Freeport-McMoRan, Desert Gold Ventures, Rio Tinto – Investing in the future

Freeport-McMoRan – Rise despite tragedy

Freeport-McMoRan, one of the world's largest producers of copper and gold, has once again posted robust results for the second quarter of 2025. Despite a challenging market environment, the US group was able to increase its revenue and profit significantly.

Revenue climbed to USD 7.58 billion in the reporting period, up from USD 6.62 billion in the same quarter last year. Profit increased to USD 772 million, equivalent to earnings per share of USD 0.53. Adjusted for special items, earnings of USD 790 million also exceeded market expectations.

On the production side, however, Freeport suffered losses. Gold production fell from 443,000 to 317,000 ounces, while sales rose significantly to 552,000 ounces. The higher average selling price of USD 3,291 per ounce, which increased significantly compared to the previous year, had a positive effect here. In the copper segment, production declined from 1.04 billion lb to 0.96 billion lb. Sales, however, were up on the previous year at 1.02 billion lb, compared with 0.93 billion lb, with prices remaining virtually stable at USD 4.54 per lb.

Freeport-McMoRan thus remains operationally strong despite weaker ore grades and production declines. After a sharp dip in April, Freeport shares recovered significantly and broke through the 200 EMA at USD 41.13.

Desert Gold Ventures – Above expectations

While the price of gold is racing from one high to the next, with an ounce rising by 30% this year alone, promising exploration companies are hardly moving. Historically, however, they tend to catch up during a prolonged uptrend and act as a lever on the underlying asset that has run ahead.

Desert Gold Ventures could be on the verge of a real hype, as the results announced recently were too good to be true. The Canadian company has announced the results of its first Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the Barani and Gourbassi gold deposits. Both deposits are located on the 100% company-owned SMSZ project in western Mali.

The study conducted by Minxcon confirms an economically viable open pit mine with low investment costs. The mining plan envisages a two-phase approach: Barani East will be developed first, before production is shifted to Gourbassi. A modular gravity and CIL processing plant will be used flexibly at both sites, keeping initial costs low and avoiding duplicate structures.

Over the planned life of more than 17 years, around 220,000 tonnes of rock are to be processed per year. The mine plan comprises a total of 113,500 ounces of gold, of which approximately 97,600 ounces can be recovered with an average recovery rate of 86% using gravity and CIL.

At a gold price of USD 2,500 per ounce, the PEA calculates an after-tax NPV of USD 24 million, an internal rate of return of 34%, and a payback period of 3.25 years. The key figures are even more attractive at the current spot price of USD 3,366. The NPV rises to USD 54 million, the IRR reaches 64% and the payback period is reduced to only 2.5 years.

The PEA thus exceeds the minimum standards for this stage of evaluation. It confirms that Desert Gold has a project with long-term production potential that can respond flexibly to market movements. The upside potential is also evident, as less than 10% of the SMSZ project's gold resources are included in this study. With a market capitalization of CAD 20.06 million, this promising project still has massive upside potential. A detailed interview with Desert Gold CEO Jared Scharf is available here.

Rio Tinto – Critical Level

Rio Tinto, one of the world's largest mining companies, is facing crucial technical hurdles. If the downward trend established in May 2021 breaks at around USD 64, a buy signal would be generated with a short-term target of around USD 72. The Company, which mines essential raw materials such as iron ore, copper, aluminum, lithium, and uranium, is receiving tailwinds from both the MACD trend-following indicator and the Relative Strength Index (RSI), both of which generated buy signals in the past trading week.

Rio Tinto shares rose by almost 3% yesterday, despite all activities at the SimFer iron ore mine in Guinea being suspended last Friday following an incident in which a worker lost their life.

The Company, which owns two of the four Simandou mining blocks as part of its SimFer joint venture with China's Chalco Iron Ore Holdings (CIOH) and the Guinean government, had previously expected the first iron ore shipment in November. Simandou is considered one of the world's largest and highest-grade undeveloped iron ore deposits, with total project costs estimated at around USD 6.2 billion.

DZ Bank recently lowered its target price for Rio Tinto from USD 75.73 to USD 70.32, while maintaining its "Buy" rating.

The mining company Rio Tinto was forced to suspend operations at the SimFer iron ore mine in Guinea due to an incident, but benefited from rising iron ore prices. Freeport-McMoRan reported better-than-expected results despite a decline in production. Desert Gold Ventures published a positive PEA and holds enormous potential.