Новости за 21.07.2022

Nickel miner Vale Indonesia, China's Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt and US car maker Ford Motor signed a non-binding memorandum of cooperation to build a plant in Indonesia to extract nickel chemicals, Vale said in a statement on Thursday. The companies plan to create a partnership to build a plant to produce 120 000 t/y of mixed hydroxide precipitate, material extracted from nickel ore that would be used in batteries for electric vehicles.

US mining giant Freeport-McMoRan on Thursday posted a lower-than-expected profit for the second quarter, hurt by lower realised copper prices. Demand for copper, often seen as an economic bellwether, took a hit during the reported quarter over recession fears as well as Covid-19 lockdowns in top metals consumer China.

Elon Musk has called for more investment in global lithium refining to ease shortages in battery materials — and promised those who seize the opportunity it’s as lucrative as “basically minting money.” “I’d like to once again urge entrepreneurs to enter the lithium refining business. The mining is relatively easy, the refining is much harder,” Tesla’s CEO Musk said on a Wednesday earnings call, adding there are software-like margins to be made in lithium processing. “You can’t lose, it’s a license... Читать дальше...

China has approved a coal mine project worth 3.1-billion yuan ($458-million) in the country's Inner Mongolia region, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said on Thursday. The project has annual production capacity of four-million tonnes a year, with phase one at 1.2-million tonnes and phase two at 2.8-million tonnes, the NEA said.

Diversified mining company South32 will invest C$10.3-million by way of a private placement in TSX-V-listed Aldebaran Resources to advance the Altar copper/gold project in San Juan, Argentina. Aldebaran will issue an aggregate 13.2-million common shares at a price of $0.78 each to South32, which will own about 9.9% of the mineral exploration company.

Coal mining has started at the Broadmeadow East mine, in Queensland, ASX-listed Bowen Coking Coal reported on Thursday. Coal from Broadmeadow East is planned to be initially processed at the neighboring Fitzroy coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP) under an infrastructure sharing agreement with Fitzroy (and exported through the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal.

The strike at the Raglan mine, in Quebec, is continuing to drag on, with the labour dispute now lasting nearly eight weeks. The Glencore-owned mine said on Wednesday that the United Steelworkers Union Local 9449 had rejected its latest offer, tabled on July 10.

Mining major BHP has called for a cohesive response from the resources industry, government and interest groups to capitalise on Australia’s growth opportunities. BHP’s president for its minerals Australia division, Edgar Basto told the Australian Strategic Business Forum that Australia is well positioned, having navigated the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic better than most countries, to achieve long-term growth in the national economy.

Diamond miner De Beers’ rough diamond production decreased by 4% to 7.9-million carats in the second quarter of the year, primarily owing to the treatment of lower-grade ore at operations in both Canada and Botswana. De Beers’ South African production decreased by 4% to 1.2-million carats owing to lower tonnes treated.

Chilean group Antofagasta has taken an option to acquire 70% in the Tanacross copper/gold project in eastern Alaska by spending $30-million on exploration over eight years, and delivering a preliminary economic assessment. Kenorland Minerals, which is listed on the TSX-V, will initially remain the operator of the project. Once Antofagasta has earned its 70% interest, Kenorland and Antofagasta will form a 30:70 joint venture.

TSX-V-listed Canada Nickel Company has announced the results of a laboratory test programme for a new method of accelerated carbon capture – in process tailings carbonation – that the company believes has transformational potential. The lab-scale test demonstrates that the accelerated carbon capture process could allow tailings from its Crawford project, in Ontario, to absorb enough carbon dioxide (CO2) to achieve net-zero carbon emissions within 36 hours, and generate up to 21 t of CO2 credits for each tonne of nickel produced in six days. Читать дальше...

Newly appointed federal Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek has reported reached an agreement with privately-held Perdaman to stop work on its A$4.5-billion Karratha urea project, in Western Australia, for a 30-day period. Plibersek was approached by the members of the Murujuga Traditional Custodians and Mardudhunera women to stop the gas project, saying it threatens ancient Murujuga rock art.

Chile's State-owned Codelco, the world's top copper producer, said on Wednesday it was temporarily halting construction of all mining projects after reporting the death of two workers in less than a month. On Monday, the company announced it would keep construction of its Rajo Inca project halted after reporting the death of one worker after a truck driven by a contractor slid off a platform at a dump while the operator was outside of the control cabin. The truck then slid 40 m down a slope killing the operator. Читать дальше...

Vale’s plan to turn around its copper and nickel-mining unit is taking longer than expected, risking a delay to a possible sale or spinoff of a group the miner says could be worth $40-billion. The world’s second-largest iron producer slashed its annual goal for copper output by 19% as it grapples with extended maintenance and additional stoppages at some mills. In the first six months of the year, Vale’s nickel and copper production fell 10% and 25%, respectively.

The shareholders of ASX-listed Vimy Resources have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a A$658-million merger agreement with fellow-listed Deep Yellow. The two companies in April announced the merger agreement under which Deep Yellow would acquire all of the shares in ASX-listed Vimy, with Vimy shareholders to receive 0.294 Deep Yellow shares for every Vimy share held.

Environmental group Greenpeace Australia Pacific is appealing the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority’s (EPA’s) decision to extend the life of North West Shelf (NWS) gas processing facility. The EPA at the end of July approved the extension of the NWS joint venture, which is operated by Woodside Energy, until 2070, allowing for the processing of third-party gas and fluids.