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OPINION — Goldenomics 102: The Shadow Price of Gold

Investing 6 Mins Read

By Darren Brady Nelson

One of the underrated, and easily dismissed, stories from the first 100 days of the second Donald J. Trump presidency was in March 2025, when the president said: “We’re actually going to Fort Knox to see if the gold is there, because maybe somebody stole the gold. Tonnes of gold.”

Two developments have happened since. First was his May 2025 executive order “Restoring Gold Standard Science.” Second was his signing the July 2025 GENIUS Act. The former could be a word teaser for “Restoring The Gold Standard.” The latter seems to be a step in that direction.

Source: The White House.

Fort Knox gold

The US Department of the Treasury’s Weekly Release of US Foreign Exchange Reserves shows the levels of various official assets, including gold. It reported gold of 261.499 million fine troy ounces. An estimated 56 percent of that is in Fort Knox, with the remainder in West Point, Denver and New York.

The Federal Reserve Act 1913 still gives the power to the US Federal Reserve: “To deal in gold coin and bullion at home or abroad, to make loans thereon, exchange Federal reserve notes for gold, gold coin, or gold certificates, and to contract for loans of gold coin or bullion (and much more).”

The question of how much gold is in Fort Knox and elsewhere is not only important for the purposes of DOGE, but even more so in the case of a potential return to a gold standard. And such an incredible return is not mere speculation, but is due to some credible public comments.

Source: Visual Capitalist.

Trump gold standard

Private citizen Trump commented, as a presidential candidate, about a possible return to a gold standard in June 2016, when he said: “Bringing back the gold standard would be very hard to do, but, boy, would it be wonderful. We’d have a standard on which to base our money.”

More recently, Steve Bannon stated in December 2023: “Nixon took us off the gold standard … over a weekend … in an emergency executive order. That is going to be reviewed strongly in the second Trump term … getting rid of the Fed, yeah, maybe you start with converting back into gold.”

Economist Judy Shelton has an October 2024 book as a guide: “When the US dollar is backed by gold, America prospers, and so does the rest of the world. But this is no curmudgeonly demand to return to the gold standard of yore; (but) gold for a new international monetary order.”

Some sort of gold standard might dovetail with a new global trading system, as outlined in the “Mar-a-Largo Accord” of November 2024, as well as with the GENIUS Act of July 2025, which: “establishes a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins (must redeem for a fixed value).”

Shadow gold price I

Shadow pricing is a method long used in cost benefit analysis that adjusts prices from, or creates prices for, failed or non-existent markets. The shadow price of gold (SPoG) in August 2018 was defined as: “The linkage between the US monetary base and the implied price of gold.”

The In Gold We Trust (IGWT) annual report from May 2025 uses a similar definition: “The theoretical gold price in the event of full gold backing of the base money supply.” The report adds: “The reciprocal value of the (SPoG) gives the degree of coverage of the monetary base.”

The reciprocal SPoG, based on current market prices, is the “Gold Coverage Ratio” (GCR). The report explains further that: “Currently, the (GCR) in the US is only 14.5%. To put it crudely: Only 14.5 cents of every US dollar currently consists of gold, the remaining 85.5% is air.”

Gold backing of monetary base, in percent, 01/1920 to 03/2025.

Source: Incrementum.

Shadow gold price II

According to IGWT: “In the gold bull market of the 2000s, (GCR) tripled from 10.8% to 29.7%. A comparable (GCR) today would only arise if the gold price were to almost double to over $6,000. The record value of 131% from 1980 would correspond to a gold price of around $30,000.”

IGWT goes beyond just $USD: “The international shadow gold price (ISPoG) shows how high the gold price would have to rise if the money supply (M0 or M2) of the leading currency areas were covered by the central banks’ gold reserves in proportion to their share of global GDP.”

“This view impressively reveals the extent of the monetary expansion: With an — admittedly purely theoretical — 100% coverage of the broad money supply M2, the gold price (per ounce) would be over $231,000; even with a moderate 25% coverage, it would be around $58,000.”

International shadow gold price at different gold coverage levels (log), in USD, 12/2024.

Source: Incrementum.

Shadow gold price III

In May 2024, James Rickards predicted: “My latest forecast is that gold may actually exceed $27,000. I don’t say that to get attention or to shock people. It’s not a guess; it’s the result of rigorous analysis.”

This was based on a similar approach to SPoG and GCR that he called “the implied non-deflationary price of gold under a new gold standard (iPoG).” Rickards calculated a gold price, based on iPoG, of $27,533 per ounce.”

He divided US$7.2 trillion of M1 money supply by 261.5 million of gold troy ounces (or 8,133 metric tonnes) in official US reserves estimated by the World Gold Council. The M1 figure is 40 percent of US$17.9 trillion as: “this percentage was the legal requirement for the US Federal Reserve from 1913 to 1946.”

In summary, the sort of gold prices that might be reached under a return to a gold standard, using the shadow price of gold approach, range from lows of US$6,000 to highs of US$231,000, with US$27,533, US$30,000 and US$58,000 in between.

Whatever the gold price ends up at, it would be a once-in-a-lifetime windfall for those holding gold at that time. After that, gold would cease to be an investment, as it has been since 1971 and 1974. Because gold would be actual money once again, and it would be sound money at that.

About Darren Brady Nelson

Darren Brady Nelson is chief economist with Fisher Liberty Gold and policy advisor to The Heartland Institute. He previously was economic advisor to Australian Senator Malcolm Roberts. He authored the Ten Principles of Regulation and Reform, and the CPI-X approach to budget cuts.

Click here to read Goldenomics 101: Follow the Money.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

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Top 5 Canadian Mining Stocks This Week: Kirkland Lake Discovery Gains 88 Percent

Investing 9 Mins Read

Statistics Canada released July’s labor force survey on Friday (August 8). The data shows that the Canadian economy shed 41,000 workers during the month and registered a 0.2 percent decline in the employment rate to 60.7 percent.

However, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.9 percent.

The most significant segment for the decline was among youth aged 15 to 24, with a drop of 34,000. That pushed the youth unemployment rate up to 14.6 percent, its highest rate since September 2010 apart from the pandemic.

In terms of industry, construction saw the steepest decline as it lost 22,000 workers during the month.

South of the border, the US imposed a 39 percent tariff on imports of 1 kilogram and 100 ounce gold bars from Switzerland.

In a ruling posted to US Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Customs Rulings Online Search System on Friday, the CBP states that reciprocal tariffs will be applied to these bars. Switzerland is the world’s biggest refining and transit hub, and imports of the 1 kilogram and 100 ounce bars are typically used to back transactions on the COMEX.

The ruling caused some uncertainty among gold traders, who paused imports of the precious metal to the US and pushed the price for December contracts on the COMEX to a high of US$3,534 per ounce in morning trading.

While the price has since retreated, it’s still up more than 1 percent on the day at US$3,491.

The gold spot price is also up significantly this week, gaining 3.26 percent by 4:00 p.m. EDT on Friday to US$3,398.42. Silver was up even more; it rose 4.58 percent to US$38.38 and is closing in on its recent highs.

Markets and commodities react

In Canada, equity markets were in positive territory this week.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) posted steady gains through the week, moving up 2.16 percent to close at 27,758.68 on Friday. The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) registered a 2.71 percent rise to 787.22. Meanwhile, the CSE Composite Index (CSE:CSECOMP) soared, gaining 8.99 percent to 142.78.

US equity markets were broadly down on Friday on new US tariffs and poor jobs data. The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:INX) rose 1.62 percent to 6,389.44, the Nasdaq 100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) jumped 2.86 percent to 23,603.05 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) gained 0.90 percent to 44,175.60.

In base metals, copper prices fell as low as US$4.41 per pound on Tuesday (August 5), but recovered to finish the week with a 0.67 percent gain to US$4.52.

Top Canadian mining stocks this week

How did mining stocks perform against this backdrop?

Take a look at this week’s five best-performing Canadian mining stocks below.

Stock data for this article was retrieved at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Friday using TradingView’s stock screener. Only companies trading on the TSX, TSXV and CSE with market capitalizations greater than C$10 million are included. Mineral companies within the non-energy minerals, energy minerals, process industry and producer manufacturing sectors were considered.

1. Kirkland Lake Discoveries (TSXV:KLDC)

Weekly gain: 88.24 percent
Market cap: C$15.2 million
Share price: C$0.16

Kirkland Lake Discoveries is a gold-copper explorer focused on projects in its district-scale land package located in the Kirkland Lake area of Ontario, Canada. Its holdings span approximately 38,000 hectares in the Abitibi greenstone belt, an area that holds past-producing gold and copper mines. Its land is broadly divided into KL West and KL East, which contain the Goodfish-Kirana and Lucky Strike gold projects, respectively, among others.

On April 29, the company entered a mining option agreement with Val-d’Or Mining (TSXV:VZZ) to acquire the Winnie Lake and Amikougami properties, as well as mining claim purchase agreements with two vendors to acquire further claims around the Winnie Lake Pluton. The properties expand KL West’s southern portion.

On Wednesday (August 6), the company initiated an inaugural diamond drill program at KL West and Winnie Lake. The program is designed to follow up on historic drill results as well as recent surface exploration.

About 2,000 meters of drilling are planned, and the company expects it to be completed by the end of August. Kirkland stated that assays will be released as they are received and interpreted.

2. Avanti Helium (TSXV:AVN)

Weekly gain: 78.95 percent
Market cap: C$15.2 million
Share price: C$0.17

Avanti Helium is an explorer and developer focused on advancing helium assets in Canada and the US toward production. Its Greater Knappen projects are composed of several areas in Southern Alberta, Canada, and Northern Montana, US. The combined land packages cover approximately 74,000 acres with multiple targets.

According to its project page, Avanti has drilled three exploration wells in Montana, with two testing for a combined 18.5 million cubic feet per day gas rate with 1.1 percent helium concentration.

The company’s Leader project consists of a combined land package of 91,000 acres in Southern Saskatchewan. The surrounding region has seen 84 wells drilled by other companies since 2016, and as of September 2023, it hosted approximately 25 wells producing 450,000 cubic feet of helium per day.

Avanti gained this week after it announced on Thursday (August 7) that it has signed a multi-year offtake agreement with a global industrial gas supplier. The buyer has committed to a minimum monthly volume from Avanti’s Sweetgrass helium recovery unit in Montana, for 33 percent of the initial plant output and 25 percent following a planned expansion.

3. Discovery Energy Metals (CSE:DEMC)

Weekly gain: 68.57 percent
Market cap: C$17.08 million
Share price: C$0.295

Discovery Energy Metals is a lithium explorer working to advance interests in Québec and BC, Canada. Most of the company’s land holdings are in Québec, where it has interests in over 225,000 hectares.

On March 20, the company released assays from a fall 2024 exploration program focused on its Eeyou Istchee James Bay properties. It reported values including 82 parts per million tantalum pentoxide and 101 parts per million cesium oxide at Cirrus East, and 0.66 g/t gold and 0.56 percent zinc at its Mantle property.

Discovery announced on June 25 that it had completed the acquisition of eight mineral claims over 5,283 hectares at the Crystal Lake property in BC. The company acquired the property in a deal with Zimtu Capital (TSXV:ZC).

Early stage exploration work at the property was carried out between 2009 and 2010, and included a magnetic survey and grab samples, which returned up to 0.7 percent copper with elevated gold and silver.

The most recent news from Discovery came on July 15, when it announced a non-brokered private placement for up to 10 million units for gross proceeds of up to C$1 million.

4. Abcourt Mines (TSXV:ABI)

Weekly gain: 66.67 percent
Market cap: C$45.53 million
Share price: C$0.075

Abcourt Mines is a gold exploration and development company focused on operations at its Sleeping Giant mine in the Abitibi region of Québec. The property consists of four mining leases covering an area of 458 hectares and 69 claims. The site hosts an underground mine along with a mill capable of processing 750 metric tons per day.

A July 2023 preliminary economic assessment demonstrates an after-tax net present value of US$77.5 million with an internal rate of return of 33.3 percent over a payback period of 2.2 years.

The company has been working on restarting mining operations at the site throughout 2025.

On Thursday, it provided an update on progress from Sleeping Giant, stating that teams had begun the rehabilitation of underground openings, as well as preparations at the mill for the first stope at the end of July. It also said it had built a surface stockpile of approximately 1,000 metric tons of ore and started work on a tailings facility. Once complete, pulp storage will be good until 2032 at the proposed mining rate of 100,000 to 125,000 metric tons per year.

5. Scorpio Gold (TSXV:SGN)

Weekly gain: 64.71 percent
Market cap: C$60.93 million
Share price: C$0.28

Scorpio Gold is an exploration and development company focused on the advancement of its Manhattan District in the Walker Lane Trend in Nevada, US. The district is composed of the 6,071 acre Manhattan project, which hosts two past-producing open-pit mines, Reliance and Manhattan, as well as the fully permitted Goldwedge underground mine.

Scorpio acquired the project from Kinross Gold (TSX:K,NYSE:KGC) in 2021.

The most recent update from the project came on June 19, when Scorpio announced it was commencing a Phase 1 diamond drill program. The focus is on targets at the Gap zone, the Zanzibar trend and Mustang Hill. Up to 3,400 meters have been planned, with results contributing to an initial mineral resource estimate, which is expected in Q3.

FAQs for Canadian mining stocks

What is the difference between the TSX and TSXV?

The TSX, or Toronto Stock Exchange, is used by senior companies with larger market caps, and the TSXV, or TSX Venture Exchange, is used by smaller-cap companies. Companies listed on the TSXV can graduate to the senior exchange.

How many mining companies are listed on the TSX and TSXV?

As of February 2025, there were 1,572 companies listed on the TSXV, 905 of which were mining companies. Comparatively, the TSX was home to 1,859 companies, with 181 of those being mining companies.

Together the TSX and TSXV host around 40 percent of the world’s public mining companies.

How much does it cost to list on the TSXV?

There are a variety of different fees that companies must pay to list on the TSXV, and according to the exchange, they can vary based on the transaction’s nature and complexity. The listing fee alone will most likely cost between C$10,000 to C$70,000. Accounting and auditing fees could rack up between C$25,000 and C$100,000, while legal fees are expected to be over C$75,000 and an underwriters’ commission may hit up to 12 percent.

The exchange lists a handful of other fees and expenses companies can expect, including but not limited to security commission and transfer agency fees, investor relations costs and director and officer liability insurance.

These are all just for the initial listing, of course. There are ongoing expenses once companies are trading, such as sustaining fees and additional listing fees, plus the costs associated with filing regular reports.

How do you trade on the TSXV?

Investors can trade on the TSXV the way they would trade stocks on any exchange. This means they can use a stock broker or an individual investment account to buy and sell shares of TSXV-listed companies during the exchange’s trading hours.

Article by Dean Belder; FAQs by Lauren Kelly.

Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Securities Disclosure: I, Lauren Kelly, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

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Business

Lawsuit accuses Apple of stealing trade secrets to create Apple Pay

Business 2 Mins Read

Apple has been sued by a Texas company that accused the iPhone maker of stealing its technology to create its lucrative mobile wallet Apple Pay.

In a complaint made public on Thursday, Fintiv said Apple Pay’s key features were based on technology developed by CorFire, which Fintiv bought in 2014, and now used in hundreds of millions of iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and MacBooks.

Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Fintiv, based in Austin, Texas, said Apple held multiple meetings in 2011 and 2012 and entered nondisclosure agreements with CorFire aimed at licensing its mobile wallet technology, to capitalize on fast-growing demand for contactless payments.

Instead, and with the help of CorFire employees it lured away, Apple used the technology and trade secrets to launch Apple Pay in the United States and dozens of other countries, beginning in 2014, the complaint said.

Fintiv also said Apple has led an informal racketeering enterprise by using Apple Pay to generate fees for credit card issuers such as Bank of America, Capital One, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, and the payment networks American Express, Mastercard and Visa.

“This is a case of corporate theft and racketeering of monumental proportions,” enabling Cupertino, California-based Apple to generate billions of dollars of revenue without paying Fintiv “a single penny,” the complaint said.

In a statement, Fintiv’s lawyer Marc Kasowitz called Apple’s conduct “one of the most egregious examples of corporate malfeasance” he has seen in 45 years of law practice.

The lawsuit in Atlanta federal court seeks compensatory and punitive damages for violations of federal and Georgia trade secrets and anti-racketeering laws, including RICO.

Apple is the only defendant. CorFire was based in Alpharetta, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb.

On August 4, a federal judge in Austin dismissed Fintiv’s related patent infringement lawsuit against Apple, four days after rejecting some of Fintiv’s claims, court records show.

Fintiv agreed to the dismissal, and plans to “appeal on the existing record,” the records show.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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Business

Bed Bath & Beyond relaunches with first store in Nashville, plans dozens more

Business 3 Mins Read

Bed Bath & Beyond is back — kind of.

The bankrupt home goods chain is being resurrected by the owners and licensees of its intellectual property, which opened the first new Bed Bath & Beyond store in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday with potentially dozens of more to come.

This time around, the store has a new name — Bed Bath & Beyond Home — and marks a “fresh start” for the beloved brand, said Amy Sullivan, the CEO of The Brand House Collective, the store’s operator.

“We’re proud to reintroduce one of retail’s most iconic names with the launch of Bed Bath & Beyond Home, beautifully reimagined for how families gather at home today,” Sullivan said in a news release. “With Bed Bath & Beyond Home we’re delivering on our mission to offer great brands, for any budget, in every room. It’s a powerful addition to our portfolio and a meaningful step forward in our transformation.”

In honor of the brand’s legacy, the new store will accept the brand’s famous 20% coupon, regardless of when it expired.

“We encourage guests to bring in their legacy Bed Bath & Beyond coupons which we will gladly honor,” the company said in a news release. “The coupon we all know and love is back and for those who need one, a fresh version will be waiting at the door.”

Bed Bath and Beyond 2.0 has been several years in the making and involved a rigmarole of corporate acquisitions and rebrandings. When the original Bed Bath and Beyond filed for bankruptcy in April 2023 following a string of corporate missteps, it struggled to find a buyer and ended up liquidating and selling off its business in parts. Overstock.com later bought the brand’s intellectual property, rebranded its business to Beyond Inc. and launched an online-only version of Bed Bath and Beyond.

What followed from there was a dizzying array of corporate deal-making. Ultimately, Beyond took an ownership stake in Kirkland’s Inc., a home decor chain with around 300 stores across the U.S., and gave it the exclusive license to develop and create Bed Bath & Beyond Home stores, as well as Buy Buy Baby stores.

Kirkland’s later rebranded to The Brand House Collective and plans to convert some of its existing Kirkland’s Home stores into more Bed Bath and Beyond shops. Friday’s launch in Nashville is the first of six planned for the market and, pending the results, it plans to convert around 75 additional stores through 2026.

The company said it chose Nashville for the launch because of its proximity to its corporate headquarters, which will allow it to “closely manage every detail and set the standard for future rollouts.”

While the relaunch is exciting for fans of the legacy brand, it comes at a difficult time for the home decor market. In many ways, Bed Bath & Beyond’s bankruptcy was the fault of its management team and execution missteps, but it also faced macro challenges as well, experts said at the time. Competition from players like Amazon, Walmart, Home Goods and Wayfair has made it harder for other brands to capture customer spend, and the overall sector has been soft for several years because of high interest rates and the sluggish housing market.

Even the current leaders in the home decor space have seen soft trends and it’s unlikely that will change until interest rates fall and the housing market picks back up, some analysts have said.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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Helium Stocks: 5 Biggest Canadian Companies in 2025

Investing 4 Mins Read

Demand for helium is rising alongside the semiconductor, healthcare and nuclear energy sectors.

Produced from natural gas wells, helium is an odorless, colorless, non-toxic, non-combustible and non-corrosive gas. While it may bring to mind birthday balloons, the element is an important industrial gas due to its cooling properties.

Helium has several critical applications across various industries witnessing market growth, including the manufacturing of semiconductors and electronics, medical imaging and nuclear power generation.

Global helium supply is mainly attributable to production at liquefaction facilities spread across the US, Qatar, Algeria, Russia, Australia, Canada, Poland and China. However, increasing demand for helium as an industrial gas is spurring further exploration and development of helium projects, including in Canada and in the US.

1. Pulsar Helium (TSXV:PLSR)

Market cap: C$46.05 million

Pulsar Helium is a helium project development company with assets in the United States and Greenland.

The company’s Topaz project in Minnesota is the newest helium discovery in the US, and drilling at its Jetstream #1 well in 2024 demonstrated high helium concentrations of 14.5 percent. Pulsar is also the first company in Greenland to obtain a license for helium exploration. According to the company, its Tunu helium-geothermal project in the country is one of just a few primary helium projects in Europe.

At Topaz, Pulsar is conducting a well flow testing program at the Jetstream prospect during the summer to gain data necessary to assess the project’s production potential. As for Tunu, a pre-feasibility study is underway at the project and is slated for completion by the end of August 2025.

2. Desert Mountain Energy (TSXV:DME)

Market cap: C$18.84 million

Next up on this list of top Canadian helium stocks is Desert Mountain Energy, a company engaged in the exploration, development and production of helium, hydrogen, natural gas and condensate projects in the US. Its key helium project is the West Pecos gas field in New Mexico, where it has a fully operational helium processing facility. It also owns the high-grade Holbrook Basin helium project in Arizona.

In 2025, Desert Mountain Energy is expanding into the international market with the formation of its wholly owned subsidiary Desert Energy UK, which has secured a substantial onshore exploration license for helium and hydrogen in Devon, United Kingdom.

3. Helium Evolution (TSXV:HEVI)

Market cap: C$12.07 million

Helium Evolution is a helium exploration company with over 5 million acres of helium land rights in Southern Saskatchewan, Canada. The company holds a 20 percent working interest in helium wells on joint lands with North American Helium, which is advancing the joint 2-31 discovery, with development wells planned for late 2025.

Earlier this year, Helium Evolution formed a collaboration agreement and secured a substantial investment from ENEOS Explora USA, a subsidiary of Japanese energy conglomerate ENEOS Group (TSE:5020), through two private placements. The second, closed in May, brought ENEOS’ total stake in Helium Evolution to about 28 percent.

4. Avanti Helium (TSXV:AVN)

Market cap: C$11.97 million

Avanti Helium’s helium exploration and development assets include approximately 78,000 acres within the Greater Knappen area, which covers land in both Southern Alberta, Canada, and Northwest Montana, US. It also owns approximately 63,000 acres of prospective helium permits within Southwest Saskatchewan.

Avanti’s Sweetgrass pool project in Montana is on track to achieve helium production in Q4 of 2025, the company stated in its April investor presentation. The company has two wells at Sweetgrass capable of total gas production of approximately 18,500 million cubic feet per day at 1.1 percent helium.

In August, Avanti announced it signed a multi-year offtake agreement with a global industrial gas supplier for a minimum monthly helium purchase volume equivalent to about one third of Sweetgrass’ initial plant output.

5. Altura Energy (TSXV:ALTU)

Market cap: C$8.21 million

Altura Energy is an exploration and production company which holds 27,000 acres in the Holbrook basin of Arizona, where its wells produce helium at concentrations of 5 percent to 8 percent. The company has a development plan for over 300 wells, with nine wells currently connected to a pipeline and an additional 10 wells at various stages of completion.

Formerly known as Total Helium, the company completed a name change and share consolidation in May 2025. In June, Altura announced it closed an up-sized brokered private placement for C$1.99 million, a quarter of which was used to settle outstanding indebtedness, with proceeds also planned for working capital.

Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

This post appeared first on investingnews.com

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Quimbaya Gold Starts Drilling at Tahami South, Testing Undrilled Gold System Beside Aris’ Segovia Mine

Investing 7 Mins Read

The 4,000m drilling campaign aims to unlock district-scale potential by testing a possible extension of Aris’ producing vein system in Colombia’s premier high-grade gold corridor

Quimbaya Gold Inc. (CSE: QIM,OTC:QIMGF) (OTCQB: QIMGF) (FSE: K05) (‘Quimbaya’ or the ‘Company’) is pleased to announce the commencement of its inaugural diamond drill campaign at the 100%-owned Tahami South Project in Antioquia, Colombia. The fully permitted 4,000-meter program marks Quimbaya’s transition from surface exploration to drill-testing in one of the country’s most prolific gold-producing districts.

Highlights

  • Tahami South is located adjacent to Aris Mining’s Segovia Mine, one of Colombia’s highest-grade and most productive gold operations.

  • The project covers a series of mapped epithermal gold-silver veins that trend through both the Segovia Mine and onto Quimbaya’s ground.

  • Despite extensive artisanal activity and positive surface sampling, the property has never seen diamond drilling.

  • Quimbaya’s 2025 fieldwork outlined multiple drill-ready targets with strong geochemistry, hydrothermal alteration, and structural control.

  • Drilling began in early August 2025, with initial results anticipated in Q4.

A Strategic First Drill Test in Colombia’s Premier Gold District

Tahami South lies within the Colombia’s premier high-grade corridor, a region known for high-grade quartz epithermal gold systems. Recent work by Quimbaya has confirmed widespread alteration, stockwork veins, and placer-style artisanal mining, all indicators of a potentially fertile gold system.

‘The old adage in exploration holds true: the best place to find a mine is next to a mine,’ said Alexandre P. Boivin, CEO of Quimbaya Gold. ‘We’re the first company to deploy modern exploration on this part of the Segovia trend. Our systematic work, including soil geochemistry, channel and rock sampling, stream sediments sampling and structural modelling, has built a robust case for drill testing. We’re now turning that data into action.’

Drill Targets and Geological Context

The initial program will test multiple zones across a structural corridor interpreted to be a continuation of the Segovia vein system. Planned holes will target:

  • Structural intersections mapped across sections A-A’, B-B’, C-C’, E-E’ and H-H’

  • Zones with strong sericitic alteration, quartz veins, hydrothermal breccias, and gold-bearing stockworks

  • Areas proximal to active artisanal workings, suggesting near-surface mineralisation

Surface sampling has returned:

  • Rock chip assays up to 11.21 g/t Au

  • Panel rock assays up to 23.3 g/t Ag

  • Auger soils up to 59 ppb Au and MMI soils up to 37.1 ppb Au

  • Multi-element pathfinder anomalies (As, Cu, Pb, Zn) coincident with structural targets

‘This program is the culmination of months of disciplined geoscience,’ said Ricardo Sierra, VP Exploration. ‘We’ve mapped out structural trends, alteration zones, and artisanal footprints that all suggest a large-scale epithermal system. Now, we’re finally testing it below surface.’

Figure 1. Planned drill platforms (TDH -001 to TDH-007) overlaid on gold-in-auger soil anomalies (Au g/t) and rock sample assay values (Au g/t) at the Tahami South Project.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/11347/261779_f9d44764a4c268ae_001full.jpg

Next Steps:

Drilling will continue through Q3 2025 with initial assay results expected in Q4. Follow-up drilling is being planned in parallel to expand on any intercepts and test new targets defined through ongoing mapping and geological exploration.

Qualified Person
The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Ricardo Sierra, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Quimbaya

Quimbaya aims to discover gold resources through exploration and acquisition of mining properties in the prolific gold mining districts of Colombia. Managed by an experienced team in the mining sector, Quimbaya is focused on three projects in the regions of Segovia (Tahami Project), Puerto Berrio (Berrio Project), and Abejorral (Maitamac Project), all located in Antioquia Province, Colombia.

Contact Information

Alexandre P. Boivin, President and CEO apboivin@quimbayagold.com

Sebastian Wahl, VP Corporate Development swahl@quimbayagold.com

Quimbaya Gold Inc.
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Cautionary Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute ‘forward-looking information’ as that term is defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking information. Generally, but not always, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as ‘intends’, ‘expects’ or ‘anticipates’, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results ‘may’, ‘could’, ‘should’, ‘would’ or ‘occur’. Forward-looking statements herein include statements and information regarding the Offering’s intended use of proceeds, any exercise of Warrants, the future plans for the Company, including any expectations of growth or market momentum, future expectations for the gold sector generally, the Colombian gold sector more particularly, or how global or local market trends may affect the Company, intended exploration on any of the Company’s properties and any results thereof, the strength of the Company’s mineral property portfolio, the potential discovery and potential size of the discovery of minerals on any property of the Company’s, including Tahami South, the aims and goals of the Company, and other forward-looking information. Forward-looking information by its nature is based on assumptions and involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Quimbaya to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. These assumptions include, but are not limited to, that the Company’s exploration and other activities will proceed as expected. The future outcomes that relate to forward-looking statements may be influenced by many factors, including but not limited to: future planned development and other activities on the Company’s mineral properties; an inability to finance the Company; obtaining required permitting on the Company’s mineral properties in a timely manner; any adverse changes to the planned operations of the Company’s mineral properties; failure by the Company for any reason to undertake expected exploration programs; achieving and maintaining favourable relationships with local communities; mineral exploration results that are poorer or better than expected; prices for gold remaining as expected; currency exchange rates remaining as expected; availability of funds for the Company’s projects; prices for energy inputs, labour, materials, supplies and services (including transportation); no labour-related disruptions; no unplanned delays or interruptions in scheduled construction and production; all necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals are received in a timely manner; the Offering proceeds being received as anticipated; all requisite regulatory and stock exchange approvals for the Offering are obtained in a timely fashion; investor participation in the Offering; and the Company’s ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws. Although Quimbaya’s management believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. Furthermore, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements or information. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of Quimbaya as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Except as required by law, Quimbaya does not expect to update forward-looking statements and information continually as conditions change.

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Claire’s, known for piercing millions of teens’ ears, files for Chapter 11

Business 3 Mins Read

Mall-based teen accessories retailer Claire’s, known for helping usher millions of teens into an important rite of passage — ear piercing — but now struggling with a big debt load and changing consumer tastes, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Claire’s Holdings LLC and certain of its U.S. and Gibraltar-based subsidiaries — collectively Claire’s U.S., the operator of Claire’s and Icing stores across the United States, made the filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware on Wednesday. That marked the second time since 2018 and for a similar reason: high debt load and the shift among teens heading online away from physical stores.

Claire’s Chapter 11 filing follows the bankruptcies of other teen retailers including Forever 21, which filed in March for bankruptcy protection for a second time and eventually closed down its U.S. business as traffic in U.S. shopping malls fades and competition from online retailers like Amazon, Temu and Shein intensifies.

Claire’s, based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois and founded in 1974, said that its stores in North America will remain open and will continue to serve customers, while it explores all strategic alternatives. Claire’s operates more than 2,750 Claire’s stores in 17 countries throughout North America and Europe and 190 Icing stores in North America.

In a court filing, Claire’s said its assets and liabilities range between $1 billion and $10 billion.

“This decision is difficult, but a necessary one,” Chris Cramer, CEO of Claire’s, said in a press release issued Wednesday. “Increased competition, consumer spending trends and the ongoing shift away from brick-and-mortar retail, in combination with our current debt obligations and macroeconomic factors, necessitate this course of action for Claire’s and its stakeholders.”

Like many retailers, Claire’s was also struggling with higher costs tied to President Donald Trump’s tariff plans, analysts said.

Cramer said that the company remains in “active discussions” with potential strategic and financial partners. He noted that the company remains committed to serving its customers and partnering with its suppliers and landlords in other regions. Claire’s also intends to continue paying employees’ wages and benefits, and it will seek approval to use cash collateral to support its operations.

Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, a research firm, noted in a note published Wednesday Claire’s bankruptcy filing comes as “no real surprise.”

“The chain has been swamped by a cocktail of problems, both internal and external, that made it impossible to stay afloat,” he wrote.

Saunders noted that internally, Claire’s struggled with high debt levels that made its operations unstable and said the cash crunch left it with little choice but to reorganize through bankruptcy.

He also noted that tariffs have pushed costs higher, and he believed that Claire’s is not in a position to manage this latest challenge effectively.

Competition has also become sharper and more intense over recent years, with retailers like jewelry chain Lovisa offering younger shoppers a more sophisticated assortment at low prices. He also cited the growing competition with online players like Amazon.

“Reinventing will be a tall order in the present environment,” he added.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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Trump demands resignation of Intel CEO over alleged China ties

Business 3 Mins Read

President Donald Trump on Thursday demanded that the CEO of the tech firm Intel resign immediately, saying he is “highly conflicted” because of alleged ties to China.

“There is no other solution to this problem,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump’s attack on the Intel chief is his latest attempt to pressure the semiconductor industry, which has fueled the boom in artificial intelligence. On Wednesday, he said he would hit imported computer chips with a 100% tariff unless companies are making them, or plan to make them, in the United States.

The demand also comes after Sen. Tom Cotton wrote to Intel Chairman Frank Yeary to “express concerns about the security and integrity of Intel’s operations and its potential impact on U.S. national security.”

Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, claims in the letter that Intel’s recently named CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, “reportedly controls dozens of Chinese companies and has a stake in hundreds of Chinese advanced-manufacturing and chip firms. At least eight of these companies reportedly have ties to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.”

Cotton asked Intel whether it had asked Tan to “divest from his positions in semiconductor firms linked to the Chinese Communist Party or the People’s Liberation Army and any other concerning entities in China that could pose a conflict of interest?”

Cotton also asked the company if it was aware of any subpoenas that Tan’s former firm received and if Tan has disclosed any other ties to China.

Intel has not responded to NBC News’ request for comment on Cotton’s letter and Trump’s social media post.

The senator’s letter cites a recent Reuters story that said Tan “has invested in hundreds of Chinese tech firms, including at least eight with links to the People’s Liberation Army, according to a Reuters review of Chinese and U.S. corporate filings.’

In March, Yeary announced that Tan had been named Intel CEO. Tan started working at the company on March 18. Tan was previously chief executive of Cadence Design Systems, an American chip design company based in California, from 2009 to 2021.

Intel’s rivals such as Taiwan Semiconductor, Samsung, GlobalFoundries and Nvidia have all announced plans to invest billions of dollars in their existing U.S. chipmaking infrastructure or deepen partnerships with U.S. companies like Apple to dodge those long-promised tariffs.

Further management turmoil for Intel likely spells more trouble and delays as it continues to try to play catch up with its competitors. The company’s stock market value, just shy of $90 billion, lags far behind most of its rivals. Its stock dropped more than 2% Thursday, erasing its gains for the year and underperforming the S&P 500’s 9% gain this year.

Intel’s last CEO, Patrick Gelsinger, was forced out at the end of 2024 after the company fell behind Nvidia, AMD and other chip firms in the AI race. That came as Gelsinger sought to transform the long-struggling company by attempting to build major chip factories in the U.S.

But Intel’s debt load and the lead time that other companies already had on Intel were too much for Gelsinger to overcome.

In November, Intel received a nearly $8 billion grant under the Biden administration’s “CHIPS Act” for factory build-outs and to make secure chips for the Defense Department.

But that grant was less than Intel was originally set to receive. It was reduced because U.S. officials worried about Intel’s ability to deliver what was promised, The New York Times reported.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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Top 9 Global Lithium Stocks of 2025

Investing 13 Mins Read

Lithium prices continued their downward trajectory in Q2 2025, with battery-grade lithium carbonate hitting a four-year low of US$8,329 per metric ton in late June.

Lithium hydroxide followed suit, as oversupply and bearish sentiment weighed on the market.

Despite strong electric vehicle (EV) demand, mined supply — driven largely by China, Australia, Argentina and emerging African producers — has outpaced consumption, with Fastmarkets forecasting a 260,000 metric ton surplus for 2025.

“The industry is navigating a period of complexity,” said Paul Lusty, head of battery raw materials at Fastmarkets, speaking at the firm’s June lithium conference.

Still, he emphasized that long-term fundamentals remain “anchored in mega trends,” including the global energy transition, AI expansion and climate change mitigation.

In China, production ramp-ups and new fair competition rules have added volatility, while US policy uncertainty under the Trump administration has dampened investor sentiment. Brief price rebounds in July, spurred by speculation over supply cuts, were short-lived, reflecting the market’s sensitivity to rumors over fundamentals.

Even with near-term headwinds, analysts say the structural case for lithium is solid, offering opportunities for long-term-focused investors.

Against this backdrop, some lithium stocks are seeing share price gains. Below, we profile the lithium stocks in Canada, Australia and the US that have performed the best so far in 2025, updating investors on the lithium companies’ news and activities.

This list of the top-gaining lithium companies is based on year-to-date as per TradingView’s stock screener. Data for Canadian stocks and US stocks was collected on July 22, 2025, and data for Australian stocks was gathered on July 23, 2025. Lithium stocks with market caps above $10 million in their respective currencies were considered.

Top Canadian lithium stocks

1. NOA Lithium Brines (TSXV:NOAL)

Year-to-date gain: 58.82 percent
Market cap: C$488.32 million
Share price: C$0.30

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.

As NOA works to advance its flagship asset, the company brought on Hatch in April to lead the preliminary economic assessment (PEA).

The PEA will evaluate the project’s economic and development potential with a target production of 20,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) annually, with a scalable plant design that could double capacity to 40,000 metric tons per year.

NOA has also been working to secure a water source in the arid region through a drilling program targeting fresh water. In late June, the company discovered a fresh water source at the project, located near high-grade lithium zones in the project’s northeast area. According to the company, the location means the water source could support future production facilities or evaporation ponds.

The well, drilled to 190 meters in the northern part of the property, is being tested and developed.

Shares of NOA reached a year-to-date high C$0.425 on July 17, 2025.

2. Wealth Minerals (TSXV:WML)

Year-to-date gain: 40 percent
Market cap: C$23.93 million
Share price: C$0.07

Wealth Minerals is focused on the acquisition and development of lithium projects in Chile, including the Yapuckuta project in Chile’s Salar de Atacama, as well as the Kuska Salar and Pabellón projects near the Salar de Ollagüe.

Wealth Minerals’ shares spiked to a year-to-date high of C$0.095 on February 9, 2025, following the company’s acquisition of the Pabellón project.

According to Wealth, Pabellón has been shortlisted by Chile’s Ministry of Mining as a potential site for a Special Lithium Operation Contract based on its geological and environmental suitability. Located in Northern Chile near the Bolivia border, the project spans 7,600 hectares across 26 exploration licenses about 70 kilometers south of the Salar de Ollagüe.

In May, Wealth formed a joint venture with the Quechua Indigenous Community of Ollagüe to advance the Kuska project. The new entity, Kuska Minerals SpA, is 95 percent owned by Wealth and 5 percent by the community, which also holds anti-dilution rights and a seat on the five-member board.

3. Avalon Advanced Materials (TSX:AVL)

Year-to-date gain: 37.5 percent
Market cap: C$38.26 million
Share price: C$0.055

Avalon Advanced Materials is a Canadian mineral development company focusing on integrating the Ontario lithium supply chain. Avalon is developing the Separation Rapids and Snowbank lithium projects near Kenora, Ontario, and the Lilypad lithium-cesium project near Fort Hope, Ontario.

Separation Rapids and Lilypad are part of a 40/60 joint venture between Avalon and SCR Sibelco, with Sibelco serving as the operator.

Avalon started the year with a revised mineral resource estimate for the Separation Rapids project, which boosted resources in the measured and indicated category by 28 percent.

Company shares rose to C$0.07, a year-to-date high, on July 15, the day after Avalon released its results for its fiscal quarter ended May 31.

A week later, Avalon announced an additional C$1.3 million in funding through its C$15 million convertible security agreement with Lind Global Fund II. The drawdown, expected to close within two weeks, will support project development and general corporate needs, according to the company.

Top US lithium stocks

1. Sociedad Química y Minera (NYSE:SQM)

Year-to-date gain: 10.43 percent
Market cap: US$10.82 billion
Share price: US$40.64

SQM is a major global lithium producer, with operations centered in Chile’s Salar de Atacama. The company extracts lithium from brine and produces lithium carbonate and hydroxide for use in batteries.

SQM is expanding production and holds interests in projects in Australia and China.

Shares of SQM reached a year-to-date high of US$45.61 on March 17, 2025. The spike occurred a few weeks after the company released its 2024 earnings report, which highlighted record sales volumes in the lithium and iodine segments. However, low lithium prices weighed on revenue from the segment, and the company’s reported net profit was pulled down significantly due to a large accounting adjustment related to income tax.

In late April, Chile’s competition watchdog approved the partnership agreement between SQM and state-owned copper giant Codelco aimed at boosting output at the Atacama salt flat. The deal, first announced in 2024, reached another milestone when it secured approval for an additional lithium quota from Chile’s nuclear energy regulator CChEN.

Weak lithium prices continued to weigh on profits, with the company reporting a 4 percent year-over-year decrease in total revenues for Q1 2025.

2. Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC)

Year-to-date gain: 9.67 percent
Market cap: US$719.1 million
Share price: US$3.29

Lithium Americas is developing its flagship Thacker Pass project in Northern Nevada, US. The project is a joint venture between Lithium Americas at 62 percent and General Motors (NYSE:GM) at 38 percent.

According to the firm, Thacker Pass is the “largest known measured lithium resource and reserve in the world.”

Early in the year, Lithium Americas saw its share rally to a year-to-date high of US$3.49 on January 16, coinciding with a brief rally in lithium carbonate prices.

In March, Lithium Americas secured US$250 million from Orion Resource Partners to advance Phase 1 construction of Thacker Pass. The funding is expected to fully cover development costs through the construction phase. On April 1, the joint venture partners made a final investment decision for the project, with completion targeted for late 2027.

Other notable announcements this year included a new at-the-market equity program, allowing the company to sell up to US$100 million in common shares.

3. Lithium Argentina (NYSE:LAR)

Year-to-date gain: 8.46 percent
Market cap: US$467.28 million
Share price: US$2.90

Lithium Argentina produces lithium carbonate from its Caucharí-Olaroz brine project in Argentina, developed with Ganfeng Lithium (OTC Pink:GNENF,HKEX:1772).

The company is also advancing additional regional lithium assets to support EV and battery demand.

Previously named Lithium Americas (Argentina), the company was spun out from Lithium Americas in October 2023.

While shares of Lithium Argentina spiked in early January to a year-to-date high of US$3.10, the share price has been trending higher since June 19 to its current US$2.90 value.

Notable news from the company this year includes its name and ticker change and corporate migration to Switzerland in late January and the release of the full-year 2024 results in March.

In mid-April, Lithium Argentina executed a letter of intent with Ganfeng Lithium to jointly advance development across the Pozuelos-Pastos Grandes basins in Argentina. The plan includes a project fully owned by Ganfeng as well as two jointly held assets majority-owned by Lithium Argentina.

The company released its Q1 results on May 15, reporting a 15 percent quarter-over-quarter production reduction, which it attributed to planned shutdowns aimed at increasing recoveries and reducing costs.

Overall, the production guidance for 2025 is forecasted at 30,000 to 35,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate, reflecting higher expected production volumes in the second half of the year.

Top Australian lithium stocks

1. Jindalee Lithium (ASX:JLL)

Year-to-date gain: 123.26 percent
Market cap: AU$35.94 million
Share price: AU$0.48

Perth-based Jindalee Lithium is currently focused on its McDermitt lithium project, which it regards as a potential low-cost and long-life lithium source for North America.

On April 22, McDermitt was declared among the US Trump administration’s first 10 resource projects designated as Fast-41 Transparency Projects, which is intended to fast track resource projects important to the US’s critical minerals supply chain. The designation secures publicly accessible permitting timelines and enhances interagency cooperation for the project.

Shares of Jindalee Lithium spiked to a year-to-date high of AU$0.565 April 30, the day after Jindalee released its March 2025 quarterly activities report.

On July 10, Jindalee announced a memorandum of understanding with US-based LiChem Operations, which is developing its lithium refining process for battery grade lithium. Jindalee will initially supply LiChem with 100 kilograms of ore from McDermitt for testwork.

If both companies are satisfied with the result, Jindalee will provide up to 20 metric tons of further ore to LiChem in stages. There is also potential for Jindalee to negotiate for a license to use LiChem’s process in place of the sulfuric acid flowsheet from its prefeasibility study.

2. Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR)

Year-to-date gain: 75.47 percent
Market cap: AU$2.34 billion
Share price: AU$0.93

Liontown Resources has two assets in Western Australia, including the producing Kathleen Valley mine and processing plant. The mine entered open-pit production during the second half of 2024, and the plant reached commercial production in January 2025.

The company is currently transitioning from open-pit to underground mining operations at Kathleen Valley. Underground production stoping kicked off in April of this year, making Kathleen Valley Western Australia’s first underground lithium mine.

Liontown also owns the Buldania lithium project in the Eastern Goldfields province of Western Australia. The project has an initial mineral resource of 15 million metric tons at 1.0 percent lithium oxide.

On June 30, Liontown announced executive leadership changes, appointing Graeme Pettit as interim chief financial officer and Ryan Hair as chief operating officer after CFO Jon Latto and COO Adam Smits decided to step down from the positions.

The company released its fiscal 2025 results on July 29, reporting that Kathleen Valley produced over 300,000 wet metric metric tons of spodumene concentrate during its first 11 months of operations.

Shares of Liontown Resources reached a year-to-date high of AU$1.03 on July 21.

3. Anson Resources (ASX:ASN)

Year-to-date gain: 57.14 percent
Market cap: AU$145.61 million
Share price: AU$0.11

Newport Beach-based Anson Resources is advancing development of its flagship Paradox lithium project and its Green River lithium project, both located the Paradox Basin of Utah, US. It plans to produce lithium from the projects using direct lithium extraction (DLE).

Anson Resources has shared significant developments at Green River this year. According to its March quarterly activities report, the company completed a DLE pilot program with Koch Technology Solutions, producing 43,000 gallons of lithium chloride eluate with an average lithium recovery of 98 percent from brine extracted from Green River’s Bosydaba #1 well.

A June maiden JORC mineral resource for Green River estimated 103,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent based solely on drilling at the Bosydaba #1 well. The prior month, the company negotiated a lower royalty rate agreement with the Utah government.

On July 1, the company announced it signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with POSCO Holdings (NYSE:PKX,KRX:005490) to co-develop a DLE demonstration plant at Green River, which POSCO will fully fund.

Anson Resources’ share price spiked in mid-July, ultimately climbing to a year-to-date high of AU$0.11 on July 21, following a pair of announcements.

On July 14, Anson reported it shipped about 2 tons of lithium brine to POSCO in South Korea for test work and due diligence. Two days later, it announced that its polishing system, which is installed at Green River, successfully reduced the minor contaminants from the lithium chloride eluate produced in the KOCH DLE pilot program.

FAQs for investing in lithium

How much lithium is on Earth?

While we don’t know how much total lithium is on Earth, the US Geological Survey estimates that global reserves of lithium stand at 22 billion metric tons. Of that, 9.2 billion MT are located in Chile, and 5.7 billion MT are in Australia.

Where is lithium mined?

Lithium is mined throughout the world, but the two countries that produce the most are Australia and Chile. Australia’s lithium comes from primarily hard-rock deposits, while Chile’s comes from lithium brines. Chile is part of the Lithium Triangle alongside Argentina and Bolivia, although those two countries have a lower annual output.

Rounding out the top five lithium-producing countries behind Australia and Chile are China, Argentina and Brazil.

What is lithium used for?

Lithium has many uses, including the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles, smartphones and other tech, as well as pharmaceuticals, ceramics, grease, lubricants and heat-resistant glass. Still, it is largely the electric vehicle industry that is boosting demand.

How to invest in lithium?

Those looking to get into the lithium market have many options when it comes to how to invest in lithium.

Lithium stocks like those mentioned above could be a good option for investors interested in the space. If you’re looking to diversify instead of focusing on one stock, there is the Global X Lithium & Battery Tech ETF (NYSE:LIT), an exchange-traded fund (ETF) focused on the metal. Experienced investors can also look at lithium futures.

Unlike many commodities, investors cannot physically hold lithium due to its dangerous properties.

How to buy lithium stocks?

Through the use of a broker or an investing service such as an app, investors can purchase lithium stocks and ETFs that match their investing outlook.

Before buying a lithium stock, potential investors should take time to research the companies they’re considering; they should also decide how many shares will be purchased, and what price they are willing to pay. With many options on the market, it’s critical to complete due diligence before making any investment decisions.

It’s also important for investors to keep their goals in mind when choosing their investing method. There are many factors to consider when choosing a broker, as well as when looking at investing apps — a few of these include the broker or app’s reputation, their fee structure and investment style.

Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

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How to Invest in OpenAI’s ChatGPT

Investing 16 Mins Read

OpenAI’s ChatGPT is one of the latest technological breakthroughs in the artificial intelligence space. But what is ChatGPT, and can you invest in OpenAI?

This emerging technology is representative of a niche subsector of the AI industry known as generative AI — systems that can generate text, images or sounds in response to prompts given by users.

Precedence Research expects the global AI market to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.2 percent to reach US$3.68 trillion by 2034. Just how much of an impact OpenAI’s ChatGPT will have on this space is hard to predict, but Fortune Business Insights estimates that the total market revenue of generative AI will see a CAGR of 39.6 percent through 2032, increasing from US$67.18 billion last year to US$967.65 billion in 2032.

In September 2024, Reuters reported that OpenAI was planning a restructuring from a non-profit to a for-profit company in order to make it ‘more attractive to investors.’ However, after encountering backlash and potential legal conflicts, in May 2025 OpenAI’s management decided to remain a non-profit while still converting its for-profit arm into a public benefit corporation.

OpenAI completed a new round of funding totaling US$40 billion in late March 2025 projected to bring its valuation to US$300 billion. Japanese multinational investment firm SoftBank made up 75 percent of the funding, while Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and investment firms Coatue Management, Altimeter Capital and Thrive Capital also took part in the raise.

The US Department of Defense (DoD) awarded a US$200 million contract to OpenAI in June 2025 to provide the DoD with artificial intelligence tools for addressing national security challenges, including cyber defense and warfare.

In this article

    What is OpenAI’s ChatGPT?

    Created by San Francisco-based tech lab OpenAI, ChatGPT is a generative AI software application that uses a machine learning technique called reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) to emulate human-written conversations based on a large range of user prompts. This kind of software is better known as an AI chatbot.

    ChatGPT learns language by training on texts gleaned from across the internet, including online encyclopedias, books, academic journals, news sites and blogs. Based on this training, the AI chatbot generates text by making predictions about which words (or tokens) can be strung together to produce the most suitable response.

    More than a million people engaged with ChatGPT within the first week of its launch for free public testing on November 30, 2022. The introduction of ChatGPT quickly ushered in a new era in the tech industry.

    Based on this success, OpenAI created a more powerful version of the ChatGPT system called GPT-4, which was released in March 2023. This iteration of ChatGPT can accept visual inputs, is much more precise and can display a higher level of expertise in various subjects. Because of this, GPT-4 can describe images in vivid detail and ace standardized tests.

    Unlike its predecessor, GPT-4 doesn’t have any time limits on what information it can access; however, AI researcher and professor Dr. Oren Etzioni has said that the chatbot is still terrible at discussing the future and generating new ideas. It also hasn’t lost its tendency to deliver incorrect information with too high a degree of confidence.

    Further improving on its product, in May 2024 OpenAI launched Chat GPT-4o, with the o standing for omni. OpenAI describes GPT-4o as ‘a step towards much more natural human-computer interaction—it accepts as input any combination of text, audio, image, and video and generates any combination of text, audio, and image outputs.’

    This version has done away with the lagging response time afflicting GPT-4. This proves especially helpful for producing immediate translations during conversations between speakers of different languages. It also allows users to interrupt the chatbot to pose a new query to modify responses.

    More recently, in December 2024, OpenAI introduced ChatGPT Pro subscriptions targeting engineers and academics. For US$200 monthly, users have nearly unlimited access to all ChatGPT models and tools.

    The ChatGPT 3.5 and ChatGPT-4 platforms are free to use, and can be accessed via the web. Those with an iPhone or iPad can also use ChatGPT through an app, and an Android version launched in July 2023. OpenAI also launched a paid subscription, ChatGPT Plus for business use, in August 2023. ChatGPT Plus gives users access to GPT-4 and the newest iteration GPT-4o.

    What is the Stargate Project?

    The Stargate Project is an AI joint venture focused on building new AI infrastructure in the US through US$500 billion in investments. It was announced on January 21, 2025.

    Stargate’s initial funding is coming from OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) and UAE-based technology fund MGX. In addition to OpenAI and Oracle, Stargate’s technology partners include Microsoft, NVIDIA, and British semiconductor and software design company Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM).

    Newly re-elected US President Trump unveiled Stargate during a press conference at the White House highlighting the importance of investment in US AI infrastructure. During the announcement, OpenAI’s Altman, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son credited President Trump’s return to office as a major catalyst in making Stargate a reality. The construction of data centers for the Stargate Project are already underway in Texas, according to Ellison.

    How much has Microsoft invested in OpenAI?

    Ascannio / Shutterstock

    Over the years, Microsoft has reportedly invested nearly US$14 billion in OpenAI to help the small tech firm create its ultra-powerful AI chatbot.

    As for how Microsoft could benefit from its investment in OpenAI, OpenAI officially licensed its technologies to Microsoft in 2020 in a then-exclusive partnership. Indeed, Pitchbook has described the deal as an “unprecedented milestone” for generative AI technology. Since then, Microsoft has made good use of OpenAI’s technology in developing new advancement in its Azure cloud computing business.

    However, the relationship between the two has changed in recent months.

    Notably, Microsoft is not a financier of the Stargate Project joint venture, and is instead just described as a technology partner. According to OpenAI’s press release, the new joint venture builds on its existing partnership with Microsoft.

    Microsoft’s lack of a funding role in Stargate led some to wonder if the trillion-dollar tech firm had soured on its relationship with OpenAI. This conclusion was understandable given reports that Microsoft refused to make a bigger contribution than the US$750 million it invested during the OpenAI US$6.6 billion funding round in October 2024.

    Additionally, Microsoft changed the contract between the two companies and is no longer the exclusive cloud provider for OpenAI, but has the right of first refusal for deals the AI firm may make with other cloud companies.

    As Bloomberg technology reporter Dina Bass explained, Microsoft stands to benefit from its role as a technology partner without having to invest a dime into the project.

    “Microsoft views the revised contract with OpenAI as advantageous, according to people familiar with the company’s thinking. The software giant retains its share of OpenAI’s revenue and is the largest investor in a company that may now become even more valuable — though the size of that stake could change as the startup works to restructure as a for-profit,” wrote Bass. “And Microsoft also still has access to OpenAI models, even if they’re trained in a data center funded by Softbank or Oracle.”

    Yet, there are reports that Microsoft and OpenAI’s relationship is on the brink of a big breakup. The tech giant has been pushing for a much larger percentage of OpenAI’s revenues than the 20 percent it currently enjoys. According to the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI is considering making antitrust complaints about Microsoft to regulators even though the two companies are still undergoing high level discussions about the future of the partnership.

    Elon Musk’s position on OpenAI

    DIA TV / Shutterstock

    OpenAI was founded in 2015 by Altman, its current CEO, as well as Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk and other big-name investors, such as venture capitalist Peter Thiel and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. Musk left his position on OpenAI’s board of directors in 2018 to focus on Tesla and its pursuit of autonomous vehicle technology.

    A few days after ChatGPT became available for public testing, Musk took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to say, “ChatGPT is scary good. We are not far from dangerously strong AI.” That same day, he announced that X had shut the door on OpenAI’s access to its database so it could no longer use it for RLHF training.

    His reason: “OpenAI was started as open-source & non-profit. Neither are still true.”

    Furthering his feud with OpenAI, Musk filed a lawsuit against the company in March 2024 for an alleged breach of contract. The crux of his complaint was that OpenAI has broken the ‘founding agreement’ made between the founders (Altman, Greg Brockman and himself) that the company would remain a non-profit. Altman and OpenAI have denied there was such an agreement and that Musk was keen on an eventual for-profit structure.

    Musk dropped the lawsuit three months later without giving a reason, reported Reuters. The day before he dropped the lawsuit, he reacted to the news that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is partnering with OpenAI to incorporate ChatGPT with Apple devices. On X, Musk declared, ‘If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS (operating system) level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation.” It should be noted that OpenAI has said queries completed on Apple devices will not be stored by OpenAI. By August 2024, Musk had resumed his litigation in federal court.

    It seems that the US government also has questions about the restructuring of the private company and the involvement of tech giant Microsoft, as reported by Bloomberg. In early January 2025, the Financial Press also reported the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has raised questions about the potential anti-trust violations in the newly emerging AI technology space arising from Microsoft’s partnership with and investments in OpenAI.

    Of course, Musk took to X to weigh in on the Stargate Project, suggesting OpenAI and its partners don’t actually have the US$500 million they’ve pledged to invest. Sam Altman was quick to reply, telling Musk he’s mistaken and inviting him to visit their data center under construction in Texas.

    However, Musk is not alone in his skepticism. For example, Atreides Management Chief Investment Office Gavin Baker also questioned the deal on X. “Stargate is a great name but the $500b is a ridiculous number and no one should take it seriously,” Baker wrote, backing up his statement by explaining the financial positions of each of the partners. “Nowhere close to $500b. Everyone should just start issuing press releases for $1 trillion AI projects.”

    OpenAI criticisms and lawsuits

    While ChatGPT has served as a major step forward in generative AI technology, there are many technical and ethical concerns with the program that have emerged since it launched, including fears over job destruction and targeted disinformation campaigns.

    Accuracy of information in ChatGPT’s answers is not guaranteed. Its selection of which words to string together are actually predictions — not as fallible as mere guesses, but still fallible. Even the 4.0 version is “still is not fully reliable (it “hallucinates” facts and makes reasoning errors),” says the company, which emphasizes that users should exercise caution when employing the technology.

    Indeed, ChatGPT’s failings can have dangerous real-life consequences. Among other negative applications, the tech can be used to spread misinformation, carry out phishing email scams or write malicious code.

    There’s also the fear among teachers that the technology is leading to an unwelcome rise in academic dishonesty, with students using ChatGPT to write essays or complete their homework.

    “Teachers and school administrators have been scrambling to catch students using the tool to cheat, and they are fretting about the havoc ChatGPT could wreak on their lesson plans,” writes New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose.

    Many lawsuits against OpenAI have emerged as well. Multiple news outlets, including the the New York Times, have launched copyright lawsuits against OpenAI, and some of the plaintiffs are also seeking damages from the private tech firm’s very public partner Microsoft.

    Additionally, the Authors Guild, which represents a group of prominent authors, launched a class-action lawsuit against OpenAI that is calling for a licensing system that would allow authors to opt out of having their books used to train AI, and would require AI companies to pay for the material they do use.

    In October, OpenAI researcher Suchir Balaji blew the whistle on the company, reporting that the firm was violating US copyright laws. He died one month later in what was ruled a suicide, but the investigation is still open.

    Cybersecurity risks are also a concern for ChatGPT users, and recent events along these lines add validity to Musk’s warning. For one, in 2024 ChatGPT for macOS was discovered to be breaching Apple’s security rules by storing data as plain text rather than encryption, making it possible for other apps to access.

    What’s the future of OpenAI and ChatGPT?

    What about the long-term goals for OpenAI and ChatGPT? For most of the tech leaders in this space, the end game is artificial general intelligence (AGI) — a system that can perform any function the human brain can, including self-teaching, abstract thinking and understanding cause and effect.

    As uptake increases, AI technology is taking over the role of humans and will likely continue doing so in a number of fields, from content creation and customer service to transcription and translation services, and even in graphic design, software engineering and paralegal fields.

    In addition to Microsoft’s use of the ChatGPT technology as part of Copilot, other companies are working with OpenAI to incorporate the technology into their platforms, including Canva, Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL), Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE), Intercom, Salesforce (NASDAQ:CRM), Stripe, Tinder, Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) and Visa (NYSE:V).

    For 2025, OpenAI is focusing on developing agentic AI capabilities into its ChatGPT platform. Agentic AI, a part of the evolution towards AGI, involves AI systems and models that can act autonomously and complete tasks without much human guidance. Early in January, OpenAI announced the rollout of new task features for ChatGPT Pro, Plus and Teams users. While still in the beta stage, these features allow users to schedule future tasks to be completed by ChatGPT, such as a weekly news brief or reminders about important meetings.

    OpenAI first debuted its foray into agentic AI in September 2024 with the introduction of ChatGPT o1, stating ‘We’ve developed a new series of AI models designed to spend more time thinking before they respond.’ The release of the next iterations of this model, ChatGPT o3 mini and o4 mini happened in the first half of 2025.

    The recent release of Chinese startup DeepSeek’s AI assistant may present a problem for OpenAI and the US tech industry as a whole. In what tech gurus like Marc Andreesen call AI’s Sputnik moment, DeepSeek unseated ChatGPT as the most downloaded free app in the Apple App Store, at reportedly a fraction of the cost. For reference, in 1957 the Soviets launched Sputnik, the earth’s first artificial satellite, beating out the United States and sparking a Cold War space exploration race between the two nations.

    The DeepSeek launch set off a significant sell off in technology stocks on January 27, 2025, especially among the Magnificent Seven members, including NVIDIA, Microsoft and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL).

    When will OpenAI go public?

    OpenAI stock is not currently publicly traded, and following the May 2025 decision to remain a non-profit, there are no signs of an on initial public offering (IPO) in the works for 2025. For now, investors can gain exposure through related tech companies discussed below.

    Which stocks will benefit the most from AI chatbot technology?

    Other than companies directly tied to generative AI technology, which stocks are likely to get a boost from generative AI advancements?

    There are several verticals in the tech industry with indirect exposure to AI chatbot technology, such as semiconductors, network equipment providers, cloud providers, central processing unit manufacturers and internet of things.

    Some of the publicly traded companies in these verticals include:

      You can also take a look back at the market with our AI Market 2024 Year-End Review and AI Market Update: Q2 2025 in Review, or read projections for AI this year in our AI Market Forecast: 3 Top Trends that will Affect AI in 2025. Generative AI is also a major theme in the Top 10 Emerging Technologies to Watch.

      FAQs for investing in OpenAI and ChatGPT

      How is OpenAI funded?

      OpenAI raised US$57.9 billion over 11 funding rounds from 2016 to March 2025.

      Top investors include technology investment firm Thrive Capital, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and revolutionary technology investment firm Founders Fund.

      What is the market value of ChatGPT/OpenAI?

      OpenAI has a market valuation of US$300 billion as of June 2025. The company’s annualized revenue reached the US$10 billion mark in June 2025, up from the US$5.5 billion achieved in December 2024.

      Does ChatGPT use NVIDIA chips?

      ChatGPT’s distributed computing infrastructure depends upon powerful servers with multiple graphics processing units (GPUs). High-performance NVIDIA GPU chips are preferred for this application as they also provide excellent Compute Unified Device Architecture support.

      What is DeepSeek?

      DeepSeek is a Chinese AI company that launched new AI-driven, open-source language models known as DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1 into the market in January 2025. Reuters reports that ‘the training of DeepSeek-V3 required less than $6 million worth of computing power from Nvidia H800 chips.’

      DeepSeek-R1 is designed to compete with the performance of OpenAI-o1 across math, code, and reasoning tasks.

      Can ChatGPT make stock predictions?

      A University of Florida study from 2023 highlighted the potential for advanced language models such as ChatGPT to accurately predict movements in the stock market using sentiment analysis.

      During the course of the study, ChatGPT outperformed traditional sentiment analysis methods, and the finance professors conducting the research concluded that “incorporating advanced language models into the investment decision-making process can yield more accurate predictions and enhance the performance of quantitative trading strategies.”

      When to expect ChatGPT 5?

      In June 2025, during an OpenAI podcast Sam Altman responded with, ‘Probably some time this summer,’ when asked about when the market can expect to see ChatGPT-5.

      Previously, OpenAI filed a trademark application for ChatGPT-5 in mid-July 2023, which hinted that the next iteration of the generative AI technology is currently under development. There were rumors the company planned to complete training for ChatGPT-5 by the end of 2023, but this did not materialize. PC Guide noted in April 2024 that Sam Altman had teased an “amazing new model this year’ in an interview on the Lex Fridman podcast.

      In November 2024, Altman confirmed that ChatGPT-5 wouldn’t likely hit the market until later in 2025 as the company switched its focus to ChatGPT o1 and its successors.

      Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

      This post appeared first on investingnews.com

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