In Chile’s Atacama, lithium mining stirs fight over flamingos

Reuters | May 19, 2022 

Flamingo numbers are falling, with a new study linking this to the water extracted by mining firms to pump up brine filled with lithium. (Stock Image)

On the white plains of Chile’s lithium-rich Atacama desert, bright pink flamingos enliven the sprawling salt flats where sporadic blue pools provide much needed hydration.


But flamingo numbers are falling, with a new study linking this to the water extracted by mining firms to pump up brine filled with lithium, the metal used to make batteries for mobile phones, laptop computers and electric vehicles.

Miners contend their operations do not affect flamingo herds and say the studies are based on unreliable data.

The stand-off underscores growing tensions in the Andean nation over water use and mining’s impact on local communities and the environment. Tougher regulation is a risk for firms in the world’s No. 2 lithium producer and No. 1 for copper.

“You can explain the effects specifically from lithium extraction,” said Cristina Dorador, co-author of the study in the Royal Society’s Proceedings B journal, referring to findings that flamingo numbers dropped as more water was used up.

The scientists examined salt flats throughout Chile to measure the effects of other variables on water levels. Satellite imagery of mining ponds on the Atacama, home to most of Chile’s lithium, was used to calculate how much water was extracted.

Flamingos reproduce less with less water, which over time could impact herd numbers, said co-author Nathan Senner, a researcher of ecosystems and environmental change.

“It’s not like they all die at once, but if you’re not reproducing all of a sudden, even things that live as long as flamingos start to die. And that’s where numbers really start to tumble quite rapidly.”

In other salt flats without mining, flamingo populations remained steady over the last decade despite natural water variations linked to rainfall and climate shifts. In the Atacama, though, James and Andean flamingos declined 10-12%.

Chile’s National Mining Society declined to comment. Albemarle Corp, one of the main two lithium miners in Chile, did not respond to a request for comment.

SQM, the other main lithium miner, disagreed with key parts of the study, saying in a statement that its own monitoring indicated that “flamingo populations have remained stable.”

SQM said satellite analysis could considerably over- or under-estimate water use, and called for more research on the ground.

Dorador, a scientist from the region and an elected official working on Chile’s new constitution, said locals have noticed a decline in flamingos in the salt flats affected by mining for years.

“They are incredibly important because they’re one of big tourist attractions of San Pedro de Atacama,” said Dorador.

Dorador said indigenous elders collect flamingo eggs on the flats for their regular diet, while the birds regulate the ecosystem eating plankton, crustaceans and microorganisms, helping avoid damaging bacterial blooms on the water.

Chile’s flamingo numbers overall have held up, thanks to herds on other flats not affected by mining. But the consequences could be severe as demand spikes for lithium batteries powering electric vehicles, Dorador warned.

“We have to think where these materials come from, because we’re not always aware. We buy all these things but we often don’t know what had to happen to make that product.”

(By Alexander Villegas and Cristian Rudolffi; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Richard Chang)

Foxes add to Gold Fields headaches in Chile

Cecilia Jamasmie | May 19, 2022

The Culpeo is a South American fox species. It is the second-largest native canid on the continent, after the Maned wolf. (Stock image.)

South African miner Gold Fields (JSE, NYSE: GFI), already dealing with the effects of inflation and the relocation of endangered chinchillas at its Salares Norte gold project in Chile is now facing potential sanctions from the country’s environmental regulator due to the death of specimens of culpeo fox in the area.


The Superintendency of the Environment (SMA) has ordered the company to implement a series of “urgent” and “transitory” measures after the miner reported three incidents around the project that included the death of three culpeo foxes, a species found in the Andes.

The SMA boss, Emanuel Ibarra, said its office constantly monitors the environmental impact of the Salares Norte project, located at 4,200m above sea level, in the dry Atacama region.

“Given the environmental risk tied to the [culpeo fox] species, and bearing in mind the high degree of sensitivity of the ecosystem in which the project is located, we are asking the company to fulfill the requested demands as soon as possible”, he said in a statement.

The issues the SMA is asking Gold Fields to address include submitting new reports of the three incidents informed, incorporating graphic records and studies from specialists, as well as restricting traffic speed in all the project’s interior roads to 40 km/hour.

The watchdog has also demanded Gold Fields re-define emergency reports to include the nature of the environmental impact caused, the relevance of the element impacted and the reversibility of the damage.

Salares Norte is one of five gold projects set to begin operations in Chile by 2023. 

(Image courtesy of Goldfields.)

This is not the first time Gold Fields has to tip-toe around species native to the project’s area of impact. In 2020, the miner began relocating 25 chinchillas, short-tailed rodents found only in the north of Chile and which are protected by law.

The operation was going according to plan until the SMA halted it, after one chinchilla suffered a broken leg and two others died. After a series of studies the SMA requested Gold Fields to come up with with a new plan to relocate the bluish-grey furred rodents.

The company, which began construction of $860 million project last year, expects to kick off production in the first quarter of 2023.

Gold Fields will process two million tonnes of ore per year for the production of doré gold once the project is commissioned, over a 10-year mine life.

Salares Norte hosts 3.5 million ounces of gold, 39 million ounces of silver, and 695 million pounds of copper.
Beyond copper

Discovered in 2011, Salares Norte is one of five gold projects set to begin operations in the South American nation over the next two years.

Chile’s gold production peaked in 2000 at 54.1 tonnes, data from the country’s copper commission, Cochilco, shows. The nation, the no.1 copper producer and second-largest lithium producer after Australia, currently ranks 16th among the world’s top gold producing nations, according to IndexMundi.com.

Other gold projects set to come online in Chile by 2023 are Kinross Gold’s La Coipa Restart, Yamana Gold’s El Peñón expansion, Canadian Rio2’s Fenix and Australia’s Kingsgate Consolidated’s Nueva Esperanza.

The Salares Norte gold project is located in the Atacama region of northern Chile.

 (Image courtesy of Gold Fields Chile.)

Colombia, Ecuador & Peru: Social engagement can make or break mining investment
Henry Lazenby | May 20, 2022 |

A 2021 meeting with farming communities protesting MMG’s Las Bambas copper mine in Peru. (Reference image by Peru’s Presidency of the Ministers’ Council, Flickr).

Companies operating in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru should do a better job of engaging and sharing the wealth their mines generate.


Observers tell The Northern Miner that implementing corporate social responsibility (CSSR) programs when mining business in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru is simply not enough to guarantee success.

Instead, mineral explorers and developers often see substantial projects halted in their tracks by staunch community-level opposition, even when projects had passed regulatory muster, says mining sector researcher, analyst and reporter Paul Harris, in an interview.

Related: Peru fails yet again to broker truce allowing Las Bambas mine restart

Legacy CSR programs are simply no longer adequate. The analyst suggests those wishing to do business in these jurisdictions take a more holistic approach toward meaningful engagement with host communities before engaging governmental authorities about their respective projects.

The solution, according to Harris, is companies today have to be willing to give up an ownership stake in their projects so that local communities and local and federal governments have more skin in the game.

PAYWALL
KEEP READING AT NORTHERN MINER

Peru fails yet again to broker truce allowing Las Bambas mine restart

Reuters | May 19, 2022 

Las Bambas copper mine. Image: YouTube

Peru’s prime minister on Thursday failed to broker a deal with indigenous communities to allow for the restart of operations at MMG Ltd’s Las Bambas copper mine, the government’s fourth failed negotiation attempt.


Chinese-owned Las Bambas is one of the world’s largest copper mines, accounting for 2% of global supplies. The mine suspended operations on April 20 after two indigenous communities entered company property, reclaiming land that had once belonged to them before the mine started operations in 2016.

Peru is the world’s No. 2 copper producer.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Anibal Torres traveled to the Andean region of Apurimac where the mine is located. But he arrived late and then abruptly left the meeting only an hour after it had started.

“It’s a lack of respect toward community members,” Baltazar Lataron, the governor of Apurimac, said about Torres’s departure.

The failed meeting extends the uncertainty on when Las Bambas will be able to restart copper production as its current suspension approaches the one-month mark, its longest shutdown so far.

Las Bambas accounts for 1% of Peru’s gross domestic product and company executives have warned that if a solution is not found soon they may have to furlough or fire some of its workers.

The protesting communities of Fuerabamba and Huancuire sold land to Las Bambas in the past for millions of dollars, but allege the mine has failed to honor all of its commitments.

Las Bambas is notorious for its social conflicts, involving dozens of different Andean communities that allege the benefits of its vast mineral wealth have not trickled down to them.

(By Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Peru mining protests risk clogging $53 billion investment pipeline

Reuters | May 17, 2022 

Yanacocha mine, in Peru’s northern Cajamarca region. (Image courtesy of Newmont.)

Peru, the world’s second-largest copper producer, risks losing out on billions of dollars of mining investment if the government fails to defuse protests that are hitting the industry and denting production, analysts and executives said.


Social conflicts have risen in the Andean nation over the past year since socialist President Pedro Castillo came into office, with a spate of protests against mines, including one that has halted production at the huge Las Bambas copper deposit.

With global prices soaring on high demand, that now threatens a mining investment pipeline of some $53 billion and could stall future projects expected by investment bank RBC to make up 12% of the world’s copper supply in years to come.

“Without any world-class projects on the horizon, the prospects for sustaining production are not good,” said Gonzalo Tamayo, analyst at Macroconsult and a former Peruvian mines and energy minister.

Mining executives and analyst met last week in Peru’s capital Lima, where the main concern was falling investment tied to rising social protests. A central bank report shows investment dipping some 1% this year and 15% in 2023.

The conflicts, mainly in poor Andean areas where communities feel bypassed by the huge mineral wealth beneath their soils, have started to bite, with protesters emboldened under Castillo who won election pledging to redistribute mining wealth.

Southern Copper’s Cuajone mine was paralyzed for almost two months earlier this year.

Las Bambas, owned by China’s MMG Ltd, suspended operations in April after an invasion of the mine by communities demanding what they called ancestral lands. The mine, which produces 2% of the world’s copper output, remains offline.

Las Bambas had received government approval in March to expand the mine, a plan which is now under threat.

Álvaro Ossio, vice president of commercial and finance for ​​Las Bambas, said in a presentation at the Lima event, that the country faces a big task to benefit from high global prices.

“The great challenge that remains for all Peruvians is to take advantage of this great opportunity in these future trends,” he said.

Peru’s last big mining investments were in Anglo American’s Quellaveco and Minsur’s Mina Justa of a combined $6.6 billion. Their operations starting this year will help Peru hit annual output of 3 million tonnes of copper by 2025, experts say.

However, other major projects like Southern Copper’s Tia María, Michiquillay and Los Chancas worth some $6.7 billion, Buenaventura’s near billion dollar Trapiche and Rio Tinto’s $5 billion La Granja remain up in the air.

Not all was downbeat, however.

The world’s largest gold miner, Newmont Mining, said at the event that it was considering expanding into copper production in Peru, with a potential future return to the canceled Conga project.

Analyst Tamayo, though, stressed recent protests against mining had become harder to resolve.

“Now there are protests that stop mines in full operation,” he said. “The mining firms feel that the State does not support them and that the State has ceased to be the arbiter in conflicts.”

(By Marco Aquino; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Richard Pullin)

SASKATCHEWAN 
BHP to speed up Jansen potash mine as Ukraine war weighs on supplies

Cecilia Jamasmie | May 18, 2022 | 

BHP plans accelerate Jansen Stage 1 first production into 2026. (Image courtesy of BHP.)

BHP’s (ASX: BHP) chief executive Mike Henry wants to gear up on the company’s $5.7 billion Jansen potash project in Canada as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused major disruptions to global fertilizer supplies.


The ongoing war in Ukraine has left the world not only short of important grains but also fertilizers since neighbours Russia and Belarus account for almost 40% of global production.

Belarus state-owned potash miner Belaruskali set off alarm bells mid-February by declaring force majeure on its contracts. This shook up a market that was already contending with soaring prices.

Sanctions on Russia after invading Ukraine have made the situation worse.

BHP approved last year a $5.7 billion investment in the Jansen potash mine in northern Saskatchewan to bring it to production. The company had mulled a final decision on the asset for at least eight years, during which it spent about $4.5 billion laying the ground for the crop nutrient-producing project.

“[Supply-side disruption linked to the war in Ukraine] has positively reinforced the decision we’ve taken to enter potash,” Henry said at the Bank of America Metals and Mining conference this week. “We are making good progress and we’re looking at potential to accelerate Jansen Stage 1 first production into 2026.”

BHP had originally planned to kick off production at Jansen in 2027. The company, Henry noted, has also begun studies for a second phase of development.

BHP to start potash production at Jansen a year earlier than planned. 

(Image courtesy of BHP.)

“BHP is trying to accelerate first tonnes at Jansen, but it still seems best case is first tonnes come late 2026 with a two-year ramp,” BMO Fertilizers and Chemicals analyst, Joel Jackson, said in a note to investors.

“We believe BHP needs to hire about 600 miners for Jansen with the labour per tonne deemed lower than [competitors] Nutrien and Mosaic’s incumbent mines as BHP expected to employ less equipment per tonne and other innovation,” Jackson noted.

Of the $5.7 billion investment, BHP had awarded roughly $1.4 billion in contracts so far and another $200 million since the company published half year results in February, which cover port infrastructure, underground mining systems and other shaft and surface construction activities.

Jansen is expected to produce around 4.2 million tonnes a year of potash during a first phase. Stage 2 would add an additional 4 million tonnes per year, at a capital intensity of between $800 and $900 per tonne, almost 30% lower than expected for Stage 1.

The cost reduction would be possible because phase two will be able to leverage the infrastructure built along with Stage 1, including the shafts, Henry said.
Quarter of global supply

Potash is seen by farmers as an attractive resource because of its use as fertilizer, which also boosts drought tolerance and improves crop quality.

BHP expects potash demand to increase by 15 million tonnes to roughly 105 million tonnes by 2040 or 1.5% to 3% a year, along with the global population and pressure to improve farming yields given limited land supply.

Jansen had the potential to produce 17 million tonnes a year under a four phased development. This would account for about 25% of current global potash demand.

“If we decide to bring on all four stages, and at prices just half of where they are today, we’d be generating around $4 billion to $5 billion of EBITDA [earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation] per year,” Henry said

.

Taken from BHP’s presentation at BMO Farm to Market Conference.

This compares to a five-year average of $3 billion a year from the miner’s petroleum business.

“Realistically, BHP has shown a path to 16 million tonnes of potash capacity for well over a decade, and there seems much in flux still how the phases would come,” BMO Jackson wrote.

BHP had tried to tap into the fertilizers market for some time. In 2010, it unsuccessfully bid $38.6 billion for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, which in 2018 merged with Agrium Inc. to form Nutrien (TSE, NYSE: NTR).

Given the current political climate, as well as the continuing effects of the covid-19 pandemic worldwide, BHP is expecting the current supply chain issues in the mining sector to take up to three years to resolve.

BHP CEO says supply disruptions may last years; could speed up Jansen project

Reuters | May 17, 2022 

BHP CEO Mike Henry.

 (Screenshot from Sky News Australia | YouTube)

Supply chain disruptions in the mining sector could take up to three years to resolve, the chief executive of the world’s largest listed miner BHP Group said on Tuesday.


Mike Henry also said that the Anglo-Australian miner may accelerate its Jansen potash project in Canada by a year, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has tightened supplies.

“Both Ukraine and covid-19 have led to lowered expectations for Chinese and global GDP growth in the near term,” Henry said at the Bank of America Global Metals, Mining & Steel Conference.

“We also expect that the current supply chain disruptions may also take 2-3 years to resolve,” he added.

Henry said he expected some economic growth in China to spill over into next year.

“We expect a degree of catch-up when lockdowns do ease,” he added.

In a wide-ranging speech, Henry said the company’s decision to invest in the Jansen project will bring greater cash flow stability and returns resilience.

The fundamentals for potash remain strong and were reinforced by supply-side disruption linked to the war in Ukraine, whose neighbours Russia and Belarus account for almost 40% of global production.

“This has positively reinforced the decision we’ve taken to enter potash,” Henry said. “So we are making good progress and we’re looking at potential to accelerate Jansen Stage 1 first production into 2026.”

The company has also begun studies for Stage 2 of the project, he said.

As global miners push into the metals needed for the green energy transition, Henry said BHP continues to favour copper and nickel over lithium, which is used to make electric vehicle batteries.

“It is something that we keep a watching brief over but if you look at the amount of lithium out there, it’s significant, so we don’t see a real long-time constraint in terms of resource,” he said.

“We believe there is more to do in copper and nickel where we see better cost curve shape.”

BHP announced a record dividend payout in February after reporting estimate-beating first-half profits, helped by higher commodity prices, despite a cutback in demand from top metals consumer China.

The miner, however, recorded lower estimates for iron ore production for the March quarter as a pandemic-related labour crunch weighed on efforts to boost output.

(By Praveen Menon and Clara Denina; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Barbara Lewis)

How ‘weak sustainability’ helps miners contribute to the UN development goals

Staff Writer | May 18, 2022 

Ain Beni Mathar integrated combined cycle thermo-solar power plant in Morocco. (Reference image by Dana Smillie / World Bank, Flickr)

In a recent article in the journal Earth Science Systems and Society, an international research team describes how current mining practices could be improved and the sourcing and management of metals better aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs).


According to the researchers, the mining sector can offset some of its negative impacts through compensation measures. High sustainability standards should be applied in the sourcing of raw materials and recycling systems should be significantly strengthened in order to promote an efficient and market-based circular economy, they say

A more sustainable extractive industry would provide a cornerstone for the fulfilment of the SDGs, for example, by supplying key raw materials for building infrastructure (SDG 9) and the production of wind and solar technologies (SDG 7).

It is clear, however, that mining will never be able to achieve all the goals of sustainable development, such as eliminating the use and consumption of non-renewable raw materials. In light of this, the authors recommend that changes should be guided by the concept of “weak sustainability”, which focuses on achieving realistic targets. This approach allows for the use of non-renewable resources if this contributes to other sustainability goals such as renewable energy generation.

In the authors’ view, the first step toward this path is improving governance. They believe this will require the participation of diverse stakeholders at different levels, from individual companies to international policymakers.

Based on their analysis, the researchers recommend the following concrete steps:Planning and management at the organizational level: Companies and investors are responsible for incorporating sustainability indicators into their decision-making and controlling activities. Sustainability must become an integral part of the accounting system;

Regional and national regulations: All mining activities are embedded in the context of regional and national regulations. These should be guided by the three dimensions of sustainability: environmental, economic, and social. In particular, regulations should offer incentives – such as tax reductions for excellent sustainability performance or penalties for violations of sustainability goals – this can offset the financial burden for investments in sustainable operations. Regional regulations should ensure the active and effective participation of local communities and stakeholders in shaping operating conditions;

Voluntary agreements and certification systems in the industries: Benchmarks for the ecological, economic, and social sustainability of mining operations should be agreed at the international level. Clear provisions for measurement, monitoring, and compliance management are needed. This could be facilitated by national mining associations but also by large standardization organizations such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO);

Global governance structures: Regional and national regulations should be harmonized worldwide. A global agreement of this kind could still include mechanisms to reflect specific regional circumstances. A new secretariat or unit could be created at the United Nations to govern mining worldwide. The more sustainability evolves into a key driver for change, the more the global community needs a forum in which rules for mining can be developed, negotiated, and implemented; and

Financial instruments (green investment funds): The financial sector can support the shift toward sustainability by incorporating sustainability indicators into decision-making about loans or when rating agencies rank companies’ performance.

In the authors’ view, however, to achieve such commitments a certain level of compromise must exist.

“The regulation of mining activities will always entail trade-offs, for example, between opportunities such as facilitating the energy transition, innovative battery design and e-mobility on the one side and risks for ecosystems and communities on the other side,” first author Ortwin Renn said in a media statement.

“It is important to find the right balance that ensures shared benefits, supports sustainable development as a whole and reduces the risks.”

For Renn and his colleagues, creating a sustainable mining sector will require policies that put environmental, economic, and social sustainability at the top of the agenda.

BAD CANADIAN MINER IN BURKINA FASO

Trevali’s missing workers failed to reach Perkoa mine’s refuge chamber during floods

Staff Writer | May 18, 2022

Perkoa Zinc Mine – Image courtesy of Trevali Mining Corporation

Trevali Mining (TSX: TV) said the eight missing miners, for whom rescuers have been searching since the company’s Perkoa mine in Burkina Faso was hit by flash floods last month, have failed to reach the mine’s refuge chamber situated more than 500 metres below the surface.


“This is devastating news,” the company’s CEO Ricus Grimbeek said in a press release on May 17. “We would like to offer our deepest sympathies to our colleagues’ families and friends during this difficult time.”

The search for the missing miners will continue, he added.

The Burkina Faso government, in a statement on social media, confirmed that the rescue teams found the refugee chamber empty.

On Apr. 16, heavy rains outside the usual rainy season poured about 125 mm of rain in less than an hour, triggering flash floods that breached the open pit at Perkoa, located about 120 km west of the capital of Ouagadougou.

As the water entered the open pit and underground mine, electricity and communications were lost. While most workers escaped, the company hasn’t been able to communicate with the eight missing workers.

Six out of the eight missing men are from Burkina Faso, while the other two are from Tanzania and Zambia.

The rescue team and the company have been pumping water from the bottom of the mine at level 710 over the last month. The refuge chamber is located below level 520 of the mine.

“Rescue team members reached the refuge chamber… (it) was found intact and with no one inside. It is now clear that none of the eight missing workers reached the refuge chamber,” Trevali said.

The Perkoa mine produced 316.2 million payable lb. of zinc in 2021 and generates the bulk of the company’s revenue. Trevali owns 90% of the mine, while Burkina Faso holds a 10% interest.

According to Scotiabank analyst Orest Wowkodaw, the company’s credit facility matures in the third quarter of 2022. “Securing a refinancing package to replace its maturing credit facility and to fund development of the proposed Rosh Pinah expansion project (in Namibia) has been complicated by the Perkoa incident,” he wrote in a note to clients on May 16.

A McKinsey & Co. report published in 2020 stated that commodities like iron ore and zinc, based on their location, are more exposed than other materials to “extremely high flood occurrence.”

Flooding affects some commodities more than others, based on their location; in McKinsey’s analysis, iron ore and zinc are the most exposed to extremely high flood occurrence, at 50% and 40% of global volume, respectively.

Burkina Faso rescuers find no survivors in flooded mine’s rescue chamber

Reuters | May 17, 2022 

The Perkoa zinc mine is located 120 km away from Burkina Faso’s capital city Ouagadougo. It is the first large-scale base metal mine in that country.

 (Image courtesy of French Ambassador to Cameroon Gilles Thibault via Twitter)

Rescue workers have found no survivors in a rescue chamber deep inside a flooded zinc mine in Burkina Faso, the government and the mine owner said on Tuesday, all but extinguishing hope that eight missing miners could still be alive after a month.


The Perkoa mine, owned by Canadian firm Trevali Mining Corp and located about 120km (75 miles) west of the capital Ouagadougou, was abruptly submerged on April 16 after torrential rain fell unexpectedly during the country’s dry season.

There had been faint hope during a month-long search and rescue operation that the missing men might have reached the rescue chamber, which is stocked with food and water and located around 570 metres below ground.

“The rescue teams have opened the refuge chamber, unfortunately it is empty,” the government’s information service said in a statement posted on social media.

Trevali said the refuge chamber had been found intact, and it was now clear none of the eight missing workers had reached it.

“This is devastating news, and we would like to offer our deepest sympathies to our colleagues’ families and friends during this difficult time,” said Ricus Grimbeek, President and CEO of Trevali, in a statement.

“We will continue our search efforts unabated and reaffirm our commitment to work at full-speed to find our colleagues.”

Distraught relatives of the missing men have been gathering every day at the site in the Sanguie province, seeking solace from each other as they faced the agonising wait for news.

Deadly mining accidents are common in Africa. The Perkoa flood garnered more attention than many because of the hope, albeit remote, of an outcome similar to the dramatic 2010 rescue in Chile of 33 miners who had spent 69 days underground — but it was not to be.
Complex operation

Both the company and the government have launched investigations into the causes of the disaster. The prime minister said on May 2 that mine managers had been banned from leaving the country.

The Perkoa mine consists of an open pit with underground shafts and galleries below. Most of the workers who were there at the time of the flash flood were able to escape, but the missing eight were more than 520 metres (1,706 feet) beneath the surface.

Six of the missing men are Burkina Faso nationals, one is from Tanzania and one from Zambia.

With many in Burkina Faso asking why it took so long to reach the rescue chamber and criticism of the company and state emergency services mounting, Trevali said the technical challenges were immense.

The violence of the flood was such that it washed away the road leading down into the mine as well as damaging electricity supply. The road had to be resurfaced and power restored before a full-scale search could begin.

Initially, equipment was being carried down on foot, but vehicles were necessary to install machinery capable of pumping water from depths below 500 metres.

Rescuers have pumped out about 55 million litres of floodwater, out of an estimated total of 165 million litres that swept through the underground portion of the mine.

(By Anne Mimault, Thiam Ndiaga, Sofia Christensen and Estelle Shirbon; Editing by James Macharia Chege and Ed Osmond)

African Mine Disaster Turns Spotlight on Canadian Mining Firms

Eight miners are trapped in a mine owned by a Vancouver-based company. Advocates want more accountability.

Amanda Follett Hosgood 

10 May 2022

TheTyee.ca

Burkina Faso Prime Minister Albert Ouédraogo (centre, in blue hat) visits Perkoa Mine on May 1. Eight miners have been trapped more than 500 metres underground for more than three weeks and hope for a successful rescue is fading. Photo via Burkina Faso government Twitter.

As the search continues for eight African miners trapped underground in a Canadian-owned mine in Burkina Faso, advocates say Canada’s laws should be toughened to ensure greater corporate responsibility.

Vancouver-based Trevali Mining Corp. said Monday that there has been no communication with the miners since heavy rains caused flash flooding at the mine on April 16.

As workers evacuated, eight miners working more than 500 metres underground became trapped, the company said. There has been no contact with the workers, six of whom are local with the remaining two from Zambia and Tanzania, according to news reports.

While extreme weather is blamed for the disaster, Burkina Faso government officials have also placed responsibility on managers at Perkoa Mine, saying the government has launched a judicial investigation. Six of the miners’ families have also taken legal action. The West African country has a population of 20 million.

Catherine Coumans, a research co-ordinator with advocacy group MiningWatch Canada, said environmental and human-rights violations by Canadian mining companies operating overseas are more common than most Canadians realize.

She hopes recently tabled federal legislation could bring about change.

“We are constantly being made aware of these incidents, where workers are put at risk because of working for Canadian mining companies,” Coumans said, pointing to two unrelated recent disasters in Burkina Faso and Ghana. Both mines were owned by Toronto-based companies.

“It’s a matter of cutting corners. It’s a matter of getting away with what you can get away with,” said Coumans. “There is a real problem with lack of accountability and effective impunity when our Canadian companies operate overseas.”

Trevali did not immediately respond to The Tyee’s interview requests or emailed questions.

But in recent updates posted to its website, the company said flooding had eroded the mine’s main access route, which spirals more than half a kilometre underground.

“The torrent of water entering the mine resulted in significant road surface erosion,” the company said, adding that additional pumps could not be moved into the depths of the mine until access was repaired. By April 23, a week after the flood, communications and power had been re-established to 520 metres below ground, it said.

However, the workers remain deeper than that.

“There has been no communication with these workers since soon after the evacuation order was given,” the company said, adding that two refuge chambers located below 520 metres are “designed to provide a refuge for workers trapped in a hazardous environment.”

It added that it did not know if the workers were able to access the chambers.

Even if they had, their ability to survive is likely running out. According to local media reports, shelters within the zinc mine can provide two weeks of water and oxygen, but food remains a problem. The workers have been trapped for over three weeks.

The refuge where the workers may be located is 580 metres below the surface. Local media reported over the weekend that “significant advances” in pumping had cleared flood waters to 550 metres.

On Friday, the government of Burkina Faso called for international help to find the missing miners. “All human and material resources must be deployed on the Perkoa site to give the miners the chance to live,” government spokesman Lionel Bilgo said.

Vancouver-based Trevali, which focuses its operations on zinc production, purchased Perkoa Mine in August 2017. In addition to its Burkina Faso mine, it operates mines in Namibia and northern New Brunswick. It also has non-operational properties in New Brunswick and Manitoba.

Last week, the company cancelled a conference call where it had intended to deliver 2022 first-quarter financial results, saying its primary focus is on the missing miners. The call is now planned for May 16.

In February, Trevali reported that its revenues increased by 61 per cent last year over the previous year, to almost US$350 million. It credited an increase in zinc prices and a reduction in processing costs.

While the company said it had reduced its “significant incidents” by 30 per cent last year, its total recordable injury frequency — the number of incidents requiring medical treatment — were nearly twice those of the previous year.

The underground portion of the Perkoa Mine has been operating since 2013. A 70-metre deep open pit was previously established to access material near the surface, according to a technical report prepared for Trevoli as it took ownership in 2017.

The mine’s portal is located at the base of the open-pit portion of the mine, something flagged as a potential flood risk in the report.

“Great care has been taken to manage rainfall in the portal box cut as this is the biggest exposure to flood,” the report noted, adding that sumps are built into the box cut, or mine entrance, to capture water and reduce its ability to enter the mine.

According to the report, a ventilation shaft “connects all levels” of the mine and also acts as an emergency escape route. At the time of the report, mining was occurring down to 400 metres, with mining at deeper levels slated for possible future development. It noted that more drilling would be needed to determine whether mineral resources were available below 520 metres.

It’s unclear what, if any, exit routes had been established in the more recently developed sections of the mine.

Burkina Faso Prime Minister Albert Ouédraogo has blamed “irresponsibility” on the part of mine managers for the disaster. He said flooding was a result of weakening of the underground gallery due to the use of open-air dynamite.

Mine managers have been barred from leaving the country while the investigation is ongoing.

The families of six trapped miners have reportedly also filed lawsuits against “persons unknown” for attempted manslaughter, endangering life and failing to assist a person in danger.

While Coumans said it’s “rare” to detain company executives following a mining disaster, she isn’t optimistic it will lead to better outcomes or accountability on behalf of the company if wrongdoing is found.

“I would be very surprised if there were actual repercussions for the company or its senior executives,” said Coumans, who noted that in the more than 20 years that MiningWatch Canada has been operating there has been very little progress in holding Canadian companies operating overseas to account.

“The problem of effective impunity when our Canadian companies operate overseas is alive and well,” she said. “It’s no different now than it was in 1999 when we started.”

What has changed, she said, is what she describes as the opening of a “clear path forward” for holding Canadian companies accountable.


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In March, the federal NDP tabled two private members bills aimed at improving accountability of Canadian companies abroad by requiring them to do risk assessments on potential harms and demonstrate how they would prevent them. The approach is based on models developed in Europe that ensure corporations and their subsidiaries are not violating human rights or contaminating environments.

“This is what we need. We need mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence in Canada,” Coumans said. “Unless there’s consequences for the harm that’s done… [by] cutting corners they can save money.”

Trevali said in statements posted to its website that it is working around the clock to locate the missing miners and remains in regular contact with their families. The company did not respond to specific questions about what support the families are receiving or The Tyee’s request for an update on the search for the miners. 

 

Amanda Follett Hosgood is The Tyee’s northern B.C. reporter. She lives in Wet’suwet’en territory. Find her on Twitter @amandajfollett.

MAY 11, 2022

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/05/families-of-trapped-burkina-faso-miners.html

MAY 10, 2022

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/05/burkina-faso-trapped-miners-families.html

MAY 5,2022

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/05/burkina-faso-investigates-b.html

APRIL 20, 2022

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/04/eight-workers-missing-at-trevalis.html

Chile’s top court puts Dominga mining project decision on Boric admin

Reuters | May 18, 2022

Dominga is located about 65 km (40 miles) north of the central city of La Serena. (Digital rendition of project, courtesy of Andes Iron)

Chile’s top court on Wednesday turned down appeals filed by communities and environmentalists against the controversial Dominga mining project, saying a final decision needs input from President Gabriel Boric’s administration.


Last year, environmentalists and surrounding communities appealed a ruling from a lower court that tossed out a decision by a regulator that denied the company permits.


In its ruling, the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court said that it was turning down the appeals because it “determined that there is no final judgment that can be reviewed by this court,” adding that the final decision on the environmental evaluation is “pending a resolution from the administrative authority.”

That authority is the committee of ministers, made up of the mining, agriculture, energy, economy, health ministers and is chaired environment minister.

In his first speech as president-elect in December, Boric voiced opposition to projects that “destroy” the country, such as Dominga, which seeks to annually produce 12 million tonnes of iron concentrate and 150,000 tonnes of copper concentrate.

An environmental evaluation commission endorsed the $2.5 billion project last year, but it has been delayed for years amid strong opposition from environmental and social groups that say it would cause serious environmental damage to the region.

OceanaChile, an environmental group dedicated to protecting the ocean, has said the project could hurt the Humboldt archipelago off Chile’s coast, endangering its species and biodiversity.

“Our trust is in that the Committee of Ministers will consider all the scientific information that backs why Dominga is unviable and the Humboldt archipelago must be protected permanently,” it said in a tweet responding to the decision.

Andes Iron, the company in charge of the Dominga project, issued a statement saying it welcomed the court’s decision and added that “every time the Dominga project has undergone technical evaluations we have received favorable pronouncements.”

The project has spanned multiple administrations and sparked controversies for former presidents Michelle Bachelet and Sebastian Pinera. Pinera faced and survived an impeachment vote after details of possible irregularities linked to the Dominga project were revealed in the Pandora Papers leak.

(By Natalia Ramos, Fabian Cambero and Alexander Villegas; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

South Africans’ hair reveals heavy metal exposure from mining at Witwatersrand

Staff Writer | May 19, 2022 

Homes situated next to mine dumps in Johannesburg, South Africa.

 (Image courtesy of Angela Mathee/SAMRC).

An international team of researchers is analyzing individual hair samples from people living and working around the Witwatersrand basin near Johannesburg to determine the degree of uranium contamination and identify which populations are most at risk.


This South African region is known for hosting the world’s largest gold deposit which, when mined, releases harmful, toxic and radioactive waste as a byproduct.

“In a preliminary study, we have already detected elevated uranium levels in the hair samples of individuals living in the vicinity of mine dumps and tailings dams in the region,” Susanne Sachs, one of the scientists involved in the research, said in a media statement. “We now wish to pursue the question of how the measured uranium concentrations relate to the geographic and demographic conditions.”

An estimated 1.6 million people of different social and ethnic backgrounds live in the vicinity of mine waste deposits. Many of them are unaware of the dangerous substances that surround them.

According to Sachs, this is especially the case for children and adolescents from whom South African researchers collected hair samples during the first phase of the study—both from the exposed regions and from a control group with no exposure.
Long exposure periods

Hair is suitable as sample material because the heavy metal concentrations measured in such samples are also representative of longer periods of previous exposure, unlike blood or urine samples. Hair also provides information on whether heavy metals have entered the bloodstream.

To facilitate later comparison of the samples, the researchers also record essential information about the child, including weight and height measurements, age, sex, occupation of the parents, health status, sources of water, presence of animals and home-grown foods, and other factors.

Researchers analyze environmental samples, including soil and dust from the surrounding environment, and take into consideration that the predominant wind direction in regard to the mine waste deposits can play a role in determining uranium exposure.

Once the samples are collected, they are sent to Germany, where they are analyzed in the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf and VKTA laboratories.

In detail, the samples are ground, homogenized, purified and digested to obtain a solution that can be analyzed by means of a mass spectrometer.

The instrument separates the elements contained in the solution according to their atomic masses and determines the uranium content down to the microgram. The measured results are then evaluated together with the collected demographic data as well as with the uranium content of the environmental samples and other factors.

“From the results of the study, we hope that we can better understand uranium exposure pathways and that associated health risks for the population can be more reliably estimated,” Sachs said. “The study can also help in developing new regulations to ensure that the local population is better protected.”

Arconic to sell Russian operations, take $500 million charge

Bloomberg News | May 19, 2022 | 

Aluminum alloy coils, Davenport USA – Image courtesy of Arconic

Arconic Corp. said it will sell its Russian operations, joining the exodus of US companies after the invasion of Ukraine made doing business in the region “untenable.”


The Pittsburgh-based aluminum-sheet manufacturer expects to record a charge of as much as $500 million related to the move. Arconic decided to sell its facility in Samara, Russia, following a review of strategic alternatives prompted by limitations imposed by the country’s government, according to a statement Thursday.

“Sadly, the conflict in Ukraine has made our operation in Russia untenable,” Chief Executive Officer Tim Myers said in the statement.

Arconic shares were unchanged in late trading in New York.

(By Richard Clough)

BRAZIL

BHP still sees room to negotiate with Samarco’s creditors

Bloomberg News | May 20, 2022 

Samarco’s concentrator 3 at the Germano complex (Credit: Samarco)

BHP Group is willing to protect its joint venture in Samarco Mineracao SA, saying it sees room to negotiate with financial creditors in the Brazil miner’s debt restructuring.


“We’re absolutely committed to making sure that Samarco is reset to be the sustainable operation it always has been and should be again for the next few decades,” Simon Duncombe, vice president of BHP’s joint venture in Brazil, said in an interview. He denied any intention of walking away from the investment.

Samarco became unable to pay its 50 billion reais ($10.2 billion) debt after its waste dam collapsed in 2015, killing 19 people in Mariana, Minas Gerais. The firm halted production, and it took until December 2020 before it was able to partially restart operations.

BHP and Vale SA –- its partner in the joint venture with 50% stakes — are supporting the plan filed Wednesday by two workers’ unions representing creditors form Samarco. However, BHP wants the right to vote on both alternative plans presented this week.

“We’ll be seeking to vote on the lenders plan and also to vote on the union’s plan,” Duncombe said.

Bondholders presented a plan to take control of Samarco and slash the 24 billion reais ($4.9 billion) that Samarco said it owes to Vale and BHP to less than 960 million reais. It will compete with the plan filed by unions, which is a revised version of the Brazilian mining company’s debt-restructuring plan, with amendments.

The new Brazilian bankruptcy law allows creditors for the first time to present their own restructuring plans if the company’s plan is rejected, which happened about one month ago. Even being shareholders, Vale and BHP argue that they have no conflict of interest in the vote to decide on a plan proposed by other stakeholders, and are asking the court for the right to vote.

Duncombe sees “many more chapters to be written” in the restructuring saga started in April 2021. The new union proposal could attract votes from financial creditors outside the ad hoc group composed by 17 funds, including Oaktree Emerging Market Debt Fund LP, or even from the group, he said. It stipulates that bondholders could receive extraordinary payments if projections in the previous plan end up being too conservative.

There are also legal issues pending that will have to be faced by Samarco’s restructuring court. This gives time for more rounds of negotiation with the lenders.

Duncombe said that BHP is opened to “constructive discussions”, but is “absolutely willing” to deploy all legal measures necessary to protect Samarco.

(By Mariana Durao)

Tianqi produces Australia’s first battery grade lithium hydroxide

Staff Writer | May 19, 2022 | 

Kwinana plant. ( Image courtesy of Tianqi Lithium.)

Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia (TLEA) announced Wednesday the first production of battery-grade lithium from its plant in Kwinana, Western Australia, marking the first-time battery-grade lithium, or lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM), has been produced in Australia in commercial quantities.


TLEA is a joint venture between one of the world’s top producers of lithium chemicals for electric vehicle batteries, Tianqi Lithium Corporation (51%), and Australian miner, IGO Limited (49%).

This is a significant milestone for Australian mining as the sector expands to meet rapidly growing demand for rechargeable batteries, primarily from the electric vehicle and energy storage system industries, the company said in a news release.

TLEA’s Kwinana plant has met internal certification processes with the onsite laboratory confirming that battery-grade specification has been met on 10 tonnes of lithium hydroxide, produced consistently over several days. Samples have been sent for independent verification.

The next step in the plant’s ramp-up process is customer qualification, which will be completed over the next four to eight months.

“We are immensely proud to demonstrate that Australia can value add to its minerals onshore as it enhances its reputation as a critical contributor to the production of batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage, which are absolutely vital for the decarbonisation of the world’s economy,” said Chief Operating Officer Raj Surendran in the statement.

“Today’s milestone proves Australia has the capability and expertise to transition from a ‘dig it and ship it’ minerals supplier to a downstream supplier of value-added product,” Surendran said.

TLEA owns the first lithium hydroxide plant in Australia and the largest in the world to be built and operated outside of China.

Lithium hydroxide produced at the Kwinana Plant will be containerised and exported from the Port of Fremantle to customers around the globe.

Surendran said the first train at TLEA’s Kwinana Plant will now continue its ramp-up towards its nameplate capacity of 24,000 tonnes of battery grade lithium hydroxide per annum.