BHP Pauses Escondida Strike With Mediation, Top 50 Miners Lose US$264 Billion, and Greenland Approves Tanbreez Plan

BHP Asks Chile to Mediate, Pausing an Escondida Strike That Could Have Started Today: First, Chile, where the strike clock at the world's largest copper mine has been reset. The Rio Times reports the supervisors' union at Escondida, Sindicato Number Two, said a strike would take effect today, October 6. On Monday, BHP asked Chile's labour inspectorate to mediate, which suspends the approved strike while talks proceed.
September Wipes US$264 Billion Off the World's Top 50 Miners as Gold Slides: Next, the scoreboard. A mining.com ranking reports the world's 50 most valuable mining stocks lost 264 billion dollars in September, the second-largest monthly decline since the series began at the end of 2019, leaving the group worth 2.26 trillion dollars. Only March was worse, at 434 billion. September erased three quarters of August's record 357 billion dollar advance.
Court Clears Partial Restart of Vale's Fábrica Mine: Meanwhile, in Brazil, a court has approved a partial restart of Vale's Fábrica iron ore mine in Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, according to the Rio Times. The ruling removes a legal obstacle, though the report gives no production tonnage, restart date or ramp-up schedule.
Greenland Approves Tanbreez Mining Plan, but Construction Is Not Yet Cleared: Next, Greenland. Critical Metals announced Monday that the Government of Greenland formally approved the mining plan and closure plan for its Tanbreez project in southern Greenland. Minister Múte B. Egede signed the approvals in Nuuk on September 29. They run until September 8, 2050, about 24 years of permitted operations under the existing 2020 exploitation licence.
Lithium, Cobalt and Nickel Lead a Broad Slide in Battery Metals: Finally, battery metals, where the price tape is red. Critical Minerals News, citing Shanghai Metals Market and London Metal Exchange data, reports that of 30 metals it tracks, 19 fell and 11 rose against September.
Sources:
- The Rio Times — BHP Asks Chile to Mediate, Pausing an Escondida Strike That Could Have Started Today: https://www.riotimesonline.com/chile-escondida-strike-2026/
- Investing.com — BHP Asks Chile to Mediate, Pausing an Escondida Strike That Could Have Started Today: https://www.investing.com/commodities/copper-historical-data
- Mining.com via GhanaWeb — September Wipes US$264 Billion Off the World's Top 50 Miners as Gold Slides: https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Top-50-miners-lose-264-billion-as-gold-rally-fades-2055373
- The Rio Times — Court Clears Partial Restart of Vale's Fábrica Mine: https://www.riotimesonline.com/iron-ore-markets-latam-monday-october-5-2026/
- Investing.com via Yahoo Finance — Court Clears Partial Restart of Vale's Fábrica Mine: https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/world-indices/articles/u-shares-brazilian-companies-rally-083813487.html
- Mining.com.au — Court Clears Partial Restart of Vale's Fábrica Mine: https://mining.com.au/iron-ore-prices-dip-to-lowest-level-in-past-year/
- Critical Metals Corp. — Greenland Approves Tanbreez Mining Plan, but Construction Is Not Yet Cleared: https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/critical-metals-corp-nasdaq-crml-123000076.html
- Investing.com via Yahoo Finance — Greenland Approves Tanbreez Mining Plan, but Construction Is Not Yet Cleared: https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/critical-metals-stock-surges-13-130856781.html
- Critical Minerals News (SMM and LME data) — Lithium, Cobalt and Nickel Lead a Broad Slide in Battery Metals: https://critical-minerals-news.com/critical-minerals-market-october-2026/
- Trading Economics — Lithium, Cobalt and Nickel Lead a Broad Slide in Battery Metals: https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/nickel