What you need to know: • The metals and mining market showed a third straight month of strong gains in March as investors moved into safe haven assets to protect from trade tensions and economic uncertainty. • In March, gold was up 3.4%, silver was up 0.8%, and copper was up 6.1%. The equities largely outperformed compared to the commodities, with the GDX up 15.7%, GDXJ up 17.6%, and SIL up 13.6%. • The Trump administration announced an executive order to increase American mineral production across critical minerals, uranium, copper, potash, and gold. The metals and mining market posted a stellar month in March on the back of escalating global economic uncertainty, stemming from the Trump-led trade tensions. Investors flocked to safe-haven assets like gold, which was up 3.4% in the month, reaching all-time highs of $3,132/oz; despite the 10-year yield increasing slightly during the month. This compares to silver up 0.8% and platinum down 2.6%. Equities outperformed the commodity prices with the GDX up 15.7%, GDXJ up 17.6%, and SILJ up 13.6%. This outperformed broader markets with the S&P500 and TSX down 5.7% and 1.9%, respectively. Copper posted another strong month with spot prices up 6.1% while the COPX was up 2.2%. The other metals and commodities were mixed, with cobalt as the best performer (up 41%) on fears of an export ban from the DRC. We will reiterate that despite the increased commodity prices, equities are trading at below average multiples, telling us that the market does not trust the upward move in the underlying commodities. If the gold price can sustain these levels over the coming months, it is only a matter of time before we get a re-rate in valuations. Financings in March continued to be highly elevated, growing over January and February as generalist investors continued to move into the sector. Companies that struggled to raise $1-5M last year are now raising $10M+. M&A was quite low during the month, similar to February. However, we expect M&A to be a major theme for the sector in the second half of 2025 as the valuation spread between the majors and juniors is massive. The most notable news came on March 20th, when the Trump administration created an executive order to increase American mineral production across critical minerals, uranium, copper, potash, and gold. The executive order aims to create jobs, fuel prosperity, and reduce reliance on foreign nations. Companies under coverage that directly benefit from this include Sailfish Royalties (FISH:TSXV), Allegiant Gold (AUAU:TSXV), and even BQE Water (BQE:TSXV).