Hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Venezuelan gold flown into the US under a Trafigura–Minerven deal backed by President Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is sitting idle because refiners refuse to process it without proof it meets responsible-sourcing standards. The gold, including about $100 million shipped within hours of the March signing, comes from guarded Minerven underground mines where small-scale producers reportedly pay protection money to the Tren de Guayana gang. Similar deals by Heeney Capital and Mercuria, targeting up to $2.2 billion a year in Venezuelan mineral exports, face the same due‑diligence bottleneck.

Robert Friedland is pushing to replace conventional SAG and ball mills with I-Pulse’s I-ROX pulsed-power comminution, which stores electricity then releases nanosecond–microsecond bursts to fracture ore internally along mineral boundaries, with projected energy cuts of up to 80% and about 5% higher metal recoveries. A 2,500 m² I-ROX research centre in Toulouse is testing Kamoa-Kakula copper ore and tailings, while I-Pulse has also secured a US$250 million CHIPS Act award for silicon-carbide semiconductors. The same platform underlies G-Pulse drilling, claimed to triple penetration rates and extend bit life sixfold, to be trialled on the Millungera Basin geothermal project in Queensland.

Sumitomo Corporation of Americas is using its Dos Amigos copper project in Chile to illustrate a strategy of entering early-stage assets alongside local partners rather than waiting for fully derisked operations. The company’s VISIONS September 2026 edition describes a focus on long-life sulphide resources and shared development of mine, concentrator and associated infrastructure with Chilean operators, instead of purely financial offtake deals. For engineers, this signals continued appetite for greenfield copper projects in Chile requiring joint design of pits, tailings storage and processing plants with Japanese technical input.