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International Media Resource Articles

Coloured gemstones: Historic emerald mine returns to life – by Arthur Tassell (Mining Review – September 20, 2024)

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The Gravelotte emerald mine, which was in operation from 1929 to 2002 and was reportedly the world’s biggest emerald mine in its heyday, is once again in production, albeit initially on a very small scale. The company behind the revival of the mine is LSE-listed junior GEM Resources (previously URA Holdings). ARTHUR TASSELL recently spoke to its CEO, DR BERNARD OLIVIER, to learn more about the operation, which is South Africa’s only producing emerald mine.

The mine is located near the town of Gravelotte in Limpopo Province, approximately 50 km west of Phalaborwa and close to the well-known Consolidated Murchison antimony/gold mine. The emeralds are primarily found in biotite schist, which is part of the Gravelotte formation.

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Death Threats and Detained Pop Stars: Inside Serbia’s Lithium Battle – by Kate Aronoff (The New Republic – September 19, 2024)

https://newrepublic.com/

The mining giant Rio Tinto is moving ahead with a novel form of lithium extraction in Serbia’s Jadar Valley. Powerful governments want to see it succeed. But critics say it could contaminate drinking water for a third of the population.

On her way to sing at a birthday party last month, Croatian pop star Severina Vučković was stopped and questioned about her political views by Serbian authorities. Around the same time, Aleksandar Matković started receiving death threats on Telegram.

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A gold mining town in Congo has become an mpox hot spot as a new strain spreads – by Sam Mednick (Associated Press – September 19, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

KAMITUGA, Congo (AP) — Slumped on the ground over a mound of dirt, Divine Wisoba pulled weeds from her daughter’s grave. The 1-month-old died from mpox in eastern Congo in August, but Wisoba, 21, was too traumatized to attend the funeral.

In her first visit to the cemetery, she wept into her shirt for the child she lost and worried about the rest of her family. “When she was born, it was as if God had answered our prayers — we wanted a girl,” Wisoba said of little Maombi Katengey. “But our biggest joy was transformed into devastation.”

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Nickel market no longer afraid of losing Russian supply – by Andy Home (Reuters – September 17, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

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.

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Deep in the nation’s only nickel mine, industry fights to green its image – by Hannah Northey (E&E News – September 16, 2024)

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Biden officials point to the Eagle mine as proof that mining critical minerals in the U.S. can gain public support while avoiding pollution and trampling Indigenous rights. Not everyone is convinced.

MICHIGAMME TOWNSHIP, Michigan — In the sun-drenched forests of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula stands the black, gaping mouth of the nation’s only operating nickel mine.

Hundreds of feet below in the darkness, heavy machinery blasts, scrapes and prepares to haul up to the surface rock rich with tiny flecks of high-grade nickel and copper formed more than 1 billion years ago.

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South African company Sibaneye-Stillwater eyes New Caledonia nickel mining plant – by Patrick Decloitre (Radio New Zealand – September 17, 2024)

https://www.rnz.co.nz/

A South African company is reported to be the most probable bidder for shares in New Caledonia’s Prony Resources. As part of an already advanced takeover of the ailing southern plant of Prony Resources, the most probable bidder is reported to be South African group Sibaneye-Stillwater, local media reported on Monday.

Just like the other two major mining plants and smelters in New Caledonia, Prony Resources is facing acute hardships due to the emergence of Indonesia as a major player on the world market, compounded with New Caledonia’s violent unrest that broke out in May.

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US locks in steep China tariff hikes, some industries warn of disruptions – by David Lawder (Reuters – September 13, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

Sept 13 (Reuters) – The Biden administration on Friday locked in steep tariff hikes on Chinese imports, including a 100% duty on electric vehicles, to boost protections for strategic industries from China’s state-driven industrial practices.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said that many of the tariffs, including a 100% duty on Chinese EVs, 50% on solar cells and 25% on steel, aluminum, EV batteries and key minerals, would take effect on Sept. 27.

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Approval of West Cumbria Mining coal mine ruled “unlawful” in court appeal – by Regan Slaymaker (Mining Technology – September 16, 2024)

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

Friends of the Earth and South Lakeland Action on Climate Change (SLACC) challenged the then Conservative Government’s approval in 2022.

London’s High Court ruled on Friday (13 September) that the 2022 approval of West Cumbria Mining’s deep coal mine was unlawful. The mine was set to become the UK’s first new deep coal mine in decades until Friends of the Earth and the SLACC challenged the then-Conservative Government’s approval in early 2023.

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Stillwater mine to cut production, lay off 700 workers as low metal prices drive losses – by Eric Dietrich (Montana Free Press – September 12, 2024)

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Sibanye Stillwater says it needs government support to compete with foreign producers that pay workers less and abide by looser environmental regulations.

Sibanye Stillwater, the South African company that operates the nation’s only major palladium mine in south-central Montana, said Thursday that it plans to lay off about 40% of its Montana workforce as it scales back its operation in an effort to offset losses caused by low metal prices.

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[Australia] Mirarr Traditional Owners criticise uranium miner ahead of final fight over Jabiluka – by David Prestipino (National Indigenous Times – September 16, 2024)

https://nit.com.au/

Mirarr Traditional Owners in the Northern Territory are disappointed at comments from Energy Resources Australia bosses they say undermine their cultural authority.

Criticism of the “disrespectful” comments in legal documents by ERA chief executive Brad Welsh and independent director Ken Wyatt comes as the company appeals the NT Government’s rejection in July of a 10-year-extension to its minerals licence over the uranium-rich land surrounded by Kakadu National Park.

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Hertz sparks antimony hunt in Québec as supply shortfall widens – by Angela East (Mining.com.au – September 16, 2024)

Australian Mining News

Vancouver-based Hertz Energy (CSE:HZ) is mobilising to the Harriman Project site in Canada this month to begin exploration for the under-supplied and increasingly sought after critical mineral, antimony.

The Harriman Project is an exploration-stage antimony project located about 17km northeast of the town of New Richmond in the Gaspé region of Québec. The region is known for its range of significant mineral deposits including Osisko Metals’ (TSX-V:OM) 495-million-tonne Gaspé Copper Project, one of the largest copper development projects in Eastern North America.

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Stop taking our mining good fortune for granted – by Editorial (Australian Financail Review – September 12, 2024)

https://www.afr.com/

There is a danger of not only bashing the mining industry, but in treating new minerals as the “next big thing”, while overlooking legacy conventional mining.

Mining has made all Australians prosperous, not just miners. Real wages have been considerably higher during the past 20 years than if there had been no resources export bonanza or mining investment boom.

Each surge of national income from mining booms has underpinned our housing and super wealth, and kept Australians near the top of global rankings of GDP per head, behind mostly rich European tax havens and Middle East oil sheikhdoms.

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A U.S. senator wants to ban Russian imports of minerals – by Amy Joi O’Donoghue (Utah Deseret News – September 15, 2024)

https://www.deseret.com/

Reliance on critical minerals is hurting the United States, senator says

A U.S. senator wants to ban the import of essential minerals from Russia such as platinum, palladium and copper with legislation introduced this week targeting eight critical minerals, including copper, zinc and palladium.

The bill by Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., was introduced after the announcement by Montana’s Stillwater Mine that it is laying off 700 employees.

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Arizona’s battle over crucial copper mine poised to sway US election – by Ernest Scheyder (Reuters – September 13, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

Sept 12 (Reuters) – Native American opposition to Rio Tinto and BHP’s Resolution Copper mine could prove crucial for the 2024 U.S. presidential vote in the battleground state of Arizona, underscoring the high tension over where best to extract critical minerals for the energy transition.

The mine would, if built, supply more than a quarter of America’s appetite for copper and be a key part of Washington’s efforts to eat into China’s role as the world’s largest copper processor and consumer.

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Indigenous Group Takes Fight Against Rio Tinto Arizona Copper Mine to US Supreme Court – by Ernest Scheyder (U.S. News/Reuters – September 11, 2024)

https://www.usnews.com/

Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit group comprised of Arizona’s San Carlos Apache tribe and conservationists, asked the court to overturn a March ruling from a sharply divided San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowing the federal government to swap acreage with the mining companies for their Resolution Copper project.

The appeal to the nine justices was delivered in person by a courier after the Apache held a ceremony of prayer and dancing on the court’s steps in Washington, the culmination of a months-long caravan from their Arizona reservation to the capital.

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