After a major lithium mine in China said its license had expired and that production there had been suspended, global lithium prices surged in a rally that some analysts are saying is a bit too ambitious. Shares in some lithium producers climbed by more than 20% on Monday, but there are still a lot of unknowns about how future lithium output may be affected in China, caution market experts.
Elsewhere in market reactions, the markets breathed a sigh of relief after President Trump yesterday clarified that he would not impose tariffs on gold, ending days of speculation after the U.S. Customs and Border Protection had posted a ruling on its website on Friday saying that Washington might place the widely traded gold bars under country-specific import tariffs. "Gold will not be Tariffed!" Trump said in a statement posted on his social media account. He gave no details.
And the US Mine Safety and Health Administration announced yesterday it will award up to $10.5 million in grants to fund mine safety training for state, tribal, and territorial governments. Safety programs will be required to cover at least 20% of the total cost to train miners who work at coal and metal/nonmetal mines throughout the country. The agency wants states to prioritize small mining operations as well as fund their health and safety training programs. MSHA also urges grantees to develop training compliance assistance programs to assist operators that are extracting critical minerals.
That's your mining minute for this morning, highlighting some of the mining-related matters that are on our minds here in Washington and beyond.
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