Quarterly rare earths update - April 2024
Ellie Saklatvala, Senior Editor — Nonferrous Metals, provides a bitesize overview of the key price movements that happened in Q1 and how supply and demand fundamentals are shaping up as we move through Q2.
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China's Zhongjin Lingnan resumes zinc mine
China's Zhongjin Lingnan resumes zinc mine
Shanghai, 17 September (Argus) — Major Chinese zinc and lead producer Shenzhen Zhongjin Lingnan has resumed operations at its Fankou zinc-lead mine, the company announced today. The company announced on 5 August that the operations at its Fankou zinc-lead mine had been suspended following a roof-collapse accident that resulted in one fatality. The company has not disclosed the total production loss resulting from the suspension. Zhongjin Lingnan produced 253,805t of contained zinc and lead in concentrate in 2025. The Fankou mine accounts for around half of the company's concentrate output, producing about 120,000-130,000 t/yr of contained zinc and lead, according to the company. China's zinc concentrate market has been extremely tight this year, because of global mines disruptions and higher domestic refined zinc production supported by high sulphuric acid by-product prices. Argus assessed imported zinc concentrate TCs at -$130/dry metric tonne (dmt) to -$105/dmt on 16 September, down significantly from -$20/dmt to $10/dmt on 8 April. The resumption of the Fankou mine is unlikely to reverse the deeply negative TC environment, market participants said. Smelters typically begin replenishing concentrate inventories in late September or early October ahead of winter operations, which is likely to exert further downward pressure on concentrate TCs in the coming months. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
China's HBIS raises ferro-silicon tender in September
China's HBIS raises ferro-silicon tender in September
Beijing, 17 September (Argus) — Chinese state-owned steel producer Hebei Iron and Steel (HBIS) has raised its tender price for September ferro-silicon, in response to higher spot offers of the bulk alloy. Its tender price for 72pc ferro-silicon rose to 6,340 yuan/t ($946/t) in September, up by Yn160/t from August and by Yn40/t from its provisional tender price, according to market sources. Ferro-silicon producers have raised their offers, driven by higher production costs of coke and semi-coke feedstocks, linked to firmer coal prices. Coal prices rose in the first half of September because of tightening supply, with a number of mines in Shanxi province remaining closed or operating under enhanced safety inspections. Shanxi is China's largest coal-producing province and a key production hub for magnesium metal, coke and ferro-alloys. Several other steel mills also boosted their purchase prices for the bulk alloy to Yn6,200-6,400/t delivered and paid by acceptance bill for September delivery, up by Yn100-200/t against the previous month. Argus- assessed prices for 72pc ferro-silicon hit a 20-month high at Yn5,900-6,000/t ex-works on 8 September, up by Yn150/t from the previous assessment on 1 September. But prices fell to Yn5,700-5,800/t on 15 September, tracking lower future prices. HBIS purchased 3,804t of ferro-silicon in September, up by 164t from August, as it increased operating rates after regular equipment maintenance in August. HBIS produced 16.44mn t of crude steel in January-June this year and bought 31,263t of ferro-silicon in 2025, according to its half-year report and industrial data. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Canadian copper miner expands Panama shipments
Canadian copper miner expands Panama shipments
Kingston, 16 September (Argus) — Canadian miner First Quantum continued to ship copper concentrate produced in Panama this week, Panama's commerce minister Julio Molto said. The firm shipped 38,000 metric tonnes (t) to India, after sending a combined 33,000t to Spain and Bulgaria in August from the stockpile of about 38mn t at its shuttered mine that was operated by its subsidiary Minera Panama. The shipments are from output that was accumulated before Panama's supreme court ordered the mine closed at the end of 2023, citing an unconstitutional license. About 6.3mn t of copper ore from the closed mine have been processed, leaving 31.6mn t that will be processed "in another 13 months," Molto said. Panama's president Jose Raul Mulino created a ministerial committee in July to decide the fate of the mine, "but there is no planned reopening" as the government is "respecting and abiding by the supreme court ruling", Molto said. The mine and the remaining risks were not declared unconstitutional and the government does not have the technical capacity to manage such a major enterprise, he said. "The accumulated concentrate is being managed within the framework of a safe preservation plan," he added. "We could not abandon the stockpile." Panama's commerce ministry in April authorized Minera Panama to export the material as the government delayed until the end of the year a decision on the future of the $10bn investment by First Quantum that produced 331,000t in 2023. The stockpiled ore is intended to "mitigate environmental and operational risks associated with prolonged on-site storage," First Quantum said. "This activity does not constitute a reopening of the mine and will not involve any new drilling, blasting, or reactivation of mining operations", it added. The supreme court's order to close the mine followed several weeks of street protests over the terms given to First Quantum for the continued operation of the mine. The mine was accounting for about 40pc of First Quantum's annual revenue and 1.5pc of global copper output when it was closed, according to the company. The closure has cost Panama $6.5bn, equivalent to more than 5pc of its economic output, the government said. By Canute James Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
TDK backs recycler reviving Ascend's Li plant
TDK backs recycler reviving Ascend's Li plant
Houston, 16 September (Argus) — Japanese electronics firm TDK has invested in US battery recycler R3 Lithium, which is restarting a lithium carbonate recovery plant in Covington, Georgia, that it bought out of the Ascend Elements bankruptcy. TDK's corporate venture arm, TDK Ventures, joined R3's oversubscribed $15mn Series A round alongside Integral GlobalTech Partners and Axial Partners. Tokyo-based TDK makes passive components, sensors and lithium-ion batteries. TDK Ventures had backed the plant's recovery technology during its earlier development at Battery Resourcers, which later became Ascend Elements. Massachusetts-based Ascend filed for Chapter 11 protection in a Texas court on 9 April, citing cost overruns and contractor disputes at its unfinished Apex 1 plant in Kentucky. The US government had also cancelled a $164mn grant for that project. The court approved the sale of Covington to R3 in June for $3mn in cash, with R3 assuming the site's liabilities. Former Ascend chief executive Linh Austin now leads R3. The 154,000ft² Covington facility has 30,000 metric tonne (t)/yr of shredding capacity and a 2,500 t/yr lithium carbonate recovery line, with space to double capacity. It recovers lithium carbonate from recycled black mass, with concentrated metal oxides sold as a by-product. Ascend demonstrated production there in 2025, and R3 is targeting continuous commercial production in 2027. R3 holds long-term offtake agreements with counterparties, including Trafigura, which it said could be worth about $1bn over their full terms. By Carol Luk Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.