The China-based mining giant has made an all-cash offer to acquire Allied Gold, which has been under strategic review since 2024, and said it held merger talks with several suitors it thought could help it weather “operational and geopolitical risks.” The company said Zijin’s bid matched its highest-ever share price. Although Allied’s mines are in Mali, Côte d’Ivoire and Ethiopia, the Toronto-based company said the deal still needs approval under the Investment Canada Act. (The Logic)

Talking point: The proposed takeover highlights the booming gold market—and will also be a test of Ottawa’s warming relationship with Beijing. M&A deal size in Canada’s gold industry tripled in 2025, according to law firm Bennett Jones, and Allied could further benefit from gold prices passing US$5,000 per ounce for the first time Sunday night. The Canadian government’s review of the deal will be closely watched as it tries to reset its economic relationship with China after blocking Chinese investors from mining deals over the past five years. The changing economic relationship between the two countries is under scrutiny in Washington, where scuttling Chinese mining investments remains a high priority.