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EXPORT CONTROL | BATTERY METALS
India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has banned the export of lithium-ion battery black mass under ITC(HS) code 85491400, the Commerce Ministry said on 11 November 2026. Notification No. 49/2026-27, dated 10 November, moves the item's export policy from "Free" to "Prohibited" with immediate effect and until further orders. Transitional arrangements under Para 1.05 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2023 apply. The ministry defines black mass as the powder from shredding end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and battery manufacturing waste, containing lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese. It says the ban is meant to keep black mass generated in India for domestic recycling and refining, and complements the ₹1,500 crore Incentive Scheme for Critical Mineral Recycling approved in September 2025.
The ban took effect on the date of the notification, so cargoes already contracted to foreign refiners now depend on how customs applies the transitional clause in Para 1.05. The ministry's release gives no figure for domestic refining capacity. If Indian hydrometallurgical plants cannot absorb shredder output, black mass piles up in yards and domestic payables fall. Refiners abroad that qualified Indian feed lose a supply line and have to requalify replacement material.
OFFTAKE | URANIUM
Oklo has signed definitive multiyear contracts to buy high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) from Centrus Energy, formalising a June 2026 letter of intent, Centrus said in a 12 November 8-K. Oklo will prepay future deliveries to support new U.S. enrichment capacity. Deliveries from Centrus' American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, are scheduled to begin in 2029, with enough HALEU for up to five Aurora powerhouses. Meta's prepayment for Oklo power supports the purchase. Centrus says it now holds $5.4 billion in contracts and commitments for LEU and HALEU from the new capacity.
The $5.4 billion is a backlog against centrifuges Centrus is still building: the release says it has only just begun shipping its first new machine. With Oklo deliveries starting in 2029, cascade manufacturing is the binding constraint, not demand. The cash runs from Meta to Oklo to Centrus, so a slip in Oklo's Ohio licensing schedule reaches the enrichment buildout through the prepayments before it reaches the fuel.
DEFENSE STOCKPILE | ANTIMONY
United States Antimony Corporation reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $10.1 million, up about 16%, and gross margin of about 42% against 23%, in a 12 November 8-K. Antimony pounds sold rose 68%, including about 162,000 pounds of metal ingots accepted by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). The company says time from DLA sampling to payment fell to about 70 days for shipments five to seven, from as long as 124 days earlier. Shipments 8 to 14, about 249,000 pounds worth about $6.6 million, are sampled or awaiting sampling.
The constraint on USAC's government revenue is the DLA's laboratory, not the Thompson Falls smelter. The company says sampling, lab approval, acceptance and payment are outside its control, and the best cycle so far is still about 70 days. With about 249,000 pounds in the DLA queue, close to the 275,000 pounds accepted through October, the working capital tied up in ingots waiting on sampling is the number to watch.
EARNINGS | URANIUM
enCore Energy reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $16.7 million on deliveries of 200,000 pounds of U3O8 at about $83.46 per pound realized, the company said on 12 November. Weighted average cost of uranium sold was $87.22 per pound, against $38.35 a year earlier, mainly on purchased uranium. Of 685,000 pounds sold in the first nine months, 560,000 were purchased and 125,000 extracted. The Alta Mesa wellfield 3 Extension and the first phase of Upper Spring Creek are complete and awaiting final TCEQ approvals.
For now enCore is a uranium trader with wellfields waiting on a Texas permit. Of 685,000 pounds sold this year, 560,000 were bought in, and the quarter's cost per pound sold, $87.22, sat above the $83.46 realized. Until TCEQ signs off on Alta Mesa and Upper Spring Creek, the delivery book runs on market purchases, with $5.1 million of unrestricted cash behind it and $47.4 million burned in operations over nine months.
