Money on Mines · Week ending June 28, 2026
Where the metals sit, and who just raised to drill
A plain weekly read on the metals that fund drilling — precious, base and battery — and the junior financings putting new programs in the ground across the North. This is last week's edition. Next week's goes out by email.
The board this week
Spot levels as of week ending june 28, 2026, with the move vs the week before. Precious metals per troy ounce; copper, zinc, nickel & cobalt per pound; uranium per pound U₃O₈; lithium carbonate per tonne.
Off record highs on a hawkish Fed and a firmer US dollar — but still near US$4,000. Treasuries stay full and drill budgets keep flowing: the single biggest driver of new northern programs.
Sharp week — down nearly 10% — yet still historically high near US$60. Silver riding with gold means more gold-silver projects get funded, and plenty of them sit in roadless terrain.
Near its lowest since November on dollar strength, but still up ~22% on the year. PGM exploration is thin in Canada — tracked here for the few who chase it.
Soft, close to late-September lows as EVs eat into autocatalyst demand. A laggard, but worth watching for the odd PGM play.
Near a seven-week low on dollar strength — still firm above US$6. Strong copper pulls money into north-central BC porphyry camps: drills, sling loads, no day trips.
Holding firm and ticking higher. Steady zinc keeps base-metal juniors drilling across the Yukon and northern BC.
Near a six-month low as Indonesia opens the taps, but the battery story holds. Canadian nickel sits in remote, fly-in ground.
Flat on the week but up ~69% on the year — the quiet battery-metal winner. Most Canadian cobalt rides alongside remote nickel-copper work.
Rangebound in the mid-US$80s. Even flat, that price keeps the Athabasca Basin busy — and Basin drilling is fly-in by definition.
At a three-month low on restart talk (China carbonate benchmark), but still up ~150% on the year. The James Bay spodumene belts lean on seasonal helicopter support for drill moves.
What's new in the mining world
Gold and silver came off their highs this week but stayed historically rich, and treasuries are still full — which is what actually matters up north, because funded juniors keep putting steel in the ground. Uranium held in the mid-US$80s, keeping the Athabasca Basin busy, and the week's raises skewed remote: three of the five are fly-in only. Below are the ones we're watching, ranked by how much of the program flies.
The three raises we're watching
Eskay Mining Corp.
★★★★★Closed a non-brokered flow-through placement that fully funds the 2026 summer program — a 5,000 m diamond drill campaign starting in July on the Consolidated Eskay project. Crews work from a remote camp reached by daily helicopter out of Stewart, roughly 70 km away. Fly-in only.
UraniumX Discovery Corp.
★★★★★Expanded its Murphy Lake uranium program to 4,000 m after an oversubscribed flow-through raise, with early holes returning visible pitchblende. Sits in the northeastern Athabasca Basin with no road access — crew, camp, fuel and core all move by helicopter and float-plane.
Blue Star Gold Corp.
★★★★★Kicked off Phase 2 gold drilling in the High Lake Greenstone Belt, funded by a fresh raise. Fully fly-in, no all-weather road — needs fixed-wing into a regional hub plus helicopter for crew and equipment rotation. About as remote as exploration gets.
Also raising this week
- Cassiar Gold Corp.Gold · Dease Lake, BC (Hwy 37) · C$5.53M flow-through★★★★★
- Whiterock Lithium Corp.Lithium · Radisson, QC (James Bay) · Funded 2026 program★★★★★
Figures are drawn from public company disclosures and live market data, compiled by Goldvane. Aviation relevance is our own assessment, not investment advice.
Tips & Bits
EfficiencyBook the move before you book the drill
Move day is a no-meter day — the rig isn't turning while it's in the air, so every hour of aircraft uncertainty is an hour of drilling you've already paid for. Lock the helicopter window and a backup machine before the program starts, not the week you need it, because in peak season the good operators are spoken for. And weigh the rig honestly: a load that's 200 lb over the long-line limit on a hot, high day turns one lift into three.
One field tip every edition — the stuff that saves a drilling day.
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