In early December 2021, the Central Political Bureau meeting proposed ensuring the security of energy and minerals while reviewing the national security strategy. This was the first time such a high-level meeting placed mineral security alongside energy security, indicating that mineral security has risen to the level of national strategy.

Recently, manganese-related stocks have seen varying degrees of increase. As of the afternoon of February 28, South Manganese Industry in Hong Kong rose over 7.5%, Xiangtan Electric in A-shares increased by 10%, and Hongxing Development rose over 10%.

On the evening of February 11, Shenghe Resources announced that the company plans to sign an agreement with Appian through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Shenghe Singapore Company, which is 100% owned by Leshan Shenghe Rare Earth Co., Ltd. Shenghe Singapore Company will acquire 39,644,620 shares of common stock of Peak Company held by Appian at a price of AUD 0.99 per share, accounting for approximately 19.9% of Peak Company's total issued shares. The total acquisition amount is approximately AUD 39.25 million, equivalent to about RMB 180 million.

According to a report from Mining.com, preliminary statistics released by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) indicate that global lithium production from mines in 2021 was 100,000 tons (excluding the United States), an increase of 21% compared to 82,500 tons in the previous year.

In Hubei, there is a mine, which is the first large open-pit iron mine in modern China to be mined using machinery; there is a mine that was once the "granary of steel" for New China, the only iron mine that Chairman Mao Zedong inspected, a place he said he would visit even if he had to ride a donkey; there is a mine that, from its reconstruction in 1958 to 2012, produced enough iron ore to be equivalent to the steel needed for 220 sections of the Beijing-Kowloon Railway, the copper extracted could be made into wires long enough to stretch from the Earth to the Moon, and the gold extracted could be made into 1.5 million necklaces weighing 10 grams each... providing valuable wealth for the country's industrial revival and economic development.

In recent years, with the development of ecological restoration and management work in our country's mining sector, there have been multiple cases across various regions involving suspected illegal activities in mining ecological restoration and management. A review of these cases shows that the parties involved are mostly enterprises and their leaders engaged in mining restoration and management, indicating that mining ecological restoration and management has become a high-risk area for criminal activities.

In September 2021, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, commander of the Guinea special forces, launched a military coup, announcing that his troops had seized control of the country and detained President Alpha Condé. At the same time, the Guinean government was officially dissolved, the constitution was abolished, and land and air borders were closed. This marked the second change of power in Guinea through a coup after 13 years. The coup leader Doumbouya immediately reassured investors from various countries, promising to adhere to existing bilateral and multilateral agreements, lift the curfew in mining areas, and ensure that mining companies could continue operations. He hoped that foreign enterprises would not be affected by the changes in the situation in Guinea and would maintain normal production.

On December 27, according to an announcement from Zijin Mining, the first phase of the world-class porphyry copper mine, Qulong Copper Mine, officially commenced production. This successfully achieved the overall goal of being completed and put into operation by the end of 2021. It was reported that after the first phase of the Qulong Copper Mine began production, along with the output from the Zhuhua Copper Mine, Julong Copper Industry is expected to produce 120,000 to 130,000 tons of copper in 2022; after reaching full production, the first phase is expected to yield approximately 160,000 tons of copper annually.