Trump seats NAK shareholders on rollercoaster
“A week is a long time in politics” observed former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, and this adage has never been truer than during the second Trump administration, as markets twitch up and down at his every word.
Critical minerals companies are benefitting today as the US government seeks to step in with funding to help rebuild gaps identified in the supply chain. The US Department of Defense is to invest US$500M to take a shareholding in REE company MP Materials, which has helped propel its market capitalization north of $9 billion. A decade ago, the company was in bankruptcy protection. Many critical minerals companies have seen their share prices port triple digit gains in a matter of months, but not every company is receiving the golden touch as Trump is also capable of saying ‘no’.
Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX:NDM) shares had risen by more than 200% this year on the belief that Trump would shoulder its Pebble project in Alaska through permitting. “This administration has been emphatic about its desire for the US to be self-sufficient in critical metals like Cu and to be the global AI capital. For this to happen, the US must develop secure domestic supplies of important metals such as Cu and the withdrawal of this egregious and unsubstantiated veto of the largest undeveloped Cu project in the world would go a long way towards achieving this goal,” said president & CEO Ron Thiessen.
That hope has now fallen apart on rumours that Trump will back the US Army Corps of Engineers’ rejection of permitting for Pebble. NAK is down 60% as a result. NAK is not throwing in the towel and filed a motion in Federal District Court in Alaska to seek a summary judgment briefing schedule in its pending litigation on the question of the unlawfulness of the Joe Biden administration veto on the project before the court for prompt decision. “While discussions with the EPA have taken place, we have not reached a settlement. As such, today we asked the court to set a briefing schedule for summary judgment motions,” said Thiessen.
Paul Harris
Paul has more than twenty years’ experience in the mining sector in investor relations, communications, research and news reporting roles. Paul has 16 years’ experience in the Colombia gold sector including investor relations roles with Continental Gold, Gran Colombia Gold and Mineros.
Paul founded the successful Colombia Gold Symposium in 2016 and has written for industry leading publication Mining Journal since 2015. Previously, Paul spent five years in Chile reporting and researching the copper sector for CRU and Metal Bulletin. Paul received a BA in Business Administration from the University of the West of England, UK; and a MA in International Relations from the University of Chile, Santiago Chile. He is fluent in English and Spanish.
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