January 20, 2026 Brazilian Nickel, Westwin ink offtake deal on Piauí project for US market Brazilian Nickel would sell up to 10,000 tpa of nickel and 240 to 400 tpa of cobalt.
January 20, 2026 USA Rare Earth to build plant in France with gov’t backing USAR's proposed facility has a capacity of 3,750 metric tons per annum and will be co-located at the Caremag oxide facility.
January 20, 2026 Portugal’s Lifthium wins $210 million grant for lithium refinery Bondalti, Portugal's largest chemicals producer, already operates sites there and Lifthium aims to start operations by 2030.
January 19, 2026 Construction on track for Q1 completion at Sibanye’s Keliber lithium project in Finland Keliber is the EU's most advanced integrated lithium project.
January 19, 2026 Petra’s 42-carat blue diamond sparks hope for natural gems The ultra-rare stone could fetch up to $40 million, signalling a bright spot for a diamond sector under pressure.
January 16, 2026 Sandvik partners with Vale Base Metals for autonomous surface drill fleet expansions Sandvik will supply 16 surface drills with AutoMine readiness for Vale Base Metals’ copper operations in Brazil.
January 15, 2026 Maaden selects Metso to deliver a gold processing plant to Ar Rjum mine The order includes process electrification, field instrumentation and automation.
January 15, 2026 Bill Gates’ Breakthrough, BMW and Canada back lithium refiner Mangrove Water Technologies secured a total investment of $85 million.
January 15, 2026 Orla to start South Railroad gold project build in Nevada this year Capital costs rose to $395 million from $190 million in a 2022 study due to inflation.
January 15, 2026 EU said to allow telecoms copper switch-off delay to 2035 The move would give national governments discretion to set their own copper phase-out timelines based on local market conditions, network readiness and consumer impact.
Striking workers disrupt access to Chile’s Escondida, Zaldivar copper mines The workers, who have been on strike since the beginning of the month, have launched intermittent blocks in the La Negra industrial sector. January 23, 2026 | 01:33 pm
