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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.
Mining M&A has entered a phase in which headline deal value is rising faster than transaction confidence. Copper, gold and critical minerals remain strategic targets, but…
For mining companies developing copper, lithium, nickel and other critical-mineral projects, ESG compliance is moving from a reporting exercise into the project critical path. The immediate…
Autonomous haulage is moving from isolated trials toward repeatable fleet-scale deployment. Komatsu’s commissioning of its 1,000th ultra-class autonomous haul truck marks a significant shift in mining…
An Indonesian nickel processing complex in Sulawesi. Indonesia’s decision to tighten nickel ore approvals has shifted the market’s central question from how quickly processing capacity can…
Gold mining is entering a phase in which reserve replacement, cost control and project execution matter as much as headline production growth. Gold miners are adding…
Processing capacity, rather than mine supply alone, is becoming the central constraint in critical-mineral markets. The critical minerals supply chain is increasingly constrained downstream. New mines…
Copper smelter casting line in a modern industrial processing facility. Copper’s 2026 outlook is being shaped by an unusual combination of tight concentrate supply, historically low…
The Mt Lyell mining district on Tasmania’s rugged West Coast. Sibanye-Stillwater has approved the restart of the Mt Lyell copper-gold mine near Queenstown, Tasmania, clearing the…
Jianxiawo’s suspension has turned permitting risk into a major variable for China’s lithium supply outlook. Lithium price forecast 2026: CATL’s Jianxiawo mine in Jiangxi has returned…
An underground access tunnel represents the engineering focus of Ivanhoe Electric’s redesigned Santa Cruz copper project in Arizona. SEO metadata Primary keyword: Ivanhoe Electric Santa Cruz…
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