US–Israel military action against Iran has driven oil briefly towards $120 per barrel before settling in the $90s, as tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen from about 80 ships per day to only a handful, erasing expectations of near‑term oversupply. BMO analysts report nitrogen fertiliser prices up roughly 30%, with Middle Eastern producers supplying nearly half of global urea exports and about 15% of global polyethylene capacity, pushing utilisation towards 90%+. Metals impacts are uneven: up to 5 Mt of Middle Eastern aluminium output may be disrupted, while sulfur‑intensive nickel and phosphate chains face rising cost and supply risk.

Metso Corporation and Loesche GmbH have formed a partnership to roll out Metso Loesche vertical roller mill (VRM) dry grinding technology, now integrated into the Metso Plus offering for minerals processing. The VRM is positioned as a direct replacement for high-pressure grinding rolls (HPGR) and horizontal mills in primary grinding circuits, targeting reduced energy use and a smaller plant footprint. For process engineers, the move signals a push towards single-stage dry comminution flowsheets with fewer conveyors, screens and slurry handling systems.

Mineral Mining Services has mobilised its specialised reverse circulation drill fleet and crews to start a new RC drilling programme at the Leonora South gold project near Kookynie, Western Australia. The campaign follows a formalised “Drill-for-Equity” agreement with GoldArc Resources, under which MMS will receive part of its compensation in GoldArc equity rather than cash. The structure reduces upfront drilling costs for GoldArc while locking MMS into project upside, a model that could influence funding strategies for early-stage gold exploration in the Leonora–Kookynie belt.