Premiums of Imported Zinc May Turn to Discounts with Continuous Influx of Imported Resources, SMM Reports

Recently, CME Group announced that Glencore and Trafigura completed the first trades of its U.S. Zinc Futures contracts on the CME Globex platform. The initial trades were executed on August 20 for September delivery. In March 2026, CME Group revised its zinc futures contract to a U.S. duty-paid structure in response to market participants’ demand for a tool to manage U.S. pricing dynamics. As an exchange-traded and centrally cleared instrument, the contract provides a risk management tool for the all-in U.S. zinc price. CME Group said the product will help improve pricing accuracy and market transparency while enhancing hedging efficiency for producers, consumers and intermediaries. The U.S. Zinc Futures contract is physically settled and listed under COMEX rules.

Minaurum Silver reported results from its Phase II 50,000-metre resource-expansion drilling program at the Alamos Silver Project in Sonora, Mexico. At the Quintera vein, hole AL26-230 intersected 26.30 m grading 369 g/t AgEq, comprising 306 g/t Ag, 0.03 g/t Au, 0.37% Cu, 0.73% Pb and 0.61% Zn. This included 0.30 m grading 2,418 g/t AgEq, with 2.22% Pb and 2.46% Zn. At Europa Sur, hole AL26-224 returned 3.40 m grading 589 g/t AgEq, with 0.79% Pb and 1.59% Zn, including 1.00 m grading 1,185 g/t AgEq with 1.55% Pb and 3.92% Zn. The company stated that the existing inferred resource for the Europa vein is 26.5 million oz AgEq, forming part of the 55.2 million oz AgEq inferred resource for the Europa, Promontorio and Travesia veins. It contains 114.77 million lb of lead and 237.80 million lb of zinc, and excludes the southern Europa Sur extension. The reported drilling remains part of the resource-expansion program.

Nine Mile Metals reported certified assays from drill hole WD-26-07 at the Wedge Mine in New Brunswick’s Bathurst Mining Camp. The hole was collared on the southwest edge of the drill pattern, at an azimuth of 325 degrees and dip of -53 degrees, to a depth of 224 m. Upper Zone 1 returned 9.85 m from 80.15 m to 90 m grading 23.34 g/t Ag, 0.41 g/t Au, 0.54% Cu, 0.52% Pb and 2.74% Zn, or 2.10% CuEq, including 7.35 m grading 3.56% Zn and 0.70% Pb. Lower Zone 2 returned 33 m from 105 m to 138 m grading 12.72 g/t Ag, 0.20 g/t Au, 1.46% Cu, 0.40% Pb and 0.80% Zn, or 2.12% CuEq. This included 24 m at 2.77% CuEq and 9.2 m at 4.14% CuEq. Nine Mile Metals plans to incorporate the results into 3D modelling toward an updated NI 43-101 technical report and a future mineral resource estimate.