| The Sunday Wrap |
| Codelco's Profit Surges as Strong Copper Prices Offset Output Drop |
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| Codelco reported a Q1 2026 pre-tax profit of $825 million, nearly four times the $213 million recorded in Q1 2025, despite own copper production falling 8% to 272,000 tonnes. Output at El Teniente dropped 26% following last year's collapse that killed six workers, and Chuquicamata was down 18% on lower ore availability. The company left its 2026 production guidance of 1.33 to 1.36 million tonnes unchanged. |
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| China Owns the Patent High Ground in Rare Earths |
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| China filed 19,994 rare-earth patent families between 2014 and 2024, roughly 23 times Japan's 861 and more than 50 times South Korea's 380. That patent dominance maps directly to manufacturing control: China holds an estimated 94% of global rare-earth permanent magnet production, with Chinese universities alone accounting for roughly a quarter of all rare-earth patent families. |
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| Rare Earth Exchanges |
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| Tin Re-Balances but Investors Are Still Betting on Scarcity |
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| Tin's physical market has rebalanced from the speculative frenzy that took prices toward record highs earlier this year, but investors continue to price in future structural scarcity. Reuters columnist Andy Home notes that tin, alongside copper and silver, is pricing anticipated long-run tightness rather than current supply conditions, with the AI-driven electronics demand narrative proving durable even as short-term dynamics contradict it. |
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| Reuters |
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| Congo Adds Lithium to Strategic Minerals in Higher Tax Bracket, Tripling Royalty Payments |
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| The DRC has approved lithium's inclusion in its strategic minerals category, a move that could require lithium miners to triple their royalty payments. Tantalum, niobium, tungsten, uranium and rare earths were also added to the higher-tax bracket, materially raising the cost of operating critical mineral projects in one of Africa's most resource-rich nations. |
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| Bloomberg |
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| Race for Rare Earths Sparks Concern About Environmental Damage From Mining Operations |
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| An FT investigation finds the global race to secure rare earth supplies is generating growing concern about environmental damage from mining operations, with critics accusing QIT Madagascar Minerals of contaminating waterways with hazardous materials including uranium. The tensions highlight the challenge of balancing critical minerals security with environmental obligations. |
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| Financial Times |
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| Colombia Presidential Vote Could Reshape Copper Investment Landscape |
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| Colombians are voting in what is likely the first round of a presidential election, with the outcome expected to have significant implications for the country's mining and copper investment climate. Candidates are divided between leftist pledges for deeper resource nationalism and right-wing platforms favouring investor-friendly frameworks. |
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| Reuters |
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| Australia Records First Trade Deficit Since 2017 as Mining Exports Fall |
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| Australia has recorded its first trade deficit since 2017, with the balance swinging to $2.4 billion in the red. The result was driven by strong data centre equipment imports and a notable fall in mining export revenues, ending a prolonged run of resources-led surpluses that underpinned Australian dollar strength and federal budget revenues. |
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| AFR |
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| Russia's First Gold Mining Estimate in Years Comes in Surprisingly Large |
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| Russia has issued its first official gold mining production estimate in years, with a figure that far exceeds independent industry estimates. Metals Focus had estimated Russian mine production at 345 tonnes last year, a benchmark the official figure appears to surpass by a notable margin. |
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| Bloomberg |
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THEME: SOVEREIGN GRIP
Governments Tightened Their Hold on Critical Supply Chains From Every Direction This Week
The week's dominant signal was state intervention at scale. China's rare earth patent lead, translating directly into 94% of global permanent magnet production, sits alongside the DRC tripling royalties on lithium and critical minerals, Indonesia pulling its commodity export nationalisation forward to September, and Ghana lifting mandatory gold offtake to 30%. Resource nationalism is moving faster than most market participants have priced, and the commodity price environment, copper at US$14,164/t, tin up 9.47% month-on-month, gold holding above US$4,500/oz, is giving every government more reason to tighten.
Capital is still moving toward the drill bit. The Sunshine Silver IPO at $270M, Barton Gold's oversubscribed institutional placement, Theta Gold's clean US$90M bond and Tanami's fully underwritten rights issue confirm that equity and debt markets remain open for gold and silver stories with defined production pathways. Central Asia Metals acquiring Cygnus at a 60% premium and The Metals Royalty Company doubling its Mesabi iron ore royalty position add to a week where the M&A rationale was consistently supply chain security. DPM Metals' 713-metre intercept at Brevene South, adjacent to a producing mine, was the drill result of the week by any benchmark.
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| Sunshine Silver Mining & Refining (SSMR) raises $270M in a US IPO at $13.50 per share to restart the historic Sunshine Mine in Idaho. |
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| The company sold 20 million shares at the low end of the $13.50 to $16.50 marketed range, implying a market value of $1.9 billion. Underwriters hold a 30-day option to purchase a further 3 million shares. Proceeds are directed at restarting a mine with retained permits and a silver-copper-lead-antimony resource. |
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| 4 June 2026 |
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| Barton Gold (BGD) raises $25.5M via a 30 million share institutional placement at $0.85 per share to advance the Challenger and Tunkillia gold projects in South Australia. |
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| The placement closed significantly oversubscribed, supported by Franklin Templeton, Aegis Financial, IXIOS and MERK alongside other Australian, Hong Kong and North American funds. Canaccord Genuity and MST Financial acted as lead managers. Proceeds fund a DFS and FID for Challenger, a PFS and mining lease application for Tunkillia, and extension drilling at the Tolmer silver prospect. |
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| 1 June 2026 |
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| Theta Gold Mines (TGM) completes an oversubscribed US$90M senior secured callable bond issue to fund construction of the TGME Gold Mine in South Africa. |
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| Arranged by Pareto Securities with Argonaut as financial adviser, the bond carries no mandatory hedging, no principal repayment for 30 months, then US$7.5M quarterly amortisation to maturity. Bonds are expected to be issued in mid-June 2026, completing TGM's debt funding process, with plant commissioning targeted for late 2026 and first gold pour in Q1 2027. |
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| 3 June 2026 |
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| Tanami Gold (TAM) closes a fully underwritten pro rata renounceable rights issue at $0.06 per share, raising approximately $70.5M. |
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| Eligible shareholders subscribed for 837,622,363 new shares raising $50.3M, with major holders APAC Resources and Metals X taking up their full entitlements. The $20.2M shortfall was allocated by underwriter Bell Potter Securities, with Evolution Capital acting as joint lead manager. All new shares were issued on 3 June 2026. |
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| 3 June 2026 |
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| Central Asia Metals (CAML) agrees to acquire Cygnus Metals (CY5) via an all-scrip scheme of arrangement valuing Cygnus at A$232M, a 60% premium to its 1 June closing price. |
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| Cygnus shareholders receive 0.06 new CAML shares per share held, implying A$0.176 per share. The deal adds the Chibougamau copper-gold project in Quebec, a 14.9Mt resource grading 2.2% Cu and 1.2 g/t Au across indicated and inferred categories, to CAML's producing base in North Macedonia and Kazakhstan. Major shareholders holding 29% have indicated support, and the Cygnus board recommends unanimously. |
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| 2 June 2026 |
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| The Metals Royalty Company (TMCR) closes a US$132.5M acquisition of a 1% gross overriding production royalty on the Mesabi Metallics iron ore project in Minnesota and exercises its option to acquire a second 1%. |
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| The initial royalty was funded via an $80.1M private placement and a $43M credit facility draw. Exercising the option, subject to funding by 31 July 2026, would double TMCR's position to 2% and double anticipated annual royalty cash flow of up to roughly $13M over a 23-year mine life. Mesabi commissioning is targeted for H2 2026. Michael Hess was appointed Non-Executive Co-Chairman alongside the close. |
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| 1 June 2026 |
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| Northern Graphite (NGC) and Obeikan Investment Group advance a US$200M joint venture to build a battery anode material facility in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, alongside a restructure of Northern's Sprott debt. |
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| The 49/51 JV targets initial production of 25,000 tonnes per year of battery anode material, scalable over time, with a feasibility study due by end of June 2026. Separately, Northern settled roughly US$22M of senior secured debt with Sprott Streaming via 12.5 million shares and amended streaming terms, materially cleaning up its capital structure ahead of the LDI mine restart. |
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| 2 June 2026 |
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DPM Metals (DPM : TSX)
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| 713m at 2.52 g/t AuEq incl. 398m at 3.00 g/t AuEq |
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| Brevene South Porphyry (Bulgaria) |
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| A near-kilometre porphyry intercept at grades that benchmark against the top tier of global discoveries, sitting 1km from the Chelopech mine reserve boundary. The hole is still in progress. |
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Gladiator Metals (GLAD : TSXV)
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| 35.9m at 2.68% Cu, 1.35 g/t Au, 19.55 g/t Ag incl. 21.9m at 4.24% Cu, 2.16 g/t Au from 172.1m |
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| Whitehorse Copper (Canada) |
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| Step-out drilling pushed high-grade strike continuity to over 80 metres within a 900-metre IP corridor that remains open in all directions. |
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Carnaby Resources (CNB : ASX)
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| 232m at 1.30% CuEq incl. 65m at 2.90% CuEq from surface |
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| Greater Duchess (Australia) |
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| A new near-pit lode discovered by a water bore hole on the edge of the planned open pit, adding a shallow high-grade structure ahead of the June final investment decision. |
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Nord Precious Metals (NTH : TSXV)
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| 6.65m at 2,848 g/t Ag incl. 0.30m at 61,389 g/t Ag |
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| Castle East (Canada) |
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| Bonanza-grade silver extending the Robinson vein system, with cobalt, nickel and copper accompanying the silver. Part of a 30,000-metre program testing 29 modelled vein targets at a $21.82M market cap. |
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Graycliff Exploration (GRAY : CSE)
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| 7m at 454.34 g/t Au incl. 1m at 3,030 g/t Au from 123m |
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| Shakespeare (Canada) |
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| From a metallurgical test hole rather than a standard exploration drill, so the context travels with the number. Still, 454 g/t over 7 metres is a grade that demands follow-up, and two more metallurgical holes are pending. |
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| Week-on-Week |
Price |
% |
| Gold |
US$4,329/oz |
-4.65% |
| Silver |
US$68.00/oz |
-9.33% |
| Platinum |
US$1,777/oz |
-7.50% |
| Palladium |
US$1,225/oz |
-9.73% |
| Copper |
US$13,917/t |
-1.74% |
| Nickel |
US$18,542/t |
-1.99% |
| Zinc |
US$3,532/t |
-0.23% |
| Lead |
US$1,993/t |
-0.46% |
| WTI Crude |
US$90.54/bbl |
+1.15% |
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| Month-on-Month |
Price |
% |
| Tin (LME)* |
US$54,656.00/t |
+9.47% |
| Lithium Carbonate (China)* |
US$14,431.84/t |
-1.37% |
| NdPr Oxide (FOB China)* |
US$91.90/kg |
+3.33% |
| Fluorspar (90%)* |
US$439.33/t |
-3.62% |
| Antimony* |
US$19.17/kg |
-5.03% |
| Niobium* |
US$31.02/kg |
-6.19% |
| Tungsten* |
US$177.92/kg |
-2.94% |
| Gallium* |
US$244.64/kg |
+1.04% |
| Germanium* |
US$2,870.05/kg |
+20.62% |
| Uranium (U3O8)* |
US$187.94/kg |
-2.01% |
*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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