Greetings Contrarian,

This is The Next Big Rush, your daily drop of mining/energy investing news. Where we come together and start the week with Canadian bank holiday because why not.

Here are the highlights:

👍🏻 Ford Closes Deals With Miners

🤜🏼 Bidding War - Aussie Edition

 🚨 Silver X Backs Off Doomed Silver Mine

👍🏻 Ford Closes Deals With Miners

Ford Motor Co. has struck deals with lithium suppliers, including Albemarle Corp., Chile’s SQM, and Canada’s Nemaska Lithium, to secure materials needed for electric vehicles (EVs).

This move is part of Ford's $50 billion plan for EVs and ties into incentives from President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

Ford's CEO, Jim Farley, highlighted processing as a key challenge, stating the need to transform raw materials like lithium and nickel into useable forms.

Farley's goal is to boost EV production to 2 million annually by 2026, with secured lithium and cobalt supplies to support this.

Ford has also signed a supply agreement with Energysource Minerals and has investments in a battery-nickel plant in Indonesia and an Australian lithium mine.

🤜🏼 Bidding War - Aussie Edition

Silver Lake Resources has raised its bid for St Barbara's Leonora mine to $722 million, attempting to outdo Genesis Minerals.

This comes right after Genesis upped its offer for the Western Australian mine to $604 million. Silver Lake's new proposal includes an extra $44 million in cash, but it's uncertain whether St Barbara will accept.

Silver Lake has made two strong proposals since Genesis's announcement on 17 April 2023, showing their eagerness to acquire St Barbara's Leonora assets.

The Leonora operation, which has produced three million ounces of gold since 2005, includes the Gwalia underground mine and processing plant.

Silver Lake asserts that their improved offer matches Genesis's cash consideration and provides St Barbara's shareholders with immediate exposure to a larger, more diverse gold business.

St Barbara's response is pending.

🚨Silver X Backs Off Doomed Silver Mine

Silver X Mining Corp. shared that they've had to call off their agreement to buy the Revenue-Virginius Mine and some related assets from Alliance Management LLC.

This asset was previously held by Aurcana and ultimately sucked more money than it ever produced, decimating the previous company’s share price.

The CEO, José M. García and team, said that they'd been working hard to come up with a plan that would benefit everyone involved.

Still, some things were just out of their hands, making it challenging to go ahead.

The company has decided to stop putting money into the receivership process since they're not really sure it's worth it and want to keep their main assets in Peru in good shape.

📈 Chart of The Day

Happy Speculating!

The Editor

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.