[SMM Flash] Amnesty Reports Abuses at Rubaya Coltan Mines and Alleged Trafficking to Rwanda​

Kali Metals and Japan’s JX Advanced Metals have entered a binding memorandum of understanding covering Southern Lachlan Fold Belt tenements in Australia, according to reporting on Kali’s 22 September ASX disclosure. JX is to fund up to A$700,000 of exploration through a due diligence period ending 31 March 2027, while Kali manages the work. The approximately 1,413 km² area is prospective for lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatites, tin and tungsten.​ The agreement funds early exploration. It establishes no tantalum mineral resource, reserve or production, and the funding ceiling is not a commitment to finance a mine. A farm-in or joint venture would require a further agreement.

Zimbabwe's National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), now operating under the country's sovereign wealth fund Mutapa Investments, is negotiating a $115 million facility with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to purchase 10 locomotives and 315 wagons and expand haulage capacity, Mutapa Investments CEO John Mangudya said on Thursday. The funds would also be used to repair sections of NRZ's railway infrastructure, he added. Mangudya disclosed the talks as NRZ commissioned three locomotives and 100 wagons refurbished under a partnership with Zimasco, the Zimbabwean ferrochrome unit of China's Sinosteel, the deal already reported as a $2.8 million public-private financing arrangement in which Zimasco funded the wagon overhauls in exchange for freight-charge offsets. Thursday's disclosure indicates that partnership forms one component of a much larger rail recapitalization effort now under negotiation, rather than a standalone initiative. NRZ has struggled for years under government under-investment, with freight volumes collapsing from a peak of 12 million mt in the 1990s to just 2 million mt in 2025. The state rail operator has increasingly turned to partnerships with private logistics firms and industrial users to rebuild capacity, including hauling lithium concentrate to Maputo port in partnership with private operators since July. For Zimbabwe's chrome sector, which depends on reliable rail access to move ferrochrome and chrome ore to regional ports, a more dependable NRZ network would support the kind of export logistics that producers including Zimasco have flagged as a persistent constraint. The scale of NRZ's ambitions extends well beyond the Afreximbank facility under discussion: a full overhaul of the network has been estimated at around $600 million, meaning the current funding round is likely to yield improvements concentrated on specific mining and freight corridors rather than a network-wide transformation. No timeline for concluding the Afreximbank negotiations, or for delivery of the locomotives and wagons, has been disclosed.

China's chrome ore imports totaled approximately 2.36 million tonnes in August 2026, down 9.3% month-on-month from around 2.60 million tonnes in July, per Chinese customs data. South Africa remained China's leading chrome ore supplier in August, shipping approximately 1.89 million tonnes, down 13.1% MoM from July's approximately 2.18 million tonnes. South Africa's share of total imports eased to roughly 80.1%, down from around 83.6% in July. Zimbabwe shipped approximately 213,588 tonnes in August, down 12.0% MoM from around 242,590 tonnes in July, with its import share slipping marginally to roughly 9.0% from 9.3%. Turkey's shipments rose to approximately 147,447 tonnes in August, up 37.3% MoM from around 107,389 tonnes in July, lifting its share of total imports to roughly 6.2% from 4.1%. Imports from other origins increased to approximately 109,759 tonnes in August, up 40.6% MoM from around 78,072 tonnes in July, taking their share to roughly 4.6% from 3.0%. Overall, August's data shows a broad pullback in China's chrome ore imports led by a double-digit decline from South Africa, even as Turkey and other secondary origins expanded their footprint in the supply mix.