Gold price rally lifts value of top 50 mining companies above $1 trillion for the first time

With metals from zinc to palladium trading at multi-year highs, four of the world’s top producers generated combined free cash flow last year of about $87 million a day.

Rio’s renewed interest in SQM is welcome by the Chilean government, which had expressed concerns about a potential and dangerous concentration in the market should major lithium producers, such as China’s Tianqi, acquire the 32% interest in SQM.

Mining and metal companies are rediscovering the downside of rallying prices: higher costs.

Here are five metals grabbing attention across the continent.

Consulting firm Deloitte has published what it says will be the top-10 global trends in the mining industry this year.

The world's largest mining and construction equipment maker beat market expectations for fourth quarter earnings and said its sales growth momentum is expected to continue in 2018.

Big mining companies, restored to health following the 2015-16 price crash, are seeking to rationalize their portfolios and acquire assets in line with heightened focus on the best quality minerals and anticipated demand for battery materials.

The deal frees the miner to apply for increase in production quota amid demand boom and surging prices for lithium, which is used in EV batteries.

Some of Europe's richest deposits of valuable materials are in the trash, ranging from gold in smartphones to cobalt in electric car batteries.