Morning Briefing: Energy Fuels Awards a $725M Loan from the US Government
Good morning and welcome back to the Mining Stock Daily morning briefing. I am Trevor Hall.
It's Thursday, June 18.
Gold was whipsawed in a $175 range yesterday — it's now down to $4,266 an ounce this morning. Silver is getting hit hard, off almost five percent to $67.29.
The driver this morning is Kevin Warsh, who delivered a strikingly hawkish debut press conference as the new Federal Reserve Chair on Wednesday. Warsh hammered on the Fed's commitment to getting inflation under control — criticizing the institution for its forecasting record since the pandemic with inflation stuck above 2%. Individual Fed member projections showed half of them now expect rate hikes by year end. Traders dumped short-term Treasuries in response, pushing some yields up by the most in over a year, and futures markets are now pricing rate hike bets as soon as next month. For gold and silver, that's the worst possible combination: higher rates, stronger dollar, and a Fed that has just planted its flag squarely on the hawkish side.
On a more constructive note, the 14-point Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Iran has been signed — the deal includes provisions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a ceasefire framework, Iranian reaffirmation that it will not develop nuclear weapons, and down-blending of near-bomb-grade uranium under IAEA supervision, with US sanctions waivers on Iranian crude oil exports taking effect immediately. It's a meaningful step, even if a full nuclear deal is still a long way off.
We’ll get to the news from the miners and explorers in just a moment, but first a word about today’s sponsor.
This episode of Mining Stock Daily is brought to you by…Revival Gold.
Revival Gold is advancing the Beartrack-Arnett Gold Project in Idaho — the largest past-producing gold mine in the state — with a multi-million-ounce resource base and a pre-feasibility study underway. The company is also running a 16,000-metre drill program at the Mercur Gold Project in Utah, targeting a PFS completion in Q1 2027. Learn more at revival-gold.com.
Here’s what you need to know today.
The US government has signed a $725 million conditional loan commitment with Energy Fuels to boost domestic processing of rare earth elements — Energy Fuels already processes rare earth concentrates from monazite at its White Mesa Mill in Utah, making it one of the only operational rare earth processing facilities in the country. The announcement comes one day after Pentagon-backed rare-earth refiner Phoenix Tailings received a $500 million loan, underscoring how aggressively the US government is now moving to build out a domestic critical minerals processing chain independent of China (TSX: EFR, NYSE American: UUUU). News Release
K2 Gold has drilled extensive disseminated mineralization and gold-silver epithermal quartz veins at the Si2 Gold Project in Nevada's Walker Lane Trend, confirming a well-developed low-sulphidation epithermal system across multiple target areas — the first-ever diamond drilling at the project. Pervasive illite-pyrite-silica alteration, quartz-sulphide veins with open-space textures indicative of a boiling zone, and adularia flooding were intersected across five Areas of Interest; assays are pending (TSXV: KTO, OTCQX: KTGDF). News Release
Heliostar Metals has reported strong drill results from the Veta Madre pit at its operating La Colorada Mine in Sonora, Mexico, with the standout hole returning 10.9 metres at 22.1 grams per tonne gold — including 1.3 metres at 174 grams per tonne — alongside a broader intercept of 40.8 metres at 2.23 grams per tonne gold from 51.3 metres. All permits have been received for the Veta Madre pit expansion, with waste stripping set to begin in early Q3 2026; the company has completed 44 holes across 8,425 metres targeting an additional 20,000 ounces above its current 376,200-ounce reserve (TSXV: HSTR, OTCQX: HSTXF). News Release
STLLR Gold has reported high-grade drill results at the Jonpol Deposit of the Tower Gold Project in Ontario's Timmins Mining Camp, with the headline hole returning 13.00 grams per tonne gold over 22.75 metres and a second hole hitting 3.01 grams per tonne gold over 22.93 metres. Jonpol is the key growth driver at Tower Gold, an advanced multi-deposit project advancing in one of the world's most productive gold jurisdictions (TSX: STLR, OTCQX: STLRF). News Release
RUA Gold has released new drill results from the Auld Creek Gold-Antimony Project in New Zealand's Reefton Goldfield, confirming mineralization over more than 1,000 metres of strike and 500 metres of depth, with key intercepts including 2.7 metres at 7.6 grams per tonne gold-equivalent and 10.1 metres at 2.2 grams per tonne gold-equivalent. The company has now completed approximately 10,000 metres of its 19,000-metre drill program; results are feeding into a Pre-Feasibility Study targeted for Q4 2026, and the government's Fast-Track approval decision on the project is expected in July 2026 (TSX: RUA, NZX: RGI, OTCQX: NZAUF). News Release
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That's it for today everyone. Have a great day. Stay safe.
The information presented should not be considered investment advice. Mining Stock Daily and its affiliates are not responsible for any loss arising from any investment decision in connection with the material presented herein. Please do your own research or speak with a licensed financial representative before making any investment decisions.