After returning from the Chinese New Year holiday, Q4 reports from listed miners outside China have been released one after another recently. 2025 was a period of concentrated release of new capacity at mines outside China. What was the specific situation? What are the expectations for 2026? Let us analyze it by enterprise.

[Zinc concentrate production situation] According to SMM, as the Chinese New Year holiday approaches, a zinc mine in South China plans to suspend production for more than 10 days in February, which is expected to lead to a reduction of approximately 4,000 mt in metal content of zinc concentrates.

[Hudbay Temporarily Shuts Down Snow Lake Operations Due to Wildfire Evacuation in Manitoba, Guidance Maintained] On June 4, Hudbay Minerals Inc. announced a temporary suspension of operations at its Snow Lake mining complex in northern Manitoba, following an evacuation alert issued on June 3 due to advancing wildfires in the region. The company has also paused exploration activities in both the Snow Lake and Flin Flon areas until the wildfire situation stabilizes. Hudbay initiated emergency protocols to ensure an orderly and safe evacuation of site personnel, retaining only essential staff authorized to support emergency efforts. The company emphasized that infrastructure in Snow Lake and Flin Flon remains secure, with a low risk of fire-related damage. Despite the temporary production halt, Hudbay reaffirmed its 2025 annual production guidance, citing strong year-to-date performance at Snow Lake. The company has guided for zinc concentrate output of 21,000 to 27,000 tonnes of contained zinc from the Manitoba operations in 2025. Hudbay continues to work closely with provincial and municipal authorities to support employees and local communities. Measures include CAD $1 million in direct financial support for evacuated staff, the launch of a company-wide Community Relief Donations Fund with matched employee contributions, and logistical support for emergency response teams. The company aims to resume full operations as soon as it is safe to do so.

In recent years, zinc prices have fluctuated largely around the supply-demand imbalance between mining and smelting. With a significant increase in zinc concentrate supply expected for this year, prices may face downward pressure as we expected at the beginning of this year. This is the second report of two, which reviews Q1 production data from major overseas zinc mines from the Asia, Oceania and the Americas, and provides updated forecasts for full-year output.

[SMM Analysis: Overseas Zinc Mines Continue to Increase Production, Zinc Concentrates Production Up YoY in Q1 2025] Recently, the Q1 reports of overseas listed zinc mining companies have been released one after another. Unexpected factors such as heavy rain, floods, and wildfires disrupted production again in Q1, causing a decline in the output of some mines. However, the production of some other mines continued to recover or increase in Q1. With both increases and decreases, how did overseas zinc mines perform in Q1? Let's take a look at the specific performance of each miner...

[South32's Hermosa Zinc-Manganese Project Advances U.S. Federal Permitting Process] On May 9, Australian mining company South32 announced a key milestone for its Hermosa project in Arizona, as the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) released the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The Hermosa project includes the Taylor sulphide deposit (zinc-lead-silver) and the Clark oxide deposit (zinc-manganese-silver). The Taylor deposit has already secured a US$2.16 billion investment, marking the largest single mining investment in Arizona’s history. Hermosa is currently the only advanced U.S. mining project capable of producing two federally designated critical minerals: zinc and manganese. South32 confirmed that construction is 40% complete, with all necessary state-level environmental permits issued by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). The Taylor deposit is expected to enter production in fiscal 2027, with projected annual zinc concentrate output of approximately 114,000 tonnes of zinc in concentrate and an estimated mine life of 28 years. The company says Hermosa will become a globally competitive, low-cost, and low-carbon zinc supply base once fully permitted and operational.