OceanaGold is weighing a 50% expansion of its Waihi plant to 1.2 Mt/y after Wharekirauponga drilling returned standout intercepts including 6.3 m at 97.2 g/t Au from 481.5 m in the East Graben vein and 8.5 m at 41.5 g/t from 399 m. The move would enable concurrent feed from Martha Underground and Wharekirauponga post‑2032, building on a 2024 plan outlining 1.6 Moz over 15 years and an initial 4.1 Mt reserve at 9.2 g/t. Underground development is advancing, with the Waihi North decline now 350 m, first vent shaft under construction, staged commissioning of a new water treatment plant, and early works on a new tailings storage facility due in Q4.

Kinross Gold has cut its 2026–27 production outlook by about 8% to 1.84–1.86 million attributable gold-equivalent oz. a year and raised 2024 AISC guidance to $1,850–$1,900/oz after winter storms, copper-rich sulphide ore and poor recoveries at La Coipa in Chile, plus weaker mining rates, grades and recoveries at Round Mountain Phase S in Nevada. The company is stockpiling high-copper material, studying a new flotation circuit for deeper sulphide mineralisation that may overlie a copper porphyry system, and using a smaller shovel at Round Mountain to cut dilution. Despite the operational hit and a Q3 output cut to about 425,000 oz., Kinross has lifted its 2026 shareholder return target to 50% of free cash flow and has already returned about $800 million this year, mainly via $655 million in buybacks.

Rainbow Rare Earths has secured an offtake and processing memorandum with Neo Performance Materials covering 40% of Phalaborwa’s separated NdPr oxide and 65% of its mixed SEG+ heavy rare earth carbonate, enabling a prefeasibility study in Q4 and pushing the definitive feasibility study to the first half of 2027. Neo will supply solvent extraction design and technical support, with test work on phosphogypsum-derived feed under way in Estonia and an integrated pilot planned in Johannesburg, de-risking the complex separation of dysprosium, terbium and yttrium. The $326 million project would recover magnet rare earths from legacy fertiliser gypsum stacks, potentially feeding Neo’s Estonian separation and sintered magnet plant and offering a non-Chinese supply route linked to European capacity.