The Drill Down
Friday 29 May 2026 · Part 2
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Presented By
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ASX: KAO
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Namibia's Copper Belt.
Ready to Drill.
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69.6%
Peak Cu Grade
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40km
Mineralised Trend
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89%
Cu Recovery
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Two fully permitted copper projects in Namibia, an emerging exploration jurisdiction on the radar of global miners. The Chalkos Project carries peak surface grades of 69.6% Cu and 2,030 g/t Ag across a 40km mineralised trend. Drilling commences soon.
Discover Kaoko
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Lead Insight
Aluminum Squeeze Might Get Worse Yet
The global aluminium squeeze shows little sign of resolving, with China's 45-million-tonne production cap, Strait of Hormuz energy disruptions and US Section 232 tariffs constraining supply across multiple fronts simultaneously. US Midwest and European duty-paid premiums are in sustained upward trajectories as Western buyers compete for a shrinking pool of available primary metal, with Citi warning the deficit could be the largest in approximately 20 years.
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Our Take
Aluminium is running the same structural supply playbook as copper, just 18 months behind. China's capacity cap, geopolitical supply disruption and tariff-driven trade fragmentation are compounding together. Developers with low-cost bauxite and alumina assets in stable jurisdictions are sitting on a rerating story.
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Commodity Prices
Precious Metals (USD/toz)
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Gold
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$4,507
+0.25%
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Silver
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$75
-0.24%
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Platinum
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$1,913
-0.37%
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Palladium
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$1,374
+0.52%
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Base Metals & Commodities
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Copper USD/lb
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$6.44
-0.15%
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Nickel USD/lb
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$8.64
+0.95%
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Zinc USD/lb
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$1.61
+0.66%
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Lead USD/lb
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$0.92
+0.50%
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WTI Crude USD/bbl
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$88.01
-1.00%
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Prices updated as of 29 May 2026, 3:48 pm AEST
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Market Movers
Winners & Losers - ASX Markets
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Osmond Resources Limited
Continues to run on yesterday's channel sample results from the Orion EU Critical Minerals Project in southern Spain, which extended the high-grade heavy mineral zone further east and west. Highlight sample Z1-22 returned 2.0m at 29.1% total heavy minerals. Independent consultants confirmed the samples can be incorporated into the upcoming maiden MRE, with Phase 2 drilling on stand-by pending a final administrative signature.
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Mithril Silver and Gold Limited
No specific catalyst identified. The stock traded on above-average volume of 1.42 million shares, suggesting accumulation or sector rotation rather than any company-specific development. Mithril holds silver and gold exploration assets in Western Australia.
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Argosy Minerals Limited
Released positive pilot plant test results for its 12ktpa Rincon Lithium Project in Salta Province, Argentina, confirming 99% lithium chloride purity and a maximum lithium yield of 94.4%. The test works confirm technical feasibility and industrial scaling potential, validating the process technology selection for the DFS. Argosy holds a 77.5% interest in the project.
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EMC Gold Corporation
Applied to quote 500,000 new CDIs resulting from option exercises at $0.03 per security on 27 May. While the dilution is minimal against 407 million shares on issue, the filing added selling pressure after a recent run. EMC Gold is a gold exploration company advancing the Salave gold project in Spain.
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Raptor Metals Ltd
Released first assay results from its 2,126m diamond drill program at the Chester copper-zinc VMS project in Canada's Bathurst Mining Camp on 25 May, with highlights including 25.05m at 2.06% CuEq from CDH004. The announcement lifted a trading halt. Assays from 11 remaining holes are pending within two weeks, and downhole electromagnetic surveys are planned.
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Champion Iron Limited
Released Q4 FY2026 results showing margin compression driven by rising costs, particularly freight. Champion Iron operates the Bloom Lake high-grade iron ore operation in Quebec, and elevated shipping costs linked to broader maritime disruption have weighed on the operation's profitability.
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Market data as of 29 May 2026, 4:10 pm AEST
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This Week's Poll
Which emerging mining region will attract the most exploration capital over the next 3 years?
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○ Saudi Arabia / Middle East
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○ Scandinavia / Greenland
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Today's Stories
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Stockhead
Miners Take Leap to Add Supply in Latest Lithium Renaissance
Spodumene concentrate peaked at US$2,870/t earlier this month before pulling back toward US$2,500/t, a possible pause in lithium's third sharp rally in a decade. The recovery from below US$600/t twelve months ago was driven by battery storage demand from renewables and data centre buildout absorbing the 2023-2025 oversupply, compounded by CATL's Jianxiawo mine closure and Zimbabwe's export controls. Higher prices are now prompting expansions and restarts, though at least one major forecaster warns the market could return to surplus next year.
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Our Take
Lithium is doing what it always does: price spikes trigger supply responses faster than the demand picture can absorb them. The question is whether the AI and storage demand wave is structurally different this time. The surplus warning is worth watching, but so was the last one before spodumene ran from $600 to $2,870.
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Fastmarkets
Brazil Carbon Market Becomes an Industrial Competitiveness Strategy Amid ETS Rollout
Brazil's Finance Ministry is positioning the SBCE emissions trading system as a trade competitiveness tool, using the country's lower-carbon steel and aluminium production to capture green metals demand as climate criteria reshape global procurement. The SBCE phases in gradually, with the first cycle focused on MRV systems before any compliance obligation or carbon pricing applies, and a public consultation on credit export rules planned for July.
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Our Take
Brazil is running a smarter play than most. Rather than treating carbon regulation as a cost burden, Brasília is embedding it into trade positioning for sectors where it already has a structural advantage. If the SBCE MRV framework lands with integrity, Brazilian green metals become a credible CBAM hedge for European buyers.
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Mining Technology
UK Inquiry Thrusts Tungsten Mining Into Defence Minerals Spotlight
Witnesses before the UK Parliament's Business and Trade Sub-Committee told MPs that defence-industrial resilience depends not only on securing critical mineral access but on rebuilding domestic refining and metallisation capacity outside China. The inquiry is examining the UK's critical minerals strategy, with tungsten a priority given domestic reserves in Cornwall and Devon and China's near-total dominance of global processing.
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Our Take
Parliament asking hard questions about tungsten refining capacity while China's export controls are actively halving supply to Japan is not a coincidence. The UK has domestic tungsten reserves and no domestic processing. That gap is now a defence procurement problem, and that framing changes the investment case for Cornish tungsten developers.
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Bloomberg
Iron Ore Heads for Monthly Loss as Coal Spike Pressures Margins
Iron ore is tracking toward a monthly loss in May as the coking coal price spike triggered by the Shanxi mine disaster squeezes Chinese steel mill margins and dampens appetite for iron ore purchases. Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange have retreated broadly, with mills limiting restocking under compressed margins despite hot metal output continuing to run at elevated levels. The dynamic illustrates how supply shocks in one steelmaking input can cascade quickly into demand weakness for another.
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Our Take
The Shanxi coal shock is now feeding through into iron ore. Higher input costs compress margins and slow restocking, regardless of underlying output levels. It is a reminder that commodity markets do not move in isolation, and the linkages between steelmaking inputs move fast.
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Mysteel
Tight Zinc Concentrate Supply Supports Prices Despite Soft Demand
Zinc prices are holding firm on supply-side pressure despite weak downstream demand, as ore shortages and low treatment charges have forced smelters in northwest and southwest China to cut output. Domestic concentrate treatment charges continue to trend lower amid tight market availability, with most smelters holding minimal raw material inventories. The supply squeeze is not expected to ease near-term, with further treatment charge declines likely through June.
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Our Take
Zinc is a supply story right now, not a demand one. Prices holding up despite subdued consumption tells you the concentrate tightness is real. Developers with high-grade zinc projects in stable jurisdictions should be paying attention to the treatment charge trajectory.
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Australian Mining
Quad Agreement Targets $20 Billion Critical Minerals Push
Australia, the United States, Japan and India announced the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative at a foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi on May 26, committing to mobilise up to $20 billion in combined government and private sector investment across mining, processing and recycling. The framework targets projects with a defined Quad nexus, utilising export credit agencies, development finance institutions and offtake agreements to close supply chain gaps. India and the US separately signed a bilateral critical minerals framework, with Australia set to assume the Quad chairmanship from India.
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Our Take
The Quad nexus definition matters for Australian project developers. If your project sits in a Quad partner country and supplies Quad markets, it is now explicitly in scope for a coordinated $20 billion capital mobilisation framework. That is a tangible shift in the funding landscape.
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Kamoa Capital
kamoacap.com
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This newsletter is for general information, education & 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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