Inalum, the state-owned aluminium producer, has asked the Indonesian government to tighten raw-material import rules and stimulate domestic demand after Washington doubled its tariff on imported aluminium to 50 per cent. Company president Melati Sarnita told Parliament the new US levy could slash exports of processed Indonesian products by about 30,000 tonnes next year, squeezing...
READ MOREChina’s Ministry of Commerce, the country’s trade regulator, and the Ministry of Science and Technology, its policy adviser, have revised the national list of technologies subject to export controls for the fourth time since 2001. The move inserts lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery-cathode preparation technology into the “restricted” column—requiring exporters to obtain a licence—while deleting three construction-related...
READ MOREAurubis, Germany’s largest copper producer and Europe’s top recycler of complex metal scrap, is steering €1.7 billion ($1.89 billion) toward expansion. Chief financial officer Steffen Hoffmann—new in the role—says the programme, anchored by a €740 million recycling smelter in Richmond, Georgia, is aimed squarely at surging North-American appetite for critical metals. With a robust 56...
READ MOREPrices of gold had wildly oscillated on July 7 in America, after spot gold reclaimed earlier losses that were prompted by United State President Trump’s comments that unveiled novel tariff plans aimed at Japan and South Korea. Precious metal concluded at $3,336.30 per ounce, after experiencing spectacular action throughout the day that had spot gold...
READ MOREWestern metal smelting operations face an unprecedented crisis as competition with technology companies for electricity resources drives power costs beyond economically viable levels, threatening government efforts to reshore critical industrial capacity. The crisis has intensified as artificial intelligence data centers consume increasing amounts of electricity, with tech companies willing to pay double traditional industrial rates...
READ MOREGlencore, the Anglo-Swiss mining giant led by CEO Gary Nagle, has accelerated its decision timeline for the Mount Isa copper smelter and Townsville refinery to September 2025, warning that multiple Australian processing facilities face imminent closure due to Chinese overcapacity driving treatment charges to record negative levels. The company estimates monthly losses of $30 million...
READ MORESaudi Arabian Mining Company, the Kingdom’s largest diversified mining enterprise and a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund, has completed the acquisition of minority stakes in two aluminum-related subsidiaries through a combination of share issuance and cash payments totaling $150 million. The transaction provides Maaden with full ownership of Maaden Bauxite and Alumina Company and...
READ MOREPlatinum prices have climbed from below $900 per ounce in early April 2025 to nearly $1,400 per ounce by late June, marking a 50% increase and reaching the highest levels in almost a decade. The rally has lifted platinum mining stocks dramatically, with Impala Platinum gaining 75% year-to-date, Northam Platinum advancing 88%, and Sibanye-Stillwater jumping...
READ MOREIndonesia has attracted over $80 billion ($102.5 billion) in nickel smelting investments during the past decade and now seeks to replicate this success in copper processing, where the country operates only four copper smelters compared to more than 50 nickel facilities. The Southeast Asian nation’s copper industry has secured over $9 billion in recent investments,...
READ MORECymat Technologies, a Canadian manufacturer of stabilized aluminum foam founded in 2006, and Rio Tinto Alcan, a major global aluminum producer and the sole major supplier of proprietary metal matrix composites, have entered into a letter of intent for the acquisition of MMC technology and customer relationships. The transaction positions Cymat to capture $7.5-10 million...
READ MOREGazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian energy giant Gazprom, is advancing plans to launch industrial-scale production of lithium and iodine by 2028, with additional prospects for extracting scandium, gallium, rubidium, and cesium from the associated waters of its oil and gas fields. The initiative represents a strategic diversification into critical minerals production while leveraging...
READ MOREInventories of aluminum in London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses have fallen to their lowest levels since 2022, creating significant underlying volatility in the market despite a seemingly stable headline price. Stocks have decreased from over 1.3 million metric tonnes two years ago to approximately 345,000 tonnes as of mid-June 2025. This tightening of available supply,...
READ MORETroilus Gold, a Canadian mineral exploration and development company, has reached an agreement on indicative commercial offtake terms with Aurubis, a global copper smelter headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. The agreement covers the copper-gold concentrate expected to be produced from Troilus’ project in north-central Quebec, Canada. This development helps to underpin the project’s financial profile as...
READ MOREChevron U.S.A. Inc., a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, has acquired approximately 125,000 net acres across Northeast Texas and Southwest Arkansas, marking its entry into the U.S. lithium sector. The leasehold positions, secured from TerraVolta Resources (backed by The Energy & Minerals Group) and East Texas Natural Resources, target the Smackover Formation—a geologic unit increasingly recognized...
READ MOREThe International Finance Corporation has committed an additional $400 million subordinated loan to Barrick Gold’s Reko Diq copper-gold project in Pakistan, bringing the World Bank Group’s total financing commitment to $700 million for what is expected to become one of the world’s largest copper mines. The loan, announced June 13, supports the project’s total estimated...
READ MORERio Tinto, one of the world’s largest mining and metals companies, is in advanced negotiations with the Australian federal and New South Wales state governments over a multibillion-dollar bailout package for its Tomago aluminium smelter in New South Wales. The future of the facility—Australia’s largest aluminium producer and single biggest electricity user—has been thrown into...
READ MOREThe Indonesian government is launching a new drive to attract investment into its downstream copper sector, aiming to transform the nation from a primary processor into a manufacturer of high-value, secondary products for the global electronics and electric vehicle industries. An official from the Ministry of Investment and Downstreaming confirmed that the government is preparing...
READ MOREThe discovery of palladium and its early uses Palladium is one of the rarest and most valuable metals on the planet – it’s 30 times more scarce than gold. The history of this metal begins in 1802, when English chemist William Hyde Wollaston discovered a new substance while dissolving platinum in a mixture of nitric...
READ MOREPlatinum prices in recent months have been volatile, driven by a combination of industrial demand, global macroeconomic conditions, and market sentiment. Prices are currently hovering around $1,210 per ounce, rebounding from May lows caused by US dollar appreciation and weak demand from the automaker segment. One of the leading drivers of current prices is the...
READ MOREConstellium, a global aluminum products manufacturer, has entered a collaboration with Nikon Advanced Manufacturing, a digital manufacturing solutions company, and America Makes, a US public-private partnership for additive manufacturing, to broaden the use of its Aheadd CP1 aluminum alloy in the United States defense and aerospace sectors. The $2.1 million project is funded by the...
READ MOREEuropean aluminium scrap exports to the United States have surged 273% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year, threatening to create critical shortages for European recyclers as US tariffs drive unprecedented demand for scrap metal. The crisis stems from the US doubling Section 232 tariffs on aluminium imports from...
READ MOREEmirates Global Aluminium, the UAE’s largest industrial company outside the energy sector and the world’s biggest premium aluminum producer, has expanded its solar-powered aluminum supply agreement with Hyundai Mobis, South Korea’s automotive parts manufacturer. The expanded contract will nearly double annual deliveries of CelestiAL solar aluminum from 8,000 tonnes this year to 15,000 tonnes by...
READ MOREAnne Oxley, co-founder and Chief Technical Officer of Brazilian Nickel, has been elected Chairperson of the Nickel Institute, the global trade association representing leading nickel producers worldwide. The appointment, announced on June 3, 2025, positions Oxley to lead the industry’s efforts in promoting responsible nickel production and supporting the metal’s role in the transition to...
READ MORESolus Advanced Materials, a South Korean copper foil manufacturer operating Europe’s only battery-grade copper foil production facility, and CATL, China’s largest battery manufacturer with 40% global market share, have entered a supply agreement for copper foil deliveries to CATL’s European battery manufacturing operations. The partnership will see Solus supplying copper foil produced at its Hungarian...
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