Republic of Mining

Lucara provides Karowe underground expansion project update – by Will Owen (Global Mining Review – July 19, 2023)

July 20, 2023

https://www.globalminingreview.com/

Lucara Diamond Corp. has provided an update on the Karowe Underground Expansion project (the UGP). The Karowe UGP is designed to access the highest value portion of the Karowe orebody, extend mine life to at least 2040 and deliver approximately US$4 billion in additional revenues using conservative diamond price assumptions which are unescalated and exclude exceptional stone revenues.

Management initiated an update to the UGP schedule and budget in response to slower than planned ramp up to expected sinking rates, and, to account for time incurred to date, as well as for anticipated future grouting programs.

The mining industry’s top transactional and legal trends – by Alice Martin (CIM Magazine – July 19, 2023)

July 20, 2023

https://magazine.cim.org/en/

Mining lawyer Fred R. Pletcher says consolidation is the name of the game

Consolidation, environment, social and governance (ESG)-driven transactions, Indigenous consultation, and resource nationalism were four key trends that Fred R. Pletcher, chair of the Mining Group and a partner in the Securities and Capital Markets Group at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, noted have defined the global mining industry recently. Pletcher was the featured presenter at a July 12 webinar hosted by the CIM Management and Economics Society.

Consolidation

Pletcher stated that since the gold industry is the most fractured of all the metal commodities, gold consolidation has emerged as a strong trend in the past four years.

Mali catastrophe accelerating under junta rule (Africa Center for Strategic Studies/Defence Web – July 20, 2023)

July 20, 2023

https://www.defenceweb.co.za/

The threat of militant Islamist groups is spreading to all parts of Mali as the military junta stakes its claim to stay in power indefinitely. The threat from militant Islamist groups in Mali continues to escalate in tempo and scale. With the military junta’s continued exclusion of other domestic political actors and alienation of regional and international security partners, the prospect of Mali’s collapse grows increasingly likely.

Mali is on pace to see over 1 000 violent events involving militant Islamist groups in 2023, eclipsing last year’s record levels of violence and a nearly three-fold increase from when the junta seized power in 2020. Approximately 6 150 km2 of Malian territory were swept up in militant Islamist violence in the first 6 months of 2023, compared to 5,200 km2 in the previous 6 months (an increase of 18 percent).

Zimbabwe’s $1 Billion Lithium Plan Faces Setback as Chinese Partner Cuts Stake – by Antony Sguazzin (Bloomberg News – July 19, 2023)

July 20, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — South Africa’s Moti Group said a Chinese company with which it planned to develop a $1 billion lithium processing plant in Zimbabwe was halving its stake in the venture, dealing the project a potential blow.

Moti Group’s Pulserate Investments holds a 10,000 hectare (24,710-acre) lithium exploration concession in the northeast of the country, Africa’s biggest producer of the metal according to the US Geological Survey.

33 Incredible Photos From The California Gold Rush, The Mining Craze That Captivated The World – by Kaleena Fraga (All That’s Interesting – January 26, 2023)

July 20, 2023

Lion Heart Film Works and Mill Creek Entertainment Video Production About California Gold Rush (Above)

https://allthatsinteresting.com/

The discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in January 1848 sparked a mass migration to California — but not everyone was lucky enough to strike it rich.

In 1848, a carpenter building a sawmill near Coloma, California, caught a glimpse of something glittering along the banks of the American River. It was gold. And his discovery would launch the California gold rush, a frantic, hopeful, and transformative period in American history.

Seeking riches, hundreds of thousands of people — mostly men, but some women, too — flooded the territory. Borrowing money or using their life savings, they came from the East Coast, Europe, and even China. From roughly 1848 until 1855, they mined for gold across the state, eventually extracting some $2 billion worth of the precious metal.

Europe’s quest for home-grown lithium – by Paul Krantz (The Parliament Magazine – July 20, 2023)

July 20, 2023

https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/

Lithium is the driving force behind our new battery-powered world, but can Europe ensure its supply keeps pace with demand? 

Earlier this year, the European Parliament approved the Fit for 55 package, the European Union’s ambitious plan to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Increasing use of electric vehicles will be essential to this plan – and to power those vehicles, Europe will need to significantly shore up its lithium supply.

According to a briefing prepared for the EU Parliament in 2021, Europe will need access to 18 times more lithium by 2030 and 60 times more by 2050, to meet projected demand for electric vehicles, which predominantly use lithium-powered batteries.

India sets sights on home-mined minerals to boost its clean energy plans – by Anupam Nath and Sibi Arasu (Associated Press – July 18, 2023)

July 20, 2023

https://apnews.com/

KALIAPANI, India (AP) — In the dusty mountains of eastern India, workers at the country’s largest chromium deposit have mined for the essential ore, rain or shine, for around 60 years.

The industry is fruitful in some ways — hundreds of trucks stacked with mineral-rich soil journey back and forth regularly between the mine and processing plants — but it is damaging in others. Farmers say their fields are stripped of fertile earth and livestock desperately comb through now-barren lands for feed.

FIRST READING: Dropping $24 billion on EV subsidies is an even worse idea than you thought – by Tristin Hopper (National Post – July 18, 2023)

July 20, 2023

https://nationalpost.com/

Trudeau might be betting the farm on technology that’s already on the edge of obsolescence

In just a couple months, Canada has put up $24 billion for foreign carmakers to build electric vehicle batteries on Canadian soil. First, there was $13 billion for Volkswagen to build a battery “gigafactory” in St. Thomas, Ont. And then $11 billion for Stellantis to build a similar facility in Windsor, Ont.

This is corporate welfare at a level utterly unprecedented in Canadian history. And given how the next few years shape up, this could well have the makings of the most expensive boondoggle in Canadian history.

Barrick Gold targeted by Russian cybercriminal group Clop in global data theft that hit Sun Life, Vancouver transit police – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – July 20, 2023)

July 20, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada’s biggest gold company has been targeted by shadowy Russian cybercriminal group Clop in a massive global data theft incident that has affected hundreds of corporations and close to 20 million individuals.

Barrick Gold Corp. is one of a growing tally of at least 376 organizations publicized by Clop in an attack that has seen confidential data stolen from financial firms and health care providers, as well as U.S. government agencies and Canadian municipalities.

Homegrown junior miner finds its footing in the Dryden gold camp – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – July 19, 2023)

July 20, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Dryden Gold takes to the field to probe former mining camp for high-grade mineralization

The search is on for high-grade gold in the Dryden area by a new exploration player in the northwest. Dryden Gold, a privately-held company, plans to enter the market this fall with an initial public offering to raise money to drill a substantial land package, 30 kilometres east of the city near Dinorwic.

The Dryden-based junior miner holds a property package of almost 40,000 hectares on a promising greenstone belt with the potential to harbour high-grade gold. “We have the same kind of rocks you see in the Red Lake camp two hours away,” said company president Maura Kolb in a recent interview with Crux Investor.

Yukon Gold Miners Just Stumbled Across A Rare Trove Of Hundreds Of Woolly Mammoth Bones – by Kaleena Fraga (All That’s Interesting – Updated February 10, 2023)

July 20, 2023

https://allthatsinteresting.com/

The fossils belonged to three woolly mammoths that lived some 30,000 years ago. They were likely even part of the same family.

Agroup of miners in Dawson City, Yukon hoped to strike gold. Instead, they came across another sort of treasure. As they sifted through the dirt, they uncovered a stunning trove of woolly mammoth bones.

“It’s probably one of the best days I’ve had working,” said Trey Charlie, who came across the bones alongside another miner at Little Flake Mine. “It’s so much fun to discover these things.” Charlie and his fellow miner discovered the bones while excavating mud from a mine site. As they worked, they uncovered an enormous tusk.

‘The best untold story in Canada’: JP Gladu on how First Nations communities and the energy industry are partnering for responsible prosperity – by Staff (The Hub – July 19, 2023)

July 20, 2023

Home

This episode of Hub Dialogues features host Rudyard Griffiths in discussion with JP Gladu, former President and CEO of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, founder and President of Mokwateh, and current member of the board at Suncor. The two discuss the increasing partnerships between industry and Indigenous communities, the pathway to responsible development in the energy industry, and how Canada can become a model for other global jurisdictions.

RUDYARD GRIFFITHS: JP, welcome to the Hub Dialogues.

JEAN PAUL GLADU: Rudyard, it’s fantastic to be here. Thanks for having me.

RUDYARD GRIFFITHS: Likewise, looking forward to this conversation with you, exploring the Indigenous dimension of a lot of the issues and ideas that Pathways Alliance is grappling with. It’s a critical perspective to get on this conversation. So a privilege to talk with you today. Let’s start big picture, JP, for the benefit of our listeners.

No more plundering: Can Africa take control in green mineral rush? – by BUKOLA ADEBAYO, JOANNA GILL AND KIM HARRISBERG (Japan Times – July 19, 2023)

July 20, 2023

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/

JOHANNESBURG/LAGOS/BRUSSELS – From Zimbabwe’s lithium-rich rocks to Democratic Republic of Congo’s cobalt, minerals critical for clean energy technologies are increasingly in demand from Africa’s trade partners as part of the global green transition from planet-warming fossil fuels.

Yet on a continent long blighted by the so-called “resource curse” — whereby nations rich in oil or gold, for example, have failed to convert this into wider prosperity — governments have increasingly restricted or banned mineral exports in recent years in a bid to boost processing and retain more of the gains. This strategy could backfire, however, by deterring foreign investment, several analysts said.

U.S. Department of Defense funds Canadian graphite miner to build project in Alaska – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – July 18, 2023)

July 20, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Miner is first to receive such a grant

The United States Department of Defense has awarded a subsidiary of Vancouver-based junior miner Graphite One Inc. a grant of $37.5 million to develop a mining project in Alaska, with the aim of lessening America’s dependence on China for metals needed to transition away from fossil fuels.

While a number of Canadian miners have applied to the Department of Defense (DOD) for funding, Graphite One, through its subsidiary in the U.S., is the first to receive such a grant, the company’s chief executive Anthony Huston said. It’s also the first graphite miner to receive a fund from the department, he added.

Critical minerals processing, manufacture, recycling to be focus of $1.5 billion in federal innovation funding – by Mehanaz Yakub (Electric Autonomy – July 19, 2023)

July 20, 2023

https://electricautonomy.ca/

Last fall, the government said it would use $1.5 billion from the Strategic Innovation Fund to accelerate investment in critical minerals projects. Last week, it unveiled its criteria for eligibility.

The federal government has revealed what types of projects are eligible for the $1.5 billion from the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) earmarked in the 2022 federal budget to accelerate investments in critical minerals projects.