Twitter

Latin America Mining

Millennial mining heirs bet the family business on Argentine copper – by Jacob Lornic (Bloomberg News – October 25, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

When he was 16, Adam Lundin was lowered by helicopter into the remote wilderness of northern Canada. For the son of a wealthy mining mogul, this was something of an initiation. He spent the summer hunting for gold — shadowing grizzled prospectors and geologists, bushwhacking through the Boréal forest.

He even dug holes for where the outhouses would go. “I just wanted to be kept busy,” he said. Adam, 37, is now the chairman of Lundin Mining Corp., a publicly traded Canadian metals producer. His younger brother, Jack, 34, is the company’s chief executive officer.

Read more

Teck cuts copper forecast again as it encounters more problems at anchor QB2 mine in Chile – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – October 25, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Teck Resources Ltd. has cut its full-year copper forecast yet again owing to setbacks at multiple mines, including at its giant QB2 copper operation in Chile. Vancouver-based Teck said on Thursday that its 2024 copper production will be between 420,000 tonnes and 455,000 tonnes, about 6.5 per cent lower than predicted.

The downgrade was driven in part by issues with its haul trucks at its Highland Valley mine in British Columbia, including labour availability and problems with its autonomous system. Teck also cut its guidance for the QB2 mine in Chile, reducing its forecast by 6 per cent to roughly 205,000 tonnes.

Read more

Liability trial for BHP in Samarco dam collapse begins in London – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – October 21, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

BHP (ASX, NYSE: BHP) faces a potential $47 billion payout in damages over the 2015 Mariana Dam disaster in Brazil, believed to be country’s most catastrophic environmental incident, as a lawsuit against the miner kicked off on Monday in London’s High Court.

The trial, expected to last up to 12 weeks, will determine whether BHP is legally responsible for the collapse of the Fundão tailings dam in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The structure failure caused a massive flood that claimed 19 lives, destroyed villages and severely polluted water sources for local communities. The dam was owned by Samarco, a joint venture between BHP and Brazilian mining giant Vale.

Read more

Canadian miner Hudbay settles long-standing lawsuits alleging human rights abuses in Guatemala – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – September 8, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Hudbay Minerals Inc. HBM-T has settled a long-standing series of lawsuits in an Ontario court that centred around alleged human-rights abuses at a Guatemalan nickel mine more than a decade ago.

The allegations heard in the Ontario Superior Court are based on clashes between Indigenous Mayan protesters and security personnel at the Fenix nickel mine in eastern Guatemala in 2007 and 2009.

Read more

Indigenous women from Ecuador bring concerns on mining abuses, free trade to Parliament Hill – by Brett Forester (CBC News Indigenous – October 02, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/

Delegation to meet with federal leaders in Ottawa amid talks on proposed free trade deal

Indigenous women from Ecuador are in Ottawa this week raising concerns a proposed free trade agreement could enable human rights abuses by Canadian mining companies operating on their ancestral lands.

The delegation travelled thousands of kilometres from the rural reaches of the Ecuadorian Amazon to Canada’s capital city, bringing what they say is an urgent message of grave concern to the doorstep of Parliament Hill.

Read more

Argentina’s Economic Crisis Thwarts Bid to Go Nuclear With Lithium Bounty – by Jonathan Gilbert (Bloomberg News – September 17, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Nuclear scientists eager to add value to Argentina’s lithium bounty are being stymied by the country’s notorious economic problems.

For decades, the nation’s world-renowned atomic researchers have toiled on projects in Buenos Aires and Bariloche in Patagonia. Now, with Argentina emerging as the fastest-growing producer of lithium needed for the global shift to electric energy, they’re working on innovations to convert the battery metal into something scarcer than gold: lithium-6 isotopes that have key nuclear applications.

Read more

Vale Aims to Boost Iron Ore Output Despite Weakening Prices – by Vanessa Dezem (Bloomberg News – September 11, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Vale SA said it will produce more iron ore this year than previously expected, even with prices trading near two-year lows as China’s steel slowdown weighs on the global market.

The world’s No. 2 iron ore supplier said in a Wednesday presentation to investors that it expects to produce 323 million to 330 million metric tons of the steelmaking ingredient this year, compared with a prior forecast of 310 million to 320 million tons.

Read more

CHART: Codelco’s QB stake may not be enough to stop BHP taking copper crown – by Frik Els (Mining.com – September 4, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Chile’s state-run miner Codelco on Tuesday made a $500 million offer to buy a 10% stake in the Quebrada Blanca copper mine, controlled by Canada’s Teck Resources, from Enami, another Chilean state miner.

Quebrada Blanca’s expansion – QB2 – is ramping up with a target set by Teck of 285,000 – 315,000 tonnes of annual production by 2026. QB2 reached production of 51,300 tonnes in the second quarter this year, up more than 18% from Q1.

Read more

Who Is Behind the Murder of a Powerful Colombian Emerald Dealer? – by Helen Murphy (Insight Crime – August 23, 2024)

https://insightcrime.org/

Colombia’s emerald trade, renowned for the exceptional quality of its gems as well as its relentless violence, has suffered another blow to its reputation with the professional assassination of a top dealer. The killing has sparked speculation over which criminal powers beyond the jewel business could be at work, and what they may gain from the hit.

Juan Sebastian Aguilar, 58, was shot in the chest by a proficient sniper who reportedly spent days lying in wait in the mountains above his target’s upscale home in northern Bogotá. The marksman, according to media reports, escaped on horseback into the lush mountains behind the housing complex, ending an almost cinematic killing. His exit also complicated police efforts to track his movements.

Read more

SQM profit down 63%, anticipates continued weak lithium prices – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – August 21, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Chile’s SQM (NYSE: SQM), the world’s second-biggest lithium producer, reported a sharp 63.2% decline in quarterly profit on the back of slumping prices of the key metal used in the batteries that power electric vehicles and high tech devices.

The company, which also manufactures fertilizers and industrial chemicals, said it expects the downward trend in lithium prices to continue for the rest of the year. SQM’s second-quarter net profit came in at $213.6 million, or 75 cents per share, falling short of analysts’ prediction of $296.7 million, or 95 cents per share, according to LSEG data.

Read more

A trip to El Teniente, the largest underground copper mine in the world – by María Victoria Agouborde (English El Pais – August 16, 2024)

https://english.elpais.com/

The red metal deposit located in the Chilean region of O’Higgins, which is controlled by the state copper company Codelco, is moving towards green mining: it reuses tires and uses 100% electric buses

Just over 30 miles east of the city of Rancagua, in the O’Higgins Region in central Chile, after traveling a zigzagging road with the semi-white hills of the Andes mountain range as a backdrop, you reach El Teniente, the largest underground copper deposit on the planet. The mine, which has 2,800 miles of underground tunnels, is controlled by the state copper company Codelco, the largest copper supplier in the world.

From the surface, with wind blowing relentlessly, it is difficult to imagine the bustling world under the 2,200-meter-high hill, which began to be mined in 1905. From El Teniente, around 350,000 fine metric tons (ft) of copper are mined each year: it is the Codelco division that provides the largest contribution of the red metal.

Read more

China’s Lithium Expansionist Interests Extend Beyond the Argentina-Bolivia-Chile Triangle – by Maria Zuppello (Dialogo Americas – August 12, 2024)

New Home Page

In a recent report, China in Peru: The Hidden Costs of an Unequal Relationship, the United States Institute of Peace denounces the harm of Chinese expansion in Peru, particularly in the mining sector.

“The combination of a permissive political and legal environment in Peru, the poor social responsibility of Chinese companies and banks, and the absence of real control — in China or in Peru — of Chinese actors’ activities have devastating consequences,” writes the report’s author, Juan Pablo Cardenal, a research associate at the Argentina-based Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL), whose writings focus on content about China.

Read more

BHP, Lundin grab Filo in $3bn South American copper deal – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 30, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Mining giant BHP (ASX, NYSE: BHP) and Canada’s Lundin Mining (TSX: LUN) have teamed up to acquire South America-focused Filo Corp. (TSX: FIL), in a $3 billion (C$4.1bn) deal that hands them key copper assets in Chile and Argentina.

BHP and Lundin are forming a 50/50 joint venture that will have full ownership of the Filo del Sol prospect, which is located near the copper-rich Atacama Desert, straddling the border between Argentina and Chile. The partners will also own the large-scale Josemaría copper-gold-silver project, in the San Juan Province of Argentina, about 9 km east of the border with Chile.

Read more

Women blast through gender barriers in Colombia’s emerald mines, but struggle to emerge from poverty – by Astrid Suarez (Associated Press – March 14, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

COSCUEZ, Colombia (AP) — Deep inside mountain tunnels where the heat is so intense it causes headaches, women with power tools are chipping away at boulders in search of gems. They have opened a difficult path for themselves in Colombia’s emerald industry, a sector long dominated by men.

The lack of job opportunities, combined with the hope of a find that will make them rich, has pushed the women into mining. Colombian emeralds are known around the world for their quality and the best can be sold for thousands of dollars, though most people in the industry aren’t wealthy.

Read more

Chile copper, lithium mines rattled by 7.4-magnitude quake – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 19, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit northern Chile on Thursday night, 45 km outside San Pedro de Atacama, where the majority of the country’s vast copper and lithium mines are located.

The main quake hit at 9:50 p.m. local time, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and has been followed by at least five aftershocks ranging from 4.2 to 5 magnitude. The seismic activity shook homes and led to power outages, but there have been no immediate reports of injuries or major damage.

Read more