Liberia survey flags early-stage anomalies across Zodiac licences

SMM data showed that China's high-carbon ferrochrome output in September 2026 fell 3.17% MoM, a wider decline than August's 1.25%. Output remained 18.8% higher YoY, though growth slowed from 20.36% in August. Output for January to September was up 30.84% YoY, compared with 32.56% at the end of August. The slowdown reflects squeezed margins. Firm coke prices, higher power tariffs and slow-moving chrome ore prices raised costs, while lower steel mill tender prices pressured ferrochrome prices, so southern producers, where costs are highest, cut output most. Output in the northern producing region held up better and kept national volumes well above last year, which is why YoY and YTD growth remain strong even as the MoM trend turns down. SMM expects output to ease only slightly from here, with weaker stainless steel demand offset by lower chrome ore costs and fixed long-term contract volumes.

DOWA Holdings plans to produce 113,543 tonnes of zinc in H2 FY2026, up 27.0% from its H1 plan of 89,373 tonnes and 26.8% from the 89,525 tonnes produced in H2 FY2025. Its Akita Zinc operation uses the hematite process to recover indium and other valuable metals at high yields and integrates zinc smelting with rare-metal production and recycling. Higher planned zinc output may increase feed throughput for by-product indium recovery. However, DOWA disclosed no indium production target, and any supply increase will depend on feed grades, recovery rates and operating schedules rather than zinc volumes alone.

Kobrea Exploration Corp. announced the approval of a US$4 million 2026/27 exploration programme for the Western Malargüe Mining District in Mendoza Province, Argentina, fully funded by BHP. The programme includes diamond drilling at the El Destino copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry target, induced-polarisation surveys at El Destino and KBX-17, as well as geological mapping, geochemical sampling and hyperspectral work. The exploration alliance covers seven projects totaling approximately 733 square kilometres, where copper, gold and molybdenum geochemical anomalies have been identified. SMM analysis: approval of the new budget moves the BHP-Kobrea partnership from an alliance framework into an active drilling phase. However, the properties remain at an early exploration stage, with no molybden