Siren Gold's Sams Creek Mining Permit Knocked Back
Siren Gold’s application for the Sams Creek gold mine in New Zealand’s South Island was rejected by New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals. The project, which projected a NZ$150 million (≈US$90 million) investment and annual output of about 70,000 ounces of gold, faced fierce opposition from local environmental groups over water quality and cultural heritage concerns. The denial halts the company’s planned expansion and adds regulatory uncertainty to its growth strategy. Siren Gold’s share price fell on the news, reflecting investor anxiety about future approvals.
Some of Australia’s Dirtiest Coal Mines Are About to Change Hands. Here’s Why We Should Be Worried
Anglo American has agreed to sell four of its most methane‑intensive Queensland coal mines to the newly formed private firm Dhilmar. The assets, which emitted over 3 million tonnes of CO₂ last year, are slated for a staged restart that could...
Watercycle and Cylib Sign MoU on Graphite Recovery
Watercycle Technologies and German recycler cylib have signed a non‑binding memorandum of understanding to jointly recover graphite and lithium from battery recycling streams. Watercycle will assess buying graphite from cylib’s Aachen demonstration plant starting in 2026, with the aim of...
Core Lithium Kicks Off Open-Pit Mining at Grants Deposit
Core Lithium Ltd has started open‑pit mining at the Grants deposit, the first phase of its Finniss Lithium Operation in Australia’s Northern Territory. The pit contains roughly 784,000 tonnes of ore and is designed to produce about 134,000 tonnes of...
Everest Metals Posts Major Upgrade to WA Critical Minerals Resource
Everest Metals announced a substantial upgrade to its Mt Edon critical minerals resource in Western Australia, increasing tonnage to 4.3 million tonnes and raising grades to 0.23% rubidium oxide and 0.1% lithium oxide. The upgrade lifts 63% of the resource into...
Copper and Tin Rally While Cobalt and Nickel Decline in Latest Global Mining Price Update
Global mining price data for May 18‑23, 2026 shows copper and tin posting strong gains, with copper rising to $13,682 per ton and tin to $53,611 per ton. Gold and aluminum also edged higher, while cobalt, nickel and germanium slipped, the latter...
Barton Gold Extends Near-Surface Mineralisation at Challenger Project
Barton Gold announced new assay results from its Challenger gold project in South Australia, confirming near‑surface mineralisation that could support additional open‑pit mines adjacent to the Central Gawler Mill. The drilling, covering the Challenger South‑Southwest deposit and the Challenger 3 target,...
Jeff Currie Sees Gold Price Pullback Before $10,000 Run
Veteran commodities strategist Jeff Currie, now with Abaxx Markets and Carlyle, says gold will likely correct to around $4,000 per ounce before rallying toward $10,000. He has been short gold since March, citing geopolitical fallout from the Iran war and...
Helium Evolution Announces Filing of First Quarter 2026 Financial Results
Helium Evolution Inc. (TSXV:HEVI) filed its Q1 2026 interim report, showing a net loss of C$434,000 (≈US$321,000) and cash and cash equivalents of C$3.1 million (≈US$2.3 million). Total assets rose to C$20.3 million (≈US$15 million) with working capital of C$2.9 million (≈US$2.2 million). The company continues...
Agnico Eagle Approves Hope Bay Investment
Agnico Eagle Mines approved a major investment in its Hope Bay project after completing a preliminary economic assessment. The plan calls for an underground mine feeding a 6,000 mt/d processing plant that could produce 400,000‑435,000 ounces of gold annually, with an...
SANY Showcases SKT145Ei Electric Unmanned Wide Body Mining Truck
At its Global Mining Key Customer Summit in Xi'an, SANY Group gathered more than 700 delegates and announced signed orders exceeding 5 billion yuan (about $700 million). The event highlighted the SKT145Ei, a battery‑electric, cabless wide‑body truck, alongside the hybrid SRT100S dump...
Chile’s Salt Flats and the Lithium Race neither China nor the US Wants to Lose
The Chilean government under President José Antonio Kast has moved to simplify lithium mining regulations, merging the economy and mining ministries and pledging faster permits and lower taxes. This shift reverses the previous left‑leaning National Lithium Strategy, rolling back environmental...
First Capital Equipment Purchased for Savannah’s Barroso Lithium Project
Savannah Resources reported steady progress on the Barroso lithium project, Europe’s largest spodumene deposit, confirming that the Definitive Feasibility Study will be finished in July 2026. The company secured a second temporary land access, is close to appointing a FEED...
Talisman Reveals Findings From Fougnar Sampling in Morocco
Talisman Metals reported stream‑sediment results from its Fougnar project in Morocco, confirming existing drill targets and uncovering a new 4‑km corridor of anomalous mineralisation. The program analysed 132 samples, delivering peak assays of 200 ppm copper, 6,510 ppm barium, 502 ppm lead and...
OMV Starts Up Major Austrian Gas Development
OMV AG has started production at the Wittau well in Lower Austria, the country’s largest gas discovery in four decades. Phase 1 will deliver 11 tWh (about 1 billion cubic metres) of natural gas, enough to heat roughly 100,000 homes for a decade, with first...
Colombia Pushes Glencore on Cerrejón Closure Plans
Colombia’s government is urging Glencore to start planning a post‑coal future for the Cerrejón mine, whose concession runs until 2034. Production fell to 16.8 million tonnes in 2025, supporting more than 12,000 jobs and generating about $166 million in annual royalties. Officials...
Sigma Lithium Fights Brazil Ruling After Shares Slide
Sigma Lithium (Nasdaq: SGML) is appealing a Brazilian court ruling that could impose a $10 million penalty over alleged waste‑disposal violations at its Grota do Cirilo mine. The decision sparked a 15% slide in the stock, pushing the share price to...
BHP Deepens Its South Australian Ties as Copper Royalties Climb
BHP has reached a landmark agreement with the South Australian government to restructure copper royalties from its Olympic Dam operation. The new framework comes as copper royalties have surged to a monthly high, reflecting strong global demand. The deal includes higher...
Fresh Geophysics Fuels Growing True North Qld Copper Target
True North Copper’s latest induced polarisation (IP) survey at the Mt Oxide project in northwest Queensland has extended the Aquila copper‑cobalt‑silver anomaly northward by 500 metres, pushing the strike to over 1.5 km and keeping it open at depth. Recent drill holes have...
Greenland Approvals Supercharge Dalaroo Rare Earths Hunt
Dalaroo Metals secured two new Greenland exploration licences for its Blue Lagoon project, expanding its hold over the Gardar Alkaline Province. The enlarged land package gives the company control of key transport corridors and potential offshore heavy‑mineral traps, complementing earlier...
The Strait of Hormuz Crisis Is Cracking the Petrodollar System
The 13‑week closure of the Strait of Hormuz has cut roughly one‑fifth of Gulf oil exports, forcing Asian importers to seek direct, often opaque, agreements with Gulf producers and Iran. Tankers are slipping through the waterway with AIS off, while...
19,000 Great Pyramids a Year: Report Flags Unsustainable Rate of Sand Mining
The United Nations Environment Programme reports that global sand extraction now tops 50 billion metric tons per year, a rate that far exceeds natural replenishment. This pace is enough to construct more than 19,000 Great Pyramids of Giza annually and is...
MinRes Reboots Bald Hill Lithium Mine After 18-Month Pause
Mineral Resources (MinRes) announced the restart of its Bald Hill lithium project in Nevada after an 18‑month shutdown caused by permitting delays and a soft lithium price environment. The company plans to ramp production to roughly 12,000 tonnes of lithium...
Southern Africa: Russia's Controversial Uranium Mining Plan Threatens Southern Africa's Vital Aquifer
Rosatom subsidiary Headspring Investments/Uranium One is advancing Project Wings, an in‑situ leaching uranium venture in the Kalahari’s Stampriet Artesian Basin. The plan calls for pumping large volumes of sulphuric acid into the trans‑boundary aquifer that supplies drinking water and irrigation for Namibia,...
How Gulf Investments Are Responding to the US-China Critical Minerals Competition
The United States is intensifying its focus on critical minerals, launching initiatives like FORGE and Project Vault to curb Chinese dominance in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Gulf sovereign‑wealth funds—UAE’s ADQ, Qatar Investment Authority, and Saudi Arabia’s PIF—are pouring billions...
Australia Orders Six Northern Minerals Investors to Divest Stakes
Australia’s treasurer ordered six China‑linked shareholders of Northern Minerals to divest roughly 17% of the rare‑earth miner within two weeks, citing national‑interest concerns. The move follows earlier 2024 interventions aimed at limiting Chinese control over the company’s Browns Range heavy...
Liberia: Communities Cry for Clean Water As EPA Shuts Down Nugget Era Mining for Illegal Operations in Gbarpolu
The Liberian EPA shut down Nugget Era Mining’s Class B gold operation in Gbarpolu on April 29, 2026, after finding it operated without an environmental permit and polluted local water sources. Residents of Korninga Chiefdom report contaminated drinking water, rising illness, and...
ADES’ 2014-Built Rig Turns One-Year North Sea Gig Into Three-Year Drilling Job
ADES Holding Company, part of Saudi‑based ADES Group, secured a contract extension for its 12‑year‑old Shelf Drilling Winner jack‑up rig with Tenaz Energy in the Dutch North Sea. The extension converts the original one‑year firm term into a three‑year firm...
Kazera Notes Third-Party Interest in Its Namibian Tantalum, Lithium Project
Kazera Global says third‑party interest is growing for its African Tantalum (Aftan) project in southern Namibia, which targets both tantalum and lithium. The company’s recent technical work highlights dry‑beneficiation methods that could dramatically reduce water use, a key advantage in...
Rokeby Announces 20-Year Licence Renewal for Omeo Gold Project
Rokeby Resources secured a 20‑year renewal of Mining Licence MIN 4921, extending its control over the Omeo Gold Project in Victoria until May 2044. The licence covers the Mt Wills goldfield, which hosts the Maude and Sunnyside deposits and a historical resource of...
GR Engineering to Deliver Ora Banda's Expanded Davyhurst Plant
GR Engineering Services has been appointed as the preferred contractor for Ora Banda Mining’s Davyhurst Expansion Project, which will deliver a new 3 million‑tonne‑per‑year gold processing plant. The plant is designed to boost capacity and capture higher‑grade ore, supporting Ora Banda’s record 38,766 oz...
Nobel Begins Drilling at Chile’s Pampa Austral
Nobel Resources has begun diamond drilling at its Pampa Austral property in Chile, targeting a historic 70‑metre interval that returned 0.70% copper and a 14‑metre zone of 2.1% copper. The initial two holes will test an induced‑polarisation (IP) chargeability anomaly...
Qld, Federal Govt Kick Off Mount Isa Transformation Study
Queensland and the Australian federal government have launched the Mount Isa Transformation Study, a strategic review aimed at securing the long‑term viability of the region’s copper sector. The study follows Glencore’s 2026 re‑bricking of its Mount Isa copper smelter and...
ZCCM-IH Aims for Bigger Stakes in Zambian Mines
ZCCM Investments Holdings, Zambia’s state investment arm, is moving to increase its minority stakes in several copper mines, including raising its share in Lubambe to 30% and in Mingomba to 25%. The strategy is part of a broader national push...
Chalmers Sends More China-Linked Northern Minerals Investors Packing
Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers ordered six investors to sell their holdings in Northern Minerals, citing concerns over Chinese influence at the company’s high‑profile Browns Range rare‑earth project. The investors collectively own almost 1.7 billion shares, representing a significant stake in the...
China Rare Earth Breakthrough in Icy Northeast Could Cement Country’s Dominance
Chinese scientists have identified a new class of rare‑earth deposits in the frozen soils of Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces. Unlike the clay‑rich ion‑adsorption deposits of southern China, these northern formations are loose sand and gravel created by freeze‑thaw cycles and...
Godolphin Considers ASX Spin-Out for Narraburra Rare Earths as It Joins Vital US Defence Consortium
Australian junior Godolphin Resources (ASX:GRL) has joined the US Defense Industrial Base Consortium, giving its Narraburra rare earth project direct access to US defence and industrial partners. The company is reviewing a demerger that would spin out the Narraburra assets...
Critica Delivers ~97% TREO MREO at Jupiter
Critica reported that its Jupiter rare‑earth project in Western Australia produced a third mixed rare‑earth oxide (MREO) batch with approximately 97% total rare‑earth oxide (TREO) purity, up from 84‑86% in prior tests. The hydrometallurgical flowsheet optimisation also delivered magnet rare‑earth...
Miners to Pay for Port Hedland Bypass Channel
Miners using Western Australia’s Port Hedland – BHP, Fortescue and Hancock Iron Ore – will foot the $50 million bill to construct the Zone 5 Bypass Channel. The project was fast‑tracked after Fortescue’s Nicola incident nearly forced the port to shut. The...
Viking Gets Nod for Tungsten Drilling Blitz in Nevada
Viking Mines has secured U.S. Bureau of Land Management approval to begin a 63‑hole, 48‑pad drilling campaign at its Linka tungsten project in Nevada, targeting the first subsurface exploration in over four decades. The program includes an 800‑metre southwest extension...
Goldman Says Central Bank Gold-Buying Stronger than Thought, to Reaccelerate
Goldman Sachs revised its model for sovereign gold purchases after discovering that official trade data missed outflows from London vaults starting in August 2025. The updated nowcast shows central banks buying about 50 tonnes of gold in March, far above the previous...
Mining Is Being Placed on the Frontburner in Zambia, and It’s Not Just About Copper
Zambia’s president Hakainde Hichilema is pushing a sweeping mining revival ahead of the Aug 13 election, targeting a jump from 0.64 Mt of copper to 3 Mt annually by the early 2030s. The agenda has attracted major investors, from BHP’s exploration plans to...
Kristie Batten: Power Putting New Rare Earths Project on the Fast Track
Power Minerals (ASX:PNN) completed a $6 million (≈US$4 million) acquisition of the Morro do Ferro rare‑earth project in Brazil and has appointed rare‑earth specialist Alistair Stephens as CEO. Stephens, who previously drove a small‑cap resource from a $30 million market cap to a...
Clean Energy’s Dirty Secret Lies in Critical Mineral Extraction
Demand for lithium, cobalt, copper, nickel and other critical minerals is set to double by 2030 and quadruple by 2050 as the world races to expand renewable‑energy and electric‑vehicle production. The surge is prompting governments to secure supply chains, but...
MP Materials’ Apple And Pentagon Deals Reshape US Magnet Growth Story
MP Materials secured a $500 million partnership with Apple to scale rare‑earth magnet production and recycling, while the U.S. Department of Defense pledged $400 million and a 10‑year guaranteed purchase agreement. The deals position MP as a domestic supplier for consumer electronics,...
DRC Is Sending in the Military to Guard Mines and Critical Minerals. Will It Be Enough?
The Democratic Republic of Congo announced a US‑UAE‑backed paramilitary unit to guard its mines and transport corridors, aiming to field up to 20,000 personnel by 2028. The initiative seeks to curb smuggling, replace corrupt security forces, and improve mineral traceability...
UCIL to Extract Uranium From Hindustan Copper's Tailings, to Set up Recovery Plant in Jharkhand: CMD
Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL) will build a plant in Jharkhand to extract uranium from the tailings of state‑run Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL). The agreement turns low‑grade waste into a domestic uranium feedstock, supporting India’s civil‑nuclear and defence programmes....
US Allows Russia Oil Sales Waiver To Expire Despite Tight Market
The Trump administration let expire the temporary waiver that had permitted U.S. buyers to purchase Russian crude already on tankers, ending a brief easing of sanctions. The waiver, first issued in March and renewed in April, was intended to cushion...
Rio2 Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results and Operations Update
Rio2 Limited posted its first‑quarter 2026 results, marking the start of production at the newly commissioned Fenix Gold mine in Chile and the early cash‑flow contribution from the recently acquired Condestable copper mine in Peru. Consolidated output reached 7,849 ounces...
MAX Power Mining, Moose Jaw to Advance Natural Hydrogen Commercialization
Canadian junior MAX Power Mining (CSE: MAXX) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the City of Moose Jaw to advance the commercialization of natural hydrogen in Saskatchewan’s Regina‑Moose Jaw Industrial Corridor. The agreement targets the Lawson discovery, Canada’s first...