Allied Critical Metals’ Borralha project in northern Portugal has intersected over 200 metres of visible tungsten mineralisation at the new Venise breccia target, 400 metres from the Santa Helena breccia complex, sending its shares up 8% to C$1.88 and valuing the company at C$317 million. A March PEA for Santa Helena alone, based on 13 Mt at 0.21% WO₃ (measured and indicated) and 7 Mt at 0.18% WO₃ (inferred), outlines an 11‑year mine producing 1,708 t/y WO₃ with an after-tax NPV of C$473 million and 49% IRR. Venise, defined within a 20,000‑metre drill programme and historically mapped but never systematically tested, was excluded from the PEA and is now central to plans to grow a district-scale tungsten system designated a strategic national project by idD Portugal Defence.

BRICS+ central banks now hold about 6,000 tonnes of gold, or 17.4% of global reserves, up from 11.2% in 2019, with Russia (2,336 tonnes), China (2,298 tonnes) and India (880 tonnes) the largest holders. Annual official-sector gold buying has averaged roughly 1,000 tonnes over the past four years, doubling after 2022 sanctions on Russia, and BRICS+ countries accounted for more than half of purchases between 2020 and 2024. The report flags Saudi Arabia as a potential “wild card”, noting that a shift to a 5% gold allocation could alone match projected total central bank demand for 2026.

Copper’s early-2026 rally above $14,500/t has fully reversed, with prices now around $12,000/t and down 2.5% year-to-date after the Iran war and Strait of Hormuz disruptions pushed energy costs higher and clouded global growth. Goldman Sachs, led by analyst Aurelia Waltham, has cut its 2026 base-case copper target to $12,650/t from $12,850/t, versus an estimated “fair value” of about $11,100/t, and warns of a “severely adverse” downside scenario if the strait stays blocked. For project modellers and mine planners, the bank’s note signals weaker near-term demand assumptions and greater price risk around expansion and hedging decisions.