| The Sunday Wrap |
| Copper Price Sets Fresh Record as US Tariff Threat Wipes Out Global Surplus |
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| Comex September copper rose as much as 1.8% to US$6.7270 a pound, about US$14,830 a tonne, topping the US$6.7140 record set on 12 August and sitting close to 4% above London, where the three month contract added 0.4% to US$14,251. Comex inventories have risen for 46 straight days to a record 675,185 tonnes, and CRU has moved its 2026 call from a 639,000 tonne surplus to at best balanced against proposed refined duties of 15% from January 2027 stepping to 30% from 2028. |
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| Silver Price 20% August Surge Sends Miners Soaring |
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| Spot silver touched US$70 an ounce on 21 August, up from about US$57.59 at the end of July, after the US Treasury doubled long-bond buybacks. Hecla Mining led the equities on a 47% August gain, Wheaton Precious Metals added 44%, and Coeur, First Majestic and Fortuna each rose 42%, with bank year-end and peak calls now spanning roughly US$67 to US$118. |
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| Mining.com |
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| Dalio Says Sell Bonds, Buy Gold, Bitcoin as Debt Crisis Looms |
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| Ray Dalio said on 21 August that investors should underweight bonds and hold 10% to 15% of a portfolio in gold plus a small bitcoin position, warning a US debt crisis could arrive in three years, give or take two. He puts US government revenue near US$5.5 trillion this year against US$7.5 trillion of spending, with roughly US$1 trillion of interest costs and about US$10 trillion of debt to refinance, and wants the deficit cut to 3% of GDP from about 6%. |
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| Bloomberg |
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| US Gives US$2.2 Billion Backing to Brazil's Only Rare Earth Mine |
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| The Department of War's Economic Defense Unit will put US$750 million behind an offtake for mixed rare earth carbonate from Serra Verde's Pela Ema project in Goias, inside a US$1.55 billion structure adding a US$300 million Defense Logistics Agency purchase commitment and US$500 million from a major US bank. The package capitalises USA Rare Earth's proposed acquisition of Serra Verde and follows a US$565 million DFC loan, at an operation targeting 6,400 tonnes of rare earth oxides a year by end-2027 over a 25 year life. |
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| Mining.com.au |
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| Lynas Profit Rockets 2,679% to A$222M as Rare Earth Prices Surge |
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| FY26 revenue rose to A$977.9 million from A$556.5 million and net profit after tax to A$222.4 million from A$8.0 million, on a record average selling price of A$80.7/kg REO. NdPr sales lifted 12% to 7,337 tonnes and closing cash and short term deposits reached A$1,209.1 million, from A$166.5 million. |
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| Listcorp |
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| Why Rio Tinto CEO Simon Trott Wants to Do More With BHP |
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| Rio Tinto chief executive Simon Trott wants the world's second-biggest miner collaborating further with rivals including BHP, extracting more value from shared information and assets. He casts the push through competitive barriers in iron ore as an answer to Australia's lagging productivity, warning the country is struggling to stay in the top quartile of global investment destinations. |
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| Australian Financial Review |
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| Ranked: Southern Copper Knocks Rio From No. 2 Spot |
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| Southern Copper displaced Rio Tinto as the second most valuable miner after surging 22% in New York in the first eight trading days of 2026, leaving Rio fourth behind Zijin at US$140.8 billion on a 2.2% gain and BHP first at US$162 billion on 4.6%. Agnico Eagle became the sixth miner worth more than US$100 billion, and the Top 50 collective value sits above US$2 trillion. |
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| The Northern Miner |
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THEME: US$1.47 BILLION OF SCRIP
Who Actually Wrote a Cheque This Week?
Institutions did. FireFly locked in A$180 million of firm commitments at A$1.78, split between a A$150 million Australian placement and a C$29.6 million Canadian bought deal, with a A$10 million share purchase plan still to come. Benz took A$150 million at A$3.71 to put six more rigs on Glenburgh and lift the on-site fleet to 14 across 20 shifts. That is roughly US$237 million of fresh equity into two dual-listed Australian explorers in five trading days.
The buyers issued paper. Boliden is taking 64.68% of Nexa for US$1.31 billion entirely in its own shares, stating plainly that scrip rather than cash preserves the balance sheet, and Votorantim leaves with about 7% of Boliden on staged three-year lock-ups. Bunker Hill is taking Silver47 at US$163 million, also all-share, on a 38% premium. Close to US$1.47 billion of consideration crossed this week, all of it settled in equity.
Copper and silver are why the paper is worth issuing. Comex September set a record at US$6.7270 a pound, about US$14,830 a tonne and roughly 4% above London at US$14,251, and silver ran to US$70 an ounce from US$57.59 at the end of July. Lynas showed the earnings behind the repricing are real, A$977.9 million of FY26 revenue and A$222.4 million of net profit at a record A$80.7/kg REO. The risk now sits with the sellers, who have taken on the buyer's multiple alongside their own.
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| Ivanhoe Electric Receives US EXIM Preliminary Project Letter for US$1.1 Billion in Potential Debt Financing for Santa Cruz |
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| US EXIM has completed preliminary due diligence on the advanced-stage Santa Cruz copper project in Arizona and lifted indicated support to US$1.1B, from the US$825.0M stated in its April 2025 Letter of Interest. The letter does not constitute a financing commitment, with final US EXIM Board consideration anticipated in spring 2027. An updated Preliminary Feasibility Study incorporating the Robbins Crossover XRE tunnel boring machine is expected in September 2026. |
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| FireFly Metals Receives Firm Commitments for A$180 Million Equity Raising to Advance Green Bay (~US$129.1M) |
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| FireFly has firm commitments to raise A$180.0M before costs at A$1.78 (C$1.76) per new share, split between a A$150.0M Australian institutional placement and a ~C$29.6M Canadian bought deal under the listed issuer financing exemption. A non-underwritten share purchase plan of up to a further A$10.0M at the same price would lift the total to A$190.0M. Pro-forma cash and liquid investments reach approximately A$373.0M, against A$183.0M held at 31 July, funding development and resource growth at the Green Bay copper-gold project in Newfoundland. |
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| Benz Mining Secures A$150 Million Placement to Accelerate Glenburgh Maiden Resource (~US$107.6M) |
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| Benz has firm commitments for an institutional placement of 40.4 million new CDIs at A$3.71 to raise A$150.0M before costs, driven by inbound interest from long-only specialist resources investors. Proceeds add six rigs to the planned 450,000m Glenburgh drill program in Western Australia, taking the on-site fleet to 14 rigs across 20 shifts, in support of a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate targeted for H1 2027. |
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| Boliden Agrees to Acquire Votorantim's 64.68% Controlling Stake in Nexa Resources for US$1.31 Billion in Shares |
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| Votorantim receives 0.250 newly issued Boliden shares for each Nexa share, implying US$15.29 per Nexa share and total consideration of US$1,310.0M, a 14.2% premium to the 20-day VWAP at 1 July, the last unaffected trading day. The all-scrip structure preserves Boliden's balance sheet and leaves Votorantim holding 21.4 million new Boliden shares, approximately 7.0% of the company, with staged lock-ups over three years. Boliden will launch a cash voluntary tender offer for the remaining 35.32% within 30 days of closing, expected in the first quarter of 2027, supported by a fully committed US$2.0B bridge facility. |
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| Bunker Hill Agrees to Acquire Silver47 in an All-Share Merger Valuing the Target at US$163 Million (C$225M) |
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| Silver47 shareholders receive 0.1724 Bunker Hill shares each, implying US$0.67 (C$0.93) per share and a 38% premium to the 20 August close, with the aggregate equity value struck on a fully diluted, in-the-money basis. Existing Bunker Hill holders take approximately 57% of the combined company and Silver47 holders 43%, under a court-approved plan of arrangement requiring a two-thirds majority at a Silver47 meeting due by 15 November. The combination pairs the operating Bunker Hill mine in Idaho's Silver Valley with Silver47's Red Mountain, Hughes and Mogollon projects in Alaska, Nevada and New Mexico, with the merged group to seek a name change to Bunker Hill Silver Corp. |
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| Mackay Precious Metals Closes Acquisition of Comstock's Legacy Nevada Mining Assets in a Transaction Valued at Over US$45 Million |
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| Mackay, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mackay Gold & Silver Corp, has taken 100% of Comstock Mining, Comstock Processing, Comstock Exploration and Development, and Comstock Real Estate, covering the patented and unpatented claims, town lots, processing facilities, permits and water rights across the historic Comstock Lode district. Comstock received US$20.0M in cash and 2 million Mackay Gold & Silver shares valued at approximately US$4.5M on closing, retains a 1.5% NSR royalty, and holds a further contingent payment of US$10.0M. Mackay assumed all reclamation obligations and associated liabilities, including surety bond deposits and collateral. |
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West Coast Silver (WCE : ASX)
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| 38.3m at 878 g/t Ag from 3.7m |
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| Elizabeth Hill (Western Australia, Australia) |
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Power Minerals (PNN : ASX)
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| 108.55m at 4.15% TREO from surface |
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| Morro do Ferro (Minas Gerais, Brazil) |
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Brightstar Resources (BTR : ASX)
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| 225.7m at 3.11 g/t Au from 284m |
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| Two Mile Hill, Sandstone (Western Australia, Australia) |
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Q2 Metals (QTWO : TSXV)
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| 403.7m at 1.57% Li2O from 383.6m |
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| Cisco (Quebec, Canada) |
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Vizsla Copper (VCU : TSXV)
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| 266m at 0.97% Cu from 306m |
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| Woodjam (British Columbia, Canada) |
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| Week-on-Week |
Price |
% |
| Gold |
US$4,455/oz |
-3.22% |
| Silver |
US$66.00/oz |
-4.35% |
| Platinum |
US$1,822/oz |
-3.24% |
| Palladium |
US$1,419/oz |
+5.58% |
| Copper |
US$14,644/t |
-0.44% |
| Nickel |
US$16,740/t |
-1.58% |
| Zinc |
US$3,871/t |
+1.43% |
| Lead |
US$1,897/t |
+0.34% |
| WTI Crude |
US$83.44/bbl |
-3.28% |
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| Month-on-Month |
Price |
% |
| Tin (LME)* |
US$55,752.00/t |
+5.44% |
| Lithium Carbonate (China)* |
US$18,005.31/t |
+3.58% |
| NdPr Oxide (FOB China)* |
US$90.71/kg |
-0.73% |
| Fluorspar (90%)* |
US$458.21/t |
+4.98% |
| Antimony* |
US$13.96/kg |
-15.92% |
| Niobium* |
US$32.66/kg |
-0.24% |
| Tungsten* |
US$149.93/kg |
-2.27% |
| Gallium* |
US$235.05/kg |
-3.09% |
| Germanium* |
US$3,286.22/kg |
+5.30% |
| Uranium (U3O8)* |
US$191.58/kg |
+1.58% |
*Sourced from Critical Minerals Platform (CMP). These prices are APAC volume-weighted averages from producers rather than traders, meaning they are heavily weighted towards Chinese prices for minerals where China dominates production. All other commodities show week-on-week change.
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This newsletter is for general information, education and entertainment. Kamoa Capital is not licensed and does not know your circumstances. Nothing here is financial, legal or tax advice. Seek professional advice and read any PDS before acting. We aim for accuracy but make no guarantees and accept no liability. Views are opinions only and may include forward-looking statements that may not occur.
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