Op-Ed: Why mining companies are rewriting their technology roadmaps

Nick Cecil | March 20, 2026 | 

Stock image.

As volatility reshapes global markets and stakeholder expectations continue to rise, mining companies are entering a period of strategic reset. Commodity prices fluctuate, costs remain elevated. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scrutiny is intensifying across jurisdictions.

Operations now span continents and regulatory regimes, adding complexity to already demanding supply chains. In this environment, leaders need visibility.

For years, many mining organizations relied on a mix of legacy systems, spreadsheets, and manual processes to connect finance, maintenance, procurement, and site operations. That approach was manageable in steadier cycles, when slower reporting cycles and fragmented data posed fewer risks. Today, those same gaps create exposure. Investors expect transparency, and regulators require traceability.

In addition, boards want clear insight into cost drivers, capital allocation, and operational performance in real time. Technology modernization, once viewed as a future milestone, has quickly become a present-day strategic imperative.

At the center of this modernization is the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Modern ERP environments are becoming the operational backbone for mining organizations, providing a single system of record that connects finance, supply chain, maintenance, and site operations.

Here are the essential elements of the 2026 tech roadmap:

A fundamental shift in scale

The meaning of scale in mining technology is changing. Digital transformation once implied a sweeping, multi-year overhaul that only large enterprise, global producers could fund. Today, cloud delivery models and standardized architectures allow junior and mid-sized mining companies to modernize in phases faster and at lower overall cost.

Miners can establish a stable enterprise core across finance, capital management and procurement, then expand into supply chain and maintenance as complexity increases. Systems grow alongside the business instead of lagging behind it.

For many organizations, that core is anchored by a modern ERP platform, such as SAP, that provides the financial and operational structure needed to scale. By establishing a standardized ERP foundation early, miners gain the ability to extend capabilities across sites and jurisdictions without rebuilding core processes each time the business grows.

This flexibility lowers barriers for emerging and mid-market operators and helps them adopt stronger governance earlier in their lifecycle.

Making the invisible visible

Mining is inherently capital intensive. Heavy equipment fleets, spare parts inventories, contractor services, and fuel expenditures represent major cost categories. Yet, in many organizations, operational data and financial data still operate in separate systems. Maintenance activity may not align seamlessly with procurement records, while inventory balances may not reflect real-time usage. Financial reconciliation often happens after the reporting period closes.

When information moves slowly or inconsistently, leaders lack a clear picture of cost behavior. Excess stock accumulates, downtime trends remain hidden, and small inefficiencies compound across sites.

Modern enterprise platforms address this disconnect by unifying operational and financial data into a shared environment. Managers gain consolidated visibility into asset performance, reliability, working capital, and costs. With reliable data across departments, teams can identify anomalies earlier, adjust procurement strategies, and deploy capital with greater precision.

Finance as a strategic driver

Traditional reporting cycles often limit leadership to retrospective insight. By the time results are consolidated, market conditions have already shifted. Integrated financial architectures are compressing those timelines. Automated consolidations and standardized data models enable faster closes and near real-time visibility into cash position, capital spending, and operating performance.

This shift transforms the role of finance. Leadership can rebalance investment, pace development projects, or manage liquidity based on current data.

For junior and mid-tier miners, this agility is critical as exploration and development projects require disciplined capital management.

Designing for resilience

As modernization efforts advance, system design philosophy is evolving. Increasingly, mining companies are embracing a clean core approach, keeping essential processes standardized within the central enterprise platform while developing custom requirements through extensibility and integrating business solutions through open interfaces.

Applications supporting geology asset management, environmental monitoring, or safety are difficult to integrate without deeply customizing the core system. Using Extensibility and standard smart interfaces improves upgrade flexibility, reduces technical debt, and strengthens governance and reporting.

Preparing for advanced analytics

Artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive analytics are gaining momentum across mining, from forecasting equipment failure to optimizing supply chains and enhancing workforce safety. Yet advanced capabilities depend on disciplined data foundations. Companies realizing measurable returns, focus first on harmonizing master data, improving business process, and defining governance over information flows.

Modern ERP environments help provide the structured data foundation required for these AI applications. By standardizing financial, operational, and asset data across the enterprise, ERP systems support AI and predictive analytics initiatives across mining operations.

A strategic imperative

Mining has always operated on long investment horizons, with assets designed to produce value over decades. Yet the systems that support those investments can no longer move at the historical slow pace. Market volatility is no longer cyclical but often have large sporadic swings due to technology innovations, political climate and global markets.

In 2026, rewriting the technology roadmap is about reinforcing the digital backbone of the business. Integrated platforms enhance visibility across operations. Clean architectures enable adaptability as organizations grow. Trusted data supports faster, well informed decision making.

Cloud ERP platforms today are offering opportunities for mining organizations of all sizes to deploy what they need, when they need it, without massive IT teams and infrastructure. The new cloud-based approach provides standardization to keep a clean core while offering extensibility, faster implementation cycles, lower project costs, and have a higher return on investment with less impact to the business.

Forward-looking mining companies recognize that enterprise systems are no longer back-office infrastructure. They are central to performance, governance, and sustainable growth. By modernizing with intention, miners position themselves to manage uncertainty, attract investment, allocate capital, and compete with confidence in a demanding global market.

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* Nick Cecil is Industry Principal for Mining & Natural Resources at Syntax.

AU

Teck’s undisclosed royalty worth billions on Barrick’s Fourmile could stymie IPO plans

Frédéric Tomesco | March 19, 2026 |

A view of the Fourmile project in Nevada. Photo credit: Barrick Mining.

Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.A/TECK.B; NYSE: TECK) holds a royalty on Barrick Mining’s (TSX: ABX; NYSE: B) Fourmile gold project in Nevada that could generate billions of dollars and impact the valuation of Barrick’s planned North American mine spinoff, reports say.

Teck owns a 10% net legacy profits interest over an area that covers 260 sq. km and includes a “meaningful” overlap with the Fourmile discovery, Scotia Capital mining analyst Orest Wowkodaw wrote Thursday in a note, citing information provided by Teck and Barrick. The royalty climbs to 15% after 6 million oz. of gold are delivered, Wowkodaw said.

The Globe and Mail first reported the story on Wednesday. Barrick and Teck didn’t immediately respond Thursday to e-mails from The Northern Miner seeking comment on the royalty.

“Overall, we view this development as positive for Teck and negative for Barrick,” Wowkodaw said. He values Fourmile at about $15 billion, or 19% of Barrick’s net asset value – assuming that the mine can start operating in 2030 and reach full production in 2034.

Significant discovery

Barrick sees Fourmile as one of the most significant discoveries of the past 25 years, highlighting its potential to produce as much as 750,000 oz. of gold annually. Fourmile combines exceptionally high grades with long mine life and access to existing infrastructure through the Nevada Gold Mines joint venture with Newmont (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM), Barrick said in September.

Shares of both miners dropped Thursday amid a stock market selloff. Teck fell 4.6% to C$64.34 in Toronto for a market capitalization of about C$31 billion ($22.6 billion) while Barrick declined 6.5% to C$51.82 for a market value of about C$87 billion ($63.4 billion).

On a “very preliminary basis”, the royalty could generate $100 million to $200 million annually for Teck at production rates of about 750,000 oz. a year if gold averages $3,400 per oz., Wowkodaw said in his note.

The calculation assumes 100% area of interest overlap, though the exact overlap will become clearer once Barrick releases a technical study, Wowkodaw said.

Key asset

Fourmile is one of the key North American gold assets to be included in a new publicly listed company that Barrick plans to spin off by the end of the year.

Carving out the North American assets – which also include stakes in the Nevada Gold Mines joint venture and the Pueblo Viejo property– in an initial public offering is the best way to maximize shareholder value, Barrick said last month. Barrick plans to keep a “significant” majority stake in the properties, which account for more than half of the company’s gold production.

Fourmile holds 4.6 million indicated tonnes grading 17.59 grams gold per tonne for 2.6 million oz. of contained metal, Barrick said last year as it doubled the deposit’s estimated resource for a second straight year. It also contains 25 million inferred tonnes grading 16.9 grams gold for contained metal of 13 million ounces.

Growth potential

Ongoing prefeasibility studies at Fourmile point to the potential for significant additional resource growth, Barrick said last month.

Fourmile could have a mine life of more than 25 years, Barrick said in September, citing the conclusions of a preliminary economic assessment.

Project capital is estimated at $1.5 billion to $1.7 billion, while the overall capital expenditure budget is pegged at $3.2 billion. Key milestones include decline construction start in late 2026, the completion of a prefeasibility study in late 2028 and an independent feasibility study in 2029.

Newmont spat

The existence of a royalty also has implications for Denver-based Newmont, which is at loggerheads with its partner in Nevada Gold Mines. Barrick owns 61.5% of the venture, while Newmont holds 38.5%.

Newmont last month issued a notice of default, saying that Barrick diverted resources from Nevada Gold Mines to advance Fourmile. Newmont holds a contractual right of first refusal over moves affecting the venture and argues that the alleged actions breach the companies’ 2019 JV agreement.

 

Glencore could walk away from South Africa smelter rescue talks over conditions

Reuters | March 19, 2026 | 1

Credit: Glencore

Glencore’s South African ferrochrome unit could walk away from talks with the government over a discounted electricity package due to what it sees as unfavourable conditions, an executive said on Thursday.

Glencore has said it requires reduced tariffs to keep its loss-making smelters open and avert job cuts. The government is keen to save the smelters, which employ thousands and are major customers of the state-owned electricity supplier Eskom.

Eskom on February 27 offered the country’s two biggest ferrochrome firms, including the Glencore unit, heavily discounted electricity in a bid to rescue their troubled operations.

The offer, to reduce electricity tariffs from 1.36 rand ($0.0808) to 0.62 rand per kilowatt hour, is subject to approval by South Africa’s energy regulator under conditions that are yet to be made public.

But Glencore Ferroalloys CEO Japie Fullard warned the company could walk away from the talks, saying some conditions of the package deal were not acceptable to the company.

“The terms and conditions, the way that it is now, I unfortunately will not be in a position to sign,” Fullard said at a mining conference in Johannesburg.

“So that means, if they do not come to the party, we are going to walk away from the 62 cents (deal),” he added.

Smelters battling high costs

Fullard said representatives of the ferrochrome firms were meeting government representatives late on Thursday.

Glencore on March 2 deferred lay-off procedures at its ferrochrome until March 31 to allow ongoing negotiations. As many as 1,500 jobs would be cut if no agreement is reached on the electricity tariff package, Fullard added.

Samancor Chrome, the other ferrochrome producer which was offered discounted electricity, has said it is going ahead with plans to lay off workers.

The firm said while the reduced tariff addressed electricity cost pressures, the terms and conditions attached to the offer posed “a threat to the long-term viability of the ferrochrome industry”.

Neither Glencore nor Samancor have disclosed the conditions as negotiations are ongoing.

South African smelters are battling high electricity costs, which have risen tenfold since 2008, amid growing competition from Chinese producers. Only 11 out of a possible 66 smelters are still operational in the country.

($1 = 16.8380 rand)

(By Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo, Nqobile Dludla and Nelson Banya)

Peru proposal to limit idle concessions sparks mining pushback

Bloomberg News | March 19, 2026 | 

La Rinconada, Puno, Peru. Stock image.

Peru’s mining industry is warning that a bill moving through Congress to halve the time to hold unused concessions would end up discouraging investment and favoring informal operators.

“It’s a blow to formal mining that could wipe out $60 billion in investments,” Gonzalo Quijandría, vice-president of mining and energy society SNMPE, told Canal N.

The proposal, which passed committee this week and is headed for a floor debate, would cut to 15 years from 30 the period companies have to explore before a concession expires.

Industry groups say it can take decades to discover and develop a deposit, while small-scale miners argue that large companies hoard scarce mineral rights instead of developing them. In Peru, that tension is heightened as global firms increasingly compete with informal operators for control of mineral-rich areas.

Peru — the world’s third-largest copper producer and a major supplier of gold, silver and zinc — grants concessions that allow companies to explore vast areas for extended periods. But the rise of illegal mining and years of project delays have led some lawmakers to push for shorter concessions that could be developed more quickly by smaller operators.

If enacted, the bill could spur an “invasion of concessions,” SNMPE executive director Ángela Grossheim told RPP.

The issue is emerging in the run-up to Peru’s general election on April 12. Conservative front-runner Rafael López Aliaga has pledged to revoke exploration permits for idle projects and redistribute them.

(By Carla Samon Ros)

FE

UK to cut steel import quotas, raise tariffs to protect domestic industry

Reuters | March 18, 2026 |

Stock image.

Britain will lower its tariff-free quota on imported steel and double the tariff on imports exceeding that quota, the government said on Thursday, launching a plan to protect its small but strategically and politically sensitive steel sector.

Steelmakers have struggled to survive in the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution after decades of decline driven by long-term de-industrialization and, more recently, by high energy costs and a global glut of cheap steel.

The government will cut the amount of steel that can be imported without incurring tariffs by 60%. Imports above that new level will face a 50% tariff – twice the previous rate of 25%. The changes will come into force on July 1.

The move brings Britain’s tariff rates into line with recent increases in the United States and proposals by the European Union, against a backdrop of heightened global trade tensions as US President Donald Trump uses trade measures to further his “America First” agenda.

The British government also said that its National Wealth Fund would make up to 2.5 billion pounds ($3.33 billion) available to help finance investment in the sector and that it wanted 50% of steel used in Britain to be produced domestically, up from the current target of 30%.

“Making steel in the UK is vital for national security, critical infrastructure and the wider economy,” Business Secretary Peter Kyle said in a statement.

“With this strategy we are closing the decades-long chapter of destructive de-industrialization and committing instead to strengthening and sustaining Britain as a steel-making nation.”

Unions and industry bodies welcomed the measures.

The sector only accounted for 0.1% of UK economic output in 2024 but supported 37,000 jobs, many in heartlands of the governing Labour Party which grew from a trade union movement deeply rooted in Britain’s industrial heritage.

Two of the country’s biggest steelmakers have faced financial troubles in recent years.

Tata Steel has closed its blast furnaces at Port Talbot, while the government had to seize control of British Steel to prevent the shutdown of its Scunthorpe plant under Chinese owner Jingye, taking on huge costs in the process.

($1 = 0.7502 pounds)

(By William James; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

Column: China’s robust iron ore imports are going into storage, not steel

Reuters | March 20, 2026 |

Port Zhuhai, China. Stock image.

China increased imports of iron ore at the start of this year, but the extra volumes are being used to build inventories to record highs rather than lift steel production.

The increase in imports appears largely driven by softer prices for the key steel ​raw material, but it is also fortuitous given the potential for the fallout from the US and Israeli attacks on Iran to spread ‌beyond energy markets.

China, which buys about three-quarters of global seaborne iron ore, saw arrivals of 210.02 million metric tons in the first two months of 2026, up 10% from the same period a year earlier, according to customs data released on March 10.

The robust start to the year came after imports hit a record monthly high of 119.65 million tons in December, which took ​arrivals for 2025 to an all-time annual high of 1.26 billion tons.

The strength in iron ore imports isn’t because of higher steel production, with output ​in the first two months dropping 3.6% from the same period in 2025 to 160.34 million tons, according to official data released ⁠on March 16.

The weaker steel production continued the trend from 2025, when annual output dropped to a seven-year low of 960.81 million tons.

Rather than being consumed by steel ​mills, China has been building stockpiles, with port inventories monitored by consultants SteelHome rising to 166.91 million tons in the week to March 13.

This is up 28% from ​the recent low of 130.1 million tons in early August and is the highest in SteelHome data going back to 2012, eclipsing the previous record of 161.98 million in June 2018.

There are several factors driving China’s strong imports of iron ore, but the primary one is likely price.

Singapore Exchange contracts had been on a declining trend since reaching a 14-month high of $108.89 a ton ​on January 12.

The decline in prices ended at $98.20 a ton on February 20, but it lasted long enough to boost arrivals at the start of the year ​and likely into March as well, with commodity analysts Kpler estimating seaborne imports of around 109 million tons.

Strong supply from top exporters Australia and Brazil in the absence of usual seasonal ‌weather disruptions ⁠also boosted the availability of cargoes and China acts as a clearing house for any surplus iron ore.

Since the low in late February prices have shifted higher, partly in response to the conflict in the Middle East, reaching $107.10 a ton on March 17, before easing slightly to end at $106.30 on Wednesday.

Iran risks

So far the impact on iron ore flows to China from the US and Israeli war on Iran is limited to higher freight charges as the price of fuel oil soars along with ​prices for other oil products such as ​diesel and jet fuel.

But there is ⁠the potential for wider disruptions, especially if top exporter Australia and number four South Africa start to run short of diesel.

Both countries are major importers of refined products and in Australia mining accounts for about 40% of total diesel demand.

In a situation ​where refined fuel cargoes become hard to source at any price, Australia will have to ration fuel and prioritize food ​production and distribution, and ⁠emergency services.

While shutting down the mining industry would be a radical step, it would be the only option left if fuel-exporting countries limit or halt shipments, as China has already done.

For now, China is likely to continue iron ore imports at robust levels as prices aren’t yet high enough to act as a disincentive.

A further incentive to continue imports is ⁠the potential ​for disruption to supplies from diesel shortages, even though that is still a fairly small possibility.

(The views expressed here are those of the author, Clyde Russell, a columnist for Reuters.)

(Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Li

SQM-Codelco tie-up to submit environmental study for Salar Futuro lithium project in June

Reuters | March 19, 2026 | 

Credit: SQM

Novandino Litio, the joint venture between Chile’s Codelco and SQM, will submit the environmental impact study for its Salar Futuro lithium project in June, local media reported on Thursday.

The project is estimated to cost between $2 billion and $3.5 billion.

Salar Futuro aims to produce 280,000 to 300,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) annually.

Codelco chairman Maximo Pacheco told journalists that Salar Futuro represents the most important challenge for the partnership.

Codelco’s 2026 copper production will exceed 2025 levels, Pacheco said.

He acknowledged it was “perhaps an error” to tackle four megaprojects simultaneously at Codelco, calling it a “titanic task.”

Pacheco is set to leave his role on May 25. He ruled out leaving the position early.

(By Kylie Madry and Fabian Cambero; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle)

 

US, Japan to focus rare earths cooperation on select group of minerals at first

Reuters | March 20, 2026 |

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi visited the White House on Thursday. Credit: Sanae Takaichi’s official X page

The US and Japan on Thursday released an action plan for their efforts to develop alternatives to China for critical minerals and rare earths supply chains, focusing initially on price floors for a select group of minerals.

A joint US-Japan statement released by the US Trade Representative’s Office during Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s visit to the White House said the two countries aimed to deliver “concrete, near-term results towards securing mutual supply chain resilience.”

The statement said the two countries will discuss coordinated trade policies such as a border-adjusted price floor mechanism, “focusing in the first instance on a select group of critical minerals.” They did not identify which minerals would be considered first for price floors.

Takaichi and US President Donald Trump signed a framework agreement on rare earths in October 2025 in Tokyo as both countries were struggling with Chinese export controls.

The action plan announced on Thursday does not mention China by name, but refers to a need to correct “distortions resulting from pervasive non-market policies and practices (that) have left critical minerals supply chains of market-oriented economies vulnerable to a myriad of disruptions, including economic coercion.”

The two sides will consult on how price floors and other trade provisions can fit into a plurilateral critical minerals supply agreement involving other countries, the statement said.

They also will work to identify specific projects in each country and elsewhere for critical minerals mining, processing and manufacturing that meet internationally recognized responsible business practices and that should get priority financing and policy support, the statement added.

US-based Albemarle, the world’s largest lithium producer, is “exploring opportunities” for potential Japanese investment or supply deals with the company’s under-construction North Carolina lithium project, according to the statement.

An Albemarle spokesperson said the company had nothing to add.

Japan’s Mitsubishi Materials is in talks with Indiana-based ReElement Technologies for a potential equity stake or joint venture, according to the statement. A representative for ReElement was not immediately available to comment.

Tokyo and Washington also agreed to share information on mining standards, technical cooperation, and geological mapping of potential critical mineral deposits. They also agreed to coordinate stockpiling of critical minerals, rapid responses to prevent supply disruptions and joint actions to address economic coercion, the statement said.

(By David Lawder and Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Paul Simao and Daniel Wallis)

 

Vatican pushes investors to exit mining sector

Reuters | March 20, 2026 | 

Vatican City. (Stock image by Polok silver.)

The Vatican on Friday launched an international project encouraging disinvestment from the mining sector, in an unusual initiative by the Catholic Church to steer investments away from a specific industry.

Officials said the new initiative, backed by senior Church leaders and about 40 other faith-based institutions, would push companies to treat their workers justly and protect the local environment near their operations, or risk loss of investments.

“In many regions of the world, the expansion of the mining industry has generated profound social tensions and serious environmental impacts,” Cardinal Fabio Baggio, a Vatican official, said at a press conference.

He called the new effort “an act of consistency with our faith (and) with the defense of human dignity”.

Pope Francis, who died last year, made many passionate appeals during his 12-year tenure for mining companies to adopt more stringent business practices, but the Vatican had not previously launched a disinvestment initiative.

It did however urge Catholics in 2020 to disinvest from the armaments and fossil fuel industries.

Rev. Dario Bossi, one of the coordinators of the new project, said it would invite Catholics and faith groups “to withdraw investments from the mining sector as an ethical response to its social and environmental impacts”.

The Vatican did not provide a list of organizations involved in the new initiative, and did not specify any mining companies that could be a target for disinvestment.

Amid a surge in global need for batteries and other high-tech items, demand for the likes of lithium, cobalt and copper is expected to triple by 2030, and quadruple by 2040, according to the International Energy Agency.

Some mining companies have acknowledged a need to change their business practices. In 2001, a group of industry CEOs launched the International Council on Mining and Metals, which advocates for responsible mining practices.

Guatemala Cardinal Alvaro Ramazzini, who was part of Friday’s launch, said the new Vatican initiative would seek “to make governments and business leaders understand that what is legal does not always correspond to the value of justice”.

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by Jan Harvey)

 

US House Democrat blasts Commerce’s ‘highly concerning’ $1.6B USA Rare Earth deal

Reuters | March 20, 2026 | 

US Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren speaking with attendees at the 2019 California Democratic Party State Convention. Credit: Gage Skidmore | Wikimedia Commons, under licence CC BY-SA 2.0.

A senior House Democrat accused US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Thursday of structuring Washington’s $1.58 billion investment into USA Rare Earth in a way that gives the government “highly concerning” leverage over the company while boosting Lutnick’s family-run investment firm.

In a 10-page letter, Representative Zoe Lofgren, the ranking member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, wrote that the proposed deal would let the Commerce Department keep an equity stake even if it decides not to invest while also leaving the company reliant on a $1.5 billion private capital raise led by Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial firm previously led by Lutnick and now run by his sons.

“This deal creates a massive personal conflict by granting the Secretary of Commerce overwhelming leverage to influence the behavior of a private company while positioning him to promote the interests of his sons as a condition of his support,” wrote Lofgren, a California Democrat.

The letter offers a glimpse into the types of investigations Democrats could pursue if they regain power in Washington after the November midterm elections, as lawmakers scrutinize the administration’s aggressive use of federal financing and equity stakes to reshape supply chains for critical minerals and other strategic industries.

CEO Barbara Humpton and a spokesperson for USA Rare Earth were not immediately available to comment. The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Funding in exchange for equity stake

The Commerce Department’s CHIPS Program Office in January signed a non-binding letter of intent to provide up to $1.58 billion in funding to USA Rare Earth — including a $277 million grant and a $1.3 billion loan — in exchange for an equity stake of between 8% and 16%.

The funds are slated to help the company develop a mine in Sierra Blanca, Texas, slated to open by 2028, and a magnet manufacturing plant in Stillwater, Oklahoma, which ​is expected to open this year.

According to the company’s regulatory filings, the government could retain its equity stake even if the deal falls through or if funding is clawed back, a provision Lofgren called “deeply strange” for a federal investment.

The company must meet a series of milestones to receive the funding, including raising additional private capital, completing technical studies and demonstrating market demand for its manufacturing plans, according to the filing.

Lofgren argues those conditions could leave the company dependent on the discretion of Commerce officials and create the potential for undue influence, especially given that the private capital raise from Cantor Fitzgerald is a condition for finalizing the government investment.

“The interplay between the company’s vulnerability and your personal conflict is a glaring red flag,” Lofgren wrote.

The lawmaker also questioned whether the Commerce Department has legal authority to take equity stakes in companies under the CHIPS and Science Act, arguing that the law’s “other transaction” authority does not allow government stakes in private firms.

The Trump administration has used similar structures to take equity positions in a range of companies, arguing the investments are needed to strengthen domestic supply chains and national security.

Lofgren asked the department to provide the committee with documents tied to the deal’s negotiation by April 3.

Reuters reported in January that a US Senate committee is separately reviewing at least one other equity deal in the critical minerals sector.

(By Jarrett Renshaw and Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Sergio Non and Rod Nickel)

AG

China pulls silver from global markets to meet surging demand

Bloomberg News | March 20, 2026 | 

Stock image.

China’s ravenous appetite for silver lifted overseas purchases to an eight-year high at the start of 2026, as importers fed a surge in industrial and investment demand.

The world’s biggest buyer pulled in over 790 tons in the first two months, including nearly 470 tons in February, the highest ever for that month, according to Chinese customs data on Friday. Strong demand has pushed local prices well above international benchmarks, whittling down already-low exchange stockpiles and hoovering up metal from abroad.

Silver prices have never had such a volatile start to a year, soaring about 70% on a wave of speculative buying from China and elsewhere, before abruptly giving up their gains at the end of January. The strong import figures suggest physical consumption in China has been sustained despite shifts in trading flows.

Demand has come from both retail investors piling into silver bars, an alternative to increasingly pricey gold, and solar manufacturers front-loading production ahead of the removal of export tax rebates on April 1. The solar industry consumes about a fifth of annual supply, and is overwhelmingly located in China.

Demand for physical bars is very strong, and solar cell manufacturers “are going gangbusters,” said Rhona O’Connell, head of market analysis for EMEA and Asia at StoneX Group Inc. “At the same time, inventories in Chinese exchanges have been falling lower and lower, which has its own psychological effect.”

Much of the metal has flowed through Hong Kong, a gateway for precious metals headed to the mainland, as traders sought to profit from an attractive arbitrage opportunity. In the first two months, prices in the territory for the large silver bars traded by banks have attracted a premium of as much as $8 an ounce, when they usually trade at a discount to the benchmark in London, said Stanley Cheung, managing director of AC Precious Metals Refinery Ltd.

China’s lofty imports have yet to disrupt the London market, thanks to a record inflow of silver into the global trading hub following an historic squeeze last year. Less silver held in exchange-traded funds around the world, which have dropped this year by more than 1,900 tons, has also freed up more metal.

“The London market is behaving very well despite this strong demand for silver in China,” said Daniel Ghali, senior commodity strategist at TD Securities Inc. “For the first time in more than a year, the market can face this scale of demand without resulting in significant price dislocations or disruptions.”

Looser supply in London has allowed the cost of borrowing silver to ease, although longer-dated leases are still more expensive, due to the volatility in prices and as a precaution against another squeeze.

Visible inventories tracked by major exchanges from New York to Shanghai are either falling or sitting well below their long-term averages, suggesting metal remains scarce in the broader system. And the market has reason to be worried.

“China is one of the world’s most significant markets for both industrial consumption and silver investment,” said Simone Knobloch, chief operating officer of major Swiss refinery Valcambi SA. “The feedback we receive from the market indicates strong interest in physical products.”

The developing appetite for silver as a cheaper replacement for gold has made investment bars — ranging from 20 grams to one kilogram — common in the Shuibei market in Shenzhen, the center of China’s retail bullion trade.

“Silver has been a hit among retail investors and sellers,” said Song Jiangzhen, a researcher at Guangdong Southern Gold Market Academy.

He said there’s been a change in the mindset of consumers, who increasingly view gold as inaccessible. The white metal is currently trading at about $70 an ounce, while gold has fluctuated around $5,000 an ounce this year after a barnstorming rally.

Bullion dealers welcome the shift, said Song. Cheaper bars mean less pressure on financing. Many dealers have increased their silver stockpiles, tripling total inventory in Shuibei to around 300 tons in recent months, according to his estimate.

For now, though, markets are breathing a little easier. The Chinese premium on silver has softened and solar demand has slowed as the rebate deadline nears, said Yuan Zheng, an analyst at the Shanghai-based trading arm of Henan Jinli Gold and Lead Group Co. “We’ve moved into a situation of more supply than demand in the near term.”

That’s showing up in Shenzhen, where the silver bars on display are finding fewer takers. But it’s unlikely to be the end of the story.

“All it takes is just another surge in prices,” said Song. “Retail investors tend to follow rising trends rather than buy dips.”

(By Yihui Xie and Jack Ryan)