Kamoa Capital Sunday Wrap

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March 29, 2026

Top News and Deals this week:

•	France Among Nations Eyeing Australia Critical Minerals Investment Paris joins a growing list of allied governments looking to secure offtake and equity positions in Australian critical minerals projects as Western supply chain diversification accelerates.

•	Australia Dominates Global Mining Engineering Course Rankings Australian universities lead international rankings for mining engineering programs, reinforcing the country's position as a global centre for mining education and talent development.

•	Rio Exits Diavik as Canada's Diamond Boom Flickers Rio Tinto completes its exit from the Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories as Canada's diamond sector faces declining production and weakening market conditions.

•	South Korea and Germany Exposed to Rare Earths Shortage, Arafura Says The Australian rare earths developer warns that both nations face significant supply vulnerabilities, particularly in magnet rare earths critical to their automotive and industrial sectors.

•	Central Banks' Gold Buying Momentum Carries Into 2026 Sovereign gold accumulation continues at an elevated pace into the new year, with central banks maintaining the structural bid that has underpinned record prices.

•	Inside Fortescue's AI 'Hive' That Could Save the Mining Giant Billions The iron ore producer unveils its artificial intelligence operations centre, targeting step-change efficiency gains across its Pilbara mining and logistics network.

•	Rio Tinto Expects Resolution Copper Mine to Open by Mid-2030s The miner provides a timeline for the long-delayed Arizona copper project, signalling renewed confidence that permitting and development can advance within the decade.

•	Zijin's Congo Lithium Mine Set to Be Among World's Biggest The Chinese miner's Manono North operation in the DRC is on track to become one of the largest lithium mines globally, reinforcing China's dominance in African battery mineral supply.

•	Drill, Baby, Drill: It's Boom Time for Mineral and Petroleum Explorers Exploration activity across Australia is surging as record commodity prices, policy support and geopolitical urgency drive capital into greenfield search programs.

•	Nickel Spikes After Indonesia's President Approves Export Tax Nickel prices jump sharply after Jakarta confirms a new export levy on nickel products, tightening the outlook for global supply from the world's largest producer.

•	Investors Rip $11 Billion From Commodity ETFs in Record Exodus A historic wave of outflows hits commodity-linked exchange-traded funds as investors retreat from broad resource exposure amid market volatility and risk-off sentiment.

•	From Discovery to Decisions: Data, AI and the Future of Mining BHP outlines its vision for integrating artificial intelligence and data analytics across the mining value chain, from exploration through to operational decision-making.

•	Trump Administration Plans to Proceed With Mining Project That Faced Religious Liberty Challenge Washington signals it will advance a contested mining project despite ongoing legal and cultural objections from Indigenous and religious groups.

•	Military Warns of Rising Arms Proliferation in Mining Zones Ghana's military flags increasing weapons flows into artisanal and small-scale mining areas, linking resource extraction to growing security risks in West Africa.

•	Australia Will Have Floor Price for Critical Minerals Reserve, Minister Says Canberra confirms it will establish a price floor mechanism for its strategic critical minerals reserve, providing a demand-side backstop for domestic producers.

•	China Copper Inventories Plunge as Falling Prices Aid Demand Declining copper prices are stimulating downstream buying in China, drawing down warehouse inventories and tightening physical availability.

•	Traders Placed $580M in Oil Bets Ahead of Trump's Social Media Post on Iran Talks A surge in oil and equity futures trading volumes minutes before a market-moving Trump post on Iran raises questions about information leakage and front-running.

•	SA Election Sets Stage for Long-Awaited Mining Reforms South Australia's election result opens the door to regulatory changes that the mining sector has been pushing for, with reform momentum building across exploration, approvals and land access.

What I found interesting this week...

Copper Concentrate TC/RCs are in Freefall

Copper concentrate TC/RCs are in freefall, and at this point no one is willing to call a bottom.

The latest Escondida tender reportedly closed at USD -69/t for smelters and USD -122/t for traders - a sharp drop from USD -58/t and USD -104/t just two weeks ago.

Read the full article HERE

If You Invest in Resources and Don't Follow the ASX, What Are You Doing?

Australia is hands down the global resource exchange and the data proves it. Over the last decade, the ASX has hosted 319 mining IPOs, more than four times the TSX and over 25 times the NYSE.

Read the full article HERE

BCG Says the Critical Minerals Market Is Structurally Broken. The Fix Might Be Too.

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) just published a report saying the critical minerals market is structurally broken.

The exploration pipeline has shrunk nearly 40% since 2012. New mines carry a 15-year lead time from discovery to production. And the projected supply shortfall for energy transition minerals alone runs from 20% to 150% of existing supply, depending on the material.

Read the full article HERE

From Discovery to Decisions: Data, AI and the Future of Mining

Mining has always been an industry shaped by uncertainty.

Finding orebodies in geologically complex settings, allocating capital with multi-decade implications, and operating assets across diverse regulatory environments are well-understood challenges.

What is changing is the context in which those decisions are made.

Read the full article HERE

Drill, Baby, Drill: It's Boom Time for Mineral and Petroleum Explorers

Australia's mineral and petroleum exploration companies are hoarding a record $12 billion in cash reserves after a tidal wave of funds flowed into the high-risk sector in the final quarter of last year.

Advisory firm BDO calculated that ASX-listed explorers raised a record $5.63 billion in the period, smashing the previous quarterly record of $3.75 billion raised in the same period of 2021.

Read the full article HERE

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