Latin America Mining – Page 16

First Quantum at loggerheads with Panama over tax regime for 2026 and beyond – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – January 10, 2023)

January 10, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and the government of Panama are at loggerheads over hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties the Canadian copper miner is expected to pay from 2026 onward, with the two sides unable to agree on the treatment of tax credits.

Panama and First Quantum have been in talks for more than a year, trying to hammer out a new pact on royalties on Cobre Panama, a giant copper mine 120 kilometres west of Panama City. Talks broke down last month with no agreement in place, and Panama’s President ordered Cobre Panama to shut down amid the spat.

Peru’s mining south, rocked by violence, braces for ‘endless battle’ – by Marco Aquino (Reuters – January 10, 2023)

January 10, 2023

https://www.reuters.com/

LIMA, Jan 10 (Reuters) – In Peru’s south, a mining region that has been roiled by deadly protests over the ouster of former leftist President Pedro Castillo, protest leaders say they are ready for an “endless battle” against the government, threatening to destabilize the deeply divided Andean nation.

Seventeen protesters were killed on Monday in the southern province of Puno in the worst day of violence since Castillo’s Dec. 7 dramatic removal, which has seen a total of 39 people killed in protests and seven more in related accidents.

First Quantum receives final contract for disputed mine, Panama says – by Chris Hannay (Globe and Mail – January 3, 2023)

January 3, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Panama’s government says it has presented a final contract to Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals Ltd. as part of negotiations to resolve a tax dispute that threatens to shut down the Cobre Panama mine.

Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo made the announcement Monday as part of a speech to the country’s national assembly, just a week after the government and company had returned to the negotiating table.

Panama Tells First Quantum to Halt Flagship Mine After Talks Fail; Shares Sink – by Elida Moreno and Kylie Madry (U.S. News/Reuters – December 15, 2022)

December 16, 2022

https://money.usnews.com/

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) -Panama’s government ordered Canada’s First Quantum Minerals on Thursday to pause operations at its flagship copper mine in the country after missing a deadline to finalize a deal that would have increased payments to the government from the mine.

The government had given Minera Panama, which is majority-owned by First Quantum Minerals, until Wednesday to sign an agreement reached in January to pay $375 million a year to the government from its Cobre Panama mine.

Canadian gold miner Belo Sun accused of misleading investors – by Marisa Coulton (Financial Post – December 14, 2022)

December 15, 2022

https://financialpost.com/

Environmental advocate: ‘No investor should even think of touching this company’

A Canadian gold miner has found itself under attack by a powerful environmental group seeking to starve it of investment dollars in an attempt to block it from building what would be the largest open pit mine in Brazil.

Toronto-based Belo Sun Mining Corp. found a rich gold deposit about 1,000 kilometres northwest of the Brazilian capital of Brasília in 2015, and now plans to build an open pit mine in the Brazilian rainforest near a bend in the Xingu River, one of the largest clearwater rivers in the Amazon basin.

Indigenous nations in the Amazon urge Canada to strengthen mining rules – by Matteo Cimellaro (National Observer – December 15, 2022)

December 15, 2022

https://www.nationalobserver.com/

With 17 per cent of its forest already lost, the Amazon is near a tipping point. If that reaches 20 to 25 per cent, scientists say there will be irreversible changes. Uyunkar Domingo Peas Nampichkai, a leader from the Achuar Nation of the Ecuadorian Amazon, put it simply at a news conference Wednesday: the Amazon is in a “deep crisis.”

As delegates from around the world gather at the United Nations’ COP15 biodiversity conference in Montreal, Indigenous Peoples in the Global South are calling out Canada for letting mining companies devastate their ancestral territories in the Amazon. It’s a central issue for protecting nature because 80 per cent of biodiversity is on Indigenous lands, according to the UN.

No More Open-Pit Mining Permits: Ministry of Environment – by Paloma Duran (Mexico Business – December 7, 2022)

December 8, 2022

https://mexicobusiness.news/

Mexican authorities announced that no more permits for new open-pit mining projects will be issued during López Obrador’s remaining government term, set to end in September 2024. Experts stressed that the ban on new permits poses a threat to investments and developing mining companies.

Mexico’s Minister of the Environment, María Luisa Albores, stressed that no more concessions will be granted for open-pit mining projects due to the negative impact on the environment and the adverse effects on the health of communities living nearby.

Colombia to create national mining company, 2022 royalties soar -gov’t – by Oliver Griffin (Reuters – December 7, 2022)

December 8, 2022

https://www.reuters.com/

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia is preparing to launch a national mining company, the president of the government’s National Mining Association (ANM) said on Wednesday, adding that coal mining royalties during the year had more than doubled.

The government of President Gustavo Petro has pledged to reform the mining sector, ruling out more licenses for large-scale open-pit coal mines as it focuses on minerals that are important for the energy transition, such as copper.

Lithium-Rich Argentina Presses US for Exception to Tap EV Tax Bonanza – by James Fernyhough, Yvonne Yue Li, Patrick Gillespie and Joe Deaux (Bloomberg News – December 2, 2022)

December 6, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The world’s fastest-growing lithium producer is lobbying hard to gain access to President Joe Biden’s new electric vehicle tax credits, despite Argentina not meeting the requirement of being a US free-trade partner. So far, it’s being rebuffed.

Designed to end China’s overwhelming dominance of the critical metals sector and passed in August, Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act has been welcomed as a landmark climate law that will boost EV manufacture and uptake in the US. But to qualify for the credits, it requires 80% of the battery metals in each vehicle to be “extracted or processed” in the US or a country with US free-trade agreement by 2027.

Chinese Carmaker BYD Eyes Chilean Lithium Deals in Search for EV Fuel – by James Attwood, Yvonne Yue Li and Danny Lee (Bloomberg News – December 6, 2022)

December 6, 2022December 6, 2022

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Chinese electric-car juggernaut BYD Co. is looking to get into the lithium business in Latin America and Africa after prices of the key battery component surged to “unreasonable” and “not healthy” levels.

BYD is scouring the world for lithium supplies, Executive Vice President Stella Li said in an interview Tuesday. In Chile, it’s in talks to enter into a mining project and is applying for permits to process the raw material into cathode for batteries. The automaker is also looking to invest in African lithium projects, although it’s detected infrastructure shortfalls there.

SolGold CEO leaves after less than a year in the top job – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – November 10, 2022)

November 10, 2022

https://www.mining.com/

Ecuador-focused SolGold (LON, TSX: SOLG) said on Thursday its chief executive and managing director, Darryl Cuzzubbo, had left the company effective immediately, after less than a year in the top job.

The former BHP executive’s departure comes just two days after the company unveiled a $50 million royalty financing deal to advance its giant Cascabel copper-gold project in Ecuador.

For Latin America, Will Booming Lithium Bring Competition—or Collaboration? – by David Feliba (Americas Quarterly – November 2, 2022)

November 3, 2022

Americas Quarterly

Increasing global demand for the mineral could benefit countries with the world’s largest reserves.

BUENOS AIRES – Nearly 55% of the world’s lithium deposits lie in Latin America’s lithium triangle, the swath of territory encompassing Chile’s and Argentina’s northern regions and Bolivia’s southwest.

But as hopes of a windfall from increased electric vehicle production rise, anxieties are rising too over which country will come out on top—or whether cooperation between the three can help secure more advantageous deals.

Brazilian president-elect Lula vows greener mining – by Bruno Venditti (Mining.com – October 30, 2022)

October 31, 2022

https://www.mining.com/

A new Brazilian government under president-elected Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva could mean more environmental responsibility, according to a group representing the mining cities of the country. Leftist former Brazilian President Lula was elected this Sunday for a third presidential term, winning over far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.

“In the last four years, there has been a reduction in environmental protection. The Amazon today is no man’s land,” said Waldir Salvador, institutional relations consultant at the Associacao dos Municipios Mineradores do Brasil, which represents 70% of the country’s mineral production.

Latin America Is Becoming China’s Backyard – by Juan Cortinas and Peter Schechter (Brink News – October 2022)

October 31, 2022

https://www.brinknews.com/

Growing economic needs, Chinese ambition, and hard cash are giving China a stronger and stronger foothold in Latin America. The underlying reasons for China’s success include China’s domestic demand for Latin American agriculture and mining and raw materials, and the U.S.’s inability to take a concerted interest in the region, along with the political turmoil in Washington.

The old idea, enshrined in the Monroe Doctrine, that Latin America is “America’s backyard,” over which it could dominate, has been relegated to the dustbin of history.

The Monroe Doctrine Has Been Replaced

It is hard not to be impressed by the extent of China’s growing economic footprint in the region.

Canadian firm Iamgold sells mining interests in Suriname (Jamaica-Gleaner – October 19, 2022)

October 19, 2022

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/

IAMGOLD Corporation of Canada announced on Tuesday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its 95 per cent stake in the Rosebel mines in Suriname to Zijin Mining Group Company Limited of China.

In a statement, IAMGOLD, which also operates mines in Burkina Faso and Canada, said sale is for a cash consideration of US$360 million and includes the release of IAMGOLD’s equipment lease liabilities in Rosebel Gold Mines NV amounting to approximately US$41 million.