In 2026, global competition for critical minerals has entered a white-hot phase, with geopolitical games continuing to intensify and global industry and supply chains accelerating their restructuring. A new round of technological revolution, centered on AI semiconductors, new energy, high-end manufacturing, and aerospace, is propelling the minor metal industry into a historic period of development opportunity and profound transformation. Globally, the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act and the US's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) continue to be implemented, while the Minerals Security Partnership keeps expanding. The trend toward localization and regionalization of critical mineral supply chains is intensifying. The resource competition, technical barriers, and trade rule restructuring surrounding strategic minor metals such as antimony, indium, gallium, germanium, bismuth, selenium, tellurium, and rhenium have become the core focus of global high-end manufacturing competition. As the world's core supplier of minor metals, China holds a dominant global position in the smelting and supply of multiple minor metal varieties. Against this backdrop, the 2026 SMM (14th) Minor Metal Industry Conference will bring together enterprises from across the entire minor metal industry chain—including antimony, indium, gallium, germanium, bismuth, selenium, tellurium, and rhenium—as well as scientific research institutes, government agencies, financial and investment institutions, and trade service providers, to build a high-standard, full-chain, in-depth platform for exchange and cooperation. The conference will provide in-depth interpretation of global policy shifts, diagnose supply-demand patterns and price trends, break down growth opportunities in end-use applications, and connect government-enterprise resources with cross-border cooperation opportunities. It aims to help enterprises accurately grasp industry trends, break through development bottlenecks, optimize supply chain layouts, and seize market opportunities, jointly promoting the high-quality and sustainable development of China's minor metal industry. Hunan Zhenqiang Antimony Co., Ltd. will make a grand appearance at this conference. We will keep pace with the times, set our sights on our goals, and forge ahead with vigor and determination! Click the to sign up for attendance now. We look forward to meeting you at the conference. Hunan Zhenqiang Antimony Co., Ltd. is located in Xikuangshan, the world's antimony capital. It is a large-scale private antimony smelting enterprise and the third producer, after Twinkling Star Antimony and Chenzhou Mining, to meet the national antimony industry access conditions for refined antimony and gold. Founded in 2008, the company covers an area of over 50 mu and has a registered capital of 50 million yuan. Its business scope includes antimony smelting, and antimony ore mining and processing. Following the launch of refined antimony and gold production, the company's annual sales revenue increased from 400 million yuan to 800 million yuan, doubling its annual output value. Main Products: (1) Refined antimony, with an annual output of 6,000 mt, and antimony trioxide, 3,000 mt. (2) 99% gold, with an annual output of 1,000 kg. Main Equipment: (1) A 2 m 2 blast furnace, equipped with an 8 m 2 forehearth; (2) Eight refining reverberatory furnaces: including three 17 m 2 refined antimony furnaces, two 12 m 2 precious antimony smelting furnaces, two 8 m 2 low-gold ore treatment furnaces, and one 4.5 m 2 rich precious antimony converting furnace; (3) A newly built gold purification production line with an annual capacity of 1,000 kg of gold; (4) A newly built leaching and electrolysis production line with an annual capacity of 6,000 mt of antimony-gold ore. Main Products: Refined antimony, with an annual output of 6,000 mt, and antimony trioxide, 3,000 mt. 99% pure gold, annual output of 1000 kg main equipment: 2m2 blast furnace with a matching 8m2 forehearth 8 refinery reverberatory furnaces: three 17m2 antimony refining furnaces, two 12m2 precious antimony smelting furnaces, two 8m2 low-gold ore processing furnaces, one 4.5m² precious antimony converting furnace newly built gold purification production line with an annual capacity of 1000 kg newly built leaching and electrolysis production line for 6000 mt of antimony-gold ore per year environmental protection status: 1. The company began construction in June 2008, obtained environmental impact assessment approval and commenced trial production in October 2011, focusing on processing single antimony ore and producing refined antimony. It obtained a second environmental impact assessment approval and commenced trial production in December 2020, focusing on processing antimony-gold associated ore and producing refined antimony and 99% pure gold. 2. Flue gas treatment system (1) Built 1 set of blast furnace flue gas cooling and dust removal equipment, and 8 sets of reverberatory furnace flue gas cooling and dust removal equipment. (2) Equipped with 1 set of SO 2 flue gas treatment system featuring three-stage spraying using the "limestone-gypsum" method with fully automated control and a flue gas treatment capacity of 65,000 m 3 /h. Installed 1 set of mist eliminators and 1 chimney with a vertical height of 30 m. (3) Organized emission of exhaust gas achieved: after flue gas passes through facilities such as "water cooling + surface cooling + bag dust collection" and is treated by the multi-stage spray tower, SO 2 concentration is ≤200 mg/Nm 3 (meeting national standards), and then discharged through the mist eliminator and chimney. 3. Wastewater treatment and reuse system includes plant-wide clean-dirty water separation and rainwater-wastewater separation systems, rainwater collection system, and wastewater treatment system. Rainwater collection pond capacity of 200 m 3 , wastewater treatment capacity of 2,000 m 3 ; treated rainwater and wastewater are reused with no external discharge. In the newly built gold purification production line with an annual capacity of 1000 kg, wastewater is pumped into the desulfurization workshop, subjected to neutralization treatment, and then sent to the absorption tower for SO 2 flue gas treatment with no external discharge. The newly built leaching and electrolysis production line for 6,000 mt of antimony-gold ore per year achieves closed-circuit leaching and electrolysis production with no wastewater discharge.

[SMM Zinc Morning Meeting Summary: The Ongoing Middle East Situation Continued to Disrupt the Market, and LME Zinc Fluctuated at Lows]: Overnight, LME zinc opened at $3,053/mt. After the opening, LME zinc fluctuated downward and hit an intraday low of $3,037.5/mt. It then continued to rebound from lows and touched a high of $3,090.5/mt near the close, eventually closing up at $3,081/mt, up $42.5/mt, or 1.4%...

Nova Minerals has confirmed that the Korbel deposit at its Estelle gold project near Anchorage, Alaska, may have "initially high open-pit grades." Reverse circulation drilling results at Korbel include: - 19 meters of mineralization from surface, grading 0.6 g/t gold, including 6 meters at 1 g/t gold; - 25 meters of mineralization from 1 meter depth, grading 0.5 g/t gold, including 8 meters at 0.8 g/t gold; - 9 meters of mineralization from 1 meter depth, grading 1.2 g/t gold.

[SMM Zinc Morning Meeting Minutes: Macro Sentiment Gradually Digested, LME Zinc Edges Down] Overnight, the LME zinc contract opened at $3,226/mt. After opening, it fluctuated downward throughout the session, hitting a high of $3,237/mt early in the session and touching a low of $3,171/mt near the close. It finally closed down at $3,175/mt, falling by $59/mt, a decline of 1.82%···

African Gold announced that drilling more than 150 meters beyond the resource boundary of the Blaffo Guetto gold deposit in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire intersected gold mineralization. Drilling intersected 13 meters of ore at a depth of 329 meters, grading 9.5 grams per mt of gold; at a depth of 216 meters, it intersected 7.2 meters of ore grading 13.1 grams per mt of gold. The deposit is part of the Didievi gold mine project. *** DeSoto Resources' drilling at the Dadjan and Tole gold mine projects in Guinea indicates the potential for a large-scale gold deposit. At the Dadjan mine, drilling intersected 1 meter of ore at a depth of 12 meters, grading 318 grams per mt of gold. At the Tole mine, drilling intersected 2 meters of ore at a depth of 55 meters, grading 3.64 grams per mt of gold. *** Pacgold's first two drill holes at the St George project in Queensland, Australia, intersected high-grade antimony. One hole intersected 8 meters of ore at a depth of 16 meters, grading 2.3% antimony, including 1 meter at a depth of 22 meters grading 11.9%; another intersected 2 meters of ore at a depth of 19 meters, grading 2.3% antimony.

According to a report on Mining.com, Lion One Metals Limited ( Lion One Metals Limited ) announced that infill and grade control drilling at its wholly-owned Tuvatu ( Tuvatu ) gold project in Fiji has intersected high-grade gold mineralization, with a total drilling footage of 4,040.90 meters. The drilling was primarily focused on Zone 5 ( Zone 5 ) of the mine, targeting the down-dip extension of the UR2 lode beneath the 1084 and 1066 levels, which is currently the lowest level of mine development. Drilling commenced from an underground drilling site on the 1135 level. High-grade mineralization was intersected in 17 of the 22 holes drilled, with two holes abandoned. Most of the intersections were located between 20 and 60 meters below the 1084 level. Due to the proximity of these drill holes to existing workings, the majority of these results are expected to be incorporated into the mining plan for the next 3 to 12 months. The deepest high-grade intersection was encountered approximately 125 meters below the 1084 level in hole TGC-0503, which intersected over 1 meter grading 16.09 grams per tonne gold. This represents an extension of six levels and indicates the vertical continuity of the high-grade mineralization in this part of the deposit. The most significant intersection was 0.3 meters grading 459.05 grams per tonne gold, along with an intersection of over 0.5 meters grading 338.00 grams per tonne gold, located approximately 60 meters below the 1084 level. Previous drilling in this part of the deposit had also intersected thin zones of similar grade, such as 0.4 meters grading 236.00 grams per tonne gold. Key recent intersection results include: ◎ Hole TGC-0454 intersected 3.3 meters grading 99.13 grams per tonne gold at a depth of 136.4 meters, including 0.3 meters grading 459.05 grams per tonne gold and 0.5 meters grading 338.00 grams per tonne gold; ◎ Hole TGC-0457 intersected 1.2 meters grading 218.31 grams per tonne gold at a depth of 109 meters, including 0.6 meters grading 366.00 grams per tonne gold. ◎ Hole TGC-0482 intersected 4.6 meters grading 24.86 grams per tonne gold at a depth of 133.92 meters, including 0.5 meters grading 56.29 grams per tonne gold. Chart 1 Location of Zone 5 Left: Plan map of drilling in Zone 5, with drilling related to the lode shown in gray and the Tuvatu underground workings shown in red. Right: Section view of Zone 5, looking west. The primary objective for Zone 5 is the down-dip extension of the lode beneath the current underground workings in the northern part of the deposit. Drilling in Zone 5 Zone 5 of the Tuvatu project is located on the eastern side of the deposit and is primarily composed of north-south and northeast-southwest trending veins. The drilling announced this time targeted the downward extension of the UR2 vein, which is currently being mined underground. The UR2 vein is one of the north-south trending veins in Mine No. 5. It extends approximately 600 meters along the strike and dips steeply to the east. Current mining along the UR2 vein is taking place both at the top of the mine, on the 1150 and 1170 levels, as well as at the bottom of the 1084 level and the 1066/1068 levels, the latter being the deepest levels currently developed in Mine No. 5. The 1084 level has been developed for 300 meters along the strike, and the 1066/1068 levels are under development. Drilling commenced from an underground drill station, specifically the 1135 drill station, targeting a section of the UR2 vein over a strike length of 125 meters and a vertical height of 60 meters; a few holes targeted deeper parts of the vein. Seventeen of these holes intersected high-grade ore bodies, mostly located between 20 and 60 meters below the 1084 level, including the most significant intersections of 3.3 meters grading 99.13 grams per metric ton and 1.2 meters grading 218.31 grams per metric ton. The deepest high-grade intersection from this drilling program was 1.0 meter grading 16.09 grams per metric ton, located 125 meters below the 1084 level. This implies the potential for six additional mining levels and continuity of the high-grade ore body along the vertical direction. The two northernmost holes, TGC-0493 and TGC-0495, did not intersect significant mineralization. Further drilling in this area is warranted. Drilling down-dip intersected multiple thin, high-grade mineralized zones, such as 0.3 meter grading 459.05 grams per metric ton, 0.6 meter grading 366 grams per metric ton, and 0.5 meter grading 338 grams per metric ton. This type of intersection is typical in the Tutatu deposit because the ore-controlling structure is very narrow and also exhibits pinching and swelling along the strike, which also leads to intersections with greater thickness and high grade, such as 4.6 meters grading 24.86 grams per metric ton. The holes reported here were designed to test veins distributed vertically or near-vertically, so the intersection thicknesses approximate true thicknesses. The results of the down-dip drilling on the UR2 vein in Mine No. 5 are shown in Chart 2. The high-grade ore bodies reported here are expected to be developed within the next 3 to 12 months. Chart 2: Mine No. 5 - Down-Dip Drilling Results, Highlighting High-Grade Intervals, Using a Cut-Off Grade of 3.0 Grams per Metric Ton. Left Chart: Plan View, Highlighting High-Grade Intersections. Right Chart: Section Looking West, Showing the Same High-Grade Intersections. The drill holes shown here target the down-dip extension zone of the UR2 vein in the northern part of Mine No. 5, associated with current mine development. A high-grade ore body was intersected 125 meters below the 1084 level, and a high-grade intersection of 99.13 grams per metric ton was encountered 60 meters below the 1084 level. The light gray areas in the chart represent the Tutatu underground development workings.

Lundin Gold intersected high-grade ore bodies at the Fruta del Norte gold mine in southeastern Ecuador and is advancing its plan to convert resources at the Fruta del Norte South (FDNS) sector next year. In an update on November 20, the company announced that resource conversion drilling at the FDNS underground returned excellent results. Among them, hole FDN-C25-305 intersected 5.2 meters of ore at a depth of 40.6 meters, grading 491.62 grams per mt of gold, including a 1.1-meter-thick ore body grading 2,286 grams per mt. Other significant intersections from the drilling program include: FDN-C25-260, which intersected 6.30 meters of ore at a depth of 60 meters, grading 41.46 grams per mt of gold; hole FDN-C25-261, which intersected 10.5 meters of ore at a depth of 80 meters, grading 22.76 grams per mt of gold; and hole FDN-C25-259, which intersected 6.3 meters of ore at a depth of 39 meters, grading 33.71 grams per mt of gold.

Dart Mining announced the assay results from the first drilling samples at its Coonambula project in Queensland. Key intersections include: 5 meters grading 4.33% antimony, 1.69 g/t gold, and 23.65 g/t silver from 42 meters depth, including 0.65 meters grading 32.2% antimony, 2.91 g/t gold, and 10.5 g/t silver from 42 meters depth; and 0.7 meters grading 5.61 g/t gold and 154 g/t silver from 45 meters depth. *** Pacgold announced field results from its St George project in Queensland. Rock chip sampling at the Fence prospect returned grades up to 52.7% antimony and 2.93 g/t gold; the Ridgeline prospect yielded grades up to 10.45% antimony and 1.95 g/t gold. Geophysical and soil sampling have been completed, and drilling is expected to commence soon. *** At Krakatoa Resources' Zopkhito antimony-gold mine in Georgia, 12 out of 15 completed drill holes intersected visible antimony mineralization. Three holes were abandoned due to poor ground conditions. Zopkhito hosts an antimony ore resource of 225,000 mt grading 11.6% antimony, and a gold ore resource of 7.1 million mt grading 3.7 g/t gold, making it one of the world's highest-grade antimony deposits.

In Q1, gold prices exhibited strong upward momentum, with a quarterly gain of nearly 20%. However, since Q2, gold prices have been consolidating within a narrow range, and trading activity has noticeably declined.

In July, expectations for US Fed interest rate cuts once again became the core influencing factor for gold price trends (rising expectations for interest rate cuts in the first half of the month had a bullish impact, while cooling expectations in the second half had a bearish impact).