Moon River Moly’s updated PEA lifts the Davidson underground molybdenum-copper-tungsten project’s after-tax NPV to C$1.23 billion at an 8% discount rate and cuts payback to 1.5 years, driven by a switch from gravity separation to tungsten flotation and revised capex/opex. The 10,000 t/d, 20-year operation now targets average annual output of 13.27 million lb molybdenum, 1.5 million lb copper and 1.51 million lb WO₃, with all-in sustaining costs of $4.36/lb Mo net of by-products. Tungsten resources are upgraded to 80.8 million tonnes measured and indicated, and the mine plan includes battery-electric equipment, paste backfill and dry-stack tailings.

Chinese state-aligned miners have secured concessions over more than one million hectares in Nicaragua—around 8.5% of national territory—targeting high-grade epithermal gold systems such as the 50 km La India district, valued at an estimated $1.4 billion NPV. The gold endowment, with co-metals including antimony, tellurium and silver for infrared sensors and munition fuses, provides Managua with sanctions-resistant “war liquidity” while deepening Beijing’s resource portfolio. With Ortega’s removal of competitive elections, 30-year, state-backed concessions near the Panama Canal and 1,000 miles from the US border raise explicit anti-access/area-denial concerns for Western defence supply chains.

Newmont has priced the Red Chris block cave expansion in British Columbia at $4.2–$4.8 billion (including contingency and assuming a C$500 million federal contribution), targeting first underground production in 2033 and average output of 275,000–325,000 oz. gold and 65,000–85,000 tonnes copper from 2035–2040. Engineering is at least 60% complete, the cave has been reoriented to avoid major fault intersections, and initial development covers two mining blocks over 13 years with potential mine life up to 70 years. Development capex will rise about $500 million next year to $1.9 billion, with Red Chris accounting for roughly $250 million, funded from internal cash flow.