Happy Saturday! Pour the weekend double-double, because this is the week in five stories, ranked by you.
Five dispatches went out this week, so every edition made the cut. What you decided was the order. Ranked by open rate (web reads as the tiebreaker), here they are, each led by the story that carried it.
The week in one line: Canada's biggest copper mine went on strike, Eldorado admitted its flagship is running late, the drill bits found two monster veins, and gold slid from $4,016 on Monday to $3,896.50 by Friday while WTI climbed back above $104.
🥇 #1: Teck's Biggest Copper Mine Walks Off the Job
The story. Teck Resources ($TCK.B.TSX ( ▼ 4.88% )) is running Highland Valley Copper at reduced capacity after United Steelworkers Local 7619 walked out on October 24. All 944 members who cast a ballot voted yes. Highland Valley is Canada's largest copper mine and produced 127,100 tonnes in 2025, about 28% of Teck's output.
Why you read it. It lands in the middle of Teck's merger with Anglo American, with copper already near record highs. Anyone holding copper paper wanted to know how much supply just went quiet.
The skeptic's footnote. Teck hasn't put a number on the production hit; it says the damage depends on how long the strike runs. Bullish for the metal, not for Teck's near-term guidance. Watch the calendar, not the headline.
🥈 #2: Eldorado's Skouries Slip Costs It Nearly a Fifth of Its Gold Guidance
The story. Eldorado Gold ($ELD.TSX ( ▼ 5.59% )) cut its 2026 consolidated gold guidance to 425,000 to 475,000 ounces, from 495,000 to 600,000, after its Skouries copper-gold project in Greece ramped up slower than planned. Skouries' own 2026 guidance fell to 10,000 to 35,000 ounces from 60,000 to 100,000, and total project capital is now pegged near $1.425 billion.
Why you read it. On the midpoint, that's a cut of roughly 18%. Late and over budget is the familiar genre of mid-tier pain, and this week it had a marquee name attached.
The skeptic's footnote. The base business is fine: assets outside Skouries and McIlvenna Bay still guide to 410,000 to 430,000 ounces. The test is whether commercial production at Skouries actually lands in late Q4 as promised.
🥉 #3: Lundin Gold Strikes a 242-Gram Monster at Fruta del Norte
The story. Lundin Gold (TSX: LUG; OTC: $LUGDF ( ▼ 3.16% )) reported near-mine drilling around its Fruta del Norte complex in Ecuador. Hole BLP-2026-559 ran 242.64 g/t gold over 3.30 metres at Bonza Sur, the best interval ever recorded there. At FDNS, FDN-C26-535 cut 124.27 g/t over 11.00 metres, including one metre at 1,290.00 g/t. Conversion drilling has also started at FDN East, less than 100 metres from existing infrastructure.
Why you read it. A cash-flowing, debt-free producer putting up bonanza grade the same week bullion cracked $4,000 is a reminder that good rock can outrun a soft tape.
The skeptic's footnote. These are drill intercepts, not ounces in a reserve. The next resource update has to capture Bonza Sur and FDN East before any of this shows up in the mine plan.
🧭 #4: FireFly Metals Finds Fresh Copper-Gold Next to a Mothballed Mill
The story. FireFly Metals (TSX, ASX: FFM) made a new copper-gold VMS discovery at Mount Joy, part of its Green Bay project in Newfoundland, just 2.6 kilometres from its idle Nugget Pond mill. Discovery hole FFR26-071 returned 22.5 metres of 2.5% copper-equivalent from 109 metres, including 9.0 metres of 3.9% CuEq (3.0% copper and 1.0 g/t gold). Follow-up hole FFR26-076 logged about 40 metres of semi-massive sulphides.
Why you read it. New grade within trucking distance of a mill the company already owns is the kind of find that shortens the road back to production. The shares jumped more than 9% on the news.
The skeptic's footnote. True widths aren't locked down and FFR26-076's assays are still pending. One hole is a discovery, not a resource. The roughly A$368 million in the bank means FireFly can keep testing it hard.
📉 #5: Gold's Worst October Since 2008 Erases $140 Billion From Miners
The story. Spot gold fell as much as 3.2% on Friday to $3,891.67/oz, its weakest level since October 2025, and silver slid 5.8% to close below $50 for the first time in nearly a year. A tanker attack in the Strait of Hormuz revived inflation fears, and traders now price better than 70% odds of a December Fed hike. Kinross ($K.TSX ( ▼ 6.63% )) fell as much as 7.7%, and the top five North American gold names have shed close to $140 billion from their 52-week highs.
Why you read it. Gold is on pace for a roughly 6% October drop and sits about 28% below its January record. If you hold juniors, this was the day your margin clerk called.
The skeptic's footnote. This reads like a liquidity shock, not a broken thesis. (This edition went out Friday evening, so it had only a few hours to collect opens; it would likely rank higher with a full day.)
📰 Also Moving This Week
Ovintiv turns a rumour into a cheque. $OVV ( ▲ 1.47% ) is buying Logan Energy (TSXV: LGN) for C$1.40 a share, about C$1.26 billion including debt, adding roughly 266,000 net Montney acres. (Oct 26)
Nova Minerals clears its last permit. $NVA ( ▲ 8.86% ) got final Alaska approval for its antimony project, with Phase 1 already funded by a US$43.4 million U.S. Department of War award and production targeted for 2027. (Oct 27)
West Red Lake cuts Madsen guidance by about a quarter. West Red Lake Gold (TSXV: WRLG; OTC: $WRLGF ( ▼ 4.91% )) now expects 27,000 to 32,000 ounces this year, down from 35,000 to 45,000, blaming a shortage of skilled underground workers. Shares fell 12%. (Oct 28)
Whitecap raises guidance for the third time. $WCP.TSX ( ▲ 0.36% ) bumped its monthly dividend to $0.0617 and set a 2027 budget of $2.4 to $2.6 billion aimed at 400,000 to 410,000 boe/d. (Oct 29)
AltaGas posts a record quarter. $ALA.TSX ( ▼ 1.25% ) exported a record 147,176 bbl/d of LPG to Asia and lifted normalized EBITDA to $389 million from $268 million. The Trigon terminal strike is the thing to watch. (Oct 30)
Keep your grades high and your dilution low. See you Monday. ⛏️
