Mining Press Roundup: China's Biggest Lithium Mine Loses Its Licence Again, and the Supply Math Just Got Uglier

The lithium market got a fresh jolt today: CATL's Jianxiawo mine, China's largest lithium operation by capacity, has been forced back into care and maintenance after regulators revoked its environmental approval — again. It's the same asset that spent most of the past year tangled in permitting limbo, and the renewed shutdown is forcing analysts to slash 2026 supply forecasts just as battery demand shows signs of tightening an oversupplied market. According to market data, the Lithium ETF (LIT) fell 2.2% on the September 1 close to $74.71, and today's news out of Jiangxi province suggests the volatility isn't done.

CATL: Jianxiawo's Restart Falls Apart Again

CATL's Jianxiawo lithium mine, China's largest by capacity, is back in care and maintenance after regulators revoked its environmental approval, delaying a meaningful return of supply to a tightening market. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence cut its 2026 mined output forecast for Jianxiawo to 32,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) from 62,500 tonnes, while its 2027 forecast remains unchanged at about 99,000 tonnes.

The setback has an odd origin story. The setback follows a brief, informal restart in July that bypassed an unresolved dispute over the mine's tailings pond and prompted complaints, according to Benchmark. Market sources pointed to more than 70 formal reports, forcing operator Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. back into the environmental review process. The mine's troubles go back further than this summer — Jianxiawo's troubles trace back to August 2025, when its mining licence expired as China tightened mineral classification rules and subjected the deposit's lithium-bearing clay to stricter standards, and the mine then entered a drawn-out permitting process.

The stakes for the wider market are significant. A prolonged shutdown at the country's largest lithium operation by capacity would remove expected tonnes from a market where stronger battery demand is already beginning to challenge the oversupply that has weighed on prices for years. Compounding the uncertainty, other Jiangxi mines are expected to produce about 108,000 tonnes of LCE in 2026, but inspections could uncover waste and tailings deficiencies similar to those identified at Jianxiawo, and expectations of unfavourable inspection results could also encourage producers to accelerate mining to use quotas that might otherwise go unused later, adding another layer of uncertainty to Chinese lithium supply.

Liontown Resources: A Farm-In Opens the Door to Argentine Brine

Australia's Liontown Resources is diversifying beyond its hard-rock base. Liontown Limited (ASX: LTR) has signed a farm-in agreement with Next Lithium Corp. that could give the Australian miner full ownership of the Centenario lithium brine exploration project in Argentina, giving Liontown a low-cost entry into lithium brines while adding geographical and resource diversification beyond its Kathleen Valley hardrock operation in Western Australia.

The project sits in good company. The project is strategically located close to the Pozuelos-Pastos Grandes project and Centenario-Ratones operations, both with production targets of lithium carbonate of up to 150,000 tonnes a year. Under the deal structure, Liontown has a staged pathway to acquire up to 100% of the project based on US$40 million (~A$56 million) of project expenditure over a four-year period along with associated milestone payments, with initial consideration payable upon the farm-in agreement becoming unconditional comprising US$5 million in cash and US$10 million in Liontown shares.

CEO Tony Ottaviano framed the move as capability-building rather than a pivot: "This transaction gives Liontown a low-cost entry into lithium brine. Brine is one of the two primary sources of the world's lithium, and this is our first step in building real understanding and capability in it." The timing is notable — the company announced the Centenario agreement one day after reporting its first full-year financial results from operations at Kathleen Valley, with higher concentrate sales and improved lithium prices helping Liontown generate record revenue of $639 million and underlying EBITDA of $147 million in FY26.

Antofagasta and Lundin: Chile's Storm Damage Keeps Piling Up

While lithium juniors chase growth, Chile's copper majors are still counting the cost of a brutal winter. Chile produced 403,424 tonnes of copper in July, down 9.4% from a year earlier and 9.8% below June, the weakest July for the world's biggest producer since 2011, with the national statistics agency blaming weather in the north of the country that hindered normal production, along with maintenance at major sites.

The damage is showing up in guidance cuts across the board. Antofagasta Minerals and Lundin both announced copper production guidance declines after severe storms in northern Chile disrupted copper mining operations in July and August, with Lundin reducing its Caserones mine guidance for 2026 from 130,000-140,000 tonnes to 120,000-130,000 tonnes after severe weather shutdowns. Combined, their 2026 guidance range is now 35,000-55,000 tonnes below their previous outlook. Lundin's CEO put it bluntly: "Following the first storm, we expected the impact on production to remain within the lower end of our original guidance range. Unfortunately, a second severe storm disrupted recovery efforts and delayed our planned return to full operations, leading to additional unplanned downtime. As a result, we have revised our guidance to reflect the extended recovery period."

Per Polygon data, copper miners (COPX) fell 3.9% on the September 1 close to $89.24, even as physical tightness in Chile continues to build. Comex stockpiles have swollen to almost three times the copper left in LME warehouses as traders keep pushing metal into the US ahead of January's duty.

Greenland Resources: Nordic Investment Bank Lines Up Behind Malmbjerg

In the Arctic, a junior developer just picked up a heavyweight financing partner. Greenland Resources (TSX:MOLY | FSE:M0LY) announced Tuesday it has received a letter of interest (LOI) from the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) to provide funding of up to $120 million under one or more export credit agencies covered facilities. The bank brings serious credibility to the table — as an international financial institution of the Nordic and Baltic countries, NIB carries AAA/Aaa credit ratings from S&P Global and Moody's, respectively.

This isn't a standalone commitment. The LOI adds to the expression of interest from Export Development Canada (EDC) as a mandate lead arranger in an amount up to $275 million. The underlying project has scale: the Malmbjerg project has a NI 43-101 definitive feasibility study and a 30-year molybdenum and magnesium exploitation licence, with proven and probable reserves totaling 245 million tonnes grading 0.176% MoS2, containing 571 million pounds of molybdenum. For a market where the West has few domestic molybdenum sources of scale, that reserve base — anchored by a long-term offtake agreement with Finland's Outokumpu, the largest producer of stainless steel in Europe — positions Malmbjerg as one of the more advanced critical-minerals financing stories in the Arctic.

Larvotto Resources: Australia's New Antimony Champion Springs to Life

Down under, Larvotto Resources has crossed the finish line on a rare Western antimony restart. Larvotto Resources (ASX: LRV) has started antimony and gold production at its Hillgrove mine in Australia, adding a major Western source of a strategic metal whose supply is dominated by China and Russia. The scale is meaningful: the New South Wales operation is expected to meet about 7% of global antimony demand and account for more than half of supply outside China, with the company planning to produce 4,900 tonnes of antimony and 40,500 oz. of gold annually over an initial eight-year mine life.

Managing director Ron Heeks called it a milestone moment: "Becoming Australia's biggest antimony producer is a significant achievement, particularly at a time when securing reliable supply of antimony has become a strategic priority for governments around the world." Markets rewarded the news — the company's shares climbed on the news closing at A$1.154, which gives Larvotto a market capitalization of about A$597 million ($427 million). Antimony prices have cooled considerably since their peak, but supply chain anxiety hasn't: the metal climbed above a record US$59,000 per tonne in May 2025 amid concerns about tight supply but has since fallen to less than half that level.

Perpetua Resources: Stibnite Clears a Major Legal Hurdle

Idaho's Stibnite project — America's only domestic antimony reserve of scale — just cleared a significant legal test. Perpetua Resources (TSX, Nasdaq: PPTA) is pressing ahead with early construction at its Stibnite gold-antimony project in Idaho after a U.S. federal court upheld key approvals against an environmental challenge. The Aug. 18 ruling dismissed challenges under several federal laws and upheld findings that the $1.3-billion (C$1.8-billion) Stibnite project would not jeopardize protected species.

National Bank of Canada framed the ruling as a turning point for the risk profile: "We view the merits ruling as a more substantive de-risking event than the May 29 denial of the preliminary injunction and expect the company to continue with early works activities as planned," National Bank mining analyst Rabi Nizami said. The project already carries heavy federal backing — the Trump administration has fast-tracked Stibnite and in May, the U.S. Export-Import Bank approved a $2.9-billion loan, with the country's only domestic reserve of antimony also receiving support from the Department of Defense. Perpetua is now advancing towards a final investment decision expected this year, with first gold due in 2029.

Collective Mining: Apollo Keeps Growing Ahead of Its Maiden Resource

In Colombia, Collective Mining extended its flagship discovery just weeks before a major catalyst. The two directional drill holes, APC172-D1 and APC172-D2, were collared southwards to test the Ramp zone at depth when they encountered new mineralization before reaching their intended target, also extending mineralization about 170 metres vertically below previous drilling on Apollo's northern side. One highlight: Drill hole APC172-D1 cut 97.15 metres grading 0.95 gram gold, 4 grams silver, 0.02% copper and 0.02% zinc from about 929 metres below surface, equivalent to 1.06 grams gold-equivalent.

National Bank Financial's Don DeMarco sees the results as resource-additive: the results reinforce the potential to grow the upcoming resource, and the elevated grades and their location near a planned underground access tunnel could also improve potential project economics, while the broad mineralized intervals support bulk-mining methods, he said. The timing matters — the company has accelerated its internal timeline to apply for a license for the project and now expects to release its maiden mineral resource estimate on Apollo in September 2026.

What It Means

Today's announcements sketch a market where supply friction, not demand collapse, is the dominant story across nearly every commodity. Lithium is whipsawing on Chinese permitting politics even as juniors like Liontown quietly build brine optionality in Argentina; copper's story is about weather and depleting ore grades in Chile rather than a lack of buyers; and antimony — squeezed between Chinese/Russian dominance and Western defense demand — is seeing genuine new supply arrive from Larvotto in Australia and legal clarity handed to Perpetua in Idaho. Layer in Greenland Resources' molybdenum financing and Collective Mining's expanding Colombian gold system, and the throughline is clear: capital and permits, not exploration success, are now the binding constraints on getting critical minerals to market.

This roundup covers press releases published on September 2, 2026. Company announcements are sourced from mining industry wire services. For corrections or updates, contact contact@stakeandpaper.com.