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Christmas came early this week for investors as interest rate pressure eased, the battery metals rush accelerated, gold bounced and Australia’s soccer team progressed to the final 16 of the World Cup.

Pilbara Minerals boss Dale Henderson says despite concerns about China, all the signs point to continued strong lithium demand and pricing (reports MiningNews).

South Korea’s biggest steel manufacturer is eyeing off WA’s critical minerals to shore up its supply chain and make batteries needed to power the global transition to electric vehicles (reports The West Australian).

Mincor Resources has hit another milestone on its ramp-up to full production, achieving the successful firing and extraction of the first production stope at the Cassini underground mine (reports The West Australian).

Cygnus Gold sees serious scale at its Pontax lithium project in Quebec, Canada (reports MiningNews).

A recent review of data and drill core from the Cayley Lode deposit at Stavely Minerals’ (ASX: SVY) namesake copper-gold project in Victoria has identified a significant new porphyry target (reports Small Caps).

New World Resources (ASX: NWC) has reported a substantial increase to the mineral resource estimate for its wholly-owned Antler copper deposit in northern Arizona following a year of exploration drilling (reports Small Caps).

Europe-based Sashi Davies says the market is “like back in the early 2000s” when the uranium price began to take off. This augurs well for Boss Energy, as shown by this week’s wave of broker buy recommendations following a site visit. Plus, lithium presenters to give a real-life version of the price outlook at next week’s Resources Rising Stars conferences.

Discovery and deal news was the highlight of a week of steadily rising share prices, but with the most significant event being signs of a breakdown in the relationship between governments and central banks which could cause economic chaos next year.

Chalice Mining shares have spiked more than 6 per cent higher after latest drilling over its promising Julimar metals discovery just outside of Perth suggest it is even bigger than first thought (reports The West Australian).