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Africa Mining

The Blood in Our Phones – by James North (Truth Dig.com – January 6, 2025)

https://www.truthdig.com/

A lawsuit filed by the Democratic Republic of Congo seeks to hold Apple and its suppliers to account for decades of profiting off conflict minerals.

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo is bringing criminal complaints in Europe against Apple, the tech giant, charging it with sourcing materials for its electronics in ways that contribute to vicious violence in the war-torn eastern DRC.

In part, the lawsuit accuses Apple of acquiring Congolese minerals that have been illegally smuggled through Rwanda, which borders DRC to the east. Apple denies the charges. So far, the mainstream U.S. media is mostly ignoring the story, continuing its decades-long indifference to what continues to be one of the greatest humanitarian disasters since World War II.

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Miners navigate high risks, ransoms in West Africa – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – December 16, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Mali’s military government is trying to arrest the CEO of the world’s second-largest gold company while the junta in Niger has tightened its stranglehold on a French state-owned uranium mine. African dictators are ratcheting up the risk for Western miners.

A combination of resource nationalism, coups and jihadist-linked terror is making West Africa an increasingly difficult region to navigate for Western mining companies. On Monday, Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) warned that it will suspend operations at its Loulo-Gounkoto mine in Mali if shipments of gold remain blocked.

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Long-term demand outlook for platinum is robust, ongoing question mark over supply – by Martin Creamer (Mining Weekly – December 13, 2024)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

The long-term outlook for platinum from a demand perspective is pretty robust. The question, once again, is whether supply will be adequate to meet it. “In terms of automotive demand, we can’t overlook that the drivetrain is going to continue to electrify.

“It’s just the pace of that electrification that is quite difficult to predict as things stand at the moment,” World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) research director Edward Sterck commented to Engineering News & Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview.

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Child labour: Nigeria’s lithium mines reveal the dark side of our electric future – by Jerry Fisayo-Bambi and Ruth Wright (Euro News – December 13, 2024)

https://www.euronews.com/

Children as young as five-years-old were found to be working in one illegal mine.

Electric vehicles, laptops, battery packs, smartphones…it’s a long list of items we rely on every day that rely on a key material: lithium. But have you stopped to think who mines for this precious metal? In northern Nigeria, it has been found to be children. Lithium mining is dangerous and exhausting work.

Miners descend several feet into dark pits then wield axes to hack through rocks. In some old but viable mines, they crawl through yards of snaky, narrow passages, wedging themselves between unstable mud walls before starting to dig. Abdullahi Sabiu has spent years in these pits after he started working the mines at 20.

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The Gold Rush at the Heart of a Civil War – by Declan Walsh (New York Times – December 11, 2024)

https://www.nytimes.com/

Famine and ethnic cleansing stalk Sudan. Yet the gold trade is booming, enriching generals and propelling the fight.

The luxury jet touched down in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, on a mission to collect hundreds of pounds of illicit gold. On board was a representative of a ruthless paramilitary group accused of ethnic cleansing in Sudan’s sprawling civil war, the flight manifest showed. The gold itself had been smuggled from Darfur, a region of famine and fear in Sudan that is largely under his group’s brutal control.

Porters grunted as they heaved cases filled with gold, about $25 million worth, onto the plane, said three people involved with or briefed on the deal. Airport officials discreetly maintained a perimeter around the jet, which stood out in the main airport of one of the world’s poorest countries.

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Analysis-Mali arrests, Niger site seizure rattle Western miners – by David Lewis, Melanie Burton and Portia Crowe(MSM.com – December 11, 2024)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/

The arrest of mining executives in Mali, threats by Burkina Faso’s junta to strip permits and the seizure of a French-run uranium site in Niger have unsettled Western miners operating in West Africa and could limit further investments. Day-to-day production in Mali and Burkina Faso has so far been largely unaffected.

The escalation is expected, however, to hit firms seeking finance and insurance – curbing supply growth in Africa’s engine of gold output, more than a dozen people, including mining employees, financiers, insurance providers and government sources, told Reuters.

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Mali issues arrest warrant for Barrick CEO, reports say – by Geoffrey York and Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – December 6, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Authorities in Mali have issued an arrest warrant for Barrick Gold Corp. chief executive officer Mark Bristow in a fresh escalation of a tax dispute in the West African country, Malian journalists have reported.

Copies of the arrest warrant, posted by one of the journalists on social media Thursday, show that Mr. Bristow is being charged with money laundering and violating Mali’s financial regulations during the period from 2019 to 2023.

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Biden’s Angola visit aims to showcase his attempts to rival China – by Anne Soy (BBC.com – December 2, 2024)

https://www.bbc.com/

Apart from oil, Angola is also rich in minerals, including cobalt and lithium, which are essential for making batteries for electric vehicles.

Joe Biden has begun his long-anticipated maiden visit to sub-Saharan Africa as US president but it comes amidst uncertainty over future US-Africa relations as Donald Trump prepares to succeed him in January.

Biden’s visit to oil-rich Angola seeks to underline an attempt by America to focus more on trade and heavy investment in infrastructure, in what some analysts see as the most direct counter yet to China’s influence on the continent.

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Ontario judge dismisses case alleging human rights abuses against Barrick at Tanzanian mine – by Nial McGee (Globe and Mail – November 27, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

An Ontario court has dismissed a pair of civil suits against Barrick Gold Corp. that alleged it was responsible for human-rights abuses at a Tanzanian mine, with the judge ruling that any such court action should be tried in Tanzania.

The plaintiffs are a group of Indigenous Kurya from villages around the mine who were injured in 2021 and 2022 when the Tanzanian police force allegedly shot at them, as well as family members of victims who were killed during this period allegedly by the police.

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Botswana to Set Up G7 Verification Node for Diamonds – by Joshua Freedman (Papaport Magazine – November 27, 2024)

https://rapaport.com/

Botswana will establish a certification point for rough diamonds entering Group of Seven (G7) countries next year, authorities announced Wednesday, with discussions underway for additional nodes in Namibia and Angola.

The development follows widespread opposition to a plan for Antwerp to be a “single node” through which all rough destined for G7 markets would pass to ensure it is not subject to Russian sanctions.

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Four Barrick Gold employees detained in Mali in second wave of arrests over foreign miners’ revenues – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – November 26, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. says four of its local employees have been “unjustly imprisoned” in Mali in a second wave of arrests of its staff in the West African country where one of its biggest gold mines is located.

Mali’s military regime, which took power in a 2021 coup, has been putting pressure on foreign mining companies to give the government a bigger share of their revenue. It has been seeking US$417-million from Barrick, alleging that the company failed to pay all its required taxes – a charge the company rejects.

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Why police are in a standoff with people working an abandoned South African mine – by Sheena Goodyear (CBC Radio As It Happens – November 21, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/

Illegal mining is a ‘very complicated problem’ that needs more than a police crackdown to fix, says advocate

For weeks, police have been stationed at the opening of an abandoned gold mine in South Africa, trying to smoke out the people illegally working deep inside. Since the standoff began, more than 1,000 miners have emerged to face arrest, one decomposing body has been recovered, and community members have gone to court to ensure their loved ones underground continue to get food and water.

It’s not clear how many miners are still underground in Stilfontein, in the country’s North West province. Police say they number in the hundreds. But community members say there are thousands of people below, either unwilling to come out and face arrest, or too frail to get out on their own.

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Mitsui places highest bid for stake in First Quantum’s Zambian copper mines (Mining Technology – November 21, 2024)

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

The divestment of stakes may ease First Quantum’s financial strain after the closure of its Panamanian copper mine due to protests.

Japanese trading company Mitsui has placed the highest bid for around a 20% share in Canadian mining giant First Quantum Minerals‘ Zambian Sentinel and Kansanshi copper mines for roughly $2bn (Y308.82bn), reported Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The bid surpasses a competing offer from Saudi Arabia’s Manara Minerals Investment. The potential deal’s terms are still under negotiation. The company could opt for an alternative buyer or retain its assets.

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Inside South Africa’s ‘ruthless’ gang-controlled gold mines – by Nomsa Maseko (BBC.com – November 20, 2024)

https://www.bbc.com/

Along with about 600 other men, Ndumiso lives and works in a small gang-controlled “town” – complete with markets and a red light district – that has grown up deep underground at a disused gold mine in South Africa.

Ndumiso told the BBC that after being laid off by a big mining firm, he decided to join the gang in its underground world to become what is known as a “zama zama”, an illegal miner. He digs for the precious metal and surfaces every three months or so to sell it on the black market for a huge profit, earning more than he ever did before – though the risks now are far higher.

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Mali Frees Resolute Executives After $160 Million Deal, AFP Reports – by Sybilla Gross (Bloomberg News – November 20, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Mali has released three Resolute Mining Ltd. executives after the African nation detained them in a tax dispute, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a judicial source and a local gold mine official.

The three executives, including Chief Executive Officer Terry Holohan, were freed from detention on Wednesday after Resolute struck a $160 million deal with the government, according to the report. The release came after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two parties, it added, citing the judicial source.

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