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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.
An open-pit copper operation illustrates the scale and infrastructure behind the assets attracting strategic capital. Mining M&A deals 2026 are increasingly being shaped by control of…
Autonomous mining technology is entering a scale test. CiDi says its MetaMine platform now covers more than 1,900 autonomous mining trucks across nearly 40 mines, while…
An engineered tailings facility and water-monitoring system at a mining operation. For mining companies, the ESG reporting question in 2026 is no longer whether sustainability information…
An autonomous ultra-class haul truck operates on a terraced open-pit mine haul road. Autonomous mining technology 2026 has reached a new scale threshold. Komatsu has commissioned…
BMI has raised its 2026 lithium price forecasts, but its latest outlook still points to a market where supply is expanding faster than demand. The research…
Critical minerals supply chains are being reorganized around security rather than cost alone. In 2026, governments are combining export controls, domestic-processing incentives, strategic stockpiles, recycling targets…
An Indonesian nickel processing complex reflects the growing importance of ore availability to the global market. Indonesia’s decision to limit 2026 nickel ore production to roughly…
Vale Base Metals has brought an autonomous fleet of Komatsu 930E haul trucks into operation at its Salobo copper complex in Pará, Brazil, marking a significant…
Exploration drilling at a remote Western Australian copper-gold project. Solstice Minerals has reported a 148-metre copper-gold intercept beyond the current resource boundary at its Nanadie project…
Industrial processing capacity is becoming as important as ounces in the ground when gold assets change hands. Gold mining news in 2026 is increasingly defined by…
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