The U.S. Trade and Development Agency is backing a refinery development for copper and cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

PLS Group approved the A$1.9 billion P2000 expansion of its Pilgangoora mine in Western Australia, committing to lift spodumene concentrate output to nearly 2 million tonnes per annum by 2029 through construction of a new Jimmagunya processing plant, with the company self-funding from its A$2.3 billion cash balance and operating cash flows to avoid borrowing during the downcycle. The expansion incorporates approximately 67 million tonnes of material previously classified as waste, enabling a 23% ore reserve increase to 249.2 million tonnes at 1.24% lithium oxide and a 31% rise in contained lithium, while also establishing a maiden underground reserve of 46.5 million tonnes at a higher 1.5% grade beneath existing open pits. Average unit operating costs are targeted at A$620 per tonne over the first decade, and the project carries an incremental post-tax NPV of $2.7 billion with a 29.5% IRR based on long-term consensus lithium prices. The company also plans A$600–650 million in supporting infrastructure, including a new accommodation village and road upgrades, while the reserve base now supports a 20-year open-pit horizon and more than 25 years when underground resources are included; PLS shares rose 3% on the announcement, with the approval coming against a backdrop of spodumene prices having nearly halved from their May highs to approximately US$1,505 per tonne. The expansion will also produce tantalum as a by-product, and PLS is betting on long-term electric-vehicle adoption to support demand, forecasting a tripling of lithium demand by 2040.

Ganfeng Lithium reported a net profit surge of 19,540% year-on-year for the first three quarters of 2026, with attributable profit reaching 5.012 billion yuan against just 25.52 million yuan a year earlier, driven by higher lithium product selling prices and expanded lithium battery sales. Revenue for the nine-month period climbed to CNY 36,158.73 million, up 147.24% year-on-year, while net cash flow from operating activities turned positive to 2.295 billion yuan, confirming improved earnings quality. Growth momentum narrowed in the single quarter, with Q3 net profit slowing to 35.62% year-on-year, while investment income of 1.31 billion yuan — including gains from the partial disposal of PLS shares — contributed significantly to overall results.

EnergyX, in which ASX-listed Pantera Minerals holds a strategic stake, executed a binding 10-year supply agreement with global commodities trader Trafigura covering 100,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium products, representing EnergyX's first publicly announced offtake deal. The take-or-pay arrangement covers approximately 66% of Phase 1 offtake from EnergyX's Black Giant™ lithium carbonate project in Chile and 30% of Phase 1 offtake from its Lonestar lithium hydroxide project in Texas, with EnergyX estimating the deal could represent approximately US$2 billion in revenue over its term at an assumed price of US$20,000 per tonne; the agreement is also intended to support the bankability of the projects alongside a previously secured non-binding US$690 million US EXIM letter of interest.

The World Bank's plan to deploy up to $19 billion in critical minerals between 2026 and 2030 is drawing investor attention to emerging-market battery and EV materials producers, with Core Lithium's Finniss hard-rock lithium project in Australia and Elevra Lithium's North American Lithium operation among those identified as potentially exposed to that capital reallocation. Separately, the Kindersley Lithium Project in Canada reached a pre-feasibility milestone, with Grounded Lithium reporting the first mineral reserves declared for the project and confirming Denison Mines' option to earn up to a 75% working interest, providing Denison greater visibility on resource quality and potential capital requirements for deeper involvement.

On the technology front, researchers from institutions in India and South Korea reported a silicon composite anode built from hierarchically porous silicon nanoparticles, carbonized sucrose, and activated charcoal that delivered 3,412 mAh/g specific capacity at 0.56 C with an energy density of 204.74 Wh/kg, retaining more than half of initial capacity over 200 cycles at a demanding 2.57 C rate — a result attributed to a dual faradaic and pseudocapacitive charge-storage mechanism and a mesoporous architecture with a specific surface area of 61.89 square metres per gram.

Lithium-ion battery safety incidents continued to draw regulatory attention. A hoverboard battery that ignited at a Jefferson County, Texas scrapyard caused an explosion destroying $750,000 worth of high-value scrap metal, requiring mutual aid from an industrial fire brigade. In Florida, an overheating battery at Diamond Head Condos ignited a chair and triggered building-wide sprinkler activation and evacuation. Sarasota County fire officials, having responded to seven structure fires this year involving lithium-ion batteries, released demonstration footage illustrating rapid thermal runaway and issued public guidance on warning signs including swelling, unusual heat, and abnormal odours.

The Atacama Desert's dual role in the global energy transition received documentary treatment in a photography project examining the complex relationship between lithium mining and renewable energy development in Chile's Norte Grande, a region holding nearly one-third of the world's lithium reserves alongside some of the world's most intense solar radiation.

The Philippines' formal entry into Pax Silica — a US-led coalition securing supply chains for artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and critical minerals among allied nations including Japan, South Korea, Australia, the UAE, the UK, and Singapore — has ignited broad national debate spanning the political left and right, the clergy, environmentalists, industrialists, academics, and indigenous peoples' advocates. Commentary framing the discussion as a binary choice between being pro-investment and anti-investment is considered inadequate; the more precise questions concern which forms of investment advance Philippine development, under what conditions, and with whose participation. The Luzon Industrial Corridor, operating under the Pax Silica banner, carries high expectations but also acknowledged downsides, as decisions about industrial siting carry downstream consequences for electricity supply, water access, public revenues, community welfare, and workforce skills. A civil-society framework advanced in the debate asks who captures value, who bears risk, and who governs the bargain — with the argument that projects must meet credible environmental and social standards rather than be justified by investment figures alone. On critical minerals, the analysis distinguishes mere extraction and export from genuine industrialisation, which requires domestic processing, materials upgrading, manufacturing linkages, technology transfer, and capable local suppliers; the Philippines' abundant nickel reserves offer opportunity but domestic processing cannot become an unquestioned goal regardless of cost. The overarching prescription is a whole-of-nation coordination effort aimed at expanding productive capacity and retaining Filipino talent domestically, rather than continuing to accelerate the export of raw commodities and overseas labour.

The US-China trade truce has not resolved America's structural exposure to rare earth supply disruption; the Transition Vulnerability Window remaining open in 2026 represents a strategic gap that REEx warns is dangerously unaddressed. In parallel, UK-based Silex World is positioning itself to close the commercialisation gap that persists between laboratory-scale rare earth processing innovation and industrial production, drawing on research from the University of Leeds to develop modular, low-energy separation and recovery technologies for primary feedstocks, end-of-life permanent magnets, and manufacturing scrap; the company's founder identifies translating innovation into industrial capability as the defining challenge for the next generation of critical materials companies. In East Africa, Kenya is evaluating how to develop Mrima Hill in Kwale County, a deposit containing indicated resources of 48.7 million tonnes of rare earth ore and 5.8 million tonnes of niobium ore, with the government framing the project around domestic value retention and industrialisation rather than raw-material export, a posture consistent with President Ruto's recent confrontation with Tata Chemicals over soda ash processing; commentary on the Mrima Hill rare earth deposit also highlights that newer water-based refining chemistry can materially reduce the land, water, chemical, and waste footprint compared with earlier solvent-based processing generations. Environmental and community considerations at Mrima Hill — including water use, processing residues, land rights, livelihoods, and cultural heritage within the surrounding forest ecosystem — are identified as factors that should shape project design directly, with operational experiences at Lynas Rare Earths' Malaysian facilities and the Mt Weld project in Australia cited as reference points for scrutiny and environmental management.