Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said he isn’t taking a “blanket approach” to approving critical mineral investment opportunities. He made the statement Wednesday at the Toronto Global Forum, in response to a question about his recent meeting with Saudi Arabia’s mining minister. (The Logic)

Talking point: Gulf States are increasingly backing international mining groups looking to disrupt China’s prominence in mineral processing. Middle Eastern nations are tightening their grip on investment in natural- resource rich Africa. Gulf investors’ growing interest in U.S. technology—including potential AI investments, and talk of a US$40-billion investment fund with Silicon-Valley based Andreessen Horowitz—is emerging as a potential point of tension in the U.S. Canada has been cracking down on mining deals with foreign state-owned entities, but with a focus so far on China. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia’s Manara Minerals is in talks to purchase a minority stake in Canadian mining company First Quantum Minerals’ Zambian copper and nickel assets.