CMJ Daily Tape
EXPORT CONTROL | COBALT
Glencore produced 13,700 tonnes of cobalt from its own operations in the first nine months of 2026, down 52% from 28,500 tonnes a year earlier, according to The Northern Miner's report on the company's third-quarter production update. Third-quarter output was 3,500 tonnes, 20% below the second quarter and 31% under the BMO Capital Markets forecast. The African Copper division produced 11,600 tonnes through September, down 56%. Glencore said cobalt is being retained in solution rather than processed into saleable hydroxide, and that volume is excluded from reported production; the company did not disclose how much. The Democratic Republic of Congo replaced its February 2025 export suspension with an annual quota system in October 2025, covering 2026 and 2027.
The 52% drop is not lost metal. Glencore is holding cobalt in solution at its Congolese operations, unconverted and undisclosed. That stock sits upstream of the hydroxide circuit, so when quota allocations loosen, the release rate depends on hydroxide capacity at Kamoto and Mutanda, not on mining rates. Refiners that buy Glencore hydroxide should expect supply to return in batches set by the quota calendar. Any buyer contracting cobalt for 2028 should ask how many tonnes sit in solution today.
M&A | COPPER
Teck Resources reported third-quarter copper production of 115,700 tonnes, up 11% year on year, at a net cash unit cost of US$1.77/lb against US$2.09/lb a year earlier. The copper price averaged a record US$6.40/lb in the quarter. Teck cut its 2026 copper cost guidance to US$1.80–2.00/lb from US$1.85–2.20/lb and kept production guidance at 455,000–530,000 tonnes. Quebrada Blanca produced 47,200 tonnes, down from 55,800 tonnes in the second quarter. Teck said its merger with Anglo American remains on track.
The asset that carries Teck's growth case went the other way. Quebrada Blanca fell to 47,200 tonnes from 55,800 tonnes in one quarter, and its unit cost rose to US$2.48/lb from US$1.83/lb, on throughput of 117,000 tonnes a day and 81.1% recovery. Teck left QB's 2026 guidance of 200,000–235,000 tonnes unchanged. Smelters planning 2027 intake of QB concentrate should test that guidance against third-quarter throughput and recovery, not against the group cost beat.
OFFTAKE | ANTIMONY
Critical One Energy signed a binding memorandum of understanding with Solar International Core Canada (SICC) for C$15 million of equity at C$1.20 per share, a 48% premium to the 28 October close, for a 12% fully diluted interest. SICC will use commercially reasonable efforts to deliver, within 90 days, a term sheet for up to C$400 million in construction debt, and gets exclusive rights to up to 150 million pounds of future antimony from Howells Lake, Ontario, at international benchmark prices. Critical One said Howells Lake has no NI 43-101 resource.
Of the C$425 million in the headline, C$25 million is committed: C$15 million in equity and a C$10 million processing commitment. The other C$400 million is a best-efforts term sheet that becomes available only after studies, permits and a construction decision. The 150-million-pound offtake is priced at benchmark against a deposit with no resource estimate, while the 20,000-metre program for a maiden resource is still running. For antimony buyers, the operating question is the planned Ontario processing facility: its feed source, product specification and qualification schedule.
STUDY | ZINC
Emerita Resources published a pre-feasibility study for its Iberian Belt West project in Huelva Province, Spain, with an after-tax NPV (8%) of US$776 million, an IRR of 23.51% and a 21-year mine life on a 1.2 Mtpa plant. Initial capital is US$566.7 million. The probable reserve is 23.4 Mt at 2.30% zinc, 1.13% lead and 0.45% copper. Pyrite concentrate accounts for 66% of project net smelter return and zinc for 14%. The study assumes long-term zinc at US$2,980/t and pyrite concentrate at US$274/t.
A zinc project where pyrite earns 66% of net smelter return needs a buyer for an average 694,620 tonnes a year of pyrite concentrate, priced at US$274/t with no exchange benchmark. Life-of-mine payable pyrite value is US$4,737 million against US$1,145 million for zinc. The release names no offtake. The bankability test for IBW is a long-term pyrite contract with an acid or chemical plant that can take that tonnage from Huelva, not the zinc price.
