Zinc social inventories rose 1,800 mt over weekend

Oreterra Metals announced the start of a 5,000-metre drill program at its Trek project in British Columbia’s Golden Triangle. Seven holes are planned at the previously undrilled Trek South target to test an approximately 1,000-metre-wide induced-polarization chargeability and resistivity anomaly. An eighth hole is planned for an IP target associated with outcropping copper-tungsten mineralization about 300 metres to the northeast. One drill is currently operating at Trek South, while a second rig is in transit and expected to begin work in about a week. Oreterra is also conducting sampling and mapping at the Tundra and Toe zones, located about 600–1,000 metres west of Trek South. The Toe Zone hosts several one-to-four-metre-thick horizons of high-grade massive-sulphide copper-gold-silver-zinc-antimony mineralization across a 130-metre-wide exposure series. The company plans its first IP survey over the most prospective area later this month to define potential future drill targets; this survey and any subsequent drilling have not yet been completed.

Hecla Mining reported that its Greens Creek mine in Southeast Alaska produced 4.23 million oz of silver and 31,509 oz of gold in the first half of 2026, together with significant quantities of zinc and lead. The company raised its 2026 silver production guidance for Greens Creek from 7.5–8.1 million oz to 8.1–8.3 million oz, while lowering all-in sustaining cost guidance from US$0–0.50/oz to negative US$3.75–4.25/oz. A tailings-storage expansion project is expected to support operations through 2045. Hecla is evaluating a pyrite-concentrate circuit and a tailings-reprocessing initiative. Preliminary work suggests the proposed circuit could add about 1.0–1.2 million oz of silver and 10,000–15,000 oz of gold annually at average reserve grades. The company estimates its dry-stack tailings contain about 310 million lb of zinc and 205 million lb of lead, alongside 51 million oz of silver and 600,000 oz of gold. A proposed 35,000-metric-ton tailings campaign with NVRO Metals remains conditional on NVRO acquiring and commissioning a mine and processing plant; a larger project would proceed to feasibility study only if the pilot is successful.

[SMM Zinc Morning Meeting Summary: LME Zinc Inventory Continues to Decline, LME Zinc Rises Significantly]: Overnight, LME zinc opened at $3,662/mt, and after opening it rose all the way, touching a low of $3,655.5/mt in early trading and a high of $3,748/mt near the close, finally ending up at $3,745.5/mt, up $84.5/mt, an increase of 2.31%, with trading volume rising to 13,736 lots···