 The Drill DownMonday 20 April 2026 · Part 2 |
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| Partner Spotlight |
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The right shareholders don’t find you. You find them.Cashu Group delivers independent equity research and targeted investor marketing for ASX-listed resource companies. The coverage that builds conviction, and the reach to make it count.Find Your Shareholders |
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Lead InsightHalf of Australia’s Mining Industry Expected to Be Automated Within Four YearsHalf of Australia’s mining operations are expected to be automated within four years, according to a new report covering the sector. The shift is already visible at major sites including Boddington, with broader workforce implications now drawing attention from industry observers. The pace of change is accelerating faster than most public policy frameworks have anticipated.
| Our TakeAutomation doesn’t kill mining jobs. It relocates them. The operators move to control rooms in Perth. The question is whether regional towns survive that commute. |
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Commodity Prices
Precious Metals (USD/toz)
| Gold |
$4,785-0.93% |
| Silver |
$79-1.59% |
| Platinum |
$2,085-0.76% |
| Palladium |
$1,550-0.54% |
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Base Metals & Commodities
| Copper USD/lb |
$6.10-0.50% |
| Nickel USD/lb |
$8.15-1.60% |
| Zinc USD/lb |
$1.56+0.34% |
| Lead USD/lb |
$0.89+0.24% |
| WTI Crude USD/bbl |
$87.42+5.85% |
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Prices updated as of 20 Apr 2026, 3:48 pm AEST |
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Market MoversWinners & Losers — ASX Markets
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Tartana Minerals LimitedTartana announced completion of its heap leach pad restack program, with approximately 50,000 tonnes of copper-mineralised pit fill stacked at an average grade of 0.22% Cu. A new chiller circuit is near completion, with copper sulphate pentahydrate production expected to restart within three weeks and a first shipment to its 100% offtaker targeted for mid-May 2026. Realised pricing at current LME copper levels is in the range of A$4,500 to A$5,000 per tonne. |
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Cobalt Blue Holdings LimitedNo specific ASX announcement. Most likely driven by a television documentary broadcast in Australia on Sunday evening featuring the company. Cobalt Blue is developing the Broken Hill Cobalt Project and a cobalt-nickel refinery in Kwinana, Western Australia, with a Glencore feedstock agreement and Tetra Tech appointed for detailed engineering works. |
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QMines LimitedQMines announced a $15M strategic investment from QIC’s Critical Minerals and Battery Technology Fund, structured as $5M in equity and $10M for a 2% NSR royalty. The funding is expected to carry the company through its Definitive Feasibility Study and into a Final Investment Decision at the Mt Chalmers copper and gold project in central Queensland. QCMBTF becomes QMines’ largest shareholder following completion. |
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Bison Resources LimitedNo specific catalyst on the day. Bison listed on 16 April following a heavily oversubscribed $5.5M IPO, surging 225% on debut to close at $0.62 on day one. The pullback reflects normal post-IPO profit-taking as early subscribers exit positions. The company holds four gold and silver exploration projects in Nevada’s Carlin Trend. |
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Unity Metals LimitedUnity released new drill results from the Ngot Gold Project in Cambodia showing stacked zones of gold in a 150m wide diorite intrusion at the Rohav Mountain Prospect, including 23m at 0.9 g/t and 1m at 7.9 g/t. High-grade veins at Ngot Central returned 0.4m at 32.8 g/t and 0.7m at 14.3 g/t, with the high-grade vein now traced over 200m down-dip. Despite the positive results, the market sold off on the day, likely reflecting broader profit-taking in a recent runner. |
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Highfield Resources LimitedNo specific catalyst on the day. Most likely profit-taking following a strong run last week, during which HFR attracted attention after the ASX queried its price movement and the company cited global fertiliser raw material supply security as the likely driver. The stock is giving back a portion of those gains. |
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Market data as of 20 Apr 2026, 4:10 pm AEST |
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This Week’s PollWhere is copper heading in Q2 2026?
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| ○ Pulling back below $5.50 |
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This Week’s ResearchThe Processing Gap: China’s Chokehold on Global Mineral Refining
| China controls refining and processing of 19 of the 20 strategic minerals tracked by the IEA, with average share above 70% across the battery complex. Concentration is intensifying, not easing. The 2026 copper TC/RC benchmark settled at US$0/t, the lowest on record, a mechanism quietly destroying non-Chinese smelting capacity. The supply deficits arrive from 2029. The processing facilities needed to address them take 10 to 17 years to build. This report quantifies the gap, maps where capital is already moving, and identifies where it isn’t. |
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| Today’s Stories |
MiningmxImplats Weighs Platinum Growth Projects in ZimbabweImpala Platinum is actively assessing growth options in Zimbabwe, including a potential reopening of the Hartley Complex brownfields project and a processing arrangement with Great Dyke Investments’ Darwendale open-pit mine. Implats is also in discussions with Tharisa over processing and a possible equity stake in the $545M Karo Platinum project, which is targeting 226,000oz per year and finalising a $300M funding package including a strategic investor. Western government-backed private equity has entered Karo conversations alongside Implats, reflecting growing supply security interest in non-China PGM sources.
| Our TakeZimbabwe’s dividend repatriation backlog and ZiG currency requirements are real friction, but the scale of the Karo land package (96 million ounces total resource) makes it hard for serious PGM investors to ignore. The fact that Western government-backed capital is now at the table alongside Implats suggests the supply security thesis is overriding jurisdictional caution. Watch the Tharisa equity deal as the first concrete signal of how committed Implats is to this strategy. |
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KitcoSilver Prices to Languish Between $50 and $100 for Years, Says Bloomberg’s McGloneBloomberg Intelligence strategist Mike McGlone argues silver could remain rangebound between $50 and $100 for an extended period, despite the metal heading into its sixth consecutive annual supply deficit. The 2026 shortfall is projected at 46.3 million troy ounces, 15% wider than 2025, yet solar demand is forecast to fall 19% on thrifting and substitution. Silver hit a record above $100 in January 2026 before pulling back below $80, and McGlone sees more risk of reversion toward longer-term averages than a sustained breakout above $100.
| Our TakeSix consecutive deficits and silver is still being told to wait. McGlone’s argument is essentially that the deficit narrative has been absorbed by the market and priced, and that the solar demand softness removes the industrial growth pillar that justified higher valuations. Silver miners need industrial demand to do what the investment narrative has so far failed to sustain. |
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Mining.comIran War’s Sulfurous Fallout Spreads to Copper and NickelThe Hormuz closure has trapped sulfur from the Gulf, which accounts for around 25% of global production, with cascading consequences for both copper and nickel. Around 20% of global primary refined copper comes from SX-EW operations that require sulfuric acid, with the DRC and Chile most exposed. Indonesia sources 75% of its sulfur from the Middle East, and Macquarie estimates the surge in sulfur prices has added $4,000 per tonne to Indonesian HPAL nickel production costs. China has moved to ban sulfuric acid exports from next month, Turkey has already done so, and India is considering the same. Natixis calculates every $100 per tonne rise in sulfur translates to a 4% rise in cash operating costs for DRC SX-EW copper producers.
| Our TakeThe sulfur angle on the Iran conflict is the most underappreciated supply chain risk in base metals right now. Cost curve inflation of $4,000 per tonne on Indonesian HPAL nickel is not a rounding error, and the DRC copper exposure adds another leg to the supply tightness story already building from negative TC/RC. Operations with on-site sulfur supply or diversified reagent sourcing are quietly carrying a structural cost advantage that will show up in margins before it shows up in headlines. |
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AFRMinerals Council of Australia Faces Questions Over Political AllegiancesThe Minerals Council of Australia is under scrutiny for its political positioning after the organisation confirmed it is sponsoring the Coalition’s budget-reply speech dinner in May. The move raises questions about whether the peak mining lobby is effectively representing the industry’s interests across the political spectrum. Internal divisions over the council’s next chair have added further complexity to the organisation’s current standing.
| Our TakeA peak industry body that is perceived as politically captured loses leverage with whichever party governs, and right now that is a material risk for the MCA given the current federal political environment. Members should be asking whether the council’s political strategy is protecting their regulatory interests or creating unnecessary exposure. |
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| This newsletter is for general information, education & entertainment. Kamoa Capital is not licensed and does not know your circumstances. Nothing here is financial, legal or tax advice — seek professional advice and read any PDS before acting. We aim for accuracy but make no guarantees and accept no liability. Views are opinions only and may include forward-looking statements that may not occur. |
