Sovereign Metals has successfully extracted heavy rare earth monazite concentrate from tailings at its Kasiya Rutile-Graphite Project in Malawi.

The discovery adds significant strategic value to the Kasiya project that already holds the world’s largest titanium rutile deposit.

Preliminary analysis confirms exceptionally high levels of critical heavy rare earth elements, with the monazite concentrate averaging 2.9% combined Dysprosium-Terbium (DyTb) and 11.9% Yttrium. Peak concentrations reached 3.9% DyTb and 17.3% Yttrium.

These figures materially exceed those of the world’s five largest rare earth producers, which collectively account for 70% of global output but produce predominantly light rare earths.

“This is an exceptional development that has the potential to fundamentally enhance Kasiya’s strategic significance,” said Managing Director and CEO Frank Eagar.

“With simple processing, our upgraded laboratory has recovered a valuable monazite concentrate product from the rutile tailings stream, with heavy rare earth content that the world’s major producers simply cannot match.”

Sovereign Metals shares surged over 30% on the news but failed to break through to 52-week highs.

Strategic importance

DyTb represents crucial, heavy-magnet rare-earth elements essential for high-temperature permanent magnets used in advanced technologies, defence systems, and precision weapons.

Sovereign said current European prices stand at US$850,000 per tonne for Dysprosium and $3.6 million per tonne for Terbium. We have no indication of the quantity of the rare earths Kasiya holds.

Yttrium has proven critical for aerospace applications, thermal barrier coatings, radar and laser systems, alloy strengthening and semiconductor manufacturing. Highlighting the strategic importance of Yttrium, the US imports 100% of its Yttrium requirements from China.

“These are precisely the elements that matter most to nations seeking to protect and grow their critical mineral supply chains,” Eagar said.

“Dysprosium and terbium enable permanent magnets to function in advanced technologies, including robotics, fighter jets, guided missiles, and naval propulsion systems. Yttrium protects jet engines and hypersonic vehicles from extreme temperatures.”

The timing of this discovery carries geopolitical significance and makes Sovereign Metals all the more attractive.

With China restricting heavy rare-earth exports to Japan and generally weaponising its control over some critical minerals, the US State Department’s visit to Sovereign’s Malawi operations underscores just how important Sovereign Metals could be for the global rare-earth ecosystem.

Rio Tinto shares jumped on Wednesday after the miner announced record fourth-quarter production amid ongoing merger talks with Glencore.

The mining giant achieved an 8% year-on-year increase in copper production, supported by record bauxite output and strong contributions from its lithium operations. 

The company’s Pilbara iron ore operations hit a record in the fourth quarter, with production up 4% and shipments rising 7% compared to the previous year.

Copper production was also a bright spot, climbing 11% year-on-year to exceed the top end of the company’s upgraded guidance range. This was driven primarily by the successful ramp-up of the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia, where the underground development project has now been completed.

The lithium division delivered impressive results, with operations in Argentina posting record quarterly production from existing assets.

Strong production numbers are released against a backdrop of Glencore merger talks that could create the world’s largest miner.

 “Rio Tinto’s latest production update was rock solid, but it has been somewhat overshadowed by renewed chatter around a potential mega-merger with Glencore,” said Mark Crouch, market analyst at eToro.

“A deal of that scale would send shockwaves through the global mining sector and leave investors salivating. While a deal remains a long way off, the speculation has reignited interest in a sector already enjoying its strongest performance in years.

“With talk of a commodity supercycle not going away, combined with low energy costs, Rio Tinto may not see conditions this favourable again.”

On Monday, Genedrive (LON: GDR) announced £6m of equity funding, including £3m from two major shareholders – David Nugent and Robert English. There will be an open offer of up to £2m. The cash will finance commercialisation and refinements of tests, as well as an FDA submission. The funding share price has not been set, and the current price has rebounded 29.7% to 1.2p.

Water mediation services provider MYCELX Technologies (LON: MYX) grew 2025 revenues by 1405 to $11.7m and this, along with cost controls, has enabled the company to achieve an expected profit of around $360,000. A loss was previously forecast. The share price improved 15.8% to 33p.

Loyalty platform provider Eagle Eye (LON: EYE) did better than expected in the first half with underlying growth in revenues of 16% to £22.4m, although the previously announced lost contract meant that the reported figure is 5% lower. Annualised recurring revenues were higher at £42.2m due to contract wins. EBITDA fell from £5.9m to £4.3m. A small full year pre-tax profit is now forecast. The share price increased 15.4% to 345p.

Thruvision (LON: THRU) has won a South East Asia mass transit contract, which should generate £1m in revenues. This is for 20 Thruvision high-throughput people-screening systems. The share price rose 10.5% to 1.05p.

Staffline (LON: STAF) did significantly better than expected in 2025 and is estimated to have moved from debt to net cash of £1.5m at the end of the year. The staffing company improved pre-tax profit 42% to £7.1m – previously estimated at £6m. Ireland had a strong second half and the UK did well in the Christmas period. Panmure Liberum has raised its 2026 pre-tax profit forecast from £8.3m to £9.2m. The share price moved up 10.3% to 49.3p.

FALLERS

CPP Group (LON: CPP) is reviewing its AIM quotation. The company has disposed of non-core operations to focus on InsurTech and the chief executive of the Blink InsurTech business has been appointed to the CPP board. Leaving AIM would reduce costs and improve flexibility for the business. Blink continues to grow and there are £5.6m in the bank at the end of 2025. There are deferred payments of up to £5.7m due in 2027. The share price slumped 38% to 50.5p.

PetroTal Corp (LON: PTAL) is targeting average 2026 production of 11,750-12,250 barrels of oil per day. There will be capital investment of up to $90m during the year, predominantly on the Bretana field in Peru. A third party drilling contractor will be used. Annual adjusted EBITDA is expected to be $30m at $60/barrel after erosion control expenses. The share price declined 20.5% to 17.5p.

Kromek (LON: KMK) moved from loss to profit in the first half. In the six months to October 2025, revenues jumped from £3.7m to £15m due to a large payment from Siemens Healthineers for imaging technology expertise. Advanced imaging revenues were higher even if that payment is excluded. The CBRN detection division more than doubled revenues. Cavendish is maintaining its full year forecasts with more modest full year growth of revenues from £26.5m to £27.1m, which reflects the second half payment from Siemens last year. The underlying growth of the rest of the business continues. Forecast pre-tax profit is £2.3m. The share price has soared in the past six months. The share price dipped 12.8% to 10.025p, which is still double the share price at the beginning of 2025.

Flowtech Fluidpower (LON: FLO) has launched a £9m placing and a retail offer of up to £1m at 53p/share. The cash will be used to fund the acquisition of pneumatic and compressed air products suppliers Q Plus and Naili Europe in the Netherlands and reduced debt. The total cost of the acquisition is €5.87m, including cash of €4.12m and intercompany debt of €1.96m will be repaid. In 2025, the existing group revenues were nearly 10% ahead at £116.9m. Net debt was £15.4m. The retail offer closes on 22 January. The share price fell 6.51% to 56p.

The FTSE 100 fell again on Tuesday as the threat of trade tariffs and concerns about interest rates hit market sentiment.

London’s flagship index retreated below 10,100 on Tuesday, trading down 1.1% at the time of writing.

“It’s easy to forget how quickly markets respond to Donald Trump’s outbursts,” said Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst UK at IG.

“Fresh from a weekend of undermining the Western alliance, the US president’s overnight grenades have thrown diplomats, investors, politicians and global markets into fresh turmoil.”

In addition to the return of concerns about trade tariffs, UK investors were dealt a blow from fresh data on the jobs market, which showed unemployment rising and wage inflation denting any hopes of an interest rate cut in February.

“While unemployment is higher than in recent history, this won’t be enough to move the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee to move rates, especially whilst wage inflation remains high,” explained Hargreaves Lansdown’s head of personal finance, Sarah Coles.

“There are potential situational factors too – this data includes the pre-Budget period, when uncertainty about taxes and policies meant businesses held off hiring decisions.”

Yesterday, a strong showing from the FTSE 100’s more defensive names helped contain losses. But buying pressure in these sectors waned on Tuesday. 

Precious metals miner Endeavour Mining was unsurprisingly higher on the session, but it was among the very few FTSE 100 stocks higher on the session.

Most FTSE 100 shares were trading lower at the time of writing, with investors taking a blanket approach to selling.

Mondi was the FTSE 100’s top faller, losing 3%, as the packaging and paper producer dropped through its 50-day moving average.

AstraZeneca, down 2.8%, wiped a significant number of points from the index as it also moved below a key support level.

JD Sports was one of the heaviest FTSE 100 stocks by Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs last year, and the reignition of trade fears saw the stock down 2.7% on Tuesday.

QinetiQ Group has reported securing more than £3 billion in orders in FY26, as the defence group enjoys steady demand from key customers.

The Farnborough-based defence technology specialist confirmed its full-year guidance, expecting to deliver approximately 3% organic revenue growth, an operating margin of around 11%, cash conversion of roughly 90%, and earnings per share growth of 15-20%.

Chief executive Steve Wadey highlighted recent contract wins, including a £205 million five-year extension to deliver mission-critical engineering services for Typhoon aircraft through the Engineering Delivery Partnership.

The group also secured contracts worth £87 million for laser technology aimed at enabling future warfare capabilities.

“We remain well-positioned to deliver good in-year performance, long-term growth, and value creation for shareholders,” Wadey said. “With an order backlog of around £5 billion and a qualified pipeline of £11 billion we have significant long-term visibility.”

Pressures on global governments to boost defence spending are central to QinetiQ’s pipeline as geopolitical tensions dictate higher defence budgets.

“A key driver behind the renewed focus on defence has been Donald Trump, who has pressed Nato allies to increase military spending on the grounds that the US has long carried a disproportionate share of the burden,” said Garry White, Chief Investment Commentator at Charles Stanley.

“This push is not about reducing US defence outlays – on the contrary, his administration has lifted American military spending to record levels and proposed further increases. Framed as a response to strategic rivals such as Russia and China, the emphasis has been on modernising the US military, expanding missile defence and rebuilding the defence industrial base through greater investment in advanced technology.”

QinetiQ’s total order intake now exceeds £1.3 billion year-to-date, rising to more than £3 billion when including the Long Term Partnering Agreement (LTPA) with the UK’s Ministry of Defence, which was extended in May 2025. The company’s book-to-bill ratio now stands above 1x, with management confident it can be maintained throughout the full year.

Revenue cover stands at 94%, matching last year’s outcome and tracking expectations outlined at the half-year stage. This includes approximately 2% from opportunity pipeline wins expected to book and trade in the final quarter.

Recent contract awards since the half-year include an 18-month agreement worth £67 million to develop and produce the laser source for the UK’s first laser-directed energy weapons, and a £20 million contract for developing next-generation laser weapon technology.

In Australia, QinetiQ secured a two-year extension worth AUD$67 million to the Joint Adversarial Test and Training contract. The group also won a £34 million UK contract to support and transform a mission-critical C4ISR system.

Operationally, QinetiQ reported good programme execution and milestone delivery across major framework contracts including LTPA and EDP in the UK, and SDA in the United States. Further successful trials of the UK’s DragonFire laser weapon system took place in November, enabling the contract to progress into the production and delivery phase.

December marked a notable milestone as QinetiQ supported the Dutch Navy’s successful multi-day trial at its facilities – the first by a NATO ally for this type of exercise, highlighting the company’s ambitions to expand NATO usage of its test capabilities.

Ibstock shares fell victim to concerns about the wider economy on Tuesday, despite releasing a reasonably upbeat sales performance for 2025. 

The UK brick maker reported revenues up 2% to approximately £372 million for the year ended 31 December 2025, compared with £366 million in 2024. Full-year EBITDA is expected to be in line with previous guidance. 

Market share for the eleven months to November was ahead of the comparative period. 

It appears Ibstock is doing everything it can to deliver returns for shareholders, but if overall construction is falling, there’s not much it can do to boost sales. 

“Ibstock shares slipped 5% this morning as management signalled a tougher margin backdrop into 2026, suggesting profit expectations may need to be adjusted down,” Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown, said

In a sign of Ibstock’s ongoing struggles, total brick market volumes of around 1.85 billion bricks remained materially below the 2.5 billion recorded in 2022.

“Whilst market dynamics remain uncertain, Ibstock is in robust financial health, with decisive action taken to manage costs and near-term capacity,” CEO Joe Hudson said.

While investors may be concerned about the UK economy’s short-term performance, they may be more encouraged by the firm’s preparations for future growth.

Major investment projects at the Atlas and Nostell factories are largely complete, providing significant, more efficient capacity for wirecut bricks and ceramic facades. Both facilities will move from commissioning into production during 2026.

The company has also made progress on its calcined clay opportunity, with preferred partner selection and commercial agreement expected to be finalised in the first half of 2026.

Ibstock took action in the fourth quarter to strengthen its balance sheet, selling surplus land assets and its Forticrete roofing sites. The relatively small roofing category will not meaningfully impact future financial performance, the company said.

Although Ibstock expects residential construction and repair, maintenance, and improvement markets to remain subdued in the near term, some modest year-on-year volume growth is anticipated in the second half as markets recover.

“Market uncertainty ahead of the later-than-usual UK Budget last year kept a lid on construction starts, ultimately causing Ibstock to downgrade its cash profit guidance to around £71mn in October,” Chiekrie said.

“While the market hasn’t picked up since, a tight grip on costs and some disposals of non-core assets mean that the previously downgraded profit target looks well within reach when full-year results are announced in March.”