Gold prices slipped to a one-week low as spot gold fell 0.4% to $4,271.16/oz in New York and December futures eased 0.3% to $4,306 amid a stronger US dollar and expectations of more hawkish US Federal Reserve rate moves. The dollar hit a two-month high and US 10-year Treasury yields hovered near a 20-year peak, sharply raising the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion. Oil gained about 1% on stalled US–Iran talks over the war, while spot silver dropped 1.8% to $63.29/oz, platinum 0.2% to $1,746.44, and palladium rose 0.5% to $1,266.40.

OceanaGold is weighing a 50% expansion of its Waihi plant to 1.2 Mt/y after Wharekirauponga drilling returned standout intercepts including 6.3 m at 97.2 g/t Au from 481.5 m in the East Graben vein and 8.5 m at 41.5 g/t from 399 m. The move would enable concurrent feed from Martha Underground and Wharekirauponga post‑2032, building on a 2024 plan outlining 1.6 Moz over 15 years and an initial 4.1 Mt reserve at 9.2 g/t. Underground development is advancing, with the Waihi North decline now 350 m, first vent shaft under construction, staged commissioning of a new water treatment plant, and early works on a new tailings storage facility due in Q4.

Rainbow Rare Earths has secured an offtake and processing memorandum with Neo Performance Materials covering 40% of Phalaborwa’s separated NdPr oxide and 65% of its mixed SEG+ heavy rare earth carbonate, enabling a prefeasibility study in Q4 and pushing the definitive feasibility study to the first half of 2027. Neo will supply solvent extraction design and technical support, with test work on phosphogypsum-derived feed under way in Estonia and an integrated pilot planned in Johannesburg, de-risking the complex separation of dysprosium, terbium and yttrium. The $326 million project would recover magnet rare earths from legacy fertiliser gypsum stacks, potentially feeding Neo’s Estonian separation and sintered magnet plant and offering a non-Chinese supply route linked to European capacity.