As British Columbia confronts out-of-control wildfires, Colombia is recovering from one of its most powerful and deadly earthquakes, a magnitude 7.4 event centered in Chocó. Reconstruction could cost about US$10 billion, or 1.5% of GDP, over the next few years.

The disaster presents a monumental challenge for the newly elected right-of-center President, who won by less than 1% and faces competing priorities: reconstruction spending, reducing government expenditures, and improving Colombia’s debt position.

As former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson famously put it, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” 

In the Weekly Market Digest, US inflation (July) was flat, lowering expectations of a benchmark rate increase by the Federal Reserve. The result was little movement in the US dollar or real rates, which supported gold, although precious metal equities underperformed the metal. Profit-taking may have weighed on base metal equities, particularly copper equities.

The Exploration Insights portfolio was up modestly last week, outperforming the base metal equity ETF benchmarks while roughly in line with the precious metal benchmarks. A Top Pick cash-flowing royalty generator led performance, reaching a new 52-week high along with several other positions. Profit-taking in two other Top Picks partially offset the gains.

In The Rant, I review the H1 2026 financial results of the North American-listed precious metal sector, focusing on the Top 5 producers. Higher precious metal prices more than offset weaker production and higher costs, generating more cash flow for shareholders.

In Stock Talk, a prospect generator partners a prospect in Nevada with a major producer, while a Top Pick royalty junior generates a polymetallic prospect in Arizona. A grassroots explorer reports encouraging results from a prospect in Sweden. Finally, I will be recognizing a partial return from an advanced explorer in Australia.