Mesabi Metallics Ties up $520 Million Credit Facility
Mesabi Metallics secured a $520 million senior secured credit facility from Valor Mining Credit Partners II, a mining‑focused fund backed by Breakwall Capital and Vitol. The financing supports the final phases of its $2.5 billion direct‑reduction iron ore mine and pellet plant in northern Minnesota, a project already backed by over $2 billion of Essai equity and U.S. Export‑Import Bank support. With more than 750 construction workers on site, the development is one of the largest private‑sector industrial investments in the region. CEO Joe Broking says the new DR‑grade ore will help U.S. steelmakers cut reliance on imports.
Closed Loop Partners Acquires Metal Processing Company
Closed Loop Partners, the New York‑based circular‑economy investor, has acquired a majority interest in Sutter Metals, a regional metal‑processing firm operating in Washington state. The partnership will fund expansion of processing capacity, geographic reach, and a buy‑and‑build M&A strategy targeting...
Proudly South African Drill Rigs without Human Intervention on Way
South Africa’s Master Drilling reported a record $292 million revenue and a near‑billion‑dollar 2026 order book, driven by its raise‑boring business which accounts for over 80% of sales. The company announced the development of fully autonomous raise‑boring rigs, targeting deployment before...
Mining’s Capital Challenge with Sir Mick Davis, Vision Blue Resources
The mining sector faces a paradox: demand for copper, lithium, nickel and rare earths is surging to power the energy transition, yet the cost of capital to develop new projects has reached historic highs. Sir Mick Davis explains that modern...
MPV Operators Face Worsening Bunker Fuel Supply Crisis as Stocks Tighten
Multipurpose vessel (MPV) operators are confronting a deepening bunker fuel shortage as the Middle East conflict disrupts supply chains across key hubs, including the Middle East, Asia and South Africa. Prices for low‑sulfur marine gas oil (LSMGO) and very low...
Guinea Calls Time on Runaway Bauxite Growth | Hotter Commodities
Guinea is abandoning blanket bauxite export caps and will enforce production levels that match each project's original feasibility study commitments. The regime also ties export permissions to value‑addition pledges, such as alumina refining and railway investments. As the world’s top...
Fuerte Launches Coffee Drill Program
Fuerte Metals has launched a 40,000‑meter drilling program at its Coffee Gold project in Yukon, aiming to upgrade inferred resources to indicated status ahead of a feasibility study due in late 2026. The deposit, acquired from Newmont, already hosts 80 Mt...
A Massive Boost in KSM Metal Resources
Seabridge Gold announced a refreshed resource estimate for its KSM project in British Columbia, incorporating higher long‑term metal price assumptions. The update adds 19.7 million ounces of gold, 5.7 billion pounds of copper, 151.5 million ounces of silver and 233 million pounds of molybdenum,...
Abu Dhabi's Adnoc Raises Apr Sulphur Price by $70/T
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOc) raised its April official selling price for sulphur destined for the Indian subcontinent to $600 per tonne, a $70 increase from March. The ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz has cut roughly half...
Sandvik Awarded Order for 13 Toro® LH515i Loaders From Codelco for Chuqui Underground
Sandvik secured an order from Chilean miner Codelco for 13 Toro LH515i load‑haul‑dump machines to support the Chuquicamata underground expansion. Deliveries start in March 2026 and run through November 2027, coinciding with the ramp‑up of a new production panel at one of the...
Santana Secures Build Slots for Bendigo-Ophir Project
Santana Minerals has secured a NZ$115 million ($65.8 million) build‑slot agreement with Komatsu New Zealand to supply the primary mobile fleet for the Bendigo‑Ophir gold project. The package includes PC3400 and PC2000 excavators, 140‑ton HD1500 haul trucks, plus dozers, loaders and graders, all...
CIS Macro and Credit: Commodity Buffers Cushion Middle East Risks
The ongoing Middle East conflict is reverberating through the CIS region via higher oil prices, trade disruptions and imported inflation. Commodity buffers are cushioning the shock: Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan see stronger export prospects, while Armenia’s reliance on fuel imports makes...
Google Signs Long-Term Deal with Amex GBT, Shell SAF Platform
Google has renewed its long‑term agreement with American Express Global Business Travel and Shell Aviation to source sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) data through the Avelia registry. The partnership, first launched in 2022, uses a book‑and‑claim model that lets business travelers...
Sigma Lithium Proves Shorts Wrong: Market Reversal Underway
Sigma Lithium (NASDAQ: SGML) posted a solid Q4 2025 quarter, generating $31 million in operating cash flow and cutting debt by roughly 35%. The company resolved a regulatory shutdown at its Groto De Cirilo mine and now projects cash flow above $100 million and...
Founders Factory, Rio Tinto Announce New Investments Through Mining Tech Accelerator
Founders Factory and Rio Tinto have invested in six mining‑tech startups after reviewing over 500 applications, marking the latest cohort of their accelerator program. The selected companies focus on exploration and processing innovations such as AI‑driven resource modeling, low‑cost lithium...
INPEX Extends Pertamina LNG Pact, Signs Upstream MoU in Southeast Asia
INPEX Corporation has extended its strategic LNG collaboration with Indonesia’s PT Pertamina through its Masela subsidiary, keeping the Abadi LNG project on track in the Arafura Sea. Simultaneously, INPEX signed a new upstream memorandum of understanding with Pertamina Hulu Energi to...
Latitude 66 Concludes Phase 2 Drilling at Laverton Gold Project
Latitude 66 has finished Phase 2 reverse‑circulation drilling at Western Australia’s Laverton Gold Project, completing 38 holes over 3,914 m. The program focused on the Red Dog and Tin Dog prospects, seeking to extend the existing 231,000‑ton resource at 1.82 g/t gold and to clarify shear‑zone...
DEScycle Is Developing Salt-Based Metallurgy to Decentralize Metals Recovery
DEScycle is commercializing a salt‑based iono‑metallurgy platform that uses deep eutectic solvents (DES) and electrocatalysts to dissolve and recover metals from e‑scrap at low temperature. The pilot process delivers over 99% recovery in under 15 minutes, dramatically cutting leach time...
Gold Fields to Trial Sandvik 66 Tonne Diesel-Electric Underground Truck at St Ives
Gold Fields announced a pilot of Sandvik’s 66‑tonne diesel‑electric underground haul truck at its St Ives mine in Western Australia, with contractor Byrnecut providing operational support. The test follows earlier battery‑electric loader trials and diesel‑electric pilots with Caterpillar and Epiroc,...
Trafo Delivers Custom Mini Substations to Power Zambian Underground Copper Mine
Trafo Power Solutions secured an order for seventeen custom mini substations to power an underground copper mine in Zambia. The units, comprising 800 kVA and 1,000 kVA dry‑type transformer packages, were engineered to fit the mine’s tight shaft‑cage dimensions and to be...
Epiroc Launches Underground Charging Suite
Swedish equipment maker Epiroc has introduced a new underground charging suite designed for battery‑electric mining fleets. The solution is OEM‑agnostic and can be installed up to 300 m from a central charging cabinet, offering a single charging platform for mixed‑fleet operations....
Chevron’s Wheatstone LNG Plant Remains Offline Due to Cyclone Damage
Chevron announced that its Wheatstone LNG plant in Western Australia suffered extensive damage from Tropical Cyclone Narelle, forcing both of its 8.9‑million‑ton‑a‑year processing trains offline. The damage includes fin‑fan arrays and air‑cooled heat exchangers, making repairs complex and time‑consuming. Chevron...
Platina Starts Phase 3 Aircore Drilling at Mt McKenna in WA
Platina Resources has launched Phase 3 air‑core drilling at its Mt McKenna Gold Project in Western Australia, targeting exploration Targets 2, 3, 4 and 5. The program will drill up to 9,000 metres, contributing to the company’s goal of 20,000 metres of air‑core and reverse‑circulation drilling across its...
GoldMining Initiates Drilling at São Jorge Project, Brazil
GoldMining has started an 8,000‑metre drilling campaign at its wholly‑owned São Jorge Project in Brazil’s Tapajós gold district. The two‑rig operation, fully funded, targets high‑priority zones near the existing resource, including the William South target that returned 12 m averaging 2.38 g/t gold...
Resources Top 5: Uranium Junior Flies on US Resource Upgrade; AI Move Boosts Graphite Play
American Uranium (ASX:AMU) announced a 10% resource upgrade at its Lo Herma project in Wyoming, boosting indicated resources to 4 million pounds and lifting the share price as much as 33%. Pure Resources (ASX:PR1) entered a research partnership with Rice University to...
South Africa: North West Raises Alarm Over Illegal Mining, Chrome Wash Plants
The North West Provincial Legislature’s Economic Development Committee warned that illegal chrome wash plants and unregulated mining are proliferating in Bojanala and Madibeng. In the 2025/26 fiscal year, inspectors found 30 of 70 wash plants operating without environmental authorisation, and...
US Steel Restarts Illinois Blast Furnace
U.S. Steel, now owned by Japan’s Nippon Steel, has successfully restarted blast furnace B at its Granite City Works in Illinois. The restart added roughly 400 new employees to support operations. The move was prompted by improving domestic steel demand...
Miramar Drilling Extends Highway Gold Strike Beyond 600m
Miramar Resources reported that reverse‑circulation drilling at its Highway prospect within the Gidji joint venture has delineated more than 600 metres of shallow gold mineralisation at depths of 47‑56 metres. The most notable intercept was 3 metres grading 9.45 g/t gold. The company plans...
Oil Companies Set to Make €24 Billion in Excess Profits From European Drivers This Year
Oil majors are projected to earn about €24 billion ($26 billion) in excess profits from European road fuels by the end of 2026, driven by price spikes after the US‑Israeli attack on Iran. So far they have already captured €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion) this...
Pivotal Eyes Copper and By-Product Upside at Horden Lake
Pivotal Metals has launched Phase 2 metallurgical testwork at its wholly‑owned Horden Lake project in Quebec to boost recoveries of nickel, gold, silver, platinum and palladium. The pilot follows Phase 1 results that delivered 87‑94% copper recoveries and clean concentrates. Horden Lake hosts a...
Viking Delivers Premium Grade Tungsten Concentrate at Linka
Viking Mines announced that its Linka tungsten project in Nevada has produced a premium‑grade scheelite concentrate using simple gravity separation. The test upgraded a 1.2% WO3 feed to a 63.6% WO3 concentrate, representing a more than 5,300% grade increase. The...
Recycled Copper Output Starts Out Strong in 2026
Global recycled copper production surged in January 2026, reaching 445,000 metric tons, an 11.5% increase over the same month last year and up from December’s 424,000 tons. The rise was driven largely by expanded secondary refining in China, according to...
Record Resource Sector Spend Supports Around Two in Five Job Across WA
Western Australia’s resources sector delivered a record economic contribution of AUD 166 billion (≈ USD 110 billion) in 2024‑25. That spending equals roughly AUD 454 million (≈ USD 300 million) per day and supports about 650,000 jobs, or two‑fifths of all employment in the state. The industry paid AUD 26 billion in...
How A Magnet Shortage Could Bring The $10 Trillion Tech Sector to a Halt
Rare‑earth permanent magnets, essential for defense, automotive and consumer tech, are overwhelmingly produced in China—90% of processing and 93% of magnet manufacturing. A 2025 export restriction caused Ford to halt Explorer production, highlighting the fragility of the supply chain. REalloys...
Morella–Elevra Joint Venture Delivers Strong Pegmatite Hits at Mt Edon
Elevra Limited and Morella Corporation have finished a 20‑hole, 1,700‑metre reverse‑circulation drilling campaign at the Mt Edon rubidium‑lithium project in Western Australia. The program intersected broad pegmatite zones in 11 holes, including an 84‑metre interval starting at 18 metres depth, confirming a...
Rio Bounces Back From Cyclone Narelle
Rio Tinto quickly restored Pilbara iron ore port operations after Cyclone Narelle forced shutdowns on March 24. Ship loading resumed at East Intercourse Island, Parker Point and Cape Lambert B by March 28, while repairs continue at Cape Lambert A. The company says it...
Americas Gold & Silver Sees 30% Output Rise This Year
Americas Gold & Silver projects a 30% rise in 2026 silver output, targeting 3.2‑3.6 million ounces at an all‑in sustaining cost of $30‑$35 per ounce. Measured and indicated resources grew 10% to 115.7 million ounces, with average grades up 30%. The company...
Four IOCs Working on Lithium Extraction in US Smackover Play
After a 90% plunge in lithium carbonate prices from 2022 to 2025, U.S. brine projects in the Smackover Formation stalled, but a recent price rebound has revived interest. Equinor has secured an anchor off‑taker, while Exxon Mobil, Occidental Petroleum and Chevron...
Attacks on Mideast Aluminum Plants Threaten Supply Crisis
Iranian drones and missiles struck the Emirates Global Aluminium plant in Abu Dhabi and Aluminium Bahrain, causing significant damage to two of the Middle East’s largest aluminum smelters. The attacks sent LME aluminum futures up 6% to $3,401 per ton...
Latin America Returns to the Energy Security Conversation at CERAWeek
At CERAWeek, Latin America re‑entered the energy‑security conversation, with Argentina positioning Vaca Muerta as a full‑scale export platform rather than just a resource play. Argentine officials forecast $50 billion in annual energy‑export revenues by 2031, supported by $130 billion of oil, LNG and...
India Must Pursue Value-Driven Critical Minerals Diplomacy in Africa
The recent Strait of Hormuz disruption highlighted India’s vulnerability to energy chokepoints and underscored the need for a resilient critical‑minerals supply chain. A forthcoming CSEP paper proposes a value‑driven diplomacy with Africa, focusing on Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania to secure...
Oil Sales From California’s Santa Ynez Pipeline Begin
Sable Offshore announced it has begun selling oil from its Santa Ynez Pipeline System to Chevron after resuming crude transport earlier this month. The pipeline, idle since a 2015 spill that devastated the Gaviota Coast, was reopened under a Trump‑administration...
Equinox Gold Tables Production Updates for Two Canadian Mines
Equinox Gold released updated technical reports for its Canadian Greenstone and Valentine mines, projecting a combined 543,000 ounces of gold annually over the next decade based on proven and probable reserves. Greenstone is targeting a 27,000‑tonne‑per‑day milling rate with potential...
Intelligence Newsletter - 30/03/2026
Mining firms are accelerating a wave of billion‑dollar megaprojects as soaring metal prices boost investment pipelines. Mining IQ’s database shows megaproject economic studies climbing from 15 in 2024 ($25.9 billion capex) to 21 in 2025 ($43.7 billion), a 66 % jump, and ten...
PRI Eyes Transition Minerals Engagement as Part of Spring Initiative
The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) has unveiled a new Spring initiative that concentrates on transition minerals such as battery metals and rare earth elements. The program seeks to strengthen investor capacity for responsible political engagement and to clarify the...
Fastmarkets Proposes Changes to Quality, Tonnage Specifications for Battery-Grade Cif CJK Lithium Salts Assessments
Fastmarkets has issued a consultation proposing new quality, tonnage, payment and shelf‑life specifications for its benchmark battery‑grade lithium‑hydroxide and lithium‑carbonate assessments in the China, Japan and Korea (CJK) market. The draft raises the minimum shipment size from 5 to 18...
Namibia Critical Metals and JOGMEC Amend Lofdal Heavy Rare Earths Project Agreement, Namibia
Namibia Critical Metals (NCMI) and Japanese partner JOGMEC have amended their earn‑in agreement for the Lofdal Heavy Rare Earths Project in northwestern Namibia. JOGMEC is committing an additional C$3 million (≈US$2.2 million) to fund the definitive feasibility study and related de‑risking work,...
Vietnamese Player’s ‘Super Rig’ Ready for Drilling
Vietnam’s state‑owned Petrovietnam Drilling & Well Service Corp. (PV Drilling) officially named its newly acquired jack‑up rig PV DRILLING IX, formerly the Noble Highlander, on March 27. The vessel, built to Friede & Goldman JU2000E specifications, can drill to 9,144 meters and operate in water up to 129.5 meters...
Broker’s Call: Coal India (Buy)
Geojit Retail Equity Research upgraded Coal India Ltd. (CIL) to a Buy, setting a new target price of ₹506 (≈ $6.10) from a current market price of ₹450.25 (≈ $5.42). The miner posted Q3 FY26 revenue of ₹34,924 crore (≈ $4.2 bn) and PAT of...
Gold Climbs to $4,500 as Iran Conflict Reaches Fifth Week
Gold rebounded to above $4,500 an ounce on Monday, marking a 1.3% rise after a 14% slide since the Iran conflict erupted in late February. The metal had previously peaked at $5,602 in January, then plunged to $4,100 before recovering....
