South Africa and EU sign critical-minerals pact as Brussels announces €350mn in infrastructure support

View: Source South Africa and the European Union signed a major critical minerals partnership at a high-level trilateral summit in Pretoria on November 20, with President Cyril Ramaphosa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and European Council President António Costa affirming a “mature” and “trust-based” relationship, according to a joint communiqué issued after the meeting. Von der Leyen said the …

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Lithium prices plunge in China after moves to curb speculative trading

View: Source Lithium prices in China fell sharply on Friday, short-circuiting a rally, after the main exchange stepped in to curb speculative trading and on a report that battery giant CATL could restart production at its flagship lithium mine. The most-active lithium carbonate contract on the Guangzhou Futures Exchange closed daytime trading down 9% at 91 020 yuan ($12 804.21) per …

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Hedge funds and retail now drive Gold rally – TDS

View: Source Gold’s recent strength has been powered largely by hedge funds and retail investors, whose inflows have far exceeded official-sector demand. While central bank buying still provides a price floor, it is unlikely to fuel another surge without continued support from private investors, TDS’ Senior Commodity Strategist Daniel Ghali notes. Gold holds firm as fund inflows dominate “Hedge funds and …

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Swiss Bank UBS (UBS) Says Silver Is Likely to Outperform Gold in 2026

View: Source Analysts at the lender say that the gray metal is likely to outperform its rival gold in 2026, with its price supported by tightening global supplies and rising investor demand amid growing macroeconomic uncertainty. UBS also notes that silver benefits from being both a precious metal used to make jewelry and an industrial metal used in technologies ranging from …

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A cold gold rush? The race for the Arctic’s critical minerals is heating up

View: Source The Arctic’s geostrategic importance is becoming increasingly clear as countries scramble to shore up their resource security. The U.S., Canada and Russia are among just some of the Arctic states jostling for influence in the region. “Greenland, right now, is a repository of a lot of base metals, precious metals, gem stones, rare earths, uranium … it’s all there,” …

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Gold And Copper Set To Outperform As Oil Price To Lag Into 2026

View: Source ING has released its latest set of commodities projections through to the end of 2026, with analysts highlighting gold and copper as the clear outperformers while Crude oil and natural gas continue to face pressure from abundant supply. Gold Price Forecast: Elevated through mid-2026 before a slight year-end cooling ING expects gold prices to hold near USD 4,000/oz in …

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Canadians back critical minerals push, but demand stronger enviro safeguards

View: Source Canada’s first Social Acceptability Barometer for the mining sector shows strong national support for developing critical minerals, but the public expects tighter environmental oversight, better consultation and more transparent governance. Released by Transfert Environnement et Société, in collaboration with Australian research firm Voconiq, the survey canvassed more than 4 800 Canadians across all provinces and territories. The findings come as the federal government …

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China’s Secretive Gold Purchases Signals a New Era for Bullion

View: Source Gold isn’t trading like a commodity anymore. It’s trading like a confession — the closest thing markets have to a whispered admission that the old reserve architecture is buckling under the weight of a new geopolitical cycle. And the FT just confirmed the part everyone suspected but couldn’t publicly say: China isn’t buying a little more gold than it reports …

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EU’s EIB to work with Australian government on critical raw materials

View: Source The EU’s European Investment Bank and the Australian government said in a joint statement on Monday they would deepen cooperation on critical raw materials, as Western powers scramble to cut their reliance on China. With the exception of Japan, Group of Seven countries and the EU are heavily or exclusively reliant on China for a range of materials from …

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How America fell behind in the rare-earth race—and how it hopes to come back

View: Source The United States has known for years that its economy runs on materials that it can’t control. The rare-earth metals that power F-35 fighter jets, electric vehicles, and iPhones mostly comes from one place: China. Now, after years of warnings, that dependence has turned from an abstract vulnerability into a central fault line in global trade. An agreement between President Donald Trump …

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