Japan Merges Its Copper Smelters, MP Materials Takes USA Rare Earths to Court, and Gold Breaks a Key Technical Floor

Today on The Mining Insider: 1. Japan Copper Smelter Consolidation — JX Advanced Metals, Mitsui Kinzoku, Marubeni, and Mitsubishi Materials signed a definitive agreement on May 28, 2026 to consolidate copper operations under Pan Pacific Copper. Mitsubishi Materials splits off its concentrate purchasing and refined product sales into PPC via an absorption-type company split. Transaction effective October 1, 2026 (subject to JFTC approval). Ownership: JX 32.5%, Mitsubishi 32%, Mitsui Kinzoku 21.9%, Marubeni 13.6%. Strategic rationale: collapsing TC/RC rates, Chinese competition, and economic security — copper smelters recover gold, silver, palladium, and other critical metals. 2. MP Materials Sues USA Rare Earths — MP Materials (NYSE: MP) filed a lawsuit in a Texas court alleging that a former employee shared proprietary grain boundary diffusion formulations with USA Rare Earths (NASDAQ: USAR). Grain boundary diffusion improves magnet coercivity (resistance to demagnetization) without heavy rare earths. MP: 'USA Rare Earth has exhibited a pattern of recruiting employees from other companies and then using those employees to misappropriate trade secrets.' USAR denied the allegations. Both companies compete for US defence contracts for rare earth magnets used in F-35s and Tomahawk missiles. 3. Gold Breaks 200-Day Moving Average — Gold dropped to $4,368/oz (from $4,483 previous session) on May 28 after the US shot down four Iranian drones and Iran struck back at US military bases. The 200-day moving average — a key technical support — was broken, triggering algorithmic selling. Brent crude steady near $97/bbl. API data showed US crude draw of 2.8mb, gasoline draw 3.2mb. Gold had hit $5,600/oz in February; producers with AISC below $4,000/oz remain well-positioned but further declines would pressure higher-cost operators. 4. Mining Companies Chase US Defence Listings — At least 18 mining companies have completed or are pursuing dual US exchange listings in 2026 (vs. 3 in 2025), per Reuters. Companies range from $25m to $7.5bn in market cap; mostly Canadian and Australian. Minerals: antimony, tungsten, uranium, rare earths. United States Antimony: $245m DLA contract for antimony stockpile. Guardian Metal Resources: $6.2m Pentagon funding, applied for $100m+. Context: China banned antimony exports Aug 2024, tungsten exports 2025; DRC restricted cobalt. Trump launched $12bn strategic minerals stockpile initiative in February. Quote from Rick Werner, Haynes Boone: 'There's absolutely a lot of money going into defence-driven exploration, but a lot of it is also very speculative right now.' Sources: Marubeni Corporation press release (marubeni.com); Canadian Mining Journal / Bloomberg (MP Materials); SP Angel / Share-Talk (gold, crude); Miningmx / Reuters (defence listings)