Uzbekistan Pulls the Navoi IPO, Byproducts Make Copper Free to Mine, and Chile's Acid Clock Is Ticking

Today on The Mining Insider: Work on the IPO of Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Company — Uzbekistan's state-owned gold miner and the world's fourth-largest gold producer — has been paused, with the Uzbek government weighing the right moment to list. The company produced 3.2 million ounces of gold in 2025, with revenue of $10.8 billion and pre-tax profit of $6.1 billion. Separately, a structural milestone in copper mining economics: Southern Copper and Vale both reported negative net cash costs for copper in Q1 2026, as byproduct revenues from soaring gold, silver, and molybdenum prices exceed total production costs. Southern's CFO confirmed that $1.2 billion in byproduct revenue more than covered the company's entire copper production cost. And in Chile, the sulphuric acid supply crunch is moving into a real production risk — acid prices at Chile's key port doubled from February to mid-April, Chilean buyers left the second half of 2026 largely uncovered, and Morgan Stanley puts up to 1.1 million tonnes of leached copper output at risk. Stories Covered: - Navoi Mining IPO paused — world's fourth-largest gold miner, 3.2 million oz in 2025, $10.8B revenue, Uzbek state miner - Southern Copper and Vale: negative net copper cash costs in Q1 2026 — $1.2B byproduct revenue at Southern; byproduct credits at Antofagasta hit 104% year-on-year - Chile sulphuric acid supply crunch — acid prices doubled, H2 2026 cover gap, Morgan Stanley flags 1.1 million tonnes at risk Commodities: Gold, copper, silver, molybdenum, sulphuric acid Jurisdictions: Uzbekistan, United States (Southern Copper), Brazil (Vale), Chile