The Pre-Start
WAF said the Burkina Faso gov’t is considering a decree to acquire an additional 25% stake in Kiaka, with discussions ongoing (WAF)
GR Engineering was appointed preferred contractor by Genesis for the EPC of Tower Hill, to deliver a ~4Mtpa plant under an estimated $225m contract (GMD)
Greatland reported half-year EBITDA of $560m and free cash flow of $387m, closing with cash of $948m (GGP)
Pantoro will undertake an on-market share buy-back of up to 10% (PNR) Never thought we’d see this headline! Up 5%
Nickel Industries reported US$1.65B in revenue, US$283m adj. EBITDA and a US$57m net loss. It produced 133kt of finished nickel metal (NIC)
Regis reported Tropicana resources of 5.4Moz and reserves of 1.9Moz, with Regis’ 30% share at 1.6Moz and 0.6Moz (RRL)
Bellevue reported a first-half profit of $3m, having sold 62koz and generated $18m in free cash flow (BGL)
Stanmore reported revenue of US$1.8B, a 21% decline, recording a net loss of US$47m, while declaring a final dividend of US 8.9c (SMR)
Perenti reported half-year revenue of $1.7B, underlying EBIT(A) $160m and normalised free cash flow $33m. It closed with net debt of $385m and declared a 3.25c interim dividend (PRN)
IMDEX reported record 1H revenue of $247m, normalised EBITDA $78m and operating cash flow $67m. It’ll pay a 1.7cps dividend (IMD)
Gorilla’s drilling at the Sovereign deposit returned 49m at 2.5 g/t Au from 191m and 4.8m at 20.1 g/t Au from 301m (GG8)
Stellar lifted Queen Hill’s total resource by 41% to 4.1Mt at 0.85% Sn (35kt contained), taking the Heemskirk project inventory to over 100kt tin (SRZ)
Toubani received an environmental permit for Kobada. It has now obtained all key construction permits and commenced resettlement activities (TRE)
Tivan submitted a confidential draft feasibility study for Speewah to its JV partners, with finalisation and public release expected in March (TVN)
Lefroy has produced first gold from Lucky Strike, shipping 3 doré bars (584oz) to the Perth Mint while toll milling at FMR Greenfields continues (LEX)
Brightstar's drilling at Sandstone returned 4.2m at 26.7g/t Au and multiple significant intercepts to feed a targeted June Q resource upgrade & PFS (BTR)
Aurum's Boundiali MRE increased 26% to 3Moz, with indicated ounces up 49% to 1.4Moz (AUE)
Vital’s grab sampling at the Nechalacho rare earths & niobium project returned assays of 168k ppm & 109k ppm TREO, with 12 samples up to 86% HREO (VML)
Horizon’s drilling at Kingfisher returned intercepts including 4m at 11.3g/t Au from 431m (HRN)
Solstice announced 8 RC holes at the Nanadie Cu-Au project that returned intercepts, including 125m at 0.40% Cu, 0.11g/t Au from 199m (SLS) Down 18%
Sunshine’s RC program at the Liontown deposit returned 1m at 136g/t Au and 9,960g/t Ag from 18m, within 30m at 6.7g/t Au and 528g/t Ag (SHN)
New Frontier updated its exploration targets across 14 prospects at the NWQ copper project, estimating 12–58Mt at 0.3–1.5% Cu (~50–473kt contained) (NFM)
Nova Minerals briefly paused trading to respond to a short report (NVA, Short Seller Report) Stock flat
Aurelia appointed Graeme Hunt as a director (AMI)
Andean appointed Matthew Allen as CEO, with Tim Laneyrie moving to Technical Director (ASL)
Douglas Thompson will resign as Coronado's CEO; Gerry Spindler is expected to be interim CEO (CRN)
Metals X's holding in Elementos was diluted to 15.9% (ELT)
High Grade It
Trump raises global tariff to 15% after Supreme Court loss (AFR)
India, Brazil sign mining pact as Modi targets US$20B trade in 5 years (Reuters)
Rio‘s top Australian exec personally lobbied Treasurer Jim Chalmers to maintain the $11B fuel tax rebate scheme, arguing its truck fleet will not be electrified for years (AFR)
Codelco expects output at its biggest copper mine, El Tieniente, to be stuck at reduced levels for years after Chile’s deadliest mine accident in decades (Bloomberg)
Geopolitics are fragmenting resource markets, adding to price volatility, with the days of open trade in commodities behind us (WSJ)
Newmont sent Barrick a so-called notice of default after finding evidence of alleged mismanagement at a Nevada joint venture (Bloomberg)
Tech companies are building data centers with their own private power plants at an increasing rate across the US (WP) Nat gas + solar
You’re reading this.
So are over 16,000 other very influential people in the mining sector.
Reach them where they are paying attention 👇
Wheelin’ n Dealin’
Brazilian state firm CBPM is taking legal action to block the sale of Equinox Gold’s Brazilian assets to CMOC (Bloomberg) $1B deal announced December
Metals volatility may slow the pace of mining M&A, BMO bankers say (Mining.com)
Southern Cross Gold declined its ROFR relating to the proposed Nagambie and Alkane JV ALK)
Rattlin’ the Tin
Minerals 260 signed a $220m funding package with Franco‑Nevada, comprising $170m royalty funding & a $50m equity subscription at 45c, giving FN ~4.9% and 2.45% royalty over Bullabulling (MI6)
Word on the Decline
Mark Connelly steps in as Non Exec Chairman of $2B Catalyst Metals next week, an appointment plenty of pundits read as a reliable ‘for sale’ signal.
And we get the sense the Connelly Rule applies here.
Got Word on the Decline? Simply reply or email [email protected]. We will always take your privacy seriously.
In the Weeds
Size counts in mining’s game of relevance, but not that much Glencore (AFR)
NGE Chairman’s Letter (NGE) Write-up includes thoughts on uranium, K92, MLG, CVN, STX, MLX
Why tariffs aren’t stopping China’s grip on battery minerals (Volt Rush)
This coal mine is being transformed into a $190m paradise for motor heads (AFR) Wakefield, west of Newcastle
This commodities veteran has been taking profits on gold and silver (Livewire) Daniel Sullivan (Janus) buying mid-cap energy stocks
Were you forwarded this email from someone else?
Today’s Top Tweet
Devil’s in the Detail
We got suspicious this morning reading Ramelius advertising they have $70m in “listed investments” on the front of their BMO deck.
And when we couldn’t remember them buying shares in anything, we wondered if it was a stealth stake picked up recently.
Then we remembered - the Spartan acquisition came with a stake in Benz worth about ~$70m today.
Ramelius has historically been very happy to dispose / divest assets it has no long-term plans for. So we wonder how the Benz stake will play out.