Republic of Mining

UK’s first commercial lithium mine could supply two-thirds of the country’s needs by 2030 – by Julia Robinson (Chemistry World – July 4, 2023)

July 4, 2023

https://www.chemistryworld.com/

The UK’s first commercial lithium mine is to open in Cornwall, following a new partnership between Imerys, the world leader in mineral-based solutions, and British Lithium.

It has been estimated that the site contains enough lithium to sustain mining there for 30 years, producing around 20,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent annually. By the end of the decade, the mine should be producing enough of the metal for batteries to power 500,000 electrical vehicles per year.

Canada’s Top Ten base metals and uranium companies – by Blair McBride (Northern Miner – July 4, 2023)

July 4, 2023

https://www.northernminer.com/

As the push for green energy gathers more momentum, demand for the metals that go into zero-emission technologies is rising while uranium spot prices have seen a steady climb since January. Here’s a list of the top ten Canadian-headquartered base metal and uranium juniors with no production. The ranking is based on the companies’ market capitalization as of June 1, as compiled by Mining Intelligence.

1 Filo Mining – Market Cap: $2.6 billion

Filo Mining (TSXV: FIL) traded spots with NexGen Energy (TSX: NXE; NYSE: NXE) for the top spot this year even though Filo’s market cap fell by more than 11%. A member of the Lundin Group of companies, Filo’s flagship project is its Filo del Sol copper-gold project in South America. The high-sulphidation epithermal copper-gold-silver deposit is associated with a large porphyry copper-gold system.

NEWS RELEASE: British Columbia Port Work Stoppages Negatively Impacting Mining Sector and Businesses that Rely on Canadian Minerals and Metals (Mining Association of Canada – July 4, 2023)

July 4, 2023

OTTAWA, July 4th, 2023 – Today, the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) expresses serious concern regarding the damaging effects strikes taking place at ports across British Columbia are having on the mining industry and the broader Canadian economy.

“B.C.’s ports play an essential role in Canada’s mining supply chain, serving as central hubs for the transport of the critical minerals and metals essential to businesses both domestically and internationally,” said Pierre Gratton, President and CEO of MAC. “Canada’s reputation as a trusted producer of these materials is in question if we are unable to rely on our transportation networks to get them to market.”

Indonesia’s coal burning hits record high — and ‘green’ nickel is largely why – by Hans Nicholas Jong (Mongabay.com – July 3, 2023)

July 4, 2023

https://news.mongabay.com/

JAKARTA — Indonesia burned more coal in 2022 than any other year, a preliminary analysis shows, putting the country on track to become one of the largest carbon emitters from fossil fuel in the world.

Data from the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources showed that coal consumption amounted to 745.72 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) in 2022, a 33% increase from 558.78 million BOE in 2021. The data shows the country’s coal consumption to be the highest ever by a very large margin.

Cobalt Red: a regressive, deeply flawed account of Congo’s mining industry – by Sarah Katz-Lavigne and Espérant Mwishamali Lukobo (Open Democracy – July 3, 2023)

July 4, 2023

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/

Billed as an exposé, Cobalt Red simply rehashes old stereotypes and colonial perceptions of the DRC

Cobalt Red: how the blood of the Congo powers our lives, by Siddharth Kara, has been making waves. Released in April and tailored for a non-specialist audience, it has quickly become a New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller, as well as a bestseller in Amazon’s African Politics category.

The book centres on the mineral cobalt, currently sought after the world over for the production of high-end batteries. More than 70% of the world’s supply originates from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Kara’s project, he says, is to expose the trade’s dirty secrets for all of us to see.

Workers in construction, mining most impacted by opioid-related harm: research – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – June 30, 2023)

July 4, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Findings are part of the ongoing research of Opioid-related Harms Among Ontario Workers study

Previously injured workers in sectors including construction, mining and forestry are more likely to end up in the emergency room or to be hospitalized due to opioid-related harm than workers in other sectors in Ontario.

That’s according to findings from Opioid-related Harms Among Ontario Workers, an ongoing research project being conducted by the Institute for Work & Health and the Occupational Cancer Research Centre.

The world’s appetite for solar panels is squeezing silver supply (Bloomberg News – July 2, 2023)

July 4, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Changes to solar panel technology are accelerating demand for silver, a phenomenon that’s widening a supply deficit for the metal with little additional mine production on the horizon.

Silver, in paste form, provides a conductive layer on the front and the back of silicon solar cells. But the industry is now beginning to make more efficient versions of cells that use a lot more of the metal, which is set to boost already-increasing consumption.

What Is The Future Of Lab-grown Diamond Jewellery? – by Rory Bunker (Scoop Business – July 4, 2023)

July 4, 2023July 4, 2023

https://www.scoop.co.nz/

Those who have shopped for jewellery recently may have been presented with the option of a more affordable, laboratory-grown diamond. Some retailers present lab-grown (synthetic) diamonds to consumers as a more ethical and sustainable alternative to mined diamonds.

Technological advancements mean that lab-grown diamonds, which were once economically unviable to produce in large quantities, have begun to be produced at scale as the costs to produce man-made diamonds have fallen dramatically in recent years.

US measure would ban products containing mineral mined with child labor in Congo – by Taiwo Adebayo (ABC News/Associated Press – July 3, 2023)

July 4, 2023

https://abcnews.go.com/

New U.S. legislation would ban imported products containing critical green transition minerals mined by child labor in Congo

ABUJA, Nigeria — A measure has been introduced in the U.S. House to ban imported products containing minerals critical to electric vehicle batteries but mined through child labor and other abusive conditions in Congo, where China has enormous mining stakes.

The bill targets China, which sponsor Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey says uses forced labor and exploits children to mine cobalt in the impoverished but resource-rich central African country.

Wagner’s real money never came from diamonds and gold – by Ellen Ioanes (Vox.com – July 2, 2023)

July 4, 2023

https://www.vox.com/

Wagner’s businesses in Africa isolate and create dependent economies, not funding for private armies.

The US Treasury Department on Tuesday sanctioned gold and diamond mining concerns connected to the Wagner group in Mali and the Central African Republic after Yevgeny Prigozhin, the mercenary group’s founder, attempted to stage a mutiny in Russia last weekend.

The gold and diamond mining enterprises, as well as a UAE-based distributor and a Russian company that the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) says is involved in the scheme, serve to enrich some members of Wagner and their collaborators in Russia and the African countries where they have a foothold. However, the amount the group earns from its illicit mining activities is negligible compared to its significant funding from the Russian government.

Modi Gifts Jill Biden Lab-Grown Diamond Made In Surat – by Darshan Desai (Free Press Journal – June 22, 2023)

July 4, 2023July 4, 2023

https://www.freepressjournal.in/

Grown in Green Lab, the diamond was delicately cut and polished into a round shape specifically for the purpose of gifting.

Surat: The green lab-grown diamond gifted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the first lady of the United States, Jill Biden, has been cut and polished in diamond hub Surat in Gujarat. The 7.5 carat diamond was grown at the renowned Green Lab in the city’s Ichhapore Gems and Jewellery Park.

Sources close to Mukesh Patel, the chairman of Green Lab, said he was elated that Modi picked a lab-grown diamond produced in his state-of-the-art facility that runs on green energy. Grown in Green Lab, the diamond was delicately cut and polished into a round shape specifically for the purpose of gifting it to Jill Biden. However, the sources refused to divulge the value of the diamond.

Lithium Scarcity Pushes Carmakers Into the Mining Business – by Clifford Krauss and Jack Ewing (New York Times – July 2, 2023)

July 4, 2023

https://www.nytimes.com/

Eager to avoid falling further behind Tesla and Chinese car companies, many Western auto executives are bypassing traditional suppliers and committing billions of dollars on deals with lithium mining companies.

They are showing up in hard hats and steel-toed boots to scope out mines in places like Chile, Argentina, Quebec and Nevada to secure supplies of a metal that could make or break their companies as they move from gasoline to battery power.

Review: Oliver Stone wants you to think about ‘Nuclear Now’ in new documentary – by Robert Abele (Los Angeles Times – April 27, 2023)

July 4, 2023

https://www.latimes.com/

With a recent Gallup poll indicating that American support for nuclear power is the highest it’s been in nearly a decade, and the news getting worse about our imminent reckoning with climate change, there may be no time like the present for a documentary to make the case for a maligned energy source — one more associated with war and catastrophe than lighting our homes — as the best solution for a grim future.

The question then is whether a dyed-in-the-wool rabble-rouser like Oliver Stone is the most persuasive guy for this argument when he’s more likely these days to make news for being controversial (he’s been called a Putin apologist); and his most recent feature being 2016’s ignored “Snowden.”

Glencore moves to take full control of PolyMet, developer of Minnesota copper-nickel mine – by Steve Karnowski (Associated Press – July 3, 2023)

July 4, 2023

https://apnews.com/

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Swiss commodities giant Glencore moved Monday to take full ownership of PolyMet Mining, a company that’s developing a copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota with one of Canada’s largest miners, Teck Resources.

Glencore already owns 82% of PolyMet Mining and has long been the project’s main financial backer. It offered Monday to pay around $71 million to raise that stake to 100%, which would take St. Paul-headquartered PolyMet private. Glencore’s proposal represents around a 167% premium over PolyMet’s closing stock price on Friday, and shares surged on the news in Monday’s trading.

China jumps ahead in the rush to secure lithium from Africa – by Annie Lee (Bloomberg News – July 3, 2023)

July 4, 2023July 4, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

China’s early move to tap new centers of lithium supply across Africa is reaping rewards, helping the top electric-vehicle battery producer navigate a tight market for the key metal.

Spurred by a flurry of investment from Chinese companies, mines across the continent are forecast to increase production of lithium raw materials more than 30-fold from last year’s volume by 2027, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights. Africa will account for 12% of global supply by then, compared with 1% in 2022.