CMJ Daily Tape
PRODUCTION | COPPER
Ivanhoe Mines revised 2027 copper production guidance for the Kamoa-Kakula complex in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to 300,000 to 350,000 tonnes, at a cash cost (C1) of $2.50 to $3.00 per pound, from $2.10-$2.50, it said in third-quarter results on November 3. Ivanhoe cited prolonged elevated diesel prices, lower grades and lower production. Kamoa-Kakula produced 76,401 tonnes of contained copper in the quarter, at a C1 of $3.00 per pound. Shallow, high-grade open-pit mining will start at Kamoa, with first ore expected in Q3 2027. The on-site smelter, rated at 500,000 tonnes a year, has run at roughly 1,250 tonnes per day, or 60% of capacity, since mid-February. An updated life-of-mine plan is due in March 2027.
The number to watch is the smelter, not the guidance. A 500,000-tonne direct-to-blister smelter has run at 60% since February, and Ivanhoe now caps steady-state concentrator capacity at 400,000 to 450,000 tonnes of copper before Phase 4. Open-pit ore from Kamoa arrives in Q3 2027 at the earliest. Until then the smelter either sources outside concentrate or carries fixed cost on idle capacity, and anode buyers will be renegotiating tonnage before they negotiate price.
INDUSTRIAL POLICY | LITHIUM & NICKEL
India's Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved on November 4 a capital expenditure support scheme with an outlay of Rs 2,814 crore (28.14 billion rupees) to promote domestic processing of lithium and nickel, according to the Press Information Bureau. The scheme covers a period of five years. Mining Weekly put the outlay at $297 million and reported that the government links the measure to India's high import dependence on critical minerals and to tighter conditions following China's export controls.
Rs 2,814 crore over five years is about Rs 563 crore a year if spread evenly. That pays for a few conversion lines, not a refining base. Capex support also pays for the plant, not for the feed. Any refinery built on this money still needs spodumene or nickel intermediates under signed offtake, and a qualification cycle with cell makers before it sells a tonne. The test is whether applicants arrive with feed contracts, or with a site and a subsidy application.
M&A | RARE EARTHS
Energy Fuels said in its Q3 results on November 4 that it completed the acquisition of Australian Strategic Materials (ASM), including the Korean Metals Plant in Ochang, South Korea, which produces rare earth metals and NdFeB alloys. The pending acquisition of magnet maker Vacuumschmelze (VAC) is expected to close in Q1 2027. The company approved construction of commercial-scale heavy rare earth oxide circuits at the White Mesa Mill, with dysprosium and terbium expected in early 2028. Third-quarter uranium sales were 320,000 pounds at $88.90 per pound.
On paper the chain runs from White Mesa oxide to Korean alloy to VAC magnets. The weak link is time. Dysprosium and terbium oxide is not due until early 2028, and every step needs the next customer to qualify material from a new plant. A magnet maker does not switch heavy rare earth feed without requalifying grades with its automotive and defense buyers. Until those qualifications clear, VAC keeps buying heavy rare earths from its current suppliers, whoever owns it.
PRODUCTION | LITHIUM
PLS, formerly Pilbara Minerals, produced about 267,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate at Pilgangoora in the September quarter, up 25% quarter on quarter and a quarterly record, Shanghai Metals Market reported from the company's earnings call. FOB unit operating costs fell 12% to A$539 per tonne. Sales were about 223,000 tonnes, down 11% on shipment timing, at an average price of US$1,809 per tonne on a 5.2% Li2O basis. The Ngungaju plant completed its restart ramp-up in October.
Production rose 25% and sales fell 11%, so about 44,000 tonnes of concentrate stayed unsold in one quarter. PLS blames shipment timing, and the December quarter will show whether that holds. The analyst on the call cited a market near US$1,300 per tonne, and several recent offtakes carry a US$1,000 floor. A floor protects price, not volume. If buyers take only contract minimums, the gap shows up as stockpile at the mine before it shows up in the price.
PERMITTING | CROSS-MINERAL
The US Bureau of Land Management launched a Critical Minerals Screening Tool on November 4, an interactive map of critical mineral concentrations, including rare earth elements, built on US Geological Survey GIS data. Layers show mining claims, land withdrawals, rights-of-way, transmission lines, power facilities, and processing plants such as refineries and smelters from the ICMM Global Mining Dataset. BLM said the tool does not replace coordination with local offices. It supports Executive Order 14241 and Secretary's Order 3436.
The useful part of the map is not the geology. It puts deposits next to transmission lines, rights-of-way and smelters, the infrastructure that decides whether a deposit moves. A deposit with no power line, no right-of-way and no processing plant within trucking distance is a permitting file, not a supply source. BLM itself tells proponents to engage local offices early on tribal and permitting issues. Developers will use the tool to screen; the schedule is still set at the field office.
