Zinc social inventories fell as downstream consumers bought on dips

Brixton Metals has reported the first assay results from its 2026 drilling program at the Thorn Project in British Columbia, Canada. Drill hole THN26-372 at the Glenfiddich Zone intersected 14.75 metres grading 1.25% copper, 1.71 g/t gold and 149 g/t silver, including a high-grade interval of 1.5 metres grading 8.33% copper, 11.3 g/t gold and 971 g/t silver. The company said current drilling is targeting strike and depth extensions of the Glenfiddich mineralized system to support an updated resource estimate. According to a 2014 mineral resource estimate, the Glenfiddich, Northside and Talisker zones host approximately 7.4 million tonnes of inferred resources grading 35.54 g/t silver, 0.51 g/t gold, 0.13% copper, 0.32% lead and 0.59% zinc, containing an estimated 55.1 million pounds of zinc and 29.3 million pounds of lead. Previous drilling at the Northside Zone in 2025 returned a high-grade interval grading 7.1% zinc and 7.6% lead, highlighting the project's polymetallic resource potential. Brixton has completed seven drill holes totaling 1,736.5 metres at Glenfiddich so far this year and plans to continue resource expansion and upgrade drilling.

Chinalco (Xiong’an) Mining, a subsidiary of Aluminum Corporation of China, has agreed to acquire a 95% stake in the Opuwo Cobalt-Copper Project in Namibia from Celsius Resources for US$15 million. The Opuwo Project, located in Namibia’s Kunene Region, hosts a mineral resource estimate of 225.5 million tonnes grading 0.12% cobalt, 0.43% copper and 0.54% zinc. The resource contains approximately 259,000 tonnes of cobalt, 970,000 tonnes of copper and around 1.22 million tonnes of contained zinc, including 45.3 million tonnes in the indicated category and 180.2 million tonnes in the inferred category. Under the agreement, Chinalco (Xiong’an) Mining has also committed to invest at least US$750,000 in exploration activities and US$250,000 in metallurgical test work while regulatory approvals and licence renewals are being completed.

[SMM zinc morning comment] Overnight, the most-traded SHFE zinc 2608 contract opened at 24,130 yuan/mt. At the beginning of the session, bears cut positions, causing the price to consolidate and strengthen, touching a high of 24,250 yuan/mt. Then, bulls cut positions, prompting SHFE zinc to pull back to a low of 24,105 yuan/mt. Subsequently, bulls added positions, lifting SHFE zinc gradually above the daily average price line. It finally settled higher at 24,210 yuan/mt, up 80 yuan/mt or 0.33%.