Mining Press Roundup: Boliden's $1.3 Billion Nexa Deal Redraws the Zinc Map as Uranium Juniors Push Toward Production

The mining wire's biggest story this week didn't come from a drill rig -- it came from a boardroom in Stockholm. Boliden's agreement to take control of Brazilian zinc and silver producer Nexa Resources is the largest base-metals M&A deal of the month, arriving just as zinc prices punch to their highest level in more than four years. Add a first underground blast at a 40-year-dormant Utah uranium mine, a $75 million cash injection for U.S. rare-earth recycling, and a niobium project embedding a fully electric haulage system into its feasibility study, and Thursday and Friday's news flow captured almost every theme driving mining capital right now: critical minerals nationalism, base-metal scarcity, and juniors racing toward first production.

Boliden: $1.3 Billion All-Share Deal Creates a Latin American Zinc-Silver Powerhouse

Sweden's Boliden has agreed to buy Brazilian conglomerate Votorantim's controlling stake in Nexa Resources for $1.3 billion in shares, giving the European miner a major zinc and silver platform in Latin America. Boliden will acquire Votorantim's 65% stake by issuing 0.25 of one of its shares for each Nexa share, implying a price of $15.29 per Nexa share, the companies said Thursday. After closing, Boliden has agreed to launch a cash tender offer for the remaining 35% within 30 days, or 60 days in some circumstances, with the price based on the same exchange ratio and Boliden's 20-day average share price before closing.

The deal reshapes the ownership map of two of the world's most important zinc jurisdictions. The company operates five polymetallic underground mines that produce zinc primarily, including Aripuaná and Vazante in Brazil, and Cerro Lindo, El Porvenir and Atacocha in Peru, along with three zinc smelters. Boliden CEO Mikael Staffas framed the logic squarely around scale and diversification: "The transaction will reinforce our standing as a globally important base metal producer and bring a healthy addition to our precious metal business with a large increase to our output of silver in concentrate."

Not everyone is convinced the price is a bargain. BMO said the valuation looks attractive at first glance, with the implied price representing about 3.2 times Nexa's average forecast 2027-28 EBITDA compared with Boliden at about 5 times. But the bank flagged integration risk, noting "while this does add significant production, meaningful synergies aren't immediately obvious and adds to complexity of its integrated business." Votorantim isn't walking away empty-handed either: Boliden will acquire approximately 65% of Nexa Resources, and give Votorantim 7% of Boliden. The market's initial verdict was lukewarm -- Boliden shares fell after the announcement in Stockholm, trading around SEK571 on Thursday, about 2.1% below Wednesday's close.

Zinc: LME Squeeze Hits Four-Year High Just as Boliden Doubles Down

The timing of Boliden's move is no accident. LME zinc prices hiked as western warehouses drained and supply tightened. Zinc climbed to its highest level since June 2022 on the London Metal Exchange as warehouse stockpiles drained to multi-year lows and mine supply cuts tightened the physical market, with LME zinc for cash settlement closing at $4,107 a tonne on Thursday, the highest in more than four years and up 55% from a trough of about $2,650 in mid-2025.

The physical shortage is stark: stock in LME warehouses dropped from about 264,000 tonnes in December 2024 to roughly 95,000 tonnes, a 64% drawdown that has left available metal at its lowest since April 2023, Fastmarkets reported. Relief may be on the way from China, though. China is finally beginning to ramp up zinc exports, with one trader suggesting refined zinc exports could reach around 20,000 tonnes in August. Even so, major zinc producers exposed to the LME price include Teck Resources with a 47% increase, Glencore with a 46% increase and Nexa Resources with a 60% increase in shares since January 2026 -- a run-up that likely sweetened Boliden's calculus on paying up for Nexa now rather than later.

Anfield Energy: First Underground Blast in 40 Years at Utah's Velvet-Wood Uranium Mine

Anfield Energy notched a genuine milestone in America's uranium-mine revival. Anfield Energy said this week it has completed the first underground blast at its Velvet-Wood uranium and vanadium project in San Juan County, Utah, following receipt of a permit in June. This is the first underground blast conducted at the project in nearly 40 years and represents another key milestone in the ongoing underground rehabilitation and development program, the company said.

The history here matters: the Velvet deposit produced about 4 million pounds of U₃O₈ between 1979 and 1984 under previous owners. Located about 200 miles south of Salt Lake City, the proposed mine comprises two separate areas that together hold 4.6 million lb. of uranium oxide equivalent in the measured and indicated category, plus 552,000 lb. in the inferred category. CEO Corey Dias called it a concrete step forward, saying "Completing the first underground blast at Velvet-Wood since the mid-1980s, following the receipt of our ATF blast permit in June, is a concrete step in rehabilitating the decline and moving the project toward dewatering of the historic workings." The broader context is a U.S. push to rebuild domestic nuclear fuel supply -- progress at Velvet-Wood continues against the backdrop of the Trump Administration's sustained focus on strengthening America's domestic nuclear fuel supply chain, with Utah's recent selection as one of five state contenders for Department of Energy nuclear lifecycle campuses underscoring the state's strategic importance. Notably, per market data, URA (the Global X Uranium ETF) tumbled 5.8% on the day the news broke, a reminder that even solid project milestones can get swept up in broader uranium-sector volatility.

Cyclic Materials: $75 Million Raise Accelerates U.S. Rare Earth Recycling Buildout

Toronto-based Cyclic Materials landed a fresh war chest to scale up domestic rare-earth supply outside China. Rare earths recycler Cyclic Materials closed on Thursday a $75 million strategic financing round, bringing total equity funding to $237 million. Cyclic said the capital will accelerate deployment of its rare earth recycling campus in South Carolina, which it plans to break ground on Q4 2026, and the expansion of its Hub-and-Spoke infrastructure across the US.

The policy backdrop is unusually direct. The financing comes as the United States has designated the recovery of critical materials already in circulation a national defense and supply security priority, with a July 30 Presidential Determination identifying end-of-life rare earth permanent magnets, manufacturing swarf, and other critical-mineral-bearing scrap as recoverable resources essential to national security. The round was led by institutional heavyweights: the funding round was led by accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates Inc., alongside continued support from existing shareholders and additional participation from the Canada Growth Fund. The South Carolina site is designed for real volume -- the campus is designed to process 2,000 tonnes of magnet material annually, expandable to 6,000 tonnes, using end-of-life NdFeB magnets and manufacturing scrap as feedstock containing critical heavy rare earths dysprosium and terbium. CEO Ahmad Ghahreman said "the continued support of our investors is enabling us to build vital U.S. rare earth infrastructure at a time when it has become a national priority."

NioCorp: Railveyor Electric Haulage Embedded in Elk Creek Feasibility Study

NioCorp Developments is betting on full electrification to unlock its Nebraska critical minerals project. Fully electric haulage system Railveyor has been incorporated into multiple key elements of NioCorp's updated feasibility study for its Elk Creek critical minerals project in Nebraska. Railveyor CEO Tas Mohamed said the August technical report goes further than a simple option study -- it's now core to the mine plan. "Rather than being treated simply as an alternative to conventional underground trucks, Railveyor is now embedded in the project's primary material-handling architecture," she said.

The scale of the project is significant: the updated Elk Creek project study envisages an integrated underground mine and processing operation producing niobium, scandium, titanium and magnetic rare earth products, with a mineral reserve supporting a 40-year production life, processing 46 million short tons of ore and targeting 3,047 tons per day of production at steady state. The economics look compelling on paper -- an earlier NioCorp scoping study estimated that the twin-ramp concept could reduce initial underground capital by 53% compared with the shaft configuration, with operating cost savings of some $0.63 per tonne. NioCorp COO Scott Honan praised the system's practicality, noting it "is well suited to the underground mining environment and can be operated and maintained by people with a basic underground mining skill set," according to comments carried in the announcement.

Atomic Eagle: Niger Hands Back Control of the Madaouela Uranium Project

In one of the more remarkable turnarounds on the African uranium scene, Atomic Eagle has clawed back a project that Niger's government had stripped from its predecessor. Atomic Eagle has regained control of its Madaouela project in Niger, two years after the government revoked the mining permit of predecessor company GoviEx Uranium amid a dispute that led to international arbitration. The Mining Convention that Atomic Eagle negotiated with the Niger military government includes a revised exploration permit for Madaouela and gives the company a 60% stake in the project, with the government holding 40%.

The asset carries real technical depth. Madaouela is supported by about 600,000 metres of historical drilling, with GoviEx having invested about US$160m in the project. A prior feasibility study sketched out a mid-tier operation: GoviEx had advanced Madaouela to the feasibility stage, and its 2022 study outlined a mid-tier project with a 19-year mine life, total production of 50.8 million lb. of U3O8, an after-tax NPV of $140 million, an IRR of 13.3%, and initial capital costs forecast at $343 million. CEO Phil Hoskins called it a "transformational outcome," significantly increasing its resource base and adding a second uranium project to its portfolio. The company now has a defined runway to prove it out: the company has a two-year window to update the feasibility study, conduct environmental and social studies and secure financing, it said.

Cabral Gold: New High-Grade Zone Emerges in Brazil Weeks Before First Pour

Cabral Gold's exploration team keeps finding gold in the Tapajós just as the company prepares to become a producer. Drilling at Cabral Gold's Cuiú Cuiú project in northern Brazil has returned high-grade results that point to a new mineralized zone in the Jerimum Cima target as the company prepares to pour first gold in September. Highlight hole DDH411 cut 8.9 metres grading 5.8 grams gold per tonne from 208 metres depth, including 1.8 metres at 28.4 grams gold, and that hole is regarded as a new mineralized zone located 200 metres south of the main zone at Jerimum Cima.

CEO Alan Carter framed the discovery as opening a new door at an already prolific target: "The identification of a new mineralized zone at Jerimum Cima ... opens up the possibility of additional high-grade gold mineralization at the Jerimum Cima target which has already returned some spectacular drill results," he said, pointing to a June hole that returned 9.5 metres grading 87.4 grams gold. The market liked what it saw: company shares gained more than 2% to $1.38 apiece on Thursday morning in Toronto, for a market capitalization of $429.4 million, with the stock having more than tripled over the past year. Production is imminent: Cabral plans to start production in September from a heap leach oxide starter pit at the Moreira Gomes target inside Cuiú Cuiú, with commercial production targeted for the fourth quarter.

What It Means

Today's wire crystallizes a market that's rotating hard toward supply security across every base and critical metal. Boliden's willingness to pay a premium for Nexa despite thin near-term synergies -- alongside a zinc price sitting at a four-year high on draining LME stocks -- shows majors are increasingly happy to buy scarcity rather than wait for it to ease. Per market data, COPX (copper miners) and LIT (lithium) both slid on the day (-2.1% and -1.4% respectively), while gold eased 0.6% to $4,594/oz, suggesting some of the metals-and-miners froth from earlier in August is cooling even as deal-making accelerates underneath it.

Meanwhile, the uranium and rare-earth stories -- Anfield's first blast in 40 years, Atomic Eagle's recovered Niger permit, Cyclic Materials' $75 million raise, and NioCorp's electrified Elk Creek design -- all point to the same underlying trend: Western governments and capital markets are funding the unglamorous, capital-intensive work of rebuilding domestic and allied critical-mineral supply chains, one permit, one blast, and one feasibility study at a time. That URA fell nearly 6% even as Anfield hit a genuine production milestone is a reminder that sentiment and fundamentals aren't always moving in lockstep -- but the steady drumbeat of juniors converting permits into physical progress suggests the underlying buildout is very much still on track.

This roundup covers press releases published on August 28, 2026. Company announcements are sourced from mining industry wire services. For corrections or updates, contact contact@stakeandpaper.com.