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Charles Pitts is the publisher of Skillings Mining Review, the trade journal that has covered mining since 1912. He writes on the macro forces behind metal prices: commodity cycles, sovereign capital and the shifting sources of demand. His current work argues that hyperscale AI, and the gigawatt-scale power its data centres need, is becoming a buyer of lithium and copper in its own right, competing with the automotive supply chain for tier-one reserves.
The Gaspé Copper project includes historic mine workings and areas targeted for resource expansion. Copper drilling by Osisko Metals (TSX: OM; OTCQX: OMZNF) has extended the…
Editorial view of a Turkish copper-gold mine and processing corridor. ACG Metals is paying up to US$7.85 million for a Turkish mining licence containing the Keşkek…
By Charles Pitts · Deep-dive analysis For mining companies, tailings management is moving from a sustainability narrative to an evidence system that must withstand scrutiny from…
Vulcan Energy’s Lionheart project is designed to combine geothermal energy production with lithium extraction in Germany. Vulcan Energy’s second lithium production licence for its Lionheart project…
Autonomous ultra-class haul trucks travel through an open-pit mine at dusk. Komatsu’s commissioning of its 1,000th ultra-class autonomous haul truck marks a change in the mining…
Rare earth separation tanks and piping at an industrial processing facility. China’s critical minerals policy is approaching a decisive test. On Nov. 10, 2026, the suspension…
Gold bars in a refinery illustrate the market’s focus on inflation, rates and physical demand. Gold and silver have been pulled sharply lower by a renewed…
Indonesian nickel laterite mine and ferronickel processing complex. Indonesia’s decision to tighten nickel mining approvals has changed the market’s central question. The issue is no longer…
Copper mine and processing infrastructure in a large-scale U.S. operation. The White House has not decided whether to impose tariffs on refined copper, according to people…
The lithium market is entering 2026 with a deceptively calm price signal. Chinese battery-grade lithium carbonate has been consolidating around 140,000–145,750 yuan per tonne, equivalent to…
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