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China’s electric-car push sparks gold rush for lithium – by Shunsuke Tabeta and Naoyuki Toyama (Nikkei Asian Review – November 27, 2017)

https://asia.nikkei.com/

Companies chase deals with Chilean, Australian miners

GUANGZHOU/SAO PAULO — China’s aggressive promotion of electric vehicles has kicked off a global hunt for lithium, spurring record prices for the material vital to the production of batteries used in such cars.

“We must secure lithium resources to prepare for the era of electric vehicles,” said Heyi Xu, chairman of Beijing Automotive Group. The company, in negotiations with Chilean economic development agency Corfo, proposes industrial development that incorporates lithium mining, battery production and electric vehicle assembly in Chile.

Top Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD is speaking with Chilean lithium producers, with plans for a direct investment, an executive from the company’s regional headquarters told a local media outlet. Chinese lithium supplier Tianqi Group took a 2% stake in Chile’s SQM, one of the world’s largest producer of the light metal.

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Deadly mine strike highlights accusations NAFTA used to exploit Mexican workers – by Adrian Morrow (Globe and Mail – November 25, 2017)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

It was a little after 10 p.m. Saturday when a convoy of pickup trucks carrying balaclava-clad men rolled up to a roadblock near Torex Gold’s mine in Mexico’s Guerrero state. As part of a wildcat strike, workers at the Canadian-owned operation had cut its water supply and were barricading a dirt road leading to the wells.

The attackers opened fire with assault rifles and shotguns, miners told The Globe and Mail in interviews at the scene, chased the protesters into the surrounding scrubland and beat them up. When the shooting stopped, two men lay dead: Brothers Victor and Marcelino Sahuanitla Pena. Locals said the pair had worked delivering diesel to the mine and were manning the blockade that night.

What exactly caused the violence is a matter of dispute. The protesters blame their trade union, the Confederacion de Trabajadores de Mexico (CTM), which they accuse of being too close to Torex and dealing with the company behind their backs.

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Great Deposits – The Comstock Lode – by Andrew Watson (Geology For Investors – November 2017)

 

https://www.geologyforinvestors.com/

Flying over Nevada on a clear day is one of the great joys of being an economic geologist. The Basin and Range country has abundant structural features, intrusions, deformed bedding and pits and plenty to keep one occupied.

Every so often the occasional grid drilling pattern, hinting of what will or what just didn’t quite comes into view. The driver is of course gold, with Nevada dominating US gold production claiming 78% of the total. The perceptive might wonder why then is it called the “Silver State” – the answer is the Comstock Lode.

Like all great deposits, the Comstock Lode did many things; it broke Nevada away from Utah, it pushed mining technology ahead by leaps and bounds, it was critical in kick-starting the study of hydrothermal alteration, it brought the first elevator to Nevada, and it made a few people very, very rich.

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Giant Mine arsenic could be cleaned up in 5 years, researcher says – by Walter Strong (CBC News North – November 26, 2017)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Not so fast, says Giant Mine Oversight Board of proposed process, which is untested in mine setting

The decision to freeze about 237,000 tonnes of toxic arsenic trioxide dust underground at the former Giant Mine in Yellowknife remains the chosen solution for now — and possibly for the next 100 years — but a researcher at Queen’s University says he and his team have a technology that could render all that toxic dust inert in five years.

“Freezing arsenic underground is a good solution, but in general it’s not a permanent solution,” says Dr. Ahmad Ghahreman, a Queen’s University assistant professor in the department of mining. “Imagine if for any reason you have a power loss … the water body around the arsenic is not frozen anymore and then your arsenic starts to release into the environment.”

Ghahreman says a new process to treat arsenic trioxide and render it into inert could work, and would be relatively affordable compared to another well-established — but prohibitively expensive — hydrogen peroxide treatment.

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OPINION: A Gold Rush in Salmon Country – by Brendan Jones (New York Times – November 24, 2017)

https://www.nytimes.com/

SITKA, Alaska — It is almost winter again here. The days shorten and the furrows of the volcano that looms over our town steadily fill with snow. At night my daughters and I watch northern lights dance green across a mountain ridge as we wait for our salmon to thaw for dinner.

In the courts there is a case in which the defendant, a fisherman, claims his cloth measuring tape constricted in the cold, causing him to mismeasure his halibut. In another case a fisherman blames his freezer for shrinking a king salmon. Alaska state troopers disagree. Life continues apace.

When I’m not working on our tugboat, I fish with Eric Jordan, a second-generation troller whose parents, like those of so many seasoned fishermen around here, fought for Alaskan statehood so salmon could be better managed. We work the winter line, stretching between Cape Edgecumbe Light and Point Woodhouse.

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African elites plunder their countries at public’s expense – by Rasna Warah (Daily Nation – November 26, 2017)

http://www.nation.co.ke/

Does the raging political unrest in Togo have anything to with the fact that President Faure Gnassingbe entirely controls and benefits from the sale of phosphate, the country’s main mineral?

According to a new investigative report on how African oligarchs are looting the continent’s wealth at the expense of their own people, the Togolese president and his family have for decades been selling phosphate to “privileged clients” at below market rates and pocketing the money using offshore accounts.

The Plunder Route to Panama: How Oligarchs Steal from Their Countries, an investigation by the African Investigative Publishing Collective in partnership with Africa Uncensored and ZAM, examines the role African political leaders – in collusion with foreign interests – have played in undermining economic development and exacerbating poverty on the continent through the blatant theft of their countries’ natural and mineral resources.

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Cyberattacks pose serious threat to Canada’s automated resource firms – by Dan Healing (Globe and Mail – November 26, 2017)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

CANADIAN PRESS: Data theft from high-profile hacks against companies like Uber and Equifax can cost consumers thousands of dollars but resource companies worry about millions in damage, along with potential injuries and death, if their technology is compromised.

The thought of a multi-tonne piece of equipment running amok or shutting down at a critical time in the resource gathering process is a nightmare scenario for chief information and security officers in the oilpatch and other resource-rich regions of Canada.

Cybercriminals are betting the company whose gear no longer obeys instructions would be willing to pay dearly to avoid such a situation.

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Lawsuit could be precedent-setting for Canadian mining companies operating abroad – by Andrew Topf (Mining.com – November 26, 2017)

http://www.mining.com/

Legal proceedings were held last week in Toronto related to a case against a Canadian mining company that formerly was operating through a subsidiary in Guatemala. The outcome of the case could have wider repercussions for Canada-based mining companies who do business overseas.

Base and precious metals miner Hudbay Minerals (TSX,NYSE:HBM) is defending itself against allegations that five women from a remote Guatemalan community were raped by employees of one of Hudbay’s former subsidiaries.

According to the CBC, the five women came to Toronto for pre-trial questioning by Hudbay’s lawyers, in connection with three civil suits filed against the Toronto-based firm. States CBC:

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Labor Set to Win Queensland Vote in Blow to Turnbull – by Adam Haigh and Jason Scott (Bloomberg News – November 26, 2017)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Labor government is favored to return to power in the northeast Australian state, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and raising doubts about the future of a $12.6 billion coal mine.

Analysts projected her party would win the highest number of seats in Saturday’s vote, with the Australian Broadcasting Corp. predicting it may win enough to form a majority government in the 93-seat parliament. The ABC reported Labor had taken 43 and will likely gain at least another four, with the Liberal National Party set for as many as 41 seats. Vote counting may continue for days before the outcome is clear.

“As soon as every vote is counted, then I will be talking to my colleagues about the future ministry,” Palaszczuk, 48, said on Sunday. “We are confident of a Labor majority.”

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Special Report: ‘Treacherous shenanigans’ – The inside story of Mugabe’s downfall – by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Joe Brock and Ed Cropley (Reuters U.S. – November 26, 2017)

https://www.reuters.com/

HARARE (Reuters) – Inside State House in Harare, Robert Mugabe was in the tightest spot of his 37-year rule. Tanks were on the streets and troops had occupied the state broadcaster, from where the army had announced it had taken control of Zimbabwe.

Mugabe, 93 years old but still alert, remained defiant. The only leader the country had known since independence was refusing to quit.At a tense meeting with his military top brass on Nov. 16, the world’s oldest head of state put his foot down: “Bring me the constitution and tell me what it says,” he ordered military chief Constantino Chiwenga, according to two sources present.

An aide brought a copy of the constitution, which lays out that the president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces.Chiwenga, dressed in camouflage fatigues, hesitated before replying that Zimbabwe was facing a national crisis that demanded military intervention.

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[The Hilarious Adventures Continue] Excerpt from ‘Miner Altercations’ – by Jon Ardeman

To order a copy of “Miner Altercations” which would make an excellent Christmas gift for any Geologist/ Mining/Explorationist: http://amzn.to/2Ap0Zo3

Since graduating Jon Ardeman’s geological career has been in many guises; in exploration, mining, consultancy, conservation and research. He has worked as a National Park guide, a nature warden looking after tadpoles and orchids, as a researcher digging up cow shed floors looking for Ordovician brachiopods and preparing dinosaur bones for a museum display. Enthused by these experiences, Jon sought further adventures, and headed to Africa where he worked as a geologist on various mines for more than a decade.

He returned to university and after a few years of academic research and consultancy, Jon went back to mining and precious metal exploration. His travels have taken him from the Arctic to the Equator, from North America and Siberia, to Europe, Australia, Asia and back to Africa.

During this time, Jon wrote several “mystery and imagination” short stories for magazines and competitions, but his inspiration for a first novel ‘Miner Indiscretions’ came from get-togethers with fellow prospectors and miners; with the story embellished by imagination, cold beer, a hint of the supernatural and – of course – dreams of African gold! The author is married with several children and now resides in Hertfordshire, England.

Overview

The second in the MINER series of the picaresque adventures of Timothy, a young mining geologist working on the remote Yellow Snake Gold Mine in Southern Africa. After staving off the closure of the ageing Mine with the discovery of a rich new gold deposit, Timothy and the Mine’s eccentric employees look forward to returning to their devious old ways. And yet success, even in the mining industry, can bring its own challenges. Just as their luck seemed to have changed, the Yellow Snake Mine team are forced to dig deep again.

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Iron ore extends rally, fresh bull market beckons – by Timothy Moore (Australian Financial Review – November 24, 2017)

http://www.afr.com/

The spot price of iron ore appears headed toward a bull market on optimism about Chinese demand for higher grades of the steelmaking material.

So far this month, ore with 62 per cent iron content quoted by Metal Bulletin has risen 15.7 per cent, including a 3.9 per cent leap to $US67.69 a tonne on Thursday. It surged 4.3 per cent on Wednesday. The latest price swing is in keeping with a volatile year.

The latest rally appears to be underpinned in part by China’s push to curb pollution from now through March by closing less efficient steel mills in particular those in the northern part of the country. One result is that mills are using more higher grade, less polluting imported iron ore to maintain output.

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Wallbridge pushing for early production at Fenelon: Quebec property showing good results, say executives – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – November 24, 2017)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

A Sudbury-based junior mining company says it is feeling so confident over a Quebec gold property, a production decision could be made by late 2018. Wallbridge Mining presented their latest findings and core samples from their Fenelon property at a special presentation of the Sudbury Prospectors and Developers Association, Nov. 21.

The talk by senior geologist Attila Pentek and exploration vice-president Joshua Bailey was a comprehensive history of the property, the geology of the deposits, initial test drills and preliminary assay results of core samples, and timelines on production plans.

Fenelon is located 150 kilometres north of Val d’Or, an area Bailey described as being largely overlooked by prospectors. Exploring the property was part of a valuation strategy by the company, which met the investment criteria for a number of reasons.

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Botswana’s mining sector woes hit an all-time low – by Mpho Tebele (The Southern Times – November 24, 2017)

Gaborone – The future of Botswana’s mining sector hangs in the balance as eight mines were closed since 2010, shedding more than 7,500 jobs in the process, according to a report compiled by the Ministry of Mineral Resources.

With a population of less than 2 million, the number of jobs lost in the last seven years is a great concern to the authorities. Botswana is dependent on the mining sector and it earns the bulk of its revenue from the same sector.

Minister of Minerals, Sadique Kebonang, informed Parliament through a report compiled by his ministry that some of the mines are still placed under liquidation while others have been reopened.

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German activists lose bid to halt Hambach mine expansion – by Patrick Grobe (Deutsche Welle – November 24, 2017)

http://www.dw.com/en/

Cries of protest erupted in the Cologne Administrative Court on Friday after the judge ruled that development plans for the Hambach open-pit mine did not breach environmental legislation and could go ahead as planned. Conservation organization BUND, which filed the lawsuit, vowed to appeal the decision.

“We will continue to pursue all legal and political avenues to stop this irresponsible open-pit mine and to save what remains of the Hambach forest,” BUND’s managing director in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) said.

The group argued that NRW authorities should never have approved mine operator BWE’s plans for the 2020-2030 period, saying the upcoming expansion would mean felling trees in the ancient Hambach forest.

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