This Month
‘NATO of critical minerals’ deal to hit China dominance
Local mining and processing projects could be funded by more than a dozen like-minded nations as part of a new joint financing body agreed to by 14 countries.
- Phillip Coorey
South32 to reap $243m from Biden’s battery spending spree
South32 has joined mining minnow Element 25 as a major beneficiary of the Biden administration’s efforts to create a supply chain independent of China.
- Brad Thompson
Biden hands $243m to WA mining minnow Element 25
The US had agreed to fund the lion’s share of a $440 million manganese refinery for Element 25 on the eve of talks between Joe Biden and Anthony Albanese.
- Brad Thompson
Biden backs Australian critical minerals miner Ioneer in Nevada
Approving the new project will significantly increase domestic lithium supply amid a push toward greater self-reliance in the critical minerals supply chain.
- Matthew Cranston
Fundies ring the bell on lithium prices after protracted rout
The rebound in ASX lithium stocks extended into Thursday’s session, with traders scrambling to reposition for further gains in prices for producers.
- Alex Gluyas
Lithium will be a rollercoaster for the next 10 years, says IGO boss
Ivan Vella says his company will capitalise on extremely volatile prices for the battery material over the next decade and add a new mineral to its portfolio.
- Peter Ker
Putin warns of uranium export ban in retaliation to West
The Russian president urged officials to consider restricting exports of uranium, titanium and other commodities in retaliation for fresh Western sanctions.
- Vladimir Soldatkin
King to foreigners: start digging for critical minerals
Industrialised countries including Australia will be more interventionist in directing investment to strategic resources projects to break China’s stranglehold.
- Andrew Tillett
- Opinion
- Sketch
You want a fight, you’ve got one, miners tell Albanese
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s speech to the miners was a veiled jibe, but Minerals Council of Australia boss Tania Constable went out-and-out hostile.
- Ronald Mizen
Undermine mining at your peril, industry warns PM
The miners say the government has incited conflict and made the industry less competitive with its industrial relations changes.
- Phillip Coorey and Ronald Mizen
ESG fights for its place in mining sector’s sacred tome
For decades, the JORC code has been the little-known foundation upon which $544 billion in market value has been built. Now it’s getting a big shake-up.
- Peter Ker
US and Australia ink critical minerals funding pact
The cooperation bolsters a push that Washington and Canberra have already unleashed to create non-Chinese supply chains in minerals needed for decarbonisation and defence.
- Elouise Fowler
August
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Boom or bust? MinRes is the ASX’s white-knuckle ride
The company’s huge debt numbers could sink a weaker board and management team. Who said big caps had to be boring?
- Anthony Macdonald
Iluka to halt rare earths refinery unless Labor caves in on funding
Iluka Resources says it won’t finish building a strategically important rare earths refinery unless the Albanese government comes up with more funding,
- Brad Thompson
This stock is a barometer of Donald Trump’s election chances
A rollercoaster presidential campaign in the United States has taken shares in one copper explorer for a wild ride.
- Peter Ker
China squeezes Western militaries with export ban on weapons metal
The Commerce Ministry announced it will restrict exports of a mineral used in a wide range of products from batteries to weapons in the latest trade war salvo.
- Annie Lee and Mark Burton
Arcadium flags it may have to shut Mt Cattlin amid low lithium prices
The chief executive of the world’s third-biggest lithium company, Paul Graves, says few mines make sense at current prices.
- Peter Ker
Lynas boss Lacaze sees merit in nuclear power option
Lynas Rare Earths boss Amanda Lacaze says Australia needs to be energy-supply agnostic if it is realistic about becoming a critical minerals superpower.
- Brad Thompson
US blocks subsidies for Albemarle lithium made in Australia
Albemarle says a block to subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act had been a major factor in its decision to slash workforce and to curtail investment in WA.
- Brad Thompson and Elouise Fowler
July
Nickel boss says Indonesia trying to distance itself from China
Nickel Industries managing director Justin Werner says Jakarta wants to attract more Western investment to an industry dominated by China.
- Brad Thompson
