Corazon Mining (CZN:AU) has announced Execution of Land Access Agreement
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BTU METALS CORP. (‘BTU’ or the ‘Company’) (TSXV:BTU)(OTCQB:BTUMF) announces that, further to the news release of November 11, 2025, the Company has closed the previously announced, over-subscribed non-brokered private placement of flow-through common shares by the issuance of 17,700,000 flow-through shares at a price of $0.05 per FT Share (the ‘FT Offering’), for gross proceeds of $885,000.
Each flow-through unit shall be comprised of one common share of the company issued on a flow-through basis and one-half of one common share purchase warrant to be issued on a non-flow-through basis. Each whole warrant shall entitle the holder thereof to acquire one common share of BTU at a price of $0.09 for a period of 12 months following the closing of the offering. The flow-through shares will qualify as flow-through shares (within the meaning of Subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) and Section 359.1 of the Taxation Act (Quebec).
In connection with the oversubscribed offering, the company paid finders’ fees to eligible finders consisting of $58,450 in cash and 1,106,000 non-transferable common share purchase warrants. Each finder warrant is exercisable to acquire one common share in the capital of the company at an exercise price of $0.05 per common share for a period of 12 months from the date of issuance. Closing of the offering is subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The securities issued under the offering, and any Shares that may be issuable on exercise of any such securities, will be subject to a statutory hold period expiring four months and one day from the date of issuance of such securities.
‘The overwhelming response for this financing demonstrates strong market support for BTU’s portfolio of Ontario-based exploration projects in both the prolific Red Lake and Wawa mining districts,’ stated Paul Wood, CEO. We look forward to advancing all of our projects immediately and into 2026.’
About BTU
BTU Metals Corp. is a junior mining exploration company. BTU’s primary assets are the Dixie Halo Project located in Red Lake, Ontario (optioned to Kinross) immediately adjacent to the Kinross Great Bear Project, the Dixie East project and its gold and critical minerals properties in the active Wawa gold district. The Company continues to look to acquire high quality exploration projects to add to its portfolio for the benefit of its stakeholders. The Company has no debt and minimal property obligations.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
‘Paul Wood‘
Paul Wood, CEO, Director
pwood@btumetals.com
BTU Metals Corp.
Telephone: 1-604-683-3995
Toll Free: 1-888-945-4770
Cautionary Statement
Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains certain ‘forward-looking information’ within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws that are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. The information in this release about future plans and objectives of the Company is forward-looking information. Other forward-looking information includes but is not limited to information concerning: the intentions, plans and future actions of the Company.
Any statements that involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as ‘expects’, or ‘does not expect’, ‘is expected’, ‘anticipates’ or ‘does not anticipate’, ‘plans’, ‘budget’, ‘scheduled’, ‘forecasts’, ‘estimates’, ‘believes’ or ‘intends’ or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results ‘may’ or ‘could’, ‘would’, ‘might’ or ‘will’ be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information and are intended to identify forward-looking information.
This forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time it was made, and involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others: risks relating to the global economic climate; dilution; future capital needs and uncertainty of additional financing; the competitive nature of the industry; currency exchange risks; the need for the Company to manage its planned growth and expansion; the effects of product development; protection of proprietary rights; the effect of government regulation and compliance on the Company and the industry; reliance on key personnel; global economic and financial market deterioration impeding access to capital or increasing the cost of capital; and volatile securities markets impacting security pricing unrelated to operating performance. The Company has also assumed that no significant events occur outside of the normal course of business. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking information other than as required by law.
Source
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In its 2025 federal budget, the Canadian government lays out a bold blueprint to foster competition, innovation and inclusion in the financial sector by accelerating open banking adoption.
With the Big Six banks holding 93 percent of banking assets, this consumer-driven reform aims to dismantle longstanding barriers, giving Canadians and small businesses greater control over their financial data and choices.
The promise of open banking in Canada
Open banking, also known as consumer-driven banking, enables secure, reliable and affordable sharing of financial data between banks and third-party service providers. The goal of this framework is to empower consumers by bringing them more customized and transparent financial products and services.
The Canadian government’s recent announcements, including legislative proposals and an oversight shift from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) to the Bank of Canada (BoC), signal a serious commitment to delivering a competitive and consumer-centric financial ecosystem. Boms explained that, if implemented correctly, open banking could drive innovation and inclusion across Canada’s financial sector.
“It means a more holistic picture of your total financial life, including your investment portfolios,” he commented. “It’s also something that every other G7 country has and has had for quite some time, and so it provides the basis for a more competitive, more innovative and more efficient financial system.”
One shift in the proposed framework that Boms said is vital is the BoC taking control of regulatory oversight.
‘The FCAC, where (oversight) lived originally, really didn’t have any experience in creating a regulatory framework for non-banks,’ he said. In contrast, the BoC has direct experience in licensing for non-banks serving consumers. It oversees fintech firms such as Wealthsimple, Koho, Brim Financial and Venn under the Retail Payments Activities Act.
Smaller financial institutions, including credit unions, will stand to benefit significantly from this change, leveling the playing field with the Big Six banks, which, as mentioned, currently dominate banking assets.
However, Boms emphasized the importance of a risk- and size-based regulatory approach to ensure these smaller players can innovate without undue burdens: “You have to recognize that fundamentally smaller financial institutions, smaller fintechs, don’t have the same resources as bigger incumbents.”
Canadian budget measures supporting competition
This year’s Canadian federal budget introduces several important measures to enhance competition and give consumers more choice beyond the dominant bank oligopoly. One of the flagship promises is to ban transfer fees for investment and registered accounts, fees that currently cost Canadians around C$150 per account.
Draft regulations are expected by spring 2026 to enforce this ban, reducing friction and costs for consumers. Additionally, the budget includes initiatives to simplify switching primary chequing accounts between financial institutions, further lowering barriers for Canadians to move their banking relationships.
The budget also targets cross-border transfer fees by improving transparency, including fees related to foreign exchange margins, so consumers can better understand the costs of sending money internationally.
Accessibility to cheque funds will be improved by raising the dollar threshold and shortening hold periods on cheque deposits, benefiting Canadians who rely on cheques.
To support smaller lenders and foster broader financial inclusion, legislative amendments will make it easier for federal credit unions to scale and for provincial credit unions to enter the federal regulatory regime.
“If (smaller financial institutions) can get access to consumer data digitally, they can then become much more competitive without having to build the same type of infrastructure the biggest banks can afford to build,” said Boms.
A voluntary code of conduct is planned to improve smaller financial institutions’ access to brokered deposit channels, a vital funding source for growth. Furthermore, changes to the Bank Act and Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Act will raise public holding requirement thresholds for smaller institutions.
That will allow them more flexibility to grow before triggering changes in ownership structure.
While Canada is still rolling out its open banking framework, countries like the UK and Australia demonstrate how open banking adoption fuels economic resilience and consumer benefits.
“Canada has learned from the experiences of (other) jurisdictions, good and bad, and taken those learnings and implemented (them) into what we see here,’ said Boms.
The future of open banking in Canada
With a 2026 target for full read access, market participants are gearing up for a transformative shift in how financial data is handled. This initiative marks a pivotal move toward democratizing financial data and services in Canada.
The BoC’s expanded oversight role, coinciding with the launch of the real-time rail payment infrastructure and phased “write access” capabilities by mid-2027, will accelerate the system’s rollout.
This evolving infrastructure will facilitate instant payments and empower consumers with the ability to initiate actions like bill payments and account switching seamlessly.
Boms and FDATA Canada stand ready to guide this transformation, ensuring that open banking in Canada not only enhances competition, but also maintains safety, security and consumer protection.
Open banking’s architecture also presents fresh opportunities for digital currencies, with new legislation introduced requiring stablecoin issuers to maintain adequate high-quality reserves, clear redemption policies and robust risk management and security standards. Stablecoins could complement open banking by enabling faster, cheaper cross-border payments and settlements, especially for consumers and small businesses.
As open banking takes shape, Canadians and small businesses will gain unprecedented control over their financial lives, a change poised to ignite innovation, unlock economic potential and reshape the country’s banking landscape.
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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The Justice Department asked a federal judge to unseal grand jury materials and lift protective orders in the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell cases after President Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Signed by Trump on Nov. 19, 2025, the law requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all unclassified records, communications and investigative materials related to Epstein within 30 days.
The order allows limited redactions for victim privacy or to protect active investigations, but those must be narrowly tailored and justified in the Federal Register.
The department asked the court to expedite the unsealing of grand jury transcripts and exhibits and to modify orders that block public release of discovery materials.
It argued that Congress explicitly authorized disclosure under the law, overriding the secrecy of grand jury proceedings outlined in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The law, the DOJ said, also supersedes earlier court rulings that denied unsealing.
The judge in the Maxwell case set a briefing schedule Monday, ordering Maxwell to file her position by Dec. 3. He also directed prosecutors to notify victims, who may submit letters to the court by the same date.
The government has until Dec. 10 to respond, and the judge will rule afterward, though he has not set a specific date. The judge has acknowledged the law’s 30-day release deadline for Bondi.
The House voted 421-1 last Tuesday to release the files after months of pressure from Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., cast the lone ‘no’ vote, saying the bill ‘reveals and injures thousands of innocent people — witnesses, people who provided alibis, family members, etc.’
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., supported the measure but voiced similar concerns. The Senate passed the bill hours later by unanimous consent.
Trump signed the law amid renewed scrutiny of his past association with Epstein after the Justice Department and FBI said in July they would not unseal related materials, citing the case’s closure.
The law directs the department to release all unclassified records related to Epstein and Maxwell, as well as files referencing individuals in Epstein’s prior cases, trafficking allegations, internal communications and details about his death.
Files containing victims’ names, child sexual abuse material, classified content or information that could affect active investigations may be withheld or redacted.
Bondi said Wednesday she would comply with the law, which requires the department to post the files online in a searchable format within 30 days.
The release has drawn strong interest from Trump supporters who have urged the department to disclose Epstein’s alleged ‘client list’ and details of his death.
While the documents are authentic, Epstein’s statements in the emails remain unverified. They do not allege wrongdoing by Trump and only reference him in passing.
Trump has not been formally accused of misconduct related to Epstein, and no law enforcement records link him to Epstein’s crimes.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. Maxwell was later convicted of similar offenses and is serving a 20-year sentence.
Fox News’ Diana Stancy and Emma Colton contributed to this report.
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One Senate Republican proved that it’s still possible to bridge the chasm between the aisles after brokering an end to the longest government shutdown in history.
The 43-day impasse in Congress may have ended in the House, but it was in the Senate that Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., worked to build an old-fashioned bipartisan coalition to jump-start the stalled chamber.
It took several weeks, numerous conversations and reconstructing broken trust between Senate Republicans and Democrats to pull off what would become a bipartisan package to reopen the government.
And it was something that Britt, in an interview with Fox News Digital, contended she was uniquely positioned to do.
She was chief of staff for former Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and knew how the sausage was made in the upper chamber. She also had longstanding relationships with some of the key Democratic negotiators, like Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who ultimately joined most Republicans to reopen the government.
For Britt, who chairs the Homeland Security Appropriations Committee, the key to reopening the government was funding the government through spending bills.
‘I’m very grateful for those on the other side of the aisle that had the courage to step forward and say, you know, we’re not going to allow everyday Americans to suffer as a result of keeping this government closed,’ she said. ‘I do think what we saw was a lot of people that were listening to their political consultants instead of the actual constituency that they serve.’
‘Because clearly, I think a lot of people had lost sight of the fact that we were in this place because we hadn’t passed appropriations bills,’ Britt continued.
During the last session of Congress, the chambers were split. Republicans held a tenuous grip on the House while Schumer and Senate Democrats controlled the Senate. Many of the spending bills produced by the House were often partisan, while the bipartisan bills crafted in the Senate never made it to the floor.
‘If you look back over Senator Schumer’s tenure as leader and over the last two years, he didn’t even put one bill on the floor last year, which is what led us to this posture of a CR to start with,’ she said.
Britt believed that at least moving a trio of spending bills could perhaps unstick the gears in the Senate and get lawmakers closer to ending the shutdown. Whether that package of bills could end up attached to legislation to reopen the government, however, remained elusive.
While she lauded both Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., for their roles in ensuring the funding process actually worked, her role as de facto arbiter began roughly three weeks before the shutdown ended.
One of the main issues before and throughout the shutdown was a lack of trust that Senate Democrats had in Republicans, an issue that was reaffirmed when the GOP voted to claw back billions in congressionally approved funding earlier in the year.
That trust issue was further solidified due to a lack of commitments from Republicans to prevent the Trump administration from continuing to carve away at federal funding with impoundments and rescissions.
And the key moment that saw the wheels begin to move in the direction of reopening came when Senate Democrats blocked the Defense appropriations bill, which would have paid service members among a plethora of other things.
‘The question that I had for each of them, you know, why? This came out of committee in a bipartisan way, and it was clear, they wanted greater conversation around how we were planning on moving these things forward,’ she said.
It was from those informal talks that she leaned into speaking with more Democratic lawmakers to try and assuage their concerns about what would happen during and after the spending bills were passed. Those conversations brought her all the way to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on whether he would approve of the appropriations process moving forward.
‘Taking a cue from that is why I really leaned into conversations, both with people that I believed were gettable in finding a pathway forward on reopening the government and those who were not,’ she said. ‘You know, just saying, like, ‘Look, guys, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to work to fund these three bills. And if we do that, you know, here will be the ultimate result of it.’’
But, as with any successful legislation, there’s always a numbers game.
Not every Senate Republican was in favor of reopening the government, or at least the vehicle to do so, a point Britt reiterated often. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., had consistently voted against the House-passed bill until that point.
So that meant she needed to find the numbers elsewhere across the aisle. Shaheen, who was leading negotiations for Senate Democrats, largely had her numbers in check, but there was one more that needed an extra nudge: Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.
Over the course of 48 hours, the weekend of the penultimate vote to seal the deal in the Senate, Kaine went from being against the package to supporting it. Britt acted as a liaison to the White House, bringing Kaine’s demands that the administration roll back firings carried out during the shutdown and provide protections to federal workers, which the administration ultimately agreed to.
But ending the shutdown was the first hurdle. Lawmakers now have until Jan. 30, 2026, to fund the government. Britt said she would keep doing what she’s been doing: talking to the other side.
‘I am hopeful that people will remember what we’re supposed to be doing, and that is working to pass these bills,’ she said. ‘And I am sure that there will be challenges in front of us, but you know, having dialogue and working to break the logjam will be essential when it does occur to keep America moving.’
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President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday aimed at bolstering U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives as it unveiled its new ‘Genesis Mission’ to accelerate AI use for scientific purposes.
The ‘Genesis Mission’ will direct the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and their national labs to work with private companies to share federal data sets, advanced supercomputing capabilities, and scientific facilities.
‘The private sector has launched artificial intelligence at huge scale, but with a little bit different focus – on language, on business, on processes, on consumer services,’ Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told reporters Monday. ‘What we’re doing here is just pivoting those efforts to focus on scientific discovery, engineering advancements. And to do that, you need the data sets that are contained across our national labs.’
Additionally, the executive order instructs the Department of Energy and national labs to create an integrated platform aimed at expediting scientific discovery, in an attempt to connect AI capability with scientists, engineers, technical staff, and the labs’ scientific instruments, according to a White House official.
Trump hinted an effort like this was in the works during the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum Wednesday in Washington, where he said the U.S. would work ‘to build the largest, most powerful, most innovative AI ecosystem in the world.’
The effort comes after Trump issued an AI policy document called ‘Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan’ in July. The document laid out a framework focused on accelerating AI innovation, ensuring the U.S. is the leader in international AI diplomacy and security, and using the private sector to help build up and operate AI infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is also currently considering other executive orders pertaining to AI, and more executive orders could be on the horizon.
For example, Fox News Digital previously reported that the White House was gearing up an executive order instructing the Justice Department to sue states that adopt their own laws regulating AI.
Trump appeared to address the initiative at the U.S-Saudi Investment Forum as well, claiming that a series of AI regulations imposed at the state level would prove a ‘disaster.’
‘And we are going to work it so that you’ll have a one approval process to not have to go through 50 states,’ Trump said.
Fox News’ Amanda Macias and Dennis Collins contributed to this report.
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The Club for Growth says it has President Donald Trump’s back as the president pushes Republican-controlled states to redraw congressional maps in order to create more right-leaning districts to help defend the GOP’s fragile House majority in next year’s midterm elections.
‘We’re all in on helping Republicans do redistricting,’ David McIntosh, longtime president of the deep-pocketed and influential conservative group, said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.
McIntosh highlighted that the Club for Growth’s seven-figure efforts ‘give Republicans a better shot at winning those extra districts.’
The push by the Club is the latest example of its strong support for the president and his policies, just two years after the group worked to prevent Trump from winning the 2024 Republican presidential nomination amid a bitter feud.
Trump and his political team are aiming to pad the GOP’s razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in next year’s midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.
Trump is trying to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections.
Texas was the first Republican-controlled state to pass rare but not-unheard-of mid-decade congressional redistricting, although a ruling by two federal judges threatens to overturn the redrawn map. Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio have also drawn new maps as part of the president’s push.
Indiana, where McIntosh served three terms as a congressman 25 years ago, is the latest battlefield in the high-stakes redistricting showdown pitting Trump and Republicans versus Democrats to shape the 2026 midterm landscape in the fight for the House majority.
‘Democrats for years have gerrymandered and Republicans have not, and now it’s time so we can have Republicans in Congress for states like my home state of Indiana, step up to the plate, draw the district, so Republicans can be represented,’ McIntosh argued.
Trump has threatened to back primary challenges against Republican state lawmakers in Indiana who are reluctant to pass redistricting.
‘I was delighted to see President Trump calling them to do it. And you know, he said, we’re going to start endorsing against you if you don’t do what’s right for the Republican Party and for the nation. Club for Growth will be there to back up his endorsements,’ McIntosh said.
And the Club’s political arm, the Club for Growth Action super PAC, which is one of the biggest spenders in Republican primary showdowns thanks to the support of top-dollar conservative donors, is running ads to support the president’s push in right-leaning states across the country.
‘We’re way over seven figures when you put together all the different states. And what we’re doing is running ads. We have a new ad today that talks about the need for redistricting,’ McIntosh revealed. ‘We have a program that brings constituent calls into the Senate members, and so they get to hear directly from their voters that they want them to do this.’
It’s not just redistricting.
The Club is spending seven figures in next week’s hotly contested special election for a Republican-controlled vacant House seat in a solidly red congressional district in Tennessee.
‘Matt Epps is going to win,’ McIntosh said as he pointed to the Trump-endorsed GOP nominee in the race to succeed former Republican Rep. Mark Green, who resigned from office in June to take a private sector job.
‘It’s going to be a hard race. They all are, but he’s going to win that race because he’s more in line with Tennessee,’ McIntosh said of Van Epps. ‘I’m confident of him, and we’re going to help him do it.’
And looking ahead to next year’s midterms, McIntosh shared that the Club has ‘already started raising a $40 million fund to keep the House majority, and we’re about 25 million into it.’
‘I’m going to keep going, and then we’ll deploy that to make sure Republicans can keep the majority,’ he emphasized.
And as they’ve done in the past, the Club, which pushes a fiscally conservative agenda, including a focus on tax cuts and other economic issues, will once again play an influential role in GOP primaries.
‘We’re interviewing a lot of candidates now. We’re going to look for the strongest conservative candidate, somebody who wants to continue the economic progress, less regulation, lower taxes, balance the budget, the things that will make America great,’ McIntosh said. ‘And then when we endorse them, we’ll come in with our funding to pay for ads. We’ll recruit and help them raise money. It’s important we get the right Republicans in these primaries, and there are a lot of open seats.’
Democrats are energized coming out of their party’s sweeping victories earlier this month in the 2026 elections.
‘Democrats have racked up wins this year by running on affordability and lowering costs, and headed into 2026 our momentum continues to build,’ CJ Warnke, communications director for the Democrat-aligned House Majority PAC told Fox News Digital.
Warnke predicted, ‘As Trump’s poll numbers on the economy continue to plummet and voters see him prioritizing the elite over lowering prices, his broken promises will sink House Republicans. No Republican-held seat is safe, and HMP will do whatever it takes to win the House in 2026.’
McIntosh sees the 2025 elections as ‘a warning sign, a wake-up call for two things.’
‘One, we got to get our voters out, and that’s the job of the party and Club for Growth and groups like us,’ McIntosh noted.
But he added that ‘the party has to explain how our agenda makes life more affordable, how we can lower your insurance costs by forcing the insurance industry to tell you how much they’re charging. We can lower housing by getting rid of all sorts of regulation.’
McIntosh and the Club have had an up-and-down relationship with the president. They opposed Trump as he ran for the White House in 2016 before embracing him as an ally. In the 2022 cycle, Trump and the Club teamed up in some high-profile GOP primaries but clashed over combustible Senate nomination battles in Alabama, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The Club was on the outs with Trump as the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race got underway. Trump repeatedly criticized McIntosh and the Club, referring to them as ‘The Club for NO Growth,’ and claimed they were ‘an assemblage of political misfits, globalists, and losers.’
However, Trump and McIntosh made peace in early 2024, with Trump saying as he was wrapping up the GOP presidential nomination, that they were ‘back in love’ after the protracted falling out.
Asked about the Club’s relationship with Trump, McIntosh said, ‘We’re right there with the President, especially in these races … Club for Growth is very aligned with President Trump, and we’re especially in these contested races, we’re going to help him win.’
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A federal judge threw out the indictments against James Comey and Letitia James on Monday, finding they were illegitimate because they were brought by an unqualified U.S. attorney.
Judge Cameron Currie dismissed the false statements charges against Comey and bank fraud charges against James without prejudice, meaning the charges could be brought again.
‘I conclude that the Attorney General’s attempt to install Ms. Halligan as Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was invalid and that Ms. Halligan has been unlawfully serving in that role since September 22, 2025,’ Currie wrote.
The Department of Justice could appeal the decision or attempt to bring the charges under a different U.S. attorney. Fox News Digital has reached out to the DOJ for comment.
The move to scrap two of the highest-profile criminal cases the DOJ has leveled against President Donald Trump’s political foes comes after the judge voiced skepticism at a recent hearing in Virginia about Lindsey Halligan’s ability to bring the charges as interim U.S. attorney.
Currie, a Clinton appointee based in South Carolina, was brought in from out of state to preside over proceedings about the question of Halligan’s authority because it presented a conflict for the Virginia judges. Comey’s and James’ challenges to Halligan’s appointment were consolidated because of their similarity.
Halligan acted alone in presenting charges to a grand jury days after Trump ousted the prior interim U.S. attorney, Erik Siebert, and replaced him with Halligan. At the same time, Trump urged Attorney General Pam Bondi in a social media post to act quickly to indict Comey, a call that came as the statutes of limitations in his case was about to lapse. Halligan, who had no prior prosecutorial experience when she took over one of the most high-profile federal court districts in the country, was the lone lawyer to present the cases to the grand jury and sign the indictments. No prosecutors from Virginia joined in on the case.
The DOJ has since put its full backing behind Halligan. Bondi attempted to ratify and then re-ratify the indictments after the fact, a move Currie suggested would not have been necessary if Halligan were a valid appointee.
DOJ attorney Henry Whitaker had argued during the hearing that the motions to dismiss Comey’s and James’ cases involved ‘at best a paperwork error.’
James’ attorney Abbe Lowell said Halligan was a ‘private person’ when she entered the grand jury rooms and completely unauthorized to be in them. Currie agreed, saying in her decision that retroactively validating Halligan and her actions would be unheard of.
‘The implications of a contrary conclusion are extraordinary,’ Currie wrote. ‘It would mean the Government could send any private citizen off the street — attorney or not — into the grand jury room to secure an indictment so long as the Attorney General gives her approval after the fact. That cannot be the law.’
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Perth, Australia (ABN Newswire) – Altech Batteries Limited (ASX:ATC,OTC:ALTHF) (FRA:A3Y) (OTCMKTS:ALTHF) announced a significant and strategically important development in its Silumina Anodes(TM) project, following formal engagement initiated from a leading global battery manufacturer and one of the world’s largest electric-vehicle battery manufacturer (‘Battery Group’). The Battery Group approached Altech expressing strong interest in the Company’s proprietary high-performance silicon-enhanced anode technology. This unsolicited approach represents a major validation of the technical progress achieved by Altech and underscores the growing global recognition of the breakthrough potential of its alumina-coated silicon innovations.
Following initial discussions, a mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) was executed to enable the confidential technical exchange and evaluation of materials. As part of this collaboration, Altech has prepared and supplied Silumina AnodesTM samples to the Battery Group. These samples, developed under the leadership of Altech’s Chief Technical Officer Dr Jingyuan Lui, have now been shipped to the Battery Group for formal testing in their advanced battery-evaluation laboratories in China.
The Battery Group’s team, during preliminary discussions, indicated that across the industry they have not yet seen silicon additions deliver such meaningful performance improvements at low percentages.
Traditionally, attempts to integrate silicon into commercial lithium-ion anodes have been challenged by expansion-related degradation, unstable solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation and rapid cycle-life fade. The strong performance of Altech’s coated silicon, achieved with only modest silicon loading, was highlighted as particularly noteworthy. The Battery Group acknowledged that very few material suppliers globally are producing silicon additives with this level of stability, consistency, and real-world applicability.
This early feedback reinforces the technical advantage and disruptive potential of Altech’s process.
The Battery Group has also requested that Altech undertake coating trials on their supplied graphite material to assess the performance impact of integrating Altech’s proprietary alumina technology directly onto their own anode substrate. Under the NDA, the Battery Group has dispatched several kilograms of representative graphite samples to Altech’s Perth laboratory, where Dr Lui’s team will apply the Company’s coating process and prepare evaluation batches. These coated graphite samples will then be returned to the Battery Group for benchmarking against their internal standards, providing a direct comparison of how Altech’s technology enhances their preferred graphite formulations.
UPDATE OF LONG CYCLE SILUMINA TESTING
Altech announced on 9 October 2025 a major advancement in its Silumina Anodes(TM) project, achieving the strongest battery-cycling performance recorded to date for its proprietary alumina-coated spherical silicon anode material. Since that announcement, the latest test results now demonstrate an impressive 83% capacity retention after 1,000 charge-discharge cycles with a 5% Silumina Anodes(TM) addition to a standard graphite anode. This represents a significant milestone for the Silumina Anodes(TM) technology, confirming both its durability and real-world commercial potential. Importantly, such cycle-life performance places Altech’s material at the forefront of next-generation silicon-enhanced anode technologies, strengthening its position in the rapidly evolving global battery materials market.
HOW SILUMINA ANODES(TM) IS MADE
Altech’s spherisation process transforms irregular silicon particles into perfectly rounded, alumina-coated spheres that integrate seamlessly within graphite anodes. The process begins with submicron silicon powders that are uniformly coated with a nanolayer of high-purity alumina, buffering against volume expansion during lithiation. These coated particles are then spherified through a precision-controlled thermal and mechanical process that rounds their geometry (refer Figure 1*). When blended into the graphite matrix, the spherical Silumina AnodesTM particles naturally occupy microscopic voids, where they can expand and contract freely during cycling without damaging the surrounding structure (refer Figure 2*). This optimised configuration mitigates mechanical stress, maintains electrode integrity, and enhances electrical connectivity. With only a 5% addition, the design achieves >40% capacity boost while preserving exceptional cycle stability over extended use.
Altech’s Managing Director Iggy Tan stated ‘This engagement from the world’s largest battery manufacturer is a powerful validation of our Silumina Anodes(TM) technology. Their early feedback, particularly noting they have not seen silicon additions perform this effectively at such low levels, reinforces the significance of our breakthrough. We are excited to advance this collaboration under the NDA and look forward to demonstrating how Altech’s coating technology can further enhance their graphite and anode performance.’
*To view tables and figures, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/444MKKI0
About Altech Batteries Ltd:
Altech Batteries Limited (ASX:ATC,OTC:ALTHF) (FRA:A3Y) is a specialty battery technology company that has a joint venture agreement with world leading German battery institute Fraunhofer IKTS (‘Fraunhofer’) to commercialise the revolutionary CERENERGY(R) Sodium Alumina Solid State (SAS) Battery. CERENERGY(R) batteries are the game-changing alternative to lithium-ion batteries. CERENERGY(R) batteries are fire and explosion-proof; have a life span of more than 15 years and operate in extreme cold and desert climates. The battery technology uses table salt and is lithium-free; cobalt-free; graphite-free; and copper-free, eliminating exposure to critical metal price rises and supply chain concerns.
The joint venture is commercialising its CERENERGY(R) battery, with plans to construct a 100MWh production facility on Altech’s land in Saxony, Germany. The facility intends to produce CERENERGY(R) battery modules to provide grid storage solutions to the market.
Source:
Altech Batteries Ltd
Contact:
Corporate
Iggy Tan
Managing Director
Altech Batteries Limited
Tel: +61-8-6168-1555
Email: info@altechgroup.com
Martin Stein
Chief Financial Officer
Altech Batteries Limited
Tel: +61-8-6168-1555
Email: info@altechgroup.com
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