Spark Energy Minerals Validates Priority Lithium and Gallium-REE Drill Targets at Arapaima Project in Brazil's Lithium Valley

[Ore Side: Overseas Market Strong, Spot Steady; Inquiries Recover but Transactions Need to Follow Up] August 11, 2026 – Ferrochrome and chrome ore markets fluctuated slightly...

[SMM Express] Rubaya mining area in North Kivu of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), remains one of the world’s most important sources of coltan, but its strategic importance is matched by significant supply-chain risks. The site has been under the control of the M23 armed group since 2024, with mineral revenues reportedly contributing to the financing of the conflict. Rubaya is estimated to account for a significant share of global coltan supply, making developments there relevant to the wider tantalum market. The situation also highlights the difference between coltan and cobalt risks in the DRC. While cobalt production is concentrated in the southern Copperbelt and is increasingly subject to formalisation and traceability initiatives, coltan from eastern DRC faces a more direct conflict-financing and territorial-control risk. Cross-border movement of minerals through Rwanda has further complicated origin verification and supply-chain due diligence. For buyers, traders and investors, the key issue is therefore not simply whether material comes from the DRC, but where it was mined and who controls the supply chain at the point of extraction. With Rubaya remaining strategically important to global tantalum supply, verified origin, chain-of-custody controls and conflict-risk due diligence will remain critical when sourcing coltan from the region.

[SMM Express] Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) has brought shaft-inspection work at its flagship Bolashak chrome mine in-house, with the company's own geotechnical team now conducting laser-scanning surveys of the mine's 1,047-metre deep shaft down to a depth of 627 metres, as part of a predictive-maintenance programme announced 2 July 2026. The work, previously outsourced to third-party contractors, feeds into a digital twin model of the shaft designed to monitor structural condition and reduce risk to personnel and production continuity. Bolashak, part of ERG's Donskoy GOK operation and developed across the Millionnoye and Almaz-Zhemchuzhina deposits, has been in operation since late 2024 and is being ramped toward its full design capacity of 7.5 million tonnes of chrome ore per year — a volume that alone exceeds three times South Africa's entire monthly chrome ore export tonnage. The mine already runs on largely automated systems, including remote-controlled smart drilling rigs and a fully automated hoisting system. The shift to in-house, technology-driven shaft monitoring signals that ERG continues to invest in operational sophistication at Bolashak well after its initial commissioning, reinforcing Kazakhstan's position as a increasingly automated, large-scale chrome ore supplier operating independently of the production challenges currently facing South African and Zimbabwean producers.