South32 Hermosa Completes Federal Permitting Under FAST 41

What happened

On September 2, the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council announced completion of federal permitting for South32’s Hermosa Critical Minerals Project in southern Arizona. It is the first mining project covered by FAST 41 to complete the coordinated federal process. The U.S. Forest Service served as the lead federal agency.

The federal announcement describes Hermosa as a US$3.3 billion zinc and manganese mining and processing project located approximately 55 miles south of Tucson. The project could produce up to five federally designated critical minerals, including zinc, silver and manganese. South32 plans approximately 900 direct local jobs, according to the announcement.

The review included public engagement and Tribal consultation. South32 had already approved development of the Taylor zinc, lead and silver deposit in February 2024. Its latest annual review reports that construction is underway and that first production is expected during the second half of financial year 2028. The September milestone therefore closes the coordinated federal permitting pathway within a project that has already entered execution. Commissioning, ramp up and stable production remain ahead.

Signal reading

Hermosa shows how permitting architecture can become part of mineral strategy. FAST 41 provided a published timetable, agency coordination and accountability around a complex project with mining, processing, environmental and community interfaces. Federal completion now sits alongside approved investment and active construction at Taylor. Strategic attention therefore shifts toward delivery against the revised schedule, operating readiness and subsequent decisions across the wider Hermosa portfolio.

Next proof point: delivery against Taylor’s revised construction schedule, completion of major works, commissioning, the company’s targeted first production during the second half of financial year 2028, stable output and subsequent development decisions across the wider Hermosa portfolio.

What happened

Greenland Mines closed its acquisition of Neo North Star Resources, the company associated with the mineral exploration licence covering the Sarfartoq Carbonatite Complex in southwest Greenland. The transaction followed approval from the Government of Greenland under the Mineral Activities Act.

Total consideration was US$35 million, comprising US$20 million in cash and US$15 million in Greenland Mines shares. Neo Performance Materials became a strategic shareholder and retained offtake rights for up to 60% of future Sarfartoq ore or mineral concentrate production. Definitive offtake documentation remains to be negotiated. Greenland Mines intends that potential material under those rights would connect with Neo’s rare earth separation capacity at Silmet in Estonia.

Greenland Mines plans infill drilling, pilot scale metallurgical work, mine engineering and continued environmental and social baseline studies as it advances toward a prefeasibility study. Its Initial Assessment remains preliminary, includes Inferred Mineral Resources and establishes no Mineral Reserves or certainty that the projected outcomes will be realised.

Signal reading

The closing converts a government approved transfer into effective corporate control. It also preserves a connection between an upstream Greenland asset and an operating European separation platform. Ownership and potential offtake now sit inside the same strategic architecture, while future supply still depends on technical definition, environmental work, definitive commercial terms, capital and project approval.

Next proof point: definitive offtake documentation, completion of the planned drilling and metallurgical programme, a prefeasibility study, updated environmental and social evidence, a defined development configuration, financing and a permitting pathway capable of supporting construction.

What happened

South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy formally approved Whale Head Minerals’ application for a Mining Right over Sea Concession 2A in the Northern Cape after consideration by the Regional Mining Development and Environmental Committee. The area covers approximately 3,095 hectares and the initial term is ten years.

The right covers garnet, monazite, zirconium, rutile, leucoxene and other heavy minerals. The approval concludes the substantive application process, but formal execution before a public notary and witness and registration with the Mineral and Petroleum Titles Registration Office remain necessary before operations can begin.

Under Kazera’s arrangements with South Africa AT Investments, formal execution will trigger a US$1.75 million payment to Whale Head Minerals and expansion of joint operations into the concession. Kazera reports that 30 containers of equipment have begun shipment from China. The company targets commercial production during the first quarter of 2027 and at least 10,000 tonnes of concentrate per month during the second quarter. Those dates and volumes remain company objectives.

Signal reading

The decision removes the principal regulatory uncertainty around the Mining Right and brings the project closer to mobilisation. Its strategic structure combines a South African mineral asset with external capital, processing expertise and international market access. The remaining execution and registration steps matter because the approval becomes operational only when the legal instrument is completed and the partner arrangements can activate.

Next proof point: formal execution and registration of the Mining Right, payment under the partner agreement, arrival and installation of equipment, construction progress, first concentrate and evidence that the targeted monthly rate can be sustained.

What happened

Amex Gold Mining completed the portal at its Perron Gold Project in Quebec and successfully blasted the first underground development round. The blast marks the formal start of ramp development by the company’s mining contractor, CMAC Thyssen.

The current programme is designed to advance to a vertical depth of approximately 235 metres, provide access to the high grade Champagne Zone and support a planned 40,000 tonne bulk sample. Amex says the portal and ramp are being built to production scale specifications so that the infrastructure can support both the bulk sample and potential future mine development.

The milestone creates physical underground access, while commercial production remains a later stage. The project must still demonstrate ramp progress, safe development conditions, bulk sample performance and the technical and financial basis for subsequent mine development.

Signal reading

Underground development changes the quality of project evidence. Surface drilling and studies are being supplemented by direct access to the mineralised zone, larger scale sampling and operating information from the rock mass. That work can improve geological reconciliation, mine design, grade control and processing confidence before broader development capital is committed.

Next proof point: measured ramp advance, safe access to the planned depth, completion and processing of the bulk sample, reconciliation with the geological model and a funded decision on subsequent mine development.

What happened

FLS signed a lifecycle agreement with Lloyds Metals and Energy covering the full FLS equipment flowsheet across the Indian company’s mining operations. The order value was not disclosed. FLS describes Lloyds Metals as the operator of India’s single largest iron ore mine and says the company is significantly expanding production and processing capacity.

The agreement combines a dedicated on site FLS team, a tailored maintenance programme, continuous learning and operational readiness training, and on site management of consumables and spare parts. The companies are also developing an advanced repair centre close to the installed equipment base.

The arrangement builds on equipment orders placed over the previous two years. Its value will depend on whether the service platform improves plant availability, response time, workforce capability and reliability as the operations scale.

Signal reading

Installed capacity delivers limited strategic value without the people, repair capability, maintenance systems and spare parts required to keep it operating. The agreement places skills and service infrastructure inside the expansion plan. That is particularly important when production and processing scale increase faster than the operational ecosystem around them.

Next proof point: commissioning of the repair centre, deployment of the on site team, completion of training programmes, measurable equipment availability and evidence that processing capacity can scale without weakening reliability.

What happened

St George Mining began pilot beneficiation work at CIT SENAI in Belo Horizonte using approximately nine tonnes of near surface saprolite from the Araxá Project in Minas Gerais. The four to six week programme includes grinding, magnetic separation and locked cycle flotation with recycle streams to test the repeatability and optimisation of earlier results.

The programme is intended to produce a niobium concentrate for downstream work targeting ferroniobium. The rare earth enriched flotation tailings will be tested through hydrometallurgical routes targeting an intermediate product such as mixed rare earth carbonate or rare earth oxalate. Results are expected during the fourth quarter of 2026.

St George also reports that environmental and building permits have been received for its own pilot plant at the CEFET MG campus in Araxá and that construction has commenced. The planned facility has throughput capacity of up to 300 kilograms per hour, with completion targeted for December 2026 and first operation targeted for January 2027. These dates remain company objectives.

Signal reading

Araxá is testing whether one beneficiation route can create two usable product streams from the same material. The pilot programme matters because recycle loads, recoveries, grades, impurity removal and downstream product quality often change when a flowsheet moves beyond open circuit laboratory work. The project still needs integrated mass balances, repeatable product specifications and economic evidence before the process can be treated as commercial.

Next proof point: complete pilot mass balances, repeatable recoveries and grades, successful production of ferroniobium and rare earth intermediates, construction completion, January commissioning and evidence that the integrated flowsheet supports a viable project design.