The Pre-Start

PMET reported caesium assays for 52 holes at the CV13 pegmatite, including 28m at 8.05% Cs₂O and 2.2m at 26.48% Cs₂O at the Vega zone (PMT)
Implats announced that 1H profits are up 392% on the back of stronger PGM prices (IMP.J)
Sigma Lithium's waste piles offer no "imminent risk" and the country's mining regulator saw no need to shut them down during a visit last month (Reuters)
The Aus Federal Court ordered Indian Ocean to pay $10m and Jing Tian to pay $4m after disposing of 168m Northern Minerals shares in contravention of the Treasurer’s foreign acquisition orders (NTU)
Brazilian Rare Earths reported multi-sensor ore sorting at Monte Alto produced a single-pass +27% TREO concentrate, >95% yields, ~96–99% recoveries, ~25% waste rejection and <0.3% rare earth loss (BRE)
Larvotto's ongoing drilling at the Freehold prospect returned multiple intercepts, including 8.3m at 7.50 g/t AuEq from 59m (LRV)
TG Metals released assays from 52 RC holes at the Van Uden gold project, including 13m at 2.3 g/t Au from 48m; diamond core drilling has commenced (TG6)
Tivan upgraded the Speewah fluorite project MRE to 43Mt at 8.3% CaF₂ containing 3.6Mt CaF₂, a 16% tonnage and 6% contained CaF₂ uplift (TVN)
Elementos increased the inferred tungsten MRE at the Cleveland tin project to 8.5Mt at 0.24% WO₃, containing 20.6kt WO_3.A scoping study is targeted for this year (ELT)
Kairos returned results from 35 holes at Main Hill Extension, extending Mt York gold project by 1,200m to 4.2km strike, with a top intercept of 16m at 2.6 g/t Au from 143m (KAI)
Terra’s resource upgrade drilling at Reef 2 (Hyperion) at Dante confirms thick, laterally continuous Ti–V–PGM–Cu–Au mineralisation from surface, including 8m at 1.73% CuEq from 47m (TM1)
Collins St has trimmed its gold holdings in Tesoro to 10.7% (TSO) and Barton to 9.0% (BGD)
AustralianSuper has lifted its stake in MinRes to 9.3% (MIN)

High Grade It

China wants more copper in its stockpiles, according to a senior metals industry official (Bloomberg) Copper +5% on the news
Uzbekistan boosted annual production of uranium to 7kt in 2025, far more than an initial estimate, and plans to develop 4 new mines this year (Reuters)
Bolivia buries 20 years of socialism with ‘capitalism for all’ reforms to unleash a mining and oil exploration boom (FT) Argentina trade repeat?
Origin has offered a 12-month contract to Centennial Coal, but unions have labelled the deal disingenuous (Australian)
Traders have been left stunned after a record rally in silver transformed into a brutal rout, battering many retail investors (FT) Commodity articles consistently on the FT’s front page - what a world!
Zimbabwe's exports of lithium-bearing spodumene concentrate rose by 11% in 2025, but weaker global prices for the battery metal kept export revenue flat (Reuters)
China’s suspension of rare earth export controls ‘won’t last’ says Madeleine King (Australian)

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Wheelin’ n Dealin’

Glencore has agreed a non-binding deal for the US-backed Orion Critical Mineral Consortium to buy a 40% stake in its Mutanda & Kamoto Cu-Co mines in the DRC, implying a value of US$9B (GLEN.L) Stunning. GLEN +3%. No surprise the first quote isn’t from any of the CEO’s involved, but from the US Deputy Secretary of State
Rio Tinto investors are ditching their ASX-listed shares as Glencore merger talks climax (AFR)
Nova Minerals will seek shareholder and court approval to redomicile to the US, retain ASX and NASDAQ listings, and acquire the remaining 15% of Estelle (NVA)

Rattlin’ the Tin

Strickland announced a $55m placement at 16c to fund exploration & PFS work, with Ibaera maintaining its 16.6% stake and Zijin increasing to 4% (STK)
Bellavista raised $35m via a placement at $0.75 per share to fund the Pickle Crow acquisition and exploration (BVR)
Osisko Development completed a US$144m bought deal (ODV.TO)
NextSource Materials executed a LoI with Hanwa and JOGMEC for a US$30m strategic investment into a UAE battery anode facility (NEXT.TO)

Word on the Decline

As the critical minerals war between China and the US heats up, Rio Tinto’s posturing is curious to us. Trott has made public statements about their learnings from Simandou - particularly on the superior project construction & execution efficiencies from their Chinese partner.
And unless we have misremembered, we think we’ve heard Rio hint at utilising that capability on other projects.
How does all of this marry up with the West’s ambitions? Rio is walking a fine line.
And if you pick a market like titanium dioxide - which is already dominated downstream by China - is there really any other buyer of Richards Bay Minerals other than the Chinese?
How is that going to go down if/when one of the West’s largest miners divests a globally significant production centre to entrench China’s dominance in that commodity?

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In the Weeds

A lot just happened with gold, but nothing changed (Dryblower)
We're not the Red Cross (Alyosha) Brilliant writing on commodity moves from a market vet. Fav quotes: “I like copper so I don’t look at it every day wondering what I think” + “life is not fair and markets are like life”
Mining: Why It's Essential for a Sustainable Future (Book) Putting mining’s importance in perspective!
Largest mining companies by market cap (List) Last night Southern Copper briefly surpassed Rio & BHP as the world’s biggest miner. We know there’s a very small free float… but wow
Why Silver Is Flowing East (Spotify, Apple) Fascinating chat with former Bridgewater commods head. Touches on wild AI energy demand