, about 40% of Russia‘s crude oil export capabilities — or around 2 million barrels per day, were shut as of Wednesday after the most recent attack.
That includes Primorsk and Ust-Luga as well as the Druzhba pipeline, which runs through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia.
Kyiv has also targeted pipeline oil pumping stations and refineries. Kyiv says it aims to diminish Moscow’s oil and gas revenue, which accounts for around a quarter of Russia‘s state budget proceeds, and weaken its military might.
Russia says the Ukrainian strikes are terrorist attacks and has tightened security across its 11 time zones.
Ukraine said that part of the Druzhba pipeline was damaged by Russian strikes at the end of January, while both Slovakia and Hungary demanded Kyiv restart the supplies immediately.
The Novorossiysk oil terminal, which can handle up to 700,000 bpd, has been loading oil below plan since damage from a heavy Ukrainian drone attack early this month.
In addition, frequent seizures of Russia-related tankers in Europe have disrupted 300,000 bpd of Arctic oil exports flowing from the port of Murmansk, traders said.
With its westward export routes under fire, Moscow must rely on oil exports to Asian markets, but those routes are limited due to capacity, traders said.
Russia continues uninterrupted supplies via pipelines to China, including the Skovorodino-Mohe and Atasu-Alashankou routes, as well as ESPO Blend exports by sea via the port of Kozmino.
Together, the three routes account for some 1.9 million bpd of oil.
Russia also continues to load oil from its two far eastern Sakhalin projects, shipping about 250,000 bpd from the island.
Traders also say that Russia is supplying the refineries in neighboring Belarus with around 300,000 bpd of oil.
CALGARY, AB / ACCESS Newswire / March 9, 2026 / Valeura Energy Inc. (TSX:VLE,OTC:VLERF)(OTCQX:VLERF) (‘Valeura’ or the ‘Company’) announces completion of a successful infill drilling campaign at its Gulf of Thailand Manora field (Block G1/48, 70% operated working interest).
Dr. Sean Guest, President and CEO commented:
‘Our Manora drilling campaign illustrates that we can continue adding to the ultimate production potential of our Gulf of Thailand fields. Our approach is to take every opportunity to appraise potential future development locations while developing known reservoir intervals. We have once again delivered new production from the field and also laid the basis for further development in the future.’
Valeura successfully drilled a campaign comprised of two infill development targets and one appraisal well from the Manora A platform. All wells were successful, and notably the appraisal well was found to be optimally positioned for use as a production well. As a result, all three wells have been completed as oil producers and are now on stream. Manora’s oil production has increased from an average of 1,950 bbls/d prior to the first new well coming onstream, to a more recent average of 2,626 bbls/d (working interest share oil production before royalites)(1).
Valeura’s management expects that the newly encountered reservoir intervals will be considered in the next evaluation of reserves and could therefore be additive to the ultimate potential and economic life of the asset.
MNA-41 was drilled as a deviated appraisal well to evaluate the potential of two reservoir intervals. The well encountered oil pay in the 300-series sand reservoir, which will be analysed to identify future prospects in this zone. In addition, the well encountered five oil pay zones in the 400/500-series reservoir. It has been completed as a comingled oil producer and is now on production. Results have exceeded management’s expectations, which sought only to assess the potential for future development of these intervals.
MNA-35ST1 was drilled as a sidetrack to the pre-exisitng MNA-35 well, with the objective of developing the same two reservoir intervals access in MNA-41. Two pay zones were encountered in the 300 sands, which will be completed for production in the future. In the meantime, the well has been completed as a producer of five oil pay zones within the 400/500 reservoir sands and is now on production.
MNA-42H was geo-steered as a horizontal development well within the 300 series sand reservoir. The well’s 1,046 ft lateral section encountered 556′ of net oil pay, which has exceeded management’s expectations. The well has been completed and is now online as a horizontal oil producer.
The Manora drilling campaign was completed safely, on time, and on budget. Valeura’s contracted drilling rig has now been mobilised to the Nong Yao field on block G11/48 (90% operated working interest) where the Company is planning to drill a production-oriented campaign from the Nong Yao A and Nong Yao B wellhead facilities.
(1) 15-24 February 2026 vs 03-12 February 2026.
Future Disclosure
Valeura intends to release its audited financial results for the year ended 31 December 2025, along with its annual information form for 2025 and its estimates of reserves and resources in accordance with the requirements of National instrument 51-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities on 18 March 2026.
For further information, please contact:
|
Valeura Energy Inc. (General Corporate Enquiries) |
+65 6373 6940 |
|
Valeura Energy Inc. (Investor and Media Enquiries) |
+1 403 975 6752 / +44 7392 940495 |
Contact details for the Company’s advisors, covering research analysts and joint brokers, including Auctus Advisors LLP, Beacon Securities Limited, Canaccord Genuity Ltd (UK), Cormark Securities Inc., Research Capital Corporation, Roth Canada Inc., and Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited, are listed on the Company’s website at www.valeuraenergy.com/investor-information/analysts/.
About the Company
Valeura Energy Inc. is a Canadian public company engaged in the exploration, development and production of petroleum and natural gas in Thailand and in Türkiye. The Company is pursuing a growth-oriented strategy and intends to re-invest into its producing asset portfolio and to deploy resources toward further organic and inorganic growth in Southeast Asia. Valeura aspires toward value accretive growth for stakeholders while adhering to high standards of environmental, social and governance responsibility.
Additional information relating to Valeura is also available on SEDAR+ at http://www.sedarplus.ca.
Advisory and Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Certain information included in this news release constitutes forward-looking information under applicable securities legislation. Such forward-looking information is for the purpose of explaining management’s current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes, such as making investment decisions. Forward-looking information typically contains statements with words such as ‘anticipate’, ‘believe’, ‘expect’, ‘plan’, ‘intend’, ‘estimate’, ‘propose’, ‘project’, ‘target’ or similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook.
Forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, the Manora drilling results laying the basis for further development work in the future; and management’s expectation that the newly encountered reservoir intervals will be considered in the next evaluation of reserves and could therefore be additive to the ultimate potential and economic life of the asset.
Forward-looking information is based on management’s current expectations and assumptions regarding, among other things: political stability of the areas in which the Company is operating; continued safety of operations and ability to proceed in a timely manner; continued operations of and approvals forthcoming from governments and regulators in a manner consistent with past conduct; future drilling activity on the required/expected timelines; the prospectivity of the Company’s lands; the continued favourable pricing and operating netbacks across its business; future production rates and associated operating netbacks and cash flow; decline rates; future sources of funding; future economic conditions; the impact of inflation of future costs; future currency exchange rates; interest rates; the ability to meet drilling deadlines and fulfil commitments under licences and leases; future commodity prices; the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine; royalty rates and taxes; future capital and other expenditures; the success obtained in drilling new wells and working over existing wellbores; the performance of wells and facilities; the availability of the required capital to funds its exploration, development and other operations, and the ability of the Company to meet its commitments and financial obligations; the ability of the Company to secure adequate processing, transportation, fractionation and storage capacity on acceptable terms; the capacity and reliability of facilities; the application of regulatory requirements respecting abandonment and reclamation; the recoverability of the Company’s reserves and contingent resources; future growth; the sufficiency of budgeted capital expenditures in carrying out planned activities; the impact of increasing competition; the ability to efficiently integrate assets and employees acquired through acquisitions; global energy policies going forward; future debt levels; and the Company’s continued ability to obtain and retain qualified staff and equipment in a timely and cost efficient manner. In addition, the Company’s work programmes and budgets are in part based upon expected agreement among joint venture partners and associated exploration, development and marketing plans and anticipated costs and sales prices, which are subject to change based on, among other things, the actual results of drilling and related activity, availability of drilling, offshore storage and offloading facilities and other specialised oilfield equipment and service providers, changes in partners’ plans and unexpected delays and changes in market conditions. Although the Company believes the expectations and assumptions reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect.
Forward-looking information involves significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Exploration, appraisal, and development of oil and natural gas reserves and resources are speculative activities and involve a degree of risk. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company including, but not limited to: the ability of management to execute its business plan or realise anticipated benefits from acquisitions; the risk of disruptions from public health emergencies and/or pandemics; competition for specialised equipment and human resources; the Company’s ability to manage growth; the Company’s ability to manage the costs related to inflation; disruption in supply chains; the risk of currency fluctuations; changes in interest rates, oil and gas prices and netbacks; potential changes in joint venture partner strategies and participation in work programmes; uncertainty regarding the contemplated timelines and costs for work programme execution; the risks of disruption to operations and access to worksites; potential changes in laws and regulations, the uncertainty regarding government and other approvals; counterparty risk; the risk that financing may not be available; risks associated with weather delays and natural disasters; and the risk associated with international activity. See the most recent annual information form and management’s discussion and analysis of the Company for a detailed discussion of the risk factors.
The forward-looking information contained in this new release is made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking information contained in this new release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction, including where such offer would be unlawful. This news release is not for distribution or release, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, Ireland, the Republic of South Africa or Japan or any other jurisdiction in which its publication or distribution would be unlawful.
Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
This information is provided by Reach, the non-regulatory press release distribution service of RNS, part of the London Stock Exchange. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
SOURCE: Valeura Energy Inc.
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire
News Provided by ACCESS Newswire via QuoteMedia
President Donald Trump addressed the nation Wednesday night, saying the United States’ “core strategic objectives” in Iran are “nearing completion” just a month after Operation Epic Fury began and warned that the U.S. will hit Tehran “extremely hard” over the next several weeks.
“Tonight, I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” the president said, touting the United States military and their “extraordinary” efforts.
Here are the top five takeaways from the president’s address:
President Trump told Americans Wednesday night that after 32 days of Operation Epic Fury, Iran is “essentially really no longer a threat.”
The president, upon the announcement of Operation Epic Fury, detailed the United States’ objectives. Trump said, “We are systematically dismantling the regime’s ability to threaten America or project power outside of their borders.”
“That means eliminating Iran’s navy, which is now absolutely destroyed, hurting their air force and their missile program at levels never seen before, and annihilating their defense industrial base,” the president said Wednesday night.
INSIDE IRAN’S MILITARY: MISSILES, MILITIAS AND A FORCE BUILT FOR SURVIVAL
“We’ve done all of it,” he continued. “Their navy is gone. Their air force is gone. Their missiles are just about used up or beaten. Taken together, these actions will cripple Iran’s military, crush their ability to support terrorist proxies and deny them the ability to build a nuclear bomb.”
“Our armed forces have been extraordinary,” the president said. “There’s never been anything like it militarily. Everyone is talking about it.”
“And tonight, I’m pleased to say that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion,” he said.
Meanwhile, the president thanked U.S. allies in the Middle East — “Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain.”
“They’ve been great, and we will not let them get hurt or fail in any way, shape or form,” he said.
“I’ve made clear from the beginning of Operation Epic Fury that we will continue until our objectives are fully achieved, thanks to the progress we’ve made,” he said. “I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly. Very shortly.”
The president warned that the U.S. is “going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.”
“We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong,” he said. “In the meantime, discussions are ongoing. Regime change was not our goal. We never said regime change, but regime change has occurred because of all of their original leaders’ deaths. They’re all dead. The new group is less radical and much more reasonable.”
Since Operation Epic Fury began, gas prices in the United States have increased. The president acknowledged that development, and expressed confidence that those increases are “short term.”
The average price of a gallon of gas surpassed $4 Tuesday, a first since 2022.
“Many Americans have been concerned to see the recent rise in gasoline prices here at home,” the president said. “The short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers and neighboring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict.”
WHY TRUMP, IRAN SEEM LIGHT-YEARS APART ON ANY POSSIBLE DEAL TO END THE WAR
“This is yet more proof that Iran can never be trusted with nuclear weapons. They will use them, and they will use them quickly. It would lead to decades of extortion, economic pain and instability worse than we can ever imagine,” the president said. “The United States has never been better prepared economically to confront this threat. You all know that we built the strongest economy in history.”
The president touted the economy under his leadership, saying that he has “taken a dead and crippled country — I hate to say that, but we were dead and crippled country after the last administration — and made it the hottest country anywhere in the world by far, with no inflation, record-setting investments coming into the United States, over $18 trillion and the highest stock market ever with 53 all-time record highs in just one year.”
The president said those economic gains “all positioned us to get rid of a cancer that has long simmered.”
“It’s known as the nuclear Iran, and they didn’t know what was coming. They’ve never imagined it,” he said. “Remember, because of our drill baby drill program, America has plenty of gas. We have so much gas.”
The president said that, under his leadership, the U.S. is the “number one producer of oil and gas on the planet without even discussing the millions of barrels that we’re getting from Venezuela because of the Trump administration’s policies. We produce more oil and gas than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined.”
“Think of that — Saudi Arabia and Russia combined,” he continued. “And that number will soon be substantially higher than that. There’s no country like us anywhere in the world.”
The president stressed that “the hard part is done.”
“When this conflict is over, the strait will open up. Naturally. It’ll just open up naturally. They’re going to want to be able to sell oil because that’s all they have to try and rebuild,” he said. “It will resume the flowing and the gas prices will rapidly come back down.”
The president said it was necessary to “take that little journey to Iran to get rid of this horrible threat with our historic tax cuts, where people are just now talking about receiving larger refunds than they ever thought possible, they are getting so much more money than they thought. That’s from the great big, beautiful bill.”
He added: “Our economy is strong and improving by the day and it will soon be roaring back like never before. It will top the levels that it was a month ago.”
The president began his address Wednesday night by thanking U.S. troops for “the massive job they did in taking the country of Venezuela in a matter of minutes.”
“That hit was quick, lethal, violent and respected by everyone all over the world,” Trump said, referring to the January operation.
“We’re working along with Venezuela are, in a true sense, joint venture partners,” Trump said. “We’re getting along incredibly well in the production and sale of massive amounts of oil and gas — the second-largest reserves on Earth after the United States of America.”
POLL POSITION: WHERE TRUMP STANDS AMONG AMERICANS AS HE FACES THE NATION IN PRIMETIME
Shifting to Operation Epic Fury and the progress made, the president honored “the 13 American warriors who have laid down their lives and this fight to prevent our children from ever having to face a nuclear Iran.”
“Twice this past month, I have traveled to Dover Air Force Base, and it’s been something I wanted to be with those heroes as they return to American soil,” he said. “And I was with them and their families, their parents, their wives, their husbands.”
“We salute them, and now we must honor them by completing the mission for which they gave their lives,” the president said. “And every single one of the people, their loved one said, please, sir, please finish the job, every one of them, and we are going to finish the job and we’re going to finish it very fast. We’re getting very close.”
“It’s very important that we keep this conflict in perspective,” the president said. “American involvement in World War One lasted one year, seven months and five days.”
“World War Two lasted for three years, eight months and 25 days,” he continued. “The Korean War lasted for three years, one month and two days. The Vietnam War lasted for 19 years, five months and 29 days.”
“Iraq went on for eight years, eight months and 28 days,” the president said.
“We are in this military operation, so powerful, so brilliant against one of the most powerful countries for 32 days,” he said. “And the country has been eviscerated and, essentially, is really no longer a threat.”
FOX NEWS LIVE UPDATES ON THE U.S. WAR WITH IRAN
Trump said that Iran was “the bully of the Middle East, but they’re the bully no longer.”
“This is a true investment in your children and your grandchildren’s future,” he said. “The whole world is watching, and they can’t leave the power, strength and brilliance. They just can’t believe what they’re seeing. They leave it to your imagination, but they can’t believe what they’re seeing — The brilliance of the United States military.”
He added: “Tonight, every American can look forward to a day when we are finally free from the wickedness of Iranian aggression and the specter of nuclear blackmail. Because of the actions we have taken, we are on the cusp of ending Iran’s sinister threat to America and the world. And I’ll tell you, the world is watching.”
President Trump said ending former President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal was among his top achievements as president, telling the nation he was “honored” to do it.
“I terminated Barack Hussein Obama’s Iran nuclear deal disaster,” Trump said. “Obama gave them $1.7 billion in cash. Green, green cash took it out of banks from Virginia, D.C. and Maryland. All the cash they had.”
The president went on to say that Obama “flew it by airplanes in an attempt to buy their respect and loyalty. But it didn’t work.”
“They laughed at our president and went on with their mission to have a nuclear bomb,” Trump said. “His Iran deal would have led to a colossal arsenal of massive nuclear weapons for Iran, and they would have had them years ago, and they would have used them, would have been a different world.”
The president said, “There would have been no Middle East and no Israel right now, in my opinion, the opinion of a lot of great experts, had I not terminated that terrible deal that I was so honored to do it.”
“I was so proud to do it It was so bad right from the beginning,” he said. “Essentially, I did what no other president was willing to do.”
He added: “They made mistakes, and I am correcting them.”
The president said his “first preference was always the path of diplomacy, yet the regime continued their relentless quest for nuclear weapons and rejected every attempt at an agreement.”
“For this reason, in June, I ordered a strike on Iran’s key nuclear facilities and Operation Midnight Hammer. And nobody’s ever seen anything like it. Those beautiful B-2 bombers performed magnificently,” he said. “We totally obliterated those nuclear sites.”
But the president said the Iranian regime “then sought to rebuild their nuclear program at a totally different location, making clear they had no intention of abandoning their pursuit of nuclear weapons.”
Vital Metals Limited (ASX: VML) (“Vital Metals” or “the Company”) is pleased to report final overlimit assay results from grab samples collected at Nechalacho, confirming exceptional rare earth grades of up to 292,145ppm TREO.
Highlights:
The results demonstrate significant potential to support the district scale of mineralisation across its Nechalacho Rare Earths and Niobium Project (Upper Zone, top 150m RL) located 100km southeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.
Managing Director and CEO Lisa Riley said:
“These results demonstrate that Nechalacho is a large, dynamic rare earth system rather than a single deposit. Mineralisation has been identified outside the defined US$445m Tardiff Deposit underscoring a broad district-scale multi-target opportunity and supporting our strategy of expanding the resource base beyond Tardiff and North T while advancing Tardiff toward development.”
“We are executing a three-pronged approach:
1. Exploration work on the new targets, expanding the broader Nechalacho footprint.
2. Pre-Feasibility Study of the Tardiff deposit toward completion by February 2027.
3. Preparing to process stockpiles at North T to generate cash as soon as possible.”
Overview of Work Recently Conducted
As announced to the ASX on 23 February 2026, analyses from three grab samples, F009416, F009445 and F009446, were reported with overlimit values (i.e. Nd > 50,000 ppm, Dy >5,000ppm). These samples have since undergone a third round of analysis at ALS Canada, with final certified assay results reported outlined below.
Click here for the full ASX Release
The 48-day Department of Homeland Security shutdown is one step closer to ending after the Senate moved to fund most of the department Thursday morning.
The Senate agreed via voice vote to send a bipartisan deal funding the whole department except for President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement and border security efforts to the House for consideration.
The chamber is not expected to vote on the legislation until House lawmakers return to Washington on April 13.
The Senate vote follows GOP leaders endorsing a two-track approach to funding DHS on Wednesday, with President Trump giving lawmakers a hard deadline to end the record-breaking funding lapse.
HOUSE CONSERVATIVES RAGE AGAINST SENATE DHS SHUTDOWN DEAL
The Senate bill accomplishes the first phase of the plan by working with Democrats to fund as much of DHS as possible on a bipartisan basis. However, it would zero out funding for ICE and much of the Border Patrol, save for $11 billion in customs funding going to the agency. Additionally, $10 billion teed up for ICE won’t be funded under the measure.
As for ICE and the Border Patrol, Republicans have said they will seek three full years of funding for both of these agencies in a party-line budget reconciliation package that will bypass Democrats’ opposition. Trump says he wants the forthcoming bill on his desk by June 1.
“We are going to work as fast, and as focused, as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE Agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won’t be able to stop us,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday.
The Senate bill’s passage on Thursday was a déjà vu moment for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who helped steer the same measure through the upper chamber last week.
But House GOP leadership sharply rejected it, calling the measure’s exclusion of ICE and CBP money a “crap sandwich” and warning about the risks of funding those entities using the budget reconciliation process. The chamber then put forward a rival proposal that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., made clear was “dead on arrival” in the Senate.
Thune said shortly after the vote that he was hopeful the House would move onto the bill quickly, and that the next step would be budget reconciliation. Still, he blamed Senate Democrats, and not Republicans in-fighting at the finish line, for the current position Congress was in.
“I think this whole where we are is just a regrettable place. We have the Democrats who are holding the appropriations process hostage and their anti-law enforcement, open borders, defund the police wing is the ascendant wing,” Thune said. “And there, I think everybody’s afraid of them, and so we’re stuck in a spot that’s just not good for the country, the future of the appropriations process, or, for that matter, the future of the Senate.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., appeared to relent Wednesday after Trump issued a statement outlining an end to the shutdown that appeared to side with Thune’s two-part approach to funding the department.
GOP INFIGHTING, DEMOCRATS’ UNMET DEMANDS AND A CLEAR WINDFALL: WHO’S WINNING AND LOSING THE DHS SHUTDOWN
As the DHS shutdown drags on, Trump and congressional Republicans are gambling that budget reconciliation will be the way to fund immigration enforcement for several years to come. Some Republicans have floated funding ICE not just through Trump’s term, but for up to a decade.
The GOP used the same process to fund ICE last year, teeing up $75 billion for enforcement operations for the next four fiscal years.
But the party-line process comes with a host of challenges that could test Republican unity in an election year.
GOP lawmakers will have to identify spending cuts to pay for it. When Republicans used the process to pass Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025, lawmakers nearly stumbled at the finish line over disagreements on cuts to federal Medicaid spending and food assistance programs.
Without a looming deadline like the expiration of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts that Republicans extended in July 2025 through the “big, beautiful bill,” some GOP lawmakers have voiced concern that the party will stay unified.
Republicans have proposed adding other issues into the reconciliation mix, including supplemental funding for the Iran war, affordability measures, the president’s tariff regime and pieces of the election integrity-focused SAVE America Act.
The budget reconciliation process allows a party with control of the White House and both chambers of Congress to pass tax and spending priorities with a simple majority threshold, though the process is governed by stringent requirements for what is eligible to be included.
Punting ICE and CBP money to a future spending bill could also negatively affect support staff employed by both agencies who have not been paid during the seven-week shutdown.
Democrats have repeatedly blocked funding for ICE and the Border Patrol in the Senate since the beginning of the shutdown in mid-February. Though none of their proposals to reform immigration enforcement have been adopted, Democratic leaders claimed victory on Wednesday.
“Throughout this fight, Senate Democrats never wavered,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday. “We were clear from the start: fund critical security, protect Americans, and no blank check for reckless ICE and Border Patrol enforcement.
“We were united, held the line, and refused to let Republican chaos win.”
The Senate deal funding most of DHS could still face roadblocks in the House. A handful of conservatives have already said they will vote “no” while using the same messaging employed by House GOP leadership to oppose the bill last week.
“Let’s make this simple: caving to Democrats and not paying CBP and ICE is agreeing to defund Law Enforcement and leaving our borders wide open again,” Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., wrote on social media Wednesday. “If that’s the vote, I’m a NO.”
The two pilots killed in the collision between a passenger jet and a Port Authority fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport late Sunday have been identified as Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther.
The pair have yet to be officially named by authorities, who have said only that both pilots of the Canada Air Express plane died and that they were based in Canada. Their identities were confirmed by Canadian news reports and by a college that one pilot attended.
The Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board and other agencies are investigating the crash. They will seek to determine how the truck was able to cut across the jet’s path moments after it touched down on the runway.
Here’s what we know about the fatal crash.
At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, NTSB officials released preliminary information gleaned from the final three minutes of the plane’s cockpit voice recorder that showed that the fire truck was cleared to cross the runway 20 seconds before the crash.
At 2 minutes and 22 seconds, the flight crew checked in with the tower at LaGuardia, said Doug Brazy, NTSB’s senior aviation investigator.
At 2 minutes and 17 seconds, the tower cleared the airplane to land on Runway 4.
Brazy said that at 1 minute and 3 seconds, an airport vehicle made a radio transmission to the tower but that the transmission was “stepped on” by another radio transmission. NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said that means there was some sort of interference with the transmission.
At 54 seconds, the tower advised the flight crew that the plane was at a stable approach, Brazy said.
At 40 seconds, the LaGuardia tower asked which vehicle needed to cross a runway. Brazy said the fire truck made a transmission to the tower, which the tower acknowledged. At 25 seconds, the truck requested permission to cross Runway 4. Brazy said that at 20 seconds, the tower cleared the truck to cross.
At 17 seconds, the fire truck read back the runway crossing clearance, he said. According to Brazy, the tower instructed a Frontier Airlines flight to hold position, and at 9 seconds, the tower told the fire truck to stop.
At 8 seconds, there was a sound consistent with the airplane’s landing gear touching down on the runway, he said. At 6 seconds, there was a pilot transfer of controls. Homendy told reporters that the first officer was flying the plane and transferred control to the captain.
At 4 seconds, the tower again instructed the fire truck to stop, Brazy said.
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Listen up, flyers: United Airlines said it will start removing passengers from flights who refuse to wear headphones while listening to content on their personal devices, and such behavior could lead to a permanent ban.
The airline revised its contract of carriage on Feb. 27 to include the new provision, which sits under the ‘refusal of transport’ section that outlines the instances in which United can boot its passengers from flights.
According to the document, United reserves the right to refuse transport — on a permanent basis — to any passenger who listens to their entertainment on speaker.
It also states that any passenger who causes United ‘any loss, damage or expense of any kind,’ may be responsible for reimbursing the airline.
‘We’ve always encouraged customers to use headphones when listening to audio content — and our Wi-Fi rules already remind customers to use headphones,’ United said in a statement. ‘With the expansion of Starlink, it seemed like a good time to make that even clearer by adding it to the contract of carriage.’
Passengers who forgot their headphones at home can request a free pair on their flight, if they’re available, according to United’s in-flight entertainment information.
The move inspired a strong reaction online.
‘One would think this is common sense and airlines would have in their rules,’ said one Reddit user. ‘Now let’s have the same rule for airline lounges.’
Others complained that this has become increasingly common on flights, especially among those with small children.
‘As a flight attendant; we have to tell people literally every flight,’ another person said on Reddit. ‘It makes our jobs harder when we’re stuck policing common courtesy instead of just focusing on service & safety.’