RIO ($258B) - Rio started commissioning its US$1.5B AP60 smelter expansion at Complexe Arvida, Quebec. Start-up expected to complete by end 2026

GGP ($9.2B) - Greatland approved FID for Havieron and executed a $500m debt facility, leaving >$1.7B liquidity for development; works await secondary approvals

NHC ($4.9B) - New Hope amended and partially unwound capped call options tied to its 2032 convertible notes, taking its economic long position below 5%

IPX ($2.0B) - IperionX reported U.S. Army/WMTR tests found Ti‑6Al‑4V titanium fasteners at 563–615 ft‑lbf torque‑to‑yield vs 480–502 for Grade 8 steel

TVN ($669m) - Tivan completed a pilot at Speewah Fluorite, producing 195kg fluorspar at 98.6% CaF₂; samples sent to end-users

SYR ($230m) - Syrah said Tesla withdrew its intent to terminate the Vidalia AAM offtake after curing an alleged default, but retains termination rights | ▲ 24%

KZR ($53m) - Kalamazoo withdrew claims the Peake exploration target extends Ashburton’s mine life and corrected figures and CP wording to meet JORC

QML ($39m) - QMines progressed a DFS for Mt Chalmers copper-gold, targeting completion by year-end after a $15m QIC package

Codelco nearly quadrupled pre-tax profit as copper prices surged despite output drop, with its chair signalling profit over growth focus (Mining.com)

DRC triples royalties on lithium and strategic minerals (Bloomberg)

Rio & South32 offer record aluminium premiums to Japan amid Middle East conflict (Bloomberg)

Race for rare earths sparks concern about environmental damage (FT)

China mine collapse kills five, days after deadly Shanxi blast (Mining.com)

CYL ($1.4B) - Catalyst exercised option to buy Bryah Basin tenements from Albright for $2.2m in cash & shares

HGO ($159m) - Hillgrove completed the $5m Stage 1 consideration for Mutooroo

CP8 ($62m) - Canadian Phosphate will acquire 100% of Diamond Mountain phosphate (Utah) for up to US$3m, announcing a rights issue for up to ~$5m at 14c

PGO ($53m) - Pacgold is halted pending a deal involving its North Queensland assets

VMC ($42m) - Venus sold to Franco-Nevada its 1% Youanmi royalty for $46m, with VMC intending to declare two special dividends | ▲ 35%

KLI ($39m) - Killi remains suspended pending queries on a potential acquisition

Zijin faces delays in US$4B acquisition of Allied Gold due to Chinese regulatory concerns (FT)

Jindal Steel seeks to acquire Whyalla steelworks amid local job losses and operational failures (Australian)

TGM ($243m) - Theta Gold raised US$90m via senior secured bonds at 12.75% to fund TGME Gold project construction, with interest-only for 30 months and first gold targeted Q1 2027, subject to CPs before mid-June settlement

BGD ($211m) - Barton raised $25.5m at 85c to fund Challenger DFS/FID (AFR)

ANX ($58m) - Anax in trading halt pending capital raise announcement

COD ($56m) - Coda raised $6.7m at 13c to fund the Elizabeth Creek PFS

EVG ($37m) - Evion upsized its placement to ~$7m at 3c

PLS ($21B) - PLS director Dale Henderson sold $4m of shares on-market

SOL ($17B) - Soul Patts sold $6.4m of Aeris shares on-market, trimming its holding to 14.2%

WAF ($3.6B) - Helikon bought $38m of West African, lifting its stake to 11.2%

PRN ($2.0B) - Perenti appointed Vanessa Torres to the board as Mark Norwell resigned today

WIA ($798m) - Capital DI lifted its WIA Gold stake to 15.7%

MMI ($465m) - Metro non-executive director Jo-Anne Scarini resigned

STK ($303m) - Strickland appointed Jo-Anne Dudley and Sandra Bates as directors, with Richard Pugh resigning

AQI ($272m) - Michael Naylor bought $475k Alicanto shares, now holding 5.2%

SLS ($256m) - Regal bought $3m of Solstice shares, lifting its holding to 6.3%

ALR ($255m) - Altair appointed Simon Bolster as technical advisor

ERM ($250m) - Weiss AM bought $3.1m of Emmerson shares, lifting to 6.1%

ATR ($236m) - Astron appointed Marcelo Bastos as NED

Dino Otranto at AFR Mining Summit (Interview) Entertaining interview. Anecdote on CMRG’s ambitions at 20:01 is fascinating

The Most Convex Trade of My Career (PauloMacro) Polar opposite of the below post - you decide!

St Barbara - the math doesn’t stack up (Quokka Substack)

A personal note to a reader (Alyosha) “We have ample energy supply”

White Smoke from ARU's Chimney; US fails in addressing RE in Beijing; Rare Earth Canibalism; Neo's Quarterly; BRE, UUUU, SGQ (TREO)

Tin re-balances but investors are still betting on scarcity (Reuters oped)

On our numbers, this is an effective ~15% p.a. cost of debt. And that’s before fees. Throw in arranger, legal and other financing fees, and the true all-in funding cost is likely somewhere in the 16-17% range. And we punters are looking for equity returns!