The Pre-Start
Resolute was awarded a 14-year mining permit for the Doropo gold project in Cote d'Ivoire, enabling FID ahead of construction in H1 2026 and first gold in H1 2028 (RSG)
Aurum’s Boundiali gold project drilling reported 12m at 7.5 g/t Au from 394m, a 150m depth extension, and a 700m strike step-out at BDT1 (AUE)
Antipa's CY25 drilling at Minyari found a new Fiama lode with 24.7m at 1.4 g/t gold from 39m and a Yolanda copper trend including 44m at 0.07% Cu (AZY)
VBX’s 2025 drilling increased the Wuudagu bauxite project's M&I resource 108% to 132Mt at 40.2% Al2O3 and 12.6% SiO2 (VBX)
St George reported further diamond drilling at Araxá with multiple surface-starting intersections, including 135m at 3.37% TREO & 99m at 4.63% TREO (SGQ)
Brightstar reported Sandstone project RC results, including intercepts such as 3m at 42.5g/t and 5m at 10.7g/t (BTR)
Southern Palladium’s reported completion of 52 holes and 37 deflections for 6.6km completed, with the DFS on track for completion by Aug 2026 (SPD)
Elevate’s Marenica uranium project MRE is 40Mlb U3O8 at 185 ppm (100 ppm cut-off), with infill drilling to start late Feb (EL8)
Anson delivered a lithium chloride sample from its Green River lithium project DLE pilot plant to Nusano for isotope separation test work under a non-binding MoU to progress supply discussions (ASN)
American Tungsten & Antimony produced first antimony ingots from material sourced from its Antimony Canyon project as proof-of-concept met testwork (AT4)
Koonenberry extended mineralisation to 415m vertical at Sunnyside with drilling returning 44.5m at 1 g/t Au from 340m (KNB)
Stellar signed a binding agreement giving consent to apply for a mining licence adjoining the Heemskirk tin project (SRZ)
Anax plans to release an updated Whim Creek DFS in Feb 2026, pursue funding with several indicative offers, and optimise silver recoveries this half (ANX)
Western Mines' drilling at Mulga Tank project returned 128m at 0.39% Ni, and cumulatively 466m at 0.32% Ni (WMG)
Blackstone Minerals appointed former Red 5 MD Mark Williams as a non-exec director (BSX)
L1 lifted its holding in Rox to 15.9%, from 14.8% (RXL)
Franklin increased its holding in Boab to 7.1% from 5.9% (BML)
High Grade It
JD Vance is urging US allies to join the bloc to diversify mineral supply away from China, underpinned by enforceable price floors and adjustable tariffs (Australian)
Argentina and the US signed an agreement on critical minerals to strengthen and secure supply chains, the Argentine foreign ministry said (Reuters)
China’s major gold-backed ETFs recorded their biggest-ever daily outflows – nearly US$1B combined (Bloomberg)
Investors rushed to lock in oil prices at record levels in January amid concerns around Iranian crude supplies & more Venezuelan barrels (Reuters)
Chinese trading firm Zhongcai Futures has emerged as a big winner from the recent rout in silver, netting over US$500m from aggressive short bets (FT)
The WA gov’t has doubled funding for the Exploration Incentive Scheme (from $9m to $18m), and capped the royalty rate for vanadium products at 2.5% (MN)
A message from Noah’s Rule
It's fun to run with the pack. Until it’s not. Safety in numbers might work in the Serengeti, but there is no safety in numbers in a bear market for your commodity or in a bull market for the Aussie dollar.
Our clients don’t tend to run with the pack. The longevity of many of them speaks volumes for the benefits of the path less travelled.
If you think there’s a better/safer way to not just survive but thrive through the cycle, but you’re not sure where to start, we suggest a Risk Review might be a good place to start. Get in Touch
Wheelin’ n Dealin’
Rattlin’ the Tin
Tianqi Lithium changed the pricing of its US$375m convertible bond after a blunder with the previous issuance (Bloomberg)
Champion Iron completed a US$100m private placement to La Caisse to partly fund its conditional cash tender offer for Rana Gruber (CIA)
PC Gold has requested a trading halt pending a capital raising (PC2)
Artemis Gold closed a C$450m note offering, paying 5.6% with a 5-year term (ARTG.TO)
Meridian Mining upsized its bought deal financing to C$50m (MNO.TO)
Integra announced a US$55m bought deal financing (ITR.V)
Word on the Decline
Chicken-legged Chamath Palihapitiya launched a new SPAC last year, which goes by American Exceptionalism Acquisition Corp. The tea leaves point to a private mining business that it could ultimately acquire to bring the NYSE...
Chamath still dines out on the only SPAC of the 2021 crop that worked: MP Materials, so of course he wants to rerun the playbook. But now copper is his proclaimed “trade of 2026.”
Washington wants leverage in the DRC, (Orion-US deal yesterday makes that obvious), and Kobold Metals is the AI + copper narrative that surely will be racing to go public this year. It’s obvious when you think about it…
And if it’s not Kobold, then in our mind it could only be their DRC-copper neighbour up for sale, Chemaf, simply because the name flatters his own ego.
Got Word on the Decline? Simply reply or email [email protected]. We will always take your privacy seriously.
In the Weeds
Greenbushes – On mining real estate (Strictly Boardroom)
Jittery fund managers cut gold exposure as volatility explodes (AFR) Interview with Collins St.’s Vas Piperoglou
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Today’s Top Tweet
Devil’s in the Detail
Below we’ve contrasted the FY26 year-to-date movements in a collection of global lithium names. A few thoughts occur…
Never underestimate the Aussie retail support
Spodumene producers are having their time in the sun - no surprises with the spod vs chemicals dispersion we saw
Little wonder Ganfeng wanted to cash some of their PLS chips in
FY year-to-date movements in PLS, ALB, LTR, SQM, IGO, Ganfeng & Tianqi
Our Latest Show
Coal's Inflection Point: AI Collides With Energy (Matt Warder)
Stocks mentioned: WHC, SMR, NHC, BHP, GLEN.L, BSL, RIO, BTU.NY, HCC.NY, AMR.NY, METC.N, AAL.L