The Pre-Start
Freeport reported 640mlb of copper and 65koz of gold production in Q4, while activities are on track to commence a phased restart beginning in Q2 2026 of the Grasberg Block Cave (FCX.NY)
Capstone said Mantoverde's Union #2 strike interrupted water supply after people entered a desalination plant, halting sulphide operations and risking oxide shutdown unless judicial action restores access (CSC)
MGX generated $15m free cashflow and held $497m cash & investments after suspending mining at Koolan Island, and expects to complete its 50% Central Tanami gold project acquisition in March 2026 (MGX)
Sheffield is in a trading halt pending Kimberley mineral sands JV financing facilities news (SFX)
Celsius released a DFS for the MCB copper-gold project in the Philippines, reporting NPV8 post-tax NPV8 US$771m; IRR 24%; US$276m initial capital, 35-year mine life and a 130.2 Mt ore reserve (CLA) IRR 34% at spot pricesFalcon’s step-out drilling at the Blue Moon gold project intercepted 2.75m at 41.9 g/t Au from 605m, including 0.5m at 222 g/t Au, and had $22m cash at quarter end (FAL)
Elementos confirmed tungsten and rubidium extensions at the Cleveland tin project after assays returned multiple intercepts, including 2m at 0.68% WO3 from 125m and 26m at 0.094% Rb from 139m (ELT)
Delta reported Mt Ida lithium project infill drilling including 34m at 1.86% Li2O and produced 99.8% lithium carbonate from mica concentrate (DLI)
Lotus completed an 11.5-for-1 share consolidation, leaving 236m fully paid ordinary shares on issue post-consolidation (LOT)
High Grade It
Fortescue said relations with China must evolve to offer mutual benefits as the miner buys more Chinese equipment to soothe tensions over iron ore prices and market structure (AFR)
Goldman’s raised its year-end gold price forecast by more than 10% to $5,400/oz (Bloomberg)
Northern Star MD Stu Tonkin said the market is too focused on minutiae after his performance & disclosure standards were called into question during a fiery call (AFR)
Chile's mining industry expressed concerns after President-elect Kast named one minister to oversee both mining and the economy (Reuters)
Euroz Hartleys has underlined the recovery in miners with a more than doubled interim profit (West)
The U.S. House of Rep’s voted to overturn former President Biden's mining ban in Northern Minnesota (Reuters)
Wheelin’ n Dealin’
Rattlin’ the Tin
Tungsten Mining is in a trading halt pending a $50m capital raising at $0.19 (TGN)
RareX is in a trading halt pending a $2.5m capital raising (REE)
GreenX is in halt pending a capital raising (GRX)
Ballard raised $61m via a $0.80 placement (BM1)
Dateline completed a $35m institutional placement at $0.31 per share, raising cash to over $58m (DTR)
Cyprium raised $41m via a $36m placement and $5m entitlement offer at $0.52 per share (CYM)
Top Tweet & Word on the Decline
Our bet? Deal hungry Montage’s next target is actually Sanu Gold
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In the Weeds
The dawn of the copper age (Robert Friedland) Prezzo from FMF
US aluminium consumers pay the spiralling cost of tariffs (Reuters op-ed)
10 Silver Days of Christmas (Campbell Ramble) A couple weeks old, but worth reading
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Devil’s in the Detail
Delta Lithium today nudges the market that they were nearly trading below cash and listed investments ($200m mcap pre-open vs $199m cash and listed investments)
Our Latest Show
Riding the Face-Ripping-Rally with Tom Woolrych
We dig into Q2, Winsome, Wildcat, Wia Gold, Hot Chili, Peel, Adina and more