US Launches Operation Economic Outcast with New Sanctions on Iran

Titan Mining said it signed a preliminary agreement with the U.S. Army outlining commercial terms for a proposal to build a graphite processing facility in Alabama. The term sheet covers development of the proposed facility on underutilized Army property at Anniston Army Depot, giving the company a pathway to establish downstream graphite processing capacity within an existing strategic U.S. defense installation. The facility would produce purified micronized graphite for industrial, defense and battery applications, and later coated spherical purified graphite, a key material in lithium-ion battery anodes. The proposed lease framework includes an initial 50-year term with two 25-year renewal options, for potential operating tenure of up to 100 years. The U.S. Army would hold the right of first offer to purchase up to 10% of annual production while providing Titan with an infrastructure-ready site to accelerate construction. Shares of Titan Mining rose 2.4% pre-market Wednesday following the announcement.

Krait Critical Minerals Corp. announced the appointment of Dr. Thomas O'Rourke as a Strategic Advisor to the company. Dr. O'Rourke brings more than four decades of experience spanning U.S. federal financial regulation, banking, risk management, strategic leadership and military service, including approximately 27 years with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and roughly 20 years with the New Jersey Air National Guard. He is expected to advise Krait on capital markets, corporate and financial strategy, government engagement, critical-mineral policy and the North American defense and industrial supply-chain environment. The appointment comes as Krait advances its U.S.-based antimony projects in Washington State, acquired through Nevada Hills Antimony, LLC on September 16, 2026, alongside its flagship Goldbar Spider Lake Project in Ontario. Chief Executive Officer Oscar Mendoza said Dr. O'Rourke's experience is particularly relevant given the September 30, 2026 establishment of FORTRESS America, a Department of War program organized around five pillars including supply-chain and defense-industrial base resilience and a strategic defense reserve. Krait noted the memorandum does not identify the company, antimony, individual mining projects, funding amounts or eligibility criteria, and that the appointment does not imply any government affiliation, endorsement, procurement relationship or commitment of funding.

Western Metal Materials announced that the company plans to issue shares to specific investors, raising total proceeds of no more than 1.19 billion yuan. After deducting issuance expenses, the funds will be used for a high-performance rare and precious metal materials production line technical upgrade project, a tungsten and molybdenum materials industrialization project for high-end equipment, a high-performance titanium and titanium alloy precision casting production line construction project, a cold-rolled precision foil and strip production line construction project, and to supplement working capital.

Greenland Resources Inc. has collected more than eight tonnes of drill core and fourteen tonnes of saline and fresh water from its Malmbjerg ore body in Greenland for a by-product test program backed by a non-repayable contribution from the government of Canada. The materials are expected to arrive at SGS Lakefield in Ontario around October 12, and the test program, which aims to verify metallurgical recoveries and concentration grades, will continue until March 2028. The work falls under the Malmbjerg Project Molybdenum Optimization, and Magnesium and Rare Earths By-product Feasibility Study, which received $7 million from Natural Resources Canada's Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration Program. The company noted that China accounts for approximately 69% of global rare earth element production and 89% of global magnesium production, with the EU sourcing 97% of its magnesium from China and US net import reliance on magnesium exceeding 75% of consumption in 2025. The program covers characterization of ore samples and process water, optimization of molybdenum flotation under fresh and saline water conditions, and evaluation of magnesium and REE recovery pathways, with each program potentially advancing to continuous pilot-scale testing.

Land and Houses Fund Management, or LH Fund, has opened the initial public offering of the LH Critical Materials open-ended fund (LHCRITMAT) from October 6 to 14, 2026, with a risk level of 7. The fund invests in the master fund, the Sprott Critical Materials ETF (SETM), at an average of no less than 80% of net asset value per fiscal year. Monarat Padungsit, Managing Director of LH Fund, said critical minerals are becoming a strategic raw material for the modern world, driven by their necessity for energy production, transmission and storage, as well as the defense and aerospace industries. The master fund is passively managed, tracking the Nasdaq Sprott Critical Materials Index, which selects stocks that derive at least 50% of revenue or assets from the critical minerals business, caps each security's weight at no more than 4.75%, and reviews index constituents every six months. Its key highlight is diversification across nine critical mineral groups through a single fund, with copper at 26.6% and uranium at 25.2%, followed by lithium, silver and rare earths, as of June 30, 2026. The master fund's portfolio has more than 77% combined exposure to companies listed in Canada, Australia and the United States, in line with the trend of supply chain diversification away from China. The master fund returned 60.33% over the past year and an average of 18.36% per year since inception, as of August 31, 2026. On the demand side, China accounts for as much as 90% of global rare earth processing and refining, while Japan relied on imports from China for 63% of its rare earths in 2024. The United States Geological Survey announced its 2025 national critical minerals list of 60 items, 10 more than the previous list. The IEA estimates global power grid investment in 2026 at about 550 billion US dollars, up nearly 20% from the previous year, with nuclear power capacity under construction totaling 78 gigawatts across 15 countries. NATO members aim to raise defense budgets to 5% of GDP by 2035. On the supply side, constraints remain: capital spending by critical minerals mining companies fell 9% in 2025 and exploration budgets dropped 10%. The IEA estimates that by 2035, mines worldwide may produce 30% less copper than needed and 40% less lithium, requiring about 500 billion US dollars in new mine investment by 2040.