Pope Leo XIV has saidthe Catholic Church must establish a culture that refuses to tolerate abuse in “any form,” as he thanked a Peruvian journalist for reporting on allegations of abuse inside a powerful Catholic group.
Leo’s remarks, the first he has made publicly on the church’s abuse scandals since his election to the papacy on May 8, were contained in a message sent for the performance of a play which dramatizes the work of an investigative journalist, Paola Ugaz, who has faced a long campaign of legal actions and death threats due to her reporting.
“It is urgent to ingrain throughout the Church a culture of prevention that does not tolerate any form of abuse — neither of power or authority, nor of conscience or spirituality, nor sexual,” Leo wrote in a message read on 20 June. “This culture will only be authentic if it is born of active vigilance, transparent processes, and sincere listening to those who have been hurt.”
The pope said the work of journalism was essential to implementing that culture of prevention, as he praised Ugaz and other Peruvian journalists for their reporting on abuse scandals inside the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (Sodality of Christian Life, or SCV), a hugely influential Catholic society which had deep ties to Peru’s powerful and wealthy.
Pope Leo, who spent years working as a missionary and bishop in Peru, came face-to-face with the SCV case when working in the country with Ugaz, and several survivors have said he was crucial in ensuring action was taken against the now dissolved group.
In his message, the first American pope said it was vital the church followed “a concrete path of humility, truth, and reparation” when it came to tackling abuses and cited a landmark 2018 letter from Pope Francis, in which he pledged the church’s “commitment to guarantee the protection of minors and vulnerable adults”. Leo insisted that the response to abuse cannot simply be a “strategy” but requires a “conversion” by the church, which for decades has been grappling with devastating revelations of sexual abuse by priests and other church leaders.
The pope’s praise of journalists’ work in exposing abuse scandals is significant, given that some bishops have in the past criticized the media for its reporting on them. Leo XIV, however, said the journalists who had reported on the Sodalitium had done so with “courage, patience, and fidelity to the truth” and had faced “unjust attacks.”
The pope said the church recognized the “wound” in “so many children, young people, and adults who were betrayed where they sought solace” and “those who risked their freedom and their (good) names so that the truth would not be buried.”
The June 20 message from Leo was read at a performance in Lima, Peru, of the play “Proyecto Ugaz” (Project Ugaz), which highlights Ugaz’s years-long investigation into the Sodalitium. Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, one of the Vatican investigators into the Sodalitium group, read out the message with Ugaz on stage alongside him.
The work of journalists is vital, Leo insisted, in ensuring the church is a place where “no one suffers in silence” and where “the truth is not seen as a threat, but as a path to liberation. He praised Ugaz and fellow journalists for their courage in exposing the abuses.
Pope Leo also referenced “tensions” in Peru, which have been heightened following the removal of President Pedro Castillo in 2022, and he underlined the importance of a free media in a country where journalists have faced intimidation and attacks.
“In this time of profound institutional and social tensions, defending free and ethical journalism is not only an act of justice, but a duty of all those who yearn for a solid and participatory democracy,” he said. “Wherever a journalist is silenced, the democratic soul of a country is weakened. Freedom of the press is an inalienable common good. Those who conscientiously exercise this vocation cannot see their voices silenced by petty interests or fear of the truth.”
A few days after his election, the pope met media representatives in the Vatican and during that gathering he stressed his support for a free press and called for the release of imprisoned journalists. Ugaz was among those present at the meeting, and after his speech she greeted Leo with a broad smile, as she handed him a box of chocolates and a Peruvian scarf.
That meeting with the media, Leo explained in his message on June 20, affirmed the “sacred mission” of journalists to “become bridges between the facts and the conscience of the people.”
A meticulously planned meal prepared in the home of an alleged killer is at the heart of a triple murder trial that’s nearing its dramatic conclusion in rural Australia.
For eight weeks, audiences have been glued to daily news reports and podcasts on an unusual case that alleges the world’s most toxic mushroom was used to kill.
A jury will soon decide if Erin Patterson, a 50-year-old mother of two, deliberately added death cap, or amanita phalloides, mushrooms to a Beef Wellington lunch she made for her estranged husband’s parents and his aunt and uncle in July 2023.
Three guests died within days of the meal, while a fourth recovered after spending several weeks in an induced coma. Patterson denies three counts of murder and one of attempted murder.
The prosecution and defense agree death cap mushrooms were in the meal.
The question is, how did they get there?
During eight days of testimony at Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court, Patterson acknowledged she repeatedly lied to police, dumped a dehydrator used to dry mushrooms, and reset her phone to delete images of mushrooms and the dehydrator from devices seized by investigators.
But she said she did not intend to kill.
Explaining her lies, Patterson told the jury she had a “stupid knee-jerk reaction to just dig deeper and keep lying.”
“I was just scared,” she said.
Defense lawyer Colin Mandy SC said Patterson accidentally added foraged mushrooms to the meal, along with ones she bought from an Asian grocer in Melbourne.
“What happened was a tragedy and a terrible accident,” he said.
In his closing arguments, Mandy said the prosecution’s case was based on “ridiculous” propositions, including that Patterson “would intend to kill these four people, blowing her entire life up in the process without a motive.”
The prosecution doesn’t need to prove a motive. But it does need to convince the 12-member jury beyond reasonable doubt that Patterson intended to kill the two elderly couples – including her children’s grandparents – and that she deliberately picked death cap mushrooms to do it.
A sumptuous lunch of Beef Wellington
On the morning of July 29, 2023, the smell of frying garlic and shallots likely filled Patterson’s kitchen in the small town of Leongatha in rural Victoria.
She was preparing a meal for two older married couples – Don and Gail Patterson and Heather and Ian Wilkinson.
Don and Gail were the parents of Erin’s estranged husband Simon. Heather and Ian were his aunt and uncle. Gail and Heather were sisters, and Ian the pastor of their local church.
The two couples lived close by in Korumburra, a country town home to fewer than 5,000 people in the scenic hills of southern Victoria.
Erin had asked Simon to come to the lunch, too, but he pulled out the night before, writing in a text that he felt “too uncomfortable” to attend.
Their relationship had become increasingly strained over finances and the children’s schooling, and he was living elsewhere, the court heard.
Erin told the jury she was “a bit hurt and a bit stressed” by Simon’s message, but the lunch went ahead the next day as planned. Patterson said she had started feeling left out of family gatherings and wanted to make more of an effort.
She said she chose to cook Beef Wellington because she remembered her mother preparing the meal for special occasions. It was Patterson’s first attempt at the dish, and she wanted to get it right.
To the garlic and shallots, she added store-bought button mushrooms that she had chopped up in a processor, before simmering the mixture on low for 45 minutes, she said.
The paste was used to coat the steaks, which she wrapped in pastry and baked in the oven.
The prosecution alleges she prepared poisoned parcels for her guests and reserved an untainted one for herself. Patterson insists she made just one batch.
An unexpected invitation
In the witness box, Ian Wilkinson, the only surviving lunch guest, told the court he’d been surprised but “very happy” to accept Patterson’s lunch invitation.
The 71-year-old said his relationship with Erin was “friendly” and “amicable.” He’d been a guest at her wedding in 2007 but considered her more of an acquaintance than a close friend.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Patterson helped to broadcast his church services on YouTube, and she attended his sermons, on and off, he said.
“She just seemed like an ordinary person,” he told the jury.
Wilkinson said he didn’t really understand why they’d been invited to lunch, but it became apparent when they’d finished eating the meal of Beef Wellington, beans and mash.
“Erin announced that she had cancer,” Wilkinson told the jury. “She said that she was very concerned because she believed it was very serious, life-threatening.”
Wilkinson said Patterson asked for advice about how to tell her children about, in her words, “the threat to my life.”
Wilkinson said Don Patterson offered some advice about being honest, but the conversation ended after about 10 minutes when one of the lunch guests noticed the children returning. Wilkinson suggested a quick prayer.
“I prayed a prayer asking God’s blessing on Erin, that she would get the treatment that she needed, that the kids would be okay, that she’d have wisdom in how she told the kids,” he testified.
Patterson had never been diagnosed with cancer, the court heard.
Prosecutor Nanette Rogers SC put to Patterson on the stand: “I suggest that you never thought you would have to account for this lie about having cancer because you thought that the lunch guests would die.”
“That’s not true,” Patterson replied.
Patterson said she didn’t explicitly tell her guests that she had cancer, but acknowledged she allowed them to believe she may have a serious medical issue because she was exploring possible surgery for another problem – one that she was too embarrassed to reveal.
The secret Patterson hid for years
Patterson said she’d always been self-conscious about her weight.
As a child, her mother weighed her every week to make sure she wasn’t getting too heavy. “I never had a good relationship with food,” she said.
Since her 20s, Patterson said she would binge and purge. Around the time of the fatal lunch in July 2023, she said she was doing it two to three times a week, maybe more.
“Who knew about it?” her defense lawyer Mandy asked Patterson. “Nobody,” she said.
Patterson told the jury she had resolved to do something about her weight “once and for all,” and booked a consultation for potential gastric bypass surgery with a clinic in Melbourne in September. Evidence showed an appointment had been made.
“I didn’t want to tell anybody what I was going to have done,” Patterson told the court. “I was really embarrassed about it, so I thought perhaps letting (her in-laws) believe I had some serious issue that needed treatment might mean they’d be able to help me with the logistics around the kids,” she said.
Instead, it was her lunch guests who needed serious medical attention.
Hours after the meal Saturday, they started to become ill and went to hospital the next morning with vomiting and diarrhea, the court heard.
By Monday morning, their condition had deteriorated, and doctors arranged for their transfer to Austin Hospital, a larger facility that provides specialist liver care.
Death cap mushrooms contain toxins that stop the production of protein in liver cells and the cells begin to die, leading to possible liver failure and death.
Treatments are available, but none are 100% effective, said Dr Stephen Warrillow, director of Austin Health’s intensive care unit.
“Once the amanita poison is within the body, unfortunately the body tends to recycle it internally,” said Warrillow, who treated all four lunch guests.
Gail Patterson, 70, and Heather Wilkinson, 66, were considered too weak for a liver transplant and died on August 4 from multiple organ failure, he said. Don Patterson, 70, received a transplant but died on August 5.
Ian Wilkinson was in an induced coma on life support but responded to treatment and was eventually discharged in September.
“We thought he was going to die,” said Warrillow. “He was very close.”
Foraged mushrooms
Patterson told the court she took up foraging for mushrooms in early 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, when she would take long walks with her children in the countryside.
Native to Europe, death cap mushrooms arrived in Australia by accident, expert mycologist Tom May told the court. They grow near oak trees and only appear above ground for a couple of weeks before decaying, he said.
Most sightings in Victoria are in April and May, and some people upload photos of them to the citizen science website iNaturalist, May added.
Christine McKenzie, a retired former poisons information specialist at the Victorian Poisons Information Centre, told the court she spotted death cap mushrooms in Loch – about 28 kilometers (17 miles) from Patterson’s home – and uploaded them to iNaturalist on April 18, 2023.
She’d been out walking with her husband, grandson and dog, and said she disposed of the mushrooms to avoid accidental poisoning but conceded that more could grow.
Citing analysis of cellphone tower connections, the prosecution alleges it’s possible Patterson saw McKenzie’s post and went to the same location on April 28 to pick the mushrooms.
Store records show that within two hours of the alleged visit, Patterson bought a dehydrator, which the prosecution said she used to dry the toxic mushrooms.
Patterson concedes she bought the dehydrator, saying there is a “very small season” of availability for wild mushrooms and she wanted to preserve them, and “a whole range of things.” She denied foraging for mushrooms in Loch.
May, the fungus expert, said that on May 21, 2023, he saw death cap mushrooms growing in Outtrim, about 19 kilometers (11 miles) from Leongatha, and posted the sighting to iNaturalist.
“I don’t think I typed the street name in, but I put a very precise latitude-longitude geocode with the observation,” he said.
Prosecutors said analysis of Patterson’s cellphone movements placed her in the Outtrim region on May 22, when they say it’s possible Patterson picked the mushrooms.
The defense said broader analysis of her phone records suggests it’s possible her cellphone picked up different base-station signals within her own home. “These records are consistent with the accused never leaving the house,” said Mandy.
Patterson denied ever foraging for mushrooms in Outtrim, and said she couldn’t remember ever visiting the iNaturalist website and did not see the reported sightings.
Patterson’s explanation
On August 1, three days after the lunch, Patterson was in hospital, having been convinced by doctors to stay after earlier discharging herself against their advice.
They had impressed on her the importance of being treated for death cap mushroom poisoning because symptoms are known to worsen with time.
Her children should be there too, they said, because she said they had eaten some of the leftovers on Sunday night, albeit with the mushrooms and pastry scraped off.
It was in hospital on August 1 that Patterson said she had a conversation with Simon, her estranged husband, that made her start thinking about how toxic mushrooms had come to be in the meal.
Patterson said she told Simon that she had dried mushrooms in a dehydrator, and he replied: “Is that how you poisoned my parents, using that dehydrator?”
Erin Patterson told the jury that Simon’s comment had caused her to do “a lot of thinking about a lot of things.”
“It got me thinking about all the times that I’d used (the dehydrator), and how I had dried foraged mushrooms in it weeks earlier, and I was starting to think, what if they’d gone in the container with the Chinese mushrooms? Maybe, maybe that had happened.”
In his evidence, Simon Patterson denied ever suggesting to Erin that she poisoned his parents with the dehydrator. “I did not say that to Erin,” he said.
The next day, on August 2, Patterson dropped her children at school, then returned home, retrieved the dehydrator, and dumped it at a waste and recycling center. She was seen on closed-circuit television.
Asked about her actions, Patterson said child protection officers were due to visit her house that afternoon, and she was “scared” about having a conversation about the meal and the dehydrator.
“I was scared that they would blame me for it … for making everyone sick,” she said. “I was scared they’d remove the children,” she added.
Analysis showed remnants of death cap mushrooms in the dehydrator, the prosecution said.
Patterson acknowledged that when she dumped the dehydrator, she knew that doctors suspected death cap mushroom poisoning. She also accepted that she did not tell medical staff that foraged mushrooms may have been in the meal.
Patterson said she had diarrhea after the lunch but brushed it off as a bout of gastro. She was not as ill as her lunch guests – and during her testimony, she offered a reason why.
The orange cake
Gail Patterson had brought an orange cake to lunch to share, and Erin Patterson testified that after the guests left, she found herself eating slice, after slice, after slice.
After consuming about two-thirds of the cake, she made herself throw up, she told the court.
In her closing address, prosecutor Rogers said no evidence was offered suggesting expelling tainted food can lessen the impact of amanita toxin.
To the jury, she said, “we suggest (you) reject her evidence about vomiting after the meal as a lie.”
In his closing argument, defense lawyer Mandy asked why, if it was a lie, Patterson hadn’t been more precise about when she vomited? “She surely would have said to you that it happened as soon as the guests left, because the earlier the better,” he said to the jury.
During her testimony, Patterson also offered an explanation about how the death cap mushrooms came to be in the meal.
Patterson said she dried store-bought and foraged mushrooms in her dehydrator and would store them in plastic containers in the pantry. If one box was full, she’d start another, she said.
Patterson said that, back in April, she had bought dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer in Melbourne, but didn’t use them at the time because they were “too pungent.” Instead, she stored them in a plastic container in the pantry.
Mandy asked her: “Do you have a memory of putting wild mushrooms that you dehydrated in May or June of 2023 into a container which already contained other dried mushrooms?”
“Yes, I did do that,” Patterson said.
Patterson said that, on July 29, as she cooked the lunch, she tasted the mixture of garlic, shallots and mushrooms and decided it was “a little bland,” so she added dried mushrooms that had been stored in a plastic container in her pantry.
Mandy asked her what she had believed to be in the plastic container in the pantry.
“I believed it was just the mushrooms that I bought in Melbourne,” Patterson said.
“And now, what do you think might have been in that tub?” Mandy asked.
“Now I think that there was a possibility that there were foraged ones in there as well,” she said.
Closing arguments
The Crown contends there was no Asian grocer and that Patterson faked illness after the meal to suggest that she, too, had suffered symptoms of death cap mushroom poisoning.
Rogers alleged Patterson initially left hospital because she knew that neither she, nor her children, had consumed the poisoned lunch.
When Patterson was examined on Monday, July 31, a doctor found “no clinical or biochemical evidence of amanita poisoning or any other toxicological substance” in her system, Rogers said.
“By that stage, all four of the lunch guests were in induced comas,” she added.
Of allegations Patterson faked her illness following the lunch, Mandy said it made no sense that she’d refuse medical help and discharge herself from hospital early, if she was pretending to have eaten poisoned mushrooms.
“If you’re pretending to be sick, you’re going to be saying to the medical staff, ‘Hook me up, pump me full of drugs, I am very, very sick. Please,’” Mandy said.
Furthermore, he said it was possible to have milder symptoms of amanita poisoning, depending on how much was consumed, according to expert evidence that said weight and age were also factors.
Under cross-examination, Rogers put it to Patterson that she had two faces: A public one where she appeared to have a good relationship with her in-laws, and a private one expressed in her Facebook chat groups, where she vented to friends that she’d had enough of the family.
In messages to Facebook friends read out in court, Patterson expressed her frustration that her in-laws would not get involved in her dispute with Simon over child support.
“I’m sick of this shit I want nothing to do with them,” she wrote in December 2022. “I thought his parents would want him to do the right thing but it seems their concern about not wanting to feel uncomfortable and not wanting to get involved in their sons personal matters are overriding that so f*** em.”
And another message read: “This family I swear to f***ing god.”
Asked by her defense counsel Mandy how she felt about that statement now, an emotional Patterson said: “I wish I’d never said it … I feel ashamed for saying it, and I wish the family didn’t have to hear that I said that.
“They didn’t deserve it.”
In his closing arguments, Mandy characterized the terse exchanges as signs of a “brief spat” that was “resolved amicably.”
Mandy said there was no motive for triple murder, and that there were in fact several reasons why Patterson would not want to kill her guests. She had no money issues, lived in a big house, and had almost full-time custody of her two young children, who were very close to their grandparents, he said.
The defense argues that Patterson unknowingly picked death cap mushrooms, dried them in her dehydrator and stored them in the pantry, until the day she inadvertently threw them into the pan.
Mandy said some of the “ridiculous” propositions included that Patterson planned to kill four lunch guests and “thought it would all be passed off as some kind of strange case of gastro, where everyone died, except her.”
To the prosecution’s allegation that Patterson had “blitzed” the death cap mushrooms into a powder to hide them in the meal, he said: “Why would you need to hide mushrooms in a mushroom paste? It doesn’t make any sense.”
The moment in hospital when Erin said Simon asked her if she had used the dehydrator to poison his parents was “when the wheels start turning,” Mandy said.
“She starts panicking and she starts lying from that point,” he said.
“What followed from this moment were actions taken to conceal … the fact that foraged mushrooms went into the meal because she feared if that was found out, she would be held responsible.”
However, Rogers said Patterson had complete control over events and used it to “devastating effect.”
The cook had “told too many lies,” said Rogers, as she urged the jury to reject Patterson’s claims that she didn’t know the meal was laced with toxins.
“We say there is no reasonable alternative explanation for what happened to the lunch guests, other than the accused deliberately sourced death cap mushrooms and deliberately included them in the meal she served them, with an intention to kill them,” Rogers said.
The jury is expected to retire to consider their verdict this week – their decision must be unanimous.
This week, Julius breaks down the current sector rotation using his signature Relative Rotation Graphs, with XLK vaulting into the leading quadrant while utilities and staples fade. He spotlights strength in the technology sector, led by semiconductors and electronic groups that are outpacing the S&P 500. Microchip heavyweights AMD, NVDA, and AVGO are displaying bullish RRG tails, reinforcing the trend. Communication Services and Energy are gaining momentum as well, rounding out a playbook that rewards disciplined trend-following amid risk from geopolitical headlines.
This video was originally published on June 20, 2025. Click on the icon above to view on our dedicated page for Julius.
Here’s a quick recap of the crypto landscape for Friday (June 20) as of 9:00 p.m. UTC.
Get the latest insights on Bitcoin, Ethereum and altcoins, along with a round-up of key cryptocurrency market news.
Bitcoin and Ethereum price update
Bitcoin (BTC) is priced at US$103,366, a decrease of 0.9 percent in the last 24 hours. The day’s range for the cryptocurrency brought a low of US$102,624 and a high of US$106,042 as the market opened.
Bitcoin price performance, June 20, 2025.
Chart via TradingView.
The Bitcoin price stalled after reaching around US$106,500, then sank below US$104,000 as an unusually large expiry of options and futures contracts worth US$6.8 trillion occurred on US stock indexes.
The US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday (June 18), but Christopher Waller, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, said a cut is possible next month if inflation remains controlled.
Cuts typically boost risk assets like Bitcoin. Markets have already pushed the US dollar index to a three year low, so a surprise rate cut could further weaken the dollar and propel Bitcoin forward.
Ethereum (ETH) is currently priced at US$2,415.98, a 3.5 percent decrease over the past 24 hours. Its lowest valuation on Friday was US$2,396.50, and its highest valuation was US$2,556.46 as trading commenced.
Altcoin price update
Solana (SOL) was priced at US$139.45, down 4.1 percent over 24 hours. SOL experienced a low of US$136.98 after peaking at its opening price of US$147.68.
XRP pulled back from its opening price of US$2.17, its highest valuation of the day, to trade at US$2.12 as the markets wrapped, a 2.1 percent decrease in 24 hours. Its lowest valuation on Friday was US$2.09.
Sui (SUI) closed at US$2.72, a declineof 3.9 percent over the past 24 hours. Its price also peaked this morning at US$2.85 and its lowest valuation was US$2.66.
Cardano (ADA) is priced at US$0.5783, down 3.6 percent in 24 hours. Its lowest valuation on Friday was US$0.5636, and its highest valuation was US$0.6044.
Today’s crypto news to know
Coinbase launches Stablecoin payments platform for e-commerce
Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) has unveiled a new product called Coinbase Payments, designed to help online retailers accept stablecoins like USDC with minimal friction. The system is built to mirror traditional card infrastructure so that merchants can plug it in without having deep cryptocurrency knowledge.
The platform targets marketplaces such as Shopify (TSX:SHOP,NYSE:SHOP) and eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY), giving small to medium businesses a cost-effective alternative to credit card fees.
Shopify is the first to integrate the system, allowing merchants to accept USDC payments through Coinbase’s Layer 2 Base network. The platform supports crypto wallets like Coinbase Wallet, MetaMask and Phantom and includes features for transaction authorization, refunds and recurring payments.
Circle surges as Senate approves Stablecoin Bill
Circle (NYSE:CRCL) shares continued to rally on Friday, jumping another 11 percent after a 34 percent surge the day before, as momentum builds behind a Senate-approved bill to regulate stablecoins.
The GENIUS Act, a bipartisan effort, could bring long-awaited legal clarity to stablecoin issuers like Circle, which manages the US$32 billion USDC token. Although the bill still needs approval from the House and requires a signature from US President Donald Trump, investors are already optimistic.
Circle shares are now trading at US$221, up from an initial public offering price of just US$31 — signaling massive investor confidence amid a changing regulatory climate.
South Korea’s central bank weighs in on stablecoins
Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong said at a press conference this week that the central bank is not opposed to a won-based stablecoin, but is concerned about managing the FX of the token, according to Reuters report.
‘Issuing won-based stablecoin could make it easier to exchange them with a dollar stablecoin rather than working to reduce the use of a dollar stablecoin. That in turn could increase demand for dollar stablecoin and make it difficult for us to manage forex,’ Chang-yong told reporters in Seoul.
Earlier this month, South Korea’s Democratic Party proposed the Digital Asset Basic Act, which aims to establish a regulatory framework to enable local companies to issue won-denominated stablecoins.
Parataxis to launch institutional Bitcoin treasury company
Parataxis Holdings, an affiliate of digital asset-focused investment company Parataxis Capital Management, announced Friday that it has entered a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling interest in biotech company Bridge Biotherapeutics (KOSDAQ:288330) for an investment of 25 billion South Korean won, roughly US$18.5 million.
Following the closing of the deal, Parataxis will become Parataxis Korea and be repurposed as a treasury vehicle for institutional Bitcoin exposure, joining a growing list of companies holding Bitcoin on their balance sheet.
“Inspired by the growing interest in BTC treasury strategies seen in companies like Strategy in the US and Metaplanet in Japan, we believe institutional interest in this space is increasing globally,” said Andrew Kim, a partner at Parataxis Capital. “We see South Korea as an important market in the evolution of BTC adoption.”
“We are incredibly excited to create the first BTC treasury company in South Korea backed by an institutional-grade platform. Given the strategic nature of BTC on the global stage and its finite supply, we believe that building and growing a company like Parataxis Korea and accumulating a BTC treasury will benefit our shareholders as well as the country over the long run,” echoed founder Edward Chin.
Kraken introduces Bitcoin staking with Babylon partnership
Kraken, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, made a landmark announcement on Thursday (June 19), revealing a strategic partnership with Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon to introduce a staking product that allows Kraken users to earn interest on their Bitcoin holdings without the need for bridging, wrapping or lending.
These traditional methods, while enabling some forms of yield generation, can introduce additional risks and technical hurdles for users. Kraken and Babylon aim to provide a more streamlined, secure and accessible way for Bitcoin holders to generate passive income. The interest earned through this new product will come in the form of BABY tokens, the native cryptocurrency of the Babylon protocol.
Arizona advances bill to create state Bitcoin reserve
Arizona is one step closer to becoming the second US state with an official Bitcoin reserve, after its Senate narrowly passed House Bill 2324. The bill allows the state to hold abandoned digital assets as unclaimed property and establishes a Bitcoin and digital assets reserve fund for those holdings. The news comes on the heels of House Bill 2749, which was signed into law in April and amended Arizona’s forfeiture laws to recognize digital assets.
HB2324 will now return to the House for final approval before heading to the governor’s desk. Earlier efforts to invest seized funds directly into BTC were vetoed by Governor Katie Hobbs, who cited concerns over crypto’s volatility.
If passed, Arizona would join New Hampshire in formalizing a state-level Bitcoin reserve.
Similar legislation is pending in Texas.
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Friday (June 20) was the last day for the spring session of Canada’s parliament before its summer break.
On the agenda for the day was a vote on bill C-5, “The One Canadian Economy Act,” which was introduced on June 5.
The bill is in part a response to the recent shift in US trade policy under Donald Trump’s administration. It will provide a new framework to fast-track projects of national interest, including mining and energy projects, to boost Canada’s economy.
However, it hasn’t been without controversy. Primarily, it has been met with opposition from some Indigenous groups, who feel it will override treaty obligations and environmental review processes.
In parliament, it also met some resistance from the conservative opposition, who amended the bill to close loopholes they felt would allow the government to skirt conflict of interest and lobbying laws.
The bill is widely expected to pass the House of Commons and the Senate, with broad support from the Conservative Party.
Also on Friday, Statistics Canada released April’s monthly mineral production survey.
The data shows across-the-board declines in both production and shipments of copper, gold and silver from the previous month.
Copper production dropped the most in April, down to 35.1 million kilograms from 40.1 million in March, while shipments slipped to 30.1 million kilograms from the 50.5 million recorded the previous month.
Gold and silver production fell slightly, with gold declining from 17,059 to 16,708 kilograms, and silver declining from 26,700 to 25,412 kilograms. However, shipments of both fell more precipitously between March and April. Gold shipments dropped from 19,049 to 14,848 kilograms, while silver shipments fell from 29,578 to 22,106 kilograms.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve held its fourth meeting of the year to determine the direction of the benchmark Federal Funds Rate on Tuesday (June 17) and Wednesday (June 18).
The central bank decided to hold the rate at the current 4.25 to 4.5 percent range, which it last set in November 2024. The decision comes as it awaits the effects of tariffs to be felt more broadly in the economy, noting uncertainty whether it will be a one-time shock or be more persistent through the rest of the year.
The decision fell in line with analysts’ expectations, who are not predicting a rate cut until the Fed’s September meeting.
Markets and commodities react
In Canada, major indexes were mixed at the end of the week. The S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) was largely flat, posting a small 0.14 percent loss during the week to close at 26,497.57 on Friday. The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) fared worse, losing 2.18 percent to 711.18, although the CSE Composite Index (CSE:CSECOMP) jumped 1.58 percent to 117.36.
US equities were all in negative territory this week, with the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:INX) losing 0.55 percent to close at 6,967.85, the Nasdaq-100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) slipping 0.23 percent to 21,626.39 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) sinking 0.88 percent to 42,206.83.
The gold price was down this week, losing 0.42 percent to US$3,371.39 at by Friday’s close. Although it jumped to a high of US$37.29 mid-week, the silver price pulled back and ultimately lost 0.82 percent to end the week at US$36.02.
In base metals, the COMEX copper price gained 1.88 percent over the week to US$4.88 per pound. Meanwhile, the S&P GSCI (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) posted a gain of 5.47 percent to close at 580.99.
Top Canadian mining stocks this week
How did mining stocks perform against this backdrop?
Take a look at this week’s five best-performing Canadian mining stocks below.
Stock data for this article was retrieved at 4 p.m. EDT on Friday using TradingView’s stock screener. Only companies trading on the TSX, TSXV and CSE with market capitalizations greater than C$10 million are included. Mineral companies within the non-energy minerals, energy minerals, process industry and producer manufacturing sectors were considered.
Royalties Inc. is a company focused on building cash flow through the acquisition mineral and music royalty assets.
The company has a 100 percent interest in the Bilbao silver property in Zacatecas, Mexico, which hosts silver, zinc and lead deposits. As silver prices improve, the company is seeking to monetize the property.
Shares in Royalties Inc. surged this week after its 88 percent owned subsidiary Minera Portree won its lawsuit against Capstone Copper (TSX:CS), asserting its ownership of a 2 percent net smelter return royalty on five mineral concessions at the Cozamin copper-silver mine in Zacatecas.
The protracted legal dispute began after Capstone re-assigned the royalty to itself through a 2019 contract without informing or paying Minera Portree.
Under the terms of the judgment, the 2 percent NSR will revert back to Minera Portree along with royalties for the exploitation of concessions between 2002 and 2019. The amounts for those royalties will be set at the execution phase. Capstone Gold is also ordered to pay royalties from the Portree 1 concession from August 2019 to present.
Earlier in the week, Royalties Inc. increased its stake in Music Royalties, which pays a 7.2 percent annual yield from 30 music catalogues. The company will now receive royalties of C$102,000 per year from its investment.
Altima Energy is a light oil and natural gas exploration and development company with operations in Alberta, Canada.
Its primary asset is the Richdale property in Central Alberta. The property consists of five producing light oil wells and sits on 5,920 acres of long-term reserves. According to a company presentation from April 2025, the property hosts combined proved and probable reserves of just under 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, with a pre-tax net present value of C$25.8 million.
The company also owns two wells at its Twinning light oil site near Nisku, seven producing wells at its Red Earth property in Northern Alberta and two multi-zone wells at its Chambers Ferrier liquid gas production property.
Although Altima hasn’t released news in the last few months, its share price surged mid-week.
Trillion Energy is an oil and gas producer focused on supplying the European and Turkish markets.
The company owns a 49 percent share in the SASB gas field with Turkish Petroleum (TPAO) owning the remainder. The field is located in the southwestern Black Sea, and covers a license block area of 12,387 hectares. Trillion also owns a 19.6 percent interest in the Cendre oil field, with TPAO owning the majority 80 percent.
On April 26, the company released its 2024 year end reserve report. In the announcement, Trillion reported that its attributable total proved and probable reserves at the SASB gas field increased to 62.3 billion cubic feet of gas and 247 million barrels of oil, with a pre-tax NPV of US$363.6 million.
Trillion Energy’s share price climbed in the second half of the week. Although it did not put out a press release, the company stated in posts on X Wednesday and Friday that the partners are “actively engaged on-site” advancing gas lift operations through “carefully managed on-platform efforts.”
Search Minerals is a rare earth element exploration and development company working to advance its flagship Deep Fox project in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
The project is located near the port of St. Lewis on the Southeast Labrador coast and consists of 63 mineral claims covering an area of 1,575 hectares. The company also owns the nearby Foxtrot deposit. A May 2022 technical report reported a combined indicated mineral resource estimate for the two properties of 375 parts per million (ppm) praseodymium, 1,402 ppm neodymium, 185 ppm dysprosium and 32 ppm terbium from 15.09 million metric tons of ore.
Search Minerals released a corporate update on June 13 announcing that its shares were being reinstated for trading on the TSXV. The update detailed how, under previous management, the company’s TSXV listing was subject to a cease trade order in April 2024 due to the previous management team failing to file annual financial statements for 2023. Search’s new board and management team, elected and appointed in mid-2024, brought the company back into compliance.
Search recommenced trading Monday, and its shares climbed on June 19 after the company announced unreleased assay results from a 2022 Phase 4 drill program at Deep Fox. Highlighted assays included one hole with a 29.92 meter interval grading 256 ppm dysprosium, 1,848 ppm neodymium, 496 ppm praseodymium and 43.5 ppm terbium.
The company said the results validate their belief in the mineralization at the site, and that it would drive forward development of Deep Fox, which it called a generational asset, without delay.
Homeland Nickel is an exploration company with projects in the US and Canada.
The company owns four nickel projects in Oregon: Cleopatra, Red Flat, Eight Dollar Mountain and Shamrock. The projects are in the early exploration stage, with the company being guided by historic work at each property.
Homeland is also working on the Great Burnt copper-gold project in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The project is a 30/70 joint venture with Benton Resources (TSXV:BEX,OTC Pink:BNTRF), which earned its stake in the property through an earn-in agreement with Homeland in July 2024.
While the company did not release any news, on June 11, Noble Mineral Exploration (TSXV:NOB) and Canada Nickel’s (TSXV:CNC) announcement on June 11 of positive assay results from their joint venture Mann nickel project in Ontario. Homeland owns 2.95 million shares in Canada Nickel and 9.96 million shares of Noble.
FAQs for Canadian mining stocks
What is the difference between the TSX and TSXV?
The TSX, or Toronto Stock Exchange, is used by senior companies with larger market caps, and the TSXV, or TSX Venture Exchange, is used by smaller-cap companies. Companies listed on the TSXV can graduate to the senior exchange.
How many mining companies are listed on the TSX and TSXV?
As of February 2025, there were 1,572 companies listed on the TSXV, 905 of which were mining companies. Comparatively, the TSX was home to 1,859 companies, with 181 of those being mining companies.
Together the TSX and TSXV host around 40 percent of the world’s public mining companies.
How much does it cost to list on the TSXV?
There are a variety of different fees that companies must pay to list on the TSXV, and according to the exchange, they can vary based on the transaction’s nature and complexity. The listing fee alone will most likely cost between C$10,000 to C$70,000. Accounting and auditing fees could rack up between C$25,000 and C$100,000, while legal fees are expected to be over C$75,000 and an underwriters’ commission may hit up to 12 percent.
The exchange lists a handful of other fees and expenses companies can expect, including but not limited to security commission and transfer agency fees, investor relations costs and director and officer liability insurance.
These are all just for the initial listing, of course. There are ongoing expenses once companies are trading, such as sustaining fees and additional listing fees, plus the costs associated with filing regular reports.
How do you trade on the TSXV?
Investors can trade on the TSXV the way they would trade stocks on any exchange. This means they can use a stock broker or an individual investment account to buy and sell shares of TSXV-listed companies during the exchange’s trading hours.
Article by Dean Belder; FAQs by Lauren Kelly.
Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Securities Disclosure: I, Lauren Kelly, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Crude oil futures rose more than 1% on Thursday, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Israel’s military to intensify attacks against Iran.
U.S. crude oil was last up $1.36, or 1.81%, to $76.50 per barrel by 9:38 a.m. ET, while global benchmark Brent added $1.10, or 1.43%, to $77.80 per barrel. Prices have gained more than 11% over the seven days since Israel began pounding Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.
Follow along for live coverage
Netanyahu ordered Israel’s military to intensify attacks on “strategic targets” in Iran and “government targets” in the country’s capital, Tehran, Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a social media post. The goal of the strikes is to “undermine the ayatollah’s regime,” Katz said.
Israel’s decision to escalate its military operation against the Islamic Republic comes after an Iranian missile reportedly struck a major hospital in the southern city of Beersheba. Katz threatened Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the wake of the hospital strike.
Katz said Israel’s military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist,” referring to Khamenei.
President Donald Trump is still considering whether to order a U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear program. “I may do it, I may not do it, I mean nobody knows what I’m going to do,” Trump told reporters Wednesday.
JPMorgan warned on Wednesday that regime change in a major oil producing country like Iran could have a profound impact on global oil prices. Iran is one of the top producers in OPEC.
“If history serves as a guide, further destabilization of Iran could lead to significantly higher oil prices sustained over extended periods,” Natasha Kaneva, head of global commodities research at JPMorgan, told clients in a note.
Supply losses in the wake of a regime change “are challenging to recover quickly, further supporting elevated prices,” Kaneva said.
Tesla has inked its first deal to build a grid-scale battery power plant in China amid a strained trading relationship between Beijing and Washington.
The U.S. company posted on the Chinese social media service Weibo that the project would be the largest of its kind in China when completed.
Utility-scale battery energy storage systems help electricity grids keep supply and demand in balance. They are increasingly needed to bridge the supply-demand mismatch caused by intermittent energy sources such as solar and wind.
Chinese media outlet Yicai first reported that the deal, worth 4 billion yuan ($556 million), had been signed by Tesla, the local government of Shanghai and financing firm China Kangfu International Leasing, according to the Reuters news agency.
Tesla said its battery factory in Shanghai had produced more than 100 Megapacks — the battery designed for utility-scale deployment — in the first quarter of this year. One Megapack can provide up to 1 megawatt of power for four hours.
“The grid-side energy storage power station is a ‘smart regulator’ for urban electricity, which can flexibly adjust grid resources,” Tesla said on Weibo, according to a Google translation.
This would “effectively solve the pressure of urban power supply and ensure the safe, stable and efficient electricity demand of the city,” it added. “After completion, this project is expected to become the largest grid-side energy storage project in China.”
According to the company’s website, each Megapack retails for just under $1 million in the U.S. Pricing for China was unavailable.
The deal is significant for Tesla, as China’s CATL and carmaker BYD compete with similar products. The two Chinese companies have made significant inroads in battery development and manufacturing, with the former holding about 40% of the global market share.
CATL was also expected to supply battery cells and packs that are used in Tesla’s Megapacks, according to a Reuters news source.
Tesla’s deal with a Chinese local authority is also significant as it comes after U.S. President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on imports from China, straining the geopolitical relationship between the world’s two largest economies.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk was also a close ally of President Trump during the initial stages of the trade war, further complicating the business outlook for U.S. automakers in China.
The demand for grid-scale battery installation, however, is significant in China. In May last year, Beijing set a new target to add nearly 5 gigawatts of battery-powered electricity supply by the end of 2025, bringing the total capacity to 40 gigawatts.
Tesla has also been exporting its Megapacks to Europe and Asia from its Shanghai plant to meet global demand.
Capacity for global battery energy storage systems rose 42 gigawatts in 2023, nearly doubling the total increase in capacity observed in the previous year, according to the International Energy Agency.
The diplomat refused to be drawn on specifics but reiterated that the crux of the matter remained Iran’s controversial uranium enrichment program and that the talks would focus on “what kind of compromise would be feasible” on that issue.
But enrichment — which Iran says it needs for peaceful purposes, while also manufacturing large quantities of near-weapons-grade material — is a major sticking point, with the Trump administration vowing that any agreement with Iran would have to entirely prohibit the country from enriching any nuclear material.
For decades, Iran, which denies it intends to build a nuclear weapon, has categorically refused to give up its capabilities — instead plowing billions of dollars into refining the technology and constructing vast enrichment facilities, like the secretive Fordow installation, which is built deep underground inside a mountain.
After launching its first wave of strikes on Iran, Israel pointed to a recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which acknowledged Iran is enriching uranium to a higher level than other countries without nuclear weapons programs, in violation of its nuclear non-proliferation obligations.
“Because Iran is now under immense military pressure, it might run out of options, and their nuclear capability is being degraded,” the diplomat said.
Until Trump’s decision to allow diplomacy another shot, the Geneva talks had looked like a European sideshow, with the US seemingly poised to join with Israel in the destruction of Iranian nuclear facilities.
The meeting, between the EU’s foreign policy chief, alongside the British, French and German foreign ministers and their Iranian counterpart, is now taking on greater significance, setting the stage for next steps and possibly acting as a bridge between Iran and the United States.
But there is an underlying fear in Geneva that the reinvigorated talks here, the first formal meetings with Iranian representatives since the escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict, will still go nowhere.
“It’s impossible to read anything Trump says because there is a daily barrage of statements,” the diplomat added.
China and Russia positioning themselves as voices of reason, calling for de-escalation of a conflict the United States is contemplating on entering — these are the optics Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin sought to project during a phone call on Thursday.
As US President Donald Trump weighs joining Israel in attacking Iran, the fast-spiralling conflict between two sworn enemies in the Middle East has presented Beijing and Moscow another opportunity to cast themselves as an alternative to US power.
In their call, Putin and Xi strongly condemned Israel’s actions, calling them a breach of the UN Charter and other norms of international law, according to the Kremlin. (The elephant in the room, of course, is Russia’s own violations of international law in its ongoing war against Ukraine — which Beijing has consistently refused to condemn.)
In Beijing’s readout, Xi struck a more measured tone and stopped short of explicitly condemning Israel — unlike his foreign minister, who did just that in a call with his Iranian counterpart last week.
Instead, the Chinese leader urged the warring parties, “especially Israel,” to cease fire as soon as possible to avoid further escalation and regional spillover.
And notably, in a veiled message to Trump, Xi emphasized that “major powers” that have a special influence on the parties to the conflict should work to “cool the situation, not the opposite.”
Beijing has long accused Washington of being a source of instability and tensions in the Middle East — and some Chinese scholars are now seizing on the Iran crisis to underscore that point.
Liu Zhongmin, a Middle East expert at the Shanghai International Studies University, attributed the latest flareup to the uncertainty created by Trump’s second presidency and the chaotic, opportunistic and transactional nature of his Middle East policy.
“(Trump) has seriously undermined the authority and credibility of US policy in the Middle East, eroded America’s leadership and image among its allies while also weakening its ability to threaten and deter regional adversaries,” Liu wrote in state media this week.
Another Middle East ‘forever war’?
Some Chinese online commentators have noted that Trump appears on the brink of pulling the US deeper into another so-called forever war in the Middle East.
At the outset of his second term, officials close to Trump repeatedly stressed the need for Washington to redirect its focus and resources toward countering China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific. Yet five months in, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza continue to rage on — and Trump is now weighing US involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict.
Beijing has no interest in seeing an all-out war against Iran that could topple the regime. Under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran has emerged as a formidable power in the Middle East and a vital counterweight to US dominance — just as China is working to expand its own diplomatic and economic footprint in the region.
In 2023, Beijing helped broker a surprise rapprochement between arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran – a deal that signaled its ambition to emerge as a new powerbroker in the region.
China has long backed Iran through sustained oil imports and its seat on the UN Security Council. In recent years, the two countries have deepened their strategic ties, including holding joint naval exercises alongside Russia. Beijing welcomed Tehran into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS – groupings led by China and Russia to challenge the US-led world order.
Iran is also a critical node in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), its global infrastructure and investment drive. The country lies near the strategic Gwadar port — a key BRI outpost in Pakistan that gives China access to the Indian Ocean — and borders the Strait of Hormuz, a vital chokepoint for Chinese oil imports from the Persian Gulf.
Like Russia, China has offered to be a potential mediator in the Israel-Iran conflict, casting its role as a peace broker and an alternative to US leadership.
During his call with Putin, Xi laid out four broad proposals to de-escalate tensions, including resolving the Iran nuclear issue through dialogue and safeguarding civilians, according to the Chinese readout.
Meanwhile, Xi’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has had a busy week on the phone, speaking with his counterparts in Iran, Israel, Egypt and Oman in a flurry of diplomatic outreach.
Yet it remains unclear what Beijing is willing and able to do when it comes to actually mediating the conflict. In the early stages of Israel’s war on Gaza, China made a similar offer and dispatched a special envoy to the region to promote peace talks — efforts that ultimately yielded little in terms of concrete results.
Brokering peace in the Middle East is a tall order, especially for a country with little experience or expertise in mediating protracted, intractable conflicts – in a deeply divided region where it lacks a meaningful political or security presence.
And in the one conflict where China does hold significant leverage — the war in Ukraine — Xi has offered diplomatic cover and much-needed economic support to help sustain Putin’s war effort, even as China continues to cast itself as a neutral peace broker.
Still, at a time when America’s global leadership is under growing scrutiny, particularly in the eyes of the Global South, presenting itself as a voice of restraint in the Iran conflict may already count as a symbolic win for Beijing.
A court in Bamako has ordered the temporary transfer of operational control of Barrick Mining’s (TSX:ABX,NYSE:B) Loulo-Gounkoto gold-mining complex to a state-appointed administrator for six months.
The ruling, handed down on Tuesday (June 17) by the Tribunal de Commerce, empowers former health minister and certified accountant Soumana Makadji to run one of Barrick’s most lucrative global assets.
The company has described the move as “unjustified” and “unprecedented.”
According to Judge Issa Aguibou Diallo, the ruling was made under Article 160-1 of the OHADA corporate law framework, which allows a court to appoint a provisional administrator when the regular functioning of a company becomes impossible. The administrator, Makadji, is tasked with reopening the mine site, participating in negotiations with Barrick and reporting to the court on a quarterly basis — though not to the government.
Makadji is seen in Bamako as a technocrat with strong ethical credentials. His appointment is intended to stabilize operations at Loulo-Gounkoto, which Barrick suspended in January 2024 after the Malian government physically removed unsold gold from the mine and froze the company’s ability to export.
Despite the administrative change, Barrick maintains that its subsidiaries remain the legal owners of the mine.
In a statement released on Monday (June 16), the company emphasized that its “ongoing efforts to reach a constructive and sustainable resolution” have been met with escalatory actions by the state.
“While the company has made a number of good-faith concessions in the spirit of partnership, it cannot accept terms that would compromise the legal integrity or long-term viability of the operations,” Barrick said.
Arbitration and legal fallout
Barrick has already launched international arbitration proceedings at the World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, as per a May 29 Reuters article.
The company has asked the tribunal to declare that its Malian subsidiaries are protected under longstanding mining conventions, which it argues are not subject to retroactive legislative changes. Mali, however, contends that the convention covering Loulo expired in April 2023, subjecting it to the updated mining code.
The arbitration tribunal has now been formally constituted, and Barrick has filed a request for provisional measures to prevent Mali from further intervening until the dispute is resolved.
A disputed settlement
In February 2024, a tentative settlement appeared close. According to Jeune Afrique, Barrick had agreed in principle to pay 225 billion West African CFA francs (roughly US$396 million) in instalments, recognize the new 2023 mining code and convert Mali’s 20 percent equity stake in Loulo-Gounkoto into “priority shares.”
The government would in turn release the seized gold and free the detained executives.
But the deal collapsed. A Malian negotiator later claimed Barrick had signed the “wrong” agreement and warned the government had “the right to take control of the mines” if the company failed to resume operations.
The ruling junta, led by Colonel Assimi Goïta, has made resource nationalism a hallmark of its post-coup economic strategy. Since coming to power in 2020, the military-led regime has shown a willingness to pressure foreign firms to comply with state priorities, especially in strategic sectors like mining.
The Loulo-Gounkoto dispute is now emblematic of the wider uncertainty surrounding foreign investment in Mali, a country where gold accounts for over 70 percent of export earnings.
Future implications
Loulo-Gounkoto is a cornerstone of Barrick’s global portfolio.
In 2023, the complex produced 723,000 ounces of gold, second only to Barrick’s Carlin mine in Nevada. It boasts remaining reserves of 7.3 million ounces, making it one of the largest high-grade gold systems in the world.
The financial implications of the shutdown are significant. Analysts warned in December that continued disruptions at the site could cut 11 percent from Barrick’s projected 2025 EBITDA.
Morningstar had earlier projected that Loulo-Gounkoto would contribute 250,000 ounces to Barrick’s output this year — an estimate now scrapped from the company’s 2025 guidance.
Further complicating matters, the permit for the Loulo section of the complex is set to expire in February 2025, just weeks after the six month provisional administration period ends. Barrick said it applied for a renewal four months ago, but has received no response from the government. The Gounkoto permit remains valid for another 17 years.
Barrick has said it remains committed to reaching a “mutually acceptable solution” and has appealed the court’s decision. But with no public comment from the Malian government and the provisional administrator now in place, a quick resolution appears unlikely.
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
