Australia/New Caledonia/Papua New Guinea Mining – Page 12

Miners must limit environmental impacts – King – by Esmarie Iannucci (MiningWeekly.com – June 26, 2023)

June 26, 2023

https://www.miningweekly.com/

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australia’s mining and downstream processing companies will need to move to a more sustainable footing in order to benefit from the future demand for critical minerals, federal Resources Minister Madeleine King said on Monday.

“We know the road to net zero runs through Australia’s resources sector. But we must do more to help Australians understand that the resources sector provides significant economic benefits to our country, as well as opportunities to share the benefits with First Nations communities and regional communities,” King said in a speech to the World Mining Congress in Brisbane.

Albemarle to buy Lithium Power’s Australian unit – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – June 19, 2023)

June 19, 2023

https://www.mining.com/

Lithium Power International (ASX: LPI) has scrapped the demerger of its Western Australian lithium assets in favour of a $21 million (A$30m) sale of the three projects to US giant Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB).

The cash transaction would see Albemarle acquire full ownership of Greenbushes, Pilgangoora and Tabba Tabba projects, which Lithium Power was attempting to spin off into a separate company — Western Lithium — that would have listed on the ASX.

Australia taps global partners in landmark critical minerals strategy (Reuters – June 19, 2023)

June 19, 2023

https://www.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE, June 20 (Reuters) – Australia, one of the world’s biggest suppliers of raw minerals, unfurled a landmark strategy on Tuesday that outlines how it will work with investors and international partners to build a critical minerals processing industry for the energy transition.

The Labor government strategy aims to see Australia as a significant producer by 2030 of raw and processed critical minerals that are key to the energy transition, on its path to becoming a renewable superpower.

Critical minerals stocks are now worth more than gold – by Peter Ker and Vesna Poljak (Australian Financial Review – June 13, 2023)

June 15, 2023

https://www.afr.com/

Tony Rovira was about to board a plane from Perth to Melbourne when laboratory tests of eight lithium drill holes sent shares in his company, Azure Minerals, soaring more than 40 per cent. “I will definitely have a glass of champagne on the plane to celebrate the great work of our exploration teams,” he told The Australian Financial Review from Perth Airport on Tuesday.

They can afford the expensive champagne in Perth these days; the city is at the epicentre of a boom that has lifted the value of major, ASX-listed critical minerals companies to $86.2 billion from $8.6 billion in the past decade.

Queensland Budget built on the back of coal – by Timothy Bond (Australian Mining – June 14, 2023)

June 15, 2023

Home

The Queensland Government’s controversial coal royalty system has contributed to an enormous $12.3 billion in revenue and a record surplus, giving the State’s budget the vitality it needs to tackle a range of cost of living issues.

Delivering his fourth budget to parliament, Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick announced an $8.2 billion cost of living relief program, including $550 electricity rebates for households (more for vulnerable households); $650 electricity rebates for small businesses; as well as an additional investment of $645 million over four years for free kindergarten for all four-year-olds.

Ground Breakers: Iron ore squillionaire Gina Rinehart wants to sell our lithium to India – by Josh Chiat (Stockhead.com – June 14, 2023)

June 15, 2023

https://stockhead.com.au/

Gina Rinehart is worth approximately a totopatrillion bucks these days, a quantum we’ve invented because Hancock’s Roy Hill royalties are so iron-clad these days it really doesn’t matter what Australia’s richest person is worth. She’s minted.

And while iron ore has been the bread and butter of Hancock going back to the Lang days, Gina’s interests have become more varied and adventurous over time. Gas, cattle stations and coal are some obvious ones.

On the rails: around Western Australia’s massive mining rail network – by JP Casey (Mining Technology – June 12, 2023)

June 12, 2023

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

The Pilbara produced over 800 billion tonnes of iron ore in 2020-21, a massive amount requiring an equally massive rail network. JP Casey investigates.

The Pilbara is Australia’s, and perhaps the world’s, mining heartland, dominating in both national and global production of a number of minerals. The region was the world’s second-largest producer of bauxite and third-largest of gold in the 2020-21 financial year, and these commodities delivered close to $15bn (A$23bn) in value for the Australian economy.

However, iron ore is the jewel in the region’s crown of commodities. Pilbara miners produced over 800 billion tonnes of iron ore in the 2020-21 financial year, with Western Australia accounting for 98% of the country’s total iron ore reserves. These products included over $100bn (A$150bn) worth of iron ore exports, and generated $103.3bn (A$154bn) in sales, up from $42.7bn (A$64bn) in 2016-17.

Australia moves to find new critical minerals partners but risks China’s ire – by Jonathan Peralman (The Straits Times – June 8, 2023)

June 8, 2023

https://www.straitstimes.com/

SYDNEY – For decades, Australia has been a crucial supplier of the iron ore that has helped to quench China’s insatiable appetite for steel. This massive flow of iron ore – which invoked more than A$150 billion (S$135 billion) a year of sales – enabled China to build apartment blocks, shopping centres and infrastructure projects around the country as its economy expanded.

But, in recent years, China has also invested in other Australian resources for its transformation into a technology superpower. Today, China is a major extractor and processor of critical minerals such as rare earths that are used to produce electric car batteries, superconductors, mobile phones and other high-end technologies.

Bougainville leaders call on mining giant Rio Tinto to assist communities – by APR editor (Asia Pacific Report – June 7, 2023)

June 8, 2023

News

Community leaders around Panguna mine in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville want mining giant Rio Tinto to help out following recent flooding. Rio Tinto was the owner/operator of the mine which has laid derelict for more than 30 years.

Fears of the threat from flooding in the river system near the mine have increased in recent years. Recent heavy rain has choked rivers with mine tailings waste, resulting in several communities being swamped.

Top Ten Australian juniors exploring in Canada – by Sarah Hahn (Northern Miner – June 5, 2023)

June 6, 2023

https://www.northernminer.com/

1 Winsome Resources – Market Cap: $257.6 million

Lithium explorer and developer Winsome Resources (ASX: WR1) is focused on advancing its flagship Cancet project, located in the James Bay region of Quebec, 155 km east of the town of Radisson.

To date, 5,216 metres have been drilled across 59 holes on the 200-sq.-km project. After conducting metallurgical test work, the company believes it can produce low-cost, low-impact concentrate at Cancet. Winsome plans to increase the project’s lithium tonnage by exploring additional targets identified to the east and west.

The company’s portfolio includes four other projects in Quebec: Adina and Sirmac-Clappier in the James Bay region, and Decelles and Mazarac near Val-d’Or.

Every man and his dog is looking for lithium in Canada right now. Which ASX companies have joined the craze? – by Josh Chiat (Stockhead – June 4, 2023)

June 6, 2023

https://stockhead.com.au/

Back in ye olden days they told explorers, vagabonds and wayward youth to ‘Go West’ in search of a better life. Now the catchphrase for down on their luck ASX explorers is ‘Go North’, spreading like a virus across its moose populated plains in search of today’s go-to metal, lithium.

But is much of it moose pasture? Thanks to Twitter’s Viking Trader we have a running weekly commentary on the number of ASX explorers taking the plunge in Canada’s vast outback. According to Viking Trader, he counted 21 greenfields projects on the ASX just one week earlier. A craze to rival the Monster Mash.

Whitehaven says coal is a ‘critical mineral’ for defence allies – by Peter Ker (Australian Financial Review – June 1, 2023)

June 2, 2023

https://www.afr.com/

Whitehaven Coal managing director Paul Flynn has urged the Albanese government to consider coal’s role in powering defence allies like Japan and South Korea when reviewing its list of minerals that are “critical” to economic growth and national security.

Coal is not among the 26 minerals considered “critical” by the Australian government although coking coal for steelmaking is one of the 34 minerals considered “critical” by the European Commission.

Australia Sees ‘Enormous Market’ for its Battery Metals in US – James Fernyhough and Eric Martin (Bloomberg News – May 28, 2023)

May 30, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden’s signature climate policy is helping drive a “golden age of mineral exploration” in Australia, as the US rushes to catch up with China on clean energy technologies, the Australian trade minister said.

Deals between Australian miners and US carmakers had already spurred increased investment in exploration and refining of battery metals, and the Inflation Reduction Act is accelerating that, Trade Minister Don Farrell said in an interview while visiting Detroit over the weekend.

Nickel’s price paralysis could see mines ‘gobbled up’ cheap – by Peter Ker (Australian Financial Review – May 25, 2023)

May 25, 2023

https://www.afr.com/

Miners say pricing mechanisms for nickel have struggled to keep pace with the industry’s shift to supplying the specialised needs of battery and electric vehicle makers, creating an opportunity for acquisitions on the cheap.

Australian nickel was traditionally sold to stainless steel producers in briquettes or powders, but miners such as BHP now sell the bulk of their nickel to electric vehicle manufacturers like Tesla, which want nickel for the cathodes of lithium-ion batteries.

Australia Tries to Break Its Dependence on China for Lithium Mining – by Natasha Frost (New York Times – May 23, 2023)

May 23, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/

Half of the world’s supply of the critical battery ingredient is mined in Australia, which ships virtually all of it to China. The government and business are betting they can change that.

Deep in rural Western Australia, Pilbara Minerals’ vast processing plant looms above the red dirt, quivering as tons of a lithium ore slurry move through its pipes.

The plant turns the ore from a nearby quarry into spodumene, a greenish crystalline powder that is about 6 percent lithium and sells for about $5,700 a ton. From there, the spodumene is shipped to China, where it is further refined so it can be used in the batteries that power goods like cellphones and electric cars.