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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.
Gold and silver bullion bars undergo inspection in an industrial refinery setting. Gold has rebounded to about $4,380 an ounce, recovering roughly 10% from early-August lows…
The mining market is entering the week of August 16 with several catalysts converging across uranium, copper, gold and lithium. Record or near-record metal prices are…
Lithium brine evaporation ponds and processing infrastructure in Chile’s Salar de Atacama. Battery-grade lithium carbonate has moved back into the low-$20,000s per tonne in key Asian…
Copper processing infrastructure at a large-scale mine in the Andes. Copper enters 2026 with an unusually wide gap between institutional forecasts. A Reuters analyst poll expects…
Remote alpine terrain in Yukon’s Tombstone Gold Belt, where Sitka Gold is consolidating its RC Gold Project. Sitka Gold Corp. is moving to complete its $6…
A lepidolite lithium operation in Jiangxi province, China. CATL’s prolonged shutdown of the Jianxiawo lithium mine in Jiangxi is tightening a market that had been expected…
Parliament House complex in New Delhi, India. Byline: Sonny Rollins India’s Parliament has passed legislation giving the central government wider authority over mineral-bearing lands and placing…
The Monte Muambe project is a multi-commodity critical minerals development in northwestern Mozambique. NeoTerra Group has reported 85% gallium extraction from initial acid-route hydrometallurgy testing at…
Brazil’s Lithium Valley is attracting consolidation as producers seek to combine neighbouring hard-rock assets and infrastructure. Lithium Ionic Corp. has agreed to sell its Salinas group…
Queensland’s copper-gold region is becoming the focus of Evolution Mining’s latest expansion push. Evolution Mining’s proposed A$213 million acquisition of Carnaby Resources is moving toward a…
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