African Development Bank chief criticizes opaque loans tied to Africa’s natural resources – by Taiwo Adebayo (Associated Press – March 12, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The head of the African Development Bank is calling for an end to loans given in exchange for the continent’s rich supplies of oil or critical minerals used in smartphones and electric car batteries, deals that have helped China gain control over mineral mining in places like Congo and have left some African countries in financial crisis.

“They are just bad, first and foremost, because you can’t price the assets properly,” Akinwumi Adesina said in an interview with The Associated Press in Lagos, Nigeria, last week. “If you have minerals or oil under the ground, how do you come up with a price for a long-term contract? It’s a challenge.”

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US court sides with Apple, Tesla, other tech companies over child labor in Africa – by Jonathan Stempel (Reuters – March 6, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

March 5 (Reuters) – A federal appeals court on Tuesday refused to hold five major technology companies liable over their alleged support for the use of child labor in cobalt mining operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In a 3-0 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of Google parent Alphabet, Apple, Dell Technologies, Microsoft and Tesla rejecting an appeal by former child miners and their representatives.

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China strengthens its grip on global lithium trade amid processing plant building boom in Zimbabwe – by Jevans Nyabiage (South China Morning Post – March 10, 2024)

https://www.scmp.com/

China is getting a head start in the global rush for lithium after several mining companies completed multimillion-dollar processing plants for the “white gold” in Zimbabwe.

Major Chinese companies, including Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, Sinomine Resource Group and Chengxin Lithium Group, all completed the construction or upgrade of lithium processing plants in Zimbabwe last year.

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South Africa’s Platinum Miners Brace for More Pain This Year – by William Clowes (Bloomberg News – March 6, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — South Africa’s platinum producers are in crisis, as slumping metal prices force jobs cuts and erode profits. The nation’s platinum sector — which accounts for about 70% of global output — has been a key export industry and generates jobs for hundreds of thousands of people in a country with one of the world’s highest unemployment rates.

Over the past two weeks, the four biggest producers — Sibanye Stillwater Ltd., Anglo American Platinum Ltd., Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. and Northam Platinum Ltd. — have all released sobering earnings reports. Those results have helped us learn the following:

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Beijing’s Bubble Bursts Part 3 – by Diane Francis (Substack – March 4, 2024)

https://dianefrancis.substack.com/

On October 17, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) celebrated its tenth anniversary with great fanfare in Beijing. Vladimir Putin and the head of Afghanistan’s Taliban regime attended, along with leaders from 130 countries.

There were speeches and banquets to celebrate President Xi Jinping’s flagship initiative. He delivered a grand speech and claimed huge success, but numbers tell a different story. Another gigantic Chinese real estate conglomerate last week filed for bankruptcy in a Hong Kong court. The economy is slowly tanking, sinking under massive real estate and government debts. (See my Beijing’s Bubble Bursts, Part 1 and Part 2.)

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West challenges China’s critical minerals hold on Africa – by Andy Home (Reuters – February 16, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) – China’s CMOC Group overtook Glencore to become the world’s largest producer of cobalt last year as it ramped up its new Kisanfu mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company’s production leapt by 174% year-on-year to 55,526 metric tons, accounting for over a quarter of global demand of 213,000 tons.

Kisanfu, in which Chinese battery giant CATL owns a minority stake, has flooded the cobalt market. The Cobalt Institute estimates global production exceeded demand by 12,500 tons in 2023, making it one of the “biggest surpluses in recent years”.

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What is the history of the South African Jewish diamond industry? – by Lionel Slier (Jerusalem Post – December 2, 2021)

https://www.jpost.com/

Once a desirable trade for a nice Jewish boy, diamond cutting and polishing in South Africa no longer is – here’s why.

The story goes that in 1867 a 15-year-old farm boy, Erasmus Jacobs, picked up a “mooi klippie” (a nice stone) on the banks of the Orange River in the Hopetown district of South Africa’s Northern Cape. He gave it to the farm’s owner who had it authenticated as a diamond by the leading minerals expert of the time.

News soon spread and there was a great deal of excitement about the possibility of finding diamonds in South Africa. The British Governor of the Cape Colony, George Grey, exclaimed: “This is the stone on which the future of this country rests.”

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Human-rights groups decry rising trend of corporate SLAPP lawsuits – by Geoffrey York and Tavia Grant (Globe and Mail – February 13, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

When a Canadian mining company filed a lawsuit against a small African human-rights group, the company said it was merely seeking to get errors corrected. The African group disagreed, calling the suit an attempt to bully and silence it.

They settled out of court last year, but two United Nations experts took notice. Last month, the UN rapporteurs released a letter they had sent to the company, First Quantum Minerals Ltd. FM-T, asking it to explain its actions.

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Zambia set to negotiate bigger stakes in new mining projects – by Felix Njini and Veronica Brown (Reuters – February 6, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

CAPE TOWN, Feb 6 (Reuters) – Zambia is keen to negotiate larger holdings in new mining projects in order to raise its revenue and boost spending by investors on social projects, mines minister Paul Kabuswe said. The push by Lusaka through state-owned ZCCM-IH, would apply to future agreements, but does not include existing mines and should not unnerve investors, Kabuswe told Reuters.

Zambia is Africa’s second-largest copper producer after neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and ZCCM has interests of 10% to 20% in mines including those owned by Barrick Gold, Vedanta Resources and First Quantum Minerals.

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Crucial to combine agricultural development with mining, Indaba hears – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly – February 7, 2024)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

CAPE TOWN (miningweekly.com) – Africa is going to have a huge amount to do to help solve the world’s climate change problems, Toronto-listed Ivanhoe Mines executive chairperson Robert Friedland emphasised in his far-reaching thirtieth address to the thirtieth Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town.

In those 30 consecutive Indaba presentations, Friedland has regularly highlighted the global need to combat climate change along with the critical role that young Africans will play in saving the planet, even though Africa has done the least to damage it.

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Angola’s diamond sparkle brightened by new De Beers deal – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – February 6, 2024)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

CAPE TOWN (miningweekly.com) ­– Diamond mining and marketing company De Beers is to collaborate with Angola on opportunities to increase diamond production, support alluvial mining sector and enhance social development for the benefit of Angola’s citizens.

De Beers on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Angola’s National Mineral Resource Agency, Angola’s State-owned Endiama diamond company, and Angola’s State-owned Sodiam diamond trading company, to support these objectives.

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Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos-backed startup discovers large-scale copper deposit in Zambia – by Sam Meredith (CNBC.com – February 5, 2024)

https://www.cnbc.com/

KoBold Metals, a California-based metals exploration company backed by billionaires including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, said it has discovered a vast copper deposit in Zambia.

The rare discovery of a large-scale copper deposit could help in the global race to secure a supply of materials critical to the energy transition. Copper is in high demand due to its use in renewable energy and electric vehicles.

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Canadian-owned mine, seized by Russian mercenaries in Africa, is helping fund the war in Ukraine – by Joseph Coppolino (Globe and Mail – February 2, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A Canadian-owned gold mine in central Africa has emerged as a key source of financing for Russia’s global military operations, leaving its owners fighting for compensation.

Four years after its biggest African gold mine was seized by Russian mercenaries, Vancouver-based Axmin Inc. is seeking a cash settlement and a possible share of the mine’s royalties from the government of the Central African Republic (CAR), which allegedly allowed the mercenaries to grab the mine.

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Battleground Africa: In a world thirsting for its critical minerals, respect is the new currency – by Frank Giustra (Toronto Star – February 2, 2024)

https://www.thestar.com/

Nations desperate for Africa’s minerals, writes Frank Giustra, should find a way to compete with China’s investments in the continent.

“The new scramble for resources on the continent offers an opportunity for Africa to reset its relations with more powerful external actors. Africa’s wealth of critical minerals will be essential to help the world achieve its energy transition. In return, African leaders should negotiate smart deals that ensure the continent draws just recompense for the minerals on its soil — and ensure those benefits are spread evenly to its citizens.”

Dr. Comfort Ero, president and CEO, the International Crisis Group

… The world is already facing an enormous deficit in minerals for our future needs, but with the transition to clean energy, the projected deficit will be almost impossible to fulfil.

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Focus: Western miners lag as oil powers enter race for Africa’s critical metals – by Felix Njini and Clara Denina (Reuters – February 2, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

Risk aversion is likely to leave major Western miners lagging in a race to tap Africa’s reserves of critical raw materials that has gathered pace now Middle Eastern oil powers have begun to emulate China’s years of investment on the continent.

Attracting the capital needed to advance copper, cobalt, nickel and lithium projects in Africa will be high on the agenda when executives, bankers and government officials gather in Cape Town, South Africa, for the annual African Mining Indaba beginning on Monday.

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