The 5th Ministerial Roundtable at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh has concluded with the creation of a new ministerial steering group to shape future agendas on mineral security and supply-chain resilience. Convened by Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, the roundtable gathered producing and consuming countries from Africa, Asia and Europe to discuss cross-border investment frameworks and shared ESG standards. The steering group will coordinate between forums, aiming to turn high-level commitments on responsible mining and critical minerals into specific policy and project pipelines.

Westminster City Council has adopted a retrofit-first planning policy in its City Plan Partial Review, obliging developers to evidence options for retaining and adapting existing structures before applying for demolition and rebuild. The plan also tightens affordable housing requirements, shifting the tenure mix in new schemes from 40% to 70% social rent and from 60% to 30% intermediate, and capturing sites with fewer than 10 units through financial contributions. Four large mixed-use strategic sites are flagged for redevelopment: St Mary’s Hospital, Westbourne Park Bus Garage, land adjacent to Royal Oak, and Grosvenor Sidings.

Australia’s Federal Government has named lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earths as the first commodities eligible for its $1.2 billion Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, ahead of Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ mid-year budget update. The reserve will allow Canberra to buy and hold physical stockpiles to support downstream processing projects and stabilise supply chains, with details expected to influence financing for operations such as Larvotto Resources’ Hillgrove gold–antimony project in NSW. For miners, the move signals potential price support and new offtake-style backing for qualifying critical mineral projects.