Processing and smelting news covers the critical steps of mineral extraction—from ore treatment to final metal refinement. Explore developments in hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy, leaching, and advanced separation technologies. This category also tracks plant upgrades, emissions control, smelter operations, and recovery efficiencies across global facilities. Essential for metallurgists, plant engineers, and executives focused on cost-effective, sustainable refining. Related coverage includes Mining Technology, Metals Prices, and Mining Operations.
Copper heap-leach pads, solution ponds and processing infrastructure in the Arizona desert. By Charles Pitts Freeport-McMoRan is weighing a roughly $4.5 billion expansion of its Bagdad…
Critical Metals says laboratory testing has addressed a key eudialyte processing challenge at Tanbreez, supporting plans for a $1.85 billion rare-earth refinery in Romania. The next…
China's dominance of rare-earth mining is only part of the story. The deeper strategic advantage lies in processing, refining and permanent magnet manufacturing, where supply remains…
Modern critical minerals refining and separation facility. By Penny Langford The world is adding mines, but the refining system that turns ore into usable industrial material…
By Penny Langford Copper’s 2026 outlook is being reshaped by a market signal that is easy to miss in the headline price: spot treatment charges have…
Critical minerals refining remains heavily concentrated. IEA data shows the top three refining countries accounted for an average 86% of output across six key minerals in…
By Penny Langford Copper’s 2026 outlook is being reshaped by a breakdown in the traditional pricing relationship between miners and smelters. Spot treatment charges have fallen…
Silver refinery operations are becoming a more important variable as mine supply stagnates and the market faces another structural deficit. By Penny Langford Silver is entering…
Humboldt Mill is expected to process material from Talon’s Tamarack project in Minnesota. By Salini Krishnan Talon Metals has abandoned plans to build a nickel processing…
The United States is backing Kenya’s ambition to build a domestic critical-minerals processing industry, turning a preliminary minerals framework into a test of whether African producers…
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