Cameron Drummond is a Senior Business Writer from WA with over 12 years' experience in media across Business News, The Australian Mining Review, and most recently deep diving into the ASX’s resources landscape with News Corp’s Stockhead.

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Mining heavyweights Rio Tinto (ASX : RIO) and Glencore are in early-stage discussions about a potential merger, Bloomberg has reported, citing anonymous sources close to the matter.

A merger between Rio, the world’s second-largest miner and the Swiss miner would create an entity worth about US$155 billion (A$250 billion), making it the world’s number one miner – overtaking BHP (ASX: BHP), which is worth around US$126 billion.

If a merger goes ahead, it may raise a few eyebrows, as Glencore is the largest seller of thermal and the top producer of coking coal in the world.

Yet Rio had divested all of its coal assets - exiting in 2018 with the US$2.25 billion sale of Kestrel and marketing its pivot with a US$1bn spend towards a goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

The combined entity would give it exposure to copper that would rival BHP's own vast red metals assets. The Big Aussie had just yesterday finalised a US$2.1 billion acquisition of South American copper projects.

BHP also wants to invest up to US$14 billion in Chile - the number 1 copper-producing country in the world - which could increase BHP's total global copper output to 540,000tpa.

Recent history suggests the two majors are willing to do big d

World's biggest miner? Rio, Glencore in rumoured merger

Banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) can anticipate higher lending growth and a lower cost of risk that will compensate for declining margins throughout 2025, according to S&amp;P Global.

The GCC is a political and economic alignment between the oil-producing Arab nations of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

“GCC bank margins will decline mainly due to declines in net interest margins as central banks across the region cut their rates to maintain their peg to the US dollar,” the ratings agency said in a note.

“Lending growth will improve in most of the GCC due to strong deposit growth. The cost of risk will decrease for GCC banks due to past precautionary provisioning.

S&amp;P projects that geopolitical risk will remain in check and that even if those issues persist or increase, banks in the region are well-positioned to weather the storm.

“Performance at GCC banks will vary by country. In Kuwait and Qatar, there is apparent overexposure to the real estate sector for lenders.”

Though Kuwait’s easing visa restrictions may increase demand and prices for real estate, for Qatar, much of its real estate is in oversupply due to construction associated with hosting the FIFA

Lending growth to improve in 2025 for Gulf banks: S&P

A looming U.S. ban on Chinese-owned and thunderously popular social media app TikTok over personal data breaches is seeing American users and influencers flood other platforms with similar security concerns as they look for new homes for content creation and viewing.

It's a running theme, the fight for influence and trade between the U.S. and China. This has recently spilled over into multiple sectors such as tech, critical minerals and export taxes. 



On January 19 TikTok will need to be sold, leaving millions of American users who monetise off the platform without an income stream.

That’s because last year Congress passed a ban-or-sale law aimed at its owner ByteDance - which has links to the Middle Kingdom’s Chinese Communist Party (CCP) - to divest from the social media platform or have it banned across America.Credit: WOKANDAPIX from PixabayChina's data espionage

TikTok has long faced security concerns from the West led by the U.S. over potential data sharing between its owner and the Chinese government. ByteDance has repeatedly denied CCP influence over its business activities.

In 2019, the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment began investigating the national security implications of TikTok collecting user

TikTok 'refugees' as US, China fight for social security

JPMorgan Chase has posted a record fourth quarter earnings, coming in at $4.81 per share as revenues rose 10% to $43.7 billion.



Average loans and deposits both rose 2% from last year and investment banking fees jumped 49% year over year, while markets revenue increased 21%.

Net interest income was $23.5 billion, down 3%, yet it was impressive non-interest revenue for the quarter that pulled in $20.3 billion, up 29%.

The investment bank’s assets under management has now tipped over $4 trillion, up a whopping 18%.



Excluding markets, net interest income was $23 billion, down 2%, driven by lower rates and deposit margin compression across the lines of business, as well as lower deposit balances in CCB.



This was largely offset by the impact of balance sheet actions, primarily securities reinvestment, as well as higher revolving balances in Card Services and higher wholesale deposit balances.



Non-interest revenue excluding Markets was $13.7 billion, up 30%, largely driven by higher asset management fees in AWM and CCB, higher investment banking fees and lower net
investment securities losses compared to last year.



Markets revenue itself was $7 billion, up 21% and non-interest expense was $22.8 b

Profits at JPMorgan Chase soar as bank's scale pays off

Azzet’s Mission Critical is a weekly column that lays out the ebbs and flows around critical minerals supply chains - from production and refinement, to manufacturing and consumer products.

Depending on where you source your info, 2025 is either promising or bleak for lithium this year. Some analysts project carbonate prices will remain depressed at around US$10,000/t after dropping over 24% last year. This is what Benchmark Intelligence (BMI) lays out its latest critical minerals outlook whitepaper.

There is a case for lower capital investment in upcoming developments sending lithium prices up. However, there’s also a case for more supply coming online through a plethora of near-term producers that will continue 2024’s supply glut of the battery metal.



Glut continues

BMI says that although overall lithium demand from EV and stationary storage end markets grew through 2024, the growth was insufficient to support lithium chemicals prices rising significantly.

For this year’s outlook, Goldman Sachs analysts are bearish and reckon that with a number of lithium projects ramping up through the year, and possible curtailment restarts, near-term price ceilings will prevail throughout the year.

“We expect lithium mar

Mission Critical: Will lithium bounce back in 2025?

The UK Defence Committee (UKDC) says it is facing heated competition to attract skilled workers into the sector ahead of its partnership in the £12 billion Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) - an international combat aircraft collaboration with Japan and Italy.

The GCAP programme will bind the nations to jointly develop and manufacture a sixth-generation stealth fighter with BAE Systems (UK), Leonardo (Italy) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan) with a target “in-service” date of 2035 for new 6th generation fighters.

In its latest report on GCAP, UKDC says while the programme is a welcome opportunity to attract new talent into the UK’s combat air industry, the focus cannot just be on the recruitment of new apprentices into industry primes.

The committee is calling for a holistic approach to recruitment and retention that ensures that the existing Typhoon manufacturing workforce is transitioned onto GCAP.

This will be a challenge, given dwindling production of the Typhoon in the UK and the sizeable gap until full-scale production of the new Tempest is underway.

The scathing report also calls the failure to capitalise on the success of the Hawk trainer aircraft remarkably short-sighted and deeply regrettable.

De

UK Defence admits concerns over GCAP 6th gen fighters

Sony Entertainment has used zombie game-cum-hit TV show The Last of Us to show off its new immersive tech that has the ability for people to experience in-game scents.

Revealing its “Future Immersive Entertainment Concept” (FIEC), the system was showcased at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

The concept shown was a giant cube made up of high-definition LED screens that allows players to literally step into their favorite games, with Sony a bit strangely using the zombie-killing The Last of Us to demonstrate its capabilities.

Sony did not announce a launch date for the conceptual smell sensory tech, and there’s been no word from The Last of Us creator Naughty Dog for a third title to be developed after having already abandoned a multiplayer offering The Last of Us Online.



More sensory tech on the way

The CES exhibition this year attracted 140,000 people across a whopping 2.1 million square feet area, with thousands of product launches to whet the appetites of consumers.

It includes a range of smart glasses such as the One Pro AR glasses that give a person enhanced optics and hardware that displays reality with a 57-degree field of view a brighter display and wifi connectiv

Consumers get a sniff of Sony's new smell tech at CES

Global mining heavyweight Barrick Gold (NYSE : GOLD) has suspended operations at its Loulo-Gounkoto mine in Mali after the military-run government took a reported US$245 million in bullion from the project, as a spat over export restrictions continues.

Barrick has followed through with its threat to suspend operations at its massive 700,000oz Loulo-Gounkoto operation after the military-led government moved gold stocks to a custodial bank over the weekend.

The suspension affects the livelihood of a whopping 8,000 employees in one of Africa’s poorest and most volatile countries, which has seen conflict ensue to this day, ever since Tuareg rebels started abducting and killing soldiers in the country's northeast in 2007.



In a statement yesterday, the world’s second-largest gold producer described the decision to suspend mining as “regrettable” but necessary, emphasising its commitment to resolving the dispute.

“Barrick remains committed to constructive engagement with the Malian government and all stakeholders to find an amicable solution that ensures the long-term sustainability of the Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex and its vital contribution to Mali’s economy and communities,” the company said.

In retaliation, Mali

Export row sees US$245m in Barrick gold taken by Mali

Global investment bank Goldman Sachs is consolidating part of its business into the private credit-focused Capital Solutions Group, combining its comprehensive suite of financing, origination, structuring and risk management solution activities in Global Banking &amp; Markets.





The firm will also expand its alternatives investment team in Asset &amp; Wealth Management as the interconnection between the firm’s businesses grows.

“Our strategy and core franchise strengths position Goldman Sachs to operate at the fulcrum of one of the most important structural trends taking place in finance: the emergence and growth of private credit and other asset classes that can be privately deployed,” GS chair and CEO David Solomon said.

“There is significant demand from our investing clients for private credit and private equity – from investment grade and leveraged lending to hybrid capital and asset-backed finance as well as equity.

“Our ‘One Goldman Sachs’ approach allows us to channel the growing synergies between our clients in Global Banking &amp; Markets and those in Asset &amp; Wealth Management.”

The firm will create an alternatives origination group within Capital Solutions to focus on sourcing across investment g

Goldman spins private credit into Capital Solution Group

A UK envoy is expected to reach a critical minerals agreement with Saudi Arabia as envoys between the two nations meet in Riyadh at the desert nation’s 2025 Future Minerals Forum.

The forum is a meeting between 176 countries including 50 delegates to nut out trade partnerships - including for crucial strategic metal supply chains as we transition to cleaner energy sources and new tech applications.

The Saud Kingdom is investing heavily into its estimated US$2.5 trillion (A$4.04 trillion) worth of untapped mineral wealth - including copper, lithium and nickel used in EVs, batteries and other tech innovations - of which the UK has mandated it requires for its industries.

The UK government says the deal is part of a broader industrial strategy that will be key to both national security and its job and economy growth objectives as part of a broader growth vision.

The two countries have long had close trade ties, and together with the UAE, accounted for a sizeable 70% of total trade amongst its GCC partners back in 2020.Credit: Asia House ResearchTrade negotiations
Heading up the junket with an entourage of 16 of its domestic resources companies, UK industry minister Sarah Jones says the new strategy will target a range of

UK to sign critical minerals deal with Saudi Arabia

Cameron Drummond is a Senior Business Writer from WA with over 12 years' experience in media across Business News, The Australian Mining Review, and most recently deep diving into the ASX’s resources landscape with News Corp’s Stockhead. | Azzet™

Cameron Drummond

World's biggest miner? Rio, Glencore in rumoured merger

Lending growth to improve in 2025 for Gulf banks: S&P

TikTok 'refugees' as US, China fight for social security

Profits at JPMorgan Chase soar as bank's scale pays off

Mission Critical: Will lithium bounce back in 2025?

UK Defence admits concerns over GCAP 6th gen fighters

Consumers get a sniff of Sony's new smell tech at CES

Export row sees US$245m in Barrick gold taken by Mali

Goldman spins private credit into Capital Solution Group

UK to sign critical minerals deal with Saudi Arabia

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