Integra Resources’ updated feasibility study for the Florida Canyon heap leach mine in Nevada lifts proven and probable reserves 74% to 1.1 million oz at 0.31 g/t, raises planned output to 82,000 oz gold per year over eight years, and boosts the 5% NPV to US$601 million using a US$4,200/oz price. All-in sustaining costs climb 43% to US$2,331/oz with recovery steady at 62%, but post-tax free cash flow is projected at US$800 million, averaging US$90 million annually. Integra is drilling 42,500 metres around the existing operation to grow resources and fund its DeLamar gold-silver project in Idaho.

Democratic Republic of Congo has shifted from price-taker to price-setter in cobalt by imposing ARECOMS-managed export quotas and planning state stockpiles of cobalt, coltan and germanium. Cobalt prices have climbed from about $21,000/t in early 2025 to just over $56,000/t, with Kinshasa forecasting $2.3 billion in fiscal revenues this year versus an estimated $617 million without intervention. Advisory input from Vectus Global and new investment moves such as Virtus Minerals’ acquisition of Chemaf signal tighter supply discipline and a push for higher value-added partnerships.

Kazakhstan is racing to digitise a vast Soviet-era geological archive, with 1960s seismic data still stored on magnetic tape that can only be read on perhaps three surviving machines using playback needles no longer manufactured since the Brezhnev era. The National Geological Service aims to convert millions of pages of hand-drawn, non-standardised maps into polygons, vectors and points for AI-driven targeting of critical minerals, while also restating Soviet GKZ-classified reserves into KAZRC, JORC or NI 43‑101, with only about 143 of 400–500 major deposits converted so far. More than US$17 billion in recent US–Kazakh trade and investment deals, plus a new memorandum with Saudi Arabia, signal that access to this “pre-paid exploration” data is becoming a key competitive factor for mid-tier and junior explorers.