Nevada and other states are poised to rake in huge benefits from a boom in lithium mining for batteries pushed by federal incentives as U.S. demand surges for electric vehicles (EVs).
Environmentalists, however, are warning amid investments from the Biden-backed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that a heavy-handed approach to lithium mining could bring many of the same problems associated with fossil fuel extraction.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/
Report says some running illegal mines are occupying community airstrips
Brazil’s government has declared a public health emergency for the Yanomami people in the Amazon who are suffering from malnutrition and diseases such as malaria, as a consequence of illegal mining.
The decree, signed by Health Minister Nisia Trindade late Friday, has no expiration date and allows for hiring extra personnel. It determines that the team in charge has to publish reports regarding the Indigenous group’s health and general well-being.
https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/
British Columbia’s “free entry” mineral tenure regime, which has been largely unchanged for decades and is sometimes described as a Gold Rush-era relic, will soon be before a court due to challenges by two First Nations who say it has an adverse effect on their rights.
Under the provincial Mineral Tenure Act, there is an automatic registration system where a person known as a “free miner” can acquire a mineral claim on the Internet, select cells on a map and pay a fee of $1.75 per hectare to obtain a claim, with no notice required to the people whose land the miner stakes.
Park City (United States) (AFP) – He is best known as hunky, sea-dwelling superhero “Aquaman,” but actor Jason Momoa brought a stark and sober warning about the perils of deep-sea mining to the Sundance film festival on Friday.
The Hawaiian-born A-lister narrates “Deep Rising,” a new documentary about the frenzied efforts by resource-hungry corporations to scrape valuable metals from vast swathes of the Pacific floor.
Supporters of deep-sea mining claim that pellets of nickel and cobalt — used in electric car batteries — can be conveniently scooped off the seabed, helping reduce our fossil fuel reliance.
Following Friday’s attack that set on fire a worker housing area, Glencore announced that it has halted operations at the Antapaccay copper mine in southern Peru.
In a media statement, the company said that yesterday’s incidents endangered the safety of its employees and, therefore, authorities should start taking action to safeguard people’s integrity and private property rights.
SYDNEY, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Major coal producers are in talks with the government of New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, over its surprise plan to have miners reserve up to 10% of production for domestic supply, as part of efforts to curb soaring energy costs.
The talks will review what the shortfalls are and how miners can fill them without disrupting supply chains. Early signs point to a limited impact on coal producers though, as there are limited spot supplies to be requisitioned under the rule.
In December 2022, Zimbabwe banned raw lithium ore exports to minimise the economic potential of artisanal mining and encourage investments in state-approved production facilities. Then in January 2023 another ban followed, according to the state-owned newspaper The Herald, this time for covering all base mineral ores.
“No lithium-bearing ores, or unbeneficiated lithium whatsoever, shall be exported from Zimbabwe to another country except under the written permission of the minister,” the country’s mining minister Winston Chitando said in December about the lithium export ban.
The U.S. moved this week to counter China’s control over production of electric vehicle batteries at a time of widespread concerns over global shortages of key minerals and labor abuses in African mines.
In a memorandum of understanding Wednesday, the State Department pledged to help build an EV battery supply chain in Congo and Zambia. The department and other U.S. agencies will offer technical assistance to the two countries, cooperate on feasibility studies and explore opportunities in the sector for U.S. companies, according to the MOU.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/
If sanctions are imposed on Rosatom, Russia’s civilian nuclear firm, it could cut off exports of uranium to the U.S. and European nuclear industry. What would be the impact?
Russia’s state-owned nuclear power conglomerate, Rosatom, is suspected of supplying the Russian arms industry with components, technology and raw materials for missile fuel, The Washington Post reported Friday. The military goods were sent to more than half a dozen major weapons makers, aiding Moscow’s continuing assault on Ukraine.
That has elevated prospects that the United States, and possibly the European Union, might place sanctions on Rosatom, which exports uranium for use in nuclear reactors.
Other precious gems are more valuable. ‘But in beauty,’ one miner said, ‘there is no stone that can be compared to it.’
LA TRINIDAD, Mexico — Héctor Montes has been around opals his entire life and has held a concession from the Mexican government to mine the stone for 40 years. But at 76, he said he could still feel a rush of adrenaline when he picked up a raw opal that had an especially promising glint — he never knows what it will look like in its finished state.
“There are no two alike,” he said of the stones he shapes and polishes. His workshop, strewn with rocks and lapidary equipment, is part of the family opal business that he runs in this community of about 2,500 residents in the central Mexican state of Querétaro, one of the two main regions in the country where opal is mined today.
Zayn Kalyan is CEO of Infinity Stone Ventures
The Canadian Government announced the approval of Galaxy Lithium Canada’s James Bay Lithium Project in Quebec, a milestone in the development of domestic North American lithium production. The James Bay project is expected to produce approximately 5,480 tonnes of ore per day and employ 160 people on average once it’s in operation.
The approval is a significant win for the critical mineral mining industry in Canada and North America, and while clearly affirming the commitment of Canada to its climate change goals, it more importantly signals the critical nature of the energy transition in the fiscal and economic policies of western governments.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/
Victory for Ukraine, Democracy for Russia
GARRY KASPAROV is Chair of the Human Rights Foundation, Co-Founder of the Russian Action Committee, and a former world chess champion. MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY is Co-Founder of the Russian Action Committee and a former political prisoner in Russia.
The regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin is living on borrowed time. The tide of history is turning, and everything from Ukraine’s advances on the battlefield to the West’s enduring unity and resolve in the face of Putin’s aggression points to 2023 being a decisive year. If the West holds firm, Putin’s regime will likely collapse in the near future.
Yet some of Ukraine’s key partners continue to resist supplying Kyiv with the weapons it needs to deliver the knockout punch. The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden in particular seems afraid of the chaos that could accompany a decisive Kremlin defeat.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Think tank analysts weigh in on federal critical minerals strategy
With the release of its Critical Minerals Strategy, Ottawa has officially jumped on the bandwagon in acknowledging that Canada can provide the world with the natural resources needed to make the transition to cleaner technologies and create net-zero economies.
Now the federal government must come up with a way to untangle the regulatory impediments to put new Canadian mines into production faster, according to a panel of experts in a MacDonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) webcast this week.
The uranium market ended 2022 on a sour note. Spot U3O8 price declined 2.3% to $48.31 per pound in December, but did finish the year 14.7% above its opening levels. Uranium mining equities fell 5% in December, bringing the sector’s losses for the year to 11.4%.
A new report by Sprott Asset Management says despite the recent softness, developments just in December underpin Western governments’ renewed focus on energy security due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and will provide long-term structural support for uranium and uranium miners in 2023.
https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/
Working with First Nations is key to unlocking the Golden Triangle’s vast potential.
A world-class copper-gold district that is also enriched with nickel, cobalt, platinum group metals, and other critical minerals, the Golden Triangle region of Northern British Columbia is poised to be a major supplier of the mined commodities critical to a low-carbon future, cutting-edge technologies, and strong global economies.
“Responsible mineral exploration and development are critical to addressing our global challenges,” said Association for Mineral Exploration BC President and CEO Kendra Johnston. “The minerals and metals we discover ignite global supply chains, drive innovation and technology transformation, power new energy solutions, and help achieve a low-carbon future.”
