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Opinion: Kashmiri Sapphires Set To Dazzle The World Again – by Shantanu Guha Ray (NDTV.com – February 26, 2024)

https://www.ndtv.com/

A decade after a 19.88-carat Kashmir sapphireshattered auction records in Geneva, the potential return of the priceless gems from the strife-torn region to global markets is on the horizon.

The cushion-shaped sapphire, known as the Star of Kashmir, surprised buyers in 2013 with a sale price of nearly $3,483,017 (approximately ₹ 20 crore). Now, officials claim that more peacock blue-coloured sapphires will be mined in the Paddar region, one of the most inhospitable terrains in the bordering state.

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The former Afghan soldiers turning to gem mining to survive – by Kern Hendricks (Al Jazeera – August 18, 2023)

https://www.aljazeera.com/

In remote Nuristan province, some who lost their jobs after the Taliban takeover are now working in artisanal mines to support their families amid a struggling economy.

Nuristan, Afghanistan – Like a crack of thunder, a deep blast echoes down a tree-lined valley a few kilometres from Parun, the capital of the northeastern Afghan province of Nuristan. At the base of a rocky hillside, smoke and chunks of rock spew from the mouth of a low tunnel. Some of the debris reaches the edge of a glassy river which runs through a small valley, causing ripples on the water’s surface.

Sheltering to one side of the tunnel entrance is Abdul Qader Abid. As the final pieces of shrapnel clatter to a standstill, he squints into the darkness of the tunnel. Rising, he wraps a green shawl around his mouth and nose, and heads into the billowing dust. There’s a payday glimmering in the rubble, and he’s eager to find it.

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Gold rush grips Asia despite near-record prices – by Ashitha Shivaprasad and Brijesh Patel (Reuters – June 11, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

SINGAPORE, June 12 (Reuters) – Demand for gold in Asia is surging despite prices hovering near the record highs it hit in May, industry officials say, as buyers snap up the metal to hedge against geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

Spot gold is trading a little over $2,300 per ounce, up about 12% year-to-date and only about 6% shy of the record high it hit last month. Lower confidence in other investment options, such as real estate and equities, is also a factor behind the demand for gold, analysts say.

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[Bre-X Gold Scandal] Bay Street in the shade – by Rita Trichur (Globe and Mail – June 11, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

What do phony gold, a Russian godfather and a crypto scam have in common? They all illustrate how The Globe plays an important role in exposing corporate malfeasance

It was surely one of the clumsiest attempts ever to rewrite history. In 1996, Calgary-based Bre-X Minerals Ltd. spent months assuring investors it owned most of Busang, a mammoth gold deposit in Indonesia. But the following February, CEO David Walsh flipped the script.

“Some have mistakenly thought that we somehow owned 90 per cent of this property,” Walsh said at the time. “This was never the practical reality, nor was it ever a basis for the valuation of Bre-X stock.”

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Exploring the mystery of the man embroiled in a Canadian mining company’s billion-dollar gold scam – by Lucy Wallis (CBC News – June 7, 2024)

 

https://www.cbc.ca/

New podcast digs into the history of Bre-X Minerals’s claims of gold deep in the Indonesian jungle

On the morning of March 19, 1997, Michael de Guzman, chief geologist at Canadian mining company Bre-X Minerals, boarded a helicopter flight to travel to a remote jungle site in Indonesia. It was a journey he had made many times before, to a place where he had reported finding huge deposits of gold.

But this time, de Guzman never arrived. Twenty minutes into the journey, a rear door on the left-hand side of the helicopter opened and de Guzman plummeted to his death into the dense foliage below.

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China’s control and coercion in critical minerals – by Ian Satchewell (Australian Strategic Policy Institute – June 7, 2024)

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/

Markets for critical minerals are no longer shaping up to be the next components of the global economy to be dominated by China. They already are.

While Western nations were sleeping, China built vertically integrated supply chains for several critical minerals vital to the energy transition and high technology applications, including defence equipment.

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China’s PBOC Halts Gold Purchases After Price Hits Record – by Yvonne Yue Li and Sybilla Gross (Bloomberg News – June 7, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Gold fell the most in more than two years as surprise strength in a key US jobs report dashed hopes that the Federal Reserve will be able to start lowering borrowing costs soon.

Treasury yields and the dollar surged after the US government’s May employment report showed job growth exceeded expectations and wages were hot. Bullion slumped as much as 3.1%, the most since March 2022, while base metals also tumbled.

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Metals expert warns of shortage of high-grade nickel near 2030 – by Erwida Maulia (Asia Nikkei – June 7, 2024)

https://asia.nikkei.com/

Comes amid surging demand from EV battery producers

JAKARTA — Demand for the kind of high-grade nickel used to make electric vehicle batteries is set to outpace supply in the coming years, a metals expert said at an industry conference in Indonesia this week.

Allan Ray Restauro, a metals and mining analyst at energy researcher BloombergNEF, told the Indonesia Miner event in Jakarta that output of so-called Class 1 nickel is unlikely to accelerate rapidly enough to catch up with growing demand, even as production of lower-quality varieties of the metal surges.

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South Korea, Africa leaders pledge deeper ties, critical mineral development – by Hyonhee Shin (Reuters – June 4, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

GOYANG, South Korea, June 4 (Reuters) – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and the leaders of African countries agreed on Tuesday to forge deeper trade and business cooperation and launched a “critical minerals dialogue” aimed at sustainable development of the continent’s resources.

Hosting a first-ever summit with the leaders of 48 African nations, Yoon said South Korea would increase development aid for Africa to $10 billion over the next six years as it looks to tap the continent’s rich mineral resources and potential as a vast export market.

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LME brand approval cements Indonesian nickel ascendancy – by Andy Home (Reuters – May 30, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) – The London Metal Exchange (LME) has approved the listing of the first ever Indonesian brand of refined nickel. “DX-zwdx” isn’t the most memorable of historical markers but the new brand’s inclusion on the LME good delivery list represents a watershed moment for the global industry.

Five years ago Indonesia produced just 600,000 metric tons of nickel and shipped most of it as unprocessed ore to China, where it was alloyed into stainless steel. Last year the country mined 2.03 million tons of contained metal, accounting for over half the world’s production.

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Indonesia buying record amounts of Philippine nickel ore due to quota delays, sources say (Reuters – May 29, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Indonesia has bought record volumes of nickel ore from the Philippines since April as smelter demand increases, while delays by Jakarta in issuing mining quotas and heavy rains have hurt local supply, people familiar with the matter said.

Indonesia’s nickel ore imports from the country likely hit around 500,000 metric tons in April and will again in May, more than double March volumes, two local smelters and a trader told Reuters. Such monthly totals would also top imports from the Philippines for all of last year which came in at 374,454 tons.

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Iron ore prices lack conviction despite China stimulus moves – by Clyde Russell (Reuters – May 28, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, May 28 (Reuters) – The balance of risks for iron ore prices are tilted to the downside despite top buyer China’s most recent steps to boost its struggling property sector.

A series of stimulus measures announced earlier this month will see up to 1 trillion yuan ($138 billion) in new property funding, an easing of mortgage rules and allowing local governments to buy some apartments in order to clear overhangs.

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The Promise of Nuclear Energy Brings the West to Mongolia – by Charlie Campbell (Time Magazine – May 14, 2024)

https://time.com/

The Gobi Desert, once revered by Mongolian poet Dulduityn Danzanravjaa as hiding a cosmic portal to the heavenly kingdom of Shambala, was transformed in the 20th century from spiritual energy center to fossil-fuel hub. Wild rabbits and donkeys share the windswept dunes with rusting oil pumps, while an endless caravan of soot-stained trucks haul coal south to the border with China. Now, the Gobi is on the cusp of another reincarnation, one that its supporters believe could help future-proof the global energy landscape.

In October, the French state-owned nuclear firm Orano signed a $1.7 billion deal to extract and process uranium from the Zuuvch-Ovoo mine, not two hours by car from the landmarked site of Danzanravjaa’s cosmic portal. Mongolia’s first uranium mine is expected to produce about 2,750 tons annually for three decades, some 4% of global production; it’s currently one of the top 10 unexploited deposits worldwide.

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Boeing, Airbus Working With Saudi Arabia on Metals for Planes – by Fahad Abuljadayel and Matthew Martin (Bloomberg News – May 20, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Saudi Arabia said it’s working with top airplane makers Boeing and Airbus to get its aluminum and titanium approved for use in their planes as part of a push to get more manufacturing done inside the kingdom.

Achieving certification would potentially help the jet manufacturers overcome supply hurdles, including difficulties securing some raw materials. Saudi Arabia is also discussing making more aircraft components locally, according to the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation.

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Loved ‘Heeramandi’ on Netflix? 6 things you didn’t know about its Mughal-inspired jewellery – by Amrita Katara (Tatler Asia – May 22, 2024)

 

https://www.tatlerasia.com/

Indian filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s latest Netflix series, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar has been making waves since it released earlier this year. Set in 1920s Lahore, in pre-independent India, it depicts the lives of tawaifs (courtesans or dancing girls who performed exclusively for the nobility), amid India’s fight for freedom from British rule. The eight-episode saga is not only a study in culture, colour and historical grandeur, but it is also a visual feast of outfits and exquisite jewellery infused heavily with Mughal influences.

As the intricate storyline of Heeramandi unfolds, so do the layers of ornate costumes and breathtaking jewels. The task of bringing these historical adornments to life was entrusted to jewellery designers Vinay and Anshu Gupta of Shri Paramani Jewels of New Delhi. The duo, who created 10,000 pieces of high jewellery for the show, belongs to a family who in the old times were the treasurers of the Mughals themselves.

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