Glencore has secured a land access agreement for the Coroccohuayco expansion project in Peru, Mining Weekly reported. Coroccohuayco is the growth project for the Antapaccay copper complex in Espinar province, Cusco, where land agreements with local communities have historically been the gating item; Glencore has previously put the investment at about 1.8 billion dollars for combined production of about 300,000 tonnes a year, and final permitting remains ahead. Detail beyond the agreement itself was limited in the initial report.
Spain’s Andalucia region is courting miners with faster permits. Regional officials told an international mining forum in Seville on Monday that a new mine was permitted from the beginning in 27 months last year, that the region accounts for about 90 percent of the value of Spain’s metal mining and ranks second in the European Union for copper output behind Poland, and that more than 450 expired mineral rights have been tendered alongside 73 active exploration permits and nearly 480 operating mines and quarries, with 40 million euros earmarked for innovation in exploration, processing, waste treatment and energy efficiency. Europe’s target of mining at least 10 percent of its annual consumption of strategic raw materials by 2030 is the policy frame.
Military Metals has won back its Trojárová antimony and gold licence in Slovakia. Slovak authorities annulled a May 28 decision cancelling the exploration licence and extended it for four years to October 18, 2030, the company said. Trojárová, near Pezinok about 20 kilometres northeast of Bratislava, hosts an inferred resource of 6.5 million tonnes grading 1.02 percent antimony and 1.06 grams per tonne of gold, containing about 67,000 tonnes of antimony and 222,000 ounces of gold. The licence covers exploration, not mining. Shares rose 28 percent to 25.5 cents on Monday, giving the company a market value of about 20.5 million Canadian dollars.
Nigeria’s lithium licence dispute has drawn a formal government reply. Kehinde Bamigbetan, special adviser to solid minerals minister Dele Alake, challenged an October 18 Telegraph report questioning Tony Blair’s role in advising Nigeria, arguing that Basin Mining and Range Mining, partners of Jupiter Lithium, lost their licences for failing to pay statutory annual service fees, with Basin owing 1.223 billion naira, about 691,368 pounds, after several Mining Cadastre Office notices, and that recovery proceedings are under way. He said the Tony Blair Institute holds no contract to advise the federal government, a point both the institute and the government have stated, and traced the enforcement to reforms under which at least 1,663 licences were revoked in November 2023. Jupiter has alleged unlawful deprivation of its Kaduna State lithium rights; the competing accounts are unresolved and an international investment dispute process has been invoked in the reporting.
Zinc and lead balances loosen in 2027 on the International Lead and Zinc Study Group’s latest forecast. Refined zinc moves from a deficit of 88,000 tonnes in 2026 to a surplus of 25,000 tonnes in 2027, as refined production rises 2 percent to 14.21 million tonnes against demand growth of 1.2 percent to 14.19 million tonnes, and the refined lead surplus widens from 90,000 tonnes to 163,000 tonnes. The zinc read matters for treatment charges: concentrate availability is expected to increase in Canada, Japan, Kazakhstan and Peru, which would ease the record low treatment charges that have squeezed smelters this year.
Two people were killed and three seriously injured in a blasting accident at the Goldry Mining Syndicate site in Bindura, Zimbabwe, on Saturday October 17, Zimbabwe Republic Police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed in reporting carried on October 20. Police investigations and a review of the operator’s compliance records are expected. Zimbabwe’s mining sector has recorded about 150 fatalities in the nine months to September, according to Mining Zimbabwe, which frames Bindura as part of a wider small scale safety problem rather than an isolated incident.
Ivory Coast has granted six new mining exploration permits, allAfrica reported, continuing the country’s run of licence awards as it positions itself as a stable West African mining destination while neighbours tighten state control. No company level detail accompanied the initial report. In Ghana, Kodal Minerals will explore a lithium project, Mining Weekly reported in a headline item, extending the junior’s West African lithium footprint; detail was limited at the time of writing.
On equipment, Metso is buying Italbronze to strengthen its crushing technology offer, International Mining reported, and Caterpillar is preparing the launch of a 22 tonne diesel electric R3200 underground loader, part of the same electrification and autonomy push behind Volvo’s new mining division, covered in a full story today.