Accused of being a smokescreen for metals smuggled from DR Congo, the country now boasts Africa’s largest tungsten mine Beneath the Rwandan hillside at Nyakabingo, hundreds of miners unearth daily a metal used in bombs and bullets that is central in the global race to control critical mineral supplies. The mine, which was acquired in 2022 by the Trinity Metals Group, has tripled production since to become the largest source of tungsten in Africa, producing more than 1,200 tonnes of high-grade concentrate a year. “It’s a relatively important piece of mining on a global scale,” said Shane Ryan, a seasoned…
Author: TJ Markle
A few years ago, asteroid mining was all the rage. With the commercial space sector rapidly growing, the dream of commercializing space seemed almost imminent. Basically, the notion of having platforms and spacecraft that could rendezvous and mine Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs), then return them to space-based foundries, was right up there with sending commercial crews to Mars. After a great deal of speculation and ventures going under, these plans were placed on the back burner until the technology matured and other milestones could be accomplished first. Nevertheless, the dream of asteroid mining and the “post-scarcity” future it would bring…
Chinese mine operators in Zambia started paying royalties and taxes in yuan in Africa’s second-biggest copper producer, the latest sign of the growing acceptance of the currency on the continent. Payments using the Chinese unit began in October, the Bank of Zambia said in reply to emailed questions on Wednesday. The Zambian authorities are the first in Africa to confirm they are accepting mining-tax payments in renminbi. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-31/chinese-mining-companies-in-zambia-start-paying-taxes-in-yuan
At the end of the fourth quarter the MINING.COM TOP 50* ranking of the world’s most valuable miners had a combined market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, up an astonishing $892 billion in 2025. Most of the gains accumulated in the second half and after three years of stagnation, the market valuation of mining and metals appears to have finally caught up with other sectors. The building blocks of the global industrial economy are finally seen for what they are: critical. From lip service (not even), Western governments (the US in particular) are now putting money behind mining, catching up to…
Platinum prices are on track for their strongest monthly rally in nearly four decades in December, fuelled by the EU’s U-turn on its 2035 combustion-engine ban, a tight supply backdrop and rising investment demand for precious metals. Platinum and palladium, both used in autocatalysts that reduce car exhaust emissions, have surged this year as US tariff uncertainty and a rally in gold and silver helped offset long-term headwinds from the rise of electric vehicles. The EU’s plan unveiled in December is “a steroid jab for PGMs, prolonging their use in catalytic converters”, analysts at Mitsubishi said. “Not only is the…
Output will be reduced in 2026 to better match demand with supply, said Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia, according to CNBC Indonesia. The Southeast Asian country’s production of the metal, which is used in both stainless steel and electric vehicle batteries, has surged this decade to almost 70% of the world’s total. Nickel is still among this year’s weaker performers on the London Metal Exchange as demand from the battery sector continues to disappoint due to the rise of alternative chemistries. Supply from Indonesia has continued to rise even as prices dragged for much of the year, causing…
The deal, which includes the federal government as partner, aligns with Trump administration goals to lessen reliance on China for minerals. A South Korea metals company will invest $6.6 billion to build a minerals refinery on the site of a shuttered mine in Smith County, marking the largest single economic investment in Tennessee history, Gov. Bill Lee announced this week. Korea Zinc will partner with the federal government in a joint venture that federal officials say aligns with the Trump administration’s goals to limit reliance on China for minerals critical to U.S. semiconductor, artificial intelligence, aerospace and defense industries. The…
National and provincial governments are pushing to allow extraction of minerals in protected areas, amid a change in social attitudes. Argentina seems to be moving away from a decades-long opposition to mining and other activities perceived as harmful to the environment, in favor of an approach that places greater emphasis on urgently needed economic development and growth. Three key legislative proposals that have dominated the public debate in the last few weeks signal this notable shift in attitudes. On Monday, President Javier Milei filed a bill that modifies a law that protects glaciers, with the goal of loosening barriers on mining. Last…
China says it has uncovered Asia’s largest undersea gold deposit, a massive offshore find that strengthens domestic supply, reshapes regional resource rankings, and highlights Beijing’s accelerating push to secure strategic minerals. China has reported the discovery of a major undersea gold deposit that officials have characterized as the largest of its kind in Asia. The find was reported to be located off the coast of Laizhou in Shandong province, according to a South China Morning Post report published on Dec. 19. The discovery was presented in connection with China’s broader, long-running mineral exploration program. The report explains that the undersea…
At the Resourcing Tomorrow 2025 conference, held in London earlier this month, a key discussion centred around the opportunities for the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) seeks to solve the mining sector’s problems. Mark O’Brien, General Manager for digital technology and innovation of CITIC Pacific Mining (OTCQB:CTPCY), says mining needs to remain pragmatic and focus on solving problems. “There’s this whole area of operations research where a lot of these problems are being solved using fundamental mathematical solutions that are much quicker, much cheaper, and probably a better bang for buck in terms of how you solve them,” O’Brien says at the London event. Still,…