Southern Copper’s Tía María greenfield copper project in Arequipa will be the first mine in Peru to operate Komatsu autonomous haulage system (AHS) trucks, supplied and supported by Komatsu-Mitsui. CEO Julio Molina told Día1 de El Comercio that the deployment will use Komatsu’s state-of-the-art AHS platform, signalling a shift towards driverless haul fleets in the country’s large open pits. The move will require detailed redesign of haul roads, traffic management and dispatch systems to meet AHS requirements for berms, gradients and separation from manned equipment.

Aclara Resources has secured its Environmental Qualification Resolution for the Penco Module ionic clay rare earth project near Penco, 430 km south of Santiago, concluding a permitting process that ran for more than four years. The project is scoped to produce about 774 tonnes of rare earth oxides annually over 14 years, with a 2021 PEA outlining initial capital of $119 million, an after-tax NPV of $178 million at a 5% discount rate, a 23% IRR and a 4.7-year payback. Penco ore will ultimately feed Aclara’s planned commercial separation plant in Louisiana, supported by a Virginia Tech pilot facility producing both light and heavy rare earth oxides.

Deutsche Bank has cut its Q3 2026 gold price target by 22%, now forecasting an average of $4,300/oz versus a previous estimate above $5,500/oz, while keeping a Q4 target of $4,800/oz, both still above the current ~$4,150/oz spot price. Analyst Michael Hsueh attributes the downgrade to Fed repricing and resilient US macro data, with scenarios in which three to four rate hikes could push gold down towards $3,800/oz. The bank notes continued ETF outflows but persistent central bank buying, and maintains a longer-term upside case of up to $8,000/oz on de-dollarisation.