International Media Resource Articles – Page 8

Proposed bill would bar state permitting of copper-nickel mines near Boundary Waters – by Jimmy Lovrien (Duluth News Tribune – February 13, 2025)

February 14, 2025

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Past federal protections against mining in the BWCAW watershed face challenges.

ST. PAUL — Minnesota legislators have introduced a bill to bar copper-nickel mines from developing within the same watershed as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The bill seeks to ban mining on state-owned land within the Rainy River Watershed and bar the state from permitting any mining or mineral exploration in that watershed.

Mining is banned in the BWCAW, but environmentalists fear, and a federal government study released under President Joe Biden said, that tainted runoff from mining activities outside the wilderness’ boundaries but within the same watershed could harm the downstream wilderness area.

[Critical Minerals] Ukraine’s Best Hope for Creating Lasting Security – by Oleksandr Kubrakov (Time Magazine – February 13, 2025)

February 14, 2025

https://time.com/

U.S. access to Ukraine’s vast and largely untapped rare earths and other critical minerals in exchange for a “security shield” is the latest twist in the potential peace plan for the war in Ukraine. And it is picking up steam with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Kyiv and President Donald Trump stunning Europe by revealing he has already begun talks with Vladimir Putin.

But while U.S. investment in this underdeveloped sector would be an important positive development for both Ukraine’s economy and immediate security, it’s only one element in an absent economic strategy that Ukraine needs to create a lasting security guarantee from future Russian aggression.

Trump’s order to end minting of pennies will save taxpayers millions without much impact on Arizona copper mines – by Matthew DeWees (Cronkite News/AZPM.org – February 13, 2025)

February 14, 2025

https://news.azpm.org/

The cost of producing a penny has far exceeded the value of each coin for the past 19 years.

Most copper mined in the U.S. comes from Arizona. But President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement that he will halt production of pennies won’t make a dent in the state’s mining industry. The U.S. Mint produced 3.2 billion pennies last year. But since 1982, nearly all of the metal used has been zinc.

So the copper industry can shrug off Trump’s move, which economists have long called a no-brainer because each penny costs more to make than it’s worth – 3.69 cents as of last year – and most end up in jars, piggy banks, and sofa cushions.

Exclusive: China’s BYD holds mining rights in Brazil’s Lithium Valley, documents show – by Fabio Teixeira (Reuters – February 14, 2025)

February 14, 2025

https://www.reuters.com/

RIO DE JANEIRO-Chinese electric carmaker BYD acquired mineral rights for two plots of land in a lithium-rich part of Brazil in 2023, entering the mining business in its biggest market outside of China, according to public records reviewed by Reuters.

The EV producer’s acquisition of mineral rights in Brazil is its most concrete step so far toward mining strategic minerals in the Western Hemisphere. The previously unreported acquisition of the mineral rights in late 2023 was made by BYD subsidiary Exploracao Mineral do Brasil, which was created in May of that year, documents showed.

US Should Stop Closure of Coal-Fired Power Plants, Wright Says – by Ari Natter (Bloomberg News – February 11, 2025)

February 13, 2025

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The US should stop the closure of coal-fired power plants, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said, adding the fuel source would be essential to the nation’s power system for decades to come.

“We are on a path to continually shrink the electricity we generate from coal,” Wright said Tuesday on Bloomberg Television. “That has made electricity more expensive and our grid less stable.” Wright’s remarks come as demand for electricity is surging to feed power-thirsty data centers needed for artificial intelligence, new factories and the overall electrification of the economy.

A Reminder on Valentine’s Day: That Diamond Might Not Be Conflict-Free – by Alex Cuadros (New York Times – February 13, 2025)

February 13, 2025

https://www.nytimes.com/

In the lead-up to Valentine’s Day, people across the world rush to buy diamond engagement rings. By now most will know that in the past, many diamonds were mined in African war zones where rebel groups used the proceeds to fund their violent insurgencies. To assuage any guilt that may taint the romantic gesture, the diamond industry tells us that today, 99 percent of diamonds are now “conflict-free.”

It’s true there has been progress. A generation ago, as much as 15 percent of global diamond production was believed to be linked to conflict. But in 2003, thanks to public pressure and awareness campaigns by organizations like Global Witness, a certificate system known as the Kimberley Process was born.

Congo-Kinshasa: Why Conflict Mineral Narratives Don’t Explain the M23 Rebellion in DR Congo – by Judith Verweijen and Christoph Vogel (All Africa – February 2025)

February 13, 2025

https://allafrica.com/

Utrecht and Dakar — “Most reporting on the conflict is using questionable framings, suggesting it is purely driven by a desire to plunder the region’s rich mineral resources.” The capture of North Kivu’s provincial capital, Goma, by the M23 armed group last month has multiplied international coverage of the forgotten crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Yet most reporting on the conflict is using mistaken framings, suggesting it is purely driven by a desire to plunder the region’s rich mineral resources.

The conflict minerals narrative contains several tropes: Proponents claim that the M23 and its Rwandan allies launched the insurgency to loot large quantities of minerals from neighbouring DRC; that Western electronics or tech corporations buy violently exploited minerals and thus become complicit in the conflict; and that the war is driven by competition for so-called critical minerals required by the energy transition.

Uranium ban repeal in Greenland could revive massive rare earth project, licence holder says – by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen (Reuters – February 11, 2025)

February 13, 2025

https://www.reuters.com/

NUUK, Greenland – The mining company that owns the licence to Greenland’s Kvanefjeld deposit is hopeful that a new government will repeal a ban on uranium mining after next month’s election, potentially rejuvenating one of the world’s largest rare earth projects.

U.S President Donald Trump last month voiced renewed interest in acquiring the strategically important Arctic island. In response to Trump’s comments, CEO Daniel Mamadou of Kvanefjeld licence holder Energy Transition Minerals said: “I think it certainly puts everything related to minerals back on the map.”

Trump Orders Treasury Secretary to Stop Minting Pennies – by Yan Zhuang and Erica L. Green (New York Times – February 10, 2025)

February 10, 2025

https://www.nytimes.com/

Can he do that? It’s not clear. But President Trump is right when he says that pennies “literally cost us more than 2 cents.”

Since taking office, President Trump has set his sights on big targets, like Greenland. But he has also taken aim at small ones, like paper straws. And pennies. On Sunday night, Mr. Trump said he had ordered the Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, to stop producing new pennies, a move that he said would help reduce unnecessary government spending.

“Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” he said in a post on Truth Social, adding that pennies “literally cost us more than 2 cents.” It is unclear whether Mr. Trump has the power to do this. It is Congress, not the Treasury or the Federal Reserve, that authorizes the manufacture of the nation’s coins, according to the U.S. Mint.

‘Unclear’ US Diamond Rules Signal Move to Traceability – by Joshua Freedman (Rapaport Magazine – February 4, 2025)

February 10, 2025

New Home

New requirements to state “country of mining” leave a lot of unanswered questions.

The diamond industry was in mild shock when news came through of the latest US import requirements. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it would be obliging companies to state the “country of mining” when importing diamonds from April 2025. This puts a burden on the trade to step up its traceability efforts.

The new rules emerged quietly in stages. On October 22, 2024, CBP gave 60 days’ notice about the plan and requested comments by December 23. Few in the industry even saw this. Then the federal agency published a Trade User Information Notice, labeled “Last updated: January 14, 2025.” It distributed this in a bulletin on January 23. Shipping company Malca-Amit sent a letter to customers about the update around a week ago. It seems that it was this letter that got the trade’s attention.

Nickel Industries CEO Justin Werner warns of ‘challenging’ future for Australian mining – by Duncan Evans (News.com.au – February 9, 2025)

February 10, 2025

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

The man behind a booming mining company in Indonesia has issued a stark warning about 10,000 Aussie jobs.

The shock collapse of Australia’s nickel mining sector has threatened 10,000 high-paying jobs as a leading ASX-listed nickel miner warns bluntly those jobs are probably never coming back. That’s the view of Nickel Industries managing director Justin Werner, who leads the rising $3.3bn company with vast mining and refining operations in Indonesia.

“It is certainly challenging (for Australia) in the foreseeable future,” he told NewsWire from his home in Bali in a wide-ranging interview this week. “Even if the nickel price goes up, it’s about having a sustained nickel price above $20,000 (per tonne).

Ukraine reels in Trump with mineral riches – by Zoya Sheftalovich, Veronika Melkozerova and Jamie Dettmer (Politico Europe – February 4, 2025)

February 10, 2025

https://www.politico.eu/

The U.S. president’s relentless pursuit of raw materials is storing up trouble for Greenland, but could well be good news for Ukraine.

After years of arguing its democracy is worth fighting for, Ukraine quickly calculated Donald Trump was likelier to think the country is worth saving because of its abundant mineral wealth.

To win over a United States president who wants to claim Greenland for its vast reserves of raw materials and strategic position in the Arctic, Kyiv has for months been stressing that its rich deposits of everything from titanium to graphite could help Trump beat China in the global race for resources.

Australia close to breaking China’s critical mineral stranglehold – by Simon Johanson (Sydney Morning Post – February 9, 2025)

February 10, 2025

https://www.smh.com.au/

Australian firms are edging closer to breaking China’s production stranglehold on the rare minerals used in the world’s critical defence systems, electric vehicles and clean energy transition.

Companies like Iluka Resources, Lynas Rare Earths, and several lithium miners are already refining, or close to producing, the minerals needed for the batteries, electric circuitry and high-strength magnets that underpin the globe’s green energy transition.

Shhh… I Sort of Regret Not Buying a Lab-Grown Engagement Ring – by Lilah Ramzi (Vogue Magazine – February 7, 2025)

February 10, 2025

https://www.vogue.com/

Like a thunderclap followed by a jag of lightning—that’s how suddenly the desire to be engaged, and to receive the requisite sparkling diamond, struck me. From that moment, my husband and I became jewelry-obsessed. While he plunged headfirst into the labyrinth of 4Cs and the Diamond District, I agonized over every design detail—right down to the precise curvature of the prongs that would cradle my diamond.

Yet, for all our meticulous deliberations, one possibility never crossed our minds: a lab-grown diamond. We were traditionalists, and tradition dictated a mined stone. (Plus, if I’m really being honest, we were a little snooty about it.)

Philippine lawmakers to approve bill to ban ore exports – by Cliff Venzon and Neil Jerome Morales (Bloomberg News – February 6, 2025)

February 7, 2025

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The Philippine Congress could ratify a bill banning raw mineral exports as soon as June, the Senate leader said on Thursday, a plan that investors warn could lead to mine closures.

Congress is on a break after this week and sessions resume in June, but Senate President Francis Escudero hopes there would be a bicameral committee meeting with members from both the Senate and the House of Representatives to tackle the bill. “I’m hoping it will be done during the break so we can ratify it when sessions resume,” Escudero said in a briefing.