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What Impact Will India’s ‘Clean Energy’ Shift Have on Its Minerals Economy? – by Lou Del Bello (Science The Wire India – May 12, 2021)

https://science.thewire.in/

Despite what we often hear, the energy transition is not as simple as building solar panels and wind turbines everywhere. It requires an overhaul of some of the key systems underpinning our economy, minerals being one of them.

In a new report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) takes stock of which and how much mineral resources we’ll need as we decarbonise the world’s energy architecture.

I spoke with Jagabanta Ningthoujam, manager with RMI-India, who specialises on electricity, batteries and hydrogen. Formerly associated with the World Bank’s Climate Smart Mining Facility, he discusses the global race for mineral access through an Indian perspective.

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Glencore boss warns of future China dominance in electric vehicles – by Neil Hume (Financial Times – May 12, 2021)

https://www.ft.com/

US and Europe risk being left behind unless they secure cobalt supplies for batteries, says Ivan Glasenberg

The car industry in the US and Europe risks being left behind by their Chinese rivals unless they secure supplies of cobalt, according to the world’s biggest producer of the key battery metal.

Glencore chief executive Ivan Glasenberg told the FT Future of the Car Summit on Wednesday that western carmakers would be naive to think they could always rely on China to supply the batteries for electric vehicle fleets.

Glasenberg said Chinese companies had been quick to realise the vulnerability of their supply chains and “tied up” lots of cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cobalt is a metal needed in the lithium-ion batteries used in longer-range electric vehicles.

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Indonesia says no new coal plants from 2023 (after the next 100 or so) – by Hans Nicholas Jong (Mongabay.com – May 12, 2021)

https://news.mongabay.com/

JAKARTA — Indonesia says it will stop building new coal-fired power plants after 2023 to meet its carbon-neutral goals — but the more than 100 plants to be built by then will still be churning out CO2 decades after that.

Zulkifli Zaini, CEO of state-owned electricity utility PLN, said there would be no more new thermal plants after an ongoing program to add 35,000 megawatts (MW) to the national grid — powered mostly by coal — is completed.

That program, rolled out in 2015, calls for building 117 new coal-fired power plants, with only 2,000 MW coming from renewable energy sources.

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Centerra Gold to pursue international arbitration against Kyrgyzstan after former Soviet state takes aim at Kumtor mine – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – May 12, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Centerra Gold Inc. is pursuing an international arbitration suit against Kyrgyzstan, after the former Soviet state indicated it was getting ready to nationalize a giant gold mine wholly owned by the Canadian company.

On Friday, Toronto-based Centerra said that, in the space of 24 hours, the landlocked country in Central Asia passed a new law through parliament that allows the government to seize external control of mining assets granted under concessions when there are safety concerns.

Centerra’s Kumtor mine is the only asset in the country that qualifies under the criteria.

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Minnesota copper project in limbo as officials launch permits review – Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – May 11, 2021)

https://www.mining.com/

The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has agreed to reconsider its decision to renew 13 prospecting permits in Minnesota, which could have allowed Antofagasta’s Twin Metals to expand its proposed copper-nickel mine at the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

The move by the federal agency, part of the US Department of the Interior, comes in response to a lawsuit filed last year by conservation groups. They challenged a four-year extension of the permits, granted by former President Donald Trump.

“After the horrendous years of the Trump administration, federal officials now appear focused on rational, science-based decision making,” Marc Fink, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.

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Agnico Eagle embraces reduced operations for its new western Nunavut mine – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – May 112, 2021)

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Agnico Eagle Mining Ltd. plans to stick to a schedule of reduced operations into 2022 for its recently acquired Hope Bay gold mine, says general manager Eric Steinmetzer.

The new owner’s plans for Hope Bay include completing an overview of the entire operation on the property’s three gold deposits, Doris, Madrid and Boston. Analysts are now on site, looking at the full economic potential of the entire ore body, Steinmetzer said.

That analysis will take at least a year to complete, he said, and suggest whether or not Agnico Eagle needs to design a new mill or simply undertake an upgrade of the existing mill.

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Diamond Dealer Jared Holstein on the Limits of Ethical Sourcing – by Victoria Gomelsky (JCK Online.com – May 12, 2021)

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Don’t come to Jared Amadeo Holstein (pictured) expecting to find answers about ethical diamond sourcing. The San Francisco–based diamond, colored stone, and estate jewelry dealer, aka D’Amadeo, specializes in post-consumer recycled diamonds and colored stones, historical cuts, and known-source gemstones, but he makes no claims about his diamonds’ ethics.

“The word ethical is weighted and freighted and should be used very carefully,” Holstein tells JCK, admitting that he has persistent doubts about the how the goods he’s bought have come to market and the impacts they’ve had on people and the planet along the way.

“But being involved, buying goods that I’m not comfortable with buying, allows me to have conversations with people that are good,” Holstein says. “Everyone just needs to ask questions. It is all of our duty to press industry and to press producers for better information.”

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Killing Line 5 will only make people realize how much we need fossil fuels – by Tasha Kheiriddin (National Post – May 12, 2021)

https://nationalpost.com/

This seems like a bad week to be in the pipeline business. On Friday, a cyberattack shut down the American Colonial Pipeline network, which carries 2.5 million barrels a day of diesel, gasoline and jet fuel to 14 states.

A criminal gang called “DarkSide” is accused of holding data for ransom; it is not clear whether Colonial paid up, but the company expects to “substantially” restore service by the end of this week.

By then, however, another major pipeline could be shut down, not by extortion, but by government fiat. Michigan has ordered the closure of Enbridge’s Line 5, a pipeline carrying nearly half of the light crude oil, light synthetic crude oil and natural gas liquids consumed in Ontario and Quebec.

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Australian Government commits $20m to resources strategy (Australian Mining – May 10, 2021)

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The Australian Government has unveiled a $20 million Global Resources Strategy to expand the reach and reputation of the country’s resources industry.

Federal Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt said the strategy would assist Australia’s resource sector in supplying to new global markets during the world’s recovery from COVID-19.

“Australia’s resources sector more than lived up to its reputation as a dependable, resilient and efficient supplier of major commodities to the world throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” Pitt said.

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OPINION: The infrastructure war between China and the United States is fuelling the commodities rally – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – May 12, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

There are all sorts of wars, a shorthand term beloved by politicians, economists and journalists. There is the trade war, the diplomatic war, the new Cold War, the war against the pandemic.

Yet another one is on the horizon – the infrastructure war – and it goes a long way to explain why commodity prices are soaring, with some of them, including copper and iron ore, hitting record prices in recent days. The war could trigger a new commodities “super cycle,” if we’re not in one already.

The infrastructure war is as much geopolitical as economic. It pits America against China, each of which is trying to lock up the resources required to rebuild their infrastructure and ramp up the transition to a clean economy, which will require vast amounts of copper, cobalt, nickel, zinc and steel to produce everything from electric vehicles (EVs) and wind turbines to “smart” power grids and solar panels.

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Column: Signs of investor vertigo as copper hits record highs – by Andy Home (Yahoo/Finance – Reuters – May 11, 2021)

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/

LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) – Copper continues to rewrite the record books. London Metal Exchange (LME) three-month metal punched through its previous record high of $10,190 a tonne, set in 2011, to touch $10,747.50 on Monday.

Copper sits at the epicentre of the broader rally unfolding across the commodities space, which super-bulls such as Goldman Sachs say is the start of a supercycle analogous to that of the 2000s.

The metal’s usage profile affords it exposure to global manufacturing recovery, post-pandemic rebuild and decarbonisation. Whether the world’s copper miners can meet that demand is a moot point, given chronic past underperformance and a lengthening list of supply threats.

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Awareness campaign aims to draw youth to mining – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – May 11, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Modern Mining & Technology Sudbury kicks off annual youth engagement efforts

Mining industry advocates have kicked off a week-long awareness campaign to raise the profile of the sector among Sudbury’s youth.

Now in its third decade, Modern Mining & Technology Sudbury (MMTS) annually hosts a series of activities that engage local high school students in learning about the benefits of mining to contemporary society.

Ultimately, the aim is to pique their interest in exploring a career in the industry.

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America’s electric cars need lithium so badly it may wipe out this species – by Matt McFarland (CNN Business – May 10, 2021)

https://www.cnn.com/

Washington, DC (CNN)Fewer than 40 years after humans discovered Tiehm’s buckwheat, a Nevada plant with yellow flowers, they may drive it to extinction in pursuit of electric vehicles, a technology widely hailed as being environmentally friendly.

Environmentalists say the benefits of Tiehm’s buckwheat could be vast, but its full significance is unknown. What’s certain, they say, is that guarding Tiehm’s buckwheat is important for preserving biodiversity on Earth.

The flower is so newly discovered that it hasn’t been studied thoroughly, they say. But botanists say they’re impressed with Tiehm’s buckwheat’s ability to thrive where few species can — poor soil that’s full of boron and lithium.

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All things bright and beautiful – by Arabella Roden (Jeweller Magazine – May 11, 2021)

https://www.jewellermagazine.com/

There is no denying the appeal of coloured gemstones. From the high jewellery of Paris Couture Fashion Week to Tiffany & Co.’s annual Blue Book Collection – the centrepiece of its annual design calendar – the spotlight in 2021 has been firmly focused on vibrant, vivid gemstones in every colour of the rainbow.

Soothing yet magnetic hues of blue and green, captured in aquamarine and emerald, were emphasised at Tasaki and David Morris, while Bucherer painted a perfect pastel picture with soft pink and purple spinel and sapphire.

Inspired by the natural world, Tiffany’s Blue Book – themed ‘Colors of Nature’ – teemed with tanzanite, tourmaline, and garnet.

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An Acid Squeeze Is the Latest Obstacle Facing Giant Copper Mines – by Daniela Sirtori-Cortina (Yahoo Finance – May 10, 2021)

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — Add sulfuric acid to the list of challenges facing copper miners as the world clamors for more of the wiring metal.

The compound, used to extract copper from ore, is getting harder to come by. A slowdown in oil refining during the pandemic has resulted in less availability of sulfur, a key input for the acid.

At the same time, more acid made in Asia is being used locally as industries there rebound. At least one copper mine in top-producer Chile has already been impacted and spot prices have surged.

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