Moving tectonic plates have effectively changed our definition of exactly where we are on Earth’s surface. The coordinate systems used across North America are outdated and, in some places, can be off by a couple of meters. Part of the problem is that the ground beneath us is constantly moving, while improvements in satellite technology have allowed us to pinpoint locations with far greater precision.

The US is now updating its national spatial reference system to correct these discrepancies, so when the change takes effect next year, the coordinates of some locations will shift up to four meters. 

I plan to tie myself to a mast.  

In the Weekly Market Digest, persistent core inflation, strong US labor markets, and rising crude oil prices reinforced inflation concerns, pushing US real rates to a 52-week high while the US dollar closed near its 52-week high. 

Higher real rates kept gold flat despite the geopolitical crisis in the Middle East, while precious metal equities declined. Production cuts, particularly in Chile, supported copper prices but not the equities leveraged to them.

The Exploration Insights portfolio was basically flat last week but outperformed the major resource equity ETF benchmarks, led by a REE developer that achieved a major permitting milestone in the US. Meanwhile, a cash-flowing royalty generator closed an important M&A transaction in Mexico. 

In Stock Talk, I take a deep dive into a Top Pick royalty generator and its growing royalty and prospect-generation pipeline. I also review exploration updates from a copper explorer in the Yukon, a copper-gold explorer in Sweden and Perú, along with a gold-antimony explorer in Australia. 

Finally, I review another phase of metallurgical testwork supporting the run-of-mine heap leach flowsheet for an FS-stage oxide gold project in southern Idaho.