Department of the Interior, federal resource agency, and the U.S. Geological Survey, science bureau, have proposed a 2025 list of 54 critical minerals that newly elevates copper and silver to “critical” status, shaping federal investment, permitting and stockpiling strategy for the next three years. The draft, to be posted in the Federal Register on August...
READ MOREJapan’s Cabinet Office Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP), a government R&D initiative, and research partners have set January 2026 for trial mining of rare-earth-bearing mud on the seabed off Minamitorishima, its easternmost territory, with pilot extraction targeted for the first half of fiscal 2027. The campaign—at around 6,000 meters depth—aims to cut exposure to China...
READ MOREThe United States, government, and Russia, government, are heading into talks in Anchorage on Aug. 15 with a controversial idea on the table: offering Moscow access to critical minerals as part of a package to halt the war in Ukraine, according to UK media reports echoed by US outlets. The suggestions include potential access to...
READ MOREThe United States, government, and Switzerland, global refining hub, have stepped back from a tariff flashpoint after President Donald Trump posted that “Gold will not be Tariffed!”, easing market turmoil triggered by a July 31 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) letter that placed one-kilogram and 100-ounce bars under a duty-liable customs code. Prices steadied after...
READ MORES&P Global Market Intelligence, mining data provider, and the gold industry, producers and explorers, have added three deposits to the list of “major discoveries” in 2024, lifting the global inventory of gold contained in discoveries since 1990 to almost 3 billion oz across 353 deposits—but most of the ounces came from old finds that have...
READ MOREUnited States and Switzerland, global gold-refining hub, have upended bullion trade after Washington reclassified one-kilogram and 100-ounce bars under a tariff-liable customs code, exposing a core format for New York delivery to duties amid a wider 39% levy on Swiss imports. Futures in New York spiked to a record as traders scrambled to assess supply...
READ MOREUnited States, government, and Cook Islands, Pacific micro-state, have begun negotiations on a programme to chart the island nation’s 1.96 million-km² exclusive economic zone, aiming to quantify polymetallic nodules that could feed battery supply chains and lessen China’s grip on critical minerals. The talks come five months after Avarua signed a five-year cooperation agreement with...
READ MOREAustralia, resources exporter, and MP Materials, U.S. rare-earth producer, have moved to formalise price support in critical minerals, with Canberra studying price floors for rare earths and other inputs after Washington guaranteed a $110 per-kg floor for key oxides in a July deal with MP Materials. Shares in Australian names rose Tuesday, including Lynas Rare...
READ MOREFidelity International, asset manager, and Goldman Sachs, investment bank, have both argued gold could challenge fresh records into 2026, with Fidelity saying prices could reach $4,000/oz by the end of next year as the Federal Reserve eases policy, the dollar weakens and official-sector purchases remain strong. Spot bullion traded around $3,310–$3,350/oz in early August after...
READ MOREGoldman Sachs salespeople recommended hedge-fund clients buy upside call options on U.S. copper a day before President Donald Trump unveiled a scaled-back tariff plan that exempted refined metal, triggering the sharpest price collapse on the New York contract since records began in 1988, according to people briefed on the calls and subsequent desk emails. On...
READ MORECopper demand is running hotter than forecasters expected, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence and cable maker Prysmian, as a worldwide push to upgrade power grids and build data centres gathers speed. Supply isn’t keeping pace. That mix could keep prices elevated after trading near $9,700 per tonne in late July. The International Energy Agency now...
READ MOREGlobal supply, industry outlook, is set to recover in 2025 as Ivanhoe’s Kipushi in the DRC, China’s Huoshaoyun and Russia’s Ozernoye scale up, even as analysts still see mined zinc contracting at a -0.5% CAGR to around 12.1 mt by 2030 from a post-rebound base. After an estimated 2.8% decline in 2024, mine production is...
READ MOREChina’s Ministry of Commerce, trade regulator, and the Ministry of Science and Technology, science policymaker, have immediately updated the Catalogue of Technologies Subject to Export Prohibitions and Restrictions, adding export-licensing requirements for upstream and midstream battery technologies—most notably LFP/LMFP cathode preparation and lithium chemical/refining processes—and revising controls on gallium extraction methods. The final amendment follows...
READ MOREChina’s General Administration of Customs, the national trade monitor, said imports of unwrought aluminium and products reached 300,000 t in June, up 24.1 % from a year earlier, while bauxite arrivals soared 36.2 % to 18.12 Mt, underscoring the pull from smelters ramping output to multi-year highs. Smelter Restarts and Arbitrage Fuel Metal Flows Restarts...
READ MORERio Tinto, diversified mining group, has absorbed about $300 million in extra costs since March after the United States lifted import duties on Canadian aluminium to 50 per cent, a move the company says only partly offset by a surge in U.S. Midwest premiums for the metal. Tariff Impact on Rio’s Aluminium Flows The...
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 MOREA 50% proposed tariff on copper imports into the United States will have little impact on India’s copper sector. Its position as a net importer of the metal, along with record domestic demand from the renewable energy and electric vehicle sectors, offers a significant buffer against the prospective trade disruption. An Import-Dependent Market India’s role...
READ MOREThe Indonesian government, in an effort to control an acute oversupply of nickel ore, will reduce the validity period of its mining work plan permits (RKAB) from three years to one. The policy revision, which will commence in 2026, has attracted immediate objection from the nation’s miners, who caution it will hamper investment and cause...
READ MOREPresident Donald Trump has confirmed on July 9th that the United States will apply 50% tariffs to all imports of copper starting August 1st, after what he called a “robust national security assessment”. The news initiated the biggest one-day copper price rise in recorded history, with New York Comex futures jumping 17% before closing 2.6%...
READ MOREBolivia’s Chamber of Deputies saw fiery altercations on July 9th when legislators discussed the contentious $975 million lithium extraction deal with Russia’s Uranium One Group. The session, which started at 17:00 hours, laid bare the deep rifts between government allies and opposition lawmakers calling for more regional involvement in the decision-making process. The agreement to...
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 MOREWestern metal smelting operations across copper, zinc, aluminum, and nickel face an unprecedented crisis as Chinese capacity expansion drives treatment charges to historic lows and forces facility closures worldwide. The crisis extends beyond individual company struggles to threaten Western industrial sovereignty, with China approaching the same level of processing dominance in base metals that has...
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,...
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