Free Republic

National Resources Limited claims massive new gold and copper discovery, raising hopes for a mining bonanza and fears of local conflict At the Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum 2025, Muhammad Ali Tabba, chairman of National Resources Limited (NRL) and CEO of Lucky Cement, unveiled what he claimed are hitherto unknown substantial gold and copper reserves in Balochistan’s Chagai district. Announced in the company of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief General Muhammad Asim Munir, Tabba’s claimed discovery signals a potential turning point for Pakistan’s laggard mining industry at a time global gold prices are touching record highs of over...

Donald Trump recently announced that the United States would help Pakistan develop its "massive oil reserves," suggesting it could export oil to India in the future. In response, Baloch leader Mir Yar Baloch has written an open letter to the US president, highlighting how encouraging the exploitation of Balochistan's oil reserves would make the US complicit in enabling ISI to enhance its global terror networks. In his letter, the Baloch leader warned against allowing Pakistan's radicalised military and rogue ISI, long accused of sponsoring Al-Qaeda and various proxy groups responsible for the deaths of thousands of US soldiers in Afghanistan,...

A new study explores a radical idea: instead of killing cancer, what if we could heal it? In glioblastoma patients, a simple nutraceutical combination of resveratrol and copper appeared to reduce tumor aggressiveness and key cancer hallmarks without side effects. A new study indicates that glioblastoma becomes less aggressive after treatment with resveratrol and copper, a potentially game-changing finding that could pave the way for a radically new approach to cancer therapy. Treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy are all designed with a single goal in mind: to destroy cancer. However, what if this long-standing approach is wrong, and...

KNews reports that a team of researchers led by Giorgos Vavouranakis of the University of Athens has completed an excavation at Erimi Pamboula, an archaeological site in southern Cyprus occupied between 3500 and 2900 B.C. The recent investigation uncovered the floor of a house with a pit and a platform, the wall of a circular structure, and a pit containing burned deer bones and antler fragments. Stone tools, unfinished jewelry pieces and a figurine made of the green or grey stone picrolite, and decorated pottery dated to the early third millennium B.C. were also recovered. To read about prosperous Bronze...

View of winged Lion of Venice at Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy. (Photo by BGStock72 on Shutterstock) In A Nutshell Scientific testing shows Venice’s bronze Lion of St .Mark was cast in China during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618–907), not in Europe. Lead-isotope analysis traced the copper to the Guishan, Yaojialing, and Anji mines along China’s Lower Yangzi River. Stylistic evidence reveals it began as a mythic tomb guardian called a zhènmùshòu, complete with horns and bat-like ears later cut away. Venetian merchants, possibly the Polo family, may have refashioned the statue into a winged lion as Venice’s new...

In a fascinating twist of ancient chemistry, copper-smelting artisans may have stumbled upon a technique that would eventually lead to the intentional extraction of iron from ore, a discovery that was both accidental and revolutionary.A fresh analysis of slag, ores, and furnace residues from the 3,000-year-old site of Kvemo Bolnisi, Georgia, is rewriting the story of how humankind first learned to make iron.A team of researchers from Cranfield University in England, reexamining old finds from Kvemo Bolnisi using modern techniques, suggests that what had once been labeled an early iron-smelting site was actually a copper workshop that utilized iron oxides...

The accident in the makeshift mine occurred on Friday about 3pm local time (13:00 GMT) following heavy rains in the town of Kamituga in South Kivu province. The mine was not located on the Kamituga gold concession owned by the Canadian miner Banro Corporation, the company's chief executive said. Thousands of informal miners operate in and around mines in DRC, which produces more than half of the world's cobalt, a key component in electric car batteries. Mining accidents are common, with dozens of deaths every year in mines where often ill-equipped diggers burrow deep underground in search for ore. Last...

An Egyptian archaeological mission working at the Wadi Al-Nasb site in the southern Sinai Peninsula unearthed a major ancient metalworking center, according to a report by Ahram Online. Throughout Egyptian history, the region was known to be an essential source of copper and turquoise, but the new work uncovered facilities that suggest large-scale smelting and processing of copper ore also occurred on site as well before more refined products were shipped to the Nile Valley. The team discovered scores of copper ingots, crucibles, tuyere heads, and the foundations of a large workshop with smelting furnaces. While evidence shows that the...

What if we told you that DARPA, the U.S. government agency, has developed a way to send electricity through great distances… with no batteries or cables involved in the process? That’s right, like out of a cartoon (it actually looks like a Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz’s idea), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has been able to transmit energy using focused light beams. Of course, they have decided to call their project POWER —great copywriting, even better science. But, how does the DARPA’s POWER project work? This scientific experiment turns electricity into a tightly focused beam of light, sends that beam...

Executive order effective September 8 exempts gold bullion, graphite, tungsten, and uranium while extending reciprocal tariffs to silicone products, resin, and aluminum hydroxide.The Trump administration exempted graphite, tungsten, uranium, and gold bullion from US country-based reciprocal tariffs, while adding levies on silicone products—and extending those tariffs to resin and aluminum hydroxide.The move, set to take effect today under an executive order, formalizes the planned bullion carve-out after a recent US Customs and Border Protection ruling sowed confusion by implying certain gold bars could face import taxes.TRUMP EXEMPTS GRAPHITE, TUNGSTEN, URANIUM & GOLD FROM COUNTRY-BASED TARIFFS; SILICONE PRODUCTS TO FACE LEVIES—...

When Catholic Nuns Defend a Tribal Mountain Sacred to Pagans, Something Is WrongThe term, "gone native," is particularly descriptive of the 1960's styled nuns who mistake activism for the care and feeding of the poor, in preparation for hearing the Gospel.As a mining company prepares to start extracting copper from a “sacred” mountain in Arizona, protesters gathered at the site called Oak Flat. Among them was a small group of elderly Catholic nuns who supported an Apache group’s effort to ban the mine. The three-day event in July was a tragic case of what has gone wrong inside the progressive...

A Copper Mine in Arizona, “Resolution,” was just delayed by a Radical Left Court for two months — 3,800 Jobs are affected, and our Country, quite simply, needs Copper — AND NOW! They are looking to do an Expedited Appeal before the Ninth Circuit, but it is so sad that Radical Left Activists can do this, and affect the lives of so many people. Those that fought it are Anti-American, and representing other Copper competitive Countries. We can’t continue to allow this to happen to the U.S.A.! The Appeal will take place, shortly, in the Ninth Circuit.

Key Points U.S. President Donald Trump has slammed an appeals court decision to temporarily block plans to develop a massive Arizona copper project. His comments come shortly after he met the chief executives of Rio Tinto and BHP at the White House. The companies have been trying to develop Resolution Copper for roughly two decades. ================================================================ U.S. President Donald Trump has slammed an appeals court decision to temporarily block a land transfer needed by mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP to develop what is slated to become one of the country’s biggest copper mines. In a post on social media...

The move to develop the Amu Darya field aligns with the Taliban’s goal of self-sufficiency, but can the cash-strapped regime go it alone?In late July, Afghanistan’s Taliban-run government decided to pursue unilateral development of the Amu Darya oil field, at least for the time being. It seems unlikely the cash-strapped regime will be able to maximize the potential of the oil field without foreign investment, but it will still be able to collect millions of dollars in revenue by going it alone. The move aligns with the Taliban’s oft stated goal of self-sufficiency. However, international investors may be troubled by...

Donald Trump and Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum have spoken on the phone this morning as Mexico seeks an agreement with its biggest trading partner ahead of Trump’s 1 August deadline. “Mexico will continue to pay a 25% Fentanyl Tariff, 25% Tariff on Cars, and 50% Tariff on Steel, Aluminum, and Copper. Additionally, Mexico has agreed to immediately terminate its Non Tariff Trade Barriers, of which there were many,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. Trump said his administration would continue talking to Mexico over the next 90 days (“or longer”) with the goal of signing a trade deal. He...

Stages of dementia are marked by declines in memory and executive function. Previous research has examined whether micronutrient levels may relate to cognitive resilience. Copper is an essential trace element that participates in neuronal energy metabolism, neurotransmitter synthesis, and antioxidant regulation. A cohort of 2,420 participants aged 60 years or older was selected from the 2011–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). All participants had complete data on dietary intake and cognitive function. Dietary copper intake was derived from two averaged 24-hour dietary recalls. Cognitive function was measured using four instruments: the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), the Animal...

On Tuesday, President Trump told reporters he plans to raise tariffs on copper to 50 percent. Copper futures surged by 17 percent shortly afterwards—the largest intraday gain since at least 1988. Many will make—or lose—a small fortune on Wall Steet in the coming days and weeks. No doubt, the winners will gas-up the Presidency for protecting America’s economy: tariffs are good! Meanwhile, the losers will accuse him of economic illiteracy: tariffs are bad! Which is it? Are tariffs good or bad? The answer: both. Tariffs are good when they promote economic growth or economic self-sufficiency. If not, then tariffs are...

I'm posting this as a vanity post because 20 minutes after the announcement, the only source that's published a story on this is Bloomberg, which doesn't allow re-ups. Copper is already up 11% today, having already advanced 25% year to date.

One of the copper market's biggest-ever squeezes is unfolding on the London Metal Exchange, as rapidly declining inventories push up spot prices. Spot copper traded at a $280-a-ton premium to three-month futures today, hitting the highest level seen since a record spike in 2021. The huge spot premium -- known as a backwardation -- signals a supply shortage, and it comes after a rapid drawdown in LME inventories over the past few months. Stockpiles in the LME’s warehouses serve as a buffer for manufacturers during periods of strong demand, while holders of short positions can also use them to close...

Closeup image of an ancient wooden Egyptian falcon. Researchers have found a way to repoduce the blue pigment visible on the artifact, which is the world's oldest synthetic pigment. (Credit: Matt Unger, Carnegie Museum of Natural History) =============================================================== In a nutshell * Ancient Egyptian artisans developed precise, repeatable recipes to create four distinct shades of Egyptian blue, the world’s first synthetic pigment, long before the science of chemistry existed. * The pigment’s iconic blue color comes primarily from the mineral cuprorivaite, and researchers found that even samples with only 50% cuprorivaite could produce rich, vibrant blues. * Modern scientists recreated...