The world is decarbonising and Australia has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to capitalise on the inevitable surge in global uranium demand that will accompany it.
Global financial institutions are taking a new look at the Australian uranium sector, and with good reason. Civil unrest over the past week in Kazakhstan – the world’s largest exporter of uranium – and the consequent impact on uranium prices highlights the geopolitical sensitivity of the commodity.
Nickel is vital to electric car batteries, but extracting it is dirty and destructive. A plant with a turbulent history in New Caledonia is about to become an experiment in sustainable mining.
GORO, New Caledonia — From the reef-fringed coast of New Caledonia, the Coral Sea stretches into the South Pacific. Slender native pines, listing like whimsical Christmas trees, punctuate the shoreline.
Residents of the Pacific territory of New Caledonia have voted overwhelmingly to remain part of France in a third referendum that was boycotted by pro-independence groups, local media reported.
Police reinforcements have been sent to the territory known as “the pebble”, which is of strategic importance to France and is part of a wider tussle for influence in the Pacific between Western countries and China.
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Federal Minister for Resources and Water Keith Pitt has applauded work done by Geoscience Australia in discovering the largest nickel sulphide discovery in Australia in over two decades.
ASX-listed Chalice Mining this week announced a maiden indicated and inferred mineral resource estimate of 10-million ounces palladium/platinum/gold, 530 000 t of nickel, 330 000 t of copper, and 53 000 t of cobalt at its Gonneville deposit, which makes up part of its larger Julimar project, in Western Australia.
Andrew Forrest’s private resources company Wyloo Metals has launched a third bid for Canadian nickel hopeful Noront Resources, after talks between Wyloo and rival bidder BHP failed to reach a compromise.
Wyloo has lifted its bid to $C1.10 a share, 47 per cent above the C75¢ bid BHP made in October. alks between BHP and Wyloo, which has a 37.2 per cent stake in Noront, had been running for about a month. Head of Wyloo Metals, Luca Giacovazzi, described the discussions as constructive but ultimately unsuccessful.
PERTH, Australia, Dec. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd (“Wyloo Metals”) has today provided the board of Noront Resources Ltd. (TSXV: NOT) (“Noront”) with a letter outlining a further improved offer to acquire up to 100% of the shares in Noront that it does not already own for Cdn$1.10 per share (the “Revised Wyloo Offer”). This is 47% above the Cdn$0.75 per share offered under the take-over bid for Noront proposed by BHP Western Mining Resources International Pty Ltd (“BHP”).
The Revised Wyloo Offer is the only proposal to Noront shareholders that provides the following distinguishing features:
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Harte Gold granted creditor protection by court, Australia’s Silver Lake Resources looks to take control of Sugar Zone Mine property
A prospective new owner of White River’s Sugar Zone Mine might not be determined until next spring, at the earliest.
So far, early front runner Silver Lake Resources of Australia has the inside track to acquire the underground operation. But things are looking bleak for common shareholders of Harte Gold.
(Bloomberg) — Billionaire Gautam Adani’s coal mine in Australia, a project that’s become a global emblem for opposition to fossil fuels, is preparing to begin exports after more than a decade of bitter dispute over its development.
Proposed in 2010 and stalled by legal challenges, financing setbacks and a sustained campaign from climate activists, the operation is scheduled to ship first cargoes before the end of December and aims to supply an initial 10 million tons of thermal coal annually for at least 30 years.
Tokyo | China will boost domestic iron ore production by 30 per cent, significantly ramp up investments in overseas mines and strengthen scrap steel recycling under a plan designed to break Beijing’s dependency on Australia’s most valuable commodity export.
China’s top steel industry executives and senior government officials outlined a strategy for achieving the five-year targets in an article published this week, which highlights the Chinese government’s frustration with volatile iron ore prices and its desire to follow Japan’s lead by investing heavily in offshore mines.
https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/
Osisko Mining (TSX: OSK) has signed an agreement with Australia’s Northern Star Resources (ASX: NST) to raise $154 million for continued work on its Windfall gold project 200 km north of Val d’Or, Que. The two companies have also agreed to negotiate the terms of an earn-in and joint venture allowing Northern Star to earn up to a 50% interest in the Windfall project.
The financing agreement will see Osisko issuing a convertible senior unsecured debenture due Dec. 1, 2025, to Northern Star. The debenture bears an interest rate of 4.75% per year payable semi-annually.
NS Energy
Western Australia’s vast Greenbushes lithium mine is the world’s largest operation to extract hard rock deposits of the mineral critical to the energy transition
At the southern tip of Western Australia, around 250 kilometres south of Perth, lies the Greenbushes lithium mine – the world’s largest project to extract the increasingly critical mineral driving the clean energy transition.
The operation, which claims its name from a nearby town, is owned by Talison Lithium, a joint venture between China’s Tianqi Lithium and US chemicals firm Albemarle – although recent reports have emerged that the Chinese producer is seeking to offload some of its 51% stake in the project amid financial difficulties.
Newcrest Mining, Australia’s largest gold producer, will soon become the biggest gold producer in the Canadian province of British Columbia once its $3.5 billion (US$2.8 billion) acquisition of Pretium Resources is completed over the next three or four months.
The Aussie gold major already held a 4.85% stake in the Canadian miner before announcing the deal this week, and it’s the second time Newcrest has planted its corporate flag in Canadian soil. In 2019 the company acquired a 70% stake in the Red Chris mine from Imperial Metals for US$806 million.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart has struck a deal to buy into an iron ore project in WA’s northern Goldfields, further expanding her iron ore empire which includes the Roy Hill mine in the Pilbara.
A subsidiary of Ms Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting has struck a deal to form new joint venture agreement with the owners of the Mt Bevan project, 100 kilometres west of Leonora.
BHP is looking at investing in additional early-stage development projects as the company aims to grow its copper and nickel portfolio.
BHP chief executive officer Mike Henry spoke at the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday, suggesting the success of its current copper and nickel projects should inspire more developments to follow.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
The latest big deal to shake up Canada’s gold industry has the acquirer on the defensive for paying a premium, but at least one money manager is salivating at the prospect of an even higher offer.
Australia’s Newcrest Mining Ltd. faced questions from analysts, and a declining stock price, after it unveiled plans late Monday to acquire Pretium Resources Inc. for $3.5-billion. Melbourne-based Newcrest is offering $18.50 in cash, or 0.8084 Newcrest shares, for each Pretium share.
