discovery to production

Forget the price chart, the real threat to Australian mine margins is hiding in the sulphur bill, the freight invoice and the silica assay

S&P Global’s June quarter market review shows the pressure on Australian operations shifting from what miners sell to what they spend.

By Jamie Wade on September 11, 2026
Efficiency, Production Optimisation, Mineral Processing, Costs, Financial Planning, Cost Control, Contract Management, Procurement Efficiency, ESG, Regulatory Adherence, Environmental Permits, Legislative Updates, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Mitigation, Insurance and Liability, Mines & Projects, Development Stages
Australia, Western Australia, Pilbara, Queensland, Mount Isa, Asia, China, Indonesia
Lead, Iron ore, Precious Metals, Strategic Minerals, Gold, Lithium, Silver, Base Metals, Copper, Nickel, Zinc, Cobalt

Free rare earths with every tonne, and other reasons Australia lost half the lithium market but kept all the money

Australia's share of China's lithium concentrate imports has almost halved since 2022, but the interesting question is not who took it – it is why they are being paid so much less for it.

By Jamie Wade on July 30, 2026
Efficiency, Production Optimisation, Mineral Processing, Costs, Cost Control, Contract Management, Procurement Efficiency, ESG, Regulatory Adherence, Legislative Updates, Extraction, Mineral Extraction, Resource Sustainability, Geological Surveys, Reserve Estimation, Risk, Risk Assessment, Risk Mitigation, Exploration, Geological exploration and resource modelling, Geoscience data visualisation and analytics, Exploration technologies and methodologies
Australia, Western Australia, Goldfields-Esperance, South West, Africa, South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Angola, Guinea, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Madagascar
Iron ore, Base Metals, Samarium, Copper, Lithium, Tin, Aluminium/Bauxite, Cobalt, Graphite, Praseodymium, Neodymium