The Hidden Potential of Trump’s Critical Minerals Stockpile – by Rebecca Egan McCarthy (Grist.org – March 5, 2026)
Despite a broader rollback of renewable-friendly policies, the Trump administration has accelerated efforts to build a domestic critical‑minerals stockpile. The move targets metals essential for both advanced military hardware and clean‑energy technologies, aiming to reduce U.S. reliance on China. By streamlining permits and launching new procurement programs, the government hopes to secure supply chains for batteries, wind turbines, and solar components. Analysts see the stockpile as a potential, if underutilized, lever for future renewable deployment.
PDAC 2026: Canada Doubles Down on Mining as Investment Attractiveness Score Peaks – by Georgia Williams (Investing News Network –...
At PDAC 2026, Canada announced more than C$3.6 billion in new investments to accelerate its critical minerals sector. The package includes up to C$165.2 million for 22 projects, unlocking over C$434 million in private capital across eight provinces. A C$1.5 billion First and Last...
Alaska Mine Value Hits New Heights in 2025 – by Shane Lasley (North of 60 Mining News – March 4,...
Alaska’s mining sector posted a record $6.5 billion production value in 2025, a 38% jump from the previous year. The increase was driven primarily by soaring precious‑metal prices, even as zinc output at Red Dog fell and gold production missed the...
The Cost of Being Wrong: What SME and PDAC Revealed About the Next Exploration Cycle
The latest SME and PDAC gatherings revealed a mining exploration cycle defined by soaring drill costs and tighter capital discipline. Attendees emphasized deeper scrutiny of permitting timelines, jurisdictional risk, and the assumptions behind geological models. While AI and machine‑learning tools...
Betterbrands Refinery Ready for Official Opening
The Betterbrands Gold Refinery in Bulawayo is fully constructed and poised for its inaugural ceremony, marking the company’s shift from Zimbabwe’s top gold buyer to a fully integrated refiner. CEO Fradreck Kunaka confirmed operational readiness, with the launch expected imminently....
Volta Metals’ Springer Deposit Surges Into North America’s Rare Earth Top Tier After Tenfold Resource Expansion
Volta Metals announced that its Springer rare‑earth deposit in Ontario has grown tenfold to 176 million tonnes, including 56.6 million tonnes indicated and 119.5 million tonnes inferred, placing it among North America’s ten largest deposits. The project hosts the core four rare‑earth elements—neodymium,...
Gold Buying Prices in Zimbabwe per Gram/ Ounce, 6 March 2026
Fidelity Gold Refinery (FGR) published its official gold buying rates for Zimbabwe on 6 March 2026. The fire‑assay cash price tops the table at $155.94 per gram ($4,850.28 per ounce) for gold above 100 g, while SG 90 %+ gold is priced at $155.12 per...
Amex Exploration Signs Exploration Agreement with Apitipi Anicinapek Nation of Ontario
Amex Exploration Inc. has signed an Exploration Agreement with the Apitipi Anicinapek Nation (AAN) to collaborate on its Perron West, Abbotsford and Hepburn projects in Ontario. The deal creates a community fund tied to Amex's exploration spend and opens employment,...
Irving Resources Announces Further Drilling Results at the Yamagano Joint Venture, Kyushu, Japan
Irving Resources reported high‑grade gold assay results from drill hole 25SY-003 at the Yamagano joint venture in Kyushu, confirming an eastward extension of mineralized veins. The hole intersected multiple zones, including a 1.0‑metre interval grading 23.36 gpt Au and 9.12 gpt Ag,...
BCM Resources Corp Hires Drillers for Upcoming Thompson Knolls Exploration Program
BCM Resources Corp announced a fully‑funded 2026 drill campaign at its 100% owned Thompson Knolls porphyry‑skarn Cu‑Ag‑Au‑Mo discovery in British Columbia. The program contracts National EWP to operate a Schramm Epiroc 685 reverse‑circulation rig and TonaTec Exploration to run an...
Market Morsel: Why It’s Important to Understand the True Value of Our Grain.
The article explains that grain basis is the difference between local spot prices and futures contracts, serving as the local market adjustment on top of global pricing. In Australia, wheat basis is measured against CBOT wheat futures in Australian dollars...
US Trade Deal Steals a Fifth of Indonesian Wheat Demand From Australia
Indonesia has signed a memorandum of understanding to import roughly 2 million tonnes of wheat annually from the United States, representing about 17% of its total wheat demand. The deal effectively earmarks a fifth of the market for U.S. exporters, removing...
OPINION: If We Want to Build a Stronger Canada and Protect Ontario, We Must Empower Greater Sudbury – by Paul...
Mayor Paul Lefebvre urges the federal government to designate Greater Sudbury as a Special Economic Zone, allowing the city to capture a larger share of revenues from its abundant nickel and copper mines. He argues that these critical minerals underpin...
Mining Giant Rio Tinto Will Prospect for Copper in Sahtu – by Avery Zingel (CBC News North – March 02,...
Rio Tinto has secured 26 prospecting licences along the Keele River in the Sahtu region of the Northwest Territories, aiming to locate copper deposits. The licences allow the company to explore and potentially stake mineral claims, marking its first major...
PDAC 2026: Gold and Copper Are the Go-Tos as Investors Seek Tangible Assets Amid Ongoing Global Uncertainty – by Jane...
At PDAC 2026, mining executives warned that investors are rotating from growth‑focused assets to tangible value plays, spotlighting gold and copper. They cite a weakening U.S. dollar and persistent geopolitical uncertainty as catalysts for the shift. Mining equities, which once...
Nickel Nationalism Holds Back Indonesia’s Clean Tech Ambitions – by Riandy Laksono (East Asia Forum – March 5, 2026)
Indonesia’s 2020 ban on raw‑nickel exports sparked a surge in domestic smelting and processing, positioning the country as a textbook case of resource‑based industrialisation. Yet its clean‑technology ambitions remain modest: EV exports totaled only US$12 million in 2024, dwarfed by Thailand’s...
PGI Takes Control of Muchesu as RBZ Approves Restructured Shareholding
Pacific Goal Investments (PGI) has acquired a 51% majority stake and operational control of the Muchesu coal project in north‑western Zimbabwe after obtaining registration from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. The ownership restructuring transfers the US$20 million funding commitment originally made...
Mine Workers Throw Weight Behind Lithium Export Ban, Call for Inclusive Implementation
Zimbabwe’s largest mine workers union, ZDAMWU, has welcomed the government’s suspension of raw mineral and lithium concentrate exports, framing it as a step toward in‑country value addition consistent with the Africa Mining Vision. The union stresses that the transition must...
Daily Mineral Prices – 5 March 2026
The Daily Mineral Prices report for March 5 2026 highlights notable movements across several key commodities. Lithium carbonate and hydroxide prices range from $12,000 to $27,000 per tonne, reflecting heightened volatility linked to electric‑vehicle battery demand. Spodumene concentrate surged to $2,190‑$2,260 per...
Mexico’s Mining Always Got the Silver Spoon Treatment. Now It Must Reinvent Itself to Survive
Silver prices exploded from just over $20 an ounce in late 2024 to a peak of $120 in early 2026, driven by geopolitical uncertainty and soaring demand from solar and electric‑vehicle technologies. Mexico, the world’s largest silver producer, extracted roughly...
Cabinet Approves Tougher Line on Riverbed Mining: ‘Polluter Pays’ Principle to Drive Ecosystem Rehabilitation
Zimbabwe's Cabinet approved a new legislative framework that moves beyond the 2024 ban on alluvial river‑bed mining to active ecosystem rehabilitation. The Inter‑Ministerial Committee reported that mechanised mining has largely ceased, while enforcement actions have led to over 300 arrests...
PDAC: Canada Must Build Processing Now, Panelists Say – by Frederic Tomesco (Mining.com – March 2, 2026)
Canada faces a historic chance to add processing capacity as new mines come online amid a global resource boom, panelists warned at the PDAC convention. While the Toronto Stock Exchange lists over 1,095 mining issuers worth C$600 billion, foreign takeovers have...
Discovery Acquires Kidd Operations From Glencore – by Andrew Autio (Timmins Daily Press – March 2, 2026)
Discovery Mining announced a definitive agreement to purchase Glencore Canada’s 100% stake in the Kidd Operations, encompassing the Kidd Creek copper‑zinc‑silver mine, its metallurgical plant, and tailings facilities near Timmins. The deal positions Discovery as an emerging gold producer, with...
Doug Ford Says Controversial Bill 5 Not Needed in Ring of Fire Deal – by Moira Welsh (Toronto Star –...
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced an accelerated road‑building schedule for the Ring of Fire, promising completion by late 2030—five years ahead of original plans. The province signed new economic agreements with the Marten Falls and Webequie First Nations, complementing a federal deal...
Critical Minerals in Focus as Major Toronto Mining Conference Underway – by Ian Bickis(CTV News Northern Ontario – March 2,...
The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto, drawing over 27,000 attendees, has placed critical minerals at the forefront of its agenda. Industry leaders warned that geopolitical fragmentation is heightening supply‑chain vulnerability for metals such as copper,...
Jack Lifton Interviews James Deckelman on Deep Sea Minerals and the Strategic Push Into Seabed Critical Minerals
Jack Lifton interviewed Deep Sea Minerals CEO James Deckelman about the company’s push into polymetallic seabed nodules as a new source of critical minerals. Deckelman highlighted a projected doubling of demand by 2040, a widening supply gap, and soaring copper...
Brownfield Exploration Gives Copper Supply Breathing Time
The rate of discovering new copper deposits has fallen by half over the past decade, driven by a roughly 60% drop in grassroots exploration funding. In contrast, brownfield and mine‑site exploration has supplied four times more copper than greenfield discoveries,...
Riot Delivers Record Revenue as Mining Industry Feels the Squeeze
Riot Platforms reported a record $647.4 million revenue for 2025, a 72 % increase year‑over‑year, driven primarily by $576.3 million in bitcoin mining revenue and higher hash‑rate output. The company produced 5,686 BTC, up from 4,828 the prior year, but its average cost to...
The ZiG Barrier: How Bank Account Requirements Could Derail Gold Deliveries
Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank introduced a 90:10 ZiG payment split for artisanal gold miners, requiring bank accounts to receive the 10% government share. Miners can prove identity with a national ID, but banks demand proof of residence, company registration and impose...
What Is the Difference Between Rare Metals vs Rare Earth Elements?
The article clarifies that “rare metals” and “rare earth elements” are distinct concepts. Rare metals are an industrial label for low‑volume, supply‑concentrated metals often produced as by‑products, while rare earths are a scientifically defined group of 17 elements. Key examples...
Advanced Hearing Aids: Tiny Magnets for Better Sound
Advanced hearing aids now function as AI‑driven, Bluetooth‑enabled mini‑computers, thanks to rare‑earth elements that enable ultra‑compact magnets and efficient LEDs. Neodymium‑iron‑boron magnets and dysprosium‑stabilized alloys shrink speakers while preserving sound quality, and europium‑based phosphors power low‑draw status lights. The global...
New Report Outlines Key Considerations for a Just Transition for Mining and Steel
ResponsibleSteel and the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) released a landmark report on how voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) can drive a just transition in the mining and steel sectors. The study outlines nine guiding principles and five concrete recommendations...
Iran Conflict Creates Opportunity and Risk for Australian Grain
Escalating conflict between Iran, Israel and the United States has forced the Strait of Hormuz shut, pushing crude oil prices up 8‑10% and reverberating through agricultural markets. Higher energy costs raise nitrogen fertilizer prices and boost biofuel demand, tightening grain...
The Minerals of War: Criticality in an Age of AI and Artillery
The article expands the "mineral imperative" concept, arguing that global demand for metals and critical minerals must roughly double by 2050 to sustain development, decarbonisation, digitalisation and now defence. While population growth, urbanisation, electrification and AI have already driven material...
Gold to Surge After U.S. Strike on Iran
A U.S. and Israeli strike on Iran broke over the weekend, prompting immediate reactions in precious‑metal markets. Because traditional markets are closed, the first price signal came from crypto‑linked gold tokens, with Tether Gold jumping 1.57% to about $5,341 per...
Worker Dies in an Accident at Chinese Owned Prospect Lithium, Body Spends Almost 12 Hours at Scene
A worker died in an early‑morning incident at Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe's processing plant, specifically in the conveyor‑belt section. Police arrived later in the afternoon and the body remained on site for almost twelve hours before being released to relatives at...
MP's "Strong" Quarter: Accelerated Production, Long-Term Agreements With Major Tech Companies
MP Materials posted a fourth‑quarter revenue of $52.7 million and net income of $9.4 million, buoyed by a U.S. Department of War price‑floor agreement. The company recorded a 12% year‑over‑year increase in rare‑earth oxide concentrate, producing a record 50,692 metric tons, and more...
National and International Organisations Express Concern over Another Ruling Against Environmental Defenders Regarding the Curipamba–El Domo Mining Project, Las Naves,...
National and international NGOs condemned the Quevedo Criminal Court's decision to imprison three environmental defenders for four years and impose a fine of fifteen basic salaries. The rulings are part of a broader wave of criminalisation targeting 32 activists opposing...
Better Blasting: Eureka Mine and AECI Mining Partner to Drive Downstream Efficiencies
Eureka Mine in Zimbabwe has replaced legacy shock‑tube blasting with AECI’s IntelliShot® electronic initiation system, giving engineers millisecond‑accurate control over detonations. The upgrade enabled blast sizes to jump from 30,000 to 110,000 bcm and cut monthly blast frequency from ten...
Delfin LNG Pipeline Explosion Underscores Dangers of Fossil Fuel Infrastructure, Casts Doubt on Project Viability
On February 3, a 28‑mile gas pipeline belonging to the Delfin LNG project exploded near Holly Beach, Louisiana, creating an 80‑foot fire and injuring an operator who has filed a $1 million lawsuit. The blast occurred on a 50‑year‑old pipeline repurposed...
AMSZ to Conduct Q1 Technical Visit at Pickstone Peerless Mine
The Association of Mine Surveyors of Zimbabwe (AMSZ) will hold its first‑quarter technical visit at the Dallaglio Pickstone Peerless Mine on 27 March 2026. The eight‑hour event offers members hands‑on exposure to one of Zimbabwe’s premier gold producers and awards five CPD...
Construction Begins on Berens River Bridge, a Key Link for Frontier Lithium’s PAK Project – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario...
Construction of the Berens River bridge has begun in northwestern Ontario, with M.D. Steele Construction appointed as the primary contractor. The bridge will provide a permanent road crossing for Frontier Lithium’s PAK open‑pit mine, located 175 km north of Red Lake. The...
Proposed Ring of Fire Mine in Northern Ontario Clears Another Regulatory Hurdle – by Liam Casey (Canadian Press – February...
Wyloo’s Eagle’s Nest project in Ontario’s Ring of Fire cleared a key regulatory step after the federal government decided not to subject it to a formal impact assessment. The move comes despite protests from some First Nations, who remain divided...
Mexican Security Risks Highlighted in New Reports – by Frédéric Tomesco (Mining.com – February 25, 2026)
TD Cowen highlighted growing security concerns in Mexico’s mining sector after a January abduction and killings of ten Vizsla Silver employees. Mexico contributes roughly 28% of global mine‑site silver, plus 4% of gold and 3% of copper, making the region strategically vital....
It May Be a Long Wait for the Next Big Rally in Nickel Prices – by Brian Donovan (Globe and...
Nickel prices began climbing in mid‑December 2025 as Indonesia signaled tighter supply, nudging the benchmark above US$17,000 per tonne. The market’s earlier volatility – a US$100,000‑per‑tonne spike in March 2022 that forced an LME trading halt – contrasts with the...
Illegal Gold Mining Surges Into New Parts of Peru’s Amazon, Threatening Rivers and Lives – by Steven Grattan (Associated Press...
Illegal gold mining is expanding from the southern Madre de Dios basin into Peru’s northern Amazon regions of Loreto and Ucayali, following remote river corridors. The surge accelerates deforestation, mercury contamination of waterways, and exposes Indigenous communities to violence and organized...
Opinion: The Hidden Costs of ‘100 per Cent Renewable’ – by Dave McGruer and Bryan Leyland (Financial Post – February...
Microsoft announced it now sources 100% of its electricity from renewable sources, a headline touted as a climate milestone. The article contends that such claims mask the physical reality that intermittent wind and solar require dispatchable backup generation to keep...
Shadow Partners: China’s Collaboration with Terrorist Groups to Plunder Venezuela’s Strategic Minerals (Dialogo Americas – February 24, 2026)
Investigative reporting reveals that Chinese firms are profiting from the illicit extraction of Venezuela’s “black sands” – coltan, niobium and tin – by partnering with armed groups. The minerals travel via river and land routes into Colombia, where fraudulent paperwork...
Premier Issues Another 303 Million Shares to JR Goddard as Dilution Spiral Deepens
Premier African Minerals has issued an additional 303.8 million ordinary shares to J.R. Goddard Contracting, settling US$77,765 of fees. The issuance brings the company's total issued share capital to roughly 14.21 billion shares, up from 9.35 billion six months earlier, representing about 5.73 billion new...
Weekly Notes (2/25/2026)
Avino Silver released its 2026 guidance, targeting 2.5 million ounces at a $26 per ounce all‑in sustaining cost (AISC), a figure that falls short of analyst expectations but signals continued organic production growth. Discovery Silver disclosed a robust $410 million cash balance,...
