Republic of Mining

Avalon announces bigger plans for lithium plant site – by Ian Kaufman (TB News Watch – September 18, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://www.tbnewswatch.com/

The company behind a planned lithium processing plant in Thunder Bay says it intends to attract partners for a wider ‘industrial park’

THUNDER BAY – The company behind a plan to build Ontario’s first lithium processing plant in Thunder Bay says it’s upsizing its aspirations, eyeing an industrial park that would also be home to a battery recycling facility and an innovation centre.

Leaders with Avalon Advanced Materials discussed the plans during a visit to Thunder Bay this week. for the Central Canada Resource Expo. President Zeeshan Syed called the visit a chance to “unveil Avalon and our plans for Thunder Bay,” while meeting with mining industry players, local politicians, and academic institutions.

Push to green energy motivates Australian company taking over Baie Verte copper mine – by Leigh Anne Power (CBC News Newfoundland and Labrador – September 18, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/

The new owner of the copper and gold mine on the Baie Verte Peninsula arrived in the area this week to inspect his purchase. The Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador approved the sale of the property to Australian junior mining company Auteco, after former owner Rambler Metals and Mining entered bankruptcy protection last spring.

“We’re really focused on Canada,” said CEO Darren Cooke. “We’ve been looking around Canada for different assets that we believe have a huge potential to grow and obviously we came across the opportunity at Baie Verte and really liked what we saw in terms of the potential to to have a a major copper project in such a great jurisdiction like Newfoundland.”

Beaver Creek: Wide disconnect between equities and commodity prices offers buying opportunity – by Henry Lazenby (Northern Miner – September 14, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://www.northernminer.com/

The discrepancy between mining company valuations and commodity prices is at its worst levels in decades, the Precious Metals Summit in Colorado heard this week.

“This is probably the worst disconnect I’ve seen in over 20 years,” Haytham Hodaly, senior vice-president for corporate development for streaming pioneer Wheaton Precious Metals (TSX: WPM; NYSE: WPM), told the conference.

Former Yamana Gold head Peter Marrone turns his eye to Africa – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – September 16, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Peter Marrone, former Yamana Gold Inc. executive chairman, is back at the helm of a Canadian precious-metals producer after putting US$30-million of his own money into Africa-focused Allied Gold Corp.

Allied went public earlier this week on the Toronto Stock Exchange after a reverse takeover and a US$267-million private placement financing anchored by Mr. Marrone and four other former members of Yamana’s management team.

Mark Bristow: Dream big and work hard (Elko Daily Free Press – September 16, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://elkodaily.com/

The Mining Minds podcast crew recently went to the Nevada Gold Mines offices in Elko to visit with Mark Bristow, the president and chief executive office of Barrick Gold Corp. Barrick is the operator and 61.5% owner of Nevada Gold Mines, and Newmont owns 38.5%.

Bristow took the podcast listeners on a journey through his life story and the challenges and successes along the way. He grew up in South Africa and was always involved in sports and athletics – “I’ve run more than 200 standard marathons.” There were a lot of political changes going on in the country. He was conscripted into the military at the peak of apartheid.

New silver-based antibacterial gel 100 times more effective in killing hospital-acquired infections – by Staff (Mining.com – September 18, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://www.mining.com/

Silver and sulphur-containing amino acids are the main components of a new antibacterial gel that is said to be a hundred times more effective than similar products.

A paper published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry B states that the proposed medication is cheap, non-toxic and easy to synthesize, which means it could potentially be used to cure hospital-acquired infections.

Research group established to investigate gold trade violence in Africa – by Florence Jones (Mining Technology – September 18, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://www.mining-technology.com/

The Blood Gold Report will explore the extent to which Africa’s gold trade is funding Russian violence.

International researchers and human rights activists have established a joint investigation into the role western mining companies play in funding violence in Africa’s gold trade.

The Blood Gold Report research programme will explore deals between western mining companies, authoritarian African governments and Russian mercenaries including the paramilitary organisation, the Wagner Group. The research will initially focus on Mali, a resource-rich nation where the ruling junta is currently propped up by Russian mercenaries.

Rio Tinto’s stealth moves in WA lithium grab – by Brad Thompson (Australian Financial Review – September 18, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://www.afr.com/

Rio Tinto has quietly entered the lithium land grab unfolding in Western Australia as it looks to secure its future in battery minerals, racking up exploration tenements spanning more than 145,000 hectares in the red-hot jurisdiction that has minted billionaires and fanned takeover battles.

The Australian Financial Review can reveal that Rio has claims covering more than 61,000 hectares close to the Kathleen Valley lithium project being developed by $6.6 billion takeover target Liontown Resources.

Mandating EVs while discouraging mining is a recipe for disaster – by Joel Kotkin (National Post – September 12, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://nationalpost.com/

The current policy is devastating our economy, enriching our enemies and making middle-class life less affordable

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,” wrote the American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. This may prove no problem to the West’s climate-obsessed elites, who rail about the coming apocalypse, even while undermining the production of the very resources that would be essential if they are to have any chance to reach their cherished “net zero” utopia.

Although North America, and most particularly Canada, possesses many of the critical resources — lithium, copper, graphite, nickel, cobalt and rare earths — necessary to build solar panels and electric vehicle (EV) batteries, green lobbyists are fighting even modest plans for new mines.

G7 to launch Russian diamond ban in bid to curb revenues – by Julia Payne and Polina Devitt (Reuters – September 15, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://www.reuters.com/markets/

BRUSSELS/LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters) – The Group of Seven (G7) countries is expected to announce an import ban on Russian diamonds in the next 2-3 weeks, Belgian officials told reporters on Friday, in a bid to tighten a squeeze on Russia’s capacity to finance the war in Ukraine.

The plan could transform the global diamond supply chain, but implementation will depend heavily on India, whose diamond industry employs millions of people who cut and polish 90% of the world’s diamonds.

British mining is now about a green future not its story-filled past – by Francesca Washtell (This Is Money – September 17, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/

Just a stone’s throw from picturesque hiking trails in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park lies Scotland’s only commercial gold mine. The Cononish project was embraced by the local community and championed by politicians – as well as investors who bought shares in its London-listed owner Scotgold Resources.

But hopes that for decades to come it could produce gold to be exported or crafted into fine jewellery have been thrown into question after Scotgold last week warned it could crash into administration. The warning was not the only news to rock the mining industry last week.

Congo communities forcibly uprooted to make way for mines critical to EVs, Amnesty report says – by Taiwo Adebayo (Associated Press – September 12, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://apnews.com/

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The mining of minerals critical to electric vehicle batteries and other green technologies in Congo has led to human rights abuses, including forced evictions and physical assault, according to a new report from Amnesty International and another rights group.

Congo is by far the world’s largest producer of cobalt, a mineral used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and other products, and it is also Africa’s top producer of copper, which is used in EVs, renewable energy systems and more.

Jewelry for Rap Gods (and Mortals Alike) – by Christopher Barnard (New York Times – February 5, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/

The jewelry designer Alex Moss specializes in creating custom pieces for clients like Drake and Jack Harlow. This month, he releases a collection available to the masses.

Nine floors above the storefronts of New York’s diamond district, in a corner suite of the World Diamond Tower, a lariat necklace with diamonds the size of molars sat inside a silver briefcase. The necklace was fresh from a cleaning — an ultrasonic water bath, followed by a steam — and visiting the office of the jewelry designer Alex Moss in late January en route to its owner: the rapper and singer Drake.

“Jewelry is like a car, it needs to be maintained,” Mr. Moss, 30, said. The piece, created by Mr. Moss, took 14 months to make. A video shared on Instagram by the designer said that its 42 diamonds represented the number of times that Drake had considered proposing marriage. When asked how much the necklace cost, Mr. Moss declined to answer, citing the security of its owner.

First Majestic launches silver minting facility in Las Vegas (Elko Daily Free Press – September 16, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://elkodaily.com/

First Majestic Silver Corp. has announced the launch of its 100%-owned and operated minting facility, First Mint, LLC, in Las Vegas, Nevada. First Mint will expand upon First Majestic’s existing bullion sales through vertically integrating the production of investment-grade fine silver bullion. First Majestic said this will make it possible to sell a substantially greater portion of its silver production directly to its shareholders and bullion customers.

First Majestic owns and operates the San Dimas Silver/Gold Mine, the Santa Elena Silver/Gold Mine and the La Encantada Silver Mine in Mexico, and the Jerritt Canyon Gold Mine north of Elko where mining operations are currently suspended as exploration and mine evaluation continues.

OPINION: The Springhill Mine disaster is a cautionary tale the world would do well to remember – by Ken Cuthbertson (Globe and Mail – September 16, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ken Cuthbertson’s latest book is Blood on the Coal: The True Story of the Great Springhill Mine Disaster.

Mark Twain once quipped, “Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.” Twain was right about that. The urge to deny inconvenient truths is as widespread as it is timeless. We’ve had yet another vivid reminder of that in our summer of wildfires, droughts and monster storms.

Despite the cacophony of alarm bells warning us that if we continue doing what we’re doing, our addiction to fossil fuels won’t end well for us or for our planet, climate-change skeptics and energy-industry lobbyists insist that, at least for now, there’s no realistic option.