Mining Press Roundup: Magna Greenlights Levack Restart Without a Feasibility Study

Magna Mining (TSX: NICU; US-OTC: MGMNF) has approved a C$70-million ($49 million) restart of its Levack nickel-copper mine near Sudbury, Ont., targeting commercial production by mid-2028, according to MINING.COM. The company is moving without a feasibility study or mineral reserves demonstrating economic viability. That makes Levack a test of how far a miner can lean on existing infrastructure and a preliminary economic assessment. Elsewhere today, Army-backed graphite, EU-backed copper and strike risk in Chile show the same push to add Western supply, and the same risks.

Magna Mining: Levack Restart Approved

Levack is about 400 km north of Toronto. Magna's preliminary economic assessment values the mine at $227 million after tax using a 7% discount rate, MINING.COM reported. The study forecasts a 92% after-tax internal rate of return on initial capital of C$70.1 million, which includes C$12.6 million in contingency. Levack last operated in 2018, and Magna plans to ship material to third-party mills in Sudbury rather than build its own processing.

The study projects annual average payable production of 12.9 million lb. copper, 10.9 million lb. nickel and 21,400 oz. of platinum, palladium and gold combined over 7.3 years. The base case assumes $5.10-per-lb. copper, $8 nickel and $3,600-per-oz. gold. Applying average September metal prices lifts the after-tax net present value to $313.6 million, MINING.COM said.

Desjardins analyst Bryce Adams wrote in a Thursday note: "The Contact Zone plan is stronger than we modelled, but the PEA excludes R2 which we view as strong future optionality." On funding, Magna ended June with C$40 million in cash and equivalents before Alpayana invested C$140 million for a 20% stake last month. A prefeasibility study for Crean Hill, another planned Sudbury restart, is expected this month.

Titan Mining: Army Term Sheet for a Graphite Plant

Titan Mining (NYSE-A:TII, TSX:TI) said Wednesday that its wholly owned subsidiary Empire State Mines, LLC and the U.S. Army have executed a term sheet setting the principal commercial terms for a critical minerals processing facility on Army property. The framework covers a lease of roughly 97 acres at Anniston Army Depot in Alabama for up to 100 years. The facility would turn raw graphite into higher-value materials.

Empire State Mines would develop, finance, build, own and operate the plant. Phase I would produce Purified Micronized Graphite, followed by Coated Spherical Purified Graphite after customer qualifications. The Army would get a right of first offer on certain uncommitted graphite products, limited to a maximum of 10% of annual facility production.

Titan CEO Rita Adiani said in a news release: "Agreeing to this commercial framework with the U.S. Army is a significant milestone in Titan's strategy to build a fully integrated American graphite supply chain." Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army Dr. Jeff Waksman said the Army can help expedite the critical minerals industrial base "without putting any taxpayer dollars at risk." Titan began graphite concentrate production at its Kilbourne demonstration facility in New York state in January. By Wednesday's close its stock was down 6% on the NYSE American, with a $228 million market capitalization.

KGHM Polska Miedz: EU Strategic Status for Two Copper Projects

The European Commission has granted strategic status under the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act to two copper projects proposed by Polish state-controlled producer KGHM Polska Miedz. The projects are worth a combined 9.5 billion zlotys ($2.44 billion). The designation covers the Retków-Grodziszcze mining project and the conversion of KGHM's Legnica smelter into a recycling facility, the company said Friday.

KGHM plans to extract more than 100 million tonnes of ore from Retków-Grodziszcze by 2055, producing nearly 1.5 million tonnes of copper and more than 5,000 tonnes of silver. At Legnica, it aims to build a recycling operation capable of producing about 135,000 tonnes of electrolytic copper and 250 tonnes of nickel annually. The Act targets recycling capacity sufficient to meet at least 25% of the bloc's annual consumption of strategic raw materials.

Strategic status is not a funding commitment. Both investments could benefit from faster permitting, improved administrative coordination and preferential financing, MINING.COM noted, but the designation does not guarantee substantial financial assistance.

Antofagasta: Strike at Centinela

More than 700 workers began a strike at Antofagasta Plc's Centinela mine on Wednesday, adding another supply threat in the world's largest copper-producing nation. The Minera Esperanza and Distrito Centinela unions say the striking employees represent 22% of the mine's direct workforce. The walkout followed failed mediation overseen by Chile's Labour Inspectorate over a wage dispute. Centinela produced 240,400 metric tons of copper last year.

Antofagasta said it does not expect the disruption to alter its production outlook. Supervisors at BHP's Escondida are also in government-mediated talks aimed at averting a strike. Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.1% at $14,405.50 per tonne by 0950 GMT on Wednesday, with the metal up about 16% this year. Copper miners were softer at the latest close, with COPX at $82.22, down 1.6% on the day, according to market data.

Ivanhoe Mines: Kamoa-Kakula Ramps Up, Guidance Leans Low

Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) reported third-quarter copper production of 76,401 tonnes, a 19% increase on the previous quarter. Mining rates at Kamoa-Kakula in the Democratic Republic of Congo rose 30% to more than 700,000 tonnes per month. Ivanhoe credited additional crews, a new box-cut access point at the Kamoa 1 mine and the start of stoping.

Ivanhoe maintained its 2026 guidance of 290,000 to 310,000 tonnes of copper in saleable copper products, but said output is trending towards the lower end. The complex's 500,000 tonnes-per-annum smelter is operating at 60% capacity, and the complex held approximately 43,000 tonnes of copper in inventory at the end of the third quarter.

Ivanhoe shares fell 4.4% to C$11.09 ($7.78) by midday Thursday in Toronto. The company is scheduled to release third-quarter financial results on Nov. 3.

McEwen: Ontario Gold Properties Sold to Discovery Mining

McEwen (TSX: MUX) has agreed to sell two non-core gold properties in Ontario to Discovery Mining (TSX: DSV) for $55 million in cash and stock. The package includes Lexam VG Gold's wholly owned Fuller property, its 60% interest in the Paymaster property and a parcel of surface rights owned by VG Holdings. All of it sits within McEwen's Fox Complex land holdings in the Timmins mining district.

Fuller covers approximately 210 hectares and Paymaster spans 179 hectares. Discovery, through its subsidiary Dome Mine, already holds the remaining 40% interest in Paymaster under a joint venture with McEwen.

McEwen plans to reinvest the proceeds across its operating mines and development projects, and its Ontario operations will remain focused on the Froome, Stock and Grey Fox properties. The company aims to reach 250,000 to 300,000 gold-equivalent ounces annually by 2030 while limiting shareholder dilution. The Stock Mine is expected to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2026, followed by commercial production in the first quarter of 2027. Construction at the El Gallo project in Mexico began in September, with production targeted for the second half of 2027. Gold was at $4,145 per oz., up 0.9% on the prior close, according to market data.

Sigma Lithium: Brazilian Court Restores Licences

Sigma Lithium shares jumped 5.9% in New York pre-market trading Wednesday after a Brazilian appeals court upheld environmental licences for its Grota do Cirilo lithium mine. The ruling clears the company to resume mining and processing. The federal appeals court overturned an emergency order issued in September that had suspended the licences in connection with a lawsuit filed by Ngolo, an association claiming to represent local Quilombola communities.

Sigma is working towards an annualized lithium oxide concentrate production rate of 330,000 tonnes by the end of 2027. It said it can reach that target without adding capacity. The lithium ETF LIT stood at $69.02 at the latest close, down 0.7%, according to market data.

What It Means

The common thread is supply built from what already exists, or from policy that smooths the path. Magna is restarting a past-producing Sudbury mine and sending material to third-party mills. Titan is leasing Army land for a graphite plant. KGHM is converting a smelter into a recycler under an EU designation. The paperwork differs, but each project leans on existing infrastructure or security-driven policy to shorten the route to supply.

The risks are just as visible. Magna is committing capital without a feasibility study, and the EU label for KGHM carries no guaranteed funding. Ivanhoe's output is trending to the low end of its guidance, and Chile's strike and Escondida talks show how quickly existing supply can be disrupted. Sigma's court reprieve is a reminder that permits can be reversed as well as granted.

This roundup covers press releases published on October 9, 2026. Company announcements are sourced from mining industry wire services. For corrections or updates, contact contact@stakeandpaper.com.