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Australia/New Caledonia/Papua New Guinea Mining

Column: Australia’s renewable energy ambitions dwarfed by coal, LNG juggernaut – by Clyde Russell (Reuters – August 11, 2022)

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 11 (Reuters) – One of the refrains of the environmental lobby is that Australia is extremely well-placed to become a renewable energy superpower, and that this will replace the loss of revenue from coal and natural gas exports.

The problem is that only one of the two above assertions is accurate, namely that Australia is in pole position when it comes to many of the minerals that will be critical to the energy transition. These include lithium, where Australia is already the world’s top producer, as well as copper, nickel, zinc and other metals.

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Diggers and Dealers: BHP tips EVs will send nickel demand up to 300% higher in the next 30 years – by Josh Chiat (Stockhead.com.au – August 2022)

https://stockhead.com.au/

EVs are here to stay, and the world’s biggest miner says it’s going to spur a run for nickel demand well beyond anything seen before.

Following on from IEA figures last week, which show we could need a ludicrous 60 new nickel mines by 2030 to achieve announced carbon reduction pledges, BHP’s Nickel West boss Jessica Farrell told delegates at the Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum in Kalgoorlie demand for nickel to 2050 would increase 200-300% on the previous three decades.

Mind-boggling. No wonder BHP has decided to reinvigorate the division which almost closed down a few years ago when stainless steel demand fell off a cliff and tanked prices.

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The EV Race Is Turning a Gold Rush Haven Into a Battery Hub – by Harry Brumpton (Bloomberg News – August 8, 2022)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Gold has long dominated the Western Australian city of Kalgoorlie, born in a late 19th Century prospecting rush and home to one of the world’s largest open pit mines, nestled right next to residential streets. Blasts to dislodge precious-metal laced rock from the more than two-mile-long Super Pit still frequently rattle the main street.

As about 2,700 executives, investment bankers, and industry stalwarts gathered in the precious metals hub last week for Australia’s key annual mining forum it was clear where the industry’s focus lies. All attention is on the frantic hunt for battery metals to deliver the world’s shift to electric vehicles.

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BHP rebuffed in $5.8 billion takeover bid for OZ Minerals – by Praveen Menon and Shashwat Awasthi (Reuters – August 8, 2022)

https://www.reuters.com/

Aug 8 (Reuters) – BHP Group (BHP.AX) was rebuffed in its A$8.34 billion ($5.8 billion) takeover bid for OZ Minerals (OZL.AX) on Monday, in a setback as it pushes to secure copper and nickel assets for a shift into clean energy and the electric vehicles (EVs) market.

Australia’s OZ Minerals said the A$25 per share unsolicited, conditional and non-binding indicative offer undervalued the nickel and copper miner and was “opportunistic” as it comes when copper prices and its stock price have fallen from recent peaks.

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Insatiable Lithium Demand Fuels Investment Boom in Australia – by Harry Brumpton and Annie Lee (Bloomberg News – August 4, 2022)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — In the rocky deserts of Western Australia, a handful of little-known and once-shunned miners are suddenly in vogue as the electric vehicle industry clamors for a metal it can’t do without.

Executives from Australia’s lithium industry were inundated by bankers and brokers at the Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum in the outback town of Kalgoorlie this week, talking up deals to secure some of the estimated $42 billion worth of investment needed for metal producers to meet their goals.

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Pacific nations are extraordinarily rich in critical minerals. But mining them may take a terrible toll – by Nick Bainton and Emilka Skrzypek (The Conversation – August 3, 2022)

https://theconversation.com/

Plundering the Pacific for its rich natural resources has a long pedigree. Think of the European companies strip-mining Nauru for its phosphate and leaving behind a moonscape.

There are worrying signs history may be about to repeat, as global demand soars for minerals critical to the clean energy transition. This demand is creating pressure to extract more minerals from the sensitive lands and seabeds across the Pacific. Pacific leaders may be attracted by the prospect of royalties and economic development – but there will be a price to pay in environmental damage.

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Glencore Expands Coal Mining in an Australian Methane Hotspot – by Aaron Clark (Bloomberg News – July 13, 2022)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Glencore Plc is expanding a coal mine that scientists have estimated leaks so much planet-wrecking methane each year it has the same warming impact as the annual emissions from millions of cars.

New activity at the Hail Creek Mine involves digging up coal from gas-rich seams through surface mining — an approach for which the company has said there’s no reliable way to halt fugitive methane from escaping during operation.

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Australia joins global critical minerals partnership – by Esmarie Iannucci (MiningWeekly.com – July 13, 2022)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australia has joined the Minerals Security Partnership in its quest to develop and secure global supply chains for critical minerals that are crucial to clean energy technology and the global transition to clean energy.

Australia joins the US, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, the UK and the European Commission on this mission.

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Major project status: Ardea on the Kalgoorlie Nickel Project – by Jason Mitchell (Mining Technology – July 13, 2022)

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

Boasting around 830 million tonnes of nickel, the Kalgoorlie Nickel Project is one of the most exciting in Australia.

In March, the Australian Government awarded the Kalgoorlie Nickel Project (KNP), located in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, ”major project status”, streamlining potential government approval for one of the country’s most exciting nickel projects.

The new status will make it easier for Ardea Resources, the Perth-based mining company behind the project, to get permits approved and to access additional sources of funding.

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The World Can’t Wean Itself Off Chinese Lithium – by (Wired Magazine – June 30, 2022)

https://www.wired.com/

China dominates the global supply chain for lithium-ion batteries. Now rival countries are scrambling for more control over “white oil.”

THE INDUSTRIAL PORT of Kwinana on Australia’s western coast is a microcosm of the global energy industry. From 1955, it was home to one of the largest oil refineries in the region, owned by British Petroleum when it was still the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.

It once provided 70 percent of Western Australia’s fuel supplies, and the metal husks of old tanks still dominate the shoreline, slowly turning to rust in the salt air.

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Sad cost of China’s plan to ditch Australia – by Ben Graham (News.com.au – July 4, 2022)

https://www.news.com.au/

China is on a mission to break its dependence on Australia at all costs, but a new report has revealed the superpower is leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. One of the key ingredients it needs to fuel its ambitious growth plans to become the world’s most powerful and influential nation is iron ore, which is one of the main raw materials to make steel.

Australia is the biggest exporter of the red stuff which is mined largely in Western Australia’s Pilbara region and pumps an astronomical amount of money into the nation’s economy.

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Nickel, Tesla and two decades of environmental activism: Q&A with leader Raphaël Mapou – by Nick Rodway (Mongabay.com – June 22, 2022)

https://news.mongabay.com/

GORO, New Caledonia – Known widely as the “Madagascar of the Pacific,” New Caledonia is coated in remnant Gondwana rainforest and surrounded by reefs rich in marine life that constitute one of the largest marine parks on earth. It is a French territory located approximately 1,470 kilometers (900 miles) northeast of Brisbane, Australia.

Despite its size, New Caledonia punches far above its weight ecologically. It houses the longest continuous barrier reef in the world and is internationally renowned for its plant species, over 80% of which are endemic. The territory is also one of the world’s largest producers of nickel and holds a quarter of the earth’s known reserves.

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What is Australia doing about sexual harassment in mining camps? – by Praveen Menon (Reuters – June 21, 2022)

https://www.reuters.com/

SYDNEY, June 21 (Reuters) – Australia will release on Thursday a state government report on sexual harassment in the country’s mineral-rich west after more than a year of investigations, as the sector tries to fix a culture of sexism and bullying.

Women have long complained of sexual harassment in “fly in, fly out” (FIFO) mining camps. Major miners including BHP Group (BHP.AX), Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) and Fortescue (FMG.AX) have made submissions to the inquiry, which is expected to recommend steps to address the issue.

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All eyes on Tesla as it invests in a troubled nickel mine – by Nick Rodway (Mongabay News – June 22, 2022)

https://news.mongabay.com/

GORO, New Caledonia — On the south side of Grand Terre, the largest and principal island of New Caledonia in the south Pacific, mountains rise like a spine out of a vast, turquoise lagoon that forms part of the longest continuous barrier reef in the world.

Although a French overseas territory, New Caledonia—located approximately 1,470 kilometers (900 miles) northeast of Brisbane, Australia—has been home to the Indigenous Kanak people for thousands of years and has a history and culture as rich as its ecology.

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Tapping mineral wealth in mining waste could offset damage from new green economy mines – by Anita Parbhakar-Fox, Kamini Bhowany, Kristy Guerin, Laura Jackson and Partha Narayan Mishra (The Conversation – May 30, 2022)

https://theconversation.com/

To go green, the world will need vast quantities of critical minerals such as manganese, lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements. But to some environmentalists, mining to save the planet is a hard pill to swallow if it leads to damage to pristine areas.

The good news is that in many cases, the mining for these minerals has already been done. After Australia’s major miners dig up iron ore, billions of tonnes of earth and rock are left over. Hidden in these rock piles and tailing dams are minerals vital to high tech industries of today and tomorrow.

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