• Pilbara CEO Dale Henderson said the lithium market appears to have reached its new floor price as supply comes out of the market (AFR) Time will tell, with Mt Holland, Goulamina & Pilgangoora adding tonnes

• Russia's Nornickel is in talks with several Chinese battery companies to build a plant jointly producing nickel material from Russian semi-finished products (Reuters)

• FMG’s restructure goes far beyond backroom duplication across energy & mining, with layers of management being cut (The Australian)

• Teck beat second-quarter profit estimates on Wednesday, helped by higher production of copper at its Quebrada Blanca (Reuters)

• West African shares gain after tracking top end of guidance (CB)

• Iluka Resources shares plunge as analysts trim forecasts (CB)

• BHP must stop funding legal action to halt Mariana dam claim, court rules (MW)

• The WA government, business & miners are urging the Albanese government not to do a deal with the Greens on upcoming enviro law (AFR)

• Vedanta is looking for partners to boost output at the Zambian copper assets it’s regaining control of after years of legal battles (Bloomberg)

• Global coal demand is set to remain flat this year & next as higher electricity demand offsets rapid expansion of solar and wind (Reuters)

• Japan’s sixth-largest electricity retailer, Chugoku Electric, is close to selling its 10% stake in NSW’s Boggabri coal mine (AFR)

• First Quantum reached an agreement with Jiangxi Copper, its second-largest shareholder, stopping it from buying more shares (Bloomberg)

• Unico Silver has completed its acquisition of the Sierra Blanca project in Argentina (USL)

• Diatreme have finally hit the +90% compulsory acquisition threshold for their acquisition of Metallica (DRX)

• Leo Lithium increased the amount of cash to be distributed from proceeds of the Goulamina sale, with first distribution in Jan 25’ (LLL)

• Westgold announced that Karora obtained a final order from the Ontario Superior Court approving the takeover (WGX)

• Bellevue raising up to $175m at $1.55 via an Insto placement and SPP to partially repay debt and accelerate growth (BGL)… be interesting to see how “green” the power upgrades will be

• Peak have signed a non-binding term sheet with Shenghe for 50% of a Peak subsidiary which holds 84% of the Ngualla rare earths project (PEK) Shenghe will sort any remaining capex with a debt facility

• Terramin’s largest shareholder, Azipac, has extended its finance facility to 2025 as the company awaits a Supreme Court hearing in Oct (TZN) their Bird in Hand gold project in the Adelaide Hills was knocked back

• Arafura launched a fully underwritten two-tranche $20m placement and $7m SPP to fund development of its Nolans rare earth project (ARU)

  

  A gargantuan task getting the debt firmed-up but the equity ain’t gonna be easy

We noticed Euroz Hartleys re-initiate coverage on $2.9 billion gold developer, De Grey yesterday. And given DEG has A$867 million cash at 30 June, we don’t think the broker is gunning for a juicy ECM fee any time soon. So we read the thesis with less cynical eyes than we usually would:

Calling for a takeover within a 6-month timeframe is a bold call. So naturally we wonder if there’s some Word on the Decline underpinning Scants’ view? He explicitly points to Newmont’s definition of Tier 1 to support it.

The research note throws into the mix the possibility that De Grey acquires Gold Road using the SLR / RED playbook (a scheme where the aquirer has a “fiduciary out” too) to force the hand of any interested parties to bid for De Grey if they really want the asset.

Let’s see how the short-term unfolds for De Grey. We think a takeover would be a terrific outcome for shareholders rather than wearing single asset development risk going it alone.

• Forget LTR, LYC and ARU, Gina hasn’t lost sight of the commodities that actually make money. Remember the Grassy Mountain met coal project she acquired that got rug-pulled by the government in Alberta? The lobbying effort is still strong if you watch this interview

• Can the natural diamond market regain sparkle? (FT)

• The Chinese are testing the possibilities of a complete meltdown-proof reactor (New Scientist)

• The Coalition will consider buying reactors from South Korea as part of its plan to build seven nuclear power stations (AFR)

• “MinRes under Chris Ellison is a giant, heaving boys club” (The Australian’s Margin Call)

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