Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX:AEM,NYSE:AEM) has temporarily suspended extraction at the Barnat open pit within its Canadian Malartic complex in Quebec following a rock mass movement along the site’s north wall.

The wall failure occurred in a sector previously identified by engineers as possessing weaker geological structures. The zone was already subject to enhanced geotechnical monitoring and was isolated by safety exclusion zones prior to the rock movement.

---

Company technical teams are currently conducting detailed geotechnical assessments to map out the stability of the north wall. Planning activities are actively underway to facilitate the safe and orderly resumption of operations in the Barnat pit.

In the interim, the Canadian Malartic processing plant is relying on low-grade surface stockpiles to replace the planned Barnat ore feed, a contingency designed to buffer the immediate production shock.

While the incident leaves the company’s immediate financial quarter unscathed, the suspension will generate persistent headwinds into the medium term. Production in the second quarter of 2026 was unaffected by the failure, with Agnico Eagle expecting to report quarterly output of approximately 845,000 ounces of gold, slightly ahead of internal plans.

However, the downstream impacts of the pit closure will affect second-half metrics.

The company projects a production reduction of 60,000 to 80,000 ounces of gold at Canadian Malartic for the latter half of 2026. As a result, full-year corporate production is now expected to land near the lower end of the company’s previously disclosed range of 3.3 million to 3.5 million ounces.

The constraints will extend beyond the current calendar year. The Barnat open pit was originally scheduled to be mined out by early 2029. Pending the results of the ongoing geotechnical review, Agnico Eagle anticipates the rock mass movement will curb production by up to 150,000 ounces annually in both 2027 and 2028.

Management is currently evaluating strategies to mitigate this multi-year deficit.

Despite the setback at the open-pit level, Agnico Eagle confirmed the incident will not disrupt the development timeline or production outlook for the adjacent Odyssey mine. The objective to achieve 1 million ounces of annualized gold production from Canadian Malartic by the early 2030s remains completely intact.

Further updates regarding a safe restart timeline, as well as revised production and cost guidance, will be detailed in the company’s second-quarter earnings report on July 29.

Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!

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

Waymo is temporarily halting freeway operations for its robotaxi service in several U.S. markets as the company works to address performance issues in construction zones, FOX Business has learned.

The Alphabet-owned company confirmed Thursday that it was pausing freeway operations while updating its software.

“Safety is Waymo’s top priority, both for our riders and everyone we share the road with,” a Waymo spokesperson said in a statement to FOX Business. “We have temporarily paused freeway operations, as we work to integrate recent technical learnings into our software and expect to resume these routes soon.” 

Waymo said the pause affects only freeway driving and that surface street operations remain active.

WAYMO TO BRING DRIVERLESS CARS TO CHICAGO, EYES MIDWEST EXPANSION

The company said its vehicles navigate construction zones more than 10,000 times per day and that it is using the pause to improve robotaxi performance on freeways.

The announcement comes after Waymo paused operations in Atlanta following flash-flooding incidents, while separately working to improve performance around construction zones and flooded roadways.

That pause followed reports of Waymo vehicles encountering floodwater in Atlanta on Wednesday; AJC reported one vehicle required recovery, while Waymo said a handful of others were temporarily waylaid.

STELLANTIS UNVEILS $70B TURNAROUND STRATEGY WITH 60 NEW MODELS

The move also comes after Waymo filed a recall covering 3,791 vehicles equipped with fifth- and sixth-generation Automated Driving Systems over a flooding-related software issue that NHTSA said could result in loss of vehicle control.

The recall followed an April 20 incident in which an unoccupied Waymo vehicle detected a potentially untraversable flooded section of a roadway with a 40 mph speed limit and proceeded at reduced speed, according to NHTSA.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
GOOG	ALPHABET INC.	383.47	-1.43	-0.37%

The NHTSA report found that when a Waymo robotaxi approaches standing water on higher-speed roads, it may slow down but fail to fully stop after detecting the hazard.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Nearly 3,800 vehicles equipped with the company’s fifth and sixth-generation Automated Driving Systems (ADS) were recalled. Regulators estimated the defect rate at 100%.

According to NHTSA, Waymo applied an interim remedy to all affected vehicles…

Sherritt International Corp. says it is no longer pursuing a plan to dissolve its Cuban joint venture, reversing a decision it announced last week as the U.S. expands sanctions on the country.

The Trump administration has laid siege to Cuba since January, enforcing a de facto ​fuel blockade, issuing threats of military action ​and ramping up sanctions that have forced foreign businesses, including Sherritt, to flee.

The Canadian mining company says it has been presented on a preliminary basis with “a potential value preserving opportunity” that it is evaluating.

Sherritt and the General Nickel Co. S.A. of Cuba each hold a 50 per cent interest in the Moa joint venture, which mines nickel in Cuba that is shipped to Canada where it is refined. The venture is a key source of Cuba’s ⁠foreign exchange.

The company says it stopped the dissolution plan after consultations with its advisers, stakeholders and relevant governmental authorities.

The company is maintaining its suspension of direct participation in joint venture activities in Cuba after the U.S. ramped up pressure on the Caribbean country.

Sherritt says it still faces a number of acute operational, financial and legal difficulties including the ability to comply with its debt covenants as it works to address the expanded sanctions.

Hyundai Motor Company said on Friday it is stopping sales of some new Palisade SUVs in ‌Canada and the United States and will recall tens of thousands of the vehicles over an issue with power seats, following a recent incident in which a two-year-old girl was killed in Ohio.

The automaker said sales of its ​2026 Hyundai Palisade Limited and Calligraphy trims were halted because the second- and third-row power seats may not ​detect contact with an occupant or object as intended. ⁠It gave no ⁠details about the March 7 ‌fatality.

The recall ⁠includes approximately 68,500 ⁠vehicles, including about 8,000 in Canada, the company said.

Hyundai said it expressed its deepest sympathies to the family of the child who died and added it “does not yet have the full details and the incident is still under investigation.”

It said it is working on a recall fix and offering customers a rental vehicle until a full remedy is available if they want alternative ‌transportation.

The automaker urged caution when operating second- and third-row power seat functions and told people to ensure no person or object is in the seat or seat-folding ​area before operating the power seat.

Hyundai says it ⁠is developing an interim over-the-air software update, expected to be available by the end of March, that will enhance the system’s response to contact with occupants or objects, introduce additional operating safeguards and enhance overall system ⁠safety.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration did ⁠not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Oil and gas prices extended their sharp climb this week as the escalating conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran disrupts shipping through one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints.

Crude oil futures surged again on Thursday (March 5), with the US benchmark climbing roughly 3.5 percent to about US$77 per barrel—the highest level in more than a year. Brent crude rose nearly 3 percent to around US$83 per barrel.

---

The waterway, which separates Iran from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman, carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s daily oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.

Since the latest wave of hostilities began over the weekend, tanker traffic through the strait has largely stalled, with shipowners reluctant to transit the area amid continued missile attacks and drone strikes.

Energy prices have already surged roughly 15 percent since the conflict intensified. US gasoline prices are beginning to reflect the shock, rising nearly 9 percent in just one week. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the US climbed from US$2.98 before the attacks to about US$3.25, according to AAA.

Financial markets have responded cautiously. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 0.3 percent ahead of Thursday’s opening bell, while the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) and Nasdaq Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) futures also edged lower.

If prices remain elevated, analysts warn the surge could complicate the US Federal Reserve’s efforts to tame inflation. Rising energy costs may reduce the likelihood of interest rate cuts this year, keeping borrowing costs higher for longer and potentially slowing economic growth.

“If the strait were to close for an extended period of time, it would be among the greatest supply shocks in history, and the price of oil undoubtedly would escalate well over US$100,” analysts from S&P Ratings said in a FocusEconomics update. “Given the importance of the strait and the substantial US military presence in the region, it’s highly doubtful the strait could be closed for an extended period of time.”