Gerardo Del Real,
Editor
May 6, 2026
Gold is back above $4,700/oz, silver is up some 7% and flirting with the $80/oz level, copper is back above $6.00/lb, and the U.S. Dollar Index is back below the 98 level as the war with Iran may or may not be over for the hundredth time in a month.
Lost in the shuffle is the price of lithium carbonate soaring above $27,000/tonne, while spodumene concentrate is back above $2,700 as China’s lithium carbonate production trends downward. These are the highest prices since 2023.
Mysteel reports that production reached 103,600 tonnes in April 2026, down 1.1% from the previous month. Compared with the production plan at the beginning of April, actual production was about 3,000 tonnes lower, mainly due to tightening spodumene feedstock.
Export restrictions from Zimbabwe in late February added to an already tight market. Fuel shortages and potential sulphur shortages from the lack of shipments going through the Strait of Hormuz have only added to what was already a market that needed rebalancing.
Geopolitical volatility continues to show itself across the entire commodity space. In the Dominican Republic, President Luis Abinader has ordered a suspension of all activity at GoldQuest Mining’s (TSX-V: CQC) Romero gold-copper project after mass protests over environmental risks.
The move sent shares down some 69% on heavy volume.
In the critical metals space, China continues its policy of weaponizing its dominance in the rare earth and magnet sectors. Beijing’s recent export restrictions, in retaliation to American tariffs, have exposed significant vulnerabilities for international automakers and industrial manufacturers.
The European Union is enforcing its own Critical Raw Materials Act to decentralize supply chains, and in Australia there is a push for the international adoption of floor prices — a move that has been discussed here in the U.S. as well.
Which is why last week Nick and I were in South Dakota looking at a critical metals-gold project on private land with excellent infrastructure. It has a history of lithium, tin, and gold production, and we wanted to see firsthand what the potential for scale and development was. I walked away impressed.
Access. Infrastructure. Power. Nearby rail. It checked all the boxes.
Nick continued on to Wisconsin to look at another exciting project — this time a copper-gold VMS project tied to a past-producing asset that is once again back in focus given the rush to secure critical metals independent of China.
Jurisdiction matters and will continue to play a critical (yes, I used critical) role in the changing economy across sectors from EVs to defense systems to data centers.
It’s also why subscribers of Junior Resource Speculator just received an alert for a gold-antimony play in Australia. The common denominator with all three companies is great jurisdiction, strong projects, and small market caps.
Past critical metals bull markets provided spectacular returns. Life-changing returns.
We’re on the hunt once again to find the next quadruple-digit winners. I hope you’ll join me.
Let's get it,
Gerardo Del Real
Editor, Daily Profit Cycle