Sasquatch Resources is targeting roughly 300,000 tonnes of sulphide-bearing waste rock at the historic Mount Sicker copper-gold district on Vancouver Island, where legacy piles with a neutralisation potential of 0.2 and open shafts up to 200 feet deep continue to generate acid runoff and physical hazards. Modern sampling of the surface waste has returned average grades of about 2 g/t gold plus copper, silver and zinc, and the company plans to crush and process the material using density and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) ore-sorting in a closed-loop, reagent-free circuit. Because the project involves large-scale reprocessing without new mining, Sasquatch is working with regulators to craft a bespoke permitting pathway that could be replicated across an estimated 2,000 legacy mine sites in British Columbia.

Echion has launched a commercial range of fast-charging, high‑power lithium‑ion batteries using its niobium‑based XNO® anode technology, produced in partnership with GUS Technology at GUS’s Zhongli manufacturing facility in Taiwan. The XNO® chemistry targets applications needing very high charge rates and power density, such as mining haul trucks, drills and underground fleets where current graphite‑anode packs struggle with rapid cycling and peak load demands. For mine electrification projects, the move signals growing availability of alternative anode chemistries that can better tolerate high C‑rates and harsh duty cycles.

Lynas Rare Earths has produced its first on-spec samarium oxide at its Malaysian plant, making it the only non-Chinese supplier of this heavy rare earth used in high-performance magnets for electronics and aerospace. The A$180 million plant expansion is designed to separate up to 5,000 tonnes per annum of heavy rare earth feedstock, with initial capacity for samarium, gadolinium, dysprosium, terbium, yttrium and lutetium expected within two years. Lynas has also signed a four-year binding letter of intent to supply light and heavy rare earth oxides to the US Department of Defense.