The Pre-Start
Bellevue shared grade control drilling results as it looks to sure up guidance, with results coming in line with expectations (BGL)
Pantoro shared Mainfield underground drilling results, sharing a batch of narrow, high-grade hits (PNR)
Black Cat closed the Sept quarter with $90m of cash & bullion, having mined 332kt at 1.9g/t for 20koz, including 3koz of 3rd party ounces (BC8)
Antipa released intersections from Minella, including a hit of 67m at 1.1g/t gold and 0.33% copper from 159m (AZY)
Wildcat picked up tenements adjoining Tabba Tabba through a swap with Northern Star (WC8)
Peninsula’s update highlighted completion of a $70m raise, US$13m in debt drawn and a US$5m uranium contract termination payment being made (PEN)
Warriedar shared assays from 50 resource definition drillholes at Ricciardo, with a best hit of 32m at 4.64g/t gold and 0.33% Sb from 170 (WA8)
Sunshine Metals hit 4.4m at 57g/t from 24m from its first 6 holes of a new drill program at Francis Creek at Sybil (SHN)
Unico Silver intersected 60m at 168g/t Ag from 22m in a 100m SE stepout at La Negra (USL)
Drilling from Patronus at its Guppy prospect at Cardinia has returned 13m at 2.12g/t from 105m amongst several hits (PTN)
Matsa’s first processing campaign of 49kt was done on time and budget, with the mine being rescheduled using a A$4,900/oz price (MAT)
European Lithium sold a further 3.85m CRML shares for US$50m (A$75m) (EUR)
Executive Chairman Julito “Sarge” Sarmiento will retire from the board of Celsius (CLA)
High Grade It
President Trump said he’d hit China with a 100% additional tariff and impose new export controls after Beijing placed restrictions on rare earths (WSJ)
The Pentagon has sought to procure up to US$1B worth of critical minerals as part of a global stockpiling spree to counter Chinese dominance (FT)
Albanese is scrambling to lock in a minerals deal before a Trump meeting, involving price floors and pumping money into rare earths projects (The Age)
BHP has reportedly agreed with China’s Minerals Resources Group to switch settlement to Chinese RMB currency for 30% of its spot iron ore (SteelOrbis) why is there radio silence from the media & BHP on this?
Teck is holding talks with the US & Canada about supplying minerals key to defence, if it can obtain support such as minimum prices (FT)
Tomago is hanging on by a thread and is due to close in 2028, with no end in sight to high energy costs (Australian)
The London silver market has been thrown into turmoil by a massive short squeeze, driving prices over $50/oz for the second time in history (Bloomberg)
A decade after its dramatic collapse, Queensland's gov’t is pushing to resurrect the Yabulu nickel refinery under Clive Palmer's ownership (Australian)
Copper plunged 5% after President Trump threatened a “massive” tariff increase on Chinese goods (Bloomberg)
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Wheelin’ n Dealin’
Wyloo has cashed out $182m after Neo Performance Materials share run fuelled by China-US trade row, selling its 19.9% stake (Australian) the stake was apparently taken up by a number of institutions
Elementos signed a binding 5-year option agreement to acquire 50% of the owner of the Robledollano Tin smelter in Spain for €3.6m (ELT)
Rattlin’ the Tin
Boab Metals was in the market on Friday seeking to raise $50m from investors (AFR)
St George Mining raised $72.5m including a $22.5m strategic investment by Hancock Prospecting, as it advances it’s Araxá project in Brazil (SGQ)
Brazilian Rare Earths has launched a capital raise (BRE)
Kairos is in a trading halt pending announcement of a capital raise (KAI)
Word on the Decline
Our good friends in Sierra Leone tell us that we should get ready for Fumble in the Jungle Mark 2
This series features brand new characters and a Chinese SOE…
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In the Weeds
Inside the power struggle at Barrick that led to the ouster of CEO Mark Bristow (Globe and Mail)
Epiroc: A Culture of Moving Mountains (Quatr) A wicked write-up, with awesome graphics, on the history of a mining services giant
Round-Tripping Not Allowed (Shrub) When it doubles, take off half… The market doesn’t owe you anything
China Rare Earth Regulations: The Day After and the Official View (TREO) “A lose-lose situation, as matters of principle tend to be"
The Chinese migrant workers powering the deadly EV nickel boom (ROW) A perspective on the costs of the Indo Nickel industry
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8:06 AM • Oct 12, 2025
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Gold Goes Vertical. We Hunt for Value (Ben Richards)
Stocks covered: CMM, EMR, BGL, OBM, GGP, VAU, MI6, GHM, AZY, STM, ERM, PAF.L, KAR, SMR, NHC, EHL, IMD, EZL, RIO, FMG, RHI, PDI, RXR, WA8, NXG