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Global central banks own about 17 percent of all the gold ever mined, with reserves topping 36,520.7 metric tons (MT) at the end of November 2025. They acquired the vast majority after becoming net buyers of the metal in 2010.

Central banks purchase gold for a number of reasons: to mitigate risk, to hedge against inflation and to promote economic stability. Increased concerns over another global financial crisis have as expected led central banks once again to build up their gold reserves.

In a mid-2025 survey, the World Gold Council (WGC) said that 95 percent of the central bankers it polled expect global gold reserves to increase over the next 12 months. The precious metal’s ‘performance during times of crisis’ was cited by 85 percent of respondents as highly or somewhat relevant to their decision, while 80 percent cited its long-term store of value.

Central banks added 863.3 metric tons of gold to their vaults in 2025. While this was lower than the previous three years, which all topped 1,000 MT each, the reserve gains were still well above the 2010 to 2021 annual average of 473 MT.

Yearly central bank gold purchases since 2019.

Chart via the WGC.

A record 95 percent of respondents to the WGC survey stated their belief that central banks will continue to grow their holdings, with 5 percent suggesting they would hold at current levels. For the second year in a row, no respondents expected reserves to decrease.

The Council found that sentiment was consistent across advanced and emerging economies and reflected the strategic role of gold amid dynamic economic and geopolitical uncertainty.

Which central banks hold the most gold?

Read on to find out the 10 top countries by central bank gold holdings, as per data from the WGC, including recent Q4 2024 and full-year 2024 reports.

1. United States

Gold reserves: 8,133.46 metric tons

When it comes to the largest gold depository in the world, the American central bank is number one with 8,133.46 metric tons of gold.

A large percentage of US gold is held in “deep storage” in Denver, Fort Knox and West Point. As the US Treasury explains, deep storage is “that portion of the US Government-owned gold bullion reserve which the Mint secures in sealed vaults that are examined annually by the Treasury Department’s Office of the Inspector General and consists primarily of gold bars.”

The rest of US-owned reserves are held as working stock, which the country’s mint uses as raw material to mint congressionally authorized coins.

2. Germany

Gold reserves: 3,350.3 metric tons

The Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, currently owns 3,351.53 metric tons of gold. Like many of the central banks on this list, the German national bank stores a significant portion of its gold in foreign central banks.

Today, just over half of Germany’s gold holdings are stored within Frankfurt, while internationally 1,236 MT of gold is stored in the vaults of the New York Federal Reserve, and 12 percent of its holdings are in London.

The Bundesbank’s foreign gold reserves came into question in 2012, when the German Federal Court of Auditors, the Bundesrechnungshof, was openly critical of the Bundesbank’s gold auditing. The German bank issued a public statement defending the security of foreign banks. Privately, the Bundesbank then began the arduous process of repatriating some of its gold stock back to German soil. By 2016, more than 583 MT of gold had been transferred back to Germany.

The economic upheaval and geopolitical volatility brought about by US President Donald Trump’s tariff wars and adversarial posturing toward Europe has led to calls for Germany to consider further repatriating its gold, reported The Guardian in January 2026.

3. Italy

Gold reserves: 2,451.9 metric tons

Banca d’Italia, the national bank of Italy, holds 2,451.84 metric tons of gold. The central bank began amassing its gold in 1893, when three separate financial institutions merged into one. From there, its 78 MT of holdings slowly grew into the large gold reserves it holds today.

Like Germany, Italy stores parts of its reserves offshore. In total, 141.2 MT are located in the UK, 149.3 MT are in Switzerland and 1,061 MT are kept in the US Federal Reserve. Italy houses 1,100 MT of gold domestically.

4. France

Gold reserves: 2,437 metric tons

The Banque de France has 2,437 metric tons of gold reserves, all of which it keeps on hand. The precious metal is stored in the bank’s secure underground vault, dubbed La Souterraine, which is located 27 meters below street level.

La Souterraine’s gold vaults are one of the four designated gold depositories of the International Monetary Fund.

According to Investopedia, the collapse of the Bretton Woods gold standard system was in part due to former French President Charles de Gaulle, who “called the U.S. bluff and began actually trading dollars in for gold from the Fort Knox reserves.” At the time, US President Richard Nixon “was forced to take the U.S. off the gold standard, ending the dollar’s automatic convertibility into gold.”

5. Russia

Gold reserves: 2,326.5 metric tons

The Bank of Russia is the official central bank of the Russian Federation and owns 2,332.74 metric tons of gold. Like France, Russia’s central bank has opted to store all its physical gold domestically. The Bank of Russia stores two-thirds of its gold reserves in a bank building in Moscow, and the remaining one-third in Saint Petersburg.

The majority of the yellow metal is in the form of large, variable-weight standard gold bars weighing between 10 and 14 kilograms. There are also smaller bars on site weighing as much as 1 kilogram each.

Russia, which is the second largest gold producer by country, has been a steady purchaser of the precious metal since roughly 2007, with sales ramping up significantly between 2015 and 2020. However, Russia’s refineries were banned from selling gold bullion into the London market following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Sanctions by the west also include a freeze on about half of Russia’s gold reserves.

In early 2022, Russia tied its currency, the ruble, to the yellow metal. ‘The plan was to shift the currency away from a pegged value and into the gold standard itself so the ruble would become a credible gold substitute at a fixed rate,’ according to Robert Huish, an Associate Professor in International Development Studies at Dalhousie University.

6. China

Gold reserves: 2,306.3 metric tons

The central bank for Mainland China is the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), located in Beijing. According to the WGC, the national financial institute stores 2,279.56 metric tons of gold, most which has been purchased since 2000. In 2001, the PBoC had 400 MT of gold in reserve, but in just a little more than two decades that total has climbed by 459 percent.

The PBoC issues the Panda gold coin, which was first created in 1982. The Panda coin is now one of the top five bullion coins issued by a central bank. It is among the ranks of the American Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, South African Krugerrand and Australian Gold Nugget.

The PBoC was one of the top gold buyers of the world’s central banks for 2024 and 2025, purchasing 44 MT and 27 MT of gold during the years respectively. April 2024 marked the 18th consecutive month of gold buying for China’s central bank, which paused its purchases afterward until picking them up again in November. As of January 2026, it has purchased gold for a further 15 consecutive months.

7. Switzerland

Gold reserves: 1,039.9 metric tons

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) holds the seventh largest central bank gold reserves. Its 1,039.94 metric tons of gold are owned by the state of Switzerland, but the central bank manages and maintains the reserve. The Swiss constitution allows the SNB to buy and sell gold with market trends, but it is not required to report the sales.

After years of opaqueness regarding the country’s golden treasure trove and increased selling in 2011 as prices rose, the Swiss Gold Initiative was launched in 2011.

The initiative called for an amendment to the constitution to add three new points to it. The first was a mandate for all reserve gold to be held physically in Switzerland. The other two dealt with the central bank’s ability to sell its gold reserves, along with a decree that 20 percent of the Swiss bank’s assets be held in gold.

This culminated in a national referendum in 2014 that failed to reach a majority of votes. However, the public conversation did prompt the bank to be more transparent.

According to a 2013 release, the central bank reported that 70 percent of its gold reserve was held domestically, 20 percent was located at the Bank of England and 10 percent was stored with the Bank of Canada.

8. India

Gold reserves: 880.2 metric tons

The Reserve Bank of India is another central bank that has fervently acted to increase its holdings in recent years. It began adding to its gold assets in 2017; however, the majority of its purchases have taken place in the past four years.

Strikingly, after India’s central bank purchased 16 MT of gold in 2023, the institution scooped up another 72 MT of the precious metal in 2024. However, its 2025 purchases totaled just 4 MT, its lowest in eight years.

While more than half of its gold is held overseas in safe custody with the Bank of England and the Bank of International Settlements, about a third of its gold is held domestically. In June 2024, India repatriated 100 MT of gold from the United Kingdom. This was the first time since 1991 that the Reserve Bank of India moved its overseas gold holdings back home.

9. Japan

Gold reserves: 846 metric tons

The Bank of Japan currently holds 846 metric tons of gold. Public information about the Bank of Japan’s gold reserves is hard to come by.

In 2000, the island nation was holding approximately 753 MT of the yellow metal, and by 2004, the Bank of Japan’s gold store had grown to 765.2 MT. Its gold reserves remained at that level until March 2021, when the country purchased 80.76 MT of gold, bringing it to its current total.

10. Turkey

Gold reserves: 613.7 metric tons

The Central Bank of Turkey holds 613.7 metric tons of gold. Turkey has been a consistent gold buyer over the past several years, with its central bank adding 75 MT to its holdings in 2024. While the pace of the country’s buying slowed in 2025, the country accumulated another 27 metric tons through the end of November, making it the year’s fifth-largest gold buyer.

*11. International Monetary Fund

Gold reserves: 2,814 metric tons

The gold reserve held by the International Monetary Fund is the third largest in terms of size at 2,814 metric tons. The large gold reserve was amassed primarily during the founding of the international organization in 1944.

In that inaugural year, it was decided that “25 percent of initial quota subscriptions and subsequent quota increases were to be paid in gold.”

Since 1944, the International Monetary Fund has added gold through the repayment of debts owed by member countries. Nations can also exchange gold for another member country’s currency.

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

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

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Senate Democrats have panned the GOP’s push for voter ID legislation as akin to segregationist laws from the Deep South, but the architect of the bill in the Senate says their arguments are detached from reality.

‘It’s paranoid fantasy,’ Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, told Fox News Digital. ‘These are absurd arguments. They should be ashamed to make them.’

Lee was responding to comments from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who has doubled down on his claim that the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act is ‘Jim Crow 2.0.’

The bill, which passed the House last week and has been introduced and championed by Lee in the Senate, would require photo ID to vote in federal elections, proof of citizenship to register and would mandate that states keep voter rolls clear of ineligible voters.

Schumer and his caucus plan to block the bill, arguing that it is a tool of voter suppression that would disproportionately harm poorer Americans and minority groups.

But Lee argued that providing identification or proof of citizenship is routine in everyday life — whether undergoing a background check to buy a firearm or filling out tax forms when starting a new job.

‘By their logic, it’s Jim Crow to require somebody to establish citizenship before taking a job with a new employer, and that’s insane,’ Lee said.

‘And so then they argue here, well, voting is so fundamental, and we have constitutional protections protecting our right to vote,’ he continued. ‘Well, we’ve got constitutional protections protecting our right to bear arms, and yet that doesn’t cause us to dispense with proving who you are and your eligibility to buy a gun. This has just been insane.’

Without Democratic support, however, the pathway to sending the legislation to President Donald Trump’s desk is complicated.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has vowed to bring the SAVE America Act to the floor, and Republicans have the votes to move it through its first key procedural hurdle. From there, Democrats can block it with the 60-vote filibuster, which Lee often refers to as the ‘zombie’ filibuster.

Eliminating the filibuster is out of the question for several of Lee’s colleagues, but Republicans are warming to reinstating a talking, or standing, filibuster, which would require Senate Democrats to make their case against the bill on the floor over hours of debate.

Trump has already suggested he would issue an executive order if the legislation fails, which Lee declined to speculate on without first knowing what exactly would be done.

But he noted that it was all the more reason to pass the SAVE America Act, given the ever-swinging political pendulum in Washington, D.C.

‘It’s still really critically important that we pass this law, because let’s assume that he issued such an order, and that it does most or all of what we needed to do here, that gives us protection for the moment, to whatever degree he’s able to do that through an executive action,’ Lee said. ‘But we need something that can last longer than he’s in office.’


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An 88-year-old billionaire businessman and former Victoria’s Secret chief is the latest person to fall within the House Oversight Committee’s investigative crosshairs.

The crimes of late billionaire sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein are well-known, having gained new media attention in recent months after Congress forced the Department of Justice (DOJ) to disclose millions of pages of documents.

But less is known about the figures who operated within Epstein’s orbit and how they helped him get the vast international sphere of influence he enjoyed before finding himself in a Manhattan jail awaiting trial, where he killed himself in 2019.

Leslie ‘Les’ Wexner, founder of L Brands, the former chief of Victoria’s Secret, is one of those figures, having been named a co-conspirator of Epstein in a recently uncovered FBI document from 2019.

Wexner is the founder of L Brands, formerly known as The Limited, which included Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, and Pink. He also helped found Abercrombie & Fitch, a clothing brand that was once popular among teens in the U.S.

Wexner has never been charged with crimes related to the late financier, and a spokesperson for the mogul told Fox News Digital that the ‘Assistant U.S. Attorney told Mr. Wexner’s legal counsel in 2019 that Mr. Wexner was neither a co-conspirator nor target in any respect.’ 

But documents released by the DOJ allege that Wexner was one of the key players in how Epstein built his wealth and later ran his illicit empire.

One file from 2013 that appears to have been in the possession of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) titled ‘Jeffrey Epstein Source of Wealth,’ said Wexner ‘became a well-known client’ of Epstein’s financial management firm in 1987.

At the time, Wexner was identified as the founder and chairman of the Ohio-based women’s clothing brand The Limited.

‘Since all but one of his financial clients are anonymous, it has been speculated that much of Epstein’s lavish lifestyle was once financed by Wexner,’ reads the document, which appears to be an email. Wexner’s spokesperson declined to comment on the allegations.

That paper also noted that Wexner sold his massive Manhattan townhouse — reported to be the largest private residence in the New York City borough — to Epstein.

A 2019 FBI witness statement from a man who purported to be Wexner’s bodyguard from 1991 to 1992 said Wexner ‘sold his mansion in New York to Epstein for $20.’

The same witness statement alleged that ‘Epstein got all of his money from Wexner.’

A 1998 document obtained by Fox News Digital, however, shows Wexner sold his home to Epstein for a $20 million price tag. Half was paid via cashier’s check, while the other half was covered by a promissory note, the record shows.

Epstein’s Manhattan mansion was raided by the FBI in July 2019 as part of the federal sex trafficking investigation. There, law enforcement officials found vast troves of evidence, including photos of partially or fully nude women and girls, including ones who appeared to be minors.

The DOJ’s unsealed indictment against Epstein also said it was one of the places where he ‘enticed and recruited, and caused to be enticed and recruited, dozens of minor girls… to engage in sex acts with him, after which he would give the victims hundreds of dollars in cash.’

Wexner reportedly bought the mansion in 1989 for $13.2 million before selling it to a corporation partially controlled by Epstein for an ‘undisclosed amount,’ according to Business Insider. It was then reportedly transferred to a U.S. Virgin Islands-based company controlled by Epstein for $0 in 2011.

The home was reportedly valued at $77 million at the time of the raid, making it a massive portion of Epstein’s wealth.

A heavily redacted email chain from July 2025 that appears to show witness statement summaries, with the subject line, ‘RE: Epstein – Cellmate Interview,’ also said, ‘Steve Scully stated Wexner was #1 on Epstein’s speed dial.’

Steve Scully appears to be a reference to a former IT contractor who lived and worked on Epstein’s private island of Little St. James from 1999 through 2005. Wexner’s spokesperson declined to comment on Scully’s claim.

Wexner even signed a document in 1991 giving Epstein vast control over his finances via power of attorney, according to the New York Times. That document gave Epstein the power to sign checks, borrow money, and buy or sell real estate on Wexner’s behalf, the report said.

A letter Wexner wrote to his nonprofit, the Wexner Foundation, in August 2019 said that while he did give power of attorney to Epstein, their relationship ended soon after the 2007 federal investigation first began into the late financier in Florida.

‘[B]y early fall 2007, it was agreed that he should step back from the management of our personal finances. In that process, we discovered that he had misappropriated vast sums of money from me and my family. This was, frankly, a tremendous shock, even though it clearly pales in comparison to the unthinkable allegations against him now,’ the letter said.

‘With his credibility and our trust in him destroyed, we immediately severed ties with him. We were able to recover some of the funds. The widely reported payments Mr. Epstein made to the charitable fund represented a portion of the returned monies. All of that money — every dollar of it — was originally Wexner family money.’

But other documents released by the DOJ allege that Epstein and Wexner’s relationship went further than financial management.

An FBI witness statement by Robert Morosky, a former executive for Wexner’s fashion brand, said, ‘He had information regarding the use of ‘Limited’ brand aircraft used in the 1990s to transport young girls from Mexico to the U.S.’

‘Morosky did not wish to give any additional information at that time; however if someone would like to pursue this information he could be reached on his personal cellular phone,’’ the statement said.

It’s unclear if the lead was ever pursued, but a spokesperson for Wexner told Fox News Digital, ‘The allegation is false. Mr. Morosky was terminated from the company in 1987 and therefore in no position to know anything about the use of Limited planes in the 1990s.’

A witness statement from 2020, with the identity of the female witness redacted, said she claimed to have ‘often’ seen Epstein and Wexner together.

She ‘stated that often Wexner would have models who could not have been over 18 years old do private viewings for him and Epstein. She said the models would be wearing [swimsuits] and some were in lingerie,’ the document read.

Wexner’s spokesperson declined to comment on those claims and called her account of seeing the pair together ‘vague.’

The female witness said she ‘would help with getting people to work at parties at Wexner’s compound in catering and other positions,’ and that ‘anyone who went to work there had to have a full background check and there were certain areas of the house where they could not go without an approved escort.’

However, there was no indication of what years or period of time her claims are focused on.

A source with knowledge of company procedures argued the situation could not have happened, however. Model fittings always involved teams of 15 to 20 professionals and Epstein was never a part of that, the source maintained.

Wexner is scheduled to appear before the House Oversight Committee in Ohio on Wednesday morning.

Fox News Digital reached out to Wexner’s attorney for comment on the deposition and on the aforementioned claims.


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One of the world’s largest and most influential scientific societies held its annual conference last weekend, which a Fox News Digital review found was littered with examples of progressive messaging, criticisms of the Trump administration, and ‘woke’ workshops.

Attendees who showed up at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) event, held at the Phoenix Convention Center from Feb. 12-14, were immediately greeted at registration with identifier stickers that used gender pronouns such as ‘they/them,’ ‘xi/xer,’ ‘xe/xem,’ and other descriptors that critics have alleged have little to do with science and biology.

During the meeting’s opening night, shortly after a 10-minute hoop dance routine from traditional Native American dancers, AAAS CEO Dr. Sudip Parikh told the audience that it’s been a ‘hard’ and ‘tough year for science and scientists in this country.’

Parikh went on to blame DOGE for the ‘devastation’ of ‘some of our science agencies’ and the ‘president’s budget request’ that ‘cut science by half’ and, in his opinion, amounted to ‘forfeiting the future.’

‘What happened over the course of the last year is a rupture. We’re not going back, it’s not possible, too much damage has been done, too much has changed. There’s an entire generation of scientists that have a scar, a scar that is not going to go away,’ Parikh explained, adding that scars can ‘make us tougher’ and ‘become almost shields’ that ‘build resilience.’

Parikh told the crowd that he warned last year that Robert F. Kennedy Jr was the ‘wrong person’ for Health and Human Services secretary and said, ‘I still feel that way,’ which prompted laughter and applause from the crowd.

‘It’s going to take protests, it’s going to take politics, it’s going to take the ability to not speak gibberish, all of that has got to come together if we’re going to fight for the inheritance of the enlightenment to continue to make this world a better place,’ Parikh said.

Workshops at the event, which provided gender-neutral washrooms, included a session titled ‘Mao-Mei Liu: Nurturing Diversity in Science is Resistance,’ and another called ‘Investigating the Role of Race in Clinical Decision-Making.’

‘Who Gets to Belong? Disability, Power, and Participation in Higher Education,’ another workshop was called. 

Dr. Theresa A. Maldonado, a world-renowned expert in electrical engineering, delivered the president’s address at the conference and also lamented what a difficult year 2025 was for science and suggested climate change was responsible for the devastating southern California wildfires last year.

AAAS, the publisher of the highly respected Science magazine, posted several more videos over the course of the next few days, many including speakers who criticized the Trump administration and injected politics into discussions. 

‘Colonial Legacies, Climate Crises, and the Erosion of Mobility Choice’ was another workshop that scientists at the conference were offered and in an interview with ‘climate justice scholar’ Jola Ajibade, she explained how climate change has benefited a ‘few wealthy people’ while ‘low-income communities are displaced.’

‘At the center of my work is giving a voice but also bringing to the attention of everyone the impact of a slew of climate solutions, the impact of those solutions on low-income communities, on Black communities, on indigenous, on Latino communities as well,’ Ajibade explained, adding that she is focused on finding a ‘decolonial’ approach. 

Listed sponsors of the event included the Science Philanthropy Alliance, a group tied to the progressive consulting behemoth Arabella Advisors through the New Venture Fund, a nonprofit that pushes a variety of progressive causes. 

‘The whole thing that is sad for me is that when I attended these conferences in the first Trump administration there was plenty of liberal nonsense, but it still was a celebration of science and the achievements of the year, and you left excited,’ an event attendee told Fox News Digital.

‘This year felt like a funeral, with nothing but griping and moaning. Why would people want to keep coming back year after year with something like that? I suspect that is why their attendance greatly suffered this year compared to the pre-COVID years. Their constant pleas to keep politics out of science are completely undercut by their perpetual whining and endorsing utter craziness. They’re happy for science to be political, as long as it’s leftist.’

Additionally, as lawmakers in the United States continue to warn about the growing threat posed by China and what they believe is the CCP’s infiltration of top institutions in the United States — particularly in the medical and science fields — the AAAS conference opted to allow the Beijing-based research institute Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to operate a booth at the event. 

The state-run Chinese academy, which has faced controversy over its ties to China’s government and military, has collaborated with a Chinese medical technology firm linked to a 2013 U.S. bribery case involving NIH-funded research. The company has also installed equipment in leading American research labs.

‘The AAAS says that their organization wants to ‘inspire’ future scientists and engineers, but session topics and material from their meeting actually discourage participants from relying on their effort and merit and turns the focus to race and ethnicity,’ Johnathan Butcher, acting director of the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. 

‘These are the very same kind of racist ideas inspired by DEI that have been prohibited in universities, state governments, and the federal government, because the ideas violate state and federal civil rights laws,’ Butcher added. ‘Policymakers should be aware of what this organization is doing and make sure the association is not promoting racial preferences in hiring, promotion or research awards in academia or anywhere else.’

In a statement to Fox News Digital, an AAAS spokesperson said, ‘A broad spectrum of the scientific enterprise attends the meeting. The topics covered were wide-ranging across scientific disciplines and are proposed by scientists. AAAS respects their First Amendment right to free speech.’


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Sigma Lithium (TSXV:SGML,NASDAQ:SGML) has secured another large-scale sale of high-purity lithium fines and activated a production-backed revolving credit facility as it ramps up operations in Brazil.

The lithium producer announced it has agreed to sell 150,000 metric tons (MT) of high-purity lithium fines containing 1 percent lithium oxide at a net final price of US$140 per MT upon warehouse delivery at the port of Vitória.

The buyer has the option to purchase a further 350,000 MT at market prices.

Sigma, which refers to the high-purity fines as a low-grade product, said the optional volumes provide flexibility to respond to market conditions and customer requirements.

According to the company, the sale of its low-grade product could generate proceeds equivalent to the sale of 70,000 MT of its high-grade lithium oxide concentrate. Sigma attributes the marketability of the fines to the processing technology at its Greentech plant, which uses dense media separation and dry stacking.

According to the São Paulo-based company, clients have achieved up to 60 percent recovery when reprocessing the material, producing lithium concentrate with over 4 percent lithium oxide content.

That higher-grade concentrate is currently priced at about US$1,370 per MT on average by Shanghai Metals Market.

“Our sequential sales of the Low Grade Product show how this material can generate recurring value, demonstrating its marketability,” said Marina Bernardini, Sigma vice president of business development. “Continuous demand for the Low Grade Product has supported the creation of an additional revenue stream for the Company.”

The February 13 agreement follows Sigma’s January sale of 100,000 MT of high-purity lithium fines.

At the time, the company reiterated that mining remobilization was proceeding as planned and pushed back against what it described as inaccurate media reports regarding an administrative process related to waste piles.

Alongside the new sale, Sigma confirmed that the resumption of production of its high-grade lithium oxide concentrate has triggered the start of pre-payments under a US$96 million revolving facility.

The unsecured binding agreement, signed with what the company describes as a leading company in the battery materials supply chain, calls for the delivery of 70,500 MT of high-grade concentrate in 2026.

Under the terms, fixed pre-payments of US$8 million are made 30 days prior to production and delivery to the port of Vitória. The first pre-payment was disbursed on January 13.

Each pre-payment carries interest at SOFR plus 1 percent for 30 days until final sale upon delivery. Pricing for each shipment is tied to prevailing spot market prices for high-grade lithium concentrate, as reflected in major industry indexes.

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

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Investor Insight

Silverco Mining offers imminent producer status and exceptional leverage to silver prices through an aggressive dual-track growth strategy in Mexico. With resources comprised of more than 85 percent silver, the company provides a direct conduit to silver-dominant cash flow, representing a significant valuation re-rating opportunity. The portfolio is anchored by the past-producing Cusi Mining Complex—which was operational as recently as 2023—and the transformational acquisition of the currently producing La Negra mine. This transition from developer to multi-asset producer is underpinned by a robust balance sheet and a management team with a proven institutional pedigree in mine execution and capital markets.

Overview

Silverco Mining (TSXV:SICO) is an operational-stage silver company focused on the Sierra Madre Occidental belt of Mexico. The company’s core technical strategy involves the optimization of the 100-percent-owned Cusi Mining Complex in Chihuahua, an 11,665-hectare district-scale land package. The asset is supported by institutional-grade infrastructure, including direct connection to the national power grid and paved road access, which drastically reduces the capital intensity of the production restart.

Map of mining sites in Chihuahua, Mexico, showing silver projects and companies including Silverco Mining

The company is executing a definitive shift toward mid-tier producer status through a binding agreement to acquire Nuevo Silver. This transaction provides Silverco with control over the La Negra mine in Querétaro, an asset that is currently producing and provides immediate top-line revenue. By combining the near-term restart of the Cusi 1,200 tpd mill with the existing production at La Negra, Silverco is bypasssing the traditional multi-year development cycle typically associated with junior miners. This ‘buy-and-build’ approach is led by a technical team with specific expertise in Mexican epithermal vein systems and complex underground mine engineering.

Company Highlights

  • The $62.5 million upsized bought deal financing (closing Q1 2026) and Eric Sprott’s $10 million lead order provide cornerstone validation from a legendary mining investor and the necessary liquidity to fast-track production restarts.
  • The updated Mineral Resource Estimate of 41.2 million ounces of silver equivalent (AgEq) in the Measured and Indicated category establishes a high-confidence geological foundation at Cusi, supporting long-term mine planning.
  • The dual-track growth strategy involving the Cusi restart and the Nuevo Silver/La Negra acquisition provides immediate production scale and a diversified cash-flow profile across two distinct Mexican mining jurisdictions.
  • Pure-play silver exposure with significant de-risking is achieved via the 1,200 tonne-per-day (tpd) Cusi mill, which was producing as recently as 2023, ensuring that surface infrastructure is ‘warm’ and capable of a rapid return to service.
  • Imminent exploration catalysts exist following the completion of a 15,000-metre drill program at Cusi; results are currently pending and are expected to define high-grade extensions at the San Miguel vein.

Key Project: Cusi Mining Complex

Map of Silverco Mining

The Cusi Mining Complex is a fully permitted, underground silver-lead-zinc-gold operation. Historically, the project has been a silver-pure play, with approximately 85% of revenue derived from silver. Located 135 kilometres west of Chihuahua City, the complex consists of multiple historic mines and a centralized processing facility.

January 2026 Mineral Resource Estimate

Category

Tonnes (M)

Grade (g/t AgEq)

Contained Metal (M oz AgEq)

Measured & Indicated

4.89

262

41.2

Inferred

4.07

243

31.8

Development Status

The current operational focus is the completion of technical and financial milestones required to return the 1,200 tpd mill to full capacity. Silverco recently concluded a 15,000-metre diamond drilling campaign targeting the San Miguel vein and downthrown structural extensions.

Final results from this program are pending and will be integrated into optimized mine restart studies. The company is prioritizing high-grade resource growth and operational optimization to maximize margins in the current silver price environment.

Management & Board

Leadership Team

Mark Ayranto – President, CEO, and Director

Mark Ayranto is a seasoned mining executive with extensive experience in the full life cycle of mine development, from initial advancement through to operational execution.

Sean Fallis – CFO

Sean Fallis is a CPA, CA with a background in senior financial leadership across NYSE, Nasdaq, and TSX-listed firms, specializing in large-scale M&A and corporate finance.

Nico Harvey – Vice-president, Project Development

Nico Harvey is a mining engineer providing technical oversight for both underground and open-pit operations, with a focus on mine planning and project optimization.

Carlos Beltran – Exploration Manager

Carlos Beltran is a specialist in Mexican epithermal systems whose career includes significant involvement in major silver-gold discoveries and resource expansions.

Aaron Ramirez – Administration Manager

Aaron Ramirez manages supply chain and logistics with nearly 20 years of experience supporting international mining operations within Mexico.

Board of Directors

Ricardo Trejo – Project Manager

Ricardo Trejo has over 20 years of experience in management, engineering and operations at multiple mine sites across Mexico. He was most recently the head of mining operations and engineering at Coeur’s Palmarejo

Gary Brown – Director

Gary Brown brings elite institutional credibility as the former CFO of Wheaton Precious Metals for 17 years, where he oversaw the company’s transition into a global precious metals powerhouse.

Gregg Bush – Director

Gregg Bush is a metallurgical engineer with 40 years of experience in international M&A, feasibility studies, and the engineering of large-scale mining infrastructure.

Tim Sorensen – Director

Tim Sorensen is an institutional equity specialist with 25 years in the mining sector; currently the CEO of TSCG Capital, a mining-focused merchant bank.

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Investor Insight

Purpose-built for today’s energy transition, xU3O8 sits at the intersection of technology, finance, and nuclear energy, offering a simplified and transparent alternative to legacy uranium investments amid surging global demand. The xU3O8 token, now accessible on leading global exchanges, is a groundbreaking digital asset that provides direct, efficient exposure to the uranium market.

Overview

Uranium.io is a next-generation platform revolutionizing how investors access and trade physical uranium (U3O8). By leveraging blockchain technology, it enables individuals and institutions to directly own and trade uranium, bypassing many of the inefficiencies, opacity and high costs traditionally associated with uranium exposure. Each xU3O8 token represents real, physical uranium stored securely in a regulated depository operated by Cameco, with Archax, a UK-regulated digital asset firm, as the custodian for the physical uranium, ensuring transparency and trust in asset backing.

The platform is built to address rising investor demand for uranium exposure, a commodity that plays a critical role in the global energy transition. As governments commit to deep carbon-reduction targets, nuclear power is increasingly recognized as a reliable, scalable source of low-carbon baseload electricity. Across North America, Europe, and Asia, countries are expanding nuclear capacity through the restart of idled reactors, the construction of new facilities, and the accelerated development of small modular reactors (SMRs) to support long-term net-zero objectives.

Nuclear power is also emerging as a stable and scalable option for supporting artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, which require massive amounts of electricity to operate. Industry leaders, including Microsoft, have announced nuclear energy investments, and several technology firms have secured long-term agreements for nuclear power.

Like gold and silver before it, uranium is entering a phase of financialization — with physical holding trusts, ETFs, and now platforms like uranium.io offering direct physical uranium ownership via xU3O8, making it more accessible to a wider set of investors.

As traditional financial markets converge with digital innovation, tokenized assets are becoming a preferred vehicle for commodities investing. Uranium.io’s use of the Tezos blockchain ensures secure, real-time trading with minimal friction — a distinct advantage in an increasingly digitized investment landscape.

Development of the uranium.io platform is led by the team at London-based Trilitech, a group of entrepreneurs and technologists driving blockchain innovations.

With its emphasis on direct fractional ownership and 24/7 worldwide accessibility, xU3O8 is uniquely positioned to serve as the gateway to physical uranium exposure for a global investor base. Alignment with broader energy and digital asset trends makes it a compelling vehicle for those seeking to capitalize on uranium’s strong fundamentals and the disruptive power of decentralized finance.

"Infographic: Purple rocks on a journey from mining to blockchain with xU308 branding."

In July 2025, the company launched its xU3O8 token on KuCoin, MEXC, and Gate.io — ushering in a new era of uranium investment. This simultaneous, multi-platform listing marks a major milestone in the evolution of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, delivering institutional-grade exposure to uranium markets to a combined audience of over 115 million global traders.

By debuting across multiple top-tier platforms, xU3O8 ensures broad accessibility and liquidity for investors:

  • KuCoin – With over 41 million users in 200+ countries, KuCoin offers a full suite of trading services—spot, margin, options, and futures. As a technology-first exchange focused on accessibility, KuCoin shares xU3O8’s mission to dismantle traditional investment barriers.
  • MEXC – Founded in 2018, MEXC serves 36 million users globally and has seen explosive 2024 growth: 143 percent increase in spot trading and 118 percent in futures. Its intuitive platform makes crypto trading “simple, accessible, and rewarding,” mirroring xU3O8’s goal of democratizing uranium investment.
  • Gate.io – Ranked among the top 3 global crypto exchanges by real trading volume, Gate.io boasts 32 million users and supports over 3,600 digital assets. With institutional-grade security and a commitment to 100 percent reserve holdings, Gate.io provides the infrastructure essential for tokenized commodity trading.

As of 2026, xU3O8 continues to expand its presence and is now listed on a growing number of exchanges, including MEXC, KuCoin, Gate.io, BingX, LBank, Coins.ph, and Bitrue.

Each xU3O8 token represents fractional ownership of physical uranium ore concentrate (yellowcake) securely stored by Cameco in regulated facilities, eliminating the high barriers to entry that once restricted uranium investment to institutions and major corporations.

Company Highlights

  • Pioneering Uranium Ownership: Uranium.io is a platform that enables direct ownership of physical uranium through its blockchain-powered token, xU3O8, allowing investors to buy and sell uranium securely.
  • Advanced Blockchain Technology: Built on Etherlink and powered by Tezos, the platform offers transparency, low fees, energy efficiency, and programmable compliance.
  • Regulated Custody: FCA-regulated digital asset custodian Archax holds physical uranium in trust on behalf of token holders, ensuring secure and compliant storage.
  • Trusted Industry Partner: Curzon Uranium, a leading uranium trading and logistics firm with over $1 billion in trades, brokers the physical uranium supplied to the platform.
  • Secure Storage: Purchased uranium is stored at a regulated depository owned and operated by Cameco, one of the world’s top global uranium providers and converters.
  • Global Market Access: Investors benefit from 24/7 market access, fractionalized ownership, real-time settlement, and cross-border trading capabilities.
  • Supporting the Clean Energy Transition: The platform capitalizes on nuclear energy’s expanding role in the global shift to low-carbon power and the financialization of critical minerals.
  • Exchange Listings: The xU3O8 token is now available on major cryptocurrency exchanges including KuCoin, MEXC, and Gate.io, broadening liquidity and accessibility.
  • Real-Time Market Transparency: Uranium.io has launched a near-real-time uranium pricing oracle, addressing market opacity and delivering enhanced transparency and efficiency.
  • On-Chain Financial Utility: xU3O8 enables tokenized uranium to serve as on-chain collateral, allowing holders to borrow stablecoins without selling their physical uranium exposure.

Technology Platform

Uranium.io is built on a secure, decentralized technology stack that integrates blockchain infrastructure, digital asset custody, and real-world commodity supply — delivering unprecedented access and transparency to the uranium market. The platform bridges traditional commodities trading with Web3 innovation, allowing users to seamlessly acquire, hold and trade physical uranium via xU3O8 tokens.

Uranium.io unveiled the world’s first uranium spot pricing oracle, aimed at addressing the price opacity issues in the uranium market. Unlike oil, gold, base metals, and agricultural commodities, uranium pricing has traditionally relied on fragmented, privately negotiated over-the-counter deals, leaving market participants in the dark and creating inefficiencies and uncertainty that limit broad participation.

Uranium.io’s oracle transforms this landscape with:

  • Real-time pricing oracle: Launched to tackle uranium market opacity, providing near-instant spot price updates and boosting transparency and efficiency.
  • Tokenized uranium trading: Investors can trade fractional shares of physical uranium, democratizing access to a traditionally restricted market.
  • Market interest surging: Uranium-related financial instruments, including ETFs, have outperformed Bitcoin in 2025, reflecting growing investor demand.
  • Data-driven insights: Aggregates dozens of sources—spot feeds, nuclear equities, commodity funds—and uses algorithms to mirror uranium’s complex market dynamics.
xU308 team and partners listed: Curzon, Archax, TriliTech, and CEX/Distribution Partners.

Blockchain Infrastructure: Etherlink, Powered by Tezos

At the heart of xU3O8’s digital asset engine is the Tezos blockchain, a highly secure, energy-efficient and self-amending Layer 1 protocol. Tezos is uniquely suited to power real-world asset tokenization due to its low transaction costs and energy efficiency; on-chain governance and smart contract flexibility; and enterprise-grade security and decentralization.

Tezos’ track record with real-world assets, including tokenized real estate and art, positions it as an ideal foundation for the secure, scalable digitization of uranium ownership.

Digital Custody: Archax

To ensure that each xU3O8 token is backed with physical uranium, uranium.io is supported by Archax, a London-based, digital asset custodian and exchange regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Archax provides regulated asset custody, KYC/AML-compliant onboarding, and real-time asset reconciliation.

Archax brings institutional-grade governance and accountability to the storage and oversight of physical uranium, ensuring that investor holdings are not just theoretical but physically secured.

Physical Supply: Curzon Uranium

Access to physical uranium is facilitated by its partnership with Curzon Uranium, a specialized uranium trading and logistics firm. Curzon acts as the platform’s uranium provider, sourcing, purchasing and delivering uranium from trusted upstream suppliers to secure storage.

Curzon’s decades of experience in uranium procurement adds physical credibility and market depth to the xU3O8 ecosystem — making the platform more than just a digital asset project, but a fully integrated uranium trading platform.

Physical uranium storage: Cameco

The physical uranium ore concentrate (U3O8) is securely stored at a regulated storage facility, operated by Cameco, one of the three globally recognized uranium conversion and storage providers. For transparency, Proof of Reserves is always available on the website and is updated with monthly statements from Cameco.

Together, Tezos, Archax and Curzon Uranium form the digital, custodial and physical backbone of the uranium.io platform. This trio of technologies and partnerships ensures a secure, compliant and efficient path for investors to gain physical uranium exposure — fractionalized, tokenized and tradable 24/7 on a global scale.

A New Era for Uranium-Based Lending

xU3O8-Based Lending: Expanding utility for tokenized uranium on dark abstract background.

xU3O8-based lending unlocks new liquidity and utility for tokenized uranium by enabling holders to use their xU3O8 tokens as collateral to borrow stablecoins such as USDC through a DeFi lending vault on the Oku Trade platform, powered by the Morpho protocol. This integration marks the first time physical uranium — represented on-chain via blockchain — can be leveraged in decentralized finance, allowing investors to access capital without selling their underlying asset while retaining exposure to the strategic commodity.

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Investor Insight

Earthwise Minerals is a data-driven Canadian gold explorer advancing the fully permitted Iron Range gold project in southeastern British Columbia. Backed by more than $8 million in historical data and a 51.6 million-share structure, the company offers strong leverage to discovery. A staged earn-in and defined drill targets position Earthwise for efficient, high-impact exploration.

Overview

Earthwise Minerals (CSE:WISE,FSE:966) is a Vancouver-based exploration company focused on advancing the Iron Range Gold Project in southeastern British Columbia. The project lies within the Purcell Supergroup along the Iron Mountain Fault Zone, a major regional structure in the same metallogenic belt as the historic Sullivan deposit, providing a strong geological context for structurally hosted gold-dominant mineralization.

Mining project readiness and key points of Earthwise Minerals

The company’s strategy centers on integrating historic datasets with modern exploration technologies to efficiently generate drill-ready targets. More than $8 million in historical exploration work — including airborne geophysics, soil geochemistry and drilling — gives Earthwise a significant technical head start and reduces early-stage exploration risk.

Earthwise controls its flagship project through an option agreement with Eagle Plains Resources, allowing it to prioritize exploration spending over acquisition costs. This staged structure provides a disciplined pathway toward discovery while preserving capital.

Company Highlights

  • Tight Capital Structure:51.6 million shares fully diluted, providing strong leverage to exploration success without excessive dilution
  • District-Scale Flagship Asset: The Iron Range Gold Project spans 21,437 hectares along a major regional structure with more than 50 kilometres of strike length
  • Extensive Historic Database: Over $8 million in past geophysics, geochemistry and drilling creates a robust dataset for modern targeting
  • Low-Cost Earn-In: Option to earn 70 percent interest over four years through staged payments and exploration totaling $4 million, plus a further 10 percent (to 80 percent) for a $1-million payment within 120 days
  • Infrastructure Advantage: Property is road accessible, crossed by Highway 3 and serviced by rail, power, natural gas and water
  • Advanced Permitting: Multi-year area-based permit allows drilling, trenching, geophysics and road access without annual approvals
  • Experienced Leadership: Management and board combine technical discovery experience, capital markets expertise and digital strategy capabilities

Key Project

Iron Range Gold Project

Map of Earthwise Minerals Iron Range Gold Project with fault zones and mine details.

The Iron Range Gold Project is Earthwise’s flagship asset, covering 21,437 hectares just northeast of Creston, British Columbia. The property is underlain by the Iron Mountain Fault Zone and hosts structurally controlled mineralization associated with a key stratigraphic horizon known as the Lower–Middle Aldridge Contact. Infrastructure is exceptional, with Highway 3 crossing the project, rail access via Canadian Pacific, power supplied by BC Hydro and nearby natural gas and water.

Historic exploration has outlined multiple mineralized zones supported by geophysical and geochemical anomalies. A 2004 VTEM survey identified conductive trends coincident with the fault zone, while soil surveys defined multi-element anomalies including arsenic, lead, zinc and gold. Induced polarization surveys completed in 2017 outlined a down-plunge chargeability anomaly at the Talon/Canyon Zone, later confirmed by drilling in 2018.

Geological diagram showing multi-mineralization styles in the Iron Range Fault Zone of Earthwise Minerals

Mineralization styles are polymetallic but gold dominant, occurring within brittle shear and breccia zones ranging from one metre to several tens of metres wide. Historic drill intercepts include:

  • 56.5 m grading 1.9 g/t gold, 0.44 percent lead, 0.59 percent zinc and 19.7 g/t silver
  • 14.0 m grading 5.1 g/t gold, 1.86 percent lead, 2.1 percent zinc and 75.3 g/t silver
  • 2.0 m grading 12.8 g/t gold, 4.18 percent lead, 5.06 percent zinc and 122.5 g/t silver

Recent fieldwork has also returned surface samples grading up to 13.4 g/t gold, 27.2 g/t silver and 2.7 percent lead, supporting the project’s discovery potential. Mineralization remains open along strike and at depth, with overlapping geophysical and geochemical vectors indicating potential for additional shoots.

Project Highlights

  • 21,437 hectare district-scale land package
  • More than 50 km of prospective structural strike
  • Over $8 million in historical exploration data
  • Fully permitted for multi-year drilling and exploration
  • Phase 1 drill program (~2,500 m) planned to test down-plunge extensions and parallel structures
  • Earn-in to 80 percent ownership with only a 1 percent NSR retained on part of the property

Management Team

Mark Luchinski — Chief Executive Officer and Corporate Director

Mark Luchinski is an entrepreneur and capital markets specialist with two decades of experience managing public companies and advancing exploration assets. He has guided multiple firms through financings, acquisitions, exploration programs and listings. He also serves as a director of Aeonian Resources.

Mateo Arcila — Director

Mateo Arcila is an engineer with over 10 years of experience in business development and digital strategy. He oversees corporate outreach, digital initiatives and investor engagement for Earthwise. His background includes marketing analytics, data strategy and international business.

Karen Mate – Director

Karen Mate is a senior capital markets professional with more than 30 years of experience in the Canadian investment industry, specializing in institutional equity sales and capital markets advisory. She has held senior roles at leading investment banks, including Director of Global Institutional Equity Sales at Scotia Capital, as well as leadership positions at Casimir Capital, Dundee Capital Markets, Marleau Lemire Securities and National Bank Financial. Known as a trusted advisor to institutional investors and corporate management teams, she has guided clients across multiple market cycles with strategic market insight and execution expertise.

Ikavinder Deol — Chief Financial Officer

Ikavinder Deol is a CPA with more than six years of experience in financial reporting and compliance for junior mining companies. She specializes in IFRS reporting and regulatory filings. She is also affiliated with Cross Davis & Company, which focuses on public resource issuers.

Andy Randell – Geological Advisor

Andy Randell, P.Geo, is a professionally registered geoscientist with more than 20 years of experience spanning mineral exploration, technical leadership, consulting and industry governance. He has held senior geological roles on gold-focused projects in Canada and internationally, including project geologist and chief geologist positions, and brings expertise from grassroots through advanced-stage exploration. His work emphasizes structural geology, disciplined target generation and responsible exploration practices.

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Senate Republicans say they’ve struggled to get out on the campaign trail ahead of the midterm elections — and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., argues Democrats are to blame.

‘Their whole goal, and everything is to, you know, force us to stay around, force us to try and get members to take hard votes and just to tie people down so that they can’t be back campaigning,’ Thune told Fox News Digital.

Thune had just left a local furniture store in Sioux Falls, S.D., where he touted the economic benefits of the bill, which largely extended Trump’s tax cuts from his original 2017 tax bill, along with making tweaks to the tax code that lawmakers believe would directly benefit small businesses.

There, he noted that the owners of Montgomery’s told him, ‘If people had discretionary income out here, they spend it.’

That was the crux of the colossal bill Republicans rammed through Congress last year. In effect, it was a direct response to the pocketbook issues that largely drove the 2024 election cycle and propelled the GOP to a trifecta of federal control in Washington, D.C.

But time and again, Schumer and his caucus made it difficult for the GOP to get that message out, let alone leave the Capitol, Thune contended. Each day counts during campaign season, and canceling a travel plan or nixing an event can add up for Republicans seeking to stay in power.

The latest example is the now-four-day partial government shutdown, where an end doesn’t seem to be in sight as Senate Democrats and the White House engage in ongoing negotiations to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

While this closure hasn’t affected lawmakers’ travel plans — Thune has reminded the Senate to be ready at a moment’s notice should a deal be reached — the previous 43-day shutdown blew up any plans for lawmakers to get out and communicate with voters.

Then there was a carte blanche blockade against Trump’s nominees last year, too, that saw Thune cancel a portion of August recess. That time, particularly ahead of a midterm election cycle, is used by lawmakers to gin up early support for their reelection campaigns.

‘Right now for [Democrats], it’s just all about — everything’s all about politics and making it, you know, really hard for our incumbents who are running for reelection,’ Thune said.

Republicans see their ability to sell the ‘big, beautiful bill’ as crucial to their election survival in November.

And once again, the cost of living and how the Trump administration has dealt with inflation will yet again be a prominent factor in the upcoming election, Thune said.

‘I think most voters are, you know, especially the voters that are going to decide probably who controls the House and Senate after November, are going to be kitchen table-type, pocketbook … the bread and butter issues,’ Thune said. ‘They’re economic voters, and so inflation is going to matter, and having more money in their pockets is going to matter.’


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