Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals – Page 48

What the energy transition may bring for five battery metals – report – by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud (Northern Miner – October 18, 2021)

October 19, 2021

https://www.northernminer.com/

ING Economics has published a new report in which its experts predict what the energy transition might bring for five key metals: copper, aluminum, nickel, cobalt, and lithium.

Taking into consideration where different regions of the world stand when it comes to moving towards a low-carbon future where global warming is limited to 2 degrees Celsius, ING’s analysts developed three scenarios that they used as a background to assess the possible performance of battery metals.

Global shortage of magnesium to cripple car industry – by Cecilla Jamasmie (Mining.com – October 19, 2021)

October 19, 2021

https://www.mining.com/

The world’s top automakers face disruption from tight global supplies of magnesium, as China’s power crisis threatens availability of the key component used to make aluminum, Germany’s association of metals producers WVM said on Tuesday.

European magnesium stocks have been particularly affected by the lack of supplies from China, which has a near monopoly on the magnesium market, the association said in a letter to the German government. The worst part of this shortage is about to come, it noted.

Congo-Kinshasa: Child Miners – The Dark Side of the DRC’s Coltan Wealth – by Oluwole Ojewale (All Africa.com – October 18, 2021)

October 19, 2021

https://allafrica.com/

Laws and certification schemes aren’t protecting the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s most vulnerable – a fresh approach is needed.

Coltan is one of the world’s most vital minerals, and 60% of reserves globally are found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) Kivu province. In 2019, 40% of the global coltan supply was produced in the DRC.

The mineral is used in cell phones, laptops and other devices because of its particular ability to store and release electrical energy. As 5G technology grows, the demand for Congolese coltan will increase. But this is not good news for everyone in the DRC.

Updated critical minerals list a boon for Australian miners – by Matthew Cranston (Australian Financial Review – October 10, 2021)

October 12, 2021

https://www.afr.com/

Washington| Australian miners stand to benefit from the addition of nickel to a critical minerals list designed to help the US fix supply gaps in batteries and other energy technologies.

Australia produces 24 per cent of the world’s nickel, according to government data, and the metal’s inclusion on the list could spur development of new mines and expansion of existing sites both in the US and Australia. The metal is used to strengthen alloys found in batteries, electronics, military hardware and a range of energy technologies.

Nickel processing is dominated by China.

Bonanza for Australian minerals under net zero: IMF – by Matthew Cranston and Ronald Mizen (Australian Financial Review – October 13, 2021)

October 12, 2021October 12, 2021

https://www.afr.com/

Washington | Australia is in pole position to benefit from a sixfold increase in demand for so-called “critical minerals” worth $US12.9 trillion ($17.6 trillion) over the next two decades, driven by the race to hit net zero emissions, according to analysis from the International Monetary Fund.

In its latest World Economic Outlook, the Washington-based multilateral lender projects that a steady 15 per cent increase in its metal price index will bolster Australia’s annual economic growth by 1 percentage point, further strengthening the government’s finances.

Column: Europe races to fix its rare earths import dependency – by Andy Home (Reuters – October 8, 2021)

October 8, 2021

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Oct 8 (Reuters) – Europe is on a mission to wrest back control of its rare earth magnet supply chain from China. Permanent magnets, commonly using a neodymium-iron-boron chemistry, are one of the hidden enablers of modern technology, powering everything from robots to refrigerators to laptop speakers.

They also help power electric vehicle (EV) and wind turbine motors, placing them at the heart of the energy transition. However, as the rest of the world has come to realise, these critical minerals are also critically dependent on China, which dominates the global supply chain from rare earth processing through magnet production.

Construction contract awarded for Timiskaming cobalt refinery – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – October 5, 2021)

October 7, 2021

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The upcoming construction picture for a Temiskaming-area cobalt refinery is beginning to take shape with the awarding of a major metals processing contract.

First Cobalt selected Metso Outotec for the design and manufacturing of the equipment for a new solvent extraction plant and its process controls. Metso Outotec is a leading global company in the field of sustainable mineral processing and metal refining equipment.

OPINION: Canada and the U.S. have a shared interest in securing self-sufficiency in critical minerals – by David Jacobson (Globe and Mail – October 4, 2021)

October 4, 2021

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

David Jacobson was the U.S. ambassador to Canada from 2009-2013 and is vice chair, BMO Financial Group.

Nineteenth-century British statesman Lord Palmerston once said, “Nations have no permanent friends or allies, they only have permanent interests.” It therefore follows that there is a natural rhythm to how and when nations choose to compete and when they choose to co-operate for the common good – even among long-time friends such as Canada and the United States.

With a new government elected in Canada, there is an opportunity to co-operate for the common good with the Biden administration on a number of key diplomatic and strategic initiatives with serious and long-term implications for both countries.

The World Wants Greenland’s Minerals, but Greenlanders Are Wary – by Jack Ewing (New York Times – October 1, 2021)

October 4, 2021

https://www.nytimes.com/

NARSAQ, Greenland — This huge, remote and barely habited island is known for frozen landscapes, remote fjords and glaciers that heave giant sheets of ice into the sea. But increasingly Greenland is known for something else: rare minerals. It’s all because of climate change and the world’s mad dash to accelerate the development of green technology.

As global warming melts the ice that covers 80 percent of the island, it has spurred demand for Greenland’s potentially abundant reserves of hard-to-find minerals with names like neodymium and dysprosium. These so-called rare earths, used in wind turbines, electric motors and many other electronic devices, are essential raw materials as the world tries to break its addiction to fossil fuels.

Automakers Look to Hedge Against China’s Rare Earth Dominance – by Elisabeth Behrmann (Bloomberg News – September 22, 2021)

September 27, 2021

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — European automakers are in discussions with Australian rare earths explorer Arafura Resources Ltd. about sourcing elements that help power electric cars from outside China, which dominates global supply.

The miner is developing the A$1 billion ($728 million) Nolans project in Australia’s Northern Territory that will cover as much as 10% of global demand for the type of rare earths used in permanent magnets for electric motors.

The Energy Future Needs Cleaner Batteries – by Drake Bennett (Bloomberg News – September 23, 2021)

September 24, 2021

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Late in August, at a precisely specified point in the low Arctic, a geologist named Dave Freedman stood in a raw wind and a limitless expanse of tundra and began to thwack with a sledgehammer at a rock outcrop jutting up from the soil.

Freedman, 29, works for a company called KoBold Metals, and the process that had brought him to this pair of GPS coordinates in Quebec’s far north was complex. But the rock had had its own journey.

Tech industry braces for skyrocketing rare earth prices – by Cheng Ting-Fang and Lauly Li (Nikkei Asia – September 14, 2021)

September 14, 2021

https://asia.nikkei.com/

TAIPEI — Electronic hardware manufacturers are sweating as prices for rare-earth metals surge amid soaring demand and simmering tensions between the U.S. and China, the world’s most important source of these vital materials.

For Max Hsiao, senior manager of an audio component maker based in Dongguan, China, the squeeze is coming from a magnetic alloy known as praseodymium neodymium. The price of the metal, which Hsiao’s company uses to assemble speakers for Amazon and laptop maker Lenovo, has doubled since June last year to around 760,000 yuan ($117,300) a ton this August.

The ‘infrastructure deal’ America must make with itself – by Ivan Sascha Sheehan (The Hill – August 27, 2021)

September 13, 2021

https://thehill.com/

As part of President Biden’s ambitious plan for the U.S. to effectively address climate change, for the country to transition to net-zero emissions by 2050 there has been a whole-of-government push to incorporate more and more renewable generation into the national grid.

In addition, newly-released details of the bipartisan Senate infrastructure deal “opens the gateway,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) contended in his review, to a near-term reconciliation package that will “accomplish much more on climate.”

Congo reviews Chinese mine contracts after President Felix Tshisekedi pushes back against deals favouring foreign firms – by Jevans Nyabiage (South China Morning Post – August 29, 2021)

September 7, 2021

https://www.scmp.com/

The world depends on the Democratic Republic of Congo for its cobalt to electrify vehicles. But the DRC, which supplies more than 60 per cent of the world’s reserves of cobalt ore, believes it may be getting short-changed by foreign mining companies – and is investigating whether unfair foreign mining contracts were signed during the previous administration.

The Congolese government early this week formed a commission to inevestigate the reserves at the Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) copper and cobalt project, which is majority-owned by China Molybdenum Co.

Liberals planning green economy measures, with focus on jobs – by Mark Rendell and Adam Radwanski (Globe and Mail – September 2, 2021)

September 7, 2021

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Liberals are putting a distinctly green lens on their plans for job creation and economic growth, with promises to accelerate the transition toward a low-carbon economy if the party forms government after the Sept. 20 election.

The party platform, published Wednesday, promises a range of new green economy measures, including a 30-per-cent tax credit for clean technology investments and $2-billion to retrain oil and gas workers. It also pledges new strategies for clean-energy home renovations, aimed at kickstarting a “vibrant retrofit economy.”