Western Australia’s Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration is pushing to cut mining project assessment times and embed more digital workflows in its approvals process, with director general Chris Shaw telling the WA Mining Conference 2026 that timeliness, effectiveness and efficiency are now core performance measures. The regulator is prioritising end‑to‑end online lodgement and tracking of applications, along with better data integration across environmental, geotechnical and safety assessments. For proponents, this signals stronger scrutiny of technical submissions but potentially faster decisions for complex greenfield and brownfield projects.

EU antitrust regulators have issued a formal statement of objections to MMG’s planned acquisition of Anglo American’s Brazilian nickel business, focusing on low-carbon ferronickel output from the Barro Alto mine and processing plant. The European Commission warns MMG, controlled via China Minmetals and SASAC, could reroute Barro Alto ferronickel to affiliated Chinese stainless steel producers, cutting volumes available to EU buyers. For smelters and alloy producers in Europe, the case signals closer scrutiny of supply concentration and long-term offtake structures in critical nickel feedstocks.

Financial author and forecaster Harry Dent blames the latest asset bubble on unprecedented US government money-printing, warning that another “couple trillion” dollars of stimulus will be less effective because investors have already seen repeated crisis rescues. He labels gold’s surge from about $1,600 to roughly $5,600 in three years as “the fastest, most extreme bubble in history”, far above its long-term trend. Dent expects a severe deflationary downturn would drag gold down alongside commodities and equities, though with smaller percentage losses.