Chile’s state copper commission Cochilco has slashed 2026 mine output forecasts to 4.94 Mt from 5.27 Mt and cut 2027 guidance to 5.08 Mt, while lifting its 2027 price outlook 17% to $5.95/lb as Escondida, Spence and Codelco-driven grade decline, maintenance and interruptions deepen an 8.4% national production drop. Refined copper surpluses are now put at just 144,000 t in 2026 and 215,000 t in 2027 (0.5–0.8% of consumption), with Cochilco warning that a 1% demand surprise would flip 2027 into a 65,000 t deficit. Tightness is already visible in physical markets, with Yangshan premiums at $205/t, LME cash trading $210/t over three-month, and Shanghai Futures Exchange stocks down 18% to 44,612 t.

Global mining equities have shed $712 billion since February’s $2.75 trillion peak, with the MINING.COM TOP 50 now down 26% and October alone erasing $226 billion as higher US rate expectations, Middle East-driven oil gains and a tech-stock rout forced fund de-risking. Gold fell 6.6% in October to $3,884/oz and silver 18.2% to $49.39/oz, wiping $55 billion from 16 gold miners, while copper producers lost $69 billion despite copper holding near $6.47/lb and the World Bank lifting its 2027 forecast to $13,000/t. Trading volumes also thinned sharply, with only 12% of TOP 50 market value turning over in October versus 18–19% earlier in the year, signalling buyers stepping back rather than capitulation selling.

St Barbara will restart ore processing at the Touquoy gold mine in Nova Scotia on 3 November after provincial approval to reprocess about 3 million tonnes of ore through a refurbished mill that will ramp up through November and December, targeting roughly C$180 million in recovered gold. The company’s longer-term 15-Mile Processing Hub Project now faces a federal Impact Assessment Agency review, with potential implications for costs, permitting complexity and a planned mid-2028 construction start, prompting contingency plans to resume open-pit mining at Touquoy. St Barbara has also defined an initial underground resource at Old Austen Mine Down-Plunge of 500,000 oz in 4.8 Mt at 3.4 g/t, with stope-optimised geometry guiding an expanded drilling programme.