Why China Is Looking to Coal Waste as a Source of Critical Metals
China is converting coal gangue and fly ash into sources of critical metals such as lithium, gallium and germanium, leveraging its advanced extraction technologies and integrated coal‑processing infrastructure. The country already achieves high recovery rates—about 90% for germanium at a lignite plant in Inner Mongolia—and is scaling up production lines for alloy materials derived from waste. While the United States, Australia and Russia are also exploring similar pathways, China’s existing industrial base gives it a head start. Experts warn that fluctuating coal composition can complicate consistent metal yields.
Rubio to Arrive Today for Quad Meet; Supply Chains, Critical Minerals in Focus
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives in India for a Quad foreign‑ministers meeting on May 26, focusing on critical minerals and supply‑chain resilience. The summit, hosted by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, brings together ministers from Australia, Japan and the United States...
KCM Restarts Chingola “B” Mine After 18-Year Shutdown in Major Zambia Copper Expansion Push
Zambian miner Konkola Copper Mines has restarted its Chingola B mine after an 18‑year shutdown, aiming to feed roughly 200,000 tonnes of ore per month into its processing hub. The revival is a cornerstone of Zambia’s plan to boost national copper...
Colombia's Natural Gas Crisis Deepens as Strait of Hormuz Closure Cuts Supply
Colombia’s natural‑gas supply gap is widening as global LNG markets tighten after the Strait of Hormuz closure. Domestic output fell 15% year‑over‑year to 700 million cubic feet in March 2026, while reserves slipped to 2 trillion cubic feet, enough for just 5.9...
Energy Intelligence Uranium Market Update: May 22, 2026
The Energy Intelligence Uranium Market Update highlights a surge in nuclear activity, with Saskatchewan advancing dual small modular reactor (SMR) projects and Poland targeting an EPC deal for its first nuclear plant by year‑end. Antares secured a commercial high-assay low-enriched...
Rethinking Slurry Pump Sealing
KSB has launched the LAPIS mechanical seal, a fully integrated solution for its GIW® slurry pumps, aimed at cutting flush‑water consumption and maintenance costs. The seal’s robust design—thicker faces, larger O‑rings and an external‑spring quench system—delivers longer service life, with...
Metso Wins Emerald Mill Orders
Finnish equipment maker Metso announced it has secured orders exceeding EUR 10 million (about US$11.6 million) from Australian gold producer Emerald Resources. The contract calls for two Metso Premier 8,000 kW semi‑autogenous grinding (SAG) mills to be delivered to gold projects in Australia and...
Liberia: EPA, Police Arrest Nearly 20 Chinese Nationals Over Illegal Mining
Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency and national police arrested nearly 20 Chinese nationals linked to Green Forest mining for illegal operations in Montserrado County. The enforcement action shut down three Green Forest camps, issued halt, non‑compliance and closure orders, and demanded immediate remediation....
Oil Exerts Influence Well Beyond Energy Market
Oil has become the primary transmission mechanism for broader market sentiment, influencing inflation expectations, central‑bank policy, sovereign bond yields and the U.S. dollar, according to Saxo Bank’s commodity strategist Ole Hansen. The rise in crude prices has pushed gold into...
South Africa's Mining Sector Urged to Collaborate, Develop and Own the Tech It Adopts
South Africa’s mining equipment manufacturers’ cluster (MEMSA) used its Mind Shift Conference 2026 to call for deeper collaboration, localisation and ownership of technology. Speakers warned the sector lags on AI maturity, citing gaps in infrastructure, skills and governance that hinder...
Sandvik Upgrades Toro LH208L Loader with Stage V Engine, Safety Enhancements and More
Sandvik Mining has unveiled an upgraded Toro LH208L loader aimed at low‑profile underground mines. The new model offers a Volvo Penta Stage V engine that delivers 14% more power and up to 36% more torque, while fitting tunnels with as little as 1.8 m...
Tungsten West Secures $25m Loan for Hemerdon Mine Restart
Tungsten West has secured a $25 million (≈£18.6 million) unsecured bridging loan from a shareholder‑controlled entity to restart the Hemerdon tungsten‑tin mine in Devon. The loan, priced at SOFR + 4.5% and renewable quarterly, funds the phased refurbishment that will see fines gravity processing...
Primary Aluminum Competing with Scrap in Asia
Secondary aluminum producers across Asia are grappling with soaring scrap prices and limited supply, prompting Chinese primary aluminum makers to market aluminum wire as a substitute feedstock. The wire, produced from primary metal, is being sold to melt‑shop operators in...
China Will Have Rare Earths Leverage Over the US for a Long Time
China’s dominance of the rare‑earth market, controlling roughly 80% of global production, will persist for years, giving Beijing strategic leverage over the United States. The U.S. still imports about 70% of its rare‑earths from China, despite recent policy pushes to...
Dateline Taps Global Project Manager for California Gold Push
Dateline Resources has engaged global project‑management firm Alvarez & Marsal to oversee construction of its Colosseum gold project in California, embedding A&M staff as an in‑house development team. The project’s bankable feasibility study forecasts $1.08 billion in undiscounted pre‑tax cash flow, a...
Chalco Agrees to Build Guinea Alumina Plant for $1 Billion
Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. (Chalco) announced a $1 billion investment to build a 1.2‑million‑ton‑per‑year alumina plant in Guinea. The project will be developed through a new entity, with the Guinean government receiving a 5% equity stake at no cost and...
Rapid Critical Metals Starts Extensional Drilling at Webbs, Grows District-Scale Silver Footprint
Rapid Critical Metals (ASX:RCM) has launched a 15,000‑metre diamond drilling campaign at its Webbs silver project in New South Wales to test a southern extension of the main ore body and a newly identified parallel lode. The holes are collared...
Aldebaran Resources Posts Drill Results for Altar Project, Argentina
Aldebaran Resources released results from seven infill drill holes at its Altar copper‑gold project in San Juan, Argentina. The holes returned long intercepts of copper‑equivalent mineralization, with the longest interval—1,339 m at 0.45% CuEq—demonstrating both depth and grade continuity. The data...
STLLR Gold Drills 10.10 G/T Gold over 5.57 Metres at Jonpol Deposit, Tower Gold Project, Ontario
STLLR Gold announced assay results from its 2026 drill program at the Jonpol Deposit, part of the Tower Gold Project in Ontario. Hole MGA26-265 returned 10.10 g/t Au over 5.57 m (cut to 6.68 g/t) and a 20.22 g/t intercept over 1.84 m, while other...
Golden Cross Resumes Drilling at Aurora Prospect, Australia
Golden Cross Resources has restarted drilling at its Aurora prospect in Victoria after a pilot geophysical survey clarified the depth and extent of historic workings. The company plans roughly 3,000 metres of diamond drilling across Aurora and adjacent targets such as...
TBM Launches on Zambia’s Chambishi Copper Mine
China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Corp. (CRCHI) has launched the first Chinese‑built mining tunnel boring machine (TBM) on Africa, deploying it at Zambia’s Chambishi Copper Mine. The 5.63‑metre diameter, 800‑ton machine will bore a 9.7‑km tunnel through hard rock and...
With Aluminum Prices up 20%, Recycling Startups Bet on AI to Cash In
Aluminum prices have jumped roughly 20% as geopolitical tensions drive up commodity costs, making the metal one of the most valuable items in the waste stream—often exceeding $1,000 per ton. In the United States, only about 20% of aluminum scrap...
'You Can't Get There From Here': Fixing Tailings Failures
The Fundão tailings dam collapse in Brazil released 40 million m³ of waste, killed 19 people and polluted 668 km of waterways, underscoring the catastrophic risk of dam failures. A recent London Court of Appeal decision denied BHP’s attempt to overturn liability findings,...
IonicRE and Nth Cycle Partner to Boost Rare Earth Refining
Ionic Rare Earths (IonicRE) has entered a joint development and licensing agreement with Nth Cycle to introduce electro‑extraction technology into its U.S. rare‑earth recycling and refining operations. The new process replaces oxalic‑acid‑based chemistry with an electricity‑driven method that regenerates hydrochloric...
Ulu Gold Resource Tops 1 Million Ounces
Blue Star Gold Corp. announced that its Ulu gold project in Nunavut now hosts over 1 million ounces of gold across measured, indicated and inferred categories. The combined resource includes 558,000 ounces at an average 7.87 g/t grade in measured‑indicated zones and...
Western Star Resources Mobilizes Field Team to Rowland Tungsten Property and Launches Drone Geophysics and Property-Wide Geochemical Program
Western Star Resources has deployed a field team to its Rowland Tungsten Property in Nevada to launch the first phase of its 2026 exploration program. The initiative combines a high‑resolution drone magnetic survey, systematic prospecting of historic workings, portable X‑ray...
Equinor-Aker BP Pact Accelerating Development of Oil & Gas Discoveries
Equinor and Aker BP have signed a strategic alliance to streamline development of several oil and gas discoveries on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The deal transfers a 19% stake in Ringvei Vest licences and a 38.16% interest in the Frigg UK licence...
ADNOC CEO Says Hormuz Oil Flows May Not Fully Recover Before 2027
ADNOC chief Sultan Al Jaber warned that full oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz will not resume until the first or second quarter of 2027, even if the regional conflict ends today. He said it would take at least four...
Pakistan Relaunches Offshore Oil Hunt After 18-Year Hiatus
Pakistan has reopened its offshore oil and gas frontier after an 18‑year lull, signing 21 new production‑sharing agreements and two earlier awards for a total of 23 deep‑water blocks. The blocks span 54,600 square kilometres across the Indus and Makran...
Codelco Fires Executive for Overstating Copper Output in Chile
Chile’s state‑owned copper giant Codelco fired an executive and reprimanded several managers after an internal audit uncovered that the company overstated part of its 2025 production. The audit showed 20,000 tons from the Chuquicamata mine and 6,875 tons from the Ministro Hales operation—about...
Scottie Launches 52,000-Meter Drill Program
Scottie Resources Ltd. announced a 52,000‑meter drill campaign for 2026 to upgrade and expand the inferred 3.6 Mt resource at its Scottie and Blueberry Contact Zone deposits in British Columbia. The program follows a 27,300‑meter drill season that returned high‑grade intercepts,...
MaxMine Deploys Production-Grade Machine Learning System at Australian Mine Sites
MaxMine has rolled out a production‑grade machine‑learning system for load‑and‑dump classification across several Australian mining operators, including Glencore, NRW Holdings and Macmahon. The solution, now six months live, leverages more than 14 million hours of labelled operational data to deliver higher‑accuracy...
Simandou Underpins Big Bulker Rates Rally
The Simandou iron‑ore project in Guinea, now majority‑owned by Chinese interests, has accelerated its export ramp‑up, moving nearly 1.8 million tonnes in April and targeting over 1 million tonnes per week in May. Rail capacity is expanding rapidly, with four new locomotives...
Resources Top 5: Constellation Basks in WA Helium Find; Brightstar Warms to Gold Progress
Constellation Resources reported high‑grade helium and methane from a shallow drill hole in Western Australia, confirming 0.24% helium and up to 97% methane. The discovery comes as global helium supplies tighten after Middle‑East conflict disrupted Qatari output, pushing prices to...
Locksley Resources Strikes High-Grade Antimony Beneath Historical Desert Antimony Mine
Locksley Resources announced that diamond drilling at its Mojave project in California intersected high‑grade antimony beneath the historic Desert Antimony Mine. Six of eight drill holes returned significant mineralisation, highlighted by a 4‑metre interval grading 4.87% Sb and a 0.4‑metre...
Miners Are Burning a Lot More Diesel than Four Years Ago, Just for Same Amounts of Now Hard-to-Get Coal
Australian coal miners are now burning about 25% more diesel than in 2021/22 to maintain the same production levels. The rise stems from deeper open‑cut mining and a lack of viable electrification or alternative‑fuel options, while diesel prices have surged...
Indonesian President Announces Plan to Centralize Control of Key Commodity Exports
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto announced a plan to place Indonesia’s key commodity exports—palm oil, thermal coal and nickel—under direct state control. A new sovereign‑wealth‑backed enterprise, Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia, will own 99% of the export entity and exporters must deposit all...
11 Largest Uranium Producing Countries in the World
The article outlines the 11 largest uranium‑producing nations, noting that the top three account for roughly 75% of the 60,213 tonnes of uranium mined annually, which meets about 90% of nuclear utility demand. In‑situ recovery now dominates the sector, supplying over...
Copper and Critical Metals: The West's Newest Frontline
The Investing News Network podcast highlighted copper’s evolution into a national‑security commodity, driven by AI‑intensive data centers, electric‑vehicle growth, and power‑grid modernization. Phil Ehr, a former Navy commander and NovaRed Mining advisor, warned that geopolitical instability—exemplified by the Strait of...
Responsibility Is the Surest Path to Resilience in the Minerals Age
Rohitesh Dhawan, ICMM CEO, warns that the emerging Minerals Age will be defined by soaring demand for copper, lithium, nickel and other critical minerals as the world shifts to electrification, AI and heightened geopolitical rivalry. Supply chains are fragile: China...
Freeport Eyes Full Grasberg Output by End of 2027
Freeport‑McMoRan’s Indonesian unit reaffirmed its goal to bring the Grasberg mine back to full production by the end of 2027, after a mudslide halted underground operations last September. The mine is currently running at about 50% of capacity and is...
Chilean Tribunal Rejects Collahuasi Development Plan
Chile's Second Environmental Tribunal annulled the 2021 environmental authorization for Collahuasi's C20+ infrastructure and production capacity upgrade, which includes a near‑complete desalination plant. The ruling focuses on two issues: the assessment of impacts on a local community and the marine...
Troilus Gold Assays Highlight M&A Potential, Analysts Say
Troilus Mining reported high‑grade drill intercepts at its West Rim zone in Quebec, including up to 7.76 g/t gold over 5 m. The results expand the known mineralization beyond the current resource, raising the prospect of a higher‑grade satellite deposit adjacent to...
Aya Logs High-Grade Hits at Morocco Silver-Gold Project
Aya Gold & Silver announced its strongest drill intercept at the Boumadine project in Morocco, with hole BOU‑DD25‑745 delivering 52 metres grading 535 g/t silver and 2.05 g/t gold. A second hole, BOU‑DD25‑746, returned 15 metres of 204 g/t silver and 5.24 g/t gold, including an...
Survey Reveals New Targets for White Gold
White Gold Corp. announced new high‑priority copper, gold and multi‑element drill targets at its Guilder and Mt. Hart sites in the Yukon’s White Gold District. Induced polarization (IP) geophysical surveys identified multiple chargeability and resistivity anomalies that align with known...
Gold Runner Exploration Announces Mobilization Date and Exploration Program Update at Golden Girl Property, Golden Triangle B.C.
Gold Runner Exploration announced that its fully funded 2026 surface exploration program at the Golden Girl property in British Columbia will mobilize on July 12, 2026, with field work beginning July 13. The 8,471‑hectare site, located near the historic Snip...
Kavango Concludes Ore Sample Tests at Hillside Project
Kavango Resources has finished a metallurgical test programme on ore from Zimbabwe’s Hillside Gold Project, targeting a 50‑tonne‑per‑day carbon‑in‑leach plant with a future upgrade to 250 tpd. Laboratory results showed more than 95% gold recovery on Nightshift and Bill’s Luck ores,...
Alaska, NLR Forge Energy-Minerals Alliance
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy announced a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) to accelerate critical‑minerals development, energy‑system innovation, and Arctic infrastructure. NLR, formerly the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, has broadened its...
Smart Transport Systems Are Saving Mines Millions of Dollars in Fuel Each Year
Rising fuel prices and inefficient equipment movement are eroding mining margins, prompting operators to seek smarter transport solutions. Brandt’s Jim Thompson highlights that traditional crawling of tracked machines can waste millions in fuel, maintenance, and lost productivity each year. Sleipner...
New Episode: Copper-Gold Mining – the Strategic Convergence of Two Sectors
The latest Energy Technology podcast episode explores how copper and gold mining are converging as ore grades fall and deposits deepen. Analysts from GlobalData and Vizsla Copper discuss the rise of large‑scale porphyry copper‑gold systems that pair long‑term copper demand...