The Pre-Start
Freeport shared an update on the situation at Grasberg, with search efforts for the remaining 5 miners ongoing. Operations remain suspended, with a deferral of significant near-term production indicated (FCX.NY)
PMET Resources produced marketable tantalite con’s from bench-scale testwork on CV5 DMS waste composites, reporting 8.7% Ta2O5 at 45% global recovery and 6.6% Ta2O5 at 49% recovery, and will start follow-up testwork (PMT)
Rio2 opens the door to a potential 4x expansion to 80kt per day at Fenix, to produce 300kozpa gold for 10 years (RIO.V)
Snowline extended the strike length by 550m with a step out at Jupiter, intersecting 6.8g/t over 9m from 179m (SGD.V)
Medallion said the EPBC Act public comment period for the Ravensthorpe Gold Project closed with no submissions, final documents will be lodged in October 2025 and an assessment decision is expected in late 2025 (MM8)
Lefroy shared assays from drilling that Lucky Strike, with a best hit of 24m at 5.24g/t Au from 134m (LEX)
Odyssey Gold hit 20m at 7.1g/t from 47m in a new hanging wall at Tuckanarra (ODY)
Albion reported a hit of 22m at 3.8g/t from 36m at Barwidgee (ALB)
Develop shared its annual report (DVP)
Locksley has appointed Kerrie Matthew as CEO and Danny George as COO (LKY)
High Grade It
Australian inflation in August rose to its highest rate in a year as state gov’t electricity rebates expired, but the increase is unlikely to stop the RBA from cutting interest rates again this year (AFR)
Copper prices soared after Freeport declared force majeure on contracted supplies from Grasberg, the second-largest source of the metal (Bloomberg)
NSW Premier Chris Minns said Santos’s Narrabri gas project must proceed despite controversy over the long-stalled development (Australian)
The mining industry will need 22k+ additional workers by the end of the decade to deliver projects worth nearly $130B, according to an industry report (AFR)
Trafigura backed Chemaf, the owner of 2 DRC copper assets, is set to cease operations without an investor (Mining.com)
Mining M&A is messy. Endless documents, multiple advisers, and the risk of leaks. Intralinks keeps your data secure and your deal moving. It’s the industry’s go-to VDR solution - check it out.
Wheelin’ n Dealin’
Dataroom shared that AngloGold’s CEO has signalled the company could sell its $4.4B Australian gold assets within three years (Australian) other “potential deals” listed include GMD buying VAU and GFI interest in BGL
Appian has sold two royalty and streaming assets to Versamet Royalties for up to $170m ($125m upfront) 2.75% NSR on the Santa Rita polymetallic mine in Brazil and a 90% silver stream on the Rosh Pinah mine in Namibia (Appian) news comes a day after Rosh Pinah secured US$150m debt financing from Standard Bank to fund expansion
MinRes executed a sale agreement for the RDG assets, making it the owner of the Lucky Bay garnet mine (MIN)
Lithium Energy has acquired the Mt Dromedary natural graphite project in Queensland from Novonix for $2m in cash (LEL)
Rattlin’ the Tin
Yellowcake upsized its US$125m raising to US$175m to allow it to purchase more pounds of uranium (YCA.L) Previously sought 1.3Mlb, now likely ~1.86Mlb
Nickel Industries announced the completion of a US$800m senior unsecured notes issuance, paying 9% and maturing in 2030 (NIC)
Sierra Nevada Gold has received firm commitments for ~$10m at 3c a share (SNX)
Great Boulder will raise $5m via a placement of approximately 74m shares at 6.75 cents each (GBX)
Peel Mining is raising $11m at 8.5c and St Barbara is selling a $3.5m stake at the same time (PEX)
Canyon’s funding round was upscaled slightly to $215m (CAY)
Firebird is in halt to raise capital (FRB)
Word on the Decline
Everyone should be paying attention to the involvement from the US in DRC. There’s a lot reported already, and we think there’s a lot more to come in the copper space: existing mines, refineries, trading platforms…
It also means Manono going to Kobald is a shoe-in
Got Word on the Decline? Simply reply or email [email protected]. We will always take your privacy seriously.
In the Weeds
Smelter bailout will only suffocate our prosperity (AFR op-ed) Where is the comparative advantage for Mt Isa, Tomago?
This 39-minute debate on quantum stocks is probably the most entertaining (and enlightening) thing on the current state of the stock market (X) how do we bring this content to mining!?
Ferg's Finds - Thoughts on IEA numbers, bull market behaviour
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Devil’s in the Detail
Here’s something pointed out to us by one of our readers (thanks GC).
New Hope has rolled out a Dividend Reinvestment Plan, its rules disclosed to the market last week. Keep in mind NHC is sitting on net cash and has a $100m buyback ticking along too. We also understand that the DRP won’t be neutralised, meaning fresh shares will be issued.
That opens the door for WHSP to quietly run the Kerry Stokes playbook: slow burn, no-premium takeover by stealth. WHSP’s 39% stake can steadily creep up to twice that in less than a decade.
Not all M&A is sexy.
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Le Shrub: Gold, Grift & The Great Debasement
Companies mentioned: GLEN.L, AAL.L, MP.NY, NAK.NY, NDM.TO, MLX, AFM.V, VALE, IMP.JO, SBSW, TSLA, NVDA, MSTR, IONQ, QUBT, RGTI, OPTT.