European mining stocks are on the verge of capping the best year since 2016. For bulls, another year of gains comes down to copper prices reaching new heights. Citigroup Inc. mining analysts say Glencore Plc is their top pick for 2026, estimating a 15% rally over the next 12 months as the company works to increase copper production. At Oddo BHF, the view is that Rio Tinto Group has a “very compelling road map” in copper and should be able to expand iron ore output as its Simandou project in Guinea ramps up. For mining investors, it’s been a year…
Author: TJ Markle
Egypt is set to launch a new program to treat petroleum waste and maximize the economic value of its mineral resources through a partnership between the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources (MoPMR) and the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy. The initiative focuses on treating Technically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (TE-NORM) resulting from oil sector activities. This includes processing sediments, produced water, sludge, and other waste types found at petroleum sites. Under the agreement, the Nuclear Materials Authority (NMA) will conduct necessary surveys, environmental assessments, and waste treatment operations using advanced technologies to ensure compliance with national and international safety…
Carrying her sore-pocked daughter across her decaying field, Helene Mvubu says she is one of thousands to have fallen victim to the toxic waste defiling the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mining capital. Global powers, notably China and the United States, are in a race to extract strategic minerals in the DRC, which supplies more than 70 percent of the world’s cobalt, essential for making electric batteries and weaponry. But human rights groups say the mining operations are resulting in severe environmental damage in the mineral-rich African nation. Mvubu told AFP that she has for years suffered the consequences of flooding…
Brussels wants to dig up more critical minerals in the bloc but says ‘regulatory bottlenecks’ are slowing things down. The European Union will loosen water, chemicals and permitting laws to encourage more new mines in the bloc as it attempts to end its dependence on China for key raw materials. The proposal is part of the European Commission’s RESourceEU plan, unveiled Wednesday, which aims to boost the extraction of minerals essential in key technologies like clean energy and defense. Currently the EU depends almost exclusively on imports of such minerals. The EU should be taking more advantage of its natural resources, Environment…
The global mining industry is undergoing a rapid digital transformation, driven by the dual pressures of the energy transition and increasingly complex extraction environments. A new market report projects the global Artificial Intelligence (AI) in mining market will nearly quadruple in value over the next seven years, reaching $9.93 billion by 2032. This surge in adoption comes as miners face a “perfect storm” of challenges: declining ore grades, labor shortages, and an insatiable global appetite for the critical minerals required to power electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy grids. Forecasting a Digital Shift According to data released this week, the market for AI…
The US is in talks to provide more than $1 billion for two critical minerals and railway projects in central Africa as it seeks to secure supplies deemed crucial for national security. The US International Development Finance Corp. plans to support a new copper and cobalt venture between the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Gecamines SA and Mercuria Energy Trading, as well as a rail project linking Congo and other central and southern African nations to Angola’s coast. “These projects will help to secure vital supply chains, expand private sector opportunity, and strengthen America’s global competitiveness, while supporting peace, prosperity, and…
The countdown has begun for the reopening of Iran’s largest underground iron ore mine—designed and engineered using domestic expertise. According to reports from several Iranian news agencies, new information indicates that one of the country’s major iron ore mines is preparing to reopen as Iran’s first large-scale underground iron mining operation. Previously, a Chinese proposal had suggested reopening the mine through the excavation of access shafts. However, updated plans now show that this site—set to become the largest underground iron ore mine in West Asia—will be reopened under an Iranian-designed scheme using two large tunnels excavated by Tunnel Boring Machines…
In 2016, Elon Musk famously said: “Although [they’re] called lithium-ion, the actual percentage of lithium in a lithium-ion cell is approximately 2%. Technically, our cells should be called nickel-graphite, because the primary constituent in the cell as a whole is nickel. There’s a little bit of lithium in there, but it’s like the salt on the salad.” In 2016, nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) and nickel cobalt aluminum or NCA, favoured by Tesla and its cell provider Panasonic dominated the market. Tesla’s Model S and Nissan’s Leaf were the bestselling EVs in the world at the time. Lithium iron phosphate batteries (LFP) did have…
Washington must move even faster to bolster critical minerals projects and offset Beijing’s grip on the world’s supply of the building blocks for electronics, weapons and a range of other goods, three US mining and refining executives said on Thursday. The push underscores how Washington’s surging support this year for the sector – including taking stakes in mining companies and guaranteeing a price floor for the only US rare earths mine – is falling short of what industry leaders say is needed amid intense Chinese competition. Executives from Perpetua Resources, American Rare Earths and Westwin Elements told the Reuters NEXT conference in New York that the…
Congo has set new conditions for cobalt exporters, according to a government circular reviewed by Reuters, potentially complicating a recently introduced quota system as the country seeks to keep a tight grip on the key battery mineral. The new conditions require miners, among other things, to pre-pay a 10% royalty within 48 hours and secure a compliance certificate, the circular shows. The Democratic Republic of Congo replaced a months-long export ban with a quota system in October, aiming to boost state revenues and tighten oversight in a country that produces more than 70% of the world’s cobalt, a key component in electric vehicle batteries. No shipments have…