ASX Runners of the Week: Bison, Genetic Signatures, Narryer & Immutep
The ASX’s weekly spotlight highlighted four micro‑caps that outperformed a turbulent market. Bison Resources surged 375% after a $5.5 million IPO, targeting gold‑rich projects on Nevada’s Carlin Trend. Genetic Signatures landed a 28,000‑sample contract with Denmark’s Hvidovre Hospital, boosting its diagnostics pipeline, while Narryer Metals raised $1.06 million at a 30% premium, drawing billionaire Tim Goyder into its critical‑minerals portfolio. Immutep secured FDA orphan‑drug designation for its sarcoma candidate, reviving investor confidence after a recent valuation plunge. A Supreme Court ruling also threatened Hancock Prospecting with up to $1 billion in lost royalties.
Gold Fields, Great Southern Ready Rig for Big Qld Gold Target
Gold Fields and Great Southern Mining are set to begin diamond drilling at the Mt Dillon target in Queensland’s Edinburgh Park project after the wet season ends in May. The joint‑venture allows Gold Fields to earn up to a 75% interest by...
EU Deforestation Law Nudges Timber Trade, Indonesia Probe Shows, but Risks Persist
An Earthsight investigation traced Indonesian timber harvested from recently cleared forests to European importers, showing that deforestation‑linked wood still reaches EU markets despite the upcoming EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). The probe prompted several European buyers, such as Belgium’s Fepco International...
Titanium Sands Project Takes Shape as Sri Lanka Seeks Stronger Mineral Economy
Titanium Sands (ASX:TSL) is advancing its Mannar Island heavy mineral sands project in north‑west Sri Lanka as the government finalises a new national mineral policy. The company has lodged an industrial mining licence for a 69 km² area that hosts a...
Orpheus Gears up for Uranium Drilling Push in South Australia
Orpheus Uranium (ASX:ORP) has secured all regulatory approvals to commence drilling at its Frome uranium project in South Australia, adding to existing permits for the Radium Hill South Project. The Frome site sits beside Boss Energy’s Goulds Dam, which hosts...
Asteroid-Mining Microbes Extract Metal From Rocks in Space
Scientists demonstrated that bacteria and fungi can leach precious metals from asteroid material in microgravity, marking a breakthrough for in‑situ resource utilization (ISRU). The BioAsteroid project tested the bacterium Sphingomonas desiccabilis and the fungus Penicillium simplicissimum on Earth and aboard...
Gorilla Gold Mines Accelerating Multi-Asset Resource Growth in Western Australia
Gorilla Gold Mines (ASX: GG8) has consolidated three core Western Australian gold assets—Comet Vale, Mulwarrie and Vivien—into a 1.5 million‑ounce, 3.8 g/t Au portfolio. The company reports a discovery cost of roughly $16.5 per ounce, far below the industry average, and is...
Mongolian Mining Corporation Operational Update for the Quarter Ended 31 March 2026
Mongolian Mining Corporation reported a strong quarter ending 31 March 2026, with raw coking coal mined rising 22% QoQ to 4.85 Mt and washed coal sales climbing 60% YoY to 2.56 Mt. Gold output increased 20% QoQ, delivering 8,527 oz at a price of $4,872...
LHM Guidance Revision – Increase FY2026 Production Range
Paladin Energy reported that its Langer Heinrich Mine produced 3.6 million pounds of U₃O₈ in the first nine months of FY2026 and has revised full‑year production guidance to 4.0‑4.4 million pounds, down from 4.5‑4.8 million. The company kept the cost‑of‑production guidance at $3 per...
West Coast Silver Identifies New Priority Drill Target at Elizabeth Hill Following DHEM Results
West Coast Silver (ASX:WCE) has pinpointed a new down‑hole electromagnetic (DHEM) conductor at its Elizabeth Hill silver project, aligning with a historic 42 g/t Ag intersection. The conductive plate, estimated at 400‑1,200 Siemens, sits about 50 m east of the existing mine and...
HRW Backs Communities Affected by Contaminated Zambia Mining Site
Human Rights Watch has joined Zambian NGOs and families in urging the African Union to intervene at the Kabwe lead‑zinc mine site, which remains one of the planet’s most polluted locations. A 2022 UN report flagged Kabwe’s severe contamination, and...
Republicans Deployed a Little-Known Law to Open Minnesota Wilderness to Mining
Senate Republicans voted 50‑49 to repeal a two‑decade mining moratorium in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters using the Congressional Review Act. The CRA, a 1990s tool meant to overturn regulations with a simple majority, has been weaponized by Republicans, marking only the...
Landmark US Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Law Turns 50 Amid Budget Cut Concerns
The Magnuson‑Stevens Act celebrated its 50th anniversary, highlighting a legacy of rebuilding more than 50 U.S. fish stocks and expanding federal jurisdiction to 200 nautical miles. The law’s regional councils blend fishers, scientists, tribes, and processors to set science‑based harvest...
Gold Jumps to One-Month High as Iran Says Hormuz Completely Open
Gold surged to its highest level in nearly a month, climbing as much as 2.1% after Iran announced the Strait of Hormuz is completely open for commercial traffic. The declaration marks a de‑escalation in the conflict with the United States...
ValOre Provides Update on Hatchet Uranium Corp. Transaction
ValOre Metals announced an update on the sale of its 51%‑owned subsidiary Hatchet Uranium Corp. to Future Fuels Inc., with the amalgamation agreement’s “outside date” pushed to April 30 2026. HUC shareholders approved the deal on March 10, and the TSX Venture Exchange...
Rubidium: This Critical Mineral Goes for a Million Bucks a Tonne and Washington May Be Footing the Bill
Rubidium, a critical mineral priced above $1 million per tonne, is dominated by China and essential for atomic clocks, GPS, quantum computing, and defense applications. US military contractors are seeking secure supply, prompting Australian juniors Delta Lithium, Iris Metals and Everest...
BC Exploration Spending Sets Record on Copper Appetite
British Columbia’s mineral exploration spending surged to $548 million in 2025, a 36% jump from the prior year, driven by a copper boom. Copper projects alone attracted $384 million, overtaking gold as the province’s top target. Junior miners led the rebound, allocating...
Argonaut Algorithm: Why David Franklyn Sees Lithium as a Long-Term Play After the Iran War
Argonaut Funds manager David Franklyn says the Iran‑related oil shock has accelerated a shift toward lithium, which he views as a long‑term winner. He notes lithium prices have rebounded to about US$2,200 per tonne, driven by falling EV costs and...
Ghana: Check EPA Permits Before Mining Approvals ... MMDAS Urged
Acting EPA Mining Department Director Justine Seyire Dzadzra urged Ghana's Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to confirm that mining concession holders have secured EPA environmental permits before issuing business operating permits. She warned that some assemblies are granting permits...
Correction to Alumina Index, Fob Australia and Inferred Prices on April 15
Fastmarkets issued a correction notice on April 15, adjusting its alumina price indices by two cents per tonne. The Australia FOB index was updated to $303.20 per dry metric tonne, and inferred prices for Vietnam, India, Indonesia and Brazil were...
The Senate Just Greenlit a Mine Next to the Boundary Waters, America’s Most Popular Wilderness
The U.S. Senate voted 50‑49 to repeal a two‑decade moratorium on mining near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, using the rarely‑invoked Congressional Review Act. The repeal removes the Biden‑era ban and clears a major regulatory hurdle for Antofagasta’s proposed...
Hershey Leans on Cocoa Sourcing Resilience to Blunt Price Shocks
Hershey is bolstering its cocoa supply chain by diversifying origins beyond the Ivory Coast and Ghana to include Ecuador and Brazil, while using sophisticated hedging tools to lock in prices. The company couples these financial safeguards with farmer‑focused programs like...
Energy Relief to Support S African FeCr in Short Term
South Africa's state‑owned utility Eskom has proposed a new electricity tariff of 62 South African cents per kilowatt‑hour (about $0.04) for ferro‑chrome smelters, cutting the previous rate of roughly 136 cents/kWh ($0.09) by more than half. The relief, submitted to regulator...
Bessent Urges World Bank to Shift Funding Towards Critical Minerals
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent used the IMF and World Bank spring meetings to press the development banks to shift their green‑lending focus toward critical‑minerals mining and processing projects. He argued that secure supplies of rare earths and other key...
Canada’s Antimony Gap Shows as Iran War Sharpens Focus on Defence Metals
The war in Iran has thrust antimony into the spotlight as a defence‑critical metal, with 40% of U.S. use last year going into ammunition and flares. Canada classifies antimony as critical but lacks a dedicated policy, leaving a thin project...
USCM, Columbia University Eye Defence-Critical Metals in Red Mud
US Critical Materials Corp. and Columbia University have signed a two‑year research pact to extract defence‑critical metals from red mud, the waste by‑product of aluminium refining. The "Mud to Metal" program will focus on gallium, scandium, titanium and rare‑earth elements,...
Rio Tinto Commissions New Alumina Conveyor at British Columbia Smelter
Rio Tinto has commissioned a new 1.1‑kilometre alumina conveyor at its BC Works smelter in Kitimat, British Columbia, as part of a C$135 million (≈ US$100 million) upgrade. The system will transport up to 800,000 tonnes of alumina per year and is built to...
Africa Has Turned the Screw on Its Gold Miners. Just Ask Gold Fields
Ghana has introduced a sliding‑scale royalty that will take gold earnings from 5% up to 12% as prices rise, and it is renegotiating mining licences on a case‑by‑case basis. Gold Fields, which relies on the Tarkwa mine for about 17%...
Uranium Royalty to Buy Sweetwater in $1.1B Deal
Canada‑based Uranium Royalty announced a $1.1 billion acquisition of Sweetwater Royalties, a private royalty platform that owns the world’s largest trona deposit and extensive mineral rights across the western United States. The transaction, valued at $1.9 billion including debt, will create a...
Sponsored: Mercur Could Reshape Revival Gold
Revival Gold (TSXV:RVG, OTC:RVLGF) is promoting the restart of the historic Mercur gold mine in Utah through a sponsored interview with The Northern Miner. The company argues the project could deliver up to 150,000 ounces of gold per year, providing...
Wolfden’s Zinc-Silver Resource May Revive Bathurst Camp
Wolfden Resources announced an initial resource estimate for its Canoe Landing deposit on the Tetagouche property in New Brunswick’s Bathurst Mining Camp. The estimate includes 3.69 million indicated tonnes grading 0.71% zinc and 32.9 g/t silver, plus 17.1 million inferred tonnes with 1.83%...
Middle East Escalation Pushes Aluminium Into a Structural Deficit
Escalating tensions in the Middle East have forced key Gulf aluminium smelters to curtail output, turning a logistics shock into a structural supply deficit. Emirates Global Aluminium halted its Al Taweelah plant, while Alba operates at roughly 30% of capacity and...
Is the US Falling Victim to the Resource Curse?
The article questions whether the United States is succumbing to the classic resource curse, a theory that abundant natural‑resource wealth crowds out manufacturing and renewable development. It notes that the premise assumes a zero‑sum relationship between oil‑gas production and other...
Tocvan Deploys Heavy Machinery at Mexico’s Gran Pilar Project
Tocvan Ventures has mobilised a dozer, excavator and haul truck to accelerate trenching and pilot‑scale development at its Gran Pilar gold‑silver project in Sonora, Mexico. The equipment supports a fully funded 20,000‑meter drilling programme and follows surface work that identified up...
Seabridge Unveils First Snip North Resource
Seabridge Gold announced a maiden inferred resource at the Snip North deposit on its Iskut project in British Columbia’s Golden Triangle. The estimate contains 9.2 million ounces of gold, 28.3 million ounces of silver and 923 million pounds of copper, split almost evenly...
Sitka Confirms Tungsten at Rhosgobel
Sitka Gold Corp. announced that additional assaying of 5,500 samples from 33 drill holes at its Rhosgobel deposit confirmed extensive tungsten mineralization. The deposit, part of the 2.25‑million‑ounce inferred gold resource at the RC Gold project in Yukon’s Tombstone Gold...
Kudz Ze Kayah Moves Closer to Mine Permit
BMC Minerals announced it has secured a positive Decision Document for its ABM Mine at the Kudz Ze Kayah project in Yukon, clearing a key permitting hurdle. The ABM deposit contains 18.3 million metric tons of indicated resources rich in zinc, lead, copper,...
Blue Moon Tables Feasibility Results for Norwegian Copper-Gold Project
Blue Moon Metals completed a feasibility study for its Nussir copper‑gold‑silver project in northern Norway. The study, which focuses on the underground resource, projects a 13‑year mine life with a 6,000‑tonne‑per‑day mill and an after‑tax net present value of $235 million...
India Could Limit Sulphur Exports as Supplies Tighten, Sources Say
India is weighing limits on sulphur exports as domestic supplies tighten amid falling Middle East imports and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. The country imports about 2 million metric tons a year, roughly half from the Middle East, while shipping...
Argo Gold Receives Exploration Permit for Uchi Gold Project, Ontario
Argo Gold Inc. has secured a mineral exploration permit for its 25 km² Uchi Gold Project in northwest Ontario, located 90 km east of Red Lake. The project comprises three known zones—Woco, Northgate and Raingold—where 2021 drilling extended strike lengths to 400‑500 metres and...
First Quantum and Hitachi Commission ‘World’s First’ Battery Electric Mining Truck at Kansanshi Mine in Zambia
First Quantum Minerals and Hitachi Construction Machinery commissioned the Hitachi EH4000, the world’s first ultra‑large battery‑electric mining truck, at Zambia’s Kansanshi copper‑gold mine. The truck completed a 4,000‑km trial haul, moving over 30,000 tonnes, proving its operational reliability ahead of...
Bunker Fuel Prices Begin to Stabilise – but Not at All Ports
Bunker fuel prices are beginning to stabilise at Singapore, the world’s largest bunkering hub, after an early surge that saw very‑low‑sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) breach $1,000 per tonne. The stabilisation reflects ample local stocks and fierce competition that keeps margins...
Trafigura Signs $1bn Oil-Backed Financing Deal with Gabon to Boost Liquidity
Global commodities trader Trafigura has signed a $1 billion oil‑backed financing agreement with the Republic of Gabon, providing upfront liquidity in exchange for the country's profit‑oil over seven years. The deal makes Trafigura the exclusive buyer of Gabon's post‑cost crude, with...
Jordan and UAE Form Joint Venture to Build Freight Railway
Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have sealed a $2.3 bn joint‑venture to construct a 360 km freight railway linking the country’s major phosphate and potash mines with the Red Sea port of Aqaba. The new UAE‑Jordan Railway Company, backed by L’imad...
PV Module Prices Continue to Rise Unabated
Photovoltaic module prices climbed for the fourth month in a row, rising 5.5% between March and April 2026, with all‑black modules posting the steepest gains. The increase occurs despite falling polysilicon costs and the removal of Chinese export tax credits,...
DRC Boosts US Copper Sales Fivefold to 500,000 Tonnes
The Democratic Republic of Congo has expanded its planned copper sales to the United States to 500,000 tonnes, a fivefold increase from the January commitment. The sales will be marketed through a joint venture between state miner Gécamines, Mercuria Energy...
CZPT Set Zinc Concentrates TC Guidance at $35-70 per Tonne for Q2 2026 Purchasing
Fastmarkets reports that the China Zinc and Lead Producers’ Association (CZPT) has cut its Q2 2026 zinc concentrate transaction cost (TC) guidance to $35‑70 per tonne, a $60 per tonne reduction from the $105‑120 range set for Q1 2026. Spot...
DRC Moves to Secure Fuel Supply From Dangote Refinery Amid Global Market Pressures
Democratic Republic of Congo is evaluating fuel imports from Nigeria’s Dangote refinery to diversify its petroleum supply and boost energy security. Deputy Prime Minister Daniel Mukoko met Aliko Dangote and United Bank for Africa officials to discuss direct supply agreements and financing...
Liberia: Putu Deal, a Shift in Liberia's Mining Model
The Putu Iron Ore Project in Liberia has been handed to a Liberian‑led consortium, Africa Metallic Resources Inc. (AMR), backed by the Africa Finance Corporation and the Conex Group. The venture aims to generate $1.5‑$2 billion in export revenue, contribute up...
Transocean Lands Drillship Deal Worth $158m
Switzerland‑based offshore driller Transocean announced it has won a five‑well contract for its Deepwater Asgard drillship in the Eastern Mediterranean. The 390‑day campaign, slated to begin in Q4 2026, is valued at roughly $158 million in backlog, not counting mobilisation fees. The...