US roundtable meeting with Trump and mining / metals industry executives scheduled for today at 3:00 PM EDT
MiFID II exempt information – see disclaimer below
Amaroq Ltd (AMRQ LN) – Scout diamond drilling programme to test high-grade iron at Minturn in Northwest Greenland
Ongwe Minerals* (OGW CN) – Drilling of Nguni geochemical anomaly expected to start later this month
Power Minerals (PNN AU) – High-grade rare earth results from first drill hole in Brazil
Gold ($4,287/oz) – China’s central bank builds gold stockpile in Hong Kong
- The PBoC (China’s central bank) has added gold in Hong Kong, moving some reserves back from London.
- The move supports Hong Kong’s new gold clearing system and its aim to become a big gold trading center.
- The PBoC bought around 20t more in July, helping keep gold above $4,000/oz.
Allied Gold (AAUC CN) – Zijin takes 9.2% stake after C$5.5bn merger scrapped
- Chinese gold buying reaches companies too, with Zijin Gold buying around $295m of Allied stock at C$32.55 per share.
- Their C$5.5bn merger fell apart last week on Chinese deal reviews and violence in Mali.
- The money will fund the new Kurmuk mine in Ethiopia, and CEO Peter Marrone is still open to a takeover.
US roundtable meeting with Trump and mining / metals industry executives scheduled for today at 3:00 PM EDT
- The plan is to expand domestic and allied supplies of critical minerals for energy, defense, and advanced technologies.
- The meeting is part of the US administration drive to expand critical minerals access including stockpiling, Project Vault, tariffs, permit reforms, and financing.
- We understand there will be a number of deals and MoUs announced in typical Trump style
- We hope Glencore’s (Polymet’s) Northmet nickel,.copper, pgm mine will be announced along with some other US projects.
- Projects should be advanced by the new FAST-41 federal fast track initiative.
- The US also needs to expand processing capacity.
- We prefer hydrometallurgical processing and In-Situ recovery projects are more specific in their metal extraction and much cleaner from an atmospheric perspective.
- Copper – The processing of sulphide and transitional ores can be done using Elevated Temperature Leaching in agitated leach tanks or on heaps
- REEs – Rainbow Rare Earths have a proprietary process for the extraction of specific REEs from gypsum residues
- Zinc – zinc oxides can be processed using hydrometallurgy as at Anglo’s Skorpion project
- Lithium – Direct Lithium Extraction is now working at Rio Tinto’s Rincon project in Argentina with variants of this expected elsewhere
- We suggest investors look for developing new projects in the US such as:
- Phoenix Copper* (PXC LN) – Empire mine Project, Idaho – *SP Angel act as Nomad and broker to Phoenix Copper.
- Trekor Metals – Florence Copper, Arizona
- Lion Copper & Gold – Yerington Project, Nevada
- Highland Copper – Copperwood, Michigan.
Copper ($14,148/t) – DRC bans exports of copper and cobalt concentrates
- The DRC, largest cobalt and second-largest copper supplier has banned exports of concentrates with immediate effect. (Reuters)
- The order aims to force processing inside the country, keeping more value at home.
- LME copper jumped as much as 1.8% to $14,369.50/t on the news, near January’s record.
- The ban adds to supply pressure after Chile’s storm disruptions and this week’s El Teniente setback.
Lundin Mining (LUN CN) keeps Chile guidance after storm
- In Chile, Lundin’s Caserones mine is restarting after losing power for 12 days in heavy snow.
- Output is now seen at the lower half of its 130,000-140,000t target.
- The Vicuña copper project in Argentina is heading for a build decision by end 2026.
Japan’s NTT tests remote mining at Codelco’s El Teniente
- NTT (Japan’s largest telecoms company) and Codelco are testing remote control of heavy machinery.
- The test follows this week’s pause of the mine’s expansion over new ground movement.
Iron ore – China’s state buyer tells steel mills to stop talks with Rio Tinto
- CMRG, China’s state iron ore buyer, told some steel mills to stop talking to Rio about September shipments. (Reuters)
- The group handles over half of China’s iron ore imports, and uses that buying power to get lower prices.
- Rio was thought to be safe from this, since Chinese state firm Chinalco is its biggest shareholder.
- CMRG has done the same to BHP, Fortescue and Hancock before. Singapore iron ore rose to $96.45/t.
Rare Earths – MP Materials (MP US) signs rare earth deal with a US defense company
- MP Materials will supply gadolinium (a rare earth used in defense) from 2028.
- CEO James Litinsky called it a nine-figure deal over several years.
- MP took a $400m Pentagon investment last year and already supplies General Motors, as the US builds a rare earth chain outside China (Bloomberg) .
Europe – EU exploration spending must rise from €0.2bn to €2bn a year (EIB)
- EU exploration spending needs to grow ten times to hit the 2030 target of 10% home extraction.
- The EU gets just 3% of global exploration money, and a licence takes two to seven years against one to two in Canada.
UK opens applications for £25m ($34m) critical minerals fund
- The Government is offering grants of £150,000 to £3m for extraction, processing and recycling projects close to commercial stage.
- The fund supports UK targets of 10% home production and 20% recycling by 2035.
| Dow Jones Industrials | -0.85% | at | 53,885 | |
| Nikkei 225 | -0.12% | at | 65,607 | |
| HK Hang Seng | +0.45% | at | 25,644 | |
| Shanghai Composite | +1.02% | at | 3,940 | |
| US 10 Year Yield (bp change) | -0.6 | at | 4.67 |
Currencies
US$1.1522/eur vs 1.1545/eur previous. Yen 158.41/$ vs 157.82/$. SAr 16.321/$ vs 16.338/$. $1.345/gbp vs $1.346/gbp. 0.703/aud vs 0.704/aud.
CNY 6.748/$ vs 6.750/$. Dollar Index 99.95 vs 99.76 previous.
Economics
US – Initial claims rose 1,000 to 199k at end August
- US initial jobless claims remain at low levels despite slower job hires in other sectors of the labor market.
- Continuing claims rose 24,000 to 1.8million to end July mainly from lower level work.
China – Exports rise 23.9% yoy in July vs 27.0% in June
- Imports rose 27.5% in July vs 36.0% in June
- Trade surplus reduced to $112.5bn in July vs $125.6bn in June
- High-tech exports jumped 40.7% yoy in July driven by a near doubling of semiconductor exports
- Chip exports alone rose 117% yoy in July
- Ceramic exports fell 28.3% as did toy shipments falling 9.7%
- Chinese exports to the US rose 17% yoy in July from 14% yoy in June probably due to acceleration of trade to beat higher US tariffs.
Japan – Scott Bessent, US Treasury secretary, let the media see his notepad with a to-do list included buying up to $10nn yen.
- The tactic seems to have helped the Yen rise by 4-5% this week
- The move might not have helped the carry trade but advance notice of intervention will have helped traders unwind positions ahead of the move.
Eurozone – retail sales fell -0.3% mom in June vs +0.4% in May.
- EU sales fell -0.1% in June vs 0.6% in May
- Retail sales still rose 0.7% yoy in the Eurozone and 1.2% across the EU
- The very hot weather will be impacting sales across Europe as consumers prioritise staying cool over shopping
- Businesses will also be looking to address the ongoing flood of Chinese goods
UK – Construction PMI rose to 44.7 in July vs 38.4 in June
- The sector remains in contraction with little tangible government support
- Commercial construction activity rose to 46.8
- House building remains suppressed at 41.8.
- Civil engineering at 38.3 is a sad reflection of the state of the UK but will pick-up when Andy Burnam reinstates the HS2 rail project to Manchester.
- The election of Burnam to PM may have helped to lift business optimism
Iran – Iran and Oman close to agreement to reopen Strait of Hormuz
- Tehran and Muscat have reached “fundamental agreements” on nearly all aspects of a bilateral framework governing commercial shipping and the future management of the Strait of Hormuz (Al Jazeera)
- According to IRNA, the framework would replace the 60-year-old navigation model with a temporary two-to-four-month corridor through Iranian and Omani territorial waters for inbound and outbound shipping. Existing temporary routes near Larak Island and in Omani waters would close, and Tehran said no third party would be permitted to participate.
- Inbound vessels entering the Gulf would pass through a northern lane in Iranian waters. Outbound vessels entering the Arabian Sea would use a southern lane through Omani waters, in coordination with Iran.
- No tolls or fees would be charged during the temporary period. The parties would seek to clear naval mines from the strait’s median lane within 30 days.
- Once cleared, that lane would be used for inbound and outbound traffic under a permanent arrangement to be negotiated between Oman and Iran.
- The emerging agreement would meet some Iranian demands for greater control over traffic through the strait, which Iran did not possess before the war.
- Iran’s Foreign Ministry stated: “We have no plans for the Foreign Minister or the Speaker of Parliament to travel to Pakistan or Qatar at the end of this week. Of course, Pakistan and Qatar continue their efforts to reduce tensions, and Iran is also in contact and exchanging views with them”.
- US lifted sanctions on three entities linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Reuters reported.
Israel – Israel’s Ministry of Defense, alongside the US Missile Defense Agency, IDF and Israel Aerospace Industries, successfully conducted a pre-planned test of the Arrow system
- The upgraded systems, Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 form Israel’s uppermost air-defense layer and have intercepted threats from Iran and Yemen, including ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere.
- The test evaluated new capabilities against future threats and incorporated advanced technologies, AI, combat lessons and automated production processes.
- Israel is dramatically accelerating interceptor production and upgrading its systems
Precious metals:
Gold US$4,287/oz vs US$4,254/oz previous
Gold ETFs 96.9moz vs 96.8moz previous
Platinum US$1,758/oz vs US$1,750/oz previous
Palladium US$1,384/oz vs US$1,372/oz previous
Silver US$63.7/oz vs US$61.6/oz previous
Silver ETFs 791.0moz vs 787.6moz previous
Rhodium US$8,650/oz vs US$8,525/oz previous
Base metals:
Copper US$14,148/t vs US$14,060/t previous
Aluminium US$3,285/t vs US$3,235/t previous
Nickel US$16,965/t vs US$16,605/t previous
Zinc US$3,767/t vs US$3,729/t previous
Lead US$1,888/t vs US$1,882/t previous
Tin US$56,440/t vs US$56,045/t previous
Energy:
Oil US$83.2/bbl vs US$79.8/bbl previous
- Crude oil prices moved higher as the market digested the proposed Iran-Oman agreement governing passage through the Strait of Hormuz, which imposed stricter conditions than had been anticipated.
- US Henry Hub natural gas prices edged higher after the EIA reported a 33bcf w/w storage build to 3,117bcf, with US inventories down 0.5% y/y and 7% above the five-year average, as LNG export capacity fell 16bcf w/w to 119bcf.
Natural Gas €56.5/MWh vs €53.5/MWh previous
Uranium Futures $86.4/lb vs $86.3/lb previous
Bulk:
Iron Ore 62% Fe Spot (Singapore) US$95.5/t vs US$96.3/t
Chinese steel rebar 25mm US$465.6/t vs US$466.0/t
HCC FOB Australia US$215.5/t vs US$215.0/t
Thermal coal swap Australia FOB US$129.5/t vs US$130.3/t
Other:
Cobalt LME 3m US$56,290/t vs US$56,290/t
NdPr Rare Earth Oxide (China) US$109,071/t vs US$109,490/t
Lithium Carbonate 99% (China) US$20,229/t vs US$20,224/t
China Spodumene Li2O 6%min CIF US$2,185/t vs US$2,185/t
Ferro-Manganese European Mn78% min US$1,035/t vs US$1,035/t
Tungsten APT (China) 88.5% FOB US$1,745/mtu vs US$1,745/mtu
Tungsten APT (Europe) 88.5% Rotterdam US$3,125/mtu vs US$3,125/mtu
China Tantalum Concentrate 30% CIF US$225/lb vs US$225/mtu
China Graphite Flake -194 FOB US$390/t vs US$390/t
Europe Vanadium Pentoxide 98% US$5.4/lb vs US$5.4/lb
Europe Ferro-Vanadium 80% US$25.7/kg vs US$26.4/kg
China Ilmenite Concentrate TiO2 US$208/t vs US$208/t
US Titanium Dioxide TiO2 >98% US$2,789/t vs US$2,789/t
China Rutile Concentrate 95% TiO2 US$1,163/t vs US$1,163/t
Brazil Potash CFR Granular Spot US$395.0/t vs US$395.0/t
Germanium China 99.99% US$4,095.0/kg vs US$4,095.0/kg
China Gallium 99.99% US$430.0/kg vs US$430.0/kg
Europe Molybdenum Oxide 57% US$33.0/lb vs US$33.0/lb
EV & Battery news:
Company news:
| Overnight Change | Weekly Change | Overnight Change | Weekly Change | ||
| BHP | 0.2% | 4.4% | Freeport-McMoRan | -1.7% | 7.5% |
| Rio Tinto | 0.8% | 4.2% | Vale | -1.5% | -1.8% |
| Glencore | -0.2% | 4.0% | Newmont Mining | 1.1% | 10.1% |
| Anglo American | 0.0% | 6.5% | Fortescue | -2.3% | -2.6% |
| Antofagasta | -0.5% | 8.2% | Teck Resources | 0.2% | 14.8% |
Amaroq Ltd (AMRQ LN) 103p, Mkt Cap £480m – Scout diamond drilling programme to test high-grade iron at Minturn in Northwest Greenland
- Amaroq Ltd reports the start of a scout diamond drilling programme at the Minturn iron-copper-gold prospect in Inglefield Land, Greenland.
- The program is looking to test the depth, continuity and geometry of high-grade iron mineralisation discovered in last year’s field season which found 66-69% Fe samples.
- Amaroq are also looking for copper-gold mineralisation which may be associated with a parallel electromagnetic and geochemical anomaly.
- The team see the magnetic anomaly as supporting potential for copper and gold within a potential IOCG-style system.
- The reprocessing and reinterpretation of historic geophysical datasets show a coherent ~9km magnetic anomaly within a broader 80km mineralised corridor.
- Amaroq recently upgraded their resource at their Nalunaq mine in Greenland based on 6,467m of new drilling from 41 holes, and 284 underground samples.
- Total resources rose 4.1% to 504koz at an average grade of 30.35g/t Au.
- Indicated resources, the higher-confidence category, rose 10.6% to 174koz at 33.20g/t.
- Inferred resources, which need more drilling to firm up, stand at 329koz at 29.03g/t.
- The standout MB HG2 zone holds around 174koz at 87.89g/t, the priority for further drilling.
Ongwe Minerals* (OGW CN) C$1.31, Mkt Cap C$78m – Drilling of Nguni geochemical anomaly expected to start later this month
- Yesterday, Ongwe Minerals confirmed plans for an initial 5,000m programme of reverse circulation and diamond drilling at its Nguni prospect in Namibia.
- The drilling, which is expected to start later this month, follows completion of an infill soil-sampling programme on a 50m x 50m grid which has identified a >50ppb gold in soil geochemical anomaly over a 6km long strike length with “the anomaly remaining open to the north, east and west”.
- Higher grade areas of the geochemical anomaly “are located in the northern and southern sectors of the current grid, both sectors truncated by the current extent of the sampling”.
- CEO, Dave Underwood, explained that the drilling programme will start “with a single rig and ramp up once we understand the structure and geology a little better. This will also give us time to sample the neighbouring farms and delineate the rest of the anomaly and bring it into the drill program”.
- Simultaneously, “we will keep the regional field teams active, chasing the highly productive Okondeka Fault system to the east and see if there are any more nice surprises out there”.
- Mr. Underwood said that as well as the work at Nguni “progress continues at the Belmont prospect within the Khorixas Gold Project. Recent surface geochemistry, mapping and a structural re-interpretation guided a short RC drill program. Assay results from the RC program are pending but there are visual indications of quartz veining and sulphide mineralization which is very encouraging”.
Conclusion: Identification of an open ended gold-in-soil geochemical anomaly at Nguni is leading to an initial drilling programme which is expected to start later this month.
*SP Angel analyst(s) hold shares in Ongwe Minerals
Power Minerals (PNN AU) A$0.16, Mkt Cap A$72.2m – High-grade rare earth results from first drill hole in Brazil
- Rare earth explorer Power Minerals reports the first hole of its first drilling program at Morro do Ferro, Brazil.
- Drill results:
- 116m at 4.78% TREO (total rare earth oxides) from surface, including
- 78m at 6.85% TREO from surface
- 31m at 10.0% TREO from 14m, and
- 5.1m at 14.64% TREO from 18m
- Single samples ran up to 18.12% TREO, and drilling extended the known ore zone from 71m to 116m down the hole.
- Magnet metals:
- MREO (the four rare earths used in EV and wind turbine magnets) ran up to 3.36%.
- Top values hit 2.55% neodymium oxide and 1.0% praseodymium oxide over 2m samples.
- These four metals make up around 98% of the deposit’s rare earth value outside cerium.
- Gallium:
- The hole also found gallium (a metal used in computer chips), averaging 51.7ppm from 122m to the end of the hole.
- The Company says gallium could improve project economics and fits its US-facing plans.
- Next steps:
- Around 25 holes for 4,000m are planned, with drilling running to December.
- A first Mineral Resource (formal estimate of metal in the ground) is expected before year end.
- CEO Alistair Stephens says “These outstanding results reinforce our confidence in the Project.”
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*SP Angel are the No1 integrated nomad and broker by number of mining brokerage clients on AIM according to the AIM Advisers Ranking Guide (joint brokerships excluded)
+SP Angel employees may have previously held, or currently hold, shares in the companies mentioned in this note.
| Sources of commodity prices | |
| Gold, Platinum, Palladium, Silver | BGNL (Bloomberg Generic Composite rate, London) |
| Gold ETFs, Steel | Bloomberg |
| Copper, Aluminium, Nickel, Zinc, Lead, Tin, Cobalt | LME |
| Oil Brent | ICE |
| Natural Gas, Uranium, Iron Ore | NYMEX |
| Thermal Coal | Bloomberg OTC Composite |
| Coking Coal | SSY |
| RRE | Steelhome |
| Lithium Carbonate, Ferro Vanadium, Tungsten, Spodumene, Ferro-Manganese, Graphite, Rutile | Asian Metal |
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