BioMetallica Plans Integrated Urban-Mining Facility in the Philippines for E-Waste and Industrial Scrap Recovery

Glencore has been selected by the US government as a founding partner in VaultCo, a strategic critical-minerals reserve designed to strengthen US supply chains. Backed by the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM), the initiative pairs EXIM financing of up to $10 billion with nearly $2 billion in private capital. Under the public-private model, Glencore will source, procure and deliver critical minerals and base metals to build strategic US inventories, supported by a $500 million EXIM commitment to Glencore. The program aims to reduce US exposure to supply disruptions.

Germany-based secondary metals supplier Metycle has secured a US$150 million asset-backed credit facility from Rivonia Road Capital to expand its sourcing and supply of secondary copper and aluminium. The financing covers the entire physical trade cycle—from supplier payment and material procurement through logistics to final buyer settlement—allowing Metycle to execute larger transactions, move greater volumes of recycled metals and increase supply to industrial buyers and smelters. The significance for the copper scrap market is that the facility directly addresses one of the key constraints in physical scrap trading: working capital and trade finance. Metycle aims to turn fragmented secondary-metal flows into specified, traceable and reliably delivered industrial feedstock. Greater financing capacity allows it to pay suppliers earlier while providing larger and more consistent flows of secondary copper to smelters and industrial consumers. At a time of tight global copper scrap availability, the entry of institutional private credit into secondary-metal trading could strengthen specialised traders' ability to compete for physical scrap supply.

BHP and Amazon have launched an industry-first Environmental Attribute Certificate (EAC) pilot for copper, using copper concentrate and SX-EW cathode produced at Chile's Escondida mine. The mechanism separates verified lower-emissions attributes from the physical copper itself: producers can create EACs associated with qualifying production, while downstream users can purchase and retire the certificates against emissions associated with copper in their own supply chains. The model addresses a key traceability challenge as physical copper moves through smelting, refining, fabrication and manufacturing before reaching the final user. Amazon can retire the certificates against copper used in its power, cooling and computing infrastructure, including AI-related circuit boards, interconnects and cold plates. The pilot will now test eligibility rules, verification, registry infrastructure and safeguards against double counting. If adopted more broadly, the framework could eventually create a separately tradable environmental value for lower-emissions copper, potentially influencing future copper procurement and offtake structures alongside conventional metal pricing and premiums.