The Pre-Start
West African recommenced trading, advising that it submitted a proposal to Burkina Faso on the development of new & previously closed mining projects, as an alternative to purchasing a further equity interest in Kiaka (WAF) Down 15% - could’ve been worse!
Barrick has agreed to a US$430m settlement with Mali, regaining of Loulo-Gounkoto and withdrawing its arbitration claims (Bloomberg)
Ivanhoe has received an initial 50Mw of hydropower to Kamoa-Kakula, following the refurbishment of turbine #5 at Inga II (IVN.TO)
Vault has largely closed out its hedge book following the early settlement of 47.3koz at A$2,797/oz for a total cost of $173m (VAU) will deliver this quarter’s hedges as planned then have only 10.2koz remaining
Fenix added 240kt of iron ore swaps, extending its hedge book to 840kt (average A$152/t) to Dec 2026. FY26 sales guidance maintained at 4-4.4Mt (FEX)
Sunshine upgraded the Liontown gold resource by 14% to 108koz, with a study to consider 790kt at 4.3g/t Au, while grade-control drilling has commenced (SHN)
Black Cat's Mt Clement diamond drilling program has completed 15 holes, with assays from 3 delivering antimony intercepts, including 6.58m at 1.56% Sb (BC8)
Black Canyon's rock-chip assays from Wandanya South confirmed at least 400m strike continuity and up to 1.8km extension potential (BCA)
Titan reported further drilling at Brecha‑Comanche & Kaliman, supporting a MER update scheduled for Q1 2026 (TTM)
Viridis is down 30% and has paused trading pending a further announcement (VMM)
White Cliff reported maiden Rae Project drilling results, returning 25m at 0.6% Cu from 240m (WCN)
Sun Silver intersected 140m at 71g/t AgEq from 160m, striking mineralisation 26m above the defined Maverick Springs resource (SS1)
Altair identified 17km of target zones at Greater Oko from stream-sediment and BLEG data, with trenching and soil sampling underway (ALR)
Pantoro director Kevin Maloney will retire at the conclusion of today’s AGM (PNR)
High Grade It
Codelco is pushing for a massive hike in annual premiums for copper supplies to its Chinese customers, highlighting concerns that a rush of metal to the US may create a rest of world shortage (Bloomberg)
Northern Minerals has delayed its AGM after flagging concerns that Chinese-linked investors had flouted orders to sell (AFR)
WA failed to deliver on promised reliable, green power to Lynas’ $800m processing plant (Australian) Emotions run hot on this one
Gautam Adani’s copper smelter is receiving only a fraction of the ore required to operate at full capacity due to a global supply squeeze (Bloomberg)
Fortescue is settling a high-profile legal fight with a group of its former execs, who were accused of stealing information for their green iron start-up (AFR)
AMEC is urging the three major parties in the Federal Parliament to come to an agreement on EPBC Act reforms before the end of the week (AMEC)
Barrick remains committed to Reko Diq, its interim CEO said, after reports of a possible withdrawal (Reuters)
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Wheelin’ n Dealin’
Highland Copper is selling its 34% stake in the White Pine North project to private equity firm Kinterra, its joint venture partner for $30m (Mining.com)
Wia will sell its 80% interest in Côte d’Ivoire exploration permits to Santa Fe for 20m SFM shares & 8m performance rights (WIA)
Osisko Development is selling its non-core Mexican gold asset to Axo Copper in an all-share transaction where Osisko emerges with 9.9% of Axo (Mining.com)
Rattlin’ the Tin
An Alcoa subsidiary will redeem all US$141m of its 5.5% notes due 2027, at 100% plus accrued interest, to be funded from cash on hand (AAI)
First Tin is raising £6.3m via private placement with Metals X committing to contribute its 29.9% pro rata (MLX)
Andean Precious Metals announced a new US$40m credit facility, paying SOFR + 4.25% (APM.TO)
In the Weeds
My Life Is a Lie (Mike Green) How a Broken Benchmark Quietly Broke America. A write-up on where the true poverty line sits
The Failed Crusade to Keep a Rare Earths Mine Out of China’s Hands (WSJ) On Peak’s Mbeya
Smelters become a test case for bailouts (AFR op-ed) By Jen Hewett
The Worm Has Turned (PauloMacro) Opening on uranium positioning. Paulo is long the US govt picking a “US Champion” akin to MP Materials
Has gold been Tethered? (Reuters op-ed) Good read with plenty of charts to make life easy
Commodities Trader Gets 3 Years in Prison for Hiding Losses (Bloomberg)
Moving from Carry to Anti Carry (GoRozen) Energy, uranium, precious’, copper
20 stocks for 2026 (Strictly Boardroom)
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Devil’s in the Detail
More cricket references in AGM Chair addresses please. Less baseball.