Trilogy Metals and South32’s 50/50 Ambler Metals JV has approved a $35 million 2026 work programme at Alaska’s Upper Kobuk Mineral Projects, targeting mine-permit submissions for the high-grade Arctic copper deposit under federal FAST-41. Drilling will focus on geotechnical and condemnation holes for mine design and infrastructure siting, while the Bornite camp is upgraded for multi-year geotechnical and exploration campaigns and an independent UKMP management team is re-established. Arctic’s 2023 feasibility study outlines a 13-year operation producing 149 Mlb/y copper plus zinc, lead, gold and silver, with an after-tax NPV8 of $1.1 billion and 22.8% IRR.

Almonty Industries has begun commercial mining at the Sangdong tungsten mine in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, with the first truckload of ore delivered to the run-of-mine (ROM) pad, signalling the shift from development to active extraction. The project is centred on redeveloping one of the world’s historically significant tungsten deposits, aiming to supply high-grade ore into Asian and global hardmetal and alloy markets. For mine planners and geotechnical teams, the move commits the site to full-scale stoping, ground support, and backfill sequencing rather than purely development headings.

Canada Nickel has declared its Timmins Nickel District in northern Ontario the country’s largest undeveloped nickel district, with contained metal rising about 12% to 20.9 million tonnes after new initial resources at Bannockburn and Midlothian. Bannockburn now hosts 63 million indicated tonnes at 0.28% nickel plus 129 million inferred tonnes at 0.27%, while Midlothian adds 595 million inferred tonnes at 0.28% nickel from drilling totalling 9,268 metres in 22 holes. The district, anchored by the 9.7‑million‑tonne Crawford deposit and seven other defined resources, now exceeds The Metals Company’s Clarion‑Clipperton seabed nickel resource.