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India in undersea race to mine world’s battery metal – by Navin Singh Khadka (BBC World Service – March 20, 2024)

https://www.bbc.com/

India is taking another step in its quest to find valuable minerals hidden in the depths of the ocean which could hold the key to a cleaner future. The country, which already has two deep-sea exploration licences in the Indian Ocean, has applied for two more amid increasing competition between major global powers to secure critical minerals.

Countries including China, Russia and India are vying to reach the huge deposits of mineral resources – cobalt, nickel, copper, manganese – that lie thousands of metres below the surface of oceans. These are used to produce renewable energy such as solar and wind power, electric vehicles and battery technology needed to battle against climate change.

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Synthetic Diamonds in the Spotlight – by Avi Krawitz (Rapaport Magazine – March 21, 2024)

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For the ring finger, for every finger, I put them everywhere… diamonds, diamonds, diamonds, diamonds,” sings a diverse and strikingly beautiful group of models, actors, and fashion influencers to jazzy music and the lyric “love and happiness” in the background on repeat.

Love and happiness are never enough, continues the advertisement, and “neither is one diamond” is its underlying message. “A girl’s best friend?” asks Pamela Anderson, and “diamonds are for everyone” and “for all the right reasons,” comes the answer, before Vogue magazine’s iconic creative director at large Grace Coddington concludes, “Diamonds for all,” and the tagline reveals: “Pandora: lab-grown diamonds.”

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The dilemma: How can Africa industrialise and reach net zero? (Mining Technology – March 20, 2024)

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

Africa’s greatest challenge is how to industrialise but not increase carbon emissions significantly at the same time – otherwise, hundreds of millions of people will be condemned to a life of poverty. The whole of Africa accounts for only 2–3% of the world’s CO2 emissions from energy and industrial sources, according to the UN.

It is roughly the same proportion as Germany and a lot lower than China (27%), the US (15%) and India (7%). Africa’s per capita emissions of CO2 were 0.76 tonnes (t) in 2018 compared with 4.4t globally, according to the World Bank (in the US it was 15.52t and in Australia 17t). Africa’s total population is around 1.3 billion people compared with China’s 1.4 billion, but China’s total carbon emissions are ten to 14 times higher than Africa’s.

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Indigenous consultation is key to the Ring of Fire becoming Canada’s economic superpower – by Andrew Grant, Badriyya Yusuf, Dimitrios Panagos and Matthew I. Mitchell (The Conversation – March 20, 2024)

https://theconversation.com/

Many of the 30,000 attendees of the March 2024 Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention harbour a “wild desire” to extract the mineral riches of Canada’s $67 billion Ring of Fire, in the words of Johnny Cash’s well-known song of the same name.

While some might be attracted by the desire to make money, others could be driven by concern for our planet and the belief that the region’s minerals can help reduce carbon emissions and support a just energy transition. As some Indigenous groups have pointed out, however, the construction of roads and mining in the Ring of Fire represents a significant disruption to traditional ways of life and fragile ecosystems.

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Australian Coal Miners Woo Private Capital as Banks Get Leery – by Sharon Klyne and Megawati Wijaya (Bloomberg News – March 20, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Australian coal producers are increasingly dabbling in high-interest private loans as lenders look to replace reluctant banks that are held back by ESG concerns.

Sydney-based coal miner Whitehaven Coal Ltd.’s deal last month to secure a $1.1 billion loan for buying two mines attracted 17 private credit lenders and only one bank. A consortium led by Golden Energy and Resources Pte Ltd. also is sounding out private credit funds, as well as banks, to secure financing for its $1.65 billion acquisition of a coal mine in Australia, according to people familiar with the matter.

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Japan prepares to mine its deep seabed by decade’s end – by Annelise Giseburt (Mongabay.com – March 21, 2024)

https://news.mongabay.com/

TOKYO — Japan is actively exploring pathways to mine the deep sea of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), in an effort to lessen reliance on imported mineral resources needed for advanced and green technologies.

Aiming to be ready to mine by the late 2020s, Japan — one among just a handful of nations actively pursuing deep-sea mining within their own waters — could be among the first nations to exploit the deep sea. The country has completed multiple small-scale mining tests that it claims are world firsts, and it positions itself as a global leader in the “sustainable development” of deep-sea mining.

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Global Atomic plunges as Niger’s junta expels US troops – by Colin McClelland (Northern Miner – March 19, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Shares in Global Atomic (TSX: GLO) have dropped nearly a third since the military rulers of Niger, where the company is developing its Dasa uranium project, vowed on the weekend to kick out United States troops that have been there more than a decade.

By Tuesday afternoon, stock in the Toronto-based company had fallen 29% since Friday to $2.21 apiece, valuing Global Atomic at $462.7 million. It was as low as $2.03 on Tuesday and has traded in a 52-week range of $1.28 to $3.91.

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Public pension plans are being urged to invest more in Canada. Why this is a bad idea … – by David Olive (Toronto Star – March 21, 2024)

https://www.thestar.com/

The north star for pension funds, writes David Olive, is to protect contributions received from plan members and to pay pension benefits to them in retirement. That is all — and why politicians should not meddle.

Canada’s public pension funds are under pressure to invest more in Canada. That pressure should be resisted. A March 6 open letter signed by about 90 business leaders calls on Ottawa and provincial finance ministers to “amend the rules governing pension funds to encourage them to invest in Canada.”

The funds already invest about a quarter of their assets in Canada. But Chrystia Freeland, the federal finance minister, would like to see a higher level. Embracing the open letter, Freeland said on March 9 that the feds are committed to “help (the funds) to find more opportunities to invest here in Canada.”

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Alaska’s governor calls on Biden to update mine permit process – by Ernest Scheyder and Georgina McCartney (Finance Yahoo/Reuters – March 20, 2024)

https://finance.yahoo.com/

HOUSTON, March 20 (Reuters) – Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy called on President Joe Biden on Wednesday to update and streamline the U.S. mine permitting process in order to boost domestic production of critical minerals and reduce dependence on foreign nations.

The push echoes calls from the mining industry for clarity on how permits can be obtained for mines that produce copper, lithium and other energy transition minerals. Executives have long complained the U.S. process can be complex, expensive and opaque due in part to a federal mining law enacted in 1872.

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OPINION: Ford government ignores vital exploration sector – by Gino Chitaroni (Northern Ontario Business – March 21, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Gino Chitaroni is president of Kirkland Lake’s Northern Prospectors Association and is an Ontario Prospectors Association board member.

Junior mining sector needs support, province needs to get more competitive to spawn next generation of mines, says industry leader

Without a doubt, one of the most important challenges facing the next generation is global warming and the need to decarbonize the transportation sector. This can only happen with the sustainable development of new mines that produce the copper, nickel, cobalt, lithium and other critical minerals that can be found throughout Northern Ontario’s rich geology.

However, it is the junior exploration sector that has traditionally found economic mineral deposits that are sold to majors who have the financial capacity to build these new mines. This important and vital part of the mining ecosystem is largely being ignored by the Ontario government.

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OPINION: Canada’s other (and worse) housing crisis – by Editorial Board (Globe and Mail – March 21, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ask any Canadian politician about the housing crisis these days and, no matter their political stripe, they will recite party lines about what is being done, or ought to be done, to ensure that everyone has access to affordable and safe housing that is appropriate to their needs.

Then, just for fun, say, no, you meant the housing crisis on First Nations reserves – the one where Indigenous people are four times more likely than non-Indigenous people to live in overcrowded housing, and six times more likely to live in homes that don’t meet basic standards.

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Alaska mine value tops $4 billion in 2023 – by Shane Lasley (North of 60 Mining News – March 1, 2024)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

At a value of $1.5 billion, zinc held onto its throne as the most valuable metal produced in Alaska during 2023. With production forecasts and price trends headed in opposite directions for zinc and gold, however, the gleaming precious metal that drew fortune-seekers North at the turn of the 20th century could soon regain the crown as the most valued metal produced in the 49th State.

According to preliminary calculations completed by Alaska’s Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS), the total value of metals produced at Alaska mines was approximately $3.76 billion during 2023. When you include sand and gravel mining for the construction sector, that value bumps up to around $4.1 billion, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

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This company intends to be the first to mine the moon – by Christian Davenport (MSM.com/Washington Post – March 2024)

https://www.msn.com/

Nearly a decade ago, Congress passed a law that allows private American space companies the rights to resources they mine on celestial bodies, including the moon. Now, there’s a private venture that says it intends to do just that.

Founded by a pair of former executives from Blue Origin, the space venture founded by Jeff Bezos, and an Apollo astronaut, the company, Interlune, announced itself publicly Wednesday by saying it has raised $18 million and is developing the technology to harvest and bring materials back from the moon. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

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Deep-sea mining talks to resume as interest swells from China to U.S. (Nikkei Asia – March 18, 2024)

https://asia.nikkei.com/

U.N. body chief hopes industry can help vulnerable states; ecosystem a concern

TOKYO — International discussions on deep-sea mining resume Monday amid growing interest in countries such as the U.S., which see resources under the oceans as a potential way of diversifying supply chains for critical minerals.

Vast reserves of materials such as copper, nickel and cobalt — now in high demand as a material in batteries and other strategic products — are believed to exist in crusts and nodules across various areas of the sea floor. Hotspots for exploration and extraction include international waters outside any country’s exclusive zone, where there is not yet a regulatory framework in place for commercial mining.

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Poor forecasting triggers big writedowns for miners while some get lucky, study shows – by Colin McClelland (Northern Miner – March 15, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Tumbling metal prices account for more than half all of impairment charges, declared when fixed assets fall below market values, the study of 105 TSX-listed mining companies found. They incurred $68 billion in charges from 2002 to 2015. Using unfamiliar technology and locating in developing countries also contributed, data show.

Metal price drops accounted for 143 of 268 cases and $25.2 billion in impairment charges, according to the study published last month in Resources Policy, an international journal on mineral rules and economics with editors in the United States, Australia and China. The research appears appropriate at a time when nickel and lithium prices have crashed from 2022 highs as gold has set new records.

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