The Pre-Start
Fortescue has signed decarbonisation-focused heads of agreements with BYD, LONGi, & Envision, while adding a new partnership with XCMG. It has also acquired Nabrawind, in which it was previously a minority shareholder (FMG)
Manuka shared that it’d received a binding offer for a new debt facility as it explores restarting the Wonawinta plant, while talking up the contained silver (51Moz Ag) within its Cobar assets (MKR)
Aldoro grew its mineral resource by 85% to 520Mt at 2.49% TREO Eq (1.18% TREO, 0.20% Nb, 201ppm Mo), using a 0.5% TREO cut-off (ARN)
Encounter defined an inferred copper resource of 2.9Mt at 0.8% at Tyrell (ENR)
Indiana released extensional drilling from Minos in South Australia, hitting 21m at 2.31g/t gold from 115m (IDA)
Northern Dynasty received a US$12m payment, being the 4th tranche under the company’s 2022 royalty agreement (NDM.TO)
Annual reports were shared by Antipa, Jupiter, & Minerals 260
High Grade It
BHP & Rio have surged along with pure-play copper producers after the metal jumped to the highest level in more than a year amid Grasberg concerns (AFR)
Goldman lowered its global copper mine supply forecast for 2025 and 2026 following disruptions, forecasting higher prices (Reuters)
The massive Antamina mine in Peru is forecasting an almost 20% boost in copper output next year (Bloomberg)
Taxpayer-backed Liontown has tripled its annual loss amid the dismal lithium price environment (AFR), while it’ll send its first shipment to Tesla within weeks (Australian)
The DRC said it loses 60t of gold a year to smuggling and wants to build new sites to recapture that wealth (Bloomberg)
Russia & Ethiopia signed a document calling for the planning and construction of a nuclear power plant in the East African country (Reuters)
Lynas is on track to post its strongest quarter of gains in a decade as investors bet on its role as a key beneficiary of escalating trade tensions (Bloomberg)
Got a crushing and screening job you need looked after? Look no further than the experienced team at MLG to ensure the job is done right.
Wheelin’ n Dealin’
Canadian mining giant North American Construction Group has emerged as the latest suitor circling Emeco (Australian)
Vulcan signed a contract with Turboden & ROM Technik to develop, procure & construct the commercial geothermal power plant in Germany (VUL)
Rattlin’ the Tin
Gold Fields was selling a $1.1B stake in Northern Star, sending out JPMorgan to collect bids after Thursday’s closing bell (AFR)
Tesoro is in halt to raise capital (TSO)
Hillgrove is in halt to raise capital (HGO)
Tungsten Mining is in a trading halt for a capital raising (TGN)
Qmines wrapped up a $7.5m placement for gold and silver exploration at Mt Makenzie (QML)
IperionX is set to receive another US$25m from the US Department of War (IPX)
Contango Ore announced an underwritten offering for US$50m (CTGO.NY)
Outcrop Silver launched a C$20m raising at 35c (OCG.TO)
Word on the Decline
Something’s brewing at MinRes as it relates to its lithium business - personally we think a sell-down is very advanced that would see the business deleverage considerably
We are light on details - best case for MinRes is a minority JV sell down akin to TLEA at valuation north of consensus NAV, retain all mining services
Top tweet goes to Respeculator who has an even more optimistic best case:
Got Word on the Decline? Simply reply or email [email protected]. We will always take your privacy seriously.
In the Weeds
Aya Gold & Silver has been hit by a short report out of Blue Orca Capital, suggesting the company inflated its resource by +100%, explaining dire production (Twitter) stock down 16%
Copper’s electrification story finds a new catalyst (AFR Chanticleer) 1% of next years supply gone from the market
A 3D virtual tour of Grasberg (YouTube) - you can pan on the video screen for full 360 degrees throughout the tour, it’s very cool
Why We Believe Gold Could Double from Here (GoRozen)
Were you forwarded this email from someone else?
Devil’s in the Detail
As our buddy Le Shrub articulates so well, we are in the Golden Age of Grift. But that doesn’t mean investors should grin while management hands themselves gift cards funded straight out of shareholder wallets.
We are seeing huge amounts of incentive options being pushed through on the most flimsy of hurdles (very short tern, no real alignment). In a bull market, shareholders are too busy popping champagne to notice they’re being mugged!
Here’s just one example that tops it off, options issued to directors already 20% in the money vs last close!
We complain about the lack of capital invested in junior mining but this is what we tolerate as shareholders…
Catch up on our latest episode
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Shrub Unplugged: Gold, Grift & Debasement
Companies mentioned: GLEN.L, AAL.L, MP.NY, NAK.NY, NDM.TO, MLX, AFM.V, VALE, IMP.JO, SBSW, TSLA, NVDA, MSTR, IONQ, QUBT, RGTI, OPTT
New episode at 5pm today