Latest
Published 13 Nov 2026
Mine · Gallium
Beijing's dimmer has two timers on it
One export-control pause now runs to 10 January. The gallium one still ends on 27 November.
Earlier
Published 2 Nov 2026
Mine · Copper
Copper's got a plumbing problem
The U.S. tank is full. Everyone else is paying a record premium for a trickle.
The number
205
US$ a tonne · Yangshan copper premium · 28 Oct 2026
What Chinese buyers pay on top of the London price to land copper. It rose US$47 in five trading days.
Source: Shanghai Metals Market, 28 Oct 2026.
About
One newsletter for the whole chain
Cameron Drummond is a journalist in Perth who has spent years writing about mining, markets and the companies that dig up what the modern world runs on. Mission Critical follows that material all the way to the model and the people it affects.
- Ore. Exploration, mining, refining and shipping.
- Wafer. Chips, servers and the money behind them.
- Grid. Power, data centres, models and the people who use them.
Every fact is traced to its origin and checked against two independent sources, or to the primary source itself.