The Pre-Start

Vale reported that its Q4 loss widened to US$3.8B versus one year prior, citing an impairment of nickel assets in Canada and a tax effect. Adjusted EBITDA came in at US$4.6B, with output within guidance (VALE.NY)
IGO updated CY25 Greenbushes MRE to 457Mt at 1.6% Li₂O (IGO)
Capstone said Union #2 at Mantoverde ratified a new 3-year collective bargaining agreement, ending the month-long strike (CSC)
Alkane reported record HY FY26 results: HY revenue $404m, net profit $65m, adjusted EBITDA $185m and closing cash, bullion and investments $246m (ALK)
Rox Resources has engaged MACA Interquip Mintrex as the preferred EPC contractor to deliver the Youanmi processing plant (RXL)
Horizon updated its gold mineral resource to 34.3Mt at 1.7 g/t Au for 1.88Moz, citing Boorara & Burbanks and a lower 0.5 g/t cutoff (HRZ)
Minas Gerais signed a preferential goods tax regime granting St George tax exemptions on equipment for the niobium and rare earths Araxá project, plus support for a pilot plant (SGQ)
Austral signed a non-binding MoU with Metal Bank to assess toll treatment of Millennium Cu-Co ore at the Rocklands processing facility (MBK)
EcoGraf signed a non-binding MOU with Finland’s GTK and Betolar to study the utilisation of the tailings from the Epanko graphite project (EGR)
Largo warned it may terminate its US$56m iron ore calcine sale after the buyer missed initial payments (LGO.TO) stock down 18%
Paladin released an investor site visit presentation (PDN)

High Grade It

Gold steadied after a sharp decline sparked by a wider selloff across financial markets, trading near US$4,920/oz (Bloomberg)
The Trump administration urged AVZ Minerals to sell its stake in the Manono lithium project to a US company, marking a bold new strategy in its pursuit of critical minerals (AFR)
KoBold Metals and DR Congo are pushing a Brussels museum to release millions of records that would help map valuable metals (FT)
Australia’s few remaining nickel producers got a sugar hit on Thursday after regulators told the world’s largest mine in Indonesia to slash output (AFR)
A Chinese metals industry body will hold a policy briefing next month on rare earth and other critical minerals exports, as Beijing tightens controls (Reuters)
Following years of secretive trials and delays, Fortescue has officially started phasing out the diesel trains for battery-electric (West)

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Wheelin’ n Dealin’

Bannerman has secured up to US$321.5m from CNNC’s CNOL for 45% of Etango, with US$294.5m injected into JVCo and up to US$27m paid directly to BMN, plus a 60% “actual production” LOM offtake at market pricing (BMN) Leading uranium equities down 10%
Dataroom has talked up scrip mergers in the gold space, talking up an old favourite, a combination between Vault & Genesis (Australian)
Anglo American has relaunched the sale of its prized Queensland coal mines with a rumoured $5B price tag after a previous Peabody deal failed (Australian)

Rattlin’ the Tin

Peninsula Energy converted US$4.25m of its convertible loan, issuing 19.9m shares at $0.30 and reducing its outstanding debt to the lender to US$8.3m (PEN)
Trek Metals is raising $12m at 15c after running on manganese results (TKM)
Sky Metals received binding commitments to raise $20.5m via placement at $0.155 per share (SKY)
AuMEGA launched an offering of up to C$10m (AAM)
i-80 Gold unveiled a funding package of US$500m to cover development and clean its balance sheet. Franco-Nevada contributed US$250m in royalty financing (Mining.com, IAU.TO) NSR 1.5% rising to 3% from 2031 over all of i-80.’s Nevada assets, aim to scale production from ~35koz in 2025 to 600koz by 2032…!
Western Copper & Gold announced a C$80m placement at C$4.15 (WRN.TO)

Word on the Decline

A couple of observations from some of the bigger share price moves yesterday that could be explained by deal anticipation:
1. Celsius Resources rose 28% on no news. Except an earnings call from Indian company Kiri Industries elaborates on the company’s intention to acquire a 20-40% stake in the MCB project (listen from 20 minute mark for the questions on CLA)
2. Great Boulder rose 20% on no news, with record daily volume for the stock. Some market watchers think it could be indicative of a near-term deal with Meeka (which has sold off 30% since their quarterly despite tidy progress ramping Murchison)

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In the Weeds

Can Africa win as the West and China scramble for minerals? (Reuters op-ed)
China’s aluminium smelters embark on green long march (FT)
Renovo warns of a 500% surge in tungsten carbide costs, driven by China export limits, flagging imminent price rises, supply shortages, and a shift toward recycling and alternative materials (YouTube from CEO)