Precious metals and copper prices plunged on Friday after the US Fed chair nomination triggered profit-taking, with April gold futures crashing 11.4% to $4,745/oz and silver suffering a record 35.9% drop to $78.53/oz, while March copper briefly fell 9.5% to $5.76/lb before closing 4.5% lower at $5.92/lb. The sell-off wiped billions from miners: Newmont fell 11.5% to a $122bn valuation, Barrick 19%, and silver-focused Pan American Silver 13.7% to $23bn. Diversified and copper majors were hit less severely, with BHP down 4.8%, Rio Tinto 4.3%, Glencore 3.4% and Southern Copper 8.5%, yet most leading miners remain strongly positive year-on-year.

Glencore remains deadlocked with Quebec over the future of its nearly 100-year-old Horne copper smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, where arsenic emissions must be cut from current levels to 45 ng/m³ by March and 15 ng/m³ from 2027—still five times the provincial standard. The company is weighing a US$200 million modernisation to meet the 15 ng/m³ target but is demanding an 18‑month transition period and guarantees against tighter future limits before committing. Closure would also threaten the Canadian Copper Refinery in Montreal, which relies on Horne’s 210,000 t/y copper and precious metals output, and comes amid an authorised class action over historical emissions.

The Government of Liberia and ArcelorMittal have signed an amended Mineral Development Agreement extending the company’s iron ore mining rights to 2050, with an option to renew for a further 25 years. The ratified deal secures long-term access to Liberia’s existing rail and port export corridor, critical for moving high-volume ore from inland operations to the Port of Buchanan. For mine planners and infrastructure engineers, the extended tenure supports justification of major brownfield upgrades to rail capacity, load-out facilities and materials handling systems over multi-decade horizons.