Republic of Mining

Miners use on-site testing to keep operations coronavirus-free – by Kelsey Rolfe (Northern Miner – September 7, 2020)

September 8, 2020

https://www.northernminer.com/

Timothy Ray Sewell is no stranger to pandemics. In the early 2000s he developed emergency management plans in Indonesia and Borneo for BHP Billiton during the H1N1 influenza pandemic and the H5N1 avian influenza.

Years later, Sewell was working for BHP in West Africa and Sundance Resources in central Africa as the first sporadic cases of Ebola emerged on the continent.

Now the senior director of health, safety, environment, security and training at Baffinland Iron Ore’s Mary River mine, Sewell said those experiences informed his approach to emergency preparedness for the remote iron ore operation.

U.S., Europe Face Hurdles to Cut China Reliance for Rare Earths – by Joe Deaux (Bloomberg News – September 5, 2020)

September 8, 2020

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Bloomberg) — The U.S. and Europe’s ambition to boost production of rare raw materials used in electric vehicles and wind turbines and reduce dependence on China will face obstacles, including higher costs and environmental concerns.

Two U.S. Congressmen this week introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at reducing dependence on China for rare earths, similar to what Senator Ted Cruz introduced in May.

The European Union stepped up a push to become less reliant on imported raw materials, with the European Commission vowing to create a raw-materials alliance by the end of the year due to their importance in growing industries.

What to know about critical minerals – the key to our clean energy future – by Andrea Willige (World Economic Forum – September 2020)

September 8, 2020

https://www.weforum.org/

When we think about the global switch to renewable energy, minerals are not the first thing that spring to mind. But they are crucial building blocks for all kinds of clean-energy infrastructure, from wind turbines and solar panels to electric vehicles and the batteries that power them.

Earlier this year, the World Bank predicted a 500% increase in the production of minerals such as graphite, lithium and cobalt by 2050 to feed the energy transition.

As in so many other industries, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light little-known weaknesses in global mineral supply chains for clean energy. For example, in Peru, a major world supplier of copper, mining came to a halt due to the country’s confinement measures. In South Africa, lockdown significantly disrupted the global production of platinum, another essential mineral in many clean-energy technologies.

How the US government seized all citizens’ gold in 1930s – by Chris Colvin and Philip Fliers (The Conversation – May 21, 2020)

September 8, 2020

https://theconversation.com/

Chris Colvin is a Senior Lecturer in Economics, Queen’s University Belfast and Philip Fliers is a Lecturer in Finance, Queen’s University Belfast.

With global financial markets in disarray, many investors are turning to classic safe havens. Gold is trading above US$1,750 (£1,429) per troy ounce, which is the standard measure – more than 15% above where it started 2020.

Even after a strong rally since March, the S&P 500 stock market index is down nearly 10% over the same period.

Gold confers familiarity during downturns. Its returns are uncorrelated with assets like stocks, so it tends to hold its value when they fall. It is also a good way of avoiding currency devaluation.

Meet the struggling gold miners who are missing out on boom in the precious metal – by Sara Geenen and Boris Verbrugge (The Conversation – May 21, 2020)

September 8, 2020

https://theconversation.com/

Sara Geenen is an Assistant professor in Globalisation, International Development and Poverty, University of Antwerp and Boris Verbrugge is a Post-doctoral Researcher in Development Studies, University of Antwerp.

In Mukungwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, thousands of young men and women live in makeshift huts. They have no access to sanitation or health facilities.

They work as manual drillers, carriers or timber specialists in narrow underground tunnels, which exposes them to everything from toxic metals to cave-ins and even suffocation.

They work in teams under different agreements with a local paymaster, sometimes sharing what they find, sometimes receiving a wage or payments in kind. Outside the pits, others work as rock crushers, water carriers, washers or cooks.

Rising temperatures leave Russia’s Arctic ambitions on thin ice – by Toby Woodall (S&P Global Market Intelligence – September 7, 2020)

September 8, 2020

https://www.spglobal.com/

The Arctic provides almost 25% of Russia’s GDP, according to a
July U.S. Air Force report on Arctic Strategy, which describes
the area as “a region of immense geostrategic significance and a key location for global power projection.”

Rising temperatures and several environmental catastrophes over summer have revealed the underlying risks to Moscow’s ambitious plans to develop everything from military bases to mines and associated infrastructure in Russia’s far-flung eastern and northern regions, including the increasingly strategically important Arctic.

Record temperatures and wildfires in Siberia this summer — following Russia’s mildest winter yet — were accompanied by a series of highly polluting incidents in the High North, including one of the worst oil spills ever seen in the rapidly warming region.

Opinion: Mine cleanup plan is encouraging, but there’s still work to be done – by Cynthia Wallesz (Juneau Empire – September 7, 2020)

September 8, 2020

Home

Cynthia Wallesz is an Alaska seafood advocate who fishes commercially for salmon in Southeast Alaska.

Good news for the Taku River and for those, like myself, who sell and eat Southeast Alaska seafood.

Last month, the British Columbia government released a permanent closure and cleanup plan for its long-abandoned and polluting Tulsequah Chief mine. When releasing the plan, B.C. committed almost $1.6 million to start the process.

In tracking this issue for the last five years, I’ve learned that making strides in transboundary waters takes having prominent elected officials on your side.

OPINION:The oil sands have a future, and it includes polluter pays – Editorial (Globe and Mail – September 8, 2020)

September 8, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A central tenet of industrial development is the polluter-pays principle: Those who profit must pay for the mess generated by pulling resources from the ground or turning raw materials into goods. If you want to own the upside, you’ve got to own the downside.

This principle is widely agreed upon, yet through decades of development, everyone knows it has not always been the rule. There are many examples. Take the Giant Mine, near Yellowknife.

It was one of Canada’s oldest gold mines, but after trading through various corporate hands numerous times, the last owner went bust and left behind 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide. Giant is part of a $2.2-billion taxpayer-funded cleanup of eight abandoned northern mines that will take 15 years.

‘Made in Morocco’: Mining Boom Demands Focus on Value Added Products – by Jasper Hamann (Morocco World News – September 7, 2020)

September 8, 2020

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/

Rabat – A mining boom could benefit more than just exports if Morocco can advance the production of value-added products. Shedding the legacy of colonialist resource exploitation, Morocco could expand its position in supply chains and better profit from its natural assets.

The country has 75% of the world’s estimated reserves of phosphate and is growing its share of barite, cobalt, and other important minerals. The world relies on countries like Morocco to supply the global community with such minerals.

These raw materials are necessary to produce mobile phones, make fertilizer to grow crops, and produce steel for cars and buildings. Reserves for important materials for high-tech products like computers and cell phones are not available in Europe and the United States.

Beijing May Be More Addicted to Coal Than Oil – by David Fickling (Bloomberg News – September 5, 2020)

September 8, 2020

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg Opinion) — There’s one surprise entrant in the group of oil companies announcing plans this year for how they’ll reduce emissions: PetroChina Co.

China’s oil companies, unlike their peers in the U.S. and particularly Europe, don’t traditionally treat climate targets as a major issue. Beijing, after all, isn’t even promising to hit its emissions peak until 2030.

The large fund managers that have been pressuring Western oil companies to improve their carbon commitments don’t make much difference, either. PetroChina’s chairman, Dai Houliang, is a Communist bureaucrat whose more significant job is party secretary of state-owned parent China National Petroleum Corp.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS MOUNT OVER USE OF NICKEL IN EVS – by Kieran Ahuja (Sunday Times Driving – September 7, 2020)

September 8, 2020

Home

OF COURSE, as something that has been widely touted as a more environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) cars, the green credentials of pure-electric vehicles have often been called into question.

A large amount of the conversation around this has revolved around the use of cobalt, which is used to aid conductivity and structural stability in lithium-ion batteries, enabling them to last for as long as they do.

However, production of cobalt is sometimes conducted in territories where a blind eye is turned to ethical mining practices, in places such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which produces around 60% of the world supply.

Daimler Joins Responsible Mica Initiative to Combat Child Labor in Indian Mica Mines (Steel Guru – September 7, 2020)

September 8, 2020

https://steelguru.com/

Daimler AG is taking further important steps to ensure respect for human rights in the vicinity of raw-material mines: The Company has joined forces with the Terre des Hommes Netherlands NGO for a project and has joined the Responsible Mica Initiative to combat child labor in Indian mica mines.

The cooperation with Terre des Hommes Netherlands in Jharkhand India aims to enable children in the vicinity of mica mines to attend school and to provide economic support for their families.

The raw material mica is used, among other things, to achieve the shimmering effect of vehicle paints. The project aims to prevent parents from having to send their children to work in mica mines.

The Myth of Harmonious Indigenous Conservationism – by Baz Edmeades (Quillette.com – September 6, 2020)

September 8, 2020

https://quillette.com/

It seems like a long time ago. But only six months ago, pundits had convinced themselves that the great morality tale of our time was playing out in an obscure part of British Columbia.

Following on an internal political fight within the Wet’suwet’en First Nation over a local pipeline project, one columnist wrote that “the Indigenous people of Earth have become the conscience of humanity. In this dire season, it is time to listen to them.”

In fact, the elected leadership of the Wet’suwet’en had chosen to participate in the controverted pipeline project. The nationwide protests against the pipeline that followed were, in fact, sparked by unelected “hereditary” chiefs who long have received government signing bonuses.

MINING HISTORY: The world’s busiest gambling house [Toronto Stock Exchange] – by Alan Phillips (MACLEAN’S Magazine – August 29, 1959)

September 4, 2020

https://archive.macleans.ca/

Behind its respectable facade, the Toronto Stock Exchange is a rowdy casino where a stenographer may win a fortune or a tycoon may lose his shirt. It’s also an essential source of vitality for Canada’s expanding economy

The Toronto Stock Exchange has a curiously fitting façade. It sheers up from Bay Street in downtown Toronto, austere as befits a national shrine to mammon. Coin-like metal discs stud its door grilles. Above them carved stone figures form a frieze. It represents a nation in growth, wresting wealth from the earth.

This is what the designer. Charles Comfort, intended. But, apparently through an oversight, he has shown at the right of the door a top-hatted man thrusting one hand into a worker’s pocket thus suggesting, however inadvertently, the strange schizophrenia of the exchange; at once a mirror of growth and a mirror of greed; a temple of finance and a temple of chance; the best institution yet devised for sharing the national wealth, and, in the heart of Toronto the Good, where even bingo is frowned on, a private club for public gambling, probably the world’s biggest.

‘Bright future’ ahead for junior miners, says Mines & Money panel – by Simone Liedtke (Mining Weekly – September 4, 2020)

September 4, 2020

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Taking the current ongoing disruption, as a result of Covid-19, into account, private investment company Long State Investment associate Jessie Chen expects a bright future and positive outlook for junior mining companies over the next 12 to 18 months.

In a Mines and Money-hosted webinar and panel discussion on September 3, she elaborated that, the next year was likely to be a very busy one for junior miners, especially as global junior mining activity had been temporarily suspended owing to the pandemic and related restrictions.

She believed that, as a result, junior miners were likely to start 2021 off with better financing prospects, particularly as many travel restrictions and physical distancing requirements would have been lifted by the start of the new year.