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.

Lake Resources has secured the key Environmental Impact Declaration for its Kachi lithium brine project in Catamarca, Argentina, clearing the project to enter front-end engineering design for a 25,000 tpa lithium carbonate equivalent facility using Lilac Solutions’ direct lithium extraction process and prior engineering work with Hatch. The DIA confirms compliance with provincial environmental and social standards, imposes a 200 m surficial exclusion zone around the lagoon shoreline, and sets pre‑operations obligations. Lake has also committed $1 million to Catamarca’s Mining Royalty Trust Fund, to be paid between October 2026 and June 2027 for local infrastructure.

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.