CMJ Daily Tape
OFFTAKE | NICKEL
Centaurus Metals has signed binding offtake agreements with Glencore and a subsidiary of China's CNGR Advanced Material for nickel concentrate from its Jaguar project in Brazil. Each buyer will take a minimum of 100,000 dry metric tonnes over five years starting in the first half of 2029, or at least 20,000 dmt a year each. With Glencore's existing contract for a further 20,000 dmt a year, Centaurus says 100% of Jaguar's concentrate is committed for the first five years of operations, equal to about 22,500 t/y of contained nickel. Pricing references the LME cash settlement nickel price. Either buyer can terminate if no concentrate ships by the end of 2029. Glencore and CNGR will also each invest US$20m in Centaurus equity; the second tranche requires shareholder approval and a final investment decision.
The contracts sell Jaguar's concentrate before Centaurus has a final investment decision or a closed debt package. The clause that matters is the end-2029 termination right: deliveries are due from the first half of 2029, so a commissioning slip of a few quarters gives both buyers an exit. CNGR's equity also waits on Chinese outbound investment approval. For senior lenders, the offtakes take price-and-buyer risk off the table and leave construction schedule as the risk they have to price.
PRODUCTION | COPPER
Freeport-McMoRan reported third-quarter 2026 net income attributable to common stock of $1.2 billion, or $0.81 a share, against $674 million a year earlier. Copper sales fell to 749 million lbs from 977 million lbs, while the average realized copper price rose to $6.54/lb from $4.68/lb. Grasberg mill throughput averaged 141,000 t/d, 67% of capacity, with 70,000 t/d from the Block Cave. Freeport targets restarting Production Block 1S in mid-2027 and expects to reach 80% of capacity by then.
The profit came from price, not volume: Freeport sold 23% fewer pounds at a 40% higher realized price. Volume returns only on the Block Cave schedule, with Production Block 1S due in mid-2027. The PTFI smelter restarted in late August, and Freeport says production and sales will diverge until downstream units reach normal rates, so copper and gold shipments out of Indonesia stay uneven into 2027. Gold sales of 105,000 oz trailed production of 234,000 oz while PTFI disputes a 10% export duty.
SUPPLY DISRUPTION | COPPER
Antamina, one of Peru's largest copper mines, suspended operations as a precaution after an operations worker died in an accident at its Yanacancha site in the Áncash region, the company said. Antamina said it had opened an investigation and was coordinating with the authorities. Shanghai Metals Market reported that no restart timetable had been set. Antamina is owned by BHP and Glencore (33.75% each), Teck (22.5%) and Mitsubishi Corporation (10%). A senior operations manager died at the same site in April 2025.
Antamina produced about 342,100 t of copper in January to August, according to Shanghai Metals Market, roughly 42,800 t a month. Each week without a restart date takes about 10,000 t out of a concentrate market where Chinese spot treatment charges already sit below zero. The second fatality at Yanacancha in 18 months also changes the restart test: the gate is the investigation and the authorities' sign-off, not the mine's readiness. Smelters with Antamina tonnage booked for the fourth quarter should check their force majeure terms.
JOINT VENTURE | SCANDIUM
KAP Minerals and Cymat Technologies signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to advance a proposed joint venture to produce and sell scandium-aluminum master alloy in Canada. KAP would supply scandium oxide from its Kapuskasing project in Northern Ontario, where feasibility and metallurgical work is under way. Cymat would contribute a flux-free alloying process and manufacturing capacity. The partners target demonstration of commercial-grade master alloy by the end of 2027. The release gives no volumes, grades or financial terms.
The MOU rests on two unproven links: KAP's oxide is still in feasibility and metallurgical testing, and Cymat's flux-free process has to make alloy to a customer specification. The end-2027 target is a demonstration, not a supply contract. In aerospace, a new master alloy source then enters a qualification cycle with each buyer before it reaches flight parts. Anyone reading this as near-term Canadian scandium supply should look for the oxide spec first: the venture has no customer, volume or grade on the record.
