Oil Rallies Toward $120 As Middle East Supply Risks Spiral
Oil prices surged on Wednesday as Brent crude for June delivery rose 6.45% to $118.40 a barrel and WTI jumped 7.20% to $107.10, driven by a tightening U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and the UAE’s announcement that it will leave OPEC in May. The UAE accounts for roughly 13% of OPEC output, and its exit reduces the group’s spare‑capacity cushion. Standard Chartered warns that even if the blockade is lifted, Brent is likely to stay between $90‑95, while European natural‑gas futures climbed toward $51.30 per MWh amid heightened Middle‑East risk.
Iron-Rich Slag Enables Efficient Carbon Sequestration
A recent Chemical Engineering Journal study demonstrates that iron‑rich slag can capture up to 99.5% of carbon dioxide through direct mineral carbonation, converting mining waste into stable carbonates. Two Quebec‑sourced samples were tested; the coarser S2 achieved 99.5% CO₂ removal...
Chariot Resources Progresses Nigerian Lithium Portfolio Acquisition
Chariot Resources is finalising a two‑thirds acquisition of C&C Minerals' hard‑rock lithium portfolio in Nigeria. Five of the ten licences have been reissued by the Mining Cadastre Office, with the remaining five awaiting transfer from partner Continental. The binding share...
Fertilizer Prices Have Doubled Since the Strait Closed
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz on Feb. 28 halted half of the world’s fertilizer feedstock shipments, causing fertilizer prices to more than double. Experts say even a cease‑fire won’t quickly restore natural‑gas supplies, so relief could take months or...
Land of the Silver Giants: US Critical Minerals Push Puts Spotlight on Sierra Madre Belt
Mexico supplies roughly 25% of global silver, anchored by the Sierra Madre Belt, a geologic corridor now extending into the United States. Black Bear Minerals is preparing to restart the historic Shafter mine in Texas, which holds a 17.6 Moz silver...
Early Works and Long-Lead Procurement Are Underway for Kathleen Valley Expansion
Liontown Limited has launched early works and long‑lead procurement for the Kathleen Valley lithium expansion, moving toward a Final Investment Decision expected by the end of Q1 FY2027. The programme includes a A$12 million (~$8 million) 5.5 MW ball mill purchase, pre‑development drilling,...
Copper Forecasts Electrify the Market as Small Producers Pursue Growth
Analysts at Chile’s Cesco Week 2026, led by BMO Capital Markets, see copper prices rebounding toward $13,100 per tonne by Q4 2026 and $13,425 in 2027, despite geopolitical headwinds. The bank cites renewed Chinese buying, US arbitrage activity and limited...
Why Bell Potter Sees More Upside in NSW Gold Explorer Waratah Minerals
Waratah Minerals (ASX:WTM) is gaining traction after high‑grade copper‑gold drill hits at its Spur project in New South Wales, including 54 m at 1.88 g/t Au and 208.7 m at 1.17 g/t Au. The company has logged 21 intersections exceeding 100 gram‑metres, a benchmark...
Venezuelan Crude Will Eventually Lower US Gas Prices: Chevron Exec
U.S. gasoline prices have risen to $4.17 per gallon, driven by a 56% jump in global oil prices since the Iran conflict. Chevron is importing about 250,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan crude to its Pascagoula refinery, providing modest relief...
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THE INTERVIEW : Green Metals Lack the Market Incentives that Make Ethical Consumption Mainstream — Sibanye CEO
Sibanye Stillwater CEO Richard Stewart warns that green metals such as lithium receive no price premium, leaving original equipment manufacturers to choose the cheapest source regardless of carbon intensity. He highlighted the lack of downstream incentives for cleaner production, noting...
RCMP Charges Gold Explorer Ex-CEO with Alleged Mini-Bre-X Fraud Concerning Assays
Canadian authorities have charged former RPX Gold CEO Quentin Yarie with fraud and forgery after allegedly altering 532 assay results, inflating the Wawa project’s gold resource by 62,000‑87,000 ounces. The manipulation, spanning 2015‑2024, boosted the company’s reported resources by about...
Marine Resource Conflicts in Africa Revolve Mostly Around Access: Study
A Stanford‑led study catalogued 1,013 marine resource conflicts across 34 African coastal nations between 2008 and 2018, finding that roughly 73 % stemmed from disputes over access to fishing grounds or other marine spaces. The vast majority were non‑violent, and fewer...
TotalEnergies Pauses Middle East Production Until Hormuz Transit Stabilizes
TotalEnergies said it will keep its Middle East upstream operations on hold until tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz stabilises, a delay that could last two to three months. About 15% of the French oil major’s production is offline...
2 Silver Mining Stocks to Watch Amid Industry Challenges
Silver prices, after a 170% surge in 2025, have stalled at roughly $73 per ounce, reflecting expectations of prolonged high interest rates and inflationary pressures. The Zacks Mining‑Silver industry, despite a 149.7% one‑year gain, ranks near the bottom of Zacks’...
Vedanta Q4 Net Profit up 89% on Rally in Metal Prices, Cost Efficiency
Vedanta posted an 89% jump in Q4 net profit to about ₹9,352 crore ($1.13 bn), propelled by higher aluminium and zinc prices and a 59% rise in EBITDA to ₹18,447 crore ($2.2 bn). Revenue surged 29% to ₹51,524 crore ($6.2 bn), helped by strong metal realisations...
Kodiak Copper and Teck Enter Into Non-Binding Letter of Intent to Create New US-Focused Copper Exploration Company
Kodiak Copper and Teck Resources have signed a non‑binding LOI to combine Kodiak’s 100%‑owned Mohave project and Teck’s 100%‑owned Copper Hill project into a new U.S.-focused copper exploration company, Kay Copper, which will seek a TSX Venture listing. The deal...
The Forgotten Fuel That Could Power Shipping’s Future
Thorium molten‑salt reactors are emerging as a power source for shipping’s clean‑fuel supply chain. China’s TMSR‑LF1 proved experimental thorium breeding, while Denmark’s Copenhagen Atomics is mass‑producing 100 MWth container‑sized reactors aiming for sub‑$20/MWh electricity. Continuous high‑temperature output from shore‑based SMRs could...
Strait of Hormuz Nears Third Month of Closure
A Japan‑linked VLCC, Idemitsu Maru, successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz carrying roughly 2 million barrels of Saudi crude, marking the first non‑Iranian tanker to leave the region in ten days. The waterway’s effective closure, now in its third month, has halted...
Tribe and Environmentalists to Sue Feds Over Arizona Mine’s Impacts to Threatened Owls
The San Carlos Apache Tribe, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Lower San Pedro Watershed Alliance have filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, alleging that the approved Copper Creek exploration project violates...
Metals Australia Eyes $1.3B Quebec Graphite Refinery
Metals Australia announced a preliminary economic assessment for a battery‑grade graphite refinery in Quebec, estimating a US$884 million capital outlay (C$1.26 billion) that includes a US$179 million contingency. The three‑module plant would process 75,000 tonnes of flake graphite concentrate per year, yielding about 51,000 tonnes...
Daqo Polysilicon Sales Collapse, Falling 88.3% Quarter-on-Quarter as Production Ticks Upwards
Daqo New Energy reported an 88.3% quarter‑on‑quarter plunge in Q1 2026 polysilicon sales, falling to 4,482 MT from 38,167 MT in Q4 2025. Production ticked up modestly to 43,402 MT and unit costs rose to $5.95/kg, while the average selling price barely changed. Revenue collapsed...
Nevada King Gold Doubles Drilling at Atlanta Project
Nevada King Gold announced a 40,000‑metre drilling program at its Atlanta project, doubling the 2026 effort to aggressively test district‑scale targets. New assay results from the Silver Park East zone returned 0.3‑0.37 g Au/t over intervals up to 40 metres, expanding the known mineralized...
The United States Is Losing the Race for Central Asia’s Critical Minerals
The United States is falling behind in securing Central Asia’s critical‑mineral wealth, a region valued at roughly $46 trillion and home to at least 32 of the 60 U.S.‑identified critical minerals. While China and Russia together command about 70 percent of the...
Maricunga District Promises Long Life for Kinross
Kinross Gold has secured mining rights in Chile’s Maricunga district, targeting the Marte gold project. The company projects the mine will sustain more than a decade of production, bolstered by the recent surge in gold prices. Local officials anticipate significant...
Russia Says It Has No Plans to Leave OPEC+
Russia’s Kremlin says Moscow will not exit the OPEC+ alliance even after the United Arab Emirates announced its departure effective May 1. The statement, made by spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, underscores that Russia sees no viable path to raise output amid ongoing Ukrainian...
Earth AI Is Vertically Integrating the Search for Critical Minerals
Earth AI, a startup using artificial intelligence to locate critical minerals in Australia, is building its own laboratory facilities to process drill core samples. The move aims to shrink turnaround time from the industry‑standard two‑month backlog—now up to five months—to...
‘True Success’ Is a DRC that No Longer Needs Outside Help: Interview with EU Envoy Fabrice Basile
EU envoy Fabrice Basile told Mongabay that the Democratic Republic of Congo is moving toward self‑reliance in managing its vast mineral and forest assets. The EU is backing transparency initiatives, including a €12 million ($14 million) PanAfGeo+ Invest program to digitise geological data and...
Up to $9B Nearshore Project on Arctic’s Horizon with Polar LNG Unleashing Alaska’s Gas
Polar LNG announced a near‑shore liquefied natural gas project on Alaska’s North Slope, budgeting $8‑9 billion to produce up to 7 million tons per annum of LNG, with a potential expansion to 21 mtpa. The modular, gravity‑based facility will draw gas from existing...
Galleon Gold Completes Box Cut Excavation at West Cache Project
Galleon Gold announced the successful completion of the box cut excavation at its 100%-owned West Cache Gold Project near Timmins, Ontario. The excavation exposed the bedrock face, with walls built to a 4:1 slope and armoring now underway to stabilize...
PH7 Technologies Receives Funding From the National Research Council of Canada to Expand Opertions
Vancouver‑based pH7 Technologies is expanding its metals‑processing plant with up to $4 million in NRC IRAP funding to scale recovery of platinum‑group metals and other critical elements. The expansion will boost capacity for spent catalysts and electronic waste, while the company’s modular...
Senator to File Bill Ending Morocco Duties: Correction
U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R‑Kansas) will introduce the Lowering of Input Costs for American Farmers Act, which would eliminate countervailing duties on phosphate imports from Morocco. The move aims to cut phosphate fertilizer prices by more than 20%, roughly $150...
Adani’s Giant Copper Plant Hit by Technical Woes in First Year
Billionaire Gautam Adani’s $1.2 billion Kutch copper plant, commissioned ten months ago, has struggled with engineering setbacks that have kept it far below its 500,000‑tonne annual capacity. From April 2023 to February 2024 the facility produced only 94,000 tons of refined copper,...
Brazilian State Greenlights Deforestation for Contested Open-Pit Gold Mine
The Brazilian state of Pará approved Canadian miner Belo Sun to clear roughly 600 hectares of rainforest for an open‑pit gold mine along the Xingu River. Indigenous groups and federal prosecutors are contesting the decision, arguing the state lacks authority and...
Neotech Signs Agreement for Torrance Project Acquisition
Neotech Metals has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the Torrance Project from Kenorland Minerals, adding 580 mining claims spanning roughly 12,270 ha in Ontario’s Kapuskasing Structural Zone. The carbonatite-hosted site shows potential for niobium‑tantalum‑rare earth mineralisation and sits near...
Americore Raising up to $3.0 Million for Nevada Silver Drilling
Americore Resources Corp. announced a non‑brokered private placement to raise up to $3 million by issuing up to 6 million units at $0.50 each. Each unit contains one common share and a warrant allowing purchase of an additional share at $0.80 for...
LaFleur Signs Agreement to Acquire McKenzie East in Canada
Canadian junior LaFleur Minerals has signed an arm‑length agreement to acquire the McKenzie East Gold Project in Québec’s Val‑d’Or district. The deal includes a C$30,000 (≈US$21,960) cash payment and the issuance of 175,000 LaFleur common shares to the vendor. The...
Subsea7, OneSubsea Chosen for FEED at Canadian $12 Billion Oil Project
Subsea Integration Alliance, the joint venture of SLB OneSubsea and Subsea7, secured a front‑end engineering design (FEED) contract from Equinor for the Bay du Nord deep‑water oil project off Canada. Valued at roughly $12 billion, the project sits in the Flemish...
OMV Petrom Raises Annual Budget by 23 Percent
OMV Petrom shareholders approved a $2.07 billion capex plan for 2026, a 23% increase over 2025. About 60% of the budget targets the Neptun Deep offshore gas project, which could cost up to $4.68 billion and hold roughly 100 billion cubic meters of recoverable...
Volvo Penta – Powering up Underground
Volvo Penta now commands over 30% of the underground mining engine market, a share earned through deep collaboration with OEMs such as Sandvik and fast‑growing Chinese manufacturers. The company has customized Stage V engines for load‑haul‑dump (LHD) machines, trucks and utility...
Critical Elements Posts Assays From Rose West 10,000-Metre Drill Program, Quebec
Critical Elements Lithium Corp. announced assay results from its Phase 1 Winter 2026 drill program at the 100%-owned Rose West discovery in Quebec. The drilling expanded the mineralized footprint to roughly 1,250 m × 800 m and intersected three new spodumene‑bearing pegmatite bodies with Li₂O grades...
Another LNG Gig in Lone Star State Lands on Honeywell’s Plate
Honeywell has been selected by Lantern LNG Holding Company to supply end‑to‑end technology and automation for a new near‑shore LNG facility in Matagorda Bay, Texas. The project will produce roughly 12 million tons per annum of LNG across three 4‑mtpa trains,...
Cabral Gold Advances Construction of Cuiú Cuiú Project, Brazil
Cabral Gold reported that Phase 1 of its gold‑in‑oxide heap‑leach project at Cuiú Cuiú in Brazil is about 70% complete and remains on budget. Critical equipment, including the ADR plant and mineral sizer, is in maritime transit and slated to arrive by...
Why the Ideal Magnet Remains Out of Reach
Researchers worldwide seek a cost‑effective permanent magnet that avoids rare earths, a goal that would break China’s near‑monopoly and reshape supply chains. After a decade of classical computing attempts, a Franco‑American team led by Alice & Bob, backed by a $3.9 million...
Alphamin Posts Record Tin Profit, Boosts Dividend
Alphamin Resources reported a record quarterly EBITDA of $158 million, a 46% increase from the prior period, as tin prices stayed strong and production rose to 5,026 tonnes. The company lifted its final 2025 dividend to 13 CAD cents per share and added...
Kodiak, Teck to Create Arizona Copper Explorer
Kodiak Copper and Teck Resources are launching Kay Copper, a new listed explorer, to develop the early‑stage Mohave and Copper Hill projects in Arizona. Kay Copper will raise roughly $2.96 million USD via $0.25 subscription receipts and about $614,000 USD through...
Why Smart Money Is Quietly Piling Into This Lithium Stock
The U.S. Department of Energy has taken a 5% equity stake in Lithium Americas and secured a matching economic interest in the Thacker Pass joint venture, aligning federal policy with the project’s success. The company is financing its $1.3‑$1.6 billion 2026...
Woodside Firing on All Cylinders to Advance Australian Gas Project, Mexican Oil Development, and US LNG Terminal
Woodside Energy is accelerating three flagship projects across three continents. The offshore Scarborough LNG facility in Australia is 96% complete and on track for its first cargo in Q4 2026. In Mexico, the Trion oil development has reached 56% completion, targeting...
Liberia: Ex-Mines Minister Paye Challenges VP Koung Over Conflicting Concession Remarks
Former Mines and Energy Minister Wilmot Paye publicly challenged Vice President Jeremiah Koung’s remarks that reviewing Liberia’s mining concessions would deter foreign investment. Paye reiterated President Joseph Boakai’s unequivocal stance to reassess all existing agreements, citing cabinet directives and the...
Macquarie Strategists Predict USA Crude Inventory Drop
Macquarie strategists forecast U.S. crude inventories will drop by 2.0 million barrels for the week ending April 24, following a 1.9 million‑barrel build the prior week. The model also anticipates a sizable 7.1 million‑barrel draw from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and modest increases in...
Beauce Gold Fields Receives Quebec Approval for 2026 Exploration Program
Beauce Gold Fields (TSXV:BGF.V) received two provincial authorizations (ATI‑703 and ATI‑704) to launch its 2026 exploration program at the historic Saint‑Simon‑les‑Mines placer gold project in Quebec. The permits, valid through April 2028, allow the company to conduct sonic drilling and seismic...