Micron to cut 10% of workforce as demand for computer chips slumps

Ian King, Bloomberg News

Micron Technology Inc., the largest US maker of memory chips, gave a lackluster revenue outlook for the current period, indicating the slump in demand for computer components will drag on, and said it will reduce its workforce by about 10 per cent over the next year. 

Sales will be about US$3.8 billion in the fiscal second quarter, Micron said Wednesday in a statement. That compares with analysts’ average estimate of US$3.88 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company projected a loss of about 62 cents a share, excluding certain items, in the period ending in February, compared with a loss of 29 cents expected by analysts.

Semiconductor makers are suffering plummeting demand for their products less than a year after being unable to produce enough to meet orders. Consumers have shelved purchases of personal computers and smartphones amid rising inflation and an uncertain economy. Makers of those devices, the main users of memory chips, are now stuck with unused stockpiles of components and are slowing orders for new stock.

The industry is experiencing its worst imbalance between supply and demand in 13 years, according to Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Mehrotra. Inventory should peak in the current period, then decline the rest of the year, he said. Customers will move to more healthy inventory levels by about the middle of 2023, and the chipmaker’s revenue will improve in the second half of the year, Mehrotra said on a conference call after the results were released. 

Micron is cutting its budget for new plants and equipment, and now expects to spend from US$7 billion to US$7.5 billion for the fiscal year, a reduction from an earlier target of as much as US$12 billion. The company is also slowing the introduction of more advanced manufacturing techniques. Micron predicts that overall industry spending on new production will also decline.

Unlike other parts of the chip sector, products from Micron are built to industry standards, meaning they can be swapped out for those of its competitors. Because memory can be traded like a commodity, its makers are exposed to more pronounced price swings. 

Micron’s pledge to reduce output from its factories and slow expansion projects won’t ease the glut of chips available unless rivals, including Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc., follow suit. That step can help support prices but comes with the penalty of running expensive plants at less than full capacity, something that can weigh heavily on profitability. 

It will be difficult to generate a profit in the memory chip industry in the coming year, Mehrotra said. In addition to its planned workforce reductions, the company has suspended share repurchases, is cutting executive salaries and will skip companywide bonus payments, executives said on the call.

In the three months ended Dec. 1, Micron’s sales declined 47 per cent to US$4.09 billion. The company had a loss of 4 cents a share, excluding certain items. That compares with an average estimate of a loss of 1 cent a share on revenue of US$4.13 billion.

Micron’s shares declined about 1.5 per cent in extended trading after closing at US$51.19 in New York. The stock has dropped 45 per cent this year, a worst decline than most chip-related equities. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index is down 33 per cent in 2022.

Last month the company warned it was cutting production by about 20 per cent “in response to market conditions.” Boise, Idaho-based Micron had 48,000 employees as of Sept. 1, according to filings. 

Bumper green aluminum output is good news for carmakers, and climate

Reuters | December 19, 2022 | 

Bratsk aluminium smelter. (Reference image by UC Rusal Photo Gallery, Wikimedia Commons).

Aluminum makers are set to boost low-carbon metal output by 10% in 2023 and churn out even more in the years ahead, driving down the cost for carmakers seeking climate-friendly supplies and shrinking the industry’s hefty carbon footprint.


Aluminum is the most energy-intensive metal to produce, accounting for about 1.1 billion tonnes of global CO2 emissions per year. Next year’s forecast increase in “green aluminum” output would reduce that by 13 million tonnes, or about 1.2%.

Pressure by governments to cut greenhouse gas emissions has given aluminum producers an incentive to ramp up output of the low-carbon material, which emits less than 4 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of metal compared to the global average of 16.6 tonnes.

That means global surpluses of green aluminum – largely produced using hydro power or recycled material – already weigh on the premium that producers can charge buyers, from automakers and beverage can firms to construction suppliers.

“It’s (the premium) been very modest now for the last couple of years,” Ivan Vella, chief executive of Rio Tinto Aluminium, told an investor conference last month.

Vella added that the company had seen some increases in premiums recently, without giving details.

Green products

Global supplies of low-carbon aluminum have been robust for several years, but dipped in 2022 mainly due to restrictions in southern provinces in top producer China that rely on hydro power.

Output is due to bounce back globally next year, rising 10% to 18.56 million tonnes – accounting for 26% of total aluminum production, said Simon Large, analyst at consultancy CRU.

In Europe, the proportion of low-carbon products to overall supply is much higher than in the rest of the world, because large Scandinavian producers typically use hydro power, and should reach 83% next year, he added.

Auto industry

The increase in more sustainable supplies has coincided with growing efforts by companies to demonstrate their green credentials to consumers, led by the European car sector.

Germany’s BMW agreed last year to buy aluminum made with solar power from Emirates Global Aluminium, while Volkswagen’s premium brand Audi is piloting metal from the new ELYSIS technology pioneered by Alcoa and Rio Tinto, which eliminates all CO2 emissions and replaces them with oxygen.

Most companies are reluctant to disclose how much low-carbon material they buy and any premiums paid for competitive reasons.

Electric vehicle (EV) maker Polestar has started to use green aluminum as part of a project to create a vehicle with zero emissions from every aspect of production, teaming up with Norway’s Norsk Hydro (NHY.OL), which uses hydro power to produce much of its metal.

Polestar said it pays slightly more for green aluminum, partly due to the administrative costs of changing suppliers, but did not say how much more.

“The cost per reduced kg of CO2 emissions when shifting to green aluminum is still significantly lower than many other ways of reducing raw material emissions,” a company spokesperson told Reuters.

Norsk Hydro also inked a deal to supply Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE) with aluminum that produces less than 3 tonnes of CO2 emissions per tonne of metal.

Heavy investment, low premiums

Aluminum companies have invested heavily in low-carbon technologies. Norsk Hydro said this year it had spent billions making its aluminum more sustainable, while Rio Tinto, Alcoa and the Canadian government invested $228 million in their new ELYSIS process.

But such investments to step up output are dampening the prices that producers can charge for their low-carbon products, especially this year when overall demand has been hit by recession fears, analysts say.

“Low carbon premiums on the spot side have basically disappeared,” said Jorge Vazquez at consultancy Harbor Aluminum.

The spot premium for low-carbon billet, a fabricated product often used in construction, has slid to zero from $30 a tonne in January, he said.

Producers, however, are still managing to sell some of their low-carbon output at higher prices under quarterly and annual contracts.

Wire rod commands the highest premiums due to its use in power wiring linked to the green energy transition around the world, he added.

But even the bumper premium for wire rod of $45 a tonne represents less than 2% of the underlying benchmark aluminum price.

There are regional variations as well.

“Where we’ve seen the most willingness to entertain green premiums is Europe, where it is quite accelerated, and we’re starting to see the early elements in North America, but Asia is behind,” said an industry source who declined to be identified.

In Europe, premiums may get a lift from European Union proposals to impose tariffs on imports of high-carbon goods by 2026, another analyst said.

Consumers are benefitting from the plentiful supplies of not only low-carbon primary aluminum, but recycled material, which uses about 95% less energy to make.

Rising output of both will keep green premiums relatively low in the coming years, said Marcelo Azevedo at the McKinsey consultancy.

Limited movement of supplies between regions, however, could lead to deficits in high-demand areas such as Europe, he added.

One area bucking the weak trend is “ultra-low” carbon aluminum, meaning metal produced with less than 2 tonnes of carbon emissions per tonne of metals, where premiums are strong due to lack of material, Azevedo said.

(By Eric Onstad; Editing by Helen Popper)

AUSTRALIA
Fortescue reveals green steel plans but warns task is enormous

Bloomberg News | December 19, 2022 | 

Andrew Forrest, Australian billionaire and Chief Executive Officer of Fortescue.

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., the world’s fourth-biggest iron ore miner, has joined forces with Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. and European steelmaker Voestalpine AG to develop zero-carbon iron using hydrogen at a plant in Austria.


It’s the Australian miner’s first foray into so-called “green steel,” which aims to exclude coal from the steelmaking process and so help clean up one of the world’s dirtiest industries. Iron ore is the primary feedstock for the majority of steel, the world’s most widely used metal.

The project will use technology developed by Primetals Technologies Ltd., a venture involving another Mitsubishi company, that replaces coal-reliant blast furnaces with hydrogen and a smelter powered by electricity. If that electricity is entirely renewable, then in theory the process won’t emit any carbon.

“You make enormous amounts of carbon when you make steel — it’s about 7% to 10% of the world’s emissions,” Mark Hutchinson, chief executive officer of the company’s green energy division, Fortescue Future Industries, said in a phone interview. “We’ve got to fix this.”

Fortescue’s joint venture, which will mostly be funded by European government grants, aims to complete a pilot plant by 2025, and build a commercial scale facility by the end of the decade, Hutchinson said.

Hydrogen demand

Decarbonizing steel is a crucial step in the fight to halt climate change, and development of large-scale plants would send demand for hydrogen soaring. That would benefit Fortescue, which plans to produce 15 million tons a year of green hydrogen by 2030 as part of Chairman Andrew Forrest’s goal of becoming a major clean energy producer.

A growing number of miners and steelmakers are racing to develop green steel technologies using hydrogen. The most advanced is Hybrit, a Swedish joint venture of steelmaker SSAB AB, iron ore producer Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB and power company Vattenfall AB. Germany’s Thyssenkrupp AG, South Korea’s Posco Holdings Inc., and China Baowu Steel Group Corp. are also experimenting with green steel.

But the technology is expensive and at an early stage and often requires a high grade of iron ore. According to Hutchinson, the method developed by Primetals may work with the lower quality ore that Fortescue and others mine in Australia’s Pilbara region. Part of the goal of the pilot plant will be to test different grades, which Fortescue will supply.

Hutchinson cautioned not to expect quick results, saying that decarbonizing the world’s steel sector is likely to develop slowly over decades and will require “enormous” investment in renewable energy.

“To think about doing the entire industry, the amount of renewables needed to do that is just extraordinary,” he said.

Austria’s Voestalpine plans to begin switching its coal-based steel output to hydrogen from 2027. “Over the long term, our mission is carbon-neutral steel production using green hydrogen, for which we are already undertaking intensive research into promising breakthrough technologies,” Hubert Zajicek, the company’s head of steel, said in a statement.

(By James Fernyhough)

Nucor, Electra partner to produce carbon-free iron for steelmaking

Staff Writer | December 16, 2022 |

Electric arc furnace. (Image courtesy of Nucor).

Steelmaker Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) and Electra, a Colorado-based start-up developing a process to produce carbon-free iron that can be used to make steel, have partnered to produce emissions-free iron.


Electra uses renewable energy to refine low-grade iron ores into high-purity iron through electrochemical and hydrometallurgical processes. This material will be used by Nucor in the steelmaking process to offset other high-quality metallics that come with higher greenhouse gas emissions.

In detail, the process produces Low-Temperature Iron (LTI) from commercial and low-grade ores. The company electrochemically refines iron ore into pure iron at 60 degrees Celsius using renewable electricity. That iron can be turned into steel using existing electric arc furnaces.

Electra’s process results in zero carbon dioxide emissions. By comparison, approximately 70% of the steel produced globally is made with blast furnace technology, an extractive process fed by iron ore, coal, and limestone that emits about two tonnes of carbon dioxide for every tonne of steel produced.

Nucor already uses primarily recycled scrap as raw material and is, thus, considered a clean steelmaker.

“The circular nature of remelting recycled scrap in electric arc furnaces, combined with steel’s ability to be infinitely recycled, means that Nucor’s steelmaking facilities generate roughly one-third of the carbon dioxide of extractive steelmaking plants,” the firm said in a media statement.

“Its investment in Electra is one of several investments the company is making that furthers Nucor’s status as a sustainability leader and builds on the innovation that has already led to cleaner steel production in the United States.”

EnCore Energy wins court challenge to South Dakota uranium project 

The EnCore Energy team at the company’s Rosita Central Processing Facility is located in Duval County, Texas. Credit: EnCore Energy

POSTED BY: COLIN MCCLELLAND DECEMBER 16, 2022

EnCore Energy (TSXV: EU; OTCQB: ENCUF) 

has won a court challenge to its US$32 million Dewey-Burdock uranium project in South Dakota.  

The Oglala Sioux Tribe and watchdog group Aligning for Responsible Mining wanted a United States appeals court to review its decision in August approving the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) licence for enCore to mine uranium at the project about 150 km southwest of Rapid City, SD.   

The court denied the request on Thursday, but the project’s opponents can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.  

Jeffrey C. Parsons, a lawyer based in Lyons, CO with the Western Mining Action Project who argued for the Indigenous group, didn’t immediately reply to a phone call Friday morning seeking comment.  

A spokesperson for Corpus Christi, Texas-based enCore said by phone the company may provide comment on the court’s decision.  

The Dewey-Burdock in-situ recovery project is among several enCore is pursuing with others in Texas, Wyoming and New Mexico as the company plugs in to a renewed interest in nuclear power by governments for producing energy without harmful gas emissions. Several countries have rolled back attempts to retire nuclear plants in the face of a European energy crisis and calls to fight climate change.  

A 2020 report shows Dewey-Burdock has 5.4 million tonnes grading 0.132% uranium oxide for contained metal of 14.4 million lb. over a 16-year mine life. EnCore estimated construction costs at US$31.7 million, a post-income tax net present value of US$147.5 million at a discount rate of 8% and an internal rate of return of 50%. The calculations used a uranium price of $55 per lb., an operating cost of US$10.46 per lb. and royalties and local taxes of $5.15 per lb. of production. 

According to court documents, the project’s opponents objected to how the NRC conducted environmental impact studies from 2009-19 on the property and the proposed in-situ recovery process. In-situ recovery involves pumping a solution into underground ore beds to dissolve uranium, then pumping it to the surface where the uranium is recovered for processing into fuel. 

A decade of negotiations between enCore and local Indigenous groups found some on side with the company while the Oglala Sioux Tribe at times sought greater compensation for participation and at one point proposed a study process that would have cost another US$2 million but was eventually dropped. 

EnCore and the NRC argued successfully in court to support the agency’s environmental review process, although there had been some flaws in consultations with locals. 

Last month, enCore bought the past-producing Alta Mesa uranium project in Texas from Energy Fuels (TSX: EFR) for US$120 million. The deal gives enCore three of only 11 licenced production facilities in the United States.  

The acquisition lifts enCore’s total production capacity including the Rosita and Kingsville Dome plants in Texas by about 70% to 3.6 million lb. a year with the goal of starting production at Rosita next year, it said. 

Shares in enCore Energy fell 1.5% on Friday in Toronto to $3.22 apiece, within a 52-week range of $2.84 and $5.91, valuing the company at $347 million. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals case is 20-1489 Oglala Sioux Tribe and Aligning v. NRC, et al “Per Curiam Order Filed (Merits Panel).” 

Hedge funds say they lost $95 million in LME nickel crisis
Bloomberg News | December 16, 2022 

Credit: LME

A group of hedge funds led by AQR Capital Management LLC said that they lost a combined $95 million during a turbulent few days when the London Metal Exchange controversially canceled billions of dollars in nickel trades and suspended the market.


The group of funds on Friday applied to force LME to hand over information relating to two key phone calls on March 8, the day that the trades were canceled. AQR Chief Investment Officer Clifford Asness has been among the most vocal critics of the LME’s actions during the crisis, describing the events as “one of the worst things I’ve ever seen.”

The LME is already facing regulatory investigations and separate lawsuits from Jane Street and Paul Singer’s Elliott Investment Management over its handling of the March nickel crisis, when futures spiked 250% in a little over 24 hours in a massive squeeze centered around a large short position held by tycoon Xiang Guangda.

The LME responded by suspending the market for a week, and — most controversially — canceled about $3.9 billion of trades made at the highest prices.

“Those decisions were unprecedented and out of the norm,” Paul McGrath, a lawyer for the funds, said at the hearing. The “effects of those were to benefit certain participants, like short sellers.”

In court filings, lawyers for the applicants said the LME had “point blank refused” to provide documentation to back up its claim that its actions were necessary to protect the market. The applicants, which also include DRW Commodities LLC, Flow Traders BV, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC, and Winton Capital Management Ltd., have suffered loss “in the combined approximate total of $95 million.”

Joint letter

Due to the LME’s legal status as a public body, Elliott and Jane Street are pursuing their claims by way of a judicial review. AQR and the other funds filed their initial request at London’s Commercial Court for documents from the LME in September.

In court filings opposing the funds’ claim, lawyers for the LME revealed that AQR and Elliott wrote to the exchange jointly in the wake of the squeeze, and in April the bourse responded to both with a “detailed account of the reasons for its decisions.”

While Elliott then issue legal proceedings against the LME, “AQR ceased corresponding with the respondents and sat on its hands”, the LME said.

Lawyers for the LME also responded to the funds’ apparent claim that it canceled the trades to protect Tsingshan, and other holders of short positions. The bourse was not acting to protect any specific market participant, and its “concern was with systemic risk and the potentially catastrophic effects of multiple, simultaneous disorderly defaults.”

(By Katharine Gemmell and Mark Burton)

Video: Why coal companies love bankruptcy

Bloomberg News | December 16, 2022 | 

(Image courtesy of the American Thoracic Society).

US coal companies are required by law to clean up their old mines, but a common practice of transferring those mines to smaller operators has left many polluted sites unreclaimed throughout coal country.


In this episode of Bloomberg Storylines we travel to the nation’s coal belt, revealing the environmental wreckage left by mining across wide swaths of land and the damage done to those who live nearby. We also meet one man on a crusade to make those coal companies clean up their mess and never come back.

(By Alan Jeffries)

World’s coal consumption set to breach new record this year
Bloomberg News | December 16, 2022 | 

A coal-fired power station in Nantong, China. (Image by Kristoferb, Wikimedia Commons).

World coal consumption is set to rise to the highest level ever this year despite ambitious global goals aimed at weaning nations off burning the dirty fossil fuel.


Coal usage looks likely to increase by 1.2% in 2022, surpassing 8 billion tonnes in a single year for the first time, according to an International Energy Agency report published Friday. It also said consumption will likely remain at that level until 2025, as declines in advanced economies are offset by demand in emerging Asian markets, such as China and India.




Europe’s heavy reliance on coal this year is largely driven by Russia’s curtailment of gas supplies to the continent, forcing it to draw on other other energy sources. It’s at a time when European leaders are also attempting to shift toward renewables to secure a clean source of power going forward.

The analysis “underlines the urgent need to massively scale up renewable power and energy efficiency so that we cut people’s bills, secure our energy supplies, and keep essential climate targets intact,” Alexandru Mustața, a campaigner at Europe Beyond Coal said.

“Importantly, no European country has revised its plans to phase out coal completely by 2030, and Europe is still on track to be coal free by the end of the decade.”

Canada blocks Glencore’s proposed coal mine project in British Columbia

Reuters | December 21, 2022 |

Near Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. Stock image.

Canada on Wednesday blocked Glencore Plc’s proposed coal mine project in British Columbia, citing significant environmental damage.


“After careful deliberation, the Government of Canada has determined the significant adverse environmental effects of the proposed Sukunka Coal Mine Project, an open-pit metallurgical coal mine located near Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, could not be mitigated,” the government said.

(By Kanjyik Ghosh; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Teck sells closed Quintette coal mine for $120 million

Staff Writer | December 20, 2022 |

The Quintette steelmaking coal mine has been on care and maintenance since 2000.

 (Image courtesy of Teck Resources.)

Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.A | TECK.B) (NYSE: TECK), Canada’s largest diversified miner, has reached a deal to sell its closed Quintette steelmaking coal mine to Conuma Resources for $120 million cash.


The asset, in northeast British Columbia, has been shuttered since 2000, after being in operations for 18 years.

Teck said Conuma Resources, a Canadian a steelmaking coal producer, will also pay an ongoing 25% net profits interest royalty once it recovers its investment in Quintette.

The Vancouver-based miner is using strong cash flows from its coal business to expand its copper development, including the Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 (Q2) expansion project in Chile.

Once in operation, Q2 would double Teck’s copper production, extending Quebrada Blanca’s life by 28 years and boosting production to 300,000 tonnes of copper a year from 287,000 tonnes in 2017.

Major steelmakers are starting to move away from coking coal used in blast furnaces and switching to greener alternatives, such as hydrogen.

The International Energy Agency published a report in November that shows “hydrogen-based steelmaking has picked up significant momentum”. According to the agency, the number of steelmakers’ announcements to use such technology tripled over the prior 12 months.

According to the World Steel Association, the industry is responsible for between 7% and 9% of the global emissions created from the burning of fossil fuels.

Most Canadians see clean energy as safer, more affordable than fossil fuels – survey
Staff Writer | December 18, 2022 | 

Wind farm near Strathroy-Caradoc, Ontario, Canada. 

(Image by Corey Seeman, Flickr.)

Two-thirds of Canadians think a clean energy system such as hydro, wind, solar power and electric vehicles would be more affordable than a fossil fuel energy system, a recent survey shows.


According to the study conducted by Clean Energy Canada and Abacus Data, such a view is shared by a majority in every region or province, except for Alberta.


The survey also shows that over seven in ten Liberal, National 

NEW Democratic Party and Green Party supporters feel this way, as do four in ten Conservative Party adherents.

The poll also asked participants to share their views on the renewable energy market and two-thirds responded that ‘green’ systems are more secure – that is, prices and supply seem less influenced by goal markets.

This view is shared by a majority in every region or province, including in Alberta. Over three in four Liberal, NDP, and Green Party supporters feel this way, as do half of Conservative Party supporters.

“Increasingly, Canadians see that the transition to clean energy is not only an economic opportunity—but an opportunity to lower their energy bills. Canadians also recognize clean energy as more secure. This view reflects reality, as clean energy electricity rates are less beholden to global markets,” Trevor Melanson, communications director at Clean Energy Canada, said in a media statement.

The survey also asked Canadians about their level of knowledge of the US’s Inflation Reduction Act, which seeks to invest $370 billion into climate action to spur investment in clean energy and greenhouse gas emission reductions.

Under half of Canadians are aware of the law and when asked whether it is important or not for Canada to also invest in clean-energy-related economic opportunities, 83% said it is either very or somewhat important. Large majorities in every region of the country and across the political spectrum shared this view.

The method

The survey was conducted with 1,500 Canadian adults from November 25 to December 1, 2022. A random sample of panellists was invited to complete the survey from a set of partner panels based on the Lucid exchange platform.

The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is +/- 2.5%, 19 times out of 20.

The data were weighted according to census data to ensure that the sample matched Canada’s population according to age, gender, educational attainment, and region.

ALBERTA IS SECOND IN CANADA FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT (SOLAR,WIND) BEHIND ONTARIO

APPARENTLY THIS IS NOT WELL KNOWN IN ALBERTA

U$A
Autonomous mining vehicle developer gets $38m to fuel expansion plans

Staff Writer | December 18, 2022 |

Autonomous mining vehicles with SafeAI’s technology. (Image by SafeAI).

SafeAI, a company that retrofits construction and mining vehicles with aftermarket hardware and proprietary autonomy software, received $38 million in Series B round funding to expand operations and continue developing its technology.


Among the firm’s funders are Builders VC, McKinley Management, George Kaiser Family Foundation, and Energy Innovation Capital. At the same time, Moog Inc., a manufacturer of electric, electro-hydraulic and hydraulic motion controls and systems, joined the round as a strategic investor.

“Heavy industry is an enormous global market. Based on data from Australia Mining Consultancy and Parker Bay Mining, the mining equipment industry alone is valued at close to over $18 billion and is expected to grow at a 7% CAGR. But, the industry is threatened by productivity inefficiencies, safety issues and delays that derail project timelines and budgets,” SafeAI said in a media statement. “Autonomy addresses these issues head-on by delivering greater efficiency and 24/7 productivity—yet, less than 5% of mining vehicles worldwide are leveraging it. SafeAI is designed to meet this significant and increasing demand.”

According to the company, one of the main advantages of its technology is that it doesn’t require miners to acquire new equipment as it converts aftermarket vehicles and fleets with autonomous technology, regardless of manufacturer or vehicle type.

“SafeAI has developed their solution for scale and impact in a highly addressable off-road market that has an immediate need and proven traction,” Mark Blackwell, general partner at Builders VC, said in the press brief. “With a solution that is more broadly accessible to the industry, yet still powerful enough for the largest mining companies, SafeAI is set up to deliver industry transformation at scale.”

Blackwell pointed out that the new funding comes on the heels of a year of momentous growth for SafeAI, including partnerships with contracting group MACA to deploy 100 mining trucks, Siemens on a collaboration for vehicle electrification and autonomy, and Obayashi Corporation on developing solutions for construction.

“We’ve designed a flexible, interoperable, scalable retrofit model to enable companies across the heavy industry to uplevel their operations,” Bibhrajit Halder, founder and CEO at SafeAI, said. “The mining industry has been successfully implementing autonomy on a limited scale for years. Our approach is purpose-built to finally accelerate autonomous accessibility and deployment on a significant scale. This funding is just the beginning of our next chapter of expansion and growth.”

21ST CENTURY ALCHEMY

Gold may be the solution to foggy glasses

Staff Writer | December 19, 2022 | 

The left lens (right from the reader’s perspective) has the new antifogging nanocoating. The other lens is uncoated. (Image courtesy of ETH Zurich).

A recently developed ultrathin, gold-based transparent coating that is able to convert sunlight into heat is being proposed as a solution to prevent fogging in glass surfaces such as those in eyewear or windshields.


The soon-to-be patented coating has been created by researchers at ETH Zurich employing methods that are used extensively in manufacturing, such as vapour deposition under vacuum in a clean room to deposit minuscule amounts of gold onto the surface being treated.

The coating is made up of a single gold nanolayer and is significantly thin, which makes it transparent as well as pliable. Further, it absorbs infrared light selectively.

The new material also takes an approach that differs from conventional antifogging methods. Traditionally, surfaces are coated with water-attracting molecules, which results in an even spread of condensation. This is how antifog sprays work. But the new method instead heats the surface, thus preventing humidity-induced condensation from forming there in the first place. It’s the same principle as is used for a car’s rear window.

The problem with the way things are done in cars is that electric heating is required, which is inefficient and wastes energy. In contrast, the new coating is heated passively and requires, during the daytime, no additional energy source.

Tiny gold particles

The way the coating is designed involves minuscule, extremely thin clusters of gold sandwiched between two ultrathin layers of titanium oxide, an electrically insulating material. Due to their refractive properties, these two outer layers increase the efficacy of the heating effect. Moreover, the top layer of titanium oxide acts as a finish that protects the gold layer from wear. This whole “sandwich” is just 10 nanometres thick. By way of comparison, a common gold leaf is twelve times thicker.

The individual gold clusters touch each other minimally, which is what allows the gold layer to just start conducting electricity. So in the absence of sunlight, it would still be possible to use electricity to heat the coating.

“Our coating absorbs a large proportion of the infrared radiation, which causes it to heat up – by up to 8 degrees Celsius,” ETH doctoral student Iwan Hächler, who was a driving force behind the development, said in a media statement.

Given the positive results of their initial tests, Hächler and his colleagues will now develop the coating further for other applications. In the process, they will investigate whether other metals work just as well as gold.

They believe that in addition to eyewear and windshields, this antifogging method could be used wherever objects must be both heated and transparent – such as windows, mirrors or optical sensors.