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Africa Mining

Chinese Illegal miners deprive government of revenue, exploit child labour in Nasarawa – by Ijeoma Opara (International Centre For Investigative Reporting – September 24, 2024)

https://www.icirnigeria.org/

Ten-year-old Celestina Geremiyah tugged at the long rope fastened to a stained 20-litre plastic container. The gallon had been cut horizontally to create a wider opening and was filled with sand dug out of a mining pit in Paseli, a community in Nasarawa local government area in central Nigeria.

This is where unlicensed miners extract the critical mineral, lithium, used in producing batteries, for electric vehicles, power storage, and phones. Geremiyah struggled with the weight of the sand as she pulled it a short distance away from the hole, emptied the container onto the ground, and returned it to the pit to be refilled.

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Diamonds aren’t forever: Botswana looks beyond mining – by Ben Payton (African Business – September 24, 2024)

https://african.business/

President Mokgweetsi Masisi basked in a moment of triumph on 22 August, as he unveiled the largest diamond discovered anywhere in the world for more than a century to an excited crowd of journalists and officials in Gaborone. “What?!” he exclaimed, his eyes popping with delight as he felt the weight of the stone. “I am lucky to have seen it in my time.”

The presentation of the second-largest diamond ever wrenched from the Earth appears to be the latest glittering chapter in Botswana’s success story. The stone, extracted from the Karowe mine by Canadian company Lucara, provides seemingly irrefutable evidence that the southern African nation remains a diamond superpower.

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Coloured gemstones: Historic emerald mine returns to life – by Arthur Tassell (Mining Review – September 20, 2024)

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The Gravelotte emerald mine, which was in operation from 1929 to 2002 and was reportedly the world’s biggest emerald mine in its heyday, is once again in production, albeit initially on a very small scale. The company behind the revival of the mine is LSE-listed junior GEM Resources (previously URA Holdings). ARTHUR TASSELL recently spoke to its CEO, DR BERNARD OLIVIER, to learn more about the operation, which is South Africa’s only producing emerald mine.

The mine is located near the town of Gravelotte in Limpopo Province, approximately 50 km west of Phalaborwa and close to the well-known Consolidated Murchison antimony/gold mine. The emeralds are primarily found in biotite schist, which is part of the Gravelotte formation.

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Western nations join forces to break China’s grip on critical minerals – by Jamie Smyth, Myles McCormick and Harry Dempsey (Financial Times – September 22, 2024)

https://www.ft.com/

Coalition of 14 governments announces financing network for projects to provide raw materials required by tech industry

Western nations are directing their development finance and export credit agencies to work with private industry to support critical minerals projects, in a drive to break China’s chokehold over a sector that is essential for high-tech industries.

The Minerals Security Partnership, a coalition of 14 nations and the European Commission, will unveil a new financing network at an event in New York on Monday as they try to ramp up international collaboration and pledge financial support for a huge nickel project in Tanzania, backed by mining company BHP.

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A gold mining town in Congo has become an mpox hot spot as a new strain spreads – by Sam Mednick (Associated Press – September 19, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

KAMITUGA, Congo (AP) — Slumped on the ground over a mound of dirt, Divine Wisoba pulled weeds from her daughter’s grave. The 1-month-old died from mpox in eastern Congo in August, but Wisoba, 21, was too traumatized to attend the funeral.

In her first visit to the cemetery, she wept into her shirt for the child she lost and worried about the rest of her family. “When she was born, it was as if God had answered our prayers — we wanted a girl,” Wisoba said of little Maombi Katengey. “But our biggest joy was transformed into devastation.”

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South African company Sibaneye-Stillwater eyes New Caledonia nickel mining plant – by Patrick Decloitre (Radio New Zealand – September 17, 2024)

https://www.rnz.co.nz/

A South African company is reported to be the most probable bidder for shares in New Caledonia’s Prony Resources. As part of an already advanced takeover of the ailing southern plant of Prony Resources, the most probable bidder is reported to be South African group Sibaneye-Stillwater, local media reported on Monday.

Just like the other two major mining plants and smelters in New Caledonia, Prony Resources is facing acute hardships due to the emergence of Indonesia as a major player on the world market, compounded with New Caledonia’s violent unrest that broke out in May.

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AngloGold Ashanti to buy Centamin for $2.5 billion – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – September 10, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

AngloGold Ashanti (JSE: ANG) (NYSE: AU) (ASX: AGG) is buying Egypt-focused smaller rival Centamin (LON: CEY) in a $2.5 billion (£1.9 billion) stock and cash deal that would see the South African gold miner become the world’s fourth largest producer of the precious metal.

The acquisition hands AngloGold the key Sukari mine in Egypt, which is the country’s largest and first modern gold operation, as well as one of the world’s largest producing mines.

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Premium Nickel eyes 2025 prefeasibility at Selebi mine in Botswana – by Blair McBride (Northern Miner – September 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Results from infill drilling at Premium Nickel Resources’ (TSXV: PNRL) past-producing Selebi North mine in Botswana continues to build confidence, less than a month after the company posted an initial resource for the project.

Hole SNUG-24-106 in the South Limb target returned 26.3 metres of 1.09% copper, 1.56% nickel, and 0.08% cobalt from 515.7 metres depth, including 16.1 metres of 1.54% copper, 2.1% nickel and 0.11% cobalt, the company reported Thursday. The infill drilling is aimed at upgrading inferred resources, part of a 20,000-metre underground drill program whose assays weren’t included in the new resource.

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Do the Chinese come to Zimbabwe to invest or to pillage our resources? – by Tendai Ruben Mbofana (The Zimbabwean – September 7, 2024)

https://www.thezimbabwean.co/

President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa has returned from China, where he attended the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). During the visit, Mnangagwa visited quite a number of companies, including Huawei, as well as giving a speech at the FOCAC, and later addressed the 8th Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs.

In a statement, the president declared: This is the best time to invest in Zimbabwe. Oh really, Mr. President! What a bold thing to say! However, has there been any genuine investments by the Chinese in Zimbabwe?

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The South African who inherited a R170 billion diamond legacy – by Kirsten Minnaar (Daily Invester – September 1, 2024)

https://dailyinvestor.com/

Nicky Oppenheimer was born into one of South Africa’s most formidable diamond-mining families, but when hard times hit, he had to leave the family business.

Despite being the second-richest man in South Africa with a net worth of $9.5 billion (R171 billion) and being part of one of the country’s most influential families, Oppenheimer is incredibly reserved and humble. Nicholas Frank Oppenheimer was born in 1945 in Johannesburg into a diamond dynasty.

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The Dark Side of Cobalt: How China Mines Congo’s Treasure – by Dr Monika Chansoria (Japan Forward – September 4, 2024)

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Cobalt powers our smartphones, tablets, laptops, and electric vehicles. It’s time for global action to end child labor and other toxic conditions in the mines.

The central African country, Congo, affects our daily lives like none other. While many may be surprised at this assertion initially, it is true. Cobalt, the most essential component to every rechargeable lithium-ion battery made today, is found and mined predominantly in the Congo.

Roughly 75 percent of the world’s cobalt supply comes from the Congo. This essential element powers our smartphones, tablets, laptops, and electric vehicles. Billions of people around the world cannot conduct their daily lives without it.

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China’s Africa interests driven by race for renewables – by Lauren Johnston (Asia Times – September 3, 2024)

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Africa could learn from others how to manage mineral relations with China – looking to what Indonesia did with nickel, for example

How is the race for green energy shaping relations between China and Africa? The global climate crisis has created a push for renewable energy technology – like solar or wind power – which would lessen reliance on polluting energy sources. China saw some years ago that it had a chance to lead in such a new industry.

Africa is home to a lot of the important minerals needed to create renewable technologies – like copper, cobalt and lithium, key ingredients in battery manufacture. The race for green energy is therefore leading to a rush for these minerals in Africa, led by China, the US and Europe.

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US Sees Bipartisan Backing for Africa Critical Minerals Plan – by Matthew Hill (Bloomberg News – August 28, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — A senior US State Department official reassured African governments that an initiative to help counter China’s influence through developing infrastructure on the continent will continue even after a change in administration.

The flagship of the plan — a railway project known as the Lobito corridor that connects copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo to an Atlantic port in Angola — is already far advanced, Helaina Matza, acting special coordinator for the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, told reporters on Wednesday.

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No Stone Unturned: Unearthing the Gems of Africa – by Salon Privé (Salon Privé Magazine – August 2024)

https://www.salonprivemag.com/

Gemfields announces new book “No Stone Unturned” exploring real-life gemstone adventures in Africa over 60 years, written by Richa Goyal Sikri.

These narratives, vividly recounted by influential figures in the gem trade to the author Richa Goyal Sikri, showcase the dynamic and dramatic essence of the business. They also highlight significant historical moments related to notable gem deposits in Africa.

Each story vividly portrays the exhilarating highs and treacherous lows of the trade, offering an insightful glimpse into the vibrant journey of coloured gemstones from mine to market.

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The War in Congo That’s Uprooted 7 Million People: QuickTake – by Michael J. Kavanagh and Simon Marks (Bloomberg News – August 05, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — More than 7 million people have been displaced by violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, one of Africa’s most volatile regions, and fears have been simmering of a heightened conflict. President Felix Tshisekedi has accused his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame of supporting a rebel group known as M23.

Kagame denied the allegation and countered that Tshisekedi’s inability to control events in his own country poses a security risk to Rwanda. The acrimony escalated in early 2024, with the rebels expanding their territory around the trading hub of Goma and seizing control of key routes including those used to export tantalum, a key mineral in portable electronics.

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