Copper

Aris Mining has completed the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for its Soto Norte gold-copper project in Santander, Colombia, and in 2026 began formal community engagement across three municipalities ahead of submitting the ESIA and environmental license application. The company said Soto Norte lies outside the Santurbán Páramo and its buffer zone, and it aligned the ESIA and consultation process with Colombia's regulatory framework and the Escazú Agreement. The milestone follows the ANM's July 29, 2026 approval of the modified technical mine plan for Soto Norte, which confirmed regulators have reviewed the project's geology, reserves and mine design but does not replace the need for an environmental license before construction or mining can begin. Aris Mining's narrative projects $2.2 billion revenue and $688.8 million earnings by 2029, requiring 19.9% yearly revenue growth and a $404.1 million earnings increase from $284.7 million today, with a CA$41.53 fair value implying 66% upside. Some of the lowest estimate analysts had assumed about US$2.0 billion of revenue and US$797.7 million of earnings by 2029 while still citing Soto Norte's lengthy permitting and heavy ESG commitments as reasons for caution.

NGEx Minerals has called a special shareholder meeting to approve spinning out its Valle Ancho Project into a new company, Valiente Resources, with investors set to receive shares in both entities under a statutory plan of arrangement. The company concurrently filed a detailed technical report on Valle Ancho and plans to list Valiente on the TSX Venture Exchange, separating exploration exposure into a distinct vehicle. The spin-out does not materially change NGEx's near-term focus on Lunahuasi, which remains the main upside catalyst and key execution risk. The move sits alongside the previously raised US$175,000,000 in private placement funding and ongoing Lunahuasi programs. NGEx Minerals' narrative projects CA$510.5 million revenue and CA$160.4 million earnings by 2029, requiring earnings to improve by about CA$291 million from -CA$130.9 million today.

Purecore Metals Inc. intends to complete a non-brokered private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of up to C$2,500,000, the company announced on October 2, 2026. The offering will combine hard dollar units priced at C$1.35 each and flow-through units priced at C$1.50 each, with each unit consisting of one common share and one warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder to acquire one warrant share at C$2.00 for 36 months from the applicable closing date, subject to acceleration if the closing price on the Canadian Securities Exchange equals or exceeds C$2.50 for ten consecutive trading days. Net proceeds from the hard dollar units are expected to fund mineral exploration, property expenditures and acquisitions, and general corporate and working capital purposes, while gross proceeds allocated to the flow-through shares will be used to incur eligible Canadian exploration expenses that the company intends to renounce to subscribers with an effective date no later than December 31, 2026. Completion remains subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, and all securities issued will be subject to a four-month hold period.

Orvana Minerals Corp. announced that its Bolivian subsidiary, Empresa Minera Paitití, S.A., has amended its US$25 million secured prepayment facility with Trafigura Pte. Ltd. The principal change extends the facility's final maturity date by six months, from December 2026 to June 2027, a move the company said better aligns the repayment schedule with the production ramp-up profile of the Don Mario Oxides Stockpile Project. The facility was first announced on November 6, 2025. Orvana is a multi-mine gold-copper-silver company whose assets include the producing El Valle and Carlés mines in northern Spain, the Don Mario property in Bolivia, which is ramping up production of copper cathodes and gold-silver doré from its oxides stockpile, and the Taguas property in Argentina.

Freeport reported third-quarter 2026 consolidated copper production of approximately 830 million pounds, in line with expectations, with slightly better international results offsetting slightly lower U.S. output. Consolidated gold production of approximately 230 thousand ounces also approximated expectations, but timing changes at PT Freeport Indonesia deferred roughly 60 thousand ounces of refined gold from the third quarter into the fourth quarter. As a result, Freeport expects third-quarter consolidated copper sales to approximate its July 2026 estimate of 750 million pounds, while gold sales are expected to approximate 100 thousand ounces, below the July estimate. Consolidated unit net cash costs are now expected to come in about 5% above the July 2026 estimate of $2.00 per pound of copper, mainly on lower by-product credits from the deferred gold sales, and the company estimates its third-quarter consolidated average realized price will exceed $6.50 per pound of copper. At the Grasberg minerals district, mill throughput averaged approximately 140,000 metric tons of ore per day, about 67% of normalized rates prior to the September 2025 incident, and PTFI's smelter in Eastern Java re-commenced operations in late August 2026, with Freeport still targeting 80% of capacity in mid-2027 and near full capacity by year-end 2027.

Newmont Corporation, the gold and copper miner in the Zacks Mining - Gold industry, holds a positive Earnings ESP of +6.16% ahead of its next quarterly report, scheduled for release on October 22, 2026. The company has topped estimates by 21.27% on average over the last two quarters, including a 2.44% surprise in the last reported quarter with earnings of $2.1 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.05 per share, and a 40.10% surprise in the prior quarter with earnings of $2.9 per share against an expected $2.07 per share. The positive Earnings ESP, combined with a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), suggests another beat is possibly around the corner, as Zacks research shows stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time. Investors should note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss, but it does reduce the predictive power of the metric.

Lundin Mining Corporation reported that its issued and outstanding common shares with voting rights rose by 22,173 to 851,359,558 as of September 30, 2026, an increase from August 31, 2026 resulting from the exercise of employee stock options and the vesting of employee share units. The company said it did not purchase any shares for cancellation under its Normal Course Issuer Bid program during that period. Under its shareholder distribution policy, Lundin Mining is committed to allocating up to US$150 million in annual share buybacks through the NCIB program, and its Board of Directors has approved an increase of up to US$100 million to the share repurchase program for the remainder of 2026. So far during 2026, the company has acquired 6,098,494 common shares at an average cost of approximately C$35.70 per share. Lundin Mining is a Canadian mining company headquartered in Vancouver with three operating mines in Brazil and Chile, and its shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under LUN and on Nasdaq Stockholm under LUMI.

Emerita Resources Corp. says its Preliminary Feasibility Study for the Iberian Belt West Project is well advanced and currently in final review, but the release will come later than previously indicated. Following a review by the company's recently updated Board of Directors, which also established a Technical Committee of independent Directors, Emerita has expanded the final review process to include additional technical and quality assurance oversight. The company said this expanded review is more comprehensive than previously planned and is the primary reason for the change from its previously indicated timing for release of the PFS. The objective is to provide an additional level of technical scrutiny and confidence in the results ultimately published for shareholders and other stakeholders. Based on the current work plan, Emerita expects to complete the review and release the PFS in the coming weeks.

Edge Copper Corporation has appointed Sarah Terrell as a director and Brent Arsenault as Chief Financial Officer, both effective October 1, 2026, with Arsenault succeeding retiring CFO Patricia Fong. Terrell brings more than 25 years of international experience in commodities, trading and supply chains, and currently serves as Senior Vice President, Trading and Global Head of Sulfuric Acid at Trammo, Inc., where she has been a director since 2021. Arsenault has more than 18 years of finance and accounting experience, including senior roles at Brio Gold Inc. and Yamana Inc., and has served as a Senior Finance Consultant to Edge Copper since 2025, supporting the CFO transition. Chair and CEO Gil Clausen said Terrell's expertise in international supply chains, commercial development and corporate governance will strengthen the Board as the company advances its 100%-owned Zonia Copper Project in Arizona. President Letitia Wong thanked Fong for her ten years at Edge Copper and said Arsenault's appointment provides continuity as the company continues to progress and grow.

Brutus Mining Inc. has appointed Gordon Robb and Luke van der Meer as advisors to the company. Robb is Chief Executive Officer and a director of ESGold Corp. and has more than a decade of experience in institutional fixed income and mining capital markets, with prior roles at ICAP, BGC Partners and TMX Group. Van der Meer is a Vancouver-based geological consultant who serves as the company's Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed the September 17, 2026 news release on the engagement of Palliser Exploration Ltd. for a geochemical soil sampling survey of approximately 1,500 samples at the CW Property, expected to be completed by mid-October 2026. In connection with the appointments, Brutus granted a total of 225,000 stock options under its Equity Incentive Plan, comprising 125,000 options to Robb and 100,000 to van der Meer, each exercisable at $0.80 per common share for two years from the date of grant and subject to a four month hold period. Brutus Mining is a Vancouver-based mineral exploration company whose sole mineral property interest is an option to acquire a 100% interest in the CW Property, five contiguous mineral claims totalling 2,894.56 hectares in the Kamloops Mining Division of British Columbia.

Entrée Resources Ltd. President and CEO Chris Adams issued a letter to shareholders outlining progress on the company's carried interest in the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project in Mongolia. Adams, who took over as CEO in July, said Entrée is targeting Q1 2027 for completion and release of a technical report covering Oyu Tolgoi LLC's updated resource model for Hugo North Extension Lifts 1 and 2, with an updated Lift 1 underground mine plan and production schedule expected from Oyu Tolgoi LLC in Q4 2026. The report will use current costs and forecast metal prices, compared with the assumed copper price of US$3.25/lb and gold price of US$1,591/oz used in the 2021 report, and will include a new resource estimate for Hugo North Extension Lift 2. On the Joint Venture license transfers, the partners updated valuation calculations in June and paid the license transfer tax to the Mongolian tax authority, and continue to engage with the tax authority to obtain the tax payment certificate required for registration of the transfer with the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority of Mongolia. Adams also noted reports that Rio Tinto CEO Simon Trott was in Mongolia in September to formalize an agreement to lower management fees and the shareholder loan interest rate in the 2011 Oyu Tolgoi Amended and Restated Shareholders Agreement, and that Rio Tinto reaffirmed its commitment to work toward a dividend for both Oyu Tolgoi LLC shareholders in 2027. The letter also announced the August appointment of Sarah Strunk as an independent director and the election of Richard Williams at the June 2026 Annual General Meeting, and paid tribute to former President and CEO Stephen Scott, who passed away earlier this month.

U.S. GoldMining Inc. announced the completion of its 2026 surface exploration program at its 100% owned Whistler Gold-Copper Project in Alaska, expanding its pipeline of high-priority drill targets. The program was conducted alongside the recently completed 7,493 meters of diamond core drilling across 10 targets within the Whistler Orbit. Fieldwork included reconnaissance mapping, prospecting and rock grab sampling at the Whistler Orbit, Island Mountain and Muddy Creek mineral systems, with 58 rock grab samples submitted for gold, copper and multi-element assaying, 12 geochronological samples collected, and 68 samples taken at the Long Lake Hills prospect for hyperspectral analysis. The company said the work identified new outcrop zones of gold-copper porphyry-style mineralization and extended the known footprints at the Whistler Orbit, Island Mountain and Muddy Creek, with assay results pending. The Whistler Project currently hosts 5.41 Moz AuEq of indicated resources and 4.97 Moz AuEq of inferred resources across the Whistler, Raintree West and Island Mountain deposits. CEO Tim Smith said the data will support future exploration and drilling campaigns aimed at identifying new gold and copper discoveries.

Osisko Metals Incorporated announced new analytical results from its 2026 drill program at the Gaspé Copper Project in Québec's Gaspé Peninsula, reporting 28 mineralized intercepts from 12 drill holes. The headline result is 211.5 metres averaging 0.59% Cu in hole 30-1243, an out-of-pit expansion intercept located outside the 2026 MRE model, which includes 28.5 metres averaging 2.31% Cu and 11.8 g/t Ag. A second out-of-pit expansion hole, 30-1236, returned 86.5 metres averaging 1.36% Cu, including 18.0 metres averaging 4.53% Cu and 23.3 g/t Ag. Both holes sit 500 to 600 metres west of the 2026 MRE model on the north slope of Needle Mountain, and CEO Robert Wares said the company is confident these mineralized zones will be included in a westerly pit expansion in the next resource update. The program is designed to convert the bulk of the remaining 2026 MRE Inferred resources to Measured and Indicated categories while testing lateral expansion to the west and south toward Needle East and Needle Mountain.

Camino Minerals Corporation announced that its Peruvian subsidiary, a 65/35 joint venture with Nittetsu Mining Co., Ltd., has received approval from Peru's Ministry of Energy and Mines for the Second Modification of the Semi-Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment for its Costa de Cobre Project in southern Peru. The approval increases the effective exploration area by approximately 94%, from 6,012.50 hectares to 11,671.90 hectares, and expands the environmental framework to support a total of 280 drill platforms and up to 611,840 metres of drilling capacity. Within that total, the Second MEIA-sd adds 212,500 metres of new drilling capacity and 1,282 new potential drillholes, covering major portions of the three copper fault trends crossing Camino's claims: the Diva trend, the La Estancia trend, and the Atajo trend. The approval followed MINEM's environmental review and a favourable technical opinion from Peru's National Water Authority, though Camino still needs authorization from MINEM to initiate exploration activities before drilling can begin in the new areas, with drilling planned to start this fall. Camino also said it entered a 12-month agreement with Market One Media Group Inc. dated September 17, 2026, paying a cash fee of $58,000.00 plus applicable taxes for editorial, digital media, and video services.

Gunnison Copper Corp. has appointed Jennifer Hays as Chief Financial Officer, effective October 12, 2026. Hays brings roughly 20 years of finance experience, most recently as CFO of PacSci EMC, a U.S. defense and space operating company within Ralliant Corporation, where she helped drive substantial revenue growth and lift booked backlog to US$1 billion and helped secure a US$27 million Defense Industrial Base Consortium award to expand production capacity. Before Ralliant, she spent about 17 years at Intel Corporation in senior finance roles spanning government contracting, manufacturing, global supply chain, M&A integration and divestitures, and risk and controls. Fabio Rocha, who has served as Interim CFO, will be promoted to Senior Director, Accounting and Reporting. President and CEO Craig Hallworth said Hays's background is exceptionally well aligned with Gunnison's strategy to become a major new source of domestically produced copper.

Northmin Corporation announced the highest silver and copper assays it has received to date from its Tynagh Project in the Republic of Ireland, with hole 3615-26-08 returning 2.45m grading 4.03% Cu, 24.87% Zn+Pb, 0.47% Sb and 313.82 g/t Ag from 106.75m, including 0.75m grading 933 g/t Ag and 12.85% Cu. The two holes reported, 3615-26-08 and 3615-26-09, are the third and fourth of a 10-hole program and intersected numerous mineralized intercepts, including broad zones of polymetallic mineralization in the Waulsortian Reef Limestone and in the previously unmined sub-reef Lower Muddy Limestone. Hole 3615-26-08, drilled 50m east of the high-grade copper intersection in hole 3615-26-07, also cut 33m grading 0.3% Cu, 2.42% Zn+Pb, 0.07% Sb and 21.26 g/t Ag from 56m, and 6.9m grading 0.38% Cu and 9.27 g/t Ag from 145.0m. Hole 3615-26-09, located 43m east of hole 3615-26-06 and 33m west of 3615-26-07, returned 24.45m grading 0.3% Cu, 1.25% Zn+Pb, 0.06% Sb and 11.05 g/t Ag from 93.8m, plus 19.7m grading 0.11% Cu, 2.4% Zn+Pb and 13.21 g/t Ag from 134.3m and 5.1m grading 0.78% Cu, 1.1% Zn+Pb, 0.26% Sb and 50.54 g/t Ag from 164m. The first four holes have now tested a strike length of 125m, and Northmin said observations from another four widely spaced completed holes, with assays pending, give it confidence across the 1.6km strike of the historically mined deposit.

FireFly Metals reported a full year net loss of A$23.62 million to June 30, 2026, with basic loss per share from continuing operations at A$0.0426. The company's shares last closed at A$1.72, down 9.71% on a one-month share price return basis and 16.50% year to date, though the three-year total shareholder return still stands at 267.02%. FireFly Metals trades at a price-to-book ratio of 3.5x, which is described as expensive versus direct peers at 1.7x and the broader Australian Metals and Mining group at 1.8x, roughly double the sector average. The company also carries an ongoing net loss of A$30.806 million and a return on equity of 7.25% in decline terms, with losses deepening over the past five years. The valuation assessment concludes that the price-to-book of 3.5x is overvalued.

Analyst earnings estimates for Southern Copper Corporation have been revised upward for both the current quarter and the fiscal year, drawing increased investor attention to the Peru and Mexico copper producer. The company carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), and the upgraded expectations reinforce profitability as a near-term catalyst without materially changing the biggest risks around tariffs, higher operating costs, and potential project or community disruptions. In July, the board approved a quarterly dividend of US$1.10 per share, underlining how current earnings strength and cash generation are being shared with shareholders even as the company commits to heavy capital spending. Southern Copper's narrative projects $18.1 billion in revenue and $6.9 billion in earnings by 2029, requiring 4.7% yearly revenue growth and a $1.2 billion earnings increase from $5.7 billion today, while the most pessimistic analysts assumed earnings fall to about US$4.6 billion by 2029. The forecasts yield a $167.79 fair value, an 18% downside to the current price.

The Zacatecas Attorney General's Office has formally served Capstone Gold, S.A. de C.V., the Mexican operating subsidiary of Capstone Copper Corp. that runs the Cozamin mine, with a criminal document demand to produce 14 categories of confidential underground mine documents, maps and the 3D block model, according to Royalties Inc. The order, an official ACUSE dated September 7, 2026 and signed by Capstone Gold's legal representative Abel González Vargas on September 10, 2026, also compels Metagri, S.A. de C.V., the Mexico City office and Manzanillo Port concentrate collector and trading intermediary, to produce all payment records, pro forma settlements, bills of lading and wire transfer receipts for concentrate sold from the five Portree mining concessions. The demand arises from a 2022 criminal lawsuit filed by Minera Portree de Zacatecas, S.A. de C.V., an 88% owned subsidiary of Royalties Inc., against Raul Gonzalez over the attempted transfer of a 2% royalty on the Portree claims to Capstone's Cozamin mine, a sale of property belonging to another that Gonzalez has admitted and accepted. The case, file CUI: 9367-UEI-FRAU-2022, is being handled by the Specialized Unit for the Investigation of the Crime of Fraud and investigates fraud and/or whatever may result, a formula that leaves open potential additional charges including lack of authority, venta de cosa ajena and fraudulent administration. The order warns that failure to comply or submission of false information will trigger enforcement measures under Article 104 of the National Code of Criminal Procedure, which provides for fines and, in cases of persistent non-compliance, escalating criminal sanctions against responsible individuals including González Vargas. Royalties Inc. owns 88% of Minera Portree de Zacatecas, which holds a court-confirmed claim, confirmed twice, to a 2% royalty established in 2002 on the five Portree claims, part of which lies on the Mala Noche Footwall Zone, the main source of production at the Cozamin mine where Capstone has been mining since 2010.

VR Resources Limited has submitted an amendment application to the Nevada Bureau of Land Management for its current Notice of Intent drill permit, seeking to increase the area and number of potential drill sites for follow-up drilling at Jeep Mine on its New Boston moly-tungsten-copper-silver porphyry project in Nevada. The amendment would double the number of permitted drill sites from eight to sixteen. The company said planning has begun for follow-up drilling to hole NB26-003, completed in June, which intersected 317 m at 0.77% CuEq starting at surface, above 419 m of 0.48% CuEq, within 2,892 ft (881 m) of continuous polymetallic stockwork veining. VR received its current NOI permit for the Jeep Mine area on March 6, 2026, within 15 business days of application, and anticipates a similar process time frame for the amendment. The company also approved an aggregate allocation of 400,000 RSUs, 800,000 DSUs and 1,950,000 incentive stock options at a price of $0.56, exercisable for five years, to certain directors, officers and consultants, subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.

Nine Mile Metals Ltd. announced assay results Wednesday from its Wedge Mine in the Bathurst Mining Camp, New Brunswick, intersecting two distinct zones of high-grade VMS mineralization carrying copper, lead, zinc, silver and gold. The hole, drilled to 149 meters at the southwest edge of the company's drill pattern, hit copper-rich Upper Zone mineralization including an assay of 3.47% copper, before a second lens, the Lower Zone, was found between 110.50 and 121.20 meters. Assay results in the Lower Zone reached up to 117 g/t silver and 0.805 g/t gold, with one sample returning 87 g/t silver, 0.85 g/t gold, 1.06% copper, 4.33% lead and 6.75% zinc, or 5.68% copper equivalent. Gary Lohman, Nine Mile's vice president exploration, said the results show the Wedge deposit is more robust than previously thought, with an Upper Zone dominated by copper and a Lower Zone locally enriched in lead, zinc, silver and gold. Nine Mile has completed 18 holes, or 4934.5 metres, of its 10,000 metre program, with deeper drill results still pending.

Critical Mineral Resources PLC has reported standout exploration results at its Agadir Maloul project, including more than 5,000 grams per tonne silver alongside 10.2% copper and 2.8 grams per tonne gold. CEO Charlie Long said the company is encountering four distinct styles of mineralisation: sediment-hosted copper, which remains the main target, mineralised rhyolite containing copper and silver, a potentially separate fault-controlled silver structure featuring massive sulphides, and copper-dominant shear zones and quartz veins about nine kilometres to the southeast. Two drill holes close to a fault produced the company's highest-grade silver results to date, supporting the possibility of a fault-controlled silver structure, though Long stressed that further exploration is needed to determine its scale, continuity and depth. On the main sediment-hosted copper system, the company reported an intersection of more than 10 metres at 0.72% copper, which Long said can contain significantly more copper than narrower, higher-grade intersections while potentially reducing strip ratios and operating costs. Further copper results are expected over the next two or three weeks, and Long said the work is expected to contribute to the company's planned maiden mineral resource, targeted for the end of October but possibly moving into November depending on progress.