Mali renews Barrick’s Loulo licence for 10 more years
South America seen as West’s safest minerals bet: Report
Niger ready to return Orano-produced uranium after mine takeover
Critical Metals extends mineralization, confirms high-grade HREEs at Tanbreez project
Nickel price jumps as Indonesia’s top mine cuts output
Zijin to launch Congo’s first lithium output in June from disputed Manono deposit
I-80 Gold Secures up to $500M
Mali renews Barrick’s Loulo licence for 10 more years
The Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex.
Mali’s government approved a draft decree renewing Barrick Mining’s Loulo gold mining permit for an additional 10 years, the West African country’s military leader said in a statement on Friday.
Mali, one of Africa’s leading gold producers, resolved a dispute in November with Barrick over profit-sharing and control of the Loulo-Gounkoto gold mining complex after two years of negotiations, sparked by a 2023 mining code that raised taxes and increased the state’s stake in projects.
Barrick agreed to withdraw its arbitration case at the World Bank’s dispute tribunal, while Mali said it would drop all charges against the Canadian miner and its affiliates, release the company’s employees and return operational control of the complex to the Canadian miner.
As part of the permit renewal process, Barrick carried out a new feasibility study that identified economically viable reserves supporting six years of open-pit mining and 16 years of underground mining, with gross annual production estimated at 420,920 ounces, the statement said.
The Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex in western Mali is the country’s largest producer and Barrick’s most profitable mine, generating almost $900 million in revenue in 2024.
South America seen as West’s safest minerals bet: Report
South America is emerging as the most stable and politically viable option for Western countries trying to rebalance critical mineral supply chains away from China, according to new research from Verisk Maplecroft.
The study comes as the United States and its allies intensify efforts to secure supplies of lithium, copper, cobalt, nickel, graphite and rare earth elements, driven by concerns over technology dependence, supply-chain resilience and geopolitics.
Recent moves include US plans to expand strategic stockpiles and a 55-country push to establish a preferential critical minerals trade bloc.
Verisk Maplecroft assessed 10 emerging markets with major reserves using its Resource Nationalism Index and Political Risk Data, finding that Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru stand out for combining large resource endowments with comparatively moderate levels of state intervention and political risk. Other countries in the analysis included the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, the Philippines and Tanzania.
Niger ready to return Orano-produced uranium after mine takeover
Somair operations in Niger.
Niger is ready to return the uranium produced by Orano SA at the Somair mine to the French nuclear company, two months after unidentified attackers who staged an assault on the capital came dangerously close to the stockpile.
Niger’s military authorities took over the mine in 2024, accusing Orano of planning to halt operations and sell its stake without following proper procedures. The government later removed uranium from the site in violation of an arbitration tribunal ruling, raising concerns about radioactive material being transported through jihadist-affected regions.
About 95,000 tons of concentrated uranium powder — also known as yellowcake — is ready to be sent back to Orano, military ruler Abdourahamane Tiani said in an interview broadcast on state television RTN on Friday.
That’s about 63.4% of the 150,000 tons that was produced at Somair and mined during Orano’s tenure. Before the forced takeover, Orano held a 63.4% controlling stake of Somair with the remaining 36.6% owned by Niger’s state-owned Sopamin.
“Everything that was produced afterward is Nigerien, and it will remain Nigerien,” Tiani said.
Orano has operated in Niger for decades and is among the country’s largest foreign mining partners. In June 2025, Niger unilaterally nationalized the mine, leaving Orano without operational control.
The dispute highlights Niger’s post-coup drive to tighten control over strategic resources and reflects a broader Sahel trend, where military governments have curtailed Western influence while embracing resource nationalism.
Critical Metals extends mineralization, confirms high-grade HREEs at Tanbreez project
Critical Metals (Nasdaq: CRML) says last year’s drilling at its Tanbreez project in Greenland indicated the potential to further grow the resource of what is ranked as one of the world’s largest rare earth deposits.
On Monday, the US-listed miner published the final batch of assay results from its 2025 drill program, focusing mainly on the Area B and Fjord areas at the Tanbreez project, where it has to date delineated at least 45 million tonnes in resources from two deposits (Hill and Fjord).
At Area B, located next to the eastern part of the Hill deposit, drilling returned broad intervals of rare earth mineralization, with total rare earth oxide grades ranging from 0.35% to 0.77%. For the entire program, TREO grades from Area B ranged between approximately 0.35%–0.61%. The results to date, says Critical Metals, indicate strong geological and grade continuity across a 1,750-metre corridor at Area B.
Importantly, the company highlighted that the portion of so-called “heavy” rare earths (HREEs) was as high as 27%, in line with its estimate for the broader project. HREEs are used in high-performance applications such as clean energy and defense, and are less common than “light” rare earths.
‘Meaningful extensions’
At the Fjord deposit, results for the final two drill holes demonstrated consistent rare earth grades (over 0.4% TREO) and highlighted the presence of strategic metals, including gallium, hafnium, cerium and yttrium.
Based on these results, additional drilling across Area B and the Upper Fjord area is considered warranted to further define mineralized scale, continuity and potential resource growth, the company said in a statement.
Nickel price jumps as Indonesia’s top mine cuts output
Nickel prices rose for a fourth straight day Wednesday after Indonesia ordered the world’s largest nickel mine to sharply cut output in a move aimed at tightening global supply and lifting prices.
LME nickel climbed 2% to $17,835 a tonne as of 6:45 a.m. London time, after earlier touching $17,910, extending a rally of more than 20% since mid-December amid speculative buying and heightened geopolitical tensions.
Indonesia plans to issue production quotas of 260 million to 270 million tonnes of nickel ore this year, according to Bloomberg, slightly above an earlier estimate of 250 million to 260 million tonnes but far below the 379 million tonnes targeted for 2025. Authorities manage output through annual mining permits, known as RKABs, and can revise volumes mid-year.
PT Weda Bay Nickel will receive a 12 million tonne ore quota this year, down from 42 million tonnes in 2025. The mine, located on Halmahera in North Maluku, is owned by Tsingshan Holding Group Co, France’s Eramet SA and PT Aneka Tambang. Eramet confirmed the reduced quota and said it plans to seek a revision, while the county’s Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said quotas remain under evaluation.
Price control
Indonesia is trying to rein in a persistent global surplus after its production surged to about 65% of world supply, triggering a two-year price slump that forced higher-cost rivals in Australia and New Caledonia to shut down.
The quota cut will weigh heavily on Weda Bay, which had planned to expand output to more than 60 million tonnes of ore to support a nearby industrial park. Instead, it has imported large volumes of ore from the Philippines to offset local shortages.
Zijin to launch Congo’s first lithium output in June from disputed Manono deposit
China’s Zijin Mining will initiate Congo’s first lithium output in June from the disputed Manono deposit and move immediately to exports, the company and state miner Cominiere said, marking a major step in Beijing’s push to secure more critical minerals in Africa.
Zijin had previously indicated a first‑quarter 2026 start but told Reuters on Tuesday that June now reflects updated planning.
The Manono resource, one of the world’s largest undeveloped hard‑rock lithium deposits, is at the centre of arbitration after the Democratic Republic of Congo cancelled Australian miner AVZ’s permit.
It reassigned part of the site to Manono Lithium, Zijin’s joint venture with Cominiere. Zijin holds 61%, with Cominiere and the Congolese state owning the remainder.
“Manono Lithium will produce its first tons in June, and exports will begin immediately after,” Cominiere managing director Alpha Monga Mwidia said on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town.
AVZ declined to comment. A source close to the company said they had been informed blasting took place at the site this week near an area where AVZ still keeps staff, calling it a safety and procedural concern.
i-80 Gold Corp. secured a financing package of up to $500 million, comprised of a royalty sale for $250 million from Franco-Nevada Corp. and a gold pre-payment facility for up to $250 million from the National Bank of Canada and the Macquarie Bank Ltd. Proceeds of the financing package, combined with the previously disclosed equity offerings completed by the company in Q2 2025, represent over $800 million in funding to support i-80 Gold’s objective of creating a mid-tier gold producer in Nevada.
The company says that the financing package marks a significant milestone in achieving its recapitalization plans. The final steps to complete this plan, targeting an overall amount of $900 million to $1 billion, include the company’s plan to retire and replace its existing convertible debentures with new convertible debentures on terms more favorable to the company and the potential sale of a non-core asset.
In 2024, i-80 announced a three-phase development plan to increase production to more than 600,000 ounces per year (oz/y) of gold to provide a clear and achievable path to positioning i-80 Gold as a mid-tier gold producer, alongside its plan to recapitalize the company. The financing package is expected to fully fund Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the development plan, which is expected to increase production to approximately 300,000 – 400,000 oz/y of gold from less than 50,000 oz/y currently, driven by the company’s three underground mines and one oxide open pit operation, all located in Nevada.
Proceeds are also expected to advance the company’s five gold projects through various stages of development, refurbish the Lone Tree plant, and fund resource expansion and infill drilling. i-80 says that it continues to advance the potential sale of a non-core asset and plans to replace the existing convertible debentures to complete the recapitalization plan.
“The Financing Package also provides flexibility to accelerate the feasibility study and permitting work for the Mineral Point open pit project – our flagship asset and the final project planned in Phase 3,” said Richard Young, president and CEO, i-80. “With several feasibility studies in progress, we continue to identify opportunities to optimize the development schedule.”
With Granite Creek underground in operation, i-80 says it is positioned to advance Archimedes and Cove underground projects, plus Granite Creek open pit through to operation, and complete the refurbishment of the central Lone Tree Plant, continuing to invest in exploration.
