We know from figure skating: After the compulsory part, comes the free skating. This principle also applies to exploration. Granite Creek Copper Ltd. (TSX.V: GCX; FRA: GRK) has successfully completed Phases 1 and 2 of its drill holes at the Carmacks Project in the Yukon and, from all indications, the they will be very successful in expanding historically known resources in a kind of compulsory part. That is what they set out to do. A total of 39 holes were drilled (20 holes in the form of RC drill holes). However, only 9 drill holes are back from the lab meaning plenty of newsflow to come.

Granite Creek Copper (TSX.V: GCX; FRA: GRK) is expanding the potential of its Carmacks copper-gold-silver project in this year's drill program with renewed high-grade copper discoveries below the previously defined resource.

Everyone wants environmentally friendly mining and the cleanup of contaminated sites. But when in doubt, small start-ups have to find the money themselves. This can be seen in the case of Cerro de Pasco Resources Inc. (CSE: CDPR; FRA: N8HP), which has set out with the vision of completely acquiring the Peruvian scandal project of the same name and rehabilitating it from the ground up, while continuing its commercial operations.

Alianza Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V: ANZ, OTCQB: TARSF) (“Alianza” or the “Company”) reports it has acquired additional data pertaining to the Company’s Yanac Copper Project in Peru. Yanac is a drill-ready copper porphyry project located 50 km northeast of the town of Chincha Alta and 60 km from the Pacific coast.

The U.S., not to mention the entire West, needs to rethink its commodity supply chains. The realization is uncomfortable: for the beautiful vision of a fully electrified future, more mining is needed, not less. And geostrategic arguments aside, there are good reasons for taking the extraction of raw materials back into our own hands. After all, where better to ensure responsible extraction than on our own doorstep? The necessary change in mentality is a challenge for an entire generation.

There is no transition from fossil fuels to green energy without copper. There is no substitute for its use in electric motors; charging infrastructure and wiring, batteries, inverters, wind and solar power, and even 5G. Leading experts therefore consider copper the most critical of all critical metals because, unlike graphite or rare earths, for example, there is an actual shortage of copper. Goldman Sachs even predicts a return to the "structural bull market" of the 2000s, when most commodity prices boomed because demand exceeded available supply, especially in China and India. But unlike the previous supercycle, which depended on China, Goldman states the impending structural bull market will be driven by green energy spending, of which copper is a key component.

The pros have long had Group Ten Metals Inc. (TSX.V: PGE; FRA: 5D32) on the radar: The company has attracted the attention of major international mining groups who want a behind-the-scenes look at Group Ten's polymetallic Ni-Cu-Co PGE project, Stillwater West. Today's news - an initial summary of last year's drilling at the project - again underlines why these groups are so interested. The world-class special status of this large-scale project for battery metals in the USA is becoming increasingly clear - and this despite the fact that not even an initial resource has been published yet. Group Ten now wants to deliver this in the middle of 2021, taking into account the drillings that have just been published. By then at the latest, the broad market should also recognise the potential.