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Red ink ruled the stock market this week, as every investor knows, but there was a solitary flash of green which could be a pointer to what comes after the volatile shake-out underway across all financial sectors as central banks crank up interest rates.

Sandfire Resources is set for its biggest change since the shock discovery of ultra-high grade copper at the DeGrussa prospect in May 2009 (reports Stockhead).

Industry giant Iluka shows how resources shares and commodity prices have diverged of late while juniors such as Strandline now offer even greater leverage.

There has been an outbreak of COVID-19 cases at Albemarle Corporation and Mineral Resources’ Kemerton lithium hydroxide development, south of Perth (reports MiningNews).

Gateway’s drilling has confirmed an emerging zone of shallow oxide gold mineralisation at the Julias target within its Gidgee gold project in Western Australia (reports Stockhead).

Trigg Mining has secured critical native title agreements for its Lake Throssell sulphate of potash project in Western Australia, which enabled the grant of four tenements and expanded the project’s footprint by 235% (reports Small Caps).

And the juniors are itching to join the party, as shown by Orion’s new early-production strategy, while Carnaby tears down the street waving exceptional results from its Mt Isa drilling.

Records tumbled across the resources sector this week led by higher prices for nickel, tin, lithium, oil, and coal, but the most significant financial event occurred in Germany where the all-important 10-year government bond turned positive for the first time in almost three years.

Lithium miners are set to enjoy “unprecedented” margins following the surge in prices for the battery-making mineral, analysts say as they raise the level of anticipation ahead of the sector’s reporting period in coming weeks (reports The Australian Financial Review).

Anglo Australian Resources has announced an expanded mineral resource at its Mandilla gold project (reports The West Australian).

RareX has received a belated Christmas present with drilling returning high-grade hits that further extend primary mineralisation at its Cummins Range project (reports Stockhead).

Recently listed Nimy Resources (ASX: NIM) has announced diamond drilling is underway at its flagship Mons nickel project in Western Australia (reports Small Caps).

The hits keep coming and still New World doesn’t seem to be anywhere close to reaching the end of deep mineralisation at its Antler copper deposit (reports Stockhead).

Higher power and diesel costs were the only blight on an otherwise stellar December quarter for copper and gold miner Sandfire Resources (reports The West Australian).

Despite popular belief, lightning can strike the same place more than once and that appears to be the case with Mincor Resources (ASX: MCR), which is reliving its nickel-star past as the same forces which saw its share price rocket up by 600% in 2007 appear to be making a repeat performance (reports Tim Treadgold on Small Caps).

South Australia emerging uranium producer Boss Energy (ASX: BOE) says it has made significant progress toward the re-start of its Honeymoon uranium project (reports Small Caps).

The mining chief driving Western Australia’s next major lithium project has shot down the prospect of soaring prices spurring an oversupply, arguing several challenges exist in getting new mines up overseas, while COVID-19 is hitting productivity and lifting wages (reports The Australian Financial Review).

Emerging lithium producer Liontown Resources has awarded Metso Outotec a A$10 million contract for the design, fabrication and delivery of the semi-autogenous grinding mill for the Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia (reports MiningNews).

Nuclear energy generation is growing again (writes Boss Energy MD Duncan Craib in The Australian Financial Review).

Disruptions in Kazakhstan, where ongoing unrest may add to pre-existing operating risks such as the COVID-19 pandemic, could be a "significant catalyst" for the uranium market, Canadian uranium company Cameco has said (reports World Nuclear News).