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The capital intensity of mining has risen well ahead of inflation and mining project development timelines are continuing to extend, Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad pointed out on July 30 when he reported $2.9-billion half-year copper earnings at a 60% margin.

Accentuated by Wanblad is the ability of Anglo to provide capital efficient growth in a tightening copper market. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

"We're of the view that the formation of Anglo Teck can only be positive for the increasing of global copper supply," said Wanblad of the merged entity that he will lead this year or early next year. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Anglo's copper business produced 344 000 t of production in the six months to June 30 and is on track to meet full year guidance of 700 000 t to 760 000 t.

Bringing new copper online is becoming ever more expensive. The rate of inflation for capital intensity is running at almost double the increase in consumer price index (CPI) terms, Wanblad explained during the presentation of half-year results covered by Mining Weekly.

"Capital is, therefore, now a bigger part of the project's economics than ever before and returns need to be higher just to justify those elevated costs,"

"As capital inflation continues, the economics of many growth projects are at risk without higher prices and this is why we believe the copper price has to be structurally higher.

"It's also taking a lot longer to build and deliver these projects. Back in the 1990s, it took about seven years, from the time that an orebody was discovered to bringing it into production.

"Over the last decade or so, that has stretched out to almost 18 years and if that carries on, the cycles will take longer to move from trough to peak and we'll see much biggest swings in price.

"This is especially true when so much of the demand for copper is coming from strategic buyers, who rally aren't all that price sensitive.

"So, in that kind of world, projects that you can deliver in the short to medium term without spending a fortune to build them, become hugely valuable," said Wanblad.

Over the last 15 years, the mining industry's capital expenditure estimates have tended to come in considerably worse than what estimated at the study stage,

" So, in that world, low complexity and low capital intensity is exactly where you want to be," Wanblad commented.

Starting from lower capital intensity, protects returns, and positions copper mining companies to benefit from price upside that these supply dynamics should drive.

Against that background, the integration of Collahuasi and Quebrada Blanca is seen as a promising prospect that provides capital-efficient copper growth at scale in the near term.

There is potential to add an incremental 175 000 t of copper production a year at a capital expenditure (capex) of $2-billion, or $11 000 of capex per ton of copper growth.

Moreover, the integration would still allow for further growth of both assets, which provides increased flexibility for future options, including leaching and other plant expansions.

Anglo is putting the building blocks in place to bring about this integration "and just like any other adjacency that we've bought over the last few years, it's important that we take our time and we do this properly".

Much of what drives the extended schedules for copper projects is the time needed for permitting, planning, and stakeholder alignment, "so we want to get that right from the outset. We continue to believe that this is by far the best way forward for both. It sits right in that sweet spot: low capital intensity, relatively low execution risk, high confidence and near-term copper growth at real scale, and I'm genuinely confident about the potential h...

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.

Central banks bought far less gold at the start of the year than previously thought, and while demand has since rebounded, their purchases are expected to decline this year, according to the World Gold Council.

Central banks only bought 57 t in the first quarter, 187 t less than previously thought, the industry group said in a report Thursday. That's the weakest start to a year in well over a decade, according to WGC data, and the revision means the overall pace of purchasing this year is likely to fall below 2025.

The original estimate had reassured bulls that the institutions — a key driver of bullion's multiyear rally — were returning to the market in force to buy after prices dropped from an all-time high. The metal has lost about a quarter of its value since the Iran war began in late February, as higher energy costs stoked inflation concerns and pushed back expectations for interest-rate cuts.

A large share of the central-bank buying captured in the WGC's estimates isn't disclosed by monetary authorities themselves. Consultancy Metals Focus calculates the estimated purchases on behalf of the council using a combination of public data, trade statistics and field research.

Central-bank demand nevertheless recovered sharply between April and June, totaling a net 289 t, a record amount for a second quarter. Poland was the top buyer with 51 t, which took its first-half purchases to 82 t. China bought 33 t in the quarter.

After slumping from a record set in January amid concerns about tighter monetary policy, gold has found support near $4 000 an ounce since late June, with investors buying on dips around that level. Higher borrowing costs are typically a headwind for non-yielding gold.

Other highlights of the WGC's quarterly report:

* Gold-backed exchange-traded funds saw outflows of 45 t in the second quarter. * Bar and coin demand fell about 3% year-on-year to 307 t. * Jewelry demand slipped 17% to 278 t, the lowest since the pandemic. * Recycled supply dropped 6% to 326 t.

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Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed platinum group metals (PGM) mining and marketing company Valterra Platinum is actively supporting long-term PGM demand growth through strategic industry partnerships.

Following its collaboration with Johnson & Matthey and Sibanye-Stillwater earlier this year, two separate partnerships have been initiated, one with Umicore in Germany and Pujing Chemicals in China, to expand the use of PGMs in industrial applications. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

"We remain highly confident in the robust outlook for PGM demand," Valterra CEO Craig Miller reported during the company's presentation of stunning 1 633% headline earnings in the half-year to June 30.

"Consensus forecasts are largely built around today's known applications, and in our view, continue to underestimate the potential impact of innovation, substitution, and supportive policy developments.

"As economies become wealthier, demand naturally increases for technologies that enhance efficiency, productivity, and sustainability, creating new opportunities for PGMs," Miller explained during the presentation covered by Mining Weekly.

At Valterra's Capital Markets Day last year, details of ten-million ounces of additional PGM demand by 2035 were outlined.

"Based on the evidence that we see today, we continue to hold that view. Importantly, these opportunities are becoming increasingly tangible.

"Over the past 15 months, we've seen several developments that give us confidence that at least two-million ounces of this potential upside is progressing towards high conviction demand.

"We are working hard to shift more ounces from the known potential category into the high conviction bucket," Miller reported.

Three areas which stand out for Valterra are:

First, hydrogen. China's inclusion of hydrogen in its long-term strategic development plans, together with increasing deployment of fuel cell trucks and higher platinum loadings, points to demand that could materially exceed current assumptions.Second, AI-driven industrial demand. "We're already seeing PGMs used across data infrastructure applications, including hard disk drives, silicone, specialised crucibles, and power systems. As AI infrastructure scales globally, this demand should continue to grow," said Miller.Third, substitution opportunities. Elevated gold prices are improving the economics of replacing gold with platinum and palladium in industrial applications, while platinum jewellery continues to gain share from white gold in key Western markets.

"These opportunities are not theoretical. We're actively working to accelerate them through collaborations with Johnson Matthey, Sibanye-Stillwater, Umicore and Pujing Chemicals, creating pathways to commercial adoption across multiple demand sectors.

"So, in short, we see a market that is already in deficit today, underpinned by compelling medium-term fundamentals and supported by multiple credible sources of long-term demand growth.

"As a result, we remain confident that consensus demand forecasts will need to move higher over time," Miller added.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Sustainability remains embedded into everything done by Valterra, which is continuing to support the company's long-term value creation.

A key milestone during the period was the commissioning of 520 MW of renewable energy capacity through Envusa, with Valterra the largest offtaker.

This is already contributing to lowering Valterra's emissions as well as reducing its energy costs.

Valterra contributed R46-billion to the South African economy in the half-year through employment, procurement, investment, taxes, royalties, as well as community development initiatives.

The company also completed water resilience projects, including a new wastewate...

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.

Global diversified miner Rio Tinto posted its highest half-year underlying earnings in four years on Wednesday as performance from its copper and aluminium units tied to energy demand outshone profits from mainstay iron-ore for the first time.

The world's largest iron-ore miner is now deriving around 56% of its profit from copper and aluminium combined, boosted by electrification and AI megatrends as CEO Simon Trott executes on a simpler and sharper strategy in his first year in the job.

It joins BHP in reaping gains from stronger copper demand, with the peer company reporting in February it gained more profit in the half-year ending in December from the red metal than from iron-ore.

Rio reported underlying earnings of $6.85-billion for the six months ended June 30, up 43% from $4.81-billion a year earlier and broadly in line with a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of $6.8- billion.

While the result met analysts' expectations and delivered on productivity promises, the company fell short of any major announcements related to optimising its portfolio of assetsand infrastructure, said Andy Forster, a stock portfolio manager at Argo Investments in Sydney.

"It was an in-line result," Forster said, adding the lack of news around plans to optimise the assets was "slightly disappointing."

In December, Rio said it could unlock $5-billion to $10-billion in cash through portfolio management and infrastructure initiatives. On Wednesday it said it expects to achieve half of that by the end of the year.

Part of that will be through the agreed sale of its share of a seawater desalination plant in Dampierin Western Australia, Trott told a media call on Wednesday, but Rio did not disclose the sale amount.

Trott said the miner had delivered a "step-change in performance" in the first half, helped by higher commodity prices, rising copper output and productivity gains across the business.

"We are seeing shifts really across all of our commodities in terms of underlying demand," he said, flagging growing data centre and grid storage battery demand for copper and lithium.

Rio rose 4.5% to A$178.71 as of 02:29 GMT, while the benchmark index gained 0.8%.

PRODUCTIVITY MOMENTUM

Productivity growth delivered $870-million in benefits in the first half despite headwinds from high diesel prices and the strengthening Australian dollar, and Rio said it was on track to generate annualised gains of $1.8-billion by year-end.

"That was a very strong performance, and there's a lot more to come," CFO Peter Cunningham told Reuters.

Major miners and their lobbyists have asked Canberra for help in pushing back against China's efforts to extract better terms for their iron ore, including raising the prospect of a single selling desk for Australia's most valuable commodity export.

Asked about whether Rio would support such an effort, Trott said that Rio's focus would be "solely" on its own business and "capturing synergies with adjacent producers in ways we probably haven't done before."

The company flagged challenges to its goal to cut emissions by 50% from 2018 levels by 2030, warning that depended on the timely delivery of third-party renewable energy projects and commercial agreements that could not be guaranteed.

Underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) surged 84% to $5.7-billion for its copper division, while iron-ore generated underlying Ebitda of $6.8-billion, down 1% from a year earlier.

The miner declared its highest interim dividend in four years at $2.11 per share, compared with $1.48 per share a year earlier. It kept its 2026 production and sales forecasts unchanged.

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.

Australia will consider building its first new oil refinery in more than 60 years, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday, as war in the Middle East squeezes supplies from overseas and underscores the urgency to improve energy security.

Albanese said the project will help build Australia's resilience and sovereign capability on fuel, potentially helping shield the country from future supply shocks.

If the project proves feasible, the new large-scale oil refinery will be built by industrial chemical producer Perdaman in Western Australia, Albanese said.

"The war in the Middle East ... is having an impact here, like it's having an impact right around the world," Albanese told reporters from Karratha in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

"One of the things that building national resilience does is it makes Australia less vulnerable to the impact of events around the world."

Albanese said his government and the Western Australia state government will jointly spend A$4-million ($2.8-million) on a feasibility study for the refinery.

"We want to make sure that we get the right location but we want to make sure as well that it's a project that stacks up, that can go forward," Albanese added.

Australia depends on imports for about 80% of its fuel needs and has been racing to secure supplies amid the Iran war.

The government's push to cut its import dependence on oil comes after an Australian Treasury report warned that the global oil market has become more vulnerable "with weaker buffers against supply shocks".

Global oil inventory levels have dropped since conflict in the Middle East intensified, while refined fuel markets are now at risk of tightening further, the treasury said in a briefing provided to Treasurer Jim Chalmers over the weekend.

Most of Australia's domestic oil refineries were built during the 1950s and 1960s, but high operating costs and the emergence of large refineries across Asia forced many to shut down over the past three decades.

Ampol's Queensland refinery and the Viva Energy facility in Victoria – both on the country's east – are the only two operational now, compared to eight in 2000.

Western Australia's only refinery was shut down in 2021 after BP decided to convert its 146 000 barrels a day Kwinana plant into a fuel import terminal.