Perth-based explorer E79 Gold Mines (ASX: E79) has completed the first milestone of a joint venture earn-in deal with St Barbara (ASX: SBM) over the Pinjin gold project in Western Australia’s world-class Laverton district (reports Small Caps).

Last month Mincor Resources broke a six-year drought as a nickel producer when it sent off a delivery of high-grade ore to BHP’s Kambalda concentrator (reports Barry FitzGerald on MiningNews).

Fenix Resources boss Rob Brierley says the rising iron ore price is more than offsetting spiralling fuel costs for the junior miner, which posted a first-half profit of $14 million on Thursday (reports The West Australian).

Sandfire Resources boss Karl Simich took to the stage in Miami today to present to the BMO Global Metals & Mining Conference and as is his style, he was as upbeat as ever (writes Barry FitzGerald on MiningNews).

Russia produces around 40% of the world’s palladium, a fact that has sent prices of the rare but significant precious metal on a canter since Russia invaded Ukraine, raising the prospect of sanctions and supply chain delays for almost half of global output (reports Stockhead).

Calidus Resources has kicked off commissioning of its flagship Warrawoona gold project, in Western Australia’s Pilbara region (reports MiningNews).

Garimpeiro is getting too old to deal with $US100/oz swings – first to the upside, then the downside — in the gold price in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (reports Barry FitzGerald on Stockhead).

The world is not running short of paint, but it might soon face a squeeze on titanium dioxide supplies as Russia continues waging war on the Ukraine – possibly triggering a wake-up call for Australian producers of the material which is mainly used as pigment in paint (reports Tim Treadgold on Stockhead).

Just weeks after declaring a new exploration target beyond the rare earth resource at its flagship Cummins Range project in Western Australia, RareX has garnered strong support from domestic and international institutional investors (reports MiningNews).

Things are getting deep for New World Resources at its Antler copper deposit in Arizona, with 13.3m of high-grade mineralisation struck in the deepest hole drilled to date (reports Stockhead).

Shares in ASX-listed uranium stocks jumped after Germany said it was weighing a decision to extend the life of its remaining nuclear power plants to guarantee energy supply amid the growing uncertainty surrounding its gas supply from Russia (reports The West Australian).

In parallel with developing its Mount Peake titanium, vanadium and iron operation in the Northern Territory, TNG Ltd (ASX: TNG) is advancing a number of green energy initiatives (reports Small Caps).

Surprising the market with the revelation he will step down as CEO later this year – ending a tenure that included a wild lithium cycle other miners didn’t survive – Mr Brinsden said juicy prices in the first half were “just the start of the story” as new supply takes longer than expected to balance the “very, very tight market”.

Shares in Bill Beament’s Develop Global have surged after the company locked in $37.2 million in a raising to help fund the acquisition of the Woodlawn zinc-copper project in New South Wales (reports The West Australian).

Raleigh Finlayson has officially taken over as managing director of Genesis Minerals (reports MiningNews).

Spurred by the highest oil prices in years, shale companies are moving drilling rigs back into oil fields that were all but abandoned a few years ago (reports The Wall Street Journal).

Liontown Resources will supply Tesla with more 100,000 tonnes of lithium spodumene concentrate a year in the West Australian mine’s second major contract in two months (reports The Australian Financial Review).

Mincor Resources has delivered first nickel ore to BHP’s Kambalda concentrator as part of a restart of its operations (reports The West Australian).

Auteco Minerals has claimed its 70%-owned Pickle Crow project in eastern Canada’s Superior Basin now stands in the rankings as one of the 10 best gold projects across North America or Australia (reports MiningNews).

A perfect storm of supportive macroeconomic conditions coinciding with tight supply and booming demand means the opportunity to buy commodities has rarely been better, Goldman Sachs has declared (reports The Australian Financial Review).