October 22nd, 2025 - The Mine Wire

METALS MARKET

You couldn’t turn on a business news channel yesterday without an alert flagging a one-day free fall of precious metals. On Tuesday, gold was down over 5%, silver 7% and platinum 5%. Most analysts chalked up the decline to an overheated market and a more positive outlook on both the U.S. economy and geopolitical relations (China).

^{**For our chart above we are taking prices from Tuesday 4pm EST to Tuesday 4pm EST, so not the typical week of Monday through Friday.}

KEEPING AN EYE ON GOVERNMENT DECISIONS

Here are some of the notable government policy moves this week:

• 🇦🇺 🇺🇸 Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was in Washington D.C. rubbing shoulders with the who’s who. The Prime Minister left with a deal titled, “United States-Australia Framework For Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths.” As part of the agreement, both countries will invest at least $1 billion each over the next six months in mining and processing projects. Additional measures include speeding up permitting timelines and setting a price floor to protect against unfair trade practices - ahem, China. Rare earth miners continued their meteoric rise on the news. (White House) 

• 🇯🇵 🇰🇷 🇪🇸 Japan, South Korea and Spain issued a joint statement signaling their concern about the falling copper treatment and refining charges. Copper smelters globally are struggling against Chinese competitors that are waving fees in some cases. Our own view - wake up Western democracies before China creates another rare earth processing sector that they can turn on and off. (Reuters)

• 🇺🇸 The US Defense Logistics Agency has canceled its contract opportunity to purchase up to 7,500 tonnes of alloy-grade cobalt due to unresolved issues with the statement of work. One trader told Fastmarkets, “Trying to buy 7,500 tonnes of alloy-grade cobalt at a fixed price in the middle of a rally seems to have proved to be difficult.” (Fastmarkets)

• 🇨🇦 Last week, we shared our own thoughts on some of the commentary around U.S. government investment in several Canadian mining companies. Several days later Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson said this when asked about the investments: “The fact that an ally of ours chooses to make an equity investment into a Canadian company whose sole asset is in the United States, I don’t think that bothers us at this time.” Man it is nice to have an adult in the room and we must say, this Minister continues to impress us. (Globe & Mail)

• 🇦🇺 Australia’s Environment Minister Murray Watt will retain decision-making powers to approve major projects covering mines and renewable energy under plans to reform Australia’s broken federal environment laws. Previously, the Minister had suggested an arms-length Environmental Protection Agency could take on the approval role, but significant push-back from industry, state governments and opposition parties has forced the Minister to keep the responsibility or so it would seem. In our view, if you are going to be making grand deals with countries like the United States on rare earths, you need to be accountable for these types of permitting decisions. (AFR)

• 🇳🇿 Over in New Zealand, Defense Minister Judith Collins said small countries in the South Pacific are face growing pressure from China in particular for their rare minerals and fisheries wealth and more action is needed from countries like the United States to help battle China’s influence. (Politico)

• 🇯🇵 🇧🇴 🇲🇳 Japan has its first female Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi who is expected to move the government to the right. In Bolivia, centrist Rodrigo Paz won the country’s presidential runoff, defeating conservative rival Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga. Meanwhile, in Mongolia Prime Minister Zandanshatar Gombojav was ousted after just 4 months in office as an internal party feud led to both the Prime Minister and his rival, the speaker of the house, both losing their positions.

MINING MATTERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

• 🇬🇧 Last week Fortescue sent an email to staff at Fortescue Zero in the United Kingdom, saying it was "moving away from in-house manufacturing". Back in 2022, Fortescue purchased Williams Advanced Engineering for $222m (£166m) - rebranding it as Fortescue Zero. Despite investing nearly $1bn (£750m) in Zero so far, Fortescue’s Founder Andrew Forrest announced that battery plants and power systems needed for trucks will be sourced and made in China. The move is a blow to the UK’s agenda to bring back advanced manufacturing to the country.

• 🇨🇦 Canada is also grappling with paused and cancelled projects. This week Quebec’s Economy Minister Christine Fréchette confirmed that the joint venture between GM & POSCO has paused phase 2 of its planned plant construction in Bécancour, Quebec, as both the electric vehicle market and geopolitical situation take its toll. The Phase 2 expansion would have allowed the plant to manufacture the main ingredient for cathode active materials — a mixture of nickel sulfate and other elements. In response, Vale Base Metals scrapped its own plans for a nickel sulfate plant that would have supplied the paused operations. (CBC)

• 🇨🇦 In other Canadian news, IAMGOLD Corp. has agreed to acquire two companies with a presence in Quebec: Northern Superior Resources Inc. (TSXV: SUP) and Mines D'Or Orbec Inc. (TSXV: BLUE). The Northern Superior Resources deal is significantly larger and the newly combined assets will rank as one of the largest pre-production gold camps in Canada with Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources of 3.75m ounces of gold and Inferred Mineral Resources of 8.65m.

• 🇺🇸 Headwater Gold Inc. (CSE: HWG) announced that its exploration permit on the Spring Peak project, referred to as the Burnt Rock Plan of Operations and located in western Nevada, has been selected for the United States Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council’s FAST-41 program Transparency List. The miner’s stock didn’t see much movement on the news, but with a $44.5m market cap, the miner is already up over 172% in 2025. Newmont Corp. may earn a 65% interest in the project by sole funding US$40m over a 36-month period. We may pick up a few shares instead of kicking ourselves down the road. (Financial Post)

• 🇰🇷 Korea Zinc announced last week that it will invest approximately 55.7b Korean won to build a gallium recovery process at its Ulsan Onsan Smelter. After a trial run in the first half of 2028, full-scale operations are expected to produce around 15 tons of gallium annually. A source at Korea Zinc said, “Due to China’s export controls, global supply chain instability, and fierce competition among nations to secure strategic minerals for enhancing advanced industry competitiveness, the importance of strategic minerals has grown significantly in terms of national economy and security.” Smart move we think! (The CHOSUN Daily)

• 🇿🇼 🇨🇳 China's Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt will start producing lithium sulphate during the first quarter of 2026 from its new $400m plant in Zimbabwe. The plant has the ability to produce 50,000 metric tons of lithium sulphate annually.

MINING BITS

• 🌏 National Geographic released its “The best places in the world to travel to in 2026.” They include a host of places that won’t surprise anyone like Banff, Maui, Rio de Janeiro and Vancouver, but Pittsburgh - we were surprised by that one but love it. Countries such as Australia, Fiji, Morocco, Portugal and Spain get mentions, but we were most intrigued by Dominica and their sperm whale sanctuary. Definitely a very cool read for those who love to travel. (NatGeo)

• ⛏️ E&Y published its top 10 risks and opportunities for mining & metals 2026 with the number 1 spot going to operational complexity. E&Y says, “Predictability underpins investor confidence, capital access and strategic agility. But achieving reliable output is more difficult because of operational complexity – deeper, more complex orebodies, greater variability and declining grades. The challenge is heightened by aging assets and capability gaps. Deeper mines require specialist knowledge in geotechnics, logistics and hydrology. Priorities may include tighter planning discipline and capital effectiveness and adopting predictive tools and maintenance to boost uptime and efficiency.” Workforce & talent attraction, digital innovation and capital costs are all in focus for miners while sustainability initiatives continue to slow across the sector. (E&Y)

• 🇨🇦 Based in Canada and know someone interested in the mining sector? Let them know about the Mining Needs You Virtual Career Fair on November 24th and 25th from 10am to 7pm EST. Employers, recruiters, academic institutions, and industry leaders will connect with students and job seekers, offering exciting opportunities for work placements and careers in Canada’s mining sector! (Mining Needs You)

• 🇸🇦 Future Minerals Forum (FMF) returns to Riyadh on 13–15 January 2026 as the world’s largest convening dedicated to the future of minerals and metals. FMF brings together government ministers, CEOs, investors, end-users, and innovators from 120+ countries to tackle supply, sustainability, technology, and financing for the energy transition. The three-day program features leadership keynotes, roundtables, market spotlights, an international exhibition, and curated networking and deal-making. Details and registration at futuremineralsforum.com.

Not Signed Up to The Mine Wire Yet? 

We do the hard work and curate news from around the globe related to mining and bring it to you once a week in a free and easy to read format. Whether you’re a seasoned industry professional or a curious enthusiast, our newsletter delivers the latest updates, cutting-edge trends, and expert analysis straight to your inbox in an exciting format once a week. Subscribe below!