Republic of Mining

Queen Consort Camilla will wear a recycled crown, without cursed diamond – by William Booth (Washington Post – February 14, 2023)

February 16, 2023

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

LONDON — Camilla, the Queen Consort, will wear a recycled crown at the coronation — and not the one showcasing the fabled Koh-i-Noor diamond, one of the world’s largest and most controversial gems, said by folklore to be cursed and by India to have been purloined.

When Camilla is crowned alongside her husband, the new King Charles III, at Westminster Abbey on May 6, she will wear the headpiece worn by Queen Mary at the 1911 coronation, Buckingham Palace said Tuesday.

Another ASX-listed lithium explorer is poised to roll the dice in Canada’s battery ecosystem – by Josh Chiat (Stockhead.com – January 27, 2023)

February 16, 2023

https://stockhead.com.au/

The new CEO of ASX lithium hopeful Battery Age Minerals (ASX:BM8) Gerard O’Donovan has seen it all since he first stepped into lithium in 2015, eventually becoming the project manager on the concentrator at Pilbara Minerals’ (ASX:PLS) Pilgangoora mine.

From there he saw the downturn as the new supply brought on by WA miners like Pilbara flooded the market, before leaving to work on Rio’s Winu’s copper-gold discovery, and returned to oversee the rebuild of the Ngangaju plant at Pilgangoora, acquired from PLS’ collapsed neighbour Altura, as the lithium market rose like a phoenix to new heights.

Barrick eyes Nevada Gold Mines as Newmont ramps up deal pressure – by Divya Rajagopal and Helen Reid (Reuters – February 15, 2023)

February 16, 2023

https://www.reuters.com/

Feb 15 (Reuters) – Canada’s Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO), would be open to taking over Newmont’s (NEM.N) stake in its Nevada Gold Mines joint venture, CEO Mark Bristow said on Wednesday, after Newmont’s $16.9 billion bid for Newcrest (NCM.AX) ramped up pressure on gold miners to do deals.

Bristow though distanced himself from rival Newmont’s M&A push on Wednesday and highlighted Barrick’s plan to grow through exploration rather than acquisitions. Shares of Barrick Gold were trading 4% down at the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Ouch! Thunder Bay miner’s resource estimate just doesn’t add up – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – February 16, 2023)

February 16, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Clean Air Metals’ Current deposit may be off as much as 50 per cent, company retracts preliminary economic assessment report

Clean Air Metals has suffered a major setback in its plans to develop a mine north of Thunder Bay.

The local junior miner reports there’s been a miscalculation in the mineral resource estimate of one of its two platinum group metal and copper deposits at its Thunder Bay North Project. And the reduction in the amount of metal in the ground could be in the range of 20 to 50 per cent lower than what was originally reported in 2021.

Once-Hot Battery Metals Set to Slide, Leading China Group Warns (Bloomberg News – February 13, 2023)

February 16, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Battery-metals prices are set to retreat from highs this year as surging supplies trigger gluts, a leading Chinese industry group warned following a similar note of caution from Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Nickel prices are likely to drop in the second half as the global market may see a surplus on rising supply led by mines in Indonesia, according to Chen Xuesen, a spokesman for the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association.

Northwestern Ontario sees the green lithium rush – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – February 14, 2023)

February 14, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Lithium exploration activity starts to surge in Nipigon, Red Lake

Northwestern Ontario is becoming a popular place find new sources of lithium as the electric vehicle revolution starts to accelerate. This region hosts a handful of established junior mining players ready to take the next step into mine production with some new players on the scene with more grassroots projects.

Hard-charging Green Technology Metals is running two simultaneous drilling programs at two properties . Since last fall, the Western Australian company has been releasing a steady flow of high-grade lithium results at its Seymour and Root Projects.

Anglo American investment a ‘game changer’ for Toronto-based junior miner: CEO – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – February 11, 2023)

February 14, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Will bolster Canada Nickel’s plans to build a rare ‘zero-carbon’ nickel mine within two years

Canada Nickel Co. Inc. chief executive Mark Selby called Anglo American Plc’s decision to take a minority stake in his company a “game changer” that will bolster Canada Nickel’s plans to build a rare “zero-carbon” nickel mine within two years.

London-based Anglo American’s $24-million investment in Toronto-based Canada Nickel is the latest example of a major international player making a bet on Canada emerging as a node in the supply chain for electric vehicles, at least in North America and Europe, where governments are spending billions of dollars on subsidies aimed at weakening China’s hold on the market for batteries and the things needed to make them.

Reko Diq: A way forward to shatter debt shackles (Associated Press of Pakistan – February 12, 2023)

February 14, 2023

https://www.app.com.pk/

Balochistan province, once known for insurgency and deteriorating law and order, is now ready to assist in boosting country’s economy as the government has successfully restructured and restarted the stalled multi-billion dollar RekoDiq project.

Reko Diq that means sand and gold mounds in Balochi language, has an estimated reserve of 5.9 billion tons of ore grading 0.41% copper and gold reserves. Located in Chaghi district, about 70 kilometres north-west of Naukundi, a town near Iran and Afghanistan, Reko Diq is thought to have the world’s fifth largest untapped gold and copper deposits.

Lithium reserve found in Jammu & Kashmir’s Reasi of best quality: Official (Business Standard – February 14, 2023)

February 14, 2023

https://www.business-standard.com/

India’a first lithium reserve, found in Jammu and Kashmir, is of the best quality, a senior govt official said here, as upbeat villagers expressed hope the discovery will bring them a bright future

The country’s first lithium reserve, found in Jammu and Kashmir, is of the best quality, a senior government official said here on Saturday, as upbeat villagers expressed hope the discovery will bring them a bright future.

The 5.9-million ton reserve of lithium, a crucial mineral for the manufacturing of electric vehicles and solar panels, had been discovered in Reasi district by the Geological Survey of India (GSI).

Gold discoveries provided foundation for Porcupine Camp in 1912 – by Karen Bachmann (Timmins Daily Press – February 10, 2023)

February 14, 2023

https://www.timminspress.com/

Karen Bachmann is the director/curator of the Timmins Museum and a writer of local history.

Great moments from 1912: Robert Scott reached the South Pole on Jan. 17th (Roald Amundsen beat him by a month, arriving at the pole in December 1911); New Mexico became the 47th state in the US; the Olympic Games took place in Stockholm, Sweden; the Titanic set sail (and sank); the African National Congress was founded as the South African Native National Congress; Edgar Rice Burrows wrote “Tarzan of the Apes”; Casimir Funk introduced the concept of vitamins and Carl Jung published “Psychology of the Unconscious”.

And locally, results started to add up from those gold discoveries made in New Ontario during the rush of 1909. Evidence of this growth is apparent in the items featured in early editions of the Porcupine Advance newspaper.

NEWS RELEASE: USGS makes $5 million available from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for mine waste research (February 14, 2023)

February 14, 2023

https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/earth-mri

https://www.usgs.gov/programs/mineral-resources-program

Projects will support data collection needed to evaluate mine waste as a potential source of critical minerals

RESTON, Va. — The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is soliciting proposals for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 grants to collect data on mine waste. This new competitive program is supported by investments from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI). Interested state geological surveys can apply online at GRANTS.GOV under funding Opportunity Number G23AS00160.

Applications are due by April 12, 2023. More information on how to apply can be found in the Notice of Funding Opportunity available at grants.gov. 

How African gold pays for Russia’s war in Ukraine – by Brian Latham (The Spectator – February 12, 2023)

February 14, 2023

https://www.spectator.co.uk/

African wars are paying for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, at least indirectly. When Vladimir Putin was running low on manpower and money in October last year, he turned to Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner group for more of both. Wagner have had troops in the Donbas region as far back as 2014, though in limited numbers.

Now the Wagner group is providing thousands of troops throughout occupied Ukraine and funding the Russian army with its spoils from Africa. That though is creating a cashflow crisis for Prigozhin whose income is primarily from African gold and diamonds.

Ontario Power Generation urges province to move ahead with new power projects – by Matthew McClearn (Globe and Mail – February 14, 2023)

February 14, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ontario Power Generation has urged Ontario’s government to move forward with new hydroelectric generation plants in Northern Ontario.

In a report released Monday, the province’s largest utility told the provincial government that the region contains up to 4,000 megawatts of untapped hydroelectric potential. OPG recommended that planning for new facilities begin immediately, given the long lead times involved.

BOOKS: The horrors behind the mining industry that powers your life – by Russ Mitchell (Los Angeles Times – February 13, 2023)

February 14, 2023

https://www.latimes.com/

You, the smartphone addict. The modern nomad, lugging your fancy laptop. The electric car driver, smug in your certainty that you’re making the world a better place. Look over here, under this rock; look at what you’d rather not see.

That’s what Siddharth Kara invites you to do in his damning new book, “Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives.” Maybe you already know our booming battery-based economy depends on cobalt mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo. You’ve heard things are bad there. But I’d guess that, like me — smartphone addict, laptop lugger, owner of an electric car — you had no idea just how bad.

Metals are the new oil — with all the geopolitical and environmental complications – by Daniel F. Runde (The Hill – February 11, 2023)

February 14, 2023

https://thehill.com/

For good or for ill, metals are the new oil. We need more “rare earths” and “everyday earths” to build the technologies of the future and make real a carbon transition. The geopolitics around mines, minerals, and the processing of metals are heating up. For that reason, the U.S. needs a more sophisticated strategy to ensure that the U.S. and our allies have access to mines and minerals.

The amount of minerals needed for a carbon transition will require a vast expansion of mining and the processing of minerals. For example, given current technologies and techniques, we will need to increase the production of cobalt and lithium by 40 times for the electric batteries needed to move from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles.