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The Taliban, at Least, Are Striking Gold in Afghanistan – by Lynne O’Donnell and Mirwais Khan (Foreign Policy – September 22, 2020)

https://foreignpolicy.com/

For decades, Afghanistan’s untapped mineral wealth has been touted as the country’s trillion-dollar El Dorado. But while the Afghan government has never been able to monetize mountains of copper, iron ore, gold, and gemstones, the Taliban have—and are ramping up their mining operations as just-started peace talks aim to shape the future of a postwar Afghanistan.

In recent years, the Taliban have deliberately moved to secure control over regions of Afghanistan rich in mineral deposits, from lapis lazuli mines in northern Badakhshan to gold, lead, and zinc in Helmand and vast talc and marble deposits in southern Nangarhar.

The Taliban, who already control most of the country’s mineral wealth, are banking on further developing the sector to make it the bedrock of the country’s postwar economy—or theirs, at least.

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Rio Tinto promised to respect indigenous people. It has a chance to in the U.S. – by Lauren Redniss (Washington Post – September 22, 2020)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

Earlier this month, the Anglo-Australian mining conglomerate Rio Tinto announced its chief executive, Jean-Sébastien Jacques, and two other top executives would step down as the company reckons with its decision last May to bulldoze ancient rock shelters in Australia’s Juukan Gorge to gain access to iron ore.

For the Indigenous Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people, the rock shelters were sacred sites. Archaeologists have found evidence of 46,000 years of human presence at the gorge.

In June, Rio Tinto issued an apology. But pressure from Indigenous groups and Rio Tinto’s shareholders pushed the company to take a stronger stand.

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Gold investors take new aim at miners with returns falling short – by Steven Frank (Bloomberg News – September 20, 2020)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

A coalition of gold investors, including firms backed by billionaires John Paulson and Naguib Sawiris, is urging changes at miners as performance “continues to fall short” in some areas even as prices rise.

In an open letter to the mining industry, prominent gold investors including money managers at Franklin Templeton, VanEck Funds and members of the Shareholders’ Gold Council are targeting issues including executive compensation and directors who don’t have enough skin in the game because they don’t hold a meaningful amount of shares in the firms they represent.

The signatories offered 16 suggestions to better align the interest of managers, boards and shareholders. Gold has been on a record-setting tear as the pandemic threatens to derail global economic growth, sending investors on a flight to safe havens.

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Significant demand from China to boost Zinc prices – by Yash Sawant (Economic Times/India Times – September 22, 2020)

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Yash Sawant is Research Associate, Angel Broking Ltd.

Zinc, the galvanizing metal, surged over 7 per cent and 5 per cent on the LME and MCX respectively since August’20 as the recovery narrative continues to be the solid expansion in China’s economy and massive liquidity infused by global central banks.

Another supporting element for the industrial metal prices was the plummeting US dollar. The accommodative stance adopted by the US Federal Reserve indicated a low interest environment for a prolonged period, which kept the greenback under pressure, making the industrial metals cheaper for other currency holders.

China: The recovery pillar

Zinc and the other industrial metals continued to post strong gains majorly reflecting the steady growth in China whilst the rest of the world struggled recovering from the pandemic led economic slump.

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Ford deal paves way for electric vehicles – by Josh O’Kane (Globe and Mail – September 22, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Canadian and Ontario governments will partner with Ford Motor Co. of Canada Ltd. to invest $1.8-billion in its auto plant in Oakville, Ont., Unifor president Jerry Dias said on Tuesday, a significant step toward creating an electric-vehicle industry in Canada that would include manufacturers and suppliers.

The deal is part of a tentative three-year labour contract that was signed at about 5 a.m. on Tuesday after marathon talks between the union and the automaker.

The $1.8-billion will be largely dedicated to retooling the Oakville plant to build five electric vehicle models, the first of which will be scheduled to roll off the line in 2025, Mr. Dias said. Batteries will also be assembled at the plant.

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Explorers targeting Saskatchewan’s diversified mineral prospects – by Ellsworth Dickson (Resource World – September 22, 2020)

https://resourceworld.com/

Saskatchewan is the largest exporter of agri-food products in Canada; however, it is also notable for hosting a variety of mineral resources and even heat for a new geothermal plant.

The Prairie province has approximately half of the world’s potash reserves and 8% of the world’s recoverable uranium reserves. The Athabasca basin of northern Saskatchewan has the world’s highest grade uranium mines.

Its 2019 production of 18 million pounds of U3O8 are being used in Canada and globally to generate some 306 billion kilowatt hours of electricity which is equivalent to powering about 28 million homes with an almost zero carbon footprint – and there is a great deal of uranium yet to be discovered and to mine. Proven and Probable Reserves stand at 565.8 million pounds U3O8.

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Canadian Town of ‘Asbestos’ Close to Name Change – by Devin Golden (Mesothelioma Guide – September 22, 2020)

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What’s in a name? The people in a small Canadian town called “Asbestos” will tell you that a lot of baggage is in theirs. Fortunately, the town’s leaders and residents are taking steps to put their troubled identity behind them.

The town in southeastern Quebec is changing its name, and hopefully its asbestos reputation along with it. The four options on the table currently are:

-Phenix, for the mythical bird reborn from fire
-Apalone, an endangered turtle species
-Trois-Lacs, a neighborhood in the town
-Jeffrey, the name of the town’s largest asbestos mine deposit

The town’s mayor announced these four finalists last week in a city council meeting. The residents will vote on the town’s new name in October.

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OPINION: New global standard on mine tailings management won’t prevent another Brumadinho – by Doug Morrison (Northern Ontario Business – September 22, 2020)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Doug Morrison is the president-CEO of the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) in Sudbury.

The mining industry’s ingrained culture of safety needs similar approach in dealing with mine waste solutions

In August, the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) launched what it calls its new ‘Global Industry Standard on Mine Tailings,’ some 18 months after almost 300 people were killed by the catastrophic failure of a Vale iron ore tailings dam at Brumadinho in Brazil.

It is unlikely to be successful. The ICMM report is designed to improve operational control of the existing mine tailings management process and so reduce the consequences of another catastrophic failure.

Its members can take up to five years to implement the ‘Standard’ voluntarily, and the ICMM can only encourage non-member mines to adopt it.

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More Than 20 Detained At Belarusian Potash Mine For Backing Worker’s Political Demands (Radio Free Europe – September 21, 2020)

https://www.rferl.org/

Belarusian police have detained more than 20 people at a potash mine for supporting a second worker who has refused to return to the surface in protest against the state company’s management and President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s government.

“Now [the miners] are being dealt with. Maybe some will be released. It will take time to find out who participated in the action and who did not. It is also possible that not all the miners have been detained,” Serhiy Chabatarov, a spokesman for the Minsk regional police, told RFE/RL.

The protesters were supporting Aleh Kudzyolka, who handed a protest note to his labor union co-workers at the Belaruskali mine at the end of his shift on September 21 saying he would remain hundreds of meters underground until his demands were met.

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Gold industry needs further consolidation, says Barrick’s Bristow – by Mariaan Webb (MiningWeekly.com – September 22, 2020)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

he gold industry still has a mismatch of assets in too many managers’ hands and is in need of further consolidation, says gold major Barrick CEO Mark Bristow.

Speaking at the virtual Gold Forum Americas conference, he said that the industry had come a long way in 18 months, but that the job was not yet finished.

“The industry could be better served if we could reallocate some of the assets into the right place, with managements that have proven track records to deliver value,” Bristow said.

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BHP expands nickel search with SensOre – by Vanessa Zhou (Australian Mining – September 22, 2020)

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BHP has hired SensOre to target mineral deposits in support of its Nickel West operations in Western Australia. SensOre will apply its data cube and discriminant predictive targeting (DPT) technology on commodity-specific deposits as part of resource exploration with the major miner.

BHP chief executive Mike Henry has often reiterated the company’s intention to develop its growth options, particularly in future-facing commodities such as copper and nickel.

“… In the case of nickel and copper we would like more resource, although another thing that (BHP chief financial officer Peter Beaven) often talks passionately about is the potential for us to unlock more options within the resource that we already have, though a focus on innovation,” he told investors during BHP’s financial year results release in August.

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To attract more investors, shareholders urge gold miners to change compensation practices – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – September 22, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A coalition of heavyweight investors is calling on the global gold industry to improve its performance in several key metrics, even as the share prices of many gold companies hit multiyear highs amid a soaring commodity price.

This year, the TSX Global Gold Index, which includes many of the biggest gold companies in the world, is up 41 per cent, driven in large part by outperformance of the price of gold bullion.

Historically sought out as a safe-haven investment in times of great upheaval, gold prices recently hit new record highs, driven by extraordinary uncertainty in financial markets owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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New technology to help clean and recycle Canada’s mining wastewater (Canadian Mining Journal – September 21, 2020)

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

As Canada looks to responsibly develop its mining and minerals industry as part of its economic recovery plan from the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has announced a $4.5-million investment in E2Metrix, to help mining operations recycle wastewater and operate more sustainably; Quebec-headquartered E2Metrix specializes in the treatment of wastewater.

Wastewater for mining operations can often contain pollutants and toxic chemicals. E2Metrix’s ECOTHOR technology aims to clean and separate contaminants, such as ammonia and heavy metals, from the wastewater.

According to the government’s release, this process is a more effective, energy-efficient and affordable way to reuse and recycle wastewater from mining operations and is expected to help companies improve water efficiency and reduce their impacts on fresh water.

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The Age of Electric Cars Is Dawning Ahead of Schedule – by Jack Ewing (New York Times – September 20, 2020)

https://www.nytimes.com/

FRANKFURT — An electric Volkswagen ID.3 for the same price as a Golf. A Tesla Model 3 that costs as much as a BMW 3 Series. A Renault Zoe electric subcompact whose monthly lease payment might equal a nice dinner for two in Paris.

As car sales collapsed in Europe because of the pandemic, one category grew rapidly: electric vehicles. One reason is that purchase prices in Europe are coming tantalizingly close to the prices for cars with gasoline or diesel engines.

At the moment this near parity is possible only with government subsidies that, depending on the country, can cut more than $10,000 from the final price. Carmakers are offering deals on electric cars to meet stricter European Union regulations on carbon dioxide emissions. In Germany, an electric Renault Zoe can be leased for 139 euros a month, or $164.

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Gatling makes the connection with Larder Lake deposits: Exploration drilling proves three deposits are part of one gold system – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – September 22, 2020)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Gatling Resources has connected three high-grade deposits at its Larder Gold Project in northeastern Ontario, and can prove it’s all part of one large mineralized system.

The Vancouver junior miner claims it has successfully drilled gold mineralization between its Fernland and Cheminis deposits.

The company’s Larder Project hosts three high-grade gold deposits – Bear, Cheminis and Fernland – along the Cadillac-Larder Lake Break, 35 kilometres east of Kirkland Lake.

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