Grupo José de Mello has scrapped plans to invest €492 million ($566 million) in building a lithium hydroxide refinery in Estarreja, Portugal, dealing a fresh setback to the country's ambition of building a fully integrated domestic lithium mining and processing industry. The project, led by Lifthium Energy a subsidiary jointly held by the José de Mello Group and its chemical arm Bondalti had been designated a "Strategic Project" under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act only months before its cancellation, and had already secured €180 million in public support that was never drawn down. Group CEO Salvador de Mello confirmed the decision in an interview with Portuguese weekly Expresso, stating that despite "all the effort made to secure long-term contracts to allow investment in a factory, this was not possible," and that the company "will not proceed at this stage with an industrial investment in lithium." De Mello cited weak conditions across the European automotive and battery-lithium supply chain, noting the market "is not responding positively" to reindustrialization investments of this scale. Smelting background: Lifthium Energy was established in 2023 within Bondalti before ownership was restructured to 75% direct José de Mello Group control, with Bondalti retaining 15%. The Estarreja site was chosen because it already hosts existing Bondalti chemical processing infrastructure, theoretically reducing greenfield buildout risk. As designed, the refinery would have had capacity to produce 28,000 t/y of battery grade lithium hydroxide sufficient to supply roughly half a million EV battery packs annually and would have created 150 direct jobs. Critically, the plant was engineered around an electrolysis-based "green lithium" refining process using water and clean energy rather than conventional acid-roasting, and was explicitly designed to be feedstock-agnostic not dependent on ore from domestic Portuguese mines, meaning it could have processed imported spodumene concentrate from any origin. Production was originally targeted to start in 2030, later pulled forward toward 2027 in some interim guidance, before the project stalled entirely. Bondalti had already committed around €35 million to development work and had begun environmental licensing procedures for the plant as recently as June 2026. A parallel Lifthium refinery had also been under consideration in Torrelavega, Spain, which secured over €21 million in Spanish government support in September 2024; the Estarreja cancellation casts uncertainty over that project's fate as well. The Estarreja decision follows the November 2024 abandonment of Galp's Aurora lithium conversion project in Setúbal, after battery partner Northvolt's collapse left the project without an anchor customer. With both of Portugal's flagship downstream conversion projects now shelved, the country's refining ambitions have effectively stalled twice in under two years both times citing the identical root cause: an inability to lock in bankable, long-term offtake contracts with European automakers or battery cell producers, even with substantial public co-financing on offer. Mining background: Portugal's only advancing hard-rock lithium asset sits upstream of this collapsed conversion chain the Barroso Lithium Project, developed by London-listed Savannah Resources near the town of Boticas in northern Portugal. Savannah first took a 75% stake in the project in May 2017, when no resource estimate existed, and moved to 100% ownership by 2019. The company holds C-100 Mining Lease 5.42km², valid to 2036 plus the adjacent Aldeia Mining Lease of 2.74km², valid to 2049, and has since completed more than 50,000 metres of resource drilling. Barroso is now classified as Europe's largest known spodumene deposit, with a JORC-compliant resource of 39 Mt containing 411,900 tonnes of Li2O at an average grade of 1.05% Li2O across five orebodies, plus a notably low iron content (0.8% Fe2O3) that favours concentrate quality. Potential extension zones of a further 35-62 Mt are still being evaluated and could materially expand mine life if confirmed. The processing plant is designed to produce roughly 191,000-200,000 t/y of spodumene concentrate at 5.5% Li2O modestly below the 6% Li2O SC6 industry reference grade over a project life generating 2.6 Mt of concentrate in total, alongside by product sales of low-grade pegmatite material and ceramic quartz tailings for the local ceramics sector Portugal has a long standing history of lithium mining for the ceramics and glass industries, though never previously at battery-grade scale. Barroso has been designated a CRMA "Strategic Project" and received a non-reimbursable €110 million grant from the Portuguese state toward construction capex, with Savannah currently targeting production from 2028. Notably, most of the project's future concentrate output remains commercially unallocated, leaving room for a future offtake partner or open market sales. Development has not proceeded without friction. A court injunction triggered a three-week suspension of construction-related work in June 2026 before the Portuguese government stepped in, declaring the project of national and European significance and lifting the halt. Local opposition has centred on the Barroso region's UN FAO "Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System" designation the agricultural equivalent of UNESCO World Heritage status, recognizing the area's traditional polyculture farming and land management systems with community concerns focused on water use, biodiversity, and land access. Savannah has since signed benefit-sharing agreements with two of the three local "baldios" communally managed lands covering the mining concessions, and hundreds of protesters gathered at a camp in Covas do Barroso in early August 2026 to continue opposing the mine, with organisers explicitly linking their campaign to the Estarreja refinery's collapse as evidence the broader domestic lithium value-chain promise is unravelling. SMM View : The collapse of both Portuguese refinery projects leaves Barroso without a natural domestic home for its future spodumene concentrate, exposing the project to a structural offtake gap at the very market it was designed to serve. In the absence of a European buyer, output is more likely to flow into the broader seaborne market, with Asian converters standing out as the most probable destination a pattern consistent with the raw-concentrate export dynamic typically seen in early-stage African supply before local beneficiation capacity comes online. That two separate Portuguese conversion projects have now failed for the same stated reason an inability to secure bankable long-term offtake commitments points to persistently thin confirmed demand from Europe's battery and automotive supply chain, even where state co-financing is on the table. Barroso's progress toward its 2028 construction target, further resource-extension drilling results, and any offtake developments will be key signals for how EU-origin spodumene ultimately positions itself against African and Australian supply in the global concentrate market.

According to foreign media reports, Lloyds Metals & Energy has been authorized to undertake preparatory works and feasibility activities aimed at assessing the potential redevelopment of the Panguna copper-gold mine in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, nearly four decades after the operation was shut down. The Autonomous Bougainville Government granted the authorization on August 7, allowing Lloyds to carry out an approved programme of preparatory and feasibility work required to assess and plan the future redevelopment of the mine. Lloyds is acting as the approved development partner of government-owned Bougainville Minerals, which holds the mining lease covering Panguna. The project represents a potentially significant source of long-term copper supply. Panguna's remaining reserves are estimated at approximately 5.3 million tonnes of copper and 19.3 million oz of gold, while Lloyds plans to revalidate the project's resource base as part of the redevelopment process. The mine has remained closed since 1989. The latest authorization follows the granting of a 25-year mining lease to Bougainville Minerals in June, providing a framework for further evaluation of the dormant asset. However, the current approval does not permit construction or copper production to begin. Any progression into those stages will require additional approvals, meaning a potential restart remains subject to further technical, regulatory and development work. The renewed progress at Panguna is notable given the scale of the historical deposit and growing efforts globally to develop additional copper supply. The immediate impact on mine supply remains limited, but successful feasibility work and resource revalidation could provide greater clarity on whether one of the world's largest dormant copper assets can eventually return to production.

According to foreign media reports, Chilean copper producer Antofagasta has lowered its 2026 copper production guidance following a weather-related shutdown at its Los Pelambres mine, reducing expected output at a time when global copper mine supply remains under pressure.​ Antofagasta now expects to produce 625,000–655,000 tonnes of copper in 2026, compared with its previous guidance of 650,000–700,000 tonnes. The revised range lowers the midpoint of the company's production outlook by 35,000 tonnes and reduces the upper end of its forecast by 45,000 tonnes.​ The downgrade follows the temporary shutdown of Los Pelambres in July after extreme rainfall affected Chile's Coquimbo Region. Although no significant damage was reported to major infrastructure, repairs are required to some pipeline platforms and water-management systems following the disruption.​ Despite lower production, stronger copper prices supported Antofagasta's financial performance during the first half of 2026. EBITDA increased 27% year on year to $2.84 billion, while operating cash flow rose 53% to $2.77 billion. First-half cash costs declined 8% year on year to $1.22/lb, although the company previously indicated that full-year costs are expected to increase amid persistently elevated fuel prices.​ From a copper-market perspective, the guidance reduction represents a further downward adjustment to expected mine supply from Chile, the world's largest copper-producing country. The disruption at Los Pelambres also highlights the continued vulnerability of near-term supply to operational and weather-related interruptions, with Antofagasta's reduced production outlook adding to existing constraints on global copper mine growth.

UN Economic Commission for Africa executive secretary Claver Gatete has called on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to move from raw mineral exports toward local processing and value addition, calling the region a testing ground for Africa's broader mineral strategy. Demand for critical energy transition minerals including lithium could more than triple by 2030 under net-zero scenarios, with Africa holding about 30% of global reserves but just 1% of lithium output, the smallest share among minerals cited. Zimbabwe was named SADC's primary lithium resource holder, alongside the DRC (cobalt), South Africa (platinum, manganese) and Zambia (copper), with Gatete pointing to Zimbabwe's unprocessed lithium export ban as a policy model for the region. Minerals contribute about 10% of SADC's GDP, 25% of exports and 20% of government revenues, but only 7% of direct employment. SMM View: Gatete's remarks lend regional policy weight to Zimbabwe's ongoing beneficiation push, reinforcing the rationale behind its concentrate export ban as domestic sulfate capacity comes online.

Sinomine Resource Group's Zimbabwe unit, Masingo Lithium Technology, has obtained EIA approval for its 100,000 t/y lithium sulfate plant at Bikita, moving the project into full construction with contractors China Railway No. 9 Group and Shandong Dadi now on site. Completion is targeted for mid-2027. The clearance formalizes a plan first disclosed in September 2024 and reaffirmed via Sinomine's RMB 5.2 billion ($764 million) fundraising in May 2026, rather than signaling new capital commitment. Bikita becomes Zimbabwe's third Chinese-backed lithium sulfate project, joining Huayou's 50,000 t/y Arcadia plant commissioned July 2026, running near 60% of capacity as of late July and Yahua's Kamativi facility construction started February 2026, capacity undisclosed. Combined announced capacity across all three approaches 200,000+ t/y once complete, ahead of Zimbabwe's January 2027 concentrate export ban. SMM View: Arcadia's slower than nameplate ramp is the key benchmark here if Bikita follows a similar curve at double the capacity, full-rate output likely slips into 2028 despite a mid-2027 completion date. With all three plants now past groundbreaking, Zimbabwe's beneficiation push has shifted from policy to physical build out, the next signal to watch is how strictly the export ban is enforced against each plant's actual commissioning timeline, not just its announced one.

Savannah Resources (LON:SAV) has signed three benefit-sharing agreements with local baldios (communal land bodies) around its Barroso lithium project in northern Portugal, securing land access to Blocks A and C of the Aldeia mining concession, which host a 3.5 Mt resource and 1.6 Mt reserve. The agreements grant communities participation in project oversight, local reinvestment of benefits, and inflation-indexed rent compensation. The company is also advancing private land acquisitions and preparing compulsory purchase procedures for remaining parcels. CEO Emanuel Proença said the deals reflect the company's commitment to community engagement. Barroso is among Europe's most advanced hard-rock lithium projects, supporting the EU's push for domestic battery raw material supply.

On August 10, 2026, the 150,000 mt rare earth aluminum alloy project of Quantum Digital New Materials Co., Ltd. under Hebei Shengzhuo Group was put into production. The project adopts two operating models: direct molten aluminum supply and aluminum ingot exports. Direct molten aluminum supply can save downstream clients 600 to 700 yuan per mt in costs and reduce comprehensive energy consumption by 30%-40%. The project uses cutting-edge processes such as a LIBS intelligent sorting system and a twin-chamber reverberatory furnace, achieving a metal burn-off rate of only 0.6% and a metal recovery rate from aluminum dross of over 95%. After harmless treatment, the aluminum dross is used as raw material for building materials, thereby achieving closed-loop "zero waste discharge" production. :

Foshan Jimao Aluminum Co., Ltd. plans to build an aluminum extrusion production project. The project is currently in the public notice stage prior to approval of its environmental impact report form. Located at Building 5, No. 283 Leping Avenue, Leping Town, Sanshui District, Foshan City, the project has a total investment of 5 million yuan and is expected to produce 27,000 mt of aluminum extrusions for doors and windows and 3,000 mt of other aluminum extrusions per year.

Thursday, August 13, 2026 Following a brutal 30% decline in the price of gold since the start of the year, there are signs the yellow metal is coming back to life with the bullion price up 8% since the beginning of August. The more volatile silver price is up around 16% since the middle of July. The sharp pullback at the start of the year should perhaps not have come as much of a surprise given gold had gained 60% in 2025 and another 30% in January 2026. A contributing factor to recent strength of gold and silver has been renewed weakness in the US dollar against a basket of major currencies in recent weeks. A weaker dollar makes precious metals cheaper for non-dollar buyers. It is the mirror image of the dollar strength which contributed to gold weakness in early 2026. Dollar strength was exacerbated by expectations for central banks to hike interest rates following the US-Iran war in late February as higher energy prices fed through to higher inflation. Since gold does not provide a yield, rising interest rates make gold less attractive compared to stocks and bonds , everything else being equal. Renewed Central Bank buying According to The World Gold Council (WGC), central banks and sovereign wealth funds purchased 289 tonnes of gold in the second quarter of 2026, up 62% year-over-year. Poland was the largest buyer, followed by China, which bought its largest quarterly addition since 2023, taking its reported holdings to 2,346 tonnes. Looking ahead, the WGC’s annual survey found 89% of central bank reserve managers expect central bank holdings to keep rising over the next 12-months, sending a message that demand remains in an upward trend. A separate survey across 76 institutions pointed to structural changes in how reserves were managed, with more than half of central banks running domestic purchase programmes which involved governments buying gold from smaller-scale gold miners within their own country. The WGC describes this as a shift away from holding gold as a legacy asset towards treating gold as an active, strategic allocation amid geopolitical uncertainty, rising currency volatility and reserve diversification . Gold as a hedge Kevin Smith, chief investment officer at Crescat Capital believes there is a scenario where gold could rise to $20,000 per ounce over the next few years. It is a long shot, but not unprecedented. One of Smiths arguments is that the gold price relative to the S&P 500 index is as low as it has been since 2009 and 1970, which reflects the fact that US valuations are at all-time highs, implying there is a small margin of error priced into investor's expectations. Prior peaks in the gold to S&P 500 ratio have coincided with market dislocations. In the current set up, Smith is looking at a scenario where the AI boom doesn’t provide the expected investment returns, leading to disappointment which could cause the stock market to drop in similar fashion to the declines seen in 2001 and 2008, when the S&P 500 halved in value. “A 50% lower S&P 500, combined with a 5.25 gold-to-S&P 500 multiple, which is well below its 1980 peak of 7.58, though slightly above its 1933 peak of 4.76, also gets us to our $20,000 price target for gold,” argues Smith. All bets are off if interest rates stay higher for longer With Federal Reserve chair Kevin Walsh seemingly intent on establishing his inflation-fighting credentials, central banks could hike interest rates to bring inflation back to target, after missing it for more than four years. This would create a headwind for precious metals, which tend to do better in low interest rate environments. Despite these concerns, markets are also cognisant of the other side of the Fed’s dual mandate, which is to keep the economy chugging along and the labour market healthy. The bull market in US stocks means households have a greater proportion of their wealth tied to stocks than ever before, while the national US debt relative to the size of the economy is forecast by the Congressional Budget Office to climb to its highest level since the second world war over the next decade. These factors suggest the central bank will not act hastily to risk failing to meet the other side of its mandate.

13/08/2026 | 06:28 GMT+8 UBS expects falling real rates and a softer dollar to revive gold demand as the Fed holds in 2026 then eases in 2027. The bank sees dips toward $4,000 an ounce or below as opportunities to build exposure. UBS's call is constructive on both the cyclical and structural drivers of gold, tying the metal's outlook directly to its Fed rate path view: a hold through 2026 followed by renewed easing in 2027 would pull real yields lower and weigh on the dollar, the classic combination that has historically drawn investment flows back into bullion. The explicit dip-buying framing, treating any move toward $4,000 an ounce or below as an entry opportunity rather than a warning sign, signals the bank sees the medium-term trend as intact even if near-term dollar resilience caps immediate upside. Central bank buying adds a further layer of support that is less sensitive to the rate cycle, acting as a stabiliser for the market even through periods when private investment demand and jewellery consumption soften. --- UBS is telling clients to treat any pullback in gold as a buying opportunity, betting that falling real yields and a softening dollar will keep the structural case for the metal intact. Summary: UBS expects lower real interest rates to revive investment demand for gold, since higher real yields raise the opportunity cost of holding an asset that pays no income The bank expects inflation to moderate gradually, letting the Fed hold rates steady through 2026 before resuming rate cuts in 2027 UBS said that shift toward lower policy-rate expectations should reduce real yields, weigh on the dollar and help lift investment demand for gold The bank sees the dollar as capable of near-term resilience but flags structural risks, including large US fiscal and external deficits and already elevated investor exposure to dollar assets, as reasons for renewed weakness further out A weaker dollar has historically supported gold, and UBS expects a renewed push toward diversification away from the dollar to benefit the metal further Central bank buying remains a key pillar of support even when private investment demand is soft, with UBS expecting purchases to stay elevated on a long-term push to reduce dollar exposure Central banks bought around 290 metric tons of gold in a strong second quarter, and UBS estimates full-year purchases in the 750 to 1,000 metric ton range UBS said these central bank flows are unlikely to drive prices sharply higher alone but can help stabilise the market and offset softer areas of demand such as jewellery UBS said periods of weakness toward $4,000 an ounce or below could ultimately prove to be opportunities for building exposure UBS expects a decline in real interest rates to reawaken investment demand for gold, arguing the metal's traditional drawback, that it pays no income, becomes far less of a deterrent once the opportunity cost of holding it starts to fall. The Swiss bank's base case has inflation cooling gradually through the remainder of the year, allowing the Federal Reserve to keep rates on hold through 2026 before resuming easing in 2027, a path UBS says would meaningfully improve the setup for gold as lower policy-rate expectations pull real yields down, pressure the dollar and draw fresh investment flows into the metal. The dollar itself sits at the centre of that call. UBS sees room for the greenback to hold up in the near term but points to structural pressures, chiefly sizeable US fiscal and external deficits alongside already stretched investor exposure to dollar assets, as reasons weakness could reassert itself further out. A softer dollar has historically been supportive for gold, and the bank adds that any renewed push by investors to diversify away from the currency would likely benefit the metal further. Central banks remain the other pillar propping up the market, the bank noted, continuing to buy even through stretches when private investment demand has been soft. UBS expects that official-sector buying to stay elevated over the coming year, underpinned by a longer-term push among central banks to trim their dollar holdings. After a strong second quarter in which central banks added around 290 metric tons to reserves, the bank is pencilling in full-year purchases somewhere in the 750 to 1,000 metric ton range. UBS was careful to frame that buying as a stabilising force rather than a standalone catalyst, unlikely on its own to drive prices sharply higher, but useful in offsetting softer pockets of demand elsewhere in the market, such as jewellery. Putting the pieces together, UBS's overall stance on gold reads as constructive through the cycle rather than tactically bullish in the immediate term. The bank explicitly framed any weakness toward $4,000 an ounce or below as a buying opportunity rather than a signal to step back, a view consistent with its broader thesis that the structural drivers, falling real yields, a softening dollar and steady central bank accumulation, remain firmly intact even if near-term price action proves choppy.