Mining Press Roundup: Barrick Shares Crater as Newmont Pays $1.95B to End Nevada Feud

Gold sat above $4,300 an ounce on Monday, yet one of the world's largest gold miners had its worst trading day in months. Barrick Mining and Newmont settled a long-running Nevada Gold Mines dispute with a $1.95 billion payment from Newmont to Barrick, a deal that should have been unambiguously good news — instead, Barrick shares sank as much as 9.7% as investors judged the underlying Fourmile asset trade too cheap and digested a second-quarter earnings miss. It's a reminder that in this gold market, even the biggest names aren't immune to scrutiny, even as smaller producers and explorers post some of their best days in years.

Barrick and Newmont: $1.95 Billion Deal Ends Nevada Feud, But Investors Punish Barrick

Barrick Mining and Newmont announced Monday that they had settled their outstanding Nevada Gold Mines disputes in a deal that brings key projects into the joint venture and requires Newmont to pay Barrick $1.95 billion. Under the agreement, Barrick will transfer its Fourmile project to the Nevada Gold Mines joint venture, while Newmont will transfer its Mike and Fiberline projects and pay Barrick US$1.95 billion in cash within 30 days. The companies said the combined assets would create a nearly 100-million-ounce gold complex in Nevada.

Crucially for Barrick, Newmont also consented to Barrick's planned initial public offering (IPO) of its North American gold assets, removing a potential complication as Barrick works towards completing the separation by year-end. That IPO has become a centerpiece of Barrick's turnaround story, with the settlement reducing the uncertainty around Barrick's end-of-2026 IPO plan.

Yet the market reaction was harsh. Barrick simultaneously reported second-quarter results in which profit missed estimates as higher costs ate into the benefit of stronger gold prices, with fuel, lower ore grades and higher royalties lifting all-in sustaining costs, leaving adjusted profit at $0.82 per share versus a Street estimate of $0.88. According to MINING.COM's separate coverage of the stock reaction, Barrick shares fell as much as 9.7% after analysts judged the Fourmile deal too cheap, even as hedge funds turned their most bullish on gold in six months — a split verdict that underscores how thin the market's patience has grown with Barrick's execution under new leadership.

White Gold Corp: Yukon Study Puts Nearly C$2 Billion on the Table

White Gold Corp delivered one of the day's standout junior-miner catalysts, unveiling a maiden preliminary economic assessment for its namesake project in Yukon's White Gold District. The company reported an post-tax net present value of C$1.9 billion and an after-tax internal rate of return of 38% at initial capital costs of C$1 billion and a 1.7-year payback period, though its assumed gold price is notably aggressive.

The plan, according to the release, calls for a 9.4 year, 12,000 tonne per day open pit operation producing an average of 188,000 ounces of gold per year (223,000 ounces per year over the first five years) at a US$3,600/oz gold price. At a higher, more bullish gold assumption, the economics improve further: after-tax NPV increases to C$3 billion and 52% IRR at US$4,500/oz gold price.

Importantly, the study only scratches the surface of what White Gold controls. The mine plan incorporates four deposits (Golden Saddle, Arc, Ryan's Surprise and VG) and only draws on approximately 60% of the Company's current mineral resource estimate across a district where the Company owns a portfolio of 15,364 quartz claims across 21 properties covering 305,102 hectares, representing approximately 40% of the Yukon's emerging White Gold District. CEO David D'Onofrio called it a "significant milestone," and shares surged on the news, per MINING.COM's report.

Largo Inc: Copper and PGMs Add New Revenue Streams to Brazilian Vanadium Mine

Largo shares jumped nearly 15% Monday after Brazil's mining regulator cleared the company to commercialize copper and platinum group metals as byproducts from its flagship vanadium operation. Shares in Largo jumped almost 15% on Monday after the miner started producing copper and platinum group metals (PGMs) as by-products at its Maracás Menchen vanadium mine in Bahia, Brazil. Specifically, Brazil's National Mining Agency approved the company's request to produce and sell copper, PGMs, nickel and cobalt as by-products from the mine.

The approval lets Largo skip the cost of building new infrastructure. The approval allows Largo to move from successful industrial-scale testing toward ramping up and commercializing a copper-PGM concentrate using its existing vanadium processing plant and ilmenite flotation infrastructure. Company testwork has previously shown strong byproduct grades — earlier metallurgical results reported grades as high as 16.6% copper, 22.5 g/t platinum and 22.4 g/t palladium from testing at the mine, according to Mining Weekly's April coverage of the byproduct program.

For a company whose core commodity, vanadium, has struggled with weak prices, the diversification is strategically timed. The approach could strengthen the long-term revenue contribution from Maracás Menchen by adding exposure to copper and precious metals while improving margins at the company's flagship Bahia operation. Copper miners broadly have been in favor with investors — the COPX copper miners ETF traded at $89.51 Monday, up 1.7% on the day, according to Polygon.io market data, a tailwind for any producer adding red-metal exposure.

McEwen Copper: Los Azules Edges Toward a Construction Decision in Argentina

TNR Gold, which holds a royalty on the project, reported Monday that Argentina's Los Azules copper project is moving closer to a final investment decision as operator McEwen Copper advances engineering and financing work. TNR Gold Corp. says the Los Azules copper project in Argentina is moving closer to a final investment decision as operator McEwen Copper advances engineering and financing. McEwen Copper, a subsidiary of McEwen Mining, had completed about 27% of its planned FID work program as of June 30 and aims to finish the remainder in the fourth quarter.

The scope of work underway is substantial: engineering for processing facilities, mining fleet evaluations, power supply assessments and contractor selection, alongside construction of an access road and site camp. Chairman Rob McEwen has previously described the project as sitting in the second lowest quartile of the global cost curve, positioning it as a large, financeable asset the company is advancing toward development, with McEwen adding that the project is targeting first production by 2030 and is designed to produce copper cathode rather than concentrate, allowing it to bypass smelters and supply metal directly to end users.

Los Azules also benefits from Argentina's investment framework: the project was admitted to the country's Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI), which locks in long-term tax, customs and legal-stability provisions for approved projects, according to prior reporting. With McEwen Copper also preparing a roughly $300 million IPO tentatively targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026, Los Azules is shaping up as one of the copper sector's most closely watched de-risking stories heading into next year.

Sunrise Energy Metals: Pentagon Commits $400 Million to Scandium Mine

Friday's announcement that the U.S. Department of War would back Sunrise Energy Metals' Syerston scandium project with a $400 million conditional loan continued to reverberate through markets Monday, with shares in the Robert Friedland-backed miner soaring as much as 29% on the news, according to Bloomberg. The War Department's Office of Strategic Capital announced a $400 million conditional loan commitment to Sunrise Energy Metals Limited to build out the company's scandium operations.

The Syerston project, located in New South Wales, is positioned as a genuine first: the USGS estimates global scandium production totalled about 80 tonnes in 2025, and Sunrise Energy Metals' Syerston project, designed to produce 60 tonnes annually and one of several proposed non-Chinese sources, has yet to begin construction. Friedland framed the moment in stark geopolitical terms, saying the world has entered an era in which access to critical minerals will shape industrial strength, technology leadership and national security, describing scandium as one of the clearest examples supporting the technologies, industries and defence capabilities that will shape the coming decades, and thanking President Trump and the Office of Strategic Capital "for its support as we aim to establish Syerston as a cornerstone of Western scandium supply."

Defense-industrial demand appears to be part of the calculus: reporting from Rare Earth Exchanges indicates Lockheed Martin holds an option to purchase up to 15 tonnes of scandium oxide annually for the first five years, representing roughly 25% of planned production. Scandium's appeal lies in its metallurgical properties — CNBC noted it is one of the most effective elements used to strengthen aluminum, while also being flexible and resistant to heat and corrosion.

Niron Magnetics: $150 Million Loan Bets on Rare-Earth-Free Magnets

Rounding out a strong week for Pentagon-backed critical minerals financing, Niron Magnetics disclosed a conditional $150 million loan commitment from the Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital to scale up production of its rare-earth-free permanent magnets. Niron Magnetics announced a conditional commitment from the Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital for a direct loan of up to $150 million with a 20-year term to support construction and equipment for the company's advanced manufacturing plant.

The Minneapolis-based company's technology sidesteps the rare-earth supply chain entirely rather than diversifying around it. Its planned Sartell, Minnesota facility, per the company's release, is a 287,000-square-foot Sartell plant that would bring material-to-magnet production under one roof and produce up to 1,500 tons of rare-earth-free permanent magnets annually, with the company already eyeing a second, larger U.S. facility. The Sartell plant is expected to be operational in 2027, funded by a 20-year financing commitment announced by President Trump in Washington, and will produce up to 1,500 tons of rare-earth-free Iron Nitride permanent magnets annually while creating up to 175 jobs. The Department of War has been explicit about the strategic logic: as one federal statement put it, the company seeks to eliminate dependence on rare earth magnets sourced from foreign jurisdictions, with magnets that do not use rare earths yet provide similar, and in some cases superior, performance and physical properties compared to rare earth magnets.

What It Means

Two storylines dominate today's press releases, and they're pulling in opposite directions. On one hand, Washington's critical-minerals push is accelerating fast — the Sunrise Energy Metals and Niron Magnetics loans, both structured through the Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital, show the federal government is now underwriting entire domestic supply chains for scandium and rare-earth-free magnets, not just funding exploration. On the other hand, gold's historic rally — bullion held above $4,300 per ounce Monday according to market data — is proving to be a double-edged sword for the majors: Barrick's stock cratered on a deal that should have been a clean win, while smaller, well-timed studies like White Gold's Yukon PEA are getting rewarded richly by a market hungry for undeveloped ounces.

Copper, meanwhile, continues to attract patient capital rather than headline-grabbing catalysts — Los Azules and Largo's byproduct pivot both represent multi-year de-risking stories rather than one-day pops, even as the COPX copper miners index traded near $89.51, up 1.7% on the day per Polygon.io data. Taken together, it's a market where strategic minerals financing is moving at Washington's pace, gold economics are being re-rated project by project, and copper's next leg higher is still being built one permit and one engineering milestone at a time.

This roundup covers press releases published on August 10, 2026. Company announcements are sourced from mining industry wire services. For corrections or updates, contact contact@stakeandpaper.com.