Wide Open Agriculture (WOA:AU) has announced WOA receives R&D Tax Rebate
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Keith Weiner, founder and CEO of Monetary Metals, shares his outlook for gold in 2025.
While he’s been bearish in the past and doesn’t consider himself a cheerleader, Weiner believes currently a ‘buy the dips’ market for the yellow metal.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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Resource companies Mkango Resources (TSXV:MKA,OTC Pink:MKNGF) and Euro Manganese (TSXV:EMN,ASX:EMN,OTCQB:EUMNF) received boosts this week when their respective assets were designated ‘strategic projects’ under the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA).
On Monday (March 24), the European Commission released a list of 47 strategic critical raw materials projects. Located across 13 EU member states, they cover one or more segments of the raw material value chain.
They also account for 14 of the 17 strategic raw materials included in the CRMA.
Among them are Mkango’s Pulawy project, which has been recognized for its role in supplying rare earth oxides, and Euro Manganese’s Chvaletice project, a contributor to the European battery materials supply chain.
Mkango Resources’ Pulawy rare earths separation project
Mkango’s Pulawy project is expected to play a role in establishing a secure European supply chain for neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium, which are used to make electric vehicles and wind turbines.
On February 17, the company signed a land lease agreement through its Polish subsidiary, Mkango Polska, in collaboration with Grupa Azoty Puławy. It facilitates the construction of a rare earths separation facility in Puławy, Poland.
The proposed facility aims to produce 2,000 metric tons per year of neodymium and praseodymium oxides, plus 50 metric tons per year of dysprosium and terbium oxides. Lanthanum cerium carbonate will also be produced at the site.
With strategic project status, Pulawy will benefit from expedited permitting processes under the CRMA, ensuring that Poland’s regulatory authorities adhere to a maximum 15 month timeline for processing and refining projects.
The project will also gain access to coordinated support from the European Commission, member states and financial institutions, facilitating financing opportunities and connections with potential offtakers.
Aside from its work at Pulawy, Mkango is focused on developing sustainable sources of rare earth elements, as well as leading in recycled rare earth magnet production through its subsidiary, Maginito.
Maginito holds an interest in HyProMag, which focuses on rare earth magnet recycling in the UK and Germany, and Mkango Rare Earths UK, which specializes in long-loop rare earth magnet recycling.
Euro Manganese’s Chvaletice manganese project
Euro Manganese’s Chvaletice manganese project, located in the Czech Republic, aims to become a major supplier of high-purity manganese for the European battery industry. The CRMA lists high-purity manganese as a strategic raw material, essential for electric vehicle batteries and the broader clean energy transition.
The Chvaletice project stands out as a waste-to-value initiative, focused on reprocessing old mine tailings rather than developing a new mine. The project represents the only sizable manganese resource within the EU, positioning Euro Manganese as a key player in the region’s battery materials supply chain.
With strategic project designation, Chvaletice will benefit from streamlined permitting processes and access to financial support from institutions such as the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. It will also be eligible for funding from the European Development Fund and Cohesion Fund.
The Czech government has recognized the Chvaletice manganese deposit as a strategic resource, reinforcing the project’s importance in ensuring Europe’s supply independence. In March 2024, the asset received environmental and social impact assessment approval from the Czech Ministry of Environment. In January of this year, Euro Manganese secured a determination of mining lease permit, marking a key milestone in the project’s permitting process.
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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Inca Minerals (ICG:AU) has announced Inca Declares Takeover Offer for Stunalara Unconditional
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Battery Age Minerals Ltd (ASX: BM8; “Battery Age” or “the Company”) is pleased to advise of its participation at the Ignite Investment Summit being held this week in Hong Kong.
BM8’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Nigel Broomham, will be presenting the Company’s strategy for progressing its diversified & strategic portfolio of projects in Austria, Argentina and Canada today at 11.00am AWST. Attached is the presentation that Mr Broomham will be speaking to at the conference.
Investors can register to attend the conference at: weareignite.com/contact/#investor
Battery Age CEO Nigel Broomham commented:
‘Fresh from recent field visits to Austria and Argentina, and following positive advancements across our Bleiberg, El Aguila, and Falcon Lake projects, we look forward to presenting a number of updates and meaningful insights to a fantastic group of investors and stakeholders.”
Click here for the full ASX Release
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Here’s a quick recap of the crypto landscape for Wednesday (March 26) as of 9:00 p.m. UTC.
Bitcoin and Ethereum price update
Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at US$86,622.95, a 1.7 percent decrease over the past 24 hours. The day’s trading range has seen a low of US$85,862.55 and a high of US$87,812.64.
The crypto market is under pressure following an executive order from US President Donald Trump to issue “secondary tariffs” of 25 percent on countries that purchase oil from Venezuela.
Bitcoin performance, March 26, 2025.
Chart via TradingView.
Ethereum (ETH) is priced at US$2,002.36, a 3.6 percent decrease over 24 hours. The cryptocurrency reached an intraday low of US$1.985.69 and a high of US$2,058.49.
Altcoin price update
- Solana (SOL) is currently valued at US$137.76, down 5.2 percent over the past 24 hours. SOL experienced a low of US$136.39 and a high of US$144.21 on Wednesday.
- XRP is trading at US$2.38, reflecting a 3.3 percent decrease over the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency recorded an intraday low of US$2.36 and a high of US$2.45.
- Sui (SUI) is priced at US$2.58, showing a 4.6 percent increase over the past 24 hours. It achieved a daily low of US$2.52 and a high of US$2.64.
- Cardano (ADA) is trading at US$0.7285, reflecting a 2.7 percent decrease over the past 24 hours. Its lowest price on Wednesday was US$0.722, with a high of US$0.7632.
Crypto news to know
GameStop’s Bitcoin bet sparks meme stock rally
GameStop (NYSE:GME) shares surged close to 20 percent on Wednesday after the company announced plans to add Bitcoin to its treasury reserve assets, mirroring Michael Saylor’s Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR). The move comes as GameStop struggles with declining brick-and-mortar sales, having pivoted toward e-commerce under CEO Ryan Cohen.
Speculation around the retailer’s crypto ambitions grew after Cohen was seen with Saylor on social media last month. Analysts warn that GameStop’s exposure to Bitcoin could introduce more volatility to its stock.
The company, however, has been aggressive in cutting costs, doubling its fourth quarter net income to US$131.3 million despite a 30 percent revenue drop.
Microsoft declines after data center news
Shares of crypto miners and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) closed down after TD Cowen alleged that the tech conglomerate has abandoned plans for new data centers in the US and Europe.
Share prices for Bitcoin miners, including Bitfarms (NASDAQ:BITF), CleanSpark (NASDAQ:CLSK), Core Scientific (NASDAQ:CORZ), Hut 8 (NASDAQ:HUT) and Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT), dropped between 4 and 12 percent. Microsoft closed down 1.31 percent, while daily losses for the miners fell between 7 and 12 percent.
According to Bloomberg, Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) have picked up some of the leases Microsoft has allegedly canceled or deferred over the last six months, although neither company has confirmed. In a statement from Microsoft obtained by the publication, the company said “significant investments” have left it “well positioned to meet (its) current and increasing customer demand.”
“While we may strategically pace or adjust our infrastructure in some areas, we will continue to grow strongly in all regions,” the spokesperson said. “This allows us to invest and allocate resources to growth areas for our future.”
Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade launches on testnet
Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade launched on the Hoodi testnet on Wednesday after a series of technical issues delayed the mainnet launch, which was originally slated for sometime in March.
If the launch is successful, Pectra could hit the mainnet by April 25. The Pectra upgrade aims to improve Ethereum’s scalability, staking efficiency and developer capabilities.
USDC launches in Japan
Circle launched its stablecoin, USDC, in Japan on Wednesday. The launch was made possible through a strategic partnership with SBI Holdings (TSE:8473), a Japanese financial firm.
The launch comes after Circle and SBI received regulatory approval from Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) earlier this month. The FSA’s green light paved the way for the companies to introduce USDC to the Japanese market, marking a significant step in the adoption of stablecoins in the country.
Following the regulatory approval, a launch date was announced on Monday (March 24).
At the time of this writing, USDC’s market capitalization was US$60.15 billion.
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.
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The lithium market continued to battle headwinds during the first quarter of 2025 as residual oversupply weighed on prices, pushing them to a four year low.
Weaker-than-expected demand to start the year also added pressure to the oversupplied market, resulting in the lithium carbonate CIF North Asia price to fall below US$9,550 per metric ton, its lowest point since 2021.
Analysts have suggested the persistent downturn is the signaling of a market bottom. This theory is further supported by a projected production reduction that will help absorb market oversupply.
“Lithium market conditions — particularly during the latter part of 2024 – led to growing producer restraint, both in China and elsewhere,” wrote Fastmarkets’ head of battery raw material analytics Paul Lusty. “Australian production cuts started in January 2024 but built momentum during the year, with several miners announcing production cuts, plans to place plants on care and maintenance and the suspension of planned expansions owing to market conditions.”
The global commodities firm is forecasting a shift in market dynamics, with analysts projecting a much tighter balance ahead. Initial estimates peg 2025’s surplus at 10,000 metric tons before the market moves into a deficit position in 2026.
How are Canadian lithium stocks performing against this backdrop?
This list was created on March 25, 2025, using TradingView’s stock screener, and all data was current at that time. Only companies with market caps above C$10 million for the TSX and TSXV and above C$5 million for the CSE are included.
1. Power Metals (TSXV:PWM)
Company Profile
Year-to-date gain: 163.04 percent
Market cap: C$196.57 million
Share price: C$1.21
Exploration company Power Metals holds a portfolio of diversified assets in Ontario and Québec, Canada. The company’s flagship Case Lake project in Ontario hosts spodumene-bearing lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatites.
In November 2024, Power Metals identified a new pegmatite zone at Case Lake through soil sampling. The samples from the zone, located north-northwest of its West Joe prospect, revealed elevated levels of cesium, tantalum, lithium and rubidium, which the company said ‘affirmed prospective drill targets’ for its winter program.
On February 10, Power Metals announced the beginning of work associated with the maiden mineral resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment for Case Lake, which it plans to release in Q1 and Q2 of 2025 respectively. Days later on February 14, the company followed that announcement by releasing the final assays from its Phase 3 drilling at Case Lake, including “exceptional cesium oxide and tantalum intercepts” from the West Joe prospect.
The company’s share price rose in the weeks following the pair of announcements to reach a Q1 high of C$1.46 on February 25.
2. NOA Lithium Brines (TSXV:NOAL)
Company Profile
Year-to-date gain: 41.18 percent
Market cap: C$46.99 million
Share price: C$0.36
NOA is a lithium exploration and development company with three projects in Argentina’s Lithium Triangle region. The company’s flagship Rio Grande project and prospective Arizaro and Salinas Grandes land packages total more than 140,000 hectares.
In late January, NOA reported its completion of 28 vertical electrical sounding geophysics tests at the Rio Grande project as part of its 2025 exploration program.
The recent testing expands on past studies and will aid NOA’s water exploration program, refining one of three identified potential water sources.
In a subsequent corporate update on February 7, NOA outlined its plans for Q1 2025, which largely focused on the advancement of the Rio Grande project through geophysical evaluation and water exploration drilling. The company also plans to review engineering proposals for preliminary economic assessment work.
The company’s share price began climbing in early February and reached a Q1 high of C$0.37 on March 13.
The high came days after a Simply Wall Street report highlighted insider buying at the company, a signal of strong internal confidence. According to the report, NOA insiders invested C$862,600 over the prior six months, with C$358,000 of that coming in a single transaction by CEO and Director Gabriel Rubacha. Additionally, they had not sold any shares in the prior 12 months.
3. Frontier Lithium (TSXV:FL)
Company Profile
Year-to-date gain: 35.56 percent
Market cap: C$141.38 million
Share price: C$0.61
Pre-production mining company Frontier Lithium aims to be a strategic and integrated supplier of premium spodumene concentrates as well as battery-grade lithium salts in North America.
The Company’s flagship PAK lithium project, which is a joint venture with Mitsubishi (TSE:8058), holds the “largest land position and resource” in a premium lithium mineral district located in the Great Lakes region of Ontario, Canada. Frontier also owns the Spark deposit, located northwest of the PAK project.
Shares of Frontier Lithium reached a Q1 high of C$0.79 on March 4. After already trending upwards through February, its share price peaked alongside news that the Government of Canada and the Ontario Government supported the company’s plans to build a critical minerals refinery in Northern Ontario.
Once complete the proposed lithium conversion facility will process lithium from PAK into around 20,000 metric tons of lithium salts per year. “This expected capacity would support the production of batteries for approximately 500,000 electric vehicles per year,” Frontier’s statement reads.
4. Q2 Metals (TSXV:QTWO)
Company Profile
Year-to-date gain: 30.77 percent
Market cap: C$144.59 million
Share price: C$1.02
Exploration firm Q2 Metals is exploring three lithium properties — Cisco, Mia and Stellar — in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Québec, Canada. Its Mia project hosts the Mia trend, which spans over 10 kilometers, and its Stellar lithium property comprises 77 claims 6 kilometers north of the Mia property.
In 2024, Q2 Metals acquired the Cisco lithium property and spent much of the year exploring the area. In December, Q2 acquired a 100 percent interest in 545 additional mineral claims, tripling its land position at the Cisco lithium property. A February 12 update reported that metallurgical testing on 2024 drill core showed that the primary lithium-bearing mineral in Cisco pegmatite is spodumene.
On February 26, Q2 announced that investors exercised 12.8 million share purchase warrants at C$0.60 each, generating C$7.68 million in proceeds for the company. The warrants were issued through a private placement in February 2023.
Shares of Q2 jumped to a Q1 high price of C$1.08 on March 18. The following day, later the company released some early results from its ongoing winter drill program, which is targeting 6,000 to 8,000 meters of drilling using two diamond drill rigs. The first four holes intersected “multiple wide intercepts of spodumene pegmatite, expanding previously identified mineralization.” The longest continuous interval of spodumene mineralization is 179.6 meters.
5. Wealth Minerals (TSXV:WML)
Company Profile
Year-to-date gain: 20 percent
Market cap: C$18.47 million
Share price: C$0.06
Lithium exploration company Wealth Minerals owns three exploration-stage projects — Kuska, Pabellón and Yapuckuta— all located in Chile.
On February 3, Wealth Minerals released its first news of the year, announcing it penned a joint venture development deal with the Quechua Indigenous Community of Ollagüe for the development of the Kuska project.
Under the deal the Quechua community will hold a 5 percent free-carried interest and a board seat in the JV, ensuring community participation. The partnership may also explore additional projects in the region.
On February 6, Wealth Minerals acquired the Pabellón lithium project, consisting of a portfolio of 26 mineral exploration licenses with an area of 7,600 hectares located in Northern Chile near the Chile-Bolivia border. The project may serve as an additional source of material to Kuska.
The surface of Pabellón hosts South America’s only geothermal power plant, Cerro Pabellón, which is majority owned by electricity company ENEL (MIL:ENEL). Wealth Minerals stated it is considering installing a direct lithium extraction unit next to the plant.
The company’s share price spiked in mid-January, and touched a Q1 high of C$0.095 on January 31, February 7 and February 10.
Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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Investors have closely watched Nvidia’s week-long GPU Technology Conference (GTC) for news and updates from the dominant maker of chips that power artificial intelligence applications.
The event comes at a pivotal time for Nvidia shares. After two years of monster gains, the stock is down 15% over the past month and 22% below the January all-time high.
As part of the event, CEO Jensen Huang took questions from analysts on topics ranging from demand for its advanced Blackwell chips to the impact of Trump administration tariffs. Here’s a breakdown of how Huang responded — and what analysts homed in on — during some of the most important questions:
Huang said he “underrepresented” demand in a slide that showed 3.6 million in estimated Blackwell shipments to the top four cloud service providers this year. While Huang acknowledged speculation regarding shrinking demand, he said the amount of computation needed for AI has “exploded” and that the four biggest cloud service clients remain “fully invested.”
Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore noted that Huang’s commentary on Blackwell demand in data centers was the first-ever such disclosure.
“It was clear that the reason the company made the decision to give that data was to refocus the narrative on the strength of the demand profile, as they continue to field questions related to Open AI related spending shifting from 1 of the 4 to another of the 4, or the pressure of ASICs, which come from these 4 customers,” Moore wrote to clients, referring to application-specific integrated circuits.
Piper Sandler analyst Harsh Kumar said the slide was “only scratching the surface” on demand. Beyond the four largest customers, he said others are also likely “all in line looking to get their hands on as much compute as their budgets allow.”
Another takeaway for Moore was the growth in physical AI, which refers to the use of the technology to power machines’ actions in the real world as opposed to within software.
At previous GTCs, Moore said physical AI “felt a little bit like speculative fiction.” But this year, “we are now hearing developers wrestling with tangible problems in the physical realm.”
Truist analyst William Stein, meanwhile, described physical AI as something that’s “starting to materialize.” The next wave for physical AI centers around robotics, he said, and presents a potential $50 trillion market for Nvidia.
Stein highliughted Jensen’s demonstration of Isaac GR00T N1, a customizable foundation model for humanoid robots.
Several analysts highlighted Huang’s explanation of what tariffs mean for Nvidia’s business.
“Management noted they have been preparing for such scenarios and are beginning to manufacture more onshore,” D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria said. “It was mentioned that Nvidia is already utilizing [Taiwan Semiconductor’s’] Arizona fab where it is manufacturing production silicon.”
Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said Huang’s answer made it seem like Nvidia’s push to relocate some manufacturing to the U.S. would limit the effect of higher tariffs.
Rasgon also noted that Huang brushed off concerns of a recession hurting customer spending. Huang argued that companies would first cut spending in the areas of their business that aren’t growing, Rasgon said.
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For the first time in nearly 10 years, a Berkshire Hathaway employee claimed Warren Buffett’s $1 million grand prize for his company’s NCAA bracket contest.
An anonymous employee from aviation training company FlightSafety International, a subsidiary of Buffett’s Berkshire, won the annual internal bracket contest after correctly calling 31 of the 32 games in the first round of the men’s basketball tournament dubbed March Madness, according to a statement.
The 94-year-old Oracle of Omaha was finally able to give out the big prize after relaxing the rules multiple times since the competition’s inception in 2016. Originally, Buffett, a Creighton basketball fan, set out to award anyone who could perfectly predict the Sweet 16.
Then, in 2024, after the $1 million jackpot remained unclaimed, participants were given the advantage of waiving the results of the eight games among the No.1 and No. 2 seeds. Still, nobody cracked the code.
This year, the rules were changed again so anyone who picks the winners of at least 30 of the tournament’s 32 first-round games would be eligible to win the prize.
In fact, 12 Berkshire employees guessed 31 of the 32 first-round games correctly. The $1 million prize went to the person from that group that picked 29 games consecutively before a loss. That winner went on to pick 44 of the 45 games correctly.
The other 11 contestants are getting $100,000 each.
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Fintech lender Affirm said Tuesday that it’s reached an agreement with JPMorgan Chase to offer its buy now, pay later loan services to merchants on the bank’s payments network.
U.S. merchants who use JPMorgan to handle payments can soon add Affirm to their checkout pages, according to a release. Consumers will have access to loans ranging from 30 days to 60 months, according to Affirm.
The deal follows a similar announcement from rival Klarna last month, in which the Swedish fintech said it would be available to JPMorgan’s merchants. Affirm and Klarna are increasingly going head-to-head as the buy now, pay later field matures in the U.S.; Affirm is publicly traded and seeking to steadily grow profits, while Klarna recently filed for a U.S. IPO.
“The demand for diverse payment options, flexibility, and seamless transactions from both merchants and their customers is at an all-time high,” Michael Lozanoff, global head of merchant services at J.P. Morgan Payments, said in the release.
“By incorporating Affirm as a payment method into our Commerce Platform, we are empowering businesses to deliver the services they need and the experiences that customers increasingly expect as part of their retail journey,” he said.
Affirm said the deal was an expansion of existing banking and processing relationships with JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets. It wasn’t immediately clear when the new option would be available to merchants.
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