The Pre-Start
Northern Star revised FY26 AISC guidance to $2,600-$2,800/oz (from $2,300-$2,700/oz) due to lower gold sales & higher royalties, while sustaining capital remains ~$750m (~$450/oz) (NST)
Bellevue produced 32koz at an AISC $2,989/oz, closing with cash and gold of $165m, reduced hedging by 18.3koz and remains on track for FY26 guidance of 130-150koz (BGL) Founding Directors Steve Parsons & Michael Naylor have stepped down from the Board effective today
Genesis issued a LOI to award Byrnecut a proposed 4-year underground mining contract for the Gwalia & Ulysses mines, with mobilisation planned in early May (GMD)
IAMGOLD reported 2025 production of 766koz, hitting the mid-point of guidance of output & costs (~US$1,880/oz). 2026 guidance of ~760koz at US$2,075/oz (IMG.T)
Snowline and first nations group Na-Cho Nyäk Dun signed an MoU (SGD.T)
Yancoal announced 10.4Mt of attributable saleable coal production (up 12% QoQ), averaging a realised price of A$148/t to give it a $2.1B cash balance. Guidance remains unchanged (YAL)
Alphamin announced FY25 production of 18.5kt Sn (5kt in Q4), and yearly EBITDA of US$341m, up 25% on FY24. FY26 guidance of ~20kt while CEO Maritz Smith retired, replaced by former CFO Eoin O’Driscoll (AFM.T) Elevated North Kivu risks noted
Broken Hill Mines has begun early works at Pinnacles and is targeting a June Q restart with ore to Rasp ~15km away (BHM)
Perseus reported a second fatality from the 15 January offsite vehicle accident near its Bagoé gold project in Côte d'Ivoire (PRU)
Hot Chili returned 495m at 0.38% Cu, 0.10 g/t Au including 123m at 0.50% Cu, 0.13 g/t Au amongst other hits at La Verde (HCH)
Brightstar completed FEED and cleared the Laverton site for a 1.5Mtpa processing plant, advancing DFS2.0 and targeting FID late Mar Q (BTR)
Strickland reported further drilling at Shanac in the Rogozna project, including 113m at 1.7g/t AuEq from 451m and 7m at 6g/t AuEq (STK)
Phase 1 construction at Galan’s HMW remains on track for first production this half (GLN)
Cygnus identified two gold prospects at Chibougamau. Gwillim 12km away previously returning 7.6m at 38.1g/t Au & Joe Mann hosting 0.7Mt at 6g/t Au for 143koz (CY5)
Lefroy commenced mining first ore panels at Lucky Strike, with an MRE of 80koz at 1.95 g/t Au and a one-month toll-milling slot for 80-90kt (LEX)
VBX updated the Wuudagu bauxite project MRE to 95.8 Mt M&I at 39.5% Al2O3 and 13.7% SiO2 from the 2025 infill drilling (VBX)
AR3’s Koppamurra testwork established an oxalate pathway producing a high-purity MREO projecting ~98.6% REO+Y2O3 on calcination (AR3)
Kerry Stokes’ SGH lodged a notice as a substantial holder in Forrestania Resources, holding 9.5% (FRS)
High Grade It
Copper resumed gains as the USD weakened on Trump’s threats to impose tariffs over Greenland, & China’s economic growth met the govt target (Bloomberg)
Gold and silver hit record highs, after Trump warned of extra tariffs on some European countries (Reuters)
The ripping start to the year for copper, nickel and tin hit a bump after Chinese regulators cracked down on high-frequency traders of the base metals (AFR)
Iron ore sank for a 5th day on concerns about oversupply, as Beijing confirmed a substantial drop in steel output and port stockpiles expanded (Bloomberg)
Origin has extended Australia’s largest coal-fired power station for two years until 2029, which should prevent NSW blackouts (Australian)
China's mostly coal-based thermal power generation fell in 2025 for the first time in 10 years (Reuters)
Bolivia’s centrist government will respect all existing hydrocarbons and lithium agreements as part of a push to rebuild investor confidence (Reuters)
Barrick appointed Helen Cai as CFO, replacing Graham Shuttleworth as the overhaul continues ahead of potential IPO (Bloomberg)
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Wheelin’ n Dealin’
Rattlin’ the Tin
Word on the Decline
We’re keeping our eyes peeled for news of the Abra mine returning to ASX sometime soon. The lead-silver mine, previously listed as Galena Mining, became overburdened by debt when the grade reconciliation missed the mark.
Now the asset is operated as Endurance Mining which we think to be 100% owned by Taurus who had the debt with Galena.
With silver at US$94/oz and lead north of US$2,000/t, we’d expect the mine to be making a decent dollar here. And the plans to list are surely in motion.
Especially on the back of the success of BMC Minerals IPO - the polymetallic developer listed in December at an IPO price of $2.00/sh, now trading at $3.32 a month later!
Got Word on the Decline? Simply reply or email [email protected]. We will always take your privacy seriously.
In the Weeds
Rio and BHP could both want Glencore. This is why (AFR Huw McKay op-ed)
Why a possible Glencore deal now makes a BHP-Rio merger essential (Australian)
How a Glencore deal can solve Rio’s many problems in one fell swoop (AFR Analysis)
Airlie backs BHP and battered ASX tech stocks to fuel recovery (AFR)
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Today’s Top Tweet
Devil’s in the Detail
Raising equity at a 35% discount to the last price is steep. But when you raise the same day as your quarterly, expect that.
29 Metals’ announcements this morning
Our Latest Show
2025: Will We See Another Year Like It? (Peter Ker)
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