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Kazakhstan cranks up taxes on uranium

Kazakhstan, the world’s largest uranium producer, has announced significant changes to its mineral extraction tax (MET) regime for uranium. Effective January 1, 2025, the MET rate will increase from 6% to 9%. Furthermore, from January 1, 2026, the tax will be calculated using a differentiated approach based on annual production volumes and uranium prices.

Kazatomprom, Kazakhstan’s national nuclear company, detailed these changes in a press release, noting that they stem from recent amendments to the nation’s tax code introduced on July 1, 2024. This revision will see the tax base for the MET on uranium determined by the weighted average price of natural uranium concentrate (U3O8) from public sources, multiplied by the mined amount.

You can read more on the matter here.

What’s going on?

• Israeli Report Suggests Up To 369% Floating Levy on Canadian Cannabis Imports (theDeepDive)

• Canada’s Housing Market Starts to Strengthen After Rate Cut (Bloomberg)

• German shock at reported Russian assassination plot (BBC)

• SpaceX Falcon 9 suffers rare failure in space, imperiling Starlink mission (Reuters)

• Bipartisan Group of US Senators Reaches Deal to Ban Lawmaker Stock Trading (theDeepDive)

• Japan data suggests possible yen intervention of around $22 billion (CNBC)

• Biden slips but reasserts his fitness to serve in high-stakes NATO remarks (Globe)

• AT&T says data from 109 million US customer accounts illegally downloaded (Reuters)

• 70-Year-Old Elizabeth May: "Baby Boomers Have F*cked This Planet" (theDeepDive)

• Tesla cars included in Chinese government’s purchase catalog for the first time (CNN)

• CREA cuts housing market forecast for 2024 despite June sales rising (BNN)

What’s the latest?

• Rio Tinto Shopping: Rio Tinto Group is considering potential bids for companies, including Teck Resources Ltd., according to Sky News. Teck, having sold its coal business to Glencore Plc, is seen as an attractive target but any takeover would need the support of its controlling shareholder, Norman Keevil.

• Gold Smuggling: A SwissAid report reveals that billions of dollars worth of gold is smuggled out of Africa annually, mainly to the UAE for processing. The illicit trade, amounting to $23.7-$35 billion each year, undermines democracy, finances conflict, and facilitates money laundering. The UAE has acknowledged the issue, increasing inspections and fines, and suspending the accreditation of a major gold refinery over money laundering concerns.

• Shock Therapy: Argentinian President Milei is delaying increases in fuel taxes and utility prices to curb inflation, despite potential market concerns. These delays highlight the difficulty of fixing Argentina's economy without exacerbating inflation. Though his administration has made progress in reducing inflation and achieving a budget surplus, challenges like a slow peso depreciation and foreign reserve accumulation persist.

• UniLever Cuts: Unilever plans to cut up to 3,200 office roles in Europe by the end of 2025 as part of CEO Hein Schumacher's strategy to revive growth at the company. This move is part of a broader productivity programme announced in March, which includes up to 7,500 layoffs globally.

• Gold: Gold prices dropped below $2,400 an ounce after US producer price inflation figures exceeded expectations, reducing hopes for a Federal Reserve rate cut in September. The producer price index rose 0.2% in June, higher than the forecasted 0.1%, dampening earlier optimism for lower interest rates which typically benefit gold.

Silver $300, Copper $40: 2030 Outlook

The stock market and stuff

• First Majestic Silver Corp: $30 Silver = $100M+ More Cashflow (theDeepDive)

• JPMorgan Notches Record Profit on Visa Gain, Dealmaking Jump (Bloomberg)

• Rio Tinto studies potential bid proposal for Teck (BNN)

• GoldMining, Inc: Breaking the Gold Equity Value Trap (theDeepDive)

• Pump.fun, Crypto’s ‘4chan,’ Attracts Iggy Azalea and 1 Million Memecoins (Bloomberg)

• Seabridge Gold: 47 Million Ounces and Counting (theDeepDive)

In the juniors

• Alaska Energy Raises $3.6 Million In New Funding For Exploring Nickel Prospect (theDeepDive)

• RUA Gold Begins Drill Testing High-Grade Targets At Murray Creek (theDeepDive)

• Victoria Gold Admits To Detecting Cyanide Downstream Of Heap Leach Incident (theDeepDive)

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