Artemis Gold has lifted the cost of its first Blackwater mill expansion in central British Columbia to C$120 million, about 20% above the original C$100–C$110 million budget, to add spares and raise nameplate capacity by one‑third to 8 million tonnes per year. The revised spend equates to roughly C$60 per tonne of added annual capacity, with civil works for a new vertical mill complete, structural steel advancing, pre‑aeration tank erected and oxygen equipment foundations poured as mechanical tie‑ins to the live plant now dictate schedule. A much larger C$1.44‑billion second expansion would add a separate 13‑million‑tonne‑per‑year plant, targeting total 21‑million‑tonne capacity and more than 500,000 oz. of gold annually from 2029, positioning Blackwater among Canada’s largest gold operations.

Lion Copper & Gold’s Bear deposit at the Rio Tinto-backed Yerington project in Nevada has an initial resource of about 1.0 billion indicated tonnes at 0.29% copper (6.7 billion lb) and 1.7 billion inferred tonnes at 0.22% copper (8.7 billion lb), making it one of the state’s largest undeveloped copper resources. Combined with Yerington’s 506.6 million tons of proven and probable reserves at 0.21% copper (2.1 billion lb), Lion’s Nevada portfolio now totals roughly 19 billion lb of contained copper, surpassing Hudbay’s Mason and Pumpkin Hollow. A 2025 PFS outlined 120 million lb/year cathode output over 12 years, with a post-tax NPV7 of US$694 million, 14.6% IRR and US$724 million initial capex, while Rio Tinto’s Nuton continues heap-leach testing under its 65% earn-in option.

War-fractured Myanmar has become the world’s largest supplier of heavy rare earths, with Chinese companies running largely unregulated in-situ leaching operations in autonomous border regions such as Kachin and eastern Shan, guarded by ethnic armies including the United Wa State Army. Workers like “Min” are paid about 3,000 yuan (£330) per month for roadbuilding and pit work on steep slopes, amid frequent fatal landslides and exposure to toxic lixiviants that have poisoned rivers and farmland. Ore is trucked into China, mixed with other feedstocks and effectively laundered into global supply chains for EVs, wind turbines and advanced weapons, while revenues fund more than 1,200 armed groups in an already fragmented civil war.