| The Sunday Wrap |
| Trump Administration to Finance 5 New Nuclear Plants as Data Centres Demand More Energy |
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| The US Energy Department has announced up to US$17.5 billion in loans to accelerate 10 large nuclear reactors, structured as five projects each building two reactors at about US$3.5 billion apiece. Driven by surging AI data centre power demand, the push backs Westinghouse's AP1000 design and targets having all 10 under construction by 2030, with utilities and Westinghouse expected to add up to US$5 billion in equity. |
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| Why Companies Are Swapping Copper for Aluminium |
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| Cheaper, lighter aluminium is increasingly substituting for copper in wiring across autos, cables and air conditioning, with manufacturers tending to swap once copper trades around 3.5 times the aluminium price, a threshold it now sits well above at more than 4.2 times. JPMorgan sees the shift hitting around 2% of copper demand this year and potentially 6% by 2030, tempered by US tariffs and aluminium's heavier carbon footprint. |
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| Reuters |
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| BHP's Next CEO Inherits Buy vs. Build Copper Conundrum |
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| BHP's incoming chief executive Brandon Craig takes over today inheriting the copper dilemma that defined his predecessor's tenure, whether to grow by building new mines or by acquisition, after Mike Henry departs following two failed attempts to buy Anglo American. Craig has signalled openness to bolt-on deals where they add value, with copper demand underpinned by data centres, decarbonisation and defence. |
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| The Wall Street Journal |
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| Rio Tinto Agrees New Financial Terms for US$18 Billion Oyu Tolgoi Copper Mine Project |
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| Rio Tinto has agreed new financial terms for the US$18 billion Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia, ending months of tense negotiation with the government, which holds 34% to Rio's 66% and had pushed to rework a high-interest shareholder loan and management fees that deferred state dividends for years. The deal follows a brief protest blockade of copper exports in June and removes a major overhang on an asset central to Rio's copper growth plans. |
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| Financial Times |
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| Cameco Halts Cigar Lake Uranium Mining as Mill Acid Plant Fails |
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| Cameco has temporarily suspended mining at Cigar Lake, its flagship high-grade uranium operation in northern Saskatchewan, after a sulphuric acid plant failure shut down Orano's McClean Lake mill where the ore is processed. With limited on-site ore storage, the company expects the mill back within about two weeks and does not yet see an impact on its 2026 production guidance of 19.5 to 21.5 million pounds. |
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| Cameco |
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| BHP Bids to Reopen Chile Copper Mine at a Cost of US$1.5 Billion |
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| BHP has lodged a US$1.5 billion plan with Chile's environmental regulator to restart and extend its Cerro Colorado copper mine in the Tarapacá region, which has sat in care and maintenance since December 2023. The project would add about 20 years of life through advanced sulphide leaching and a new water supply system, signalling BHP leaning into brownfield copper growth alongside its giant Escondida operation. |
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| The West Australian |
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| Boliden in Talks to Buy Votorantim's Controlling Stake in Nexa |
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| Boliden has confirmed it is in discussions with Votorantim and Nexa Resources over acquiring Votorantim's controlling stake in the zinc producer, which local reports put at 64.7% and around US$1.4 billion. Nexa is one of the world's largest zinc miners, with operations across Brazil and Peru, and Boliden cautioned that no deal is certain. |
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| Mining.com |
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| CATL Restarts Jiangxi Lithium Mine With 100,000-Tonne Annual Capacity |
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| CATL has restarted its Jianxiawo lepidolite mine in Yichun, Jiangxi, one of the world's largest single lithium operations, after securing a safety permit on 29 June. The mine carries annual capacity of about 100,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate, though analysts expect a slower ramp of roughly 50,000 tonnes this year. |
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| CnEVPost |
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THEME: THE ELECTRIFICATION BID
The Power Build-Out Sets the Copper Bid While the Majors Buy Tonnes Rather Than Build Them
The demand side of the electrification trade stopped being a slide and became a cheque this week. Washington put up to US$17.5 billion behind 10 new reactors explicitly to feed AI data centre load, and Cameco pausing its flagship Cigar Lake mine, even for a fortnight, is a reminder of how little slack sits in the fuel that build-out relies on. BHP's incoming chief framed copper demand around the same trinity of data centres, decarbonisation and defence, which tells you the majors are now underwriting the power thesis in their capital plans, not just their investor decks.
On supply, the copper majors are choosing tonnes they can see over mines they have to build. Rio Tinto settled new terms on the US$18 billion Oyu Tolgoi to clear a long-running overhang, BHP lodged a US$1.5 billion plan to restart Cerro Colorado in Chile, and the buy-versus-build question now defines the BHP succession itself. The release valve is already visible in the numbers, with copper trading above 4.2 times the aluminium price and JPMorgan modelling substitution at up to 6% of copper demand by 2030, so the same high price that justifies restarting old tonnes is quietly handing share to a cheaper metal.
Underneath the copper story, the majors are rotating portfolios toward the metals this build-out actually consumes. South32 is exiting aluminium in the up to US$5.6 billion sale to Alcoa to concentrate on copper, manganese and zinc-lead-silver, and Boliden is moving to consolidate zinc through Votorantim's controlling stake in Nexa. For allocators, the edge sits where the demand is contracted and the supply is permitted, which is why advanced, permitted copper and the nuclear fuel cycle look like the cleanest expressions of a power bill that only goes one way.
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| Forrestania Resources (FRS) receives firm commitments for a A$310M (~US$214M) two-tranche institutional placement to fund its Edna May Gold Hub acquisition. |
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| The placement was priced at A$0.40 per share, a 5.9% discount to the last close of A$0.425, with firm commitments from domestic and international institutions and support from existing cornerstone shareholders. Proceeds lift the cash component of the Edna May consideration to A$210M, with A$90M in Forrestania scrip to Ramelius, funding the acquisition, refurbishment of the Edna May Gold Hub and general working capital. |
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| 1 July 2026 |
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| Wiluna Mining opens a A$200M (~US$138M) IPO as it seeks to relist on the ASX. |
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| The gold company is returning to the market after a four-year absence triggered by its voluntary administration, with the float led by managing director Victor Rajasooriar, the former head of Panoramic Resources. |
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| 29 June 2026 |
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| Theta Gold Mines (TGM) completes a US$18.6M (~A$27M) combined equity raise and options exercise ahead of its bond drawdown. |
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| The company placed about 125.7M shares at A$0.18 to raise roughly US$15.6M, cornerstoned by China's Chengtun Gold with a US$10M contribution, alongside about US$3M from the exercise of unlisted options. The proceeds satisfy the final equity condition precedent to a US$90M bond drawdown, funding processing plant construction at the TGME Gold Mine Project in South Africa toward first gold in 2027. |
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| 29 June 2026 |
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| Buffalo Potash (BUFF) closes an oversubscribed and upsized non-brokered private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of C$14.85M (~US$10.5M). |
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| The second and final tranche lifts total proceeds to C$14.85M across 28,006,504 securities, comprising hard dollar units at C$0.45 and charity flow-through units. The raise funds the Saskatchewan company's move toward a capital-efficient Initial Production Module targeted for early 2027. |
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| 29 June 2026 |
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| Alcoa (AA) agrees to acquire the bulk of South32's (S32) aluminium value chain for an implied enterprise value of up to US$5.6B. |
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| The assets span an 86% interest in Worsley Alumina in Australia, 100% of Hillside Aluminium in South Africa and three Brazilian bauxite and alumina interests, with Mozal Aluminium in Mozambique excluded. Alcoa will pay US$3.1 billion cash and about US$1.0 billion in stock upfront, plus up to US$750 million in contingent consideration tied to alumina and aluminium prices through 2030 and roughly US$750 million in assumed net debt and lease liabilities, with completion targeted for the first half of 2027 and the sale repositioning South32 around copper, manganese and zinc-lead-silver. |
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| 30 June 2026 |
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| Forrestania Resources (FRS) agrees to acquire 100% of the Edna May Gold Hub from Ramelius Resources (RMS) for total consideration of A$300M (~US$207M). |
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| The purchase covers the 2.9Mtpa Edna May Mill, associated infrastructure and an existing 945koz gold JORC Mineral Resource, with consideration initially split A$200M cash and A$100M in Forrestania scrip, since adjusted to A$210M cash and A$90M scrip following the capital raising. The asset complements Forrestania's Lake Johnston processing hub, with a restart of the Edna May Mill targeted for the first half of 2027 using ore from existing proximate resources. |
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| 29 June 2026 |
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| Capricorn Metals (CMM) enters a binding agreement to divest the Big Springs Gold Project in Nevada to Sentinel Metals (SNM) for total consideration of up to A$26.0M (~US$18M). |
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| The consideration comprises A$8.5M cash, A$5.0M in Sentinel shares and A$12.5M in contingent payments tied to milestones, leaving upfront value at A$13.5M. Completion is conditional on Sentinel raising at least A$15.0M in new funds, in which Capricorn intends to participate for A$3.0M, and on Sentinel shareholder approval. Big Springs formed part of the Warriedar Resources assets Capricorn acquired in 2025. |
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| 2 July 2026 |
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Collective Mining (CNL : TSX)
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| 27.35m at 37.55 g/t AuEq from 336.4m |
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| San Antonio (Colombia) |
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| Bonanza grade over real width and the standout hit of the week by a distance. At a large cap the leverage is thinner than the microcaps below, but a result this size is elite regardless of who drills it. |
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St George Mining (SGQ : ASX)
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| 199.5m at 2.86% TREO |
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| Araxa (Brazil) |
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| A wide, high-grade rare earth intercept in the Araxa district. In a week framed by the magnet-supply squeeze, a critical-minerals hit at this scale is where the strategic re-rate sits. |
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Benz Mining (BZM : TSXV)
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| 27m at 15.33 g/t Au from 229m, and 70m at 2.90 g/t Au |
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| Glenburgh (Western Australia) |
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| Clean, high-grade gold over strong width, with a second broad hit on the same card. This is the kind of grade and width that builds an inventory, though the market is already across the story. |
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FireFly Metals (FFM : ASX)
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| 51.5m at 4.91% CuEq from 404.7m |
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| Green Bay (Canada) |
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| The best copper hit of the week on grade and width combined, close to 5% CuEq over more than 50m. Exceptional in isolation, though much of the Green Bay growth is already priced in. |
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Kingston Resources (KSN : ASX)
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| 19m at 10.75 g/t Au from 41m |
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| Mineral Hill (New South Wales) |
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| High-grade gold from just 41m down, and the sharpest re-rate setup in the group at a microcap. Grade this good from shallow depth is cheap ounces if it repeats. |
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| Week-on-Week |
Price |
% |
| Gold |
US$4,175/oz |
+2.10% |
| Silver |
US$62.00/oz |
+5.08% |
| Platinum |
US$1,639/oz |
+1.49% |
| Palladium |
US$1,266/oz |
+4.89% |
| Copper |
US$13,745/t |
+0.85% |
| Nickel |
US$16,347/t |
-2.56% |
| Zinc |
US$3,550/t |
+1.33% |
| Lead |
US$1,889/t |
-0.19% |
| WTI Crude |
US$68.78/bbl |
-1.83% |
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| Month-on-Month |
Price |
% |
| Tin (LME)* |
US$50,375.00/t |
-3.64% |
| Lithium Carbonate (China)* |
US$13,994.88/t |
-0.86% |
| NdPr Oxide (FOB China)* |
US$92.01/kg |
-0.10% |
| Fluorspar (90%)* |
US$438.42/t |
-0.21% |
| Antimony* |
US$17.48/kg |
-8.83% |
| Niobium* |
US$31.02/kg |
-0.03% |
| Tungsten* |
US$159.51/kg |
-1.93% |
| Gallium* |
US$237.22/kg |
-2.06% |
| Germanium* |
US$2,995.02/kg |
+4.35% |
| Uranium (U3O8)* |
US$189.71/kg |
-0.88% |
*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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