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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.
Brazilian nickel mine and processing infrastructure surrounded by lateritic terrain and forest. MMG’s proposed $500 million purchase of Anglo American’s Brazilian nickel assets is facing another…
The remote Great Sandy Desert landscape surrounding the proposed Winu copper-gold project. Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) has secured Aboriginal consent for its Winu copper-gold…
An Australian coal operation viewed from above. Mining news around BHP has taken a legal and workforce turn after the Mining and Energy Union began funding…
The rare earth magnet industry is crossing a 300,000-tonne benchmark, but the headline needs careful interpretation. The figure is best understood as a milestone in the…
Australian hard-rock lithium mining and processing infrastructure. The lithium market is moving toward a more fragile balance as mine closures, slower project ramps and export restrictions…
Copper’s 2026 outlook is being reshaped by a breakdown in the traditional pricing relationship between miners and smelters. Spot treatment charges have fallen below $20 per…
The 2026 methane-compliance landscape is expanding beyond a small group of energy-sector rules. More than 40 jurisdictions are now using, or moving toward, climate-disclosure frameworks based…
Gold mining costs have moved decisively above the $1,500-an-ounce threshold, marking a structural shift in the economics of producing the metal even as record prices continue…
Remote operators monitor mine maps, equipment status and production data. The global autonomous haulage fleet has moved beyond the pilot stage, passing the 2,000-truck threshold and…
The nickel market is splitting into two distinct stories in 2026. Class 2 material, including nickel pig iron (NPI) used in stainless steel, remains broadly supplied.…
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