The mining sector's biggest news came from the streaming side of the business rather than the pits themselves, as Wheaton Precious Metals unveiled record first-half earnings underpinned by a transformative silver deal with BHP. Elsewhere, explorers Talisman Metals and Amaroq pushed forward on early-stage drilling in Morocco and Greenland respectively, while Petra Diamonds' creditors moved to wind down operations at the stricken Finsch mine in South Africa.
Wheaton posts record earnings on Antamina streaming deal
Wheaton Precious Metals (LSE:WPM), up 7.775% to 9980.0p, delivered second-quarter revenue of $929 million, an increase of $426 million on the same period last year, as the streaming model's insulation from operating cost inflation showed through in the numbers. Net earnings for the quarter reached $543 million on operating cash flow of $650 million, extending a run that pushed first-half revenue to a record $1.8 billion, with net earnings of $1.1 billion and operating cash flow of $1.4 billion across the six months.
The standout driver was the newly closed precious metals purchase agreement with BHP Group, under which Wheaton paid $4.3 billion upfront during the quarter to acquire BHP's 33.75% share of Antamina's silver output, lifting its total interest in that mine's silver production to 67.5%. The deal was funded through a new $1.5 billion term loan, a drawdown on the revolving credit facility and cash on hand, and it helped push attributable gold equivalent production up 6% to 202,200 ounces. Average cash costs rose to $568 per ounce from $406 a year earlier, but cash operating margin still climbed 65% to $3,875 per ounce as realised prices more than offset the cost increase. Wheaton also upsized its revolving credit facility by $500 million to $2.5 billion, extended its maturity to June 2031, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.195 per share, alongside new streaming and royalty agreements with KGL Resources, Spanish Mountain Gold and Cipango.
"In an environment marked by commodity price volatility and cost pressures, our robust margins and cash flow generation underscore the strength of the streaming model," said Haytham Hodaly, president and chief executive of Wheaton Precious Metals.
The Antamina deal reshapes Wheaton's risk profile as much as its production base: by taking on $4.3 billion of upfront exposure, the company has doubled down on the view that streaming economics can absorb cost inflation better than direct mining can, and the quarter's numbers largely bear that out. With liquidity at $2.6 billion against net debt of $1.9 billion, the balance sheet has room to keep striking new deals even after the largest single purchase in the company's history, reinforcing Wheaton's position as the consolidator of choice when miners need capital without diluting equity.
Talisman Metals sees high-grade copper samples at Tirzzit
Talisman Metals (AIM:TLM), up 4.0% to 6.5p, reported channel sample assays from its Tirzzit copper project in Morocco confirming grades of up to 2.62% copper, following the discovery of a new outcropping mineralisation zone in July. Six of the seven sampled channels returned values above the 0.3% copper cut-off, extending the lateral continuity of the mineralised zone by 70 metres, with grades ranging from 0.60% to 2.62% copper and silver readings of 12 to 44 parts per million across true thicknesses of 0.90 to 2.78 metres.
The best individual result, from channel TZ-CH009, returned 1.69 metres at 2.62% copper and 41.54 parts per million silver. The mineralisation sits within siltstones of what the company calls the "basal series", featuring copper oxides such as malachite and silver-bearing chalcocite alongside anomalous barium, lead, zinc, cobalt and manganese. "Given that the outcrop is about half a kilometre away from the exposed known mineralisation to the south, and that the total strike length is at least four kilometres, I am encouraged that we indeed have a large area of interest," said Tim McCutcheon, chief executive of Talisman Metals.
The 70-metre extension and the scale of the strike length now in view give Talisman a broader canvas than the initial July discovery suggested, and the company has flagged the new outcrop as a key focus for its planned drill campaign. For a small-cap explorer, converting surface sampling of this grade into a defined drill target is the step that typically determines whether a story attracts serious follow-on interest.
Amaroq starts scout drilling at Minturn iron-copper-gold prospect
Amaroq (LSE:AMRQ), up 0.36% to 105.88p, has begun scout diamond drilling at its Minturn iron-copper-gold prospect in Inglefield Land, Northwest Greenland, marking the first direct test at depth of a system that returned surface assays of up to 69.5% iron in 2025 sampling. The prospect sits on what the company regards as Greenland's strongest regional magnetic anomaly, with reprocessed geophysics defining a roughly 9km magnetic target inside an 80km mineralised corridor.
The drilling programme will test the depth continuity and geometry of the iron mineralisation while also probing copper-gold potential associated with a parallel electromagnetic and geochemical anomaly. Amaroq opted to defer planned ground geophysical surveys in favour of prioritising direct drill testing, a decision shaped by the site's remoteness. "Operating in this remote part of Northwest Greenland has presented real mobilisation challenges due to weather and long supply routes," said James Gilbertson of Amaroq.
Minturn represents an early-stage optionality play alongside Amaroq's more advanced Greenland assets, and the scale of the magnetic anomaly gives the company a large target to define before committing to more intensive follow-up work. Results from this first drilling pass will determine whether the iron signature at surface translates into a mineable system at depth, or whether the copper-gold anomaly proves the more valuable discovery.
Petra Diamonds creditors approve Finsch asset sale plan
Creditors of Petra Diamonds' Finsch Diamond Mine approved a business rescue plan on 7 August to sell off the mine's assets rather than attempt to resume operations. Finsch entered business rescue in May, with an interim update following on 28 July, and the appointed practitioners concluded there was no viable path to restart mining at the site, opting instead for a disposal plan intended to maximise recovery value for creditors.
A secured creditor has provided post-commencement funding to keep site activities running, including the reclamation of assets ahead of sale, with proceeds from any disposals to be distributed according to claim rankings, the secured creditor's claims ranked highest. A skeleton workforce will carry out the reclamation work for a defined period, with Finsch's employees managed under Section 189 of South Africa's Labour Relations Act.
The creditor vote effectively closes the door on Finsch as an operating mine, shifting the process from rescue to liquidation-style wind-down. For Petra, the outcome removes lingering uncertainty over whether capital might be committed to a restart, and focuses attention instead on how much value can be extracted from the asset sale to satisfy claims.
