Contango Silver & Gold (NYSEAMERICAN:CTGO,TSX:CTGO is progressing its project pipeline on time and on budget. The company has published an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) for its fully owned Kitsault Valley project in BC’s Golden Triangle as of September 2026, and is targeting to wrap up its 2026 drill program at the project by October.

Kitsault’s updated MRE demonstrates a 93 percent increase in indicated resources, which now stand at 89.55 million ounces (Moz) silver equivalent (AgEq) with 7.66 million tonnes (Mt) at 363 grams per tonne (g/t) AgEq. Meanwhile, the inferred mineral resources stand at 64.92 Moz AgEq, with 6.31 Mt at 320 g/t AgEq.

CEO Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse said that the company is operating “under budget” and executing as promised. “We’re on our way next year to be producing a preliminary economic assessment on mining the silver portion of the district (at Kitsault), and we continue drilling at Homestake.”

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Kitsault Valley is among the company’s advanced exploration projects, together with the Lucky Shot and Johnson Tract projects in Alaska.

Van Nieuwenhuyse shared that underground drilling is currently taking place at Lucky Shot, with an MRE expected in the first half of 2027. A feasibility study with a mine plan and transportation plan are to follow in the second half of the same year.

The company is also building its underground tunnel at Johnson Tract next year, while all permits for the project are targeted to be completed by May 2028.

“Next year is also a monster year for Manh Choh in terms of production. It’s the highest point of production, about 75,000 to 80,000 ounces. That will generate in the neighborhood of US$200 million of free cashflow, more than enough to accommodate next year’s program and then build … and just keep the train moving.”

Watch the full interview with Contango Silver and Gold CEO Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse above.

Talon Metals’ (TSX:TLO,OTCID:TLOFF) share price surged 29 percent after it released results showing a record intercept at its Tamarack project in Minnesota, US, on Wednesday (September 9).

The drill hole, 25TK0562A, returned grades of 13.37 percent nickel, 16.54 percent copper, 0.1 percent cobalt, 7.85 grams per metric ton (g/t) palladium, 14.49 g/t platinum and 8.56 g/t gold over 46.43 meters at a depth of 752.97 meters.

It includes a 26.22 meter interval with 14.95 percent nickel, 17.85 percent copper, 0.11 percent cobalt, 8.53 g/t palladium, 16.79 g/t platinum and 9.13 g/t gold starting at 758 meters.

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“Any one of these grades will get your attention, but to see nickel, copper, cobalt, platinum, palladium, and gold all concentrated at these levels in the same rock is particularly significant and one of the many reasons polymetallic deposits like Tamarack are so exciting,” said Chief Exploration Officer Brian Goldner.

Talon reported that the results mark the longest combined massive sulfide unit and mixed massive sulfide unit recorded at the property so far.

The hole extends mineralization from the Vault zone by 50 meters to the southwest. Talon initially discovered the zone in May 2025 using a borehole electromagnetic (BHEM) survey to target deeper anomalies.

The company said it drilled a new hole from a previous hole to test a BHEM anomaly as part of ongoing step-out drilling, both laterally and at depth, at the Vault zone.

“Beyond the grades themselves, the step-out distance must be highlighted and underscores the potential strategic importance of Tamarack as a future domestic source of critical minerals,” said Talon CEO Darby Stacey.

Talon indicated it will continue to evaluate assay results and technical data while it advances the Vault zone.

The broader Tamarack project is being explored under an earn-in agreement between Talon Metals and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO) subsidiary Kennecott Exploration.

Talon currently owns a 51 percent stake in the property, but can earn up to 60 percent once it completes a feasibility study and makes a US$10 million cash payment to Kennecott before March 14, 2027.

The property lies about 90 kilometers west of Duluth and consists of two separate packages, Tamarack North and Tamarack South. The two properties host 18 kilometers of strike across more than 31,000 acres, with Talon’s main focus directed at Tamarack North, which hosts the primary deposit.

According to a November 2022 technical report, Tamarack North hosts an indicated resource of 8.56 million metric tons of ore with grades of 1.73 percent nickel, 0.92 percent copper, 0.05 percent cobalt, 0.34 g/t platinum, 0.21 g/t palladium and 0.17 g/t gold.

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

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

Global sales of electric vehicles (EVs) reached 1.85 million units in July 2026, tallying a 9 percent year-on-year increase and bringing year-to-date sales to 11.5 million units, according to data released by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI).

While global expansion accelerated following a turbulent first quarter, regional market conditions diverged sharply.

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Strong growth in Europe, bolstered by consumer subsidy frameworks, contrasted with deep contractions in North America following the expiration of US federal tax incentives late last year.

Concurrently, domestic sales in China showed early signs of stabilization while automakers expanded overseas shipments to record levels.

The global EV market continues to be defined by regional divergence,” wrote a BMI Senior EV Analyst. “However, year-to-date EV sales growth increased yet again in July 2026 following the turbulent start to the year in both China and North America.”

Gold was shaping up to have a fairly calm week, but a stronger-than-expected US jobs report sent it well under US$4,400 per ounce as the period came to an end.

Silver also took a hit, dropping below US$69 per ounce.

The report, which shows that nonfarm payrolls rose by 172,000 in May, has further reduced expectations that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates.

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Beyond that, the Iran war continues to impact gold, with increased conflict in the Middle East and overall uncertainty contributing to its ups and downs this week.

Although the US House has now backed a resolution geared at stopping the war until it’s authorized by Congress, the move is seen as largely symbolic.

There’s understandably a lot of focus on these day-to-day factors, but this week I heard from Chris Blasi of Neptune Global, who encouraged investors to take a step back and remember the bigger picture for gold. In his view, the metal’s key driver isn’t going anywhere:

“The (driver) that’s most consistent is the expansion of debt. There’s charts that show hard correlations between the growth in the US debt and the price of gold. It doesn’t move exactly — I mean, it’s just about exact, but there’s times when the debt is still expanding and gold may not be moving up immediately.

“But so, a person has to ask themselves, right — the thing that would truly hurt gold, in my opinion, in the long run, is if the US actually started paying down their debt, and the debt creation stopped or diminished markedly or materially. And that’s just not going to happen — it is not.”

Bullet briefing — Central banks buy, Russia makes bold claim

Central banks back in action

Central banks were back in action in April, purchasing a net 17 metric tons of gold.

According to the World Gold Council’s data, that’s a sizable rebound from March, when they sold a net 30 metric tons of the yellow metal as the Iran war began.

The organization says Poland was the top buyer for April at 14 metric tons, while China was next at 8 metric tons — that’s the highest level for the Asian nation since December 2024, and it pushes China’s gold-buying streak to an impressive 18 consecutive months.

Turkey, which attracted attention in March for selling 60 metric tons of gold, saw its reserves stay “virtually flat” in April. Its sales were reportedly for FX and liquidity purposes.

Gold reserves outpace treasuries

Underscoring gold’s importance to central banks, a new report from the European Central Bank (ECB) shows that the precious metal is now the world’s top reserve asset.

Gold accounted for 27 percent of all global central bank reserve assets as of the end of 2025, up from 20 percent the previous year. That puts it ahead of US treasuries at 22 percent.

While the ECB notes that this shift “largely reflects valuation effects,” and suggests that moving forward gold will face limitations as a reserve asset, it also notes that central bank gold buying points…

Lithium has effectively transformed into a single-use commodity, with rechargeable batteries now consuming 88 percent of the global supply.

According to data from the US Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, the rapid scaling of electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing and energy storage grids has left traditional industrial sectors as minor, single-digit fractions of the market.

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