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Latin America Mining

Colombian largest drug cartel extracting gold from protected area – governor – by Staff Writer (Mining.com – May 5, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

The governor of Colombia’s central-northern department of Santander, Juvenal Díaz, denounced the presence of members of the Gulf Clan, also known as the Gaitanista Army of Colombia (EGC), in the Santurbán moor.

The EGC is a neo-paramilitary group and likely the country’s largest drug cartel, which was created after the demobilization of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia. Their presence in Santander is meant to control illegal gold mining operations. According to Díaz – a retired army general turned politician –, the criminals are not only taking over the area but also polluting water sources.

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Ecuador court puts nail in $3bn copper project’s coffin – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – May 1, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Ecuador’s constitutional court has decided not to process appeals aimed at resuming activities at the disputed $3 billion Llurimagua copper-molybdenum project, in the country’s northern Imbabura province.

The 982-million-tonne copper asset, about 80 km northeast of Ecuador’s capital of Quito, was initially being advanced by the country’s national mining company, Enami EP, with the help of Chile’s Codelco.

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Tensions grow as China ramps up global mining for green tech (BBC.com – April 29, 2024)

https://www.bbc.com/

Earlier this year, Ai Qing was woken up in the middle of the night by angry chants outside her dormitory in northern Argentina. She peered out of the window to see Argentine workers surrounding the compound and blockading the entrance with flaming tyres.

“It was getting scary because I could see the sky being lit up by the fire. It had become a riot,” says Ms Ai, who works for a Chinese company extracting lithium from salt flats in the Andes mountains, for use in batteries.

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Panama election unlikely to shift outlook for First Quantum’s copper mine – by Valentine Hilaire and Elida Moreno (Reuters – April 18, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

April 18 (Reuters) – Prospects are poor for First Quantum Minerals to recover its canceled concession for a lucrative copper mine after presidential elections in May, a Reuters review of the campaigns’ proposals and interviews with protest leaders show.

Protests against First Quantum’s concession demanding greater environmental guarantees and transparency in negotiations made authorities not only annul its contract to operate one of the world’s largest and newest copper mines but ban all new metal mining permits last year.

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Rio Tinto to favour development over acquisition of copper mines — exec – by Editor (Mining.com – April 17, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) will prioritize developing new copper mines over acquiring new ones to achieve its goal of producing one million tonnes of the metal annually within the next five years, copper boss Bold Baatar has said.

Speaking at the CRU World Copper Conference in Chile, the executive noted that to boost production from the roughly 700,000 tonnes of copper it currently churns out, Rio is looking mainly at organic growth.

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Codelco Eyes Partnerships to Help Boost Ailing Copper Production – by James Attwood and Jack Farchy (Bloomberg News – April 15, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Codelco is exploring more partnerships with the private sector as Chile’s state copper behemoth looks to recover from a production slump and surging debt.

Chairman Maximo Pacheco expects “some conclusions” this year from teams negotiating an operational tie-up between its Andina mine and Anglo American Plc’s adjoining Los Bronces, he said Monday in an interview. Codelco already has an indirect stake in Los Bronces, shares ownership of the El Abra mine with Freeport-McMoRan Inc. and is negotiating with would-be lithium partners.

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How a US$10 billion mine became a cautionary tale for the energy transition – by Jacob Lorinc (Bloomberg News – April 16, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

When the group of mining executives arrived at Panama’s regal Palacio de las Garzas, they were ushered past the ornate, wood-paneled ceremonial rooms and straight to the private office of the president.

This was December 2016, before the upswell of anti-mining protests that would throw the country into chaos, and the team from First Quantum Minerals Ltd. were greeted as old friends. After all, they were building the country’s most important project since the Panama Canal had been opened a century earlier.

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Glencore-backed nickel miner fails to secure financing after rising costs – by Harry Dempsey (Financial Times – April 15, 2024)

https://www.ft.com/

Horizonte Minerals looking at sale of Brazilian nickel mine as investors fear Indonesia is flooding the market

Glencore-backed Horizonte Minerals has failed to secure financing to complete its nickel mine in Brazil following soaring costs and rising investor concern that Indonesia is flooding the market for the electric vehicle battery and steelmaking ingredient.

The London-listed group said in a statement on Monday that it was now exploring a sale, liquidation, or raising financing at the subsidiary level, following an 87 per cent increase in the estimated cost to build the Araguaia nickel mine, to more than $1bn.

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Vale walks away from exploration JV with Serabi Gold – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – April 8, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Brazil-focused miner Serabi Gold (LON: SRB) (TSX: SBI) said on Monday that Vale (NYSE: VALE) has decided to withdraw from a copper exploration alliance formed in May 2023.

The company, which also outlined progress in exploration at its Palito Complex in the country’s north, noted that it remains optimistic as there already are “a number of other groups keen to partner” with them. No names were provided in the statement.

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Mercury exposure widespread among Yanomami tribe in Amazon, report finds – by Fabiano Maisonnave (Asssociated Press – April 4, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Many Yanomami, the Amazon’s largest Indigenous tribe in relative isolation, have been contaminated with mercury coming from widespread illegal gold mining, according to a report released on Thursday by Brazil’s top public health institute.

The research was conducted in nine villages along the Mucajai River, a remote region where illegal mining is widespread. Mercury, a poison, is commonly used in illegal mining to process gold. The researchers collected hair samples from nearly 300 Yanomami of all ages. They were then examined by doctors, neurologists, psychologists and nurses.

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In Ecuador, gov’t sees mining as the future. But communities are divided – by Michele Bertelli (Al Jazeera.com – April 7, 2024)

https://www.aljazeera.com/

Ecuador sees mining as a ‘crucial driver’ of the economy, providing jobs and incomes, but locals disagree.

Las Pampas, Ecuador – The alarm rang at 7am, summoning everyone in the main square. Protesters boarded three trucks, normally used to transport livestock. The convoy carried them close to the nearby town of Palo Quemado, home to the mining project of La Plata in northwestern Ecuador, 130km (81 miles) from the capital Quito.

Since last July, this quiet community has turned into an epicentre of anti-mining protests. Under the sight of military men stationed on the crest of the hill, roughly 100 demonstrators approached the road into town. But a whole riot squad blocked their way.

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Barrick eyes Peru growth amid global asset expansion – by Staff (Mining.com – April 4, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Barrick Gold’s (TSX: ABX)(NYSE:GOLD) ongoing push to expand its global portfolio has prompted the company to revisit its presence in the Latin American market.

The world’s second largest gold miner has in the past year been particularly interested in Peru, where it was the second top gold producer until 2018. According to local newspaper Gestión, Barrick recently submitted a request to obtain a mining concession for 400 hectares in the southern Puno district.

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First Quantum executives get pay increases despite company’s woes – by Niall McGee and David Milstead (Globe and Mail – March 29, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The senior executive team at Canadian copper miner First Quantum Minerals Ltd. got substantial compensation bumps and favourable performance reviews in a year the company was forced to shut down its biggest mine, and its stock lost more than half its value.

Late last year, Vancouver-based First Quantum shuttered the Cobre Panama mine after Panama’s Supreme Court declared its mining contract was unconstitutional. The giant copper mine in Panama accounted for about half of First Quantum’s revenue.

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Surviving the white gold rush – life in the ‘lithium triangle’ – by Alberto Mazzieri (Al Jazeera – March 16, 2024)

https://www.aljazeera.com/

‘We won’t have electric cars,’ say local communities ravaged by lithium mining for car batteries.

Calcha K, Bolivia – Teófila Cayo Calcina, 56, stands among her rows of quinoa plants, pointing towards the horizon. “The lithium plant is 50km in that direction. We are worried that the mining could leave us with not enough water to survive,” she says, clearly disheartened.

Calcina lives with her husband in one of the houses overlooking the central square of the tiny village of Calcha K, an hour’s walk from her quinoa fields, where she grows quinoa real, a variety which is native to the Uyuni region of Bolivia and is considered a “superfood” in Western countries such as the US and Europe.

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Indigenous organization levels complaint against Canadian mining company – by Natasha Bulowski (Yahoo/National Observer – March 6, 2024)

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/

As the world’s largest mining conference unfolds in Toronto, a Canadian company is facing a complaint about a proposed copper mine in Ecuador. The complaint against Vancouver-based Solaris Resources Inc. by an association of Indigenous communities is asking the British Columbia Securities Commission to investigate the company for allegedly failing to give shareholders a complete picture of the strong public opposition and legal risks facing its planned mine in southern Ecuador.

Meanwhile on Monday, Ecuador President Daniel Noboa pitched his country as the next mining destination at the annual Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference. He indicated attracting foreign mining investment is a priority for his administration.

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