The Mining Insider

The Mining Insider | June 23, 2026 Today's dispatch covers four developments that span rare earth supply chain consolidation, one of Australia's most consequential labor standoffs in decades, a high-stakes sovereign dispute in West Africa, and a landmark policy reversal in the American heartland. Story 1 — Energy Fuels + VAC: A $1.9 Billion Mine-to-Magnet Bet Energy Fuels (NYSE: UUUU) announced a...

Episode Date: June 22, 2026 | Host: Logan Ore On today's Mining Insider: US-Iran Switzerland talks: 60-day roadmap agreed; Hormuz communication line established; Brent at $78; VP Vance calls talks 'historic'; technical discussions continue through the week China rare earth ban: 10 US entities on export control list — MP Materials and USA Rare Earth named; immediate full prohibition (upgrade from l...

Episode Date: June 21, 2026 | Host: Logan Ore On today's Mining Insider: Strait of Hormuz: Iran re-closes June 20 citing Israeli ceasefire violations; 55 merchant ships still transited per US CENTCOM; Brent at $80, 30% below March peak of $118; US-Iran talks in Switzerland; energy costs and LNG directly affecting global mining operating economics Trump Copper Tariff: Commerce Department Section 23...

Episode Date: June 20, 2026 | Host: Logan Ore On today's Mining Insider: Newmont Red Chris Block Cave: BC grants Environmental Assessment Certificate and Mines Act permit; 20Moz gold + 13B lbs copper resource; several billion in capex; FID targeted late 2026; 1,800 construction jobs; mine life to mid-2040s Vale Base Metals + Glencore Sudbury JV: brownfield copper project; 880,000t copper over 21 y...

Episode Date: June 19, 2026 | Host: Logan Ore On today's Mining Insider: BHP flags a $2.3 billion impairment on Jansen Stage 2 as costs rise to $6.9 billion — third overrun in three years; first production pushed to FY2031 Three unions (AWU, AMWU, ETU) issue joint final ultimatum to BHP at Port Hedland; $120M/day revenue and $7M/day WA royalties at risk Rio Tinto restructures into three product gr...

The Mining Insider — June 18, 2026. Host: Logan Ore. Today's stories: 1. BHP Port Hedland faces a three-union strike as the AWU files a protected action ballot — joining ETU (100% vote) and AMWU (89% vote); Resources Minister Madeleine King issues a public please explain to BHP; strikebreakers reportedly recruited at up to $93/hr; BHP warns $120M/day in revenue and $7M/day in WA royalties at risk....

The Mining Insider — June 17, 2026. Host: Logan Ore. Today's stories: 1. Offshore Alliance and Inpex reach Enterprise Bargaining Agreement ending the Ichthys LNG strike — 400+ members endorse 3.75% annual wages, improved job security; one liquefaction train was shut down, approximately US$200M in production lost; cargo loading resumes by 6 PM AWST. 2. G7 summit closes in Évian-les-Bains with bindi...

The Mining Insider — June 16, 2026. Host: Logan Ore. Today's stories: 1. Inpex SVP Bill Townsend confirms Ichthys LNG production disruption is 'imminent and significant'; Offshore Alliance extends strikes to July 6, threatening 2% of global LNG output and 9.3 Mtpa of exports mainly to Japan. 2. Lobito Atlantic Railway receives the first copper train from the DRC since reopening the flood-damaged L...

The Mining Insider — June 15, 2026. Host: Logan Ore. Today's stories: 1. China's State Council Decree 839 takes effect — 36 minerals including rare earths, lithium, cobalt, gallium and germanium formally designated as national strategic minerals under full-chain state control, with centralized mining rights, joint export review, and a three-tier reserve system. 2. Australia's Offshore Alliance ext...

The Mining Insider — June 14, 2026. Host: Logan Ore. Today's stories: 1. Australia's Fair Work Commission rejects Inpex's bid to terminate industrial action at Ichthys LNG — facility shutdown expected June 16-17, cargo loading bans cutting ~10% of Australian LNG exports to northeast Asia. 2. Agnico Eagle's acquisition of Rupert Resources receives final BC Supreme Court approval — deal closes June...

Today on The Mining Insider: The BHP Port Hedland labor dispute has escalated to approximately 450 workers with strikes possible as early as this week. Opposition Leader Angus Taylor warned that WA is repeating the 1980s. A full port shutdown would cost over $120M per day in revenue and $7M per day in state royalties. Bargaining session June 23. Mozambique enacted 15% mandatory state ownership in...

Today on The Mining Insider: More than 200 workers at BHP's Port Hedland iron ore facility in Western Australia have authorized rolling strikes that unions say could cost $120 million per day, with both the ETU and AMWU voting overwhelmingly in favor. BHP is accused of hiring strikebreakers at $93/hour; a bargaining session is scheduled for June 23. Glencore has reversed its February freeze on nea...

Today on The Mining Insider: Rio Tinto and Glencore are seeking to extend the preparation period for their proposed $235 billion merger — the deal that would create the world's largest mining company — as both sides continue to work through valuation. US forces launched new strikes against Iran in retaliation for the downing of a military helicopter even as ceasefire talks continued; gold fell 2.6...

Today on The Mining Insider: The US House of Representatives passed the DOMINANCE Act on Monday — bipartisan legislation aimed at China's 90% grip on rare earth processing — the same day the Department of Energy committed $134 million to rare earth extraction projects in Louisiana and Oklahoma. In Australia, Inpex has applied to the Fair Work Commission to halt an escalating strike at its 9.3 mill...

Today on The Mining Insider: Iran and Israel announced a mutual halt to attacks early Monday, and President Trump told reporters that the Strait of Hormuz will open immediately upon signing a deal — which could be in two or three days. Brent crude has retreated to $93.13 per barrel. For mining operators managing three months of elevated energy input costs, a Hormuz resolution would be the most mat...

Today on The Mining Insider: Story 1 — Hormuz Day 99 / OPEC+ Fourth Hike: Tanker traffic down 90-95% from pre-war baseline; widespread dark shipping eliminates real-time oil/LNG flow visibility. US struck Iranian radar on Goruk and Qeshm islands; Iran's IRGC claims retaliatory strikes on US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain; Kuwait reports ballistic missile intercepts. Brent crude above $96/bbl. OPEC+ p...

Today on The Mining Insider: Story 1 — Sherritt International Exits Cuba: Trump's Executive Order 14404 (May 1, 2026) sanctioned Moa Nickel SA and set a June 5 deadline for foreign companies to sever ties with Cuba's GAESA conglomerate. Sherritt suspended operations in May and repatriated staff. Cuba owes Sherritt at least $344M, including ~$277M from the Moa Joint Venture (nickel and cobalt). She...

Today on The Mining Insider: Story 1 — Indonesia Cuts Nickel Ore Quota: Indonesia's energy ministry cut the 2026 nickel ore production quota to 260-270 million metric tonnes — below last year's 320 million tonnes produced and far short of FINI's 340-350 million tonne demand estimate. FINI chairman Arif Perdana Kusuma confirmed smelter capacity utilization has dropped to 76% nationally (from 84%),...

Today on The Mining Insider: Story 1 — Hezbollah Rejects Lebanon Ceasefire / Hormuz Day 96: Hezbollah formally rejected the latest US-brokered ceasefire framework, keeping the Strait of Hormuz in effective closure. Trafigura's half-year report calls it the largest energy crisis in history — 14 million barrels per day shut in, over 1.1 billion barrels removed from global markets, diesel up 60%, jet...

USA Rare Earth (Nasdaq: USAR) executed definitive agreements with the US Department of Commerce to unlock nearly $1.6 billion in CHIPS Act funding — the largest US rare earth government financing on record. Package: $277 million in federal grants + up to $1.3 billion in senior secured loans, milestone-based disbursements. Total capital now $3.5B. Funding supports integrated mine-to-magnet supply c...

Iran fired ballistic missiles at Kuwait and Bahrain on Tuesday — the most serious direct military exchange yet. Iranian missiles aimed at Kuwait disintegrated mid-flight; those targeting US Navy 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain were intercepted. US Central Command struck an Iranian ground control station on Qeshm Island. The IRGC stated: 'We had previously cautioned that any act of aggression wou...

Iran's semi-official Tasnim agency reported Monday that Iranian negotiators ceased all indirect communications with the United States, citing Israel's renewed strikes on Hezbollah in Beirut as a ceasefire violation. Iran and affiliated groups committed to "entirely obstruct the Strait of Hormuz" and activate the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Foreign Minister Araghchi: "A violation on one front constitutes...

The US-Iran framework to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz remains unsigned. Trump emerged from a two-hour Situation Room meeting Friday without an announcement, then sent a revised draft to Tehran with tougher terms on Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile and Hormuz transit fees. Over the weekend, the US military struck Iranian radar and drone sites near Goruk and Qeshm Island....

The Hormuz ceasefire is holding — barely. The framework that US and Iranian negotiators had tentatively agreed to earlier in the week has been sent back to Tehran after President Trump requested multiple amendments, primarily focused on Iran's nuclear materials management. US officials said Iran could take several days to respond. Trump said he is in no rush, but added there will be a deal. In the...

Today on The Mining Insider: 1. Anglo American $3.7B Loss / De Beers Writedown — Anglo posted a $3.7B net loss after a fresh $2.3B pre-tax impairment on De Beers. Total De Beers writedowns: $6.8B over the past year. Third straight annual production decline; 2026 output forecast cut. CEO Duncan Wanblad: 'There is at the moment a plentiful supply of rough diamonds in the market.' Two flagship coal m...