It turns out that the fastest way to build a strategic metals stockpile is to threaten import tariffs but not impose them. Ever since US President Donald Trump launched a national security probe into copper imports in February 2025, the CME copper price has traded at a premium to the London Metal Exchange (LME) price and metal has flooded through the arbitrage gap into the US. When tariffs were announced at the end of July of that year, they covered only copper products. The White House has said nothing concrete about refined copper since then. Why should it? The country…
Author: TJ Markle
In the foothills of southern Arizona’s Patagonia Mountains, atop so-called critical minerals such as zinc, is South32’s Hermosa project. The first mine added to a federal program designed to speed up permitting, it “set the standard for what the modern federal permitting process should look like” with “clear timelines, real transparency, and comprehensive interagency coordination,” federal officials said after approving it this summer. Environmental groups called it an illegal rush job that will harm vulnerable species. Now, two are suing the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the approval. The federal government’s haste to finish environmental…
Major miners have the money to expand but face shortages of skilled workers and contractors that threaten to delay new production and drive up construction costs, executives warned Sunday. Mining and processing require about $2.2 trillion (C$3.1 trillion) in capital spending between 2025 and 2035, including exploration and sustaining investment, Global management consultancy McKinsey estimates. A separate McKinsey study of 58 projects from 2003–23 found average cost overruns of 37% and delays of 1.2 years, delegates heard at Mining Forum Americas in Colorado Springs. “And then comes the real constraint, which is execution, capacity and capability,” said Peter Toth, Newmont’s…
Australia’s Hancock Prospecting is disputing a report by the Australian Financial Review that falling shares of MP Materials (NYSE: MP) and Lynas Rare Earths (ASX: LYC) have cut the value of Gina Rinehart’s rare-earths holdings by an estimated at A$680 million ($478 million) over the past year. The calculation doesn’t reflect the company’s full trading history or acquisition prices, Hancock said. The AFR had estimated the decline by comparing the value of certain publicly disclosed shareholdings over a 12-month period, a Hancock spokesperson said. That approach is incomplete because public disclosures don’t capture all of Hancock’s trading activity, while the…
Leonardo DiCaprio has thrown his support behind opponents of Belo Sun Mining’s (TSX: BSX) proposed $300-million Volta Grande gold project in Brazil, adding a high-profile voice to a long-running battle over permits and Indigenous consultation. The actor and environmental activist criticized the proposed open-pit mine in Pará state on his social media accounts last week, warning of potential damage to the Xingu River region and communities that depend on it. His intervention comes as Brazil’s Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office asks the Supreme Court to suspend a February ruling that reinstated Belo Sun’s installation licence. The company says it has satisfied…
South Africa’s Gold Fields (NYSE, JSE: GFI) has paused underground development at Windfall in Quebec after an exploration-work permit expired, leaving its proposed $1.9 billion (C$2.7 billion) gold mine waiting on separate provincial environmental approval. The permit allowing bulk-exploration work expired at the end of August, CEO Mike Fraser said Wednesday at an industry event in Colorado Springs. Gold Fields expects Windfall, about 415 km northwest of Quebec City, to produce 300,000 oz. a year from 2029. “If it had happened two months ago, we’d be working, and that’s the bottleneck we’re trying to work through,” Fraser told The Northern…
Brazil’s mining regulator ANM has ordered Sigma Lithium (NASDAQ: SGML) to halt mining activities in part of its Grota do Cirilo mine, citing an unspecified “imminent risk,” according to a document seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The agency ordered immediate corrective work to begin on the eastern slope of the mine’s north pit, where it said there was a “ruptured section.” The area will remain under interdiction until the company completes the work on the eastern slope, ANM said. ANM also demanded a number of measures to mitigate risks at the mine, adding that it “will take appropriate measures in…
Above-ground risks have cost or stalled more than $54 billion in Latin American mining since 2018, highlighting how permitting, community conflict and security can determine whether the region’s mineral wealth becomes producing mines. Americas Market Intelligence (AMI) estimates about $38 billion stems from write-offs, legal settlements, fines and other documented losses, while another $16 billion represents capital frozen in delayed or halted projects. The latter includes about $7 billion in Peruvian copper projects and $4 billion across three projects stalled by permitting problems in Mexico, Sebastián Pérez-Ferreiro, co-director of AMI’s mining and risk practice, said during a webinar Thursday. “The…
Copper held steady on Wednesday and was set to post its third monthly gain in a row as improving factory activity in China and ongoing tightness offered support in thin pre-holiday trade, while aluminium sank to a two-month low. Benchmark three-month copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.1% to $14,416.50 per metric ton as of 1600 GMT but still on course for a monthly rise of 0.9%. It has gained 7.9% in the third quarter, having hit a record high of $14,875 on September 10. Activity in China’s copper-intensive manufacturing sector grew in September, with the official…
Ghana’s draft mining bill would allow the mines minister to require mining companies to issue the state a free special share with veto rights over key transactions, according to a copy reviewed by Reuters. The bill would also cut mining lease terms to 15 years or the projected life of the mine, whichever is shorter, from up to 30 years under current law. It would also allow the government to mandate local mineral processing and impose future restrictions on exports of unprocessed mineral concentrates. Africa’s top gold producer has been pursuing reforms aimed at increasing mining revenues and boosting local…