The Drill Down
Thursday 16 April 2026 · Part 2
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Presented By
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The right shareholders don't find you. You find them.
Cashu Group delivers independent equity research and targeted investor marketing for ASX-listed resource companies. The coverage that builds conviction, and the reach to make it count.
Find Your Shareholders
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Lead Insight
Codelco in Talks With India's HCL for Chile Copper Joint Venture
Codelco is in negotiations with India's state-owned Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL) to form a joint venture in Chile, with the deal structured around Codelco contributing an undeveloped deposit and HCL taking on capital commitments exceeding $1 billion. The talks are part of a broader Indian push into Chilean copper, with Coal India and NTPC Mining also reported to be involved across four blocks. The discussions build on a knowledge-sharing MoU signed between the two companies in March 2025.
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Our Take
India is doing what resource-hungry nations do at this point in the commodity cycle: going direct to source rather than buying on the open market. A billion-dollar JV with Codelco for an undeveloped Chilean deposit is a strategic move, not a passive one. For copper developers globally, it is another signal that state-backed capital is actively competing for access to the ground floor.
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Commodity Prices
Precious Metals (USD/toz)
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Gold
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$4,825
+0.70%
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Silver
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$80
+1.72%
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Platinum
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$2,138
+0.94%
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Palladium
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$1,591
+1.69%
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Base Metals & Commodities
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Copper USD/lb
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$6.16
+0.64%
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Nickel USD/lb
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$8.24
-0.08%
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Zinc USD/lb
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$1.55
+1.18%
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Lead USD/lb
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$0.89
+0.41%
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WTI Crude USD/bbl
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$91.60
+0.34%
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Prices updated as of 16 Apr 2026, 3:48 pm AEST
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Market Movers
Winners & Losers — ASX Markets
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Taiton Resources Limited
Drilling commenced at the Yogi IOCG target within the Highway Copper-Gold Project in SA's Gawler Craton, testing a 6mGal gravity anomaly in a district that hosts Olympic Dam and Prominent Hill. Company also completed a $1.25M placement concurrent with the drill start.
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Bison Resources Ltd.
Bison Resources listed on the ASX today at 20 cents per share, surging strongly on debut. The company holds four properties in Nevada's Carlin Trend, the same district as Goldstrike, Bald Mountain, and Maverick Springs.
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Highfield Resources Limited
No specific catalyst identified. Most likely driver is speculative interest or broader fertiliser sector sentiment around the company's Muga potash project in Spain.
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29Metals Limited
29Metals updated the market on its Xantho Extended orebody at Golden Grove in WA, confirming that additional geotechnical works to address seismicity risks will delay mining recommencement to the Dec-Qtr 2026. Ground support upgrades remain on track for April 2026, and full year copper guidance was unchanged.
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Dateline Resources Limited
No specific catalyst identified. Most likely driver is post-raise selling pressure following Dateline's $96M capital raise completed in early April 2026.
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Newmont Corporation
Newmont suspended all underground operations at its Cadia gold and copper mine in NSW following a 4.5-magnitude earthquake on 14 April, accompanied by two aftershocks. All personnel were safely evacuated with no injuries reported, and specialist teams are assessing underground infrastructure before operations can resume. No restart timeline has been provided.
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Market data as of 16 Apr 2026, 3:48 pm AEST
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This Week's Poll
What's the biggest barrier to funding junior explorers right now?
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This Week's Research
China's Sulfuric Acid Export Ban: A Compound Commodity Crisis With No Modern Precedent
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China's sulfuric acid export ban creates a cascade most copper market models haven't priced in. Our 17-page memo traces the full transmission chain: supply-demand modelling, exposure analysis across eight major producers, substitution timelines, and scenario frameworks, with clear investment implications on both sides of the structural divide.
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Today's Stories
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ASX Announcement
PLS Prices US$600 Million Senior Unsecured Notes Offering
Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS) has priced a US$600 million offering of 6.875% Senior Unsecured Notes due 2031, upsized from an initially announced US$500 million, with settlement expected in New York on 22 April 2026. A portion of proceeds will refinance the A$375 million drawn balance on the company's revolving credit facility, with the remainder allocated to general corporate purposes. Concurrent with closing, PLS will reduce its RCF from A$1 billion to A$500 million.
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Our Take
The upsizing from US$500M to US$600M signals stronger institutional demand than expected. Locking in five-year fixed-rate tenor at 6.875% is defensible in this environment, and the RCF reduction is the cleaner story: it simplifies the balance sheet and reduces refinancing risk heading into what remains a difficult period for lithium prices.
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Mining.com
Chinese Nickel Tycoon Taps Top Global Traders for $3 Billion Aluminum Smelter Push
Xiang Guangda's Tsingshan Holding is in talks with major commodity trading firms to secure investment in a new $3 billion aluminum smelter, marking the company's most significant diversification move since it disrupted global nickel markets. Tsingshan is targeting aluminum as its next major commodity, applying the same large-scale, cost-aggressive model it used in nickel. The involvement of top-tier traders signals that financing and offtake structures are already under serious discussion.
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Our Take
Tsingshan's entry into aluminum at $3 billion scale should concern existing smelter operators the same way its nickel push rattled the LME in 2022. Investors in aluminum producers should treat this as an early warning on future margin compression.
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ASX Announcement
New Hope Prices A$300 Million Convertible Notes and Repurchases Existing 2029 Notes
New Hope Corporation (ASX: NHC) has priced A$300 million in new 2.625% senior unsecured convertible notes due 2032, alongside a concurrent repurchase of A$293.3 million of its existing 2029 convertible notes, with settlement expected on 22 April 2026. The new notes carry a conversion price of A$7.41 per share, a 37.5% premium to the 15 April 2026 closing price, with net proceeds of approximately A$294.2 million used to fund the repurchase. New Hope CFO Rebecca Rinaldi cited competitive terms and proactive refinancing of the existing notes as key outcomes of the transaction.
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Our Take
This is a liability management exercise as much as a capital raise. New Hope is extending tenor, resetting the conversion price higher, and lowering its interest rate in a single transaction. The 37.5% conversion premium gives meaningful equity headroom, and clean execution in the current convertible market is not nothing.
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Mining.com
BofA Reports 60% Jump in Commodities Trading Fueled by Oil and Gold
Bank of America has reported a 60% jump in commodities trading revenue, driven primarily by oil and gold market activity, with the bank's co-head of global markets citing the Middle East conflict as having materially changed the investing landscape. The surge highlights how geopolitical risk is translating directly into trading volume across commodity desks. Gold's role as a primary driver underscores the metal's continued dominance as a risk-off instrument.
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Our Take
A 60% revenue jump at a single bank's commodities desk is a useful proxy for where institutional money is moving, and gold featuring alongside oil confirms that precious metals are firmly back in the macro playbook. For gold equities, sustained trading volume at this level is typically a leading indicator of broader fund inflows.
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The Globe and Mail
TSX Opens Flat as Mining Losses Offset Middle East Peace Hopes
The Toronto Stock Exchange opened flat as losses in mining stocks weighed against broader market optimism tied to Middle East peace hopes, even as global equities extended a nine-session winning streak. The divergence between the wider market and mining-linked equities reflects uncertainty about the near-term commodity price outlook. The TSX's mining-heavy composition makes it a useful barometer for commodity investor sentiment.
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Our Take
Mining stocks acting as a drag on the TSX during a nine-day global equity rally is a notable divergence and suggests commodity investors are not yet buying the risk-on narrative at current valuations. A peace resolution in the Middle East could compress the geopolitical premium in gold, which may be part of what the market is pricing.
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Upcoming Events
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Resourcing Tomorrow Hong Kong
16-17 Apr 2026 · Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong
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5-7 May 2026 · Hyatt Regency, Sydney
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6 May 2026 · Leading Edge · Hinchcliff House, Sydney
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