US lawmakers unlikely to prioritize banking reform

The SAFER Banking Act was blocked from being attached to a government funding bill in December, delaying the issue until the next Congress session and delaying the prospects for cannabis banking reform.

With Republicans now holding a majority of the Senate, it appears unlikely that the issue will be raised at the next Senate banking committee meeting, which is scheduled for Wednesday and will focus on debanking.

At this point, the path forward for banking reform in the US is uncertain.

Senator Tim Scott, the Senate banking committee’s new chair, opposed the SAFER Banking Act during its last hearing in September 2023, citing concerns that the bill would facilitate money laundering and illegal trade of “weapons, fentanyl and even people.’ A new bill would likely need provisions to address those concerns in order to secure his vote.

New Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has an even more contentious history with cannabis legislation. He opposed the SAFE Banking Act when House lawmakers tried to attach it to a stimulus relief bill in 2020, and he was also one of 26 lawmakers who urged US Attorney General Merrick Garland to reject the Department of Health and Human Services’ recommendation to reschedule cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act.

Despite rumors that lawmakers will soon reintroduce cannabis banking legislation, a spokesperson for Cannabis Caucus Co-chair Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) told Marijuana Moment on January 24 that a new bill is “not imminent.’

Cannabis rescheduling meets delays and controversies

In December, the push to reschedule cannabis hit legal and procedural hurdles. A hearing set for January 21 was ultimately canceled, with Chief Administrative Law Judge John Mulrooney, who is overseeing the process, criticizing the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) for failing to submit required documents.

On January 7, Mulrooney, wrote to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, informing her of his decision to grant a request to remove the agency from proceedings. The request was filed by cannabis advocacy groups on the grounds of improper conduct within the DEA “related to alleged improper ex parte communications between the Agency and other actors’ — specifically Smart Approaches to Marijuana, a prominent anti-cannabis legalization group.

Mulrooney gave the DEA until January 13 to file a response, but the hearing was ultimately canceled “pending resolution of an appeal filed by a party in the proceedings” on January 15.

Milgram announced her departure from the agency the next day.

Agency official George Papadopoulos stepped in as her replacement until Trump chose Derek Maltz, a retired director of special operations for the DEA, to lead the administration on January 21.

In a January 3 interview, Maltz told NTD’s Steve Lance that America’s cannabis industry an “open door” to the Chinese Communist Party’s cannabis-growing operations. He also suggested that cannabis with higher strains of THC leads to psychosis, depression and anxiety, and said that cannabis acts as a gateway drug, eventually leading young people to other drugs like Oxy or Xanax, which could end up being laced with fentanyl.

Further clouding the future of cannabis legalization, Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, repeatedly refused to clarify her position on cannabis issues during a question-and-answer period following her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. This was despite Trump’s previous indications of support for the issue, and his full pardon to Russ Ulbricht, operator of the dark web drug market Silk Road.

Amid the delay in the rescheduling processes, a new poll from NuggMD reveals that a whopping 96 percent of Americans don’t trust the DEA to serve as an “unbiased proponent” of cannabis rescheduling.

Virginia makes progress on adult-use cannabis

Lawmakers on a Virginia Senate committee have advanced Senate Bill 970, which proposes a framework to legalize and regulate an adult-use cannabis market in the state. If passed, cannabis retail licenses could be issued on September 1, 2025, with sales slated to begin by May 1, 2026.

The bill was introduced by Senator Aaron Rouse (D) on January 17. Despite a veto threat from Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R), both the Senate and House committees in Virginia have advanced the proposed legislation in four separate voting rounds. It is now heading to Virginia’s House of Delegates.

Separately, Virginia’s House of Delegates advanced HB 2485 on Monday (February 3). It is similar to legislation penned by Delegate Paul Krizek (D), and would allow adults to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis from regulated state-licensed retailers. It is now on track for consideration in the Senate.

Tilray sees growth across all segments in quarterly results

Tilray Brands (NASDAQ:TLRY) reported financial results for its second fiscal quarter of 2025 on January 10, revealing a 9 percent increase in net revenue from Q2 2024 to US$211 million.

Growth across all four business segments — alcoholic beverages, cannabis, distribution and wellness — also resulted in a 29 percent increase in gross profit compared to the previous year, with US$61 million earned.

During its earnings presentation, Tilray introduced a new initiative called Project 420, a US$25 million synergy plan to optimize operations and cut costs for its beverage business, which earned US$63 million in net revenue and showed the strongest growth by percentage, advancing at an annual rate of 36 percent. Tilray’s cannabis business segment, by comparison, grew by 35 percent in Q2 compared to 31 percent in the prior year, bringing in US$66 million in revenue.

The company also reaffirmed its net revenue guidance for fiscal year 2025, projecting net revenue to fall somewhere between US$950 million and US$1 billion.

Top rare earths reserves by country

Here’s an overview of rare earths reserves by country, with a focus on the eight countries whose reserves are over 1 million MT. Data is taken from the US Geological Survey’s latest report on rare earth elements.

Reserves information is unavailable for a few rare earths producers, including Myanmar, which took the third spot for rare earths production last year.

1. China

Reserves: 44 million MT

Unsurprisingly, China has the highest reserves of rare earth minerals at 44 million MT. The country was also the world’s leading rare earths producer in 2023 by a long shot, putting out 240,000 MT.

Despite its top position, China remains focused on ensuring that its rare earths reserves remain elevated. Back in 2012, the Asian nation declared that its reserves of these materials were declining; it then announced in 2016 that it would raise domestic reserves by establishing both commercial and national stockpiles.

The country has also been reining in illicit rare earths mining for a number of years, shutting illegal or environmentally non-compliant rare earths mines and limiting production and exports. These production limits have been easing, and last year the country raised mining quotas by more than 8 percent over 2022 in its sixth consecutive increase.

China’s dominance in both rare earth elements production and reserves has caused problems in the past. Rare earths prices surged when the country cut exports in 2010, resulting in an ongoing rush to secure supply elsewhere.

In recent years, China has begun importing more heavy rare earths from Myanmar, for which the US Geological Survey does not have rare earths reserves data. While China has stricter environmental regulations, the same cannot be said for Myanmar, and the mountains along its border with China have been heavily damaged by rare earths mining.

Rare earths prices soared to their highest level in 20 months, according to OilPrice.com, in early Q3 2023; this jump coincided with a temporary production halt in Myanmar, which accounted for 38 percent of China’s rare earth materials imports in the first seven months of 2023.

2. Vietnam

Reserves: 22 million MT

Vietnam’s rare earths reserves stand at 22 million MT. It reportedly hosts several deposits with rare earths concentrations against its northwestern border with China, and along its eastern coastline. The majority of rare earths in the country can be found in primary ore deposits, with a smaller amount located in coastal placer deposits. While this potential was previously untapped, that has now changed as the country looks to become an alternative to China.

Vietnam’s rare earths production was minuscule in 2022 at 1,200 MT, but it was even less in 2023 at 600 MT. Vietnam is the only country outside of China to have a vertically integrated rare earths magnet supply chain, according to Reuters, and it has attracted interest from companies in a variety of sectors.

The country’s goal is to produce 2.02 million MT of rare earths by 2030. However, the arrests of six rare earths executives, including the chairman of Vietnam Rare Earth (VTRE), in October 2023 may put a kink in those plans. ‘VTRE’s chairman, Luu Anh Tuan, was accused of forging value-added-tax receipts in trading rare earths,’ reported Asia Financial.

3. Brazil

Reserves: 21 million MT

Although Brazil has the third largest rare earths reserves, the nation was not a major producer of rare earths in 2023, with production flat at a tiny 80 MT, on par with the previous year and even lower than its 2021 total of 500 MT.

However, that will soon be changing as rare earths company Serra Verde began commercial production from its Pela Ema rare earths deposit at the top of 2024. Pela Ema is an ionic clay deposit that will produce the four critical magnet rare earth elements: neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium. According to the company, it is the only rare earths operation outside of China to produce all four of those magnet rare earths.

4. Russia

Reserves: 10 million MT

Russia produced 2,600 MT of rare earths in 2023, more than Brazil and Vietnam. The Russian government shared plans in 2020 to invest US$1.5 billion in order to compete with China in the rare earths market.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused some concern over possible disruptions to the rare earths supply chain in the US and Europe, and there are signs the government has had to put its domestic rare earths sector development plans on ice while it’s mired in war.

5. India

Reserves: 6.9 million MT

India’s rare earths reserves sit at 6.9 million MT, and it produced 2,900 MT of rare earths in 2023, which is on par with the previous year. India has nearly 35 percent of the world’s beach and sand mineral deposits, which are significant sources of rare earths. The country’s Department of Atomic Energy released a statement in December 2022 breaking down its production and refining capacity when it comes to rare earths.

More recently, the Indian government was reported to be putting policies and legislation in place to establish and support rare earths research and development projects to take advantage of its reserve base.

6. Australia

Reserves: 5.7 million MT

While Australia was the fourth largest rare earths-mining country in 2023 at 18,000 MT of production, it has the sixth largest reserves in the world. Currently, its reserves stand at 5.7 million MT. Rare earths have only been mined in Australia since 2007, but extraction is expected to increase moving forward. Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC,OTC Pink:LYSCF) operates the Mount Weld mine and concentration plant in the country; it also runs a rare earths refining and processing facility in Malaysia. The company is considered the world’s largest non-Chinese rare earths supplier.

Hastings Technology Metals’ (ASX:HAS,OTC Pink:HSRMF) Yangibana rare earths mine is shovel ready, and the company recently signed an offtake agreement with Baotou Sky Rock for concentrate produced at the mine. Hastings expects the operation to produce up to 37,000 MT of rare earths concentrate annually and deliver first concentrate in Q2 2025.

7. United States

Reserves: 1.8 million MT

While the US reported the second highest output of rare earths in 2023 at 43,000 MT, the country takes only the seventh top spot when it comes to global rare earths reserves.

Rare earths mining in the US now happens only at California’s Mountain Pass mine. Over the past few years, the Biden administration has made several moves toward strengthening the nation’s rare earths industry.

In February 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed at reviewing shortcomings in America’s domestic supply chains for rare earths, medical devices, computer chips and other critical resources.

The next month, the US Department of Energy announced a US$30 million initiative to research and secure domestic supply chains for rare earths and battery metals such as cobalt and lithium. The government released a follow-up fact sheet about the progress made in these initiatives in February 2022. The Department of Energy announced a US$32 million investment in new rare earths production facilities in July 2023.

8. Greenland

Reserves: 1.5 million MT

Although Greenland’s rare earths reserves number is close to that of the US, the island nation currently doesn’t produce the metals. However, it does have two significant rare earths projects with large reserves: private company Tanbreez Mining’s Tanbreez project and Energy Transition Minerals’ (ASX:ETM,OTC Pink:GDLNF) Kvanefjeld project.

The US Geological Survey only measures proven economic reserves, but in terms of total reserves for rare earths projects globally, they placed first and third, respectively, with 28.2 million and 10.2 million metric tons of total rare earth oxides.

After signing an exploitation license with the government in 2020, Tanbreez is working on securing financing for its project’s development; avenues being explored include discussions with independent oil and gas executives and the creation of critical metals NFTs. The company has its sights set on 2024 for production.

While Energy Transition Minerals had previously signed a license for Kvanefjeld, it was revoked by Greenland’s current government due to the company’s plans to exploit uranium. The company submitted an amended plan that did not include uranium, but the updated version was rejected as well in September 2023.

FAQs for rare earths reserves

What is the annual production of rare earths?

According to the US Geological Survey, global rare earth minerals production in 2023 came in at 350,000 metric tons, up from 300,000 MT the previous year. The production of rare earths has ramped up aggressively in recent years — only a decade ago, global production was just above 100,000 MT, and it first broke 200,000 MT in 2019.

Who is the largest producer of rare earth metals in the world?

China has consistently been the largest producer of rare earths, and its 2023 production made up 240,000 metric tons of the world’s 350,000 MT. In terms of specific rare earths mines, the top producer is the Bayan Obo mine in Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region in Northern China. The mine is owned by the state-owned Baotou Iron and Steel Group.

Are there rare earth minerals in Europe?

There are currently no rare earths mines in Europe, but there are multiple countries with reserves, including one with a significant new discovery. In early 2023, Swedish state-owned company LKAB announced it had identified the continent’s largest rare earths deposit, the Per Geijer deposit, with rare earths resources of over 1 million MT of oxides.

With the European Union focusing heavily on building its own supply chain with the European Critical Raw Materials Act, the Per Geijer deposit could develop into an important source of rare earths for the region.

Several other countries in Europe hold significant rare earths reserves as well. Greenland hosts many deposits totaling 1.5 million MT of rare earths reserves along its coastline, with the majority located in the southwest of the country. The Gardar igneous province in the south hosts the largest ones.

Countries in the Fennoscandian Shield — such as Norway, Finland and, of course, Sweden — also host rare earth deposits, as the region has similar mineralization to Greenland.

Gold hits new record on safe-haven demand

The gold price reached record levels as investors reacted to Trump’s tariffs.

Spot gold rose as high as US$2,843.71 per ounce on Tuesday (February 4) morning, settling around the US$2,840 level as of 11:30 a.m. EDT. Gold futures were sitting at about US$2,870 at that time.

Although gold and the US dollar typically have an inverse relationship, safe-haven demand has offset the impact of a stronger currency as investors seek protection agains inflation and economic uncertainty.

Canada, Mexico and China have announced retaliatory trade measures against the US, with China confirming it will challenge the tariffs at the World Trade Organization. Market participants anticipate further geopolitical instability, which could sustain high gold prices despite interest rate expectations.

Supply risks and price pressures loom over PGMs market

Platinum-group metals (PGMs) are facing uncertainty as tariffs threaten to disrupt established trade routes.

The US is a net importer of 560,000 ounces of platinum annually, representing 7 percent of global demand, and 400,000 ounces of palladium, accounting for 4 percent of global consumption.

With PGMs included in the tariff framework and limited ability to expand US domestic production, supply shortages could emerge, according to a recent World Platinum Investment Council release.

For instance, the Stillwater mine in Montana, the largest domestic producer, reduced its capacity by 40 percent in 2024, and a reversal would require substantially higher platinum prices. Meanwhile, Canada’s Lac des Iles mine risks losing the US as an export market, though South African PGMs miners remain untariffed for now.

Macroeconomic factors also contribute to downside risks for platinum pricing.

Tariffs contribute to inflation, which could slow the US Federal Reserve’s rate-cutting trajectory and support a stronger US dollar, both of which historically correlate with lower platinum prices.

Crude oil prices decline amid trade uncertainty

Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday as US tariffs on China took effect.

According to Reuters, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 1.8 percent to reach US$71.84 per barrel, while Brent crude fell 1.2 percent to US$75.09 per barrel.

The impact of tariffs on global energy markets is unfolding in stages, with China imposing a retaliatory 10 percent tariff on US crude oil imports effective February 10.

China’s 2024 crude oil imports from the US account for 1.7 percent of its total crude purchases. This supply reduction, combined with retaliatory tariffs on US coal and liquefied natural gas, could shift trade flows.

Recently, the US had been expanding its crude exports to China following a Phase 1 trade agreement signed under Trump’s first term; however, these new tariffs could reverse those gains.

If enacted, Canada would face 10 percent tariffs on energy products, lower than the 25 percent proposed on all other Canadian goods. The restrictions were paused by Trump on Monday (February 3) following commitments from both the Canadian and Mexican governments to increase border enforcement.

Copper and zinc rise as Canada, Mexico tariffs paused

The delay on tariffs sent copper and zinc prices higher.

Copper, which serves as a key industrial indicator, extended gains as sentiment reversed.

The US delay in imposing 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports eased immediate concerns of a continental trade war, which had previously weighed on base metals, Bloomberg reported.

On Tuesday, copper traded 0.3 percent higher at US$9,124 per metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, following a US$200 price swing in the prior session.

Zinc also climbed 0.3 percent, while aluminum prices stabilized.

Even so, market participants remain cautious about Trump’s ongoing tariff threats against China.

Base metal prices had been pressured by concerns over declining Chinese demand, particularly as China remains closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Anteros Metals (CSE:ANT) is leveraging modern data science methodologies to advance its projects in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The company focuses on sustainable and cost-effective exploration targeting high-value deposits in underexplored yet geologically rich regions. Anteros Metals’ portfolio covers 2,775 hectares and commodities essential to global technology and energy transitions.

Anteros prioritizes asset acquisition capitalizing on growing global demand for critical and base metals. Its properties encompass nine metals and minerals, five of which are classified as critical minerals, reflecting the company’s alignment with the accelerating energy transition and technological advancement.

Anteros has four 100 percent owned properties in Newfoundland and Labrador targeting critical and base metals. Commodities include copper, cobalt, nickel, manganese, zinc and others vital for green technologies.

Company Highlights

• The flagship Knob Lake iron-manganese project is an advanced exploration project with a historical resource located near significant iron ore infrastructure in Schefferville, Quebec.
• Haven Steady is a proven VMS asset accessible by road and hosts silver-lead-zinc mineralization with high-grade intersections and untapped geophysical anomalies.
• The Strickland project includes seven mineralized zones with significant silver-lead-zinc and gold potential, located near the prolific Hope Brook gold deposit.
• The Hopedale asset has a nickel-copper-cobalt focus, situated 90 kilometers south of Vale’s Voisey’s Bay in a geologically favorable zone with unexplained geochemical anomalies and untested electromagnetic conductors.
• Anteros follows a structured approach, with projects at various exploration stages: prospecting (Hopedale), early-stage (Haven Steady), intermediate (Strickland), and advanced exploration (Knob Lake). By balancing its portfolio, Anteros ensures a continuous pipeline of project advancement, reducing risks and maintaining steady value creation.
• The company is led by an experienced team with over a century of combined expertise in exploration, mining and financial markets, ensuring robust project execution.

This Anteros Metals profile is part of a paid investor education campaign.*

Click here to connect with Anteros Metals (CSE:ANT) to receive an Investor Presentation