https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Lundin Mining Corp. is selling two aging European mines for up to US$1.52-billion to Swedish mining company Boliden AB as it improves its balance sheet and raises cash to fund its South American copper growth strategy.
Vancouver-based Lundin is set to receive US$1.37-billion in cash when the deal closes, with an additional US$150-million to come if copper and zinc prices trade above certain levels over the next couple of years.
Norway has paused its controversial plans to mine the seabed in Arctic-reaching territorial waters after the Socialist Left Party (SV), a small left-wing environmentalist group, secured an agreement to delay the initiative in exchange for supporting the national budget.
The government had intended to issue its first deep-sea mining exploration licenses in early 2025. Under pressure from the SV, preparatory work has been now slowed, with the government highlighting that it would continue work on environmental impact assessments and regulatory frameworks.
(Kitco News) – With 100 tons in gold purchases in 2024, the central bank of Poland has become the number one sovereign buyer of the yellow metal. But the country is not alone, as the Russia-Ukraine war has forced the Czechs, Serbs, and Hungarians to also bolster their reserves.
While the focus for much of the year was on China’s massive central bank gold purchases – and then on their move to the sidelines as prices hit record highs – the nations of Eastern Europe have quietly emerged as the biggest buyers of the precious metal, and the biggest back stoppers of the gold rally.
The European Union (EU) has called out the behavior of Kimberley Process (KP) chair Ahmed Bin Sulayem at the most recent plenary, as well as the meeting’s failure to address a long-standing concern.
The union was disappointed that the plenary, which took place from November 11 to 15, failed to address the implications of the Russian war against Ukraine on the global rough-diamond sector for the third year, it said Monday. The omission has a detrimental impact on the credibility of the KP and on the reputation of natural diamonds, undermining consumer confidence, the EU explained.
Russian State-funded private military company (PMC) Wagner Group is one of the greatest beneficiaries of illicit gold trading, a new report published by the World Gold Council (WGC) shows.
According to the report, penned by former UK Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, estimates suggest the PMC earned more than $2.5-billion from illicit gold mining since the invasion of Ukraine alone, which has been funnelled back into the Russian war machine.
Russia is temporarily limiting exports of enriched uranium to the US, creating potential supply risks to utilities operating American reactors that generate almost a fifth of the country’s electricity.
The Russian government didn’t provide details of the restrictions or their duration in a Friday statement on Telegram. Utilities tend to make purchases well in advance, so any impact is unlikely to be immediate.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/
The humble bird, which was employed until 1986, represents an important part of mining history
Never mind the gas—it was automation that got them in the end. Throughout much of the 20th century, chirping canaries were staples of the coal mining industry. As coal miners descended into the earth—entering a harsh environment often home to poisonous gases like carbon monoxide—they would bring the yellow birds along as safety mechanisms.
Because carbon monoxide is clear and odorless, miners needed a method for detecting a leak before it killed them. In the mine, a canary’s collapse let workers know there was poisonous gas in the air and gave them some warning time to evacuate.
Niger has called on Russian firms to directly invest in uranium and other natural resource production, following the collapse of relations with former colonial ruler France and the eviction of French nuclear giant Orano from the country
Niger’s recent diplomatic shift away from France towards Russia has marked a turning point in the nation’s resource management strategy, particularly concerning its abundant uranium reserves.
Following the military coup in July 2023, which resulted in the removal of President Mohamed Bazoum, Niger’s military junta has been taking increasingly bold steps to redefine its international partnerships, especially in the critical mining sector.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
George Christidis is the interim chief executive of the Canadian Nuclear Association. Heather Exner-Pirot is the director of Energy, Natural Resources, and Environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
Advocates of nuclear energy tout its environmental and economic benefits, but there are also compelling geopolitical reasons to pursue nuclear.
Energy security concerns have thrust nuclear forward as a critical solution for many countries traditionally dependent on, or integrated with, Russian nuclear energy and gas supplies. Their desire to disentangle their energy systems from Russia presents Canada the opportunity to use its nuclear expertise and supply chain to contribute to European energy security.
Geopolitical challenges, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, China-US competition, elections and the war in Israel, significantly impact the global supply chain, especially critical raw materials vital for traditional industries, defence, high-tech sectors, aerospace and green energy.
Democracies rely on essential critical raw materials such as nickel, lithium and aluminium. The market for critical minerals has doubled to over $320 billion in the last five years and is expected to double again in the next five.
Velta LLC unveiled a groundbreaking method for titanium production, marking a significant departure from the traditional Kroll method established in 1940.
Renowned for its exceptional tensile strength, lightweight nature, biocompatibility, and resistance to extreme temperatures, titanium is highly valued across various industries. Despite its advantages, the environmental toll and the lack of adaptability of traditional production methods have long been limitations. Ukraine boasts one of the world’s most abundant titanium reserves, critical to its economy but recently compromised by the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war.
“The war has had an extremely negative impact on Ukraine’s titanium industry. However, we’ve already invested more than $7 million and continue attracting investments, which are now at the stage of negotiations. We saw an opportunity to rethink how titanium is produced. The result is so innovative, it deserves to be an element of its own.” — Andriy Brodskyy, founder and CEO, Velta LLC
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s last coal-fired power plant is closing on Monday, ending 142 years of coal-generated electricity in the nation that sparked the Industrial Revolution.
The Ratcliffe-on-Soar station in central England is finishing its final shift at midnight after more than half a century of turning coal into power. The U.K. government hailed the closure as a milestone in efforts to generate all of Britain’s energy from renewable sources by 2030.
Rio Tinto is boosting efforts to win public support for its $2.4 billion Jadar lithium project in Serbia, which has been halted since 2022 because of stern opposition due to environmental concerns.
The world’s second largest miner has been pushing since to resume work on the project, expected to be Europe’s biggest mine of the battery metal. With projected production of 58,000 tonnes of refined battery-grade lithium carbonate per year, Jadar could supply enough lithium to power one million electric vehicles and meet 90% of Europe’s current lithium needs.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
A Russian-British mining executive has launched an attempt to build an international copper-mining portfolio with the purchase of a Turkish mine and will soon set his sights on Canada.
Earlier this month, Artem Volynets, the chairman and CEO of ACG Metals Ltd., which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, announced an investment of US$290-million in the Gediktepe mine in western Turkey. In an interview with The Globe and Mail, he said the purchase marked the first step of his “company’s vision to roll up the copper sector through a series of acquisitions.”
LONDON, Sept 17 (Reuters) – Russian president Vladimir Putin’s suggestion that Moscow should consider capping exports of nickel in retaliation for Western sanctions has been greeted with a collective shrug by the market.
The London Metal Exchange three-month price has managed a weak bounce through the $16,000-per metric ton level but the momentum is already fading. This is a far cry from February 2022, when Russia first invaded Ukraine. Fears that metal from Russian giant Norilsk Nickel might have sanctions imposed generated a monster rally in 2022 that morphed into a full-blown meltdown of the LME nickel market.
