Rio Tinto Proceeding with Pilbara Iron Ore Expansion

During the May Day holiday in 2026, LME zinc traded in a general sideways range, finding solid support at the 40-day moving average. In terms of specific performance, LME zinc showed an N-shaped trend of rising first, then falling and rebounding again.

On May 5th, according to Reuters, an explosion occurred at Kazzinc’s site. Kazzinc said that it occurred during cleaning work on a smoke extraction system, followed by a fire and partial structural collapse. So far, emergency ministry said the fire had been extinguished. Kazzinc, owned by Glencore, has an annual production of roughly 250-300 kt of zinc, 100-150 kt of lead and around 87.5 kt of copper cathode. Kazzinc hasn't disclosed the specific impact. Based on currently available information, the incident mainly involved smoke extraction/dust-collection equipment, may cause temporary disruption to related operations. There is no evidence so far that the main zinc electrowinning line was damaged. Further updates needed on the scope of any cuts or suspensions and the repair timeline.

On April 30th, South32 raised the development cost estimate for the Taylor deposit at its Hermosa zinc-silver project in Arizona, US, and delayed the timeline. First-stage capital expenditure has increased by more than 50%, from $2.2 billion in the 2024 FS to $3.3 billion. First production has been delayed by one year to H2 FY2028, full production has also been pushed back to FY2031. Cost increase was mainly due to contractor underperformance, slower-than-expected construction productivity, scope changes, inflation, US tariffs and higher input costs. Progress on a key ventilation shaft is the main bottleneck now. But the company also noted that ore reserves at Taylor increased by 52%, mineral resources rose by 10%, extending the expected mine life from 28 years to around 33 years.