World’s 50 most valuable miners reached a combined market capitalisation of $2.17 trillion at end-July, with entry to the list now requiring $13.56 billion, more than four times the $3.2 billion threshold in 2020. China’s Zijin Mining surged 23.8% to $125 billion on guidance for a 68% jump in first-half net profit and a sixfold increase in lithium output to 43,000 tonnes LCE, while Russia’s Polyus slumped 37.6% after suspending dividends until 2030. Glencore’s adjusted H1 2026 EBITDA rose 86% to $10.1 billion, supported by a 15% copper output increase and volatile oil trading.

A $400 million conditional loan from the US Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital will help Sunrise Energy Metals build primary scandium mining at Syerston in New South Wales, plus metallisation and additive layer manufacturing capacity, targeting a 60‑tonne‑per‑year output in a market producing only about 80 tonnes globally in 2025. The package, part of a nearly $1 billion public‑private financing, gives the Department right of first offer on output to feed US defence and commercial users. For materials engineers, a reliable primary scandium stream could de‑risk alloy qualification and scale‑up for high‑strength aluminium and SOFC applications.

Glomar Minerals has sent its UK Seabed Resources vessel RV Tangaroa on a 67‑day campaign to the Clarion‑Clipperton Zone, surveying two UK‑sponsored licence areas totalling about 133,000 sq. km for polymetallic nodules rich in manganese, cobalt, nickel, copper and rare earths. CEO Chris Williams is targeting first processing of nodules before the end of Donald Trump’s current term via Project Infinity, a modular US refinery with Cobalt Blue designed for 200,000 tonnes of nodules and 7,500 tonnes of terrestrial cobalt hydroxide per year. The company is actively exploring regulatory pathways outside the ISA and positioning for staged scale‑up from a sub‑full‑vessel operation.