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TSX-V-listed Rock Tech Lithium has announced preliminary results from the ongoing definitive feasibility study (DFS) for its Red Rock converter, in Ontario, Canada.

The company reports that the preliminary DFS results indicate total capital costs of C$596-million, comprising C$546-million of direct capital costs and C$50-million of owner's costs, with a tolerance of about 20%. The study is based on a production capacity of about 30 000 t/y of lithium salts.

"The preliminary DFS results are an important decision-making milestone for investing in a modern and scalable lithium production platform in Ontario. They underline that the Red Rock converter can be built at a highly competitive capital cost – a level not yet achieved within the Western lithium supply chain," says Rock Tech CEO Mirco Wojnarowicz.

The DFS is being conducted by China CEC Engineering Corporation (CEC), an international engineering, procurement and construction engineering service provider with expertise in lithium conversion.

Rock Tech explains that CEC has extensive experience in the development and construction of battery materials plants with a combined yearly production capacity of more than two-million tonnes of battery salts.

For localisation of the project, CEC will be working with established Canadian partners.

Rock Tech says the DFS remains ongoing and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

The results of the final DFS are expected to provide further details on capital and operating costs, project economics, technical parameters, implementation schedule and financing structure.

The preliminary DFS results announced today remain subject to the final DFS results and further engineering, technical and financial validation by CEC. Subject to the final DFS results and receipt of the required project approvals, construction is currently expected to begin in the second half of 2027.

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

With the prospect of even more extreme climate change, with the challenges faced in the environmental space worldwide, the importance of a holistic, joined-up, collective understanding of ecological science grows daily, Oppenheimer Generations executive chairperson Jonathan Oppenheimer said in opening the fifteenth Oppenheimer Research Conference on Wednesday, October 7.

"We are, I believe, very close, if not at, a tipping point in terms of what happens going forward," Oppenheimer told a full house at the Randjesfontein Cricket Ground in Midrand. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

"As we know, in science nothing happens overnight. It's not something that we can measure and produce a set of results and correct in 24 months, let alone over 12 or six, and we live in a world that is looking for instant action.

"So, we here are critically challenged to try and make what we do, which is longitudinally complex and inevitably takes time, immediately and vitally important to what happens to society as a whole. Making that connection between the science here and the science that's done globally, and what that means for society and humankind itself, is somehow critical.

"The narrower and the more precise and the more specific we become around our own particular research topics, is in many respects, incredibly valuable for us as individuals, but fails in our ability to communicate and carry that message to a much larger audience.

"I don't need to persuade you here in this room that conservation is the way we ensure our species' survival, but I do need us to find a way to carry that message beyond these two and a half days," said Oppenheimer in pointing out that it was the majority that drove public opinion and the only way to get most people to back conservation was to make it relevant to them.

"What we do is longitudinal in its nature. It takes time. What they want is an Instagram post for 30 seconds and we bridge that gap in the first instance by being able to sell our ideas to each of us who are open-minded and already curious and interested, and then once we've done that, we have to refine it further to sell that message to a larger and larger audience, until in the end we sell this message to 100% of the public in the world. That is the challenge of this conference," Oppenheimer added during the event covered by Mining Weekly.

Former De Beers and Anglo American leading light Nicky Oppenheimer, in a joint programme document, joined his son in pointing out that the research presented at the multi-day conference fostered collaboration not only across disciplines but also across scales, from microscopic to landscape and global.

"In doing so, we're bringing African voices to global conversations on environment, conservation and sustainability," it was noted.

In his keynote address, Nobel Peace Prize winner for global climate action Professor Guy Midgley, the director of the School for Climate Studies at Stellenbosch University, pointed out that before the Paris Accord, the world was heading for a global warming level of 4o. "Now our projections are much closer to 2.5o. Not good enough yet, but a huge advance," Midgley highlighted adding that the highest carbon emission trajectories that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change once projected "are now no longer plausible", which he described as being "huge for the planet".

"In Africa, our median age is about 19; in Europe, it's over 40. We still have a demographic dividend ahead of us. Unlike the developed world, we are urbanising faster than anywhere on the planet, and our cities are expected to add a billion people by mid-century.

"Yet we've managed to keep remarkably large wild landscapes intact. We must now answer the question of how to bu...

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

An Australian community group has won the first climate change case to come before the country's top court, with judges upholding a decision to block a two-decade extension of a coal mine in the State of New South Wales.

MACH Energy had sought to extend the life of its Mount Pleasant mine, which is due to end operations in December this year, until 2048 and double its coal production. The expansion would have allowed it to extract an additional 406-million tons of coal.

The High Court of Australia, in dismissing the company's appeal with costs, found local authorities failed to properly consider imposing rules to mitigate the project's climate footprint, a ruling advocates say will impact future fossil fuel approval decisions in the state.

So-called scope 3 emissions made up 98% of the mine's greenhouse gas emissions. But the New South Wales' Independent Planning Commission did not consider rules to address them as the vast majority would be generated overseas once the coal was exported, said Justice James Edelman.

"By focusing only upon 2% of the project's emissions, the Commission failed in its reasons to consider whether conditions should be imposed to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions are minimised to the greatest extent practicable."

Projects with a direct emissions footprint of more than 100 000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, known as Scope 1 and 2 emissions, are covered by Australian rules that require an emissions fall of 4.9% a year or the use of offsets, or carbon credits.

Emissions created overseas by the use of fossil fuels are not covered.

The appeal was the first time Australia's highest court had ruled on a climate change case.

"Today the High Court has said what we have always known: we cannot dig up coal, ship it overseas, watch it drive climate change, and then pretend the consequences have nothing to do with us and won't be felt by us," said Wendy Wales, a retired science teacher and the community group's president.

MACH Energy said in a statement it acknowledged the decision but was "disappointed".

A WIDER THREAT

The judgment has drawn both criticism and praise.

Western Australia's Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) CEO Aaron Morey said the decision created "fresh uncertainty" for his State's liquefied natural gas industry.

"All it will do is drive investment in those projects to competing countries – many of which enforce much lower environmental and safety standards than Australia does," he said.

Woodside Energy's vast Browse gas project has faced opposition on climate grounds with the Australian Conservation Foundation bringing its own case.

Astrid Puentes Riano, the UN's special rapporteur on the Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment, will join as an amicus curiae or 'friend of the court'.

Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) CEO Tania Constable said it sent "a very negative signal to Australia's trade and investment partners about sovereign risk in this market".

Latest government figures show Australia shipped 209-million metric tons of thermal coal for earnings of A$31-billion ($21.62-billion) in 2026-2027. Liquefied natural gas exports were valued at A$70-billion.

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

South Africa's mining sector entered this year on a stronger footing, underpinned by higher platinum group metals (PGM) and gold prices, improved mineral reserve positions and growing interest in critical minerals, professional services firm PwC's 'SA Mine 2026' report shows.

Presenting key findings from the report, PwC Africa Energy, Utilities and Resources leader Andries Rossouw said the sector achieved considerable growth in revenue, profitability, free cash flow and market capitalisation.

He acclaimed during the October 6 presentation that mining companies maintained disciplined capital allocation, focusing on efficiency, brownfield optimisation, mine-life extensions and selective growth, rather than large-scale expansion.

However, Rossouw mentioned that production levels dropped in some of South Africa's main commodities, such as PGMs, with this well below pre-pandemic levels. Gold, however, recovered somewhat owing to higher prices incentivising higher production.

Commodity prices provided significant upside during the period, with average dollar gold and platinum prices for the 12 months to June 30 having increased by 50% and 80%, respectively, compared with the previous 12-month period.

Concurrently, investment, technology and project development contributed to improved reserve positions across key commodities.

The combination provides a positive platform for the sector, the report highlights.

The mergers and acquisitions activity by South African listed mining companies was largely focused offshore.

Twenty-one transactions were recorded over the past 12 months, with a total disclosed transaction value of about $31-billion. Two large strategic transactions accounted for about 93% of disclosed deal value, reflecting a market characterised by selective rather than broad-based investment, the report states.

Beyond the headline transactions, activity was concentrated around portfolio realignment, targeted consolidation and assets where existing infrastructure can provide a clearer route to production.

Meanwhile, improved precious metal prices translated into a significantly stronger financial performance for the companies analysed in the report.

Total market capitalisation outperformed the rest of the JSE and increased by 23% to R1.61-trillion, up from R1.30-trillion in 2025, with much of the growth driven by the strong performance of the gold sector.

Gold and PGM companies together accounted for 85% of total market capitalisation this year, compared with 77% in the previous year.

Gold sector market capitalisation increased by 26% year-on-year, while the market capitalisation of the PGMs sector increased by 25%, reflecting improved sentiment towards precious metals.

BUILDING ON "South African mining has an opportunity to build on the momentum we are seeing across key commodities. Higher prices have strengthened the operating environment, while investment and innovation are helping companies get more from existing assets.

"The focus now is on translating these gains into sustained productivity, investment and economic value," says PwC South Africa Energy, Utilities and Resources assurance partner Vuyiswa Khutlang.

Rossouw pointed out a key opportunity to unlock further value from the country's mineral resources, established infrastructure and operational capabilities.

He advocated for investment, innovation and favourable economics to bolster mineral reserves.

Moreover, further value could be realised through mature-mine redevelopment, tailings retreatment, beneficiation and technology that improves economic recoverability.

Rossouw posited that new and proposed gold, PGM and copper developments represented encouraging green shoots, but required an enabling, investible environment to attract...

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

US investment firm Heeney Capital has celebrated the arrival and unloading of the first shipment of primary aluminium to the US from Venezuela in nearly a decade.

The 15 000-t shipment arrived at the Port of Avondale in New Orleans, Louisiana early in October.

Heeney hosted US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, among other officials, to mark the milestone.

"We are thrilled at the successful delivery of this shipment. This will be one of many future shipments of Venezuelan aluminium to the United States and is part of a larger initiative of American investment into Venezuela," says Heeney co-founder Henry Heeney.

The aluminium was transported from Venezuela to the Port of Avondale, where it will support American manufacturing. The shipment represents a step toward restoring a supply corridor that once made Venezuela one of the hemisphere's leading aluminum exporters, and reflects a broader effort by Heeney and its partners to rebuild US access to critical materials from the region.

"This shipment is symbolic of the continuing relationship between Venezuela and the US. Heeney is focused on investing in assets that will power the re-industrialisation of America," adds Heeney co-founder Sean Pi.

Heeney anticipates additional shipments in the coming months with a longer-term goal of broader investment in Venezuelan industrial capacity.