The Pentagon's tungsten push dominated the week's supply-chain news: the Defense Department announced a $450 million Elmet investment to strengthen the U.S. tungsten supply chain ahead of a January 1 procurement deadline barring defense use of tungsten processed in China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, with Elmet allocating $150 million toward Nevada mining and $100 million toward a new refining and trading division; Elmet has separately secured mining agreements with Tungsten West and Vietnam's Masan High-Tech Materials. Reinforcing that supply push, U.S. investor Cove Capital acquired a 70% stake in Kazakh tungsten deposits holding roughly 1.4 million tons of tungsten trioxide, with a $1.1 billion development plan backed by U.S. Export-Import Bank and DFC letters of interest totaling $1.6 billion and production targeted from 2030. At Tungsten West's Hemerdon mine, which last week secured a £1.4 billion Elmet offtake deal, two non-executive directors stepped down following the company's annual general meeting. Apollo Minerals marked its Euronext Growth Paris listing with a bell-ringing ceremony in France as it advances the Couflens high-grade tungsten-gold project to tap European investors. Resolution Minerals reported a transformative FY2026 at the Horse Heaven antimony-tungsten-gold project in Idaho, where drilling confirmed broad gold mineralisation including 253.0 metres at 1.50 g/t gold, tungsten concentrates graded up to 52.3% WO3, and a maiden resource estimate is targeted for Q1 2027; the company's CEO discussed a hub-and-spoke processing strategy and the project's FAST-41 permitting status. IDEX Metals confirmed tungsten enrichment in all six 2025 Phase I drill holes at the Kismet target on its Freeze Property in Idaho, establishing tungsten as a system-wide feature and recording the property's highest-grade tungsten sample to date. American Tungsten & Antimony disclosed in its FY2026 annual report the Del Sol refinery acquisition in Nevada and successful antimony ingot production at that facility.

The broader U.S. government push to reshape critical-mineral supply chains is producing measurable results: more than 180 projects have been advanced and non-equity government investment in rare earth and magnet projects reached $7.6 billion in the 18 months through June, over four times the 2020–2024 total, with the Pentagon's $400 million MP Materials preferred-share purchase, a $2.23 billion DOE loan to Lithium Americas for Thacker Pass, and a $725 million Energy Fuels commitment among the headline instruments; CRU projects China will lose critical-mineral market share by 2030 in several areas it currently dominates. The USGS released an updated critical minerals database covering 1,271 known deposits of 59 minerals across 41 states and Puerto Rico, of which 412 remain undeveloped despite documented resources, with nine of the ten minerals most at risk of supply disruption — including four rare-earth elements — confirmed present domestically.

Brazil's critical minerals landscape is under acute geopolitical pressure ahead of its October 4 election: USA Rare Earth completed a $2.8 billion Serra Verde acquisition — the country's only large rare earth mine — two weeks before President Lula signed a new critical minerals law on September 16 aimed at boosting domestic processing; Lula attempted to block the deal and may seek to negate it under the new law if re-elected, while pro-Trump candidate Flavio Bolsonaro has signalled he would grant the U.S. broad access to Brazil's minerals including niobium, of which Brazil holds roughly 95% of global reserves. Atlas Critical Minerals filed a technical report including a first resource estimate for its Malacacheta Graphite Project in Minas Gerais, Brazil, prepared by SGS Canada and effective September 14.

On the exploration and corporate front, Quantum Critical Metals confirmed through laser mineral mapping that gallium and rubidium are mica-hosted at its Discovery property in Québec — the same host mineral as its NMX East flagship — and identified anomalous beryllium and cesium responses, with one sample returning cesium 65 times the median of other samples. Graphite One advanced its plan for a vertically integrated U.S. graphite chain anchored by the 71 million tonne Graphite Creek resource in Alaska at 5.22% average diluted grade, targeting anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. King Global Critical Minerals reported systematic sampling of the Golden Turkey tailings in Arizona, with 76 samples averaging 3.85 g/t gold and 76.2 g/t silver. Dalaroo Metals disclosed in its FY2026 annual report a repositioning across three countries — Côte d'Ivoire, Greenland and Western Australia — raising $3.78 million through placements. Australian Critical Minerals completed a maiden diamond drilling program at its Flint gold-silver project in Peru and held $1.32 million cash at FY2026 year end. Pantera Minerals outlined its U.S. and Australia portfolio at the JMM Gold Forum, with maiden drilling underway at its Gillham Project in Arkansas. Taltson Critical Minerals discussed the O'Connor Lake Project in the Northwest Territories, including its Indigenous partnerships and infrastructure advantages.

On the partnerships and governance front, Odisha's Revanta Minerals became that state's first critical-mineral refiner to sign an MOU with CSIR-IMMT for joint recovery technology development from secondary and waste-derived mineral sources. Avalon Advanced Materials and Lakehead University signed an MOU to collaborate on critical minerals innovation in Ontario. Kazakhstan and Germany adopted a joint declaration on critical minerals and a 2026–2028 industrial roadmap during President Tokayev's state visit to Berlin, covering extraction, processing, supply chains and green energy cooperation. Five African nations — Guinea, Madagascar, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe — were selected for the UN's Country Support Mechanism program on critical energy transition minerals, ahead of African Mining Week 2026 on October 14–16 in Cape Town, with the UN Economic Commission for Africa also running a separate SADC-focused value-chain program in six countries. Fair Finance Asia published a report, Extraction to Equity, finding that ASEAN source countries lack enforceable local-benefit, sustainability and value-sharing clauses in critical minerals agreements and MoUs, and called on member states and financial regulators to mandate such safeguards.

Copper held firm on the London Metal Exchange, with three-month futures at $14,446 a tonne on Tuesday, extending a run that has put the metal on track for a third consecutive monthly gain of roughly 9% following a record $14,875 earlier in September. Supply-side pressure intensified after workers in two unions at Antofagasta's Centinela mine rejected the final contract offer, triggering a mandatory mediation period before any walkout, while wage talks at BHP's Escondida, the world's largest copper mine, were delayed by a fatal accident. International Copper Study Group data showed mine output fell 4% in July on an annualized basis to 23 million tonnes, even as refined demand rose 3% year-on-year to 29 million tonnes against refined supply of 28.4 million tonnes. Large volumes of refined copper have accumulated in US warehouses ahead of a possible import tariff, tightening availability elsewhere, and China's Yangshan import premium is near its highest since 2022. Deutsche Bank projects copper could climb to $22,000 by Q2 2027 if competition for available supplies intensifies.

In corporate activity, Copper Intelligence and CoTec Holdings have formed a joint venture to process historical copper tailings in the DRC's established copper districts, targeting sites that have generated mining waste since the 1950s. The partners plan to seek US DFC funding once projects reach sufficient scale, with CoTec's extraction technologies applied to enhance the economic potential of redundant deposits. The joint-venture entity is being incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, and individual asset commitments will require independent board approvals before capital is deployed. Shares in Copper Intelligence surged 61% on the announcement, valuing the company at $1.2 billion.

Tertiary Minerals raised £1 million via share placement to fund deeper drilling and technical work at its Mushima North silver-copper project in Zambia, placing 1.67 billion new shares at 0.06p — a 14% discount to the five-day average VWAP — with the funds directed toward testing mineralisation below the oxide zone, critical-mineral assays, metallurgical testwork and environmental surveys, subject to shareholder approval expected around 27 October.

Zambia set out its ambition to reach 3 million tonnes annually of copper output by 2031, underpinned by a countrywide geological and geophysical mapping programme that is 94.2% complete and regulatory restructuring through the newly established Minerals Regulation Commission. The country's National Critical Minerals Strategy 2024–2028 broadens focus beyond copper and cobalt to include nickel, manganese, lithium, graphite and rare earth elements, with explicit goals around beneficiation and battery manufacturing to position Zambia as a regional mineral hub.

At Collective Mining's Guayabales Project in Colombia, recent assay results identified a new high-grade tungsten-gold zone in schist outside the southern Apollo breccia margin alongside continued Ramp Zone drilling, with 13 active rigs operating under a fully funded 2026 program backed by US$93.7 million in cash. Management is developing an integrated processing flowsheet designed to route copper and tungsten concentrate streams alongside a gold-silver doré product, with metallurgical testwork employing gravity, flotation and cyanidation across all four metals.

The Afanasi Nikitin Seamount, an Indian Ocean ridge identified in 1994 as hosting high-grade cobalt and ferromanganese crusts, remains frozen in a bilateral and multilateral legal deadlock that has now persisted for the better part of two years. Sri Lanka lodged an extended continental shelf claim covering the seamount in 2009 under UNCLOS; India raised no objection until October 2022, when it formally opposed Sri Lanka's shelf claim before the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, triggering a procedural freeze on that file. In January 2024, India pursued a parallel track, applying to the International Seabed Authority for an exploration licence on the grounds that the seamount lies in international waters rather than on any national shelf. Sri Lanka responded by asking the Authority to withhold consideration, and the Authority's legal commission, after exchanging formal written questions with India, concluded in July 2024 that it could not proceed until Sri Lanka's underlying shelf claim is resolved. The sole public signal of diplomatic movement came in April 2025, when Sri Lankan President Dissanayake, meeting Prime Minister Modi in Colombo, requested Indian assistance initiating technical talks on the shelf claim, though no substantive progress has been reported since that meeting.

Chinese lithium futures plunged 25% in China on fears over slowing battery demand growth, rising inventories, and economic pressures across EV and energy-storage markets, setting a challenging backdrop for the sector. Against that pricing environment, Liontown Resources approved an A$389 million Kathleen Valley expansion, lifting its FY27 total capital expenditure guidance by approximately 35% to between A$435 million and A$495 million, while Core Lithium's Finniss restart and BP33 development advanced through FY26 with first spodumene concentrate produced and a first shipment targeted for the December quarter, targeting a 20-year mine life at 214,000 tonnes per annum once fully ramped.

Lake Resources secured the drill six Yinnetharra targets in Q4 2026, with the project hosting a mineral resource estimate of 21.9 million tonnes at 1% Li₂O, while metallurgical test work on a one-tonne composite advances at Mt Ida, which holds 14.8 Mt at 1.21% Li₂O. Switch Metals reported the Kabore lithium spodumene discovery at its Issia project in Côte d'Ivoire, with grades up to 2.8% Li₂O confirming a working lithium-caesium-tantalum system, and a maiden tantalum mineral resource estimate expected in early Q1 2027. Anson Resources AB 2163 establishing development zones to designate Strategic Clean Energy and Critical Mineral Development Zones, prioritizing investment and infrastructure in the Salton Sea "Lithium Valley" region. A South Korean lithium battery company, Sebang, announced plans to manufacture EV battery packs in Jeffersonville, Ohio. General Motors confirmed its next-generation LMR cells at Spring Hill, Tennessee, through its Ultium Cells joint venture with LG Energy Solution, with factory upgrades beginning late this year and LMR-equipped EVs expected in 2028, delivering over 400 miles of EPA range at costs near those of lithium-iron-phosphate cells. Li-S Energy demonstrated a Pegasus drone endurance flight of nearly two hours over 75 kilometres on a single 382 Wh lithium-sulfur pack, funded by a A$1.35 million Australian government grant, with dual-pack configurations projected to enable eight-hour, 250-kilometre missions.

A waste battery recycling project in Xingning, Guangdong has been registered for 20,000 tpa capacity, deploying shredding, pyrolysis, crushing, and screening processes at a total investment of RMB 20 million. In the United Kingdom, the head of a major waste firm warned that the sector risks becoming uninsurable from battery fires unless faster action is taken on improperly discarded lithium batteries at recycling centres. At the municipal level, Sullivan County, New York, outlined safe lithium battery disposal protocols, emphasizing that batteries discarded in general waste streams are a leading cause of transfer station fires and that the county's six facilities accept electronics for recycling free of charge. Community safety concerns following a lithium-ion battery fire were also raised by La Verne residents in California.

No significant news today on this issue. Check back tomorrow!

Hertha Metals closed a $133.65 million Series A round to construct Hertha Chalyx, a Texas facility targeting 10,000 tonnes annually of steel-grade and magnet-grade high-purity iron, with the US Government contributing $65 million through its Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program and Khosla Ventures and Doerr Capital co-leading the remainder. The company's proprietary FLEXHERS single-reactor process replaces coal-dependent blast furnaces with electric arc furnace technology using natural gas or hydrogen, projecting 25% lower production costs and emissions reductions of up to 98% on hydrogen, directly addressing the absence of domestic high-purity iron supply for NdFeB rare earth magnets.

Washington's broader critical minerals program now supports more than 180 projects, with $7.6 billion in non-equity support directed at rare earth and magnet projects over the 18 months to June. The Pentagon has taken $400 million in preferred shares plus a $150 million loan in MP Materials, while guaranteeing a $110/kg neodymium-praseodymium floor price and magnet offtake from a second Texas plant. A conditional $725 million loan to Energy Fuels targets both mine expansion and onshore separation capacity, and Washington has signed more than 20 mineral-development agreements spanning Australia, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Uzbekistan, and the DRC, with CRU projecting Chinese market share erosion by 2030.

Tronox Holdings and JX Advanced Metals have entered a joint cooperation and investment agreement, committing approximately $32 million on a 50-50 basis to advance a Definitive Feasibility Study for a rare earth cracking and leaching facility in Western Australia's Rockingham Industry Zone and a Prefeasibility Study for a US refinery in Mississippi. The two facilities are together envisaged to produce up to 10,000 tonnes of total rare earth oxides annually, covering neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium, and heavy rare earths, with the partners also evaluating niobium, scandium, zirconium, and hafnium recovery from Tronox's mineral resources.

Eclipse Metals reported FY2026 progress on its South Greenland portfolio, highlighted by an updated Gronnedal resource of 208 Mt at 7,239 ppm total rare earth oxides — a 234% tonnage increase over the prior estimate — incorporating the project's first Indicated category component of 6 Mt and containing approximately 456,000 tonnes of neodymium and praseodymium oxides. Post-balance-date, the company announced a maiden Ivigtut inferred resource of 4.87 Mt grading hafnium, gallium, yttrium, and zirconium, while Boss Energy's withdrawal from the Liverpool uranium option left Eclipse retaining 100% of Liverpool uranium, and consent was received from Traditional Owners for a diamond drilling program at EL27584.