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Liontown Resources’ shares dropped by 35% when trading resumed on 20 October, after a merger with US-based chemical manufacturing company Albemarle fell through. Liontown now seeks alternative funding for its key lithium project. On 16 October, before abandoning the planned purchase, Albermarle valued Liontown at A$3 (US$1.89) a share. On the morning of 20 October, the shares were trading at A$1.87 apiece. Late on Thursday, Liontown announced it had lined up A$1.1bn ($694m) to fund its Kathleen Valley lithium project.

Mining giant Rio Tinto on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Yindjibarndi Energy Corporation (YEC) to collaborate on renewable energy projects on Yindjibarndi country in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Rio Tinto and YEC will evaluate potential wind and solar power projects, as well as battery energy storage systems, the Australian miner said in a press release.

Rio Tinto plans to raise output by 16% at the Gudai-Darri mine, its newest iron ore mine in Western Australia, part of its plan to bring the company back to record production levels by 2025. The Anglo-Australian mining giant is the biggest iron ore producer in the world, and will increase production at the Pilbara region mine by seven million tonnes (mt) to 50mt a year at a cost of $70m.

Commodities trader Trafigura Group has denied that it or any of its employees knew that deals with businessman Prateek Gupta involved goods that were not nickel. In February, Trafigura found that the containerised nickel it bought in 2022 was misrepresented through false documentation. Upon inspection of the containers, Trafigura found that some of the nickel it had ordered was missing and that other lower-value materials that it did not order had been included.