https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Silver Lake Resources invests in new buildings, processing equipment at Sugar Zone Mine
The new Australian owners of the Sugar Zone Mine continue to sink investment into the underground operation near White River.
Silver Lake Resources reported it’s made “significant progress” at the mine with expenditures of almost $9 million the company’s past September quarter. Most the spending has been on processing equipment and new buildings.
(Bloomberg) — The troubled Goro nickel mine — one of the world’s largest deposits, which is part-owned by Trafigura Group and backed by Tesla Inc. — has been forced to reduce production to address a leak from its tailings dam.
Goro, which is located in the South Pacific territory of New Caledonia, reported a “limited release of salt-laden liquid” after heavy rains in August, a spokesperson for owner Prony Resources said by email. Corrective measures required by local authorities mean that nickel output will be reduced in the fourth quarter, the company said.
Global action is needed to ensure there are sufficient supplies of minerals required to build renewable energy generation assets, the vice chairman of S&P Global and energy markets expert Daniel Yergin has warned, because without them the cost of zero emission projects will soar.
Mr Yergin said that while the goal of reaching net zero by 2050 or earlier is clear, there remains significant uncertainty about how countries will achieve this, and less clarity still on the volume of minerals and materials that will be needed to build assets such as solar panels and wind turbines.
Lithium is proving to be largely immune from the volatility that has rocked commodity markets as prices soar in the face of a looming global recession, prompting Macquarie to deliver another round of upgrades for producers and developers of the battery metal.
Lithium prices have continued to hit record levels this year with spodumene, carbonate and hydroxide surging 243 per cent, 124 per cent and 152 per cent respectively.
JOHANNESBURG, Nov 8 (Reuters) – Fortescue Metals (FMG.AX) executive chairman Andrew Forrest on Tuesday said his charitable foundation is in favour of a pause on seabed mining, the first time a prominent mining executive has spoken out against the nascent industry.
Forrest said the Minderoo Foundation, which he and his wife Nicola fund with the dividends they get from Fortescue, will back a pause until there’s sufficient evidence that damage to ocean environments can be prevented.
The discovery of a gigantic deposit of lithium had raised hopes for the sleepy town of Manono in the southeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after a tin boom went bust years earlier.
Australia-based AVZ Minerals announced in 2019 that the Manono lithium-tin project in the DRC probably had the world’s largest untapped lithium deposit, with estimates of 400 million tonnes of lithium ore. Lithium is essential in making rechargeable batteries for phones and electric vehicles, and is in high demand as countries around the world make the shift to green energy.
https://www.mining-technology.com/
The Manono Lithium-Tin Project is an open-pit mining development in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in central Africa. It is estimated to be one of the largest lithium-rich LCT (lithium, caesium, tantalum) pegmatite deposits in the world.
AVZ Minerals currently holds a 65% interest in the property while the remaining stake is held by Dathcom Mining, a joint venture between AVZ Minerals and La Congolaise D’Exploitation Miniere of the DRC Government. AVZ Minerals reached an agreement to acquire an additional 10% equity in the project for $15.5m in September 2020.
Pilbara Minerals boss Dale Henderson says his phone is switched to silent as a constant stream of car and battery makers try to secure supplies of lithium, and he doesn’t expect the calls to stop any time soon.
The $16 billion company’s operations in Western Australia continued to spew cash in the September quarter after an increase in production – albeit at a lower grade – and higher spodumene concentrate prices.
An Australian company on track to become Europe’s first lithium producer said China’s appetite for the material, which is key to the renewable-energy transition, has created a clear runway for further expansion in the continent.
“A lot of supply is going into China, and China’s own needs are growing,” Critical Metals Corp. Executive Chairman Tony Sage said in a Bloomberg Television interview from Perth on Wednesday.
Vital Metals bills itself as Canada’s first rare earth producer and decision to ditch projects could be significant
Australia’s Vital Metals Ltd. walked away from two Quebec-based projects earlier this week due to objections from the Kebaowek First Nation, the latest evidence that maximizing Canada’s potential to be a player in the energy transition will require a more sophisticated relationship with Indigenous communities.
The Sydney-based company had signed an $8-million agreement with Montreal-based Quebec Precious Metals Corp. (QPM) in August last year to acquire 68- and 100-per-cent interests in the Kipawa and Zeus rare earth projects situated in Quebec’s Témiscamingue region, about 90 kilometres northeast of North Bay, Ont.
WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N) said on Tuesday it will invest up to $69 million and take an equity stake in Queensland Pacific Metals (QPM.AX) to secure a new source of nickel and cobalt for battery cells for use in the U.S. automaker’s vehicles.
GM said the investment will help support electric-vehicle eligibility for consumer incentives under new, clean energy U.S. tax credits. GM said the nickel laterite ore is expected to be processed using a new, proprietary process that helps reduce waste.
Australia is poised to grab a fifth of the world’s lithium hydroxide refining capacity within five years as demand grows for battery metals that bypass China, Canberra said in a report.
China produces more than 80% of the world’s lithium hydroxide, a processed form of the in-demand metal, according to the International Energy Agency. However, several companies are building refineries in Australia that would turn locally-mined lithium ore into battery-grade chemicals.
Albemarle boss Kent Masters says it will be hard for Australia to make the leap from mining key ingredients to making batteries for electric vehicles.
That’s despite the company having just built one of the world’s biggest and most advanced lithium hydroxide plants – estimated to have cost more than $2 billion – at an industrial park south of Perth.
Luca Giacovazzi is a rising star in the Andrew Forrest business empire and boss of Wyloo Metals which stared down BHP in the bidding war for green minerals deposits in Canada.
Wyloo Metals wunderkind Luca Giacovazzi has made a lot of money for Andrew Forrest since making his first big pitch to the iron ore billionaire, and he might end up costing BHP plenty.
Giacovazzi, then just 27, called his first presentation slide pack Nickel: Get its mojo back in what was a risky move given Forrest’s painful memories from his Anaconda Nickel venture.
(Bloomberg) — BHP Group Ltd. is considering raising its A$8.4 billion ($5.6 billion) offer for OZ Minerals Ltd., people familiar with the matter said, as the world’s top miner seeks to boost its exposure to metals needed for the green-energy transition.
Melbourne-based BHP may increase its A$25 per share bid for OZ Minerals as soon as this month, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. It wasn’t immediately clear by how much BHP would increase its offer, or whether OZ Minerals would agree to any renewed proposal from BHP.
