What you need to know: • The metals and mining market continued its strong run in May, driven by inflationary concerns due to the trade war and geopolitical tensions. • In May, gold was up 1.8%, silver was up 1.7%, and copper was also up 1.7%. The equities outperformed the commodities, with the GDX up 3.3%, GDXJ up 6.4%, SIL up 5.9%, and COPX up 8.7%. • Financings remained elevated during May, with multiple juniors raising over $10M as generalist capital returns to the sector. • M&A activity continued to be strong in May as the major firms look to utilize their boosted cash flow to purchase juniors at discounted prices. Sentiment Update The mining sector extended its strong performance into May, posting its fifth consecutive month of gains. Markets were driven by continued strength in gold prices, improved macro sentiment, and increased financing activity. The strong performance was led by persistent inflation concerns on the back of the trade wars, geopolitical tensions, and central bank buying. Gold was up 1.8% in the month, reaching further all-time highs despite the 10-year yield increasing. Silver was up 1.7%, ending the diverging trend between the two metals. Equities outperformed the commodity prices with the GDX up 3.3%, GDXJ up 6.4%, and SILJ up 5.9%. We were highly encouraged by the performance of the juniors as they play catch up to the larger firms and capital trickles down the sector. The mining equities underperformed broader markets with the S&P 500 and TSX up 6.5% and 5.4%, respectively. Copper also performed in line with the other metals, being up 1.7% while the COPX was up a sizeable 8.7%. The other metals and commodities fairly flat, with the best performer being platinum (+8%) and the worst performer being lithium (-10%). Financings remained highly elevated in May, including several bought deals and strategic placements exceeding C$50M. M&A also continued to be strong, with key transactions such as Pan American’s acquisition of MAG Silver and ongoing consolidation in the silver and uranium sectors.