New Pacific Metals has updated the PEA for its Carangas silver-gold-zinc-lead project in Bolivia, outlining a 19-year life of mine (plus two years’ pre-production) with total output of 195 Moz payable silver, 1.1 Moz gold, 1,453 Mlb zinc and 941 Mlb lead (339 Moz AgEq). The study gives a post-tax NPV of $3.23 billion and IRR of 37.0% at $5,100/oz gold, with initial capex of $644.5 million, LOM capex of $1.2 billion and a 2.4-year payback. Average AISC is $18.25/oz AgEq, with silver-dominant production of 15.5 Moz/year in years 1–8 before transitioning to 7.6 Moz Ag and 142.7 koz Au per year in years 9–16.

Nth Cycle will go public via a merger with SPAC Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. VI (NYSE: KCAC), valuing the critical minerals refiner at $585 million and targeting up to $330 million in gross proceeds from Kensington’s trust and a common stock PIPE. The combined entity, Nth Cycle Holdings, Inc., will trade on the NYSE under ticker “NTH” and scale its modular ‘Oyster’ electro-extraction units, which selectively recover nickel, cobalt, rare earths, copper and other battery metals from scrap, end-of-life batteries and mined rock. A previously signed 10-year, approximately $1.1 billion offtake agreement with Trafigura underpins commercial deployment.

Gold and silver prices jumped as the US–Iran conflict spread to a second key maritime chokepoint, pushing investors into safe-haven metals despite the highest long-term US borrowing costs in years. Traders moved back into bullion even as 10-year US Treasury yields remain near multi-year highs, a backdrop that typically pressures non-yielding assets. The shift signals that geopolitical risk premia are currently outweighing interest-rate headwinds in precious metals markets, with knock-on implications for mine hedging strategies and project financing assumptions.