Deep Sea Minerals has secured a “substantial compliance” determination from NOAA under the US Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, advancing its application to explore polymetallic nodules in international waters. The proposed concession covers about 150,000 km² of the Pacific Ocean, targeting nodules containing nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese for electrification, energy and defence supply chains. The company says this makes it one of only three publicly traded or public-market pathway firms to reach this stage in NOAA’s DSHMRA regulatory process, as the agency moves to accelerate licence reviews.

Stardust Power Inc. has been selected as the end-use industrial partner in a US Department of Energy-funded programme led by Ohio University’s Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment and CONSOL Innovations to develop electrochemical technology for direct lithium extraction from domestic waste streams, including oil and gas wastewater and legacy coal mine drainage. Under FOA DE-FOA-0003105, the team will test coal- and waste coal-based electrodes, with Stardust Power evaluating lithium product against battery-grade specifications and assessing refinery integration. The move supports diversified US lithium feedstocks and strengthens domestic critical minerals processing capacity.

Cornish Tin & Lithium’s Phase 3 drilling at the Tregonning project in West Cornwall has extended the lithium-bearing Newall Formation to a strike length of about 3.27 km from Tregonning North to Tregonning South, with multiple lithium-enriched aplite‑pegmatite sheets at varying depths. Earlier intersections at Tregonning North included 0.3 m grading 1.33% Li₂O, with a peak of 1.42% Li₂O, and the new work suggests a materially larger lithium inventory. Drilling at Tregonning South also defined a new tin system with at least ten lodes, returning up to 2.69% Sn in Norcross No.1, 1.26% Sn in Rib North and 1.68% Sn in Rib South.