The Pre-Start
Boss Energy entered a trading halt ahead of the release of its Honeymoon review (BOE)
Sandfire shared a Black Butte PFS with a 1.2Mtpa plant, Johnny Lee resource of 22.3Mt at 2.4% Cu (520kt), & capex of US$474m (up 70%). Cash costs are forecast at US$2.56/lb. Plans are to initially produce ~35ktpa, moving to 29ktpa over an 8-year life (SFR)
Snowline awarded key contracts and commenced PFS work on its flagship Rogue project (SGD.TO)
Saturn’s Apollo Hill gold project PFS delivered a maiden ore reserve of 1.6Moz, NPV8 $973m, IRR 51% and $472m in pre-production capital (STN)
Boab approved a FID for the Sorby Hills silver-lead project, having raised ~$350m in debt & equity, targeting first production in H2 2027 (BML)
Almonty began commercial mining at the Sangdong tungsten mine, delivering the first ore to the ROM pad and commencing plant commissioning (AII)
Deep Yellow executed a power supply agreement for its Tumas project in Namibia and says water supply agreements are progressing (DYL)
Lindian optimised the Kangankunde process plant to lift monazite concentrate production 25% to 20ktpa, increasing pre-tax NPV8 by 45% to $1.7B (LIN)
Macmahon signed a 3-year $792m contract to continue mining services at the Byerwen coking coal project; FY26 guidance unchanged (MAH)
Horizon Minerals hit 0.3m at 5,848g/t Au from 259m at Burbanks (HRZ) nug
Southern Cross reported 12 holes from Sunday Creek, including 3.6m at 14.6 g/t Au from 709m, the deepest east-west hole at Apollo (SX2)
Savannah reported 3 recent doré pours totalling 12.5kg from Georgetown (SVG)
Encounter’s aircore drilling extended niobium mineralisation 400m east of the Green MRE, including 8m at 2.2% Nb2O5 from 46m (ENR)
Brazilian Critical Minerals produced a MREC grading 52.5% TREO from flowsheet testwork (BCM)
Arika’s Yundamindra gold project step-out drilling hit 10m at 9 g/t Au from 252m, extending Pennyweight Point mineralisation 100m down-dip (ARI)
True North Copper reported Aquila drilling confirmed continuity to 250m depth and ~60m true width at Mt Oxide (TNC)
Lunnon’s Lady Herial mining proposal was approved, with the OPA becoming unconditional once the native vegetation permit & mine schedule are finalised (LM8)
VanEck increased its interest in Vulcan to 8.9% from 7.18% (VUL)
High Grade It
Macquarie’s strategists are heading into 2026 with a renewed appetite for the mining industry, with the prospect of higher rates supporting resources (AFR)
Australia faces a blowout in the cost of gas needed to back up a renewables-dominated electricity grid, while the prize of fully greening the system by 2050 is undermined by challenging new economics (Australian)
South32 will be forced to mothball Mozal in Mozambique at a cost of $90m after failing to land on a deal to guarantee sustainable electricity prices (West)
Oil steadied after closing at the lowest level in almost 5 years, with WTI near $55/b, as signs of oversupply proliferate (Bloomberg)
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Wheelin’ n Dealin’
Canada clears way for $60bn Anglo Teck merger (FT)
Glencore is acquiring the Quechua project in the Cusco region of Peru from Japan’s Pan Pacific Copper for an undisclosed sum. Capex is estimated at US$1.3B (Bloomberg)
Perseus faces a production crisis as key mines wind down, forcing it to hunt for new West African targets after losing Predictive to rival Robex (Australian) Turaco and WIA Gold named as potential targets
Seabridge announced plans to spin-out the 11Moz at 2.36 g/t Courageous Lake gold project (SEA.TO)
Rattlin’ the Tin
Ur-Energy closed US$120m offering of 4.75% convertible senior notes (URE.TO) to ramp-up of production at our Lost Creek mine
Asante Gold announced an upsized C$156m bought deal (ASE.V)
GoldQuest announced a C$30m private placement for early development works at Romero (GQC.V)
Stillwater Critical Minerals upsized its bought deal LIFE private placement to C$15m (PGE.V)
Word on the Decline
Gold SpinCo’s are all the rage this week, so we’ll throw out one we think is quite high likelihood for 2026: Genesis’ to spin out its Bardoc assets
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In the Weeds
Rio Tinto’s Borates division could fetch $690-980M; much lower than $2B Bloomberg estimate (Mining Valuation Substack)
Triple Eight’s No. 17 Gold Fund (Insights) “Investors who aren’t directly invested in bullion & gold miners, are underweight the biggest trade in markets”
WA goes Fast & Furious: On the new State Development Bill (Strictly Boardroom)
China’s Controversial $167B Mega-Dam (Bloomberg Vids) Not mining related, but we do wonder about the West’s ability to tackle such an infrastructure project
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