The Pre-Start
IPX ($1.4B) - IperionX shifted titanium operations to 24/7 production, made 4.2t in March and targets ~200 tpa by end-CY26; cash US$48m
WA1 ($1.1B) - WA1 will update the Luni niobium MRE in the June quarter after drilling extended mineralisation 400m east; cash $131m, no study timing guidance
TVN ($771m) - Tivan was formally awarded six exploration and evaluation licences for the Baucau and Ossu projects in Timor-Leste covering 289km²
FRS ($497m) - Forrestania reported 7m at 11.63 g/t gold from 17m at Johnson Range
PLA ($253m) - Pacific Lime and Cement signed an MOU with Dirio on 66kV line to supply Central Lime, with quicklime next year
BML ($251m) - Boab executed a $236m-equivalent project finance SFA for Sorby Hills, with first drawdown targeted in Q3 2026
NNL ($66m) - Nordic closed with $11m cash and will deliver an updated Kopsa MRE in Q3 2026
NMR ($56m) - Native Mineral Resources produced 0.7koz gold in the quarter
GA8 ($45m) - GoldArc is in a trading halt pending Leonora drilling results
High Grade It
S&P 500 resets record high on US-Iran peace talk hopes (AFR) Nothing to worry about!
US and EU sign critical minerals partnership to secure supply chains (Reuters)
BHP adopts yuan-based index for some Chinese iron ore sales (AFR)
Brazil plans to regulate critical minerals without tax breaks & no need for a state owned company, according to its Finance Minister (Mining.com)
Chris Ellison’s bitter Pilbara Port feud over a 90c/t channel charge is heading to trial (AFR)
Ghana's union of mineworkers opposes local outsourcing rule, warns of wage cuts and job losses (Reuters)
See what the modelling guru’s Model Answer have in store in their latest CFO Labs newsletter to gauge what the debt & project finance dashboards are showing, what the deal landscape indicates, and plenty more
Wheelin’ n Dealin’
Rattlin’ the Tin
ALR ($245m) - Altair raised $28m at 4.3c (5% premium) from Endeavour Mining to fund Greater Oko drilling, with Endeavour to hold 9.9%
IXR ($68m) - Ionic Rare Earths received a UK £12m grant offer to support its Belfast 400tpa REO recycling plant
Allied Critical Metals secures $40m for Vila Verde tungsten pilot plant in Portugal (Mining.com)
Lumina Metals raises C$406m in Toronto IPO, valuing it at C$1.3B (Bloomberg)
Word on the Decline
Endeavour’s $28m investment into Altair this morning… It should be clear to everyone now that they were the under-bidders for G2 Mining, losing out to GMIN.
Let’s not forget that Endeavour is a C$20B company. Their ambitions to become a big player in the Oko district (and potential consolidator) are not over yet.
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In the Weeds
India gold premiums hit 10-week high due to tight supply (Reuters)
US Mint gold supply linked to Colombian criminal networks via illegal mining (NYT)
The big miners are winning from the war (so far) (AFR Analysis)
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Ownership & Oversight
Devil’s in the Detail
Plenty of runway here…
…if the runway is a driveway.
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