Union at Chile’s Centinela copper mine accepts offer to avoid strike

Reuters | May 24, 2023 | 1:06 pm Careers Top Companies Latin America Copper

Centinela copper mine. (Image courtesy of Minera Centinela.)

The mine supervisor union for Chile’s Centinela mine, operated by mining company Antofagasta, accepted contract negotiations to avoid a strike, the union said on Wednesday.


The proposal is set to be formalized by both parties, the union said in a statement. It added that it will take into account “that each and every one of the conditions achieved will be duly incorporated into the collective agreement that will govern us for the next three years.”


Union members had rejected a previous proposal from the mining company in mid May, and began a mediation period with the government last week.

In 2022, Centinela produced 247,600 tonnes of copper, according to data from the state agency Cochilco.

(By Fabian Cambero and Carolina Pulice; Editing by Anthony Esposito)

Congo to hike stake in copper, cobalt venture with China

Reuters | May 25, 2023 | 

The Mutanda copper-cobalt mine, Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

Source: YouTube

The Democratic Republic of Congo aims to boost its stake in a cobalt and copper joint venture with Chinese firms to 70% from 32%, on concerns the deal gives away too much of Congo’s resources with little benefit to the country.


The plan to boost Congo’s stake and have greater control in managing the Sicomines venture – currently dominated by the Chinese firms – was detailed in a document seen by Reuters, that outlined Congo’s demands ahead of talks to overhaul a $6 billion infrastructure-for-minerals agreement.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, who is set to visit China, instructed his government on May 19 to move ahead with the talks after Congolese stakeholders “consolidated their position” on the 2008 deal.

The lopsided pact, Congo says, leaves it little means to control the operations of the venture, and the resources and revenue that are leaving the country.

He ordered the creation of an ad hoc commission in March to harmonize the negotiating positions of the Congolese institutions in charge of supervising the execution of the deal.

The commission included representatives of the presidency, the government, state auditor, the General Inspection of Finance (IGF), the Agency for Supervision, Coordination and Monitoring of Collaboration Agreements signed between the Democratic Republic of Congo and private partners, state miner Gecamines, and civil society.

‘Authentic’

Two members of the commission, who were not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed the authenticity of the document and the conclusions, which have not been reported before.

The sources said the conclusions would serve as the basis for Congo’s talks with the Chinese companies.

Congo’s government and the presidency did not respond to requests for comment.

The commission said Congo should seek a greater share in Sicomines because the 2008 agreement did not take account of an estimated $90.9 billion worth of reserves that Gecamines brought to the deal, according to the document seen by Reuters.

Chinese companies Power Construction Corporation of China, also known as Sinohydro, and China Railway Group Limited, did not respond to requests for comment.

Sinohydro Corp and China Railway Group Limited had agreed to build roads and hospitals in exchange for a 68% stake in Sicomines, the cobalt and copper joint venture with Congo’s state mining company Gecamines.

Congo is the world’s largest producer of battery material cobalt, and a major copper producer.

The commission said Congo should seek a 60% stake in Sicomines for Gecamines and its subsidiary, a non-dilutable 10% stake for the state, and 30% for the Chinese companies, to make the joint venture deal fairer for Congo.

Compensation sought

It said the amount earmarked in the previous deal to finance infrastructure, around $3 billion including interests, was insufficient compared with the value of mineral reserves given up by Gecamines.

“We estimated that the loan envelope for infrastructure should increase from $3 billion to $6 billion,” one of the sources said.

In the initial deal, $3 billion had been earmarked for developing the Sicomines joint venture, and another $3 billion for infrastructure in Congo.

In the renegotiation talks, compensation would be brought up, the source said.

“We are going to ask for a lump sum compensation of $2 billion, among other things because Sicomines sold the minerals at half price to the Chinese companies … well below the market price,” the source said, adding that the fine will be for all damages Congo has suffered.

“It is estimated that 90% of the Congo’s mining exports go to China, but its contribution to GDP does not exceed 30%,” said Jean-Pierre Okenda, director of extractive industries for Resource Matters, an NGO which is calling for greater transparency in the negotiations.

Tshisekedi is expected to raise the issues during his trip to Beijing. However, “the real negotiations with the Chinese side will only start when the president returns,” one of the sources told Reuters.

(By Sonia Rolley and Bate Felix; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Building DRC mining on responsible standards

The DRC is experiencing considerable investment in mineral exploration as well as mine development and expansion. 

Image credit: SRK Consulting

Building DRC mining on responsible standards

The search for battery minerals is taking on an almost frantic urgency, with countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) finding themselves under the exploration microscope.

By Susa Maleba, Dominique Sambwa, Wouter Jordaan and Vis Reddy at SRK Consulting.

While everyone wants swift progress in mineral development, it is worth remembering that responsible exploration and mining is a complex and risky endeavour that cannot be unduly rushed.

With its bounty of sought-after metals like copper, cobalt and lithium, the DRC is experiencing considerable investment in mineral exploration as well as mine development and expansion. The pressure is on to bring more mining projects – and higher production – online as the world’s demand for battery minerals is expected to rise rapidly.

Driving the enthusiasm is the expectation that economic recovery in China could send mineral demand levels rocketing. China’s latest five-year plan is certainly to identify more sources for its future mineral requirements, and African countries like the DRC are priorities.

Pushing the pace (Building DRC mining on responsible standards)

An indication of the concern being felt by the global market is the trend for electric vehicles and battery manufacturers to be tying up supply deals with producers well in advance of their needs. Even the world’s tech companies are being drawn into the action, looking for ways to harness artificial intelligence to accelerate the pace and success rate of exploration efforts.

Copper producers in South America are already ramping up production, and Africa’s copper belt has become much busier. In the DRC, there is a high likelihood of many project transactions over the next year, are likely to happen in quick succession and exploration efforts will also speed up.

Speed, of course, is not to be confused with haste. The good practice that is today expected of the mining sector is as critical as it is onerous – and begins from day one of the planning process. Perhaps especially due to the added pressure to advance projects, there is an even greater risk of missing a critical element that could endanger the project’s future. Such elements include closure planning and the embedding of a range of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations that will strengthen the long-term licence to operate.

Responsible sourcing and integrity (Building DRC mining on responsible standards)

Reporting standards are moving front and centre as a measure of mines’ performance in the eyes of investors, financiers, governments and local communities. While sustainability reports from mining companies have generally been high-level documents, that is changing with the growing sensitivity to ESG issues. With responsible sourcing being at the heart of the drive for battery minerals, stakeholders are now even more keen to establish the integrity of where and how these minerals are sourced.

This is a significant concern in a country like the DRC, where some processing plants do not have their own mining operations, for example. The market for the processing of third-party-mined material is large, and often opaque.

For a mine that is procuring ore externally to augment supply to its plant, it is critical that the provenance is transparent and complies with both industry standards and stakeholders’ expectations. These concerns range from ore grading integrity to human rights issues related to child labour and fair pay.

Sourcing responsibly (Building DRC mining on responsible standards)

In this context, responsible sourcing is already high on the agenda of the European Union (EU). Its RE-SOURCING project – funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme – is developing roadmaps for critical sectors and contributing to future policies. With SRK Consulting as a partner, the initiative has sourced input from stakeholders in regions where raw materials for the green transition will be sourced.

The project’s rationale is to ensure that minerals are sourced responsibly, with due regard for the impact of mining and its extensive value chain – from the environmental impact and carbon footprint to social and human rights issues.

Commodity-specific standards – such as the Copper Mark – are therefore likely to become guiding lights to the mining sector in the DRC. Such standards provide not just a benchmark, but a basis for fair comparison. The practical challenge for mines lies in their strategic commitment and ability to implement these standards.

Step by step (Building DRC mining on responsible standards)

Following due process is now a non-negotiable, from the initial geological investigations onwards. The optimal process is highly structured, as each step of data gathering paves the way for the next. This might not always seem quick enough for some companies, especially when they have not been directly involved in the mining field before.

The point is that the technical, environmental, and social risks of mining are already substantial; to miss a stage in the development process is to add unnecessarily to this risk. To rush the progress from a scoping study to a feasibility study, for instance, will leave gaps in information that the pre-feasibility stage is specifically designed to provide. It is not uncommon to encounter potentially fatal flaws at scoping stage, which can cost investors dearly if not fully investigated and resolved.

The future of the DRC’s economy is relying to a large extent on the continued development of its mining sector – as this in turn is being steadily built, one mine at a time.

Proceeding with due care through the preparation steps for each venture ensures that, in the best case, the mining plan is optimal, cost-efficient, and sustainable. Those same steps will also ensure, in the worst case, that project investors do not incur unnecessary losses on projects that are unviable. Careful execution will ensure successful projects in the DRC and avoid project failures at later stages in the project cycle.

Building DRC mining on responsible standards

Susa Maleba is a mining engineer and country manager of SRK Consulting Congo

Dominique Sambwa is a geological consultant and chairman of SRK Consulting Congo

Wouter Jordaan is a principal environmental scientist and partner at SRK Consulting (SA)

Vis Reddy is a principal environmental chemist and chairman of SRK Consulting (SA)

Building DRC mining on responsible standards

WhyAfrica provides on the ground information and business intelligence about the sustainable utilisation and extraction of natural resources in Africa, and can assist your company through:

Tin prices rise on Myanmar supply worry
Reuters | May 25, 2023

Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar (Stock Image)

Tin prices rose on Thursday on renewed concerns about plans by a major tin producing region in Myanmar to suspend mining later this year.


A detailed plan to suspend all mining activities in a region controlled by Myanmar’s ethnic Wa militia force from Aug. 1 was released earlier this month, the International Tin Association (ITA) said in a statement on Wednesday.

“It sends a strong message to the mining sector about the (Wa) government’s unwavering commitment to promote sustainable mining practices, protect the environment, and safeguard the welfare of mine workers,” the ITA said.

The Wa militia, which announced the planned mining suspension last month, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Three-month tin on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.7% to $24,140 a tonne at 0839 GMT, while the most-traded June tin contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced 2.2% to 199,050 yuan ($28,797.33) a tonne.

The suspension announcement last month sent tin prices sky-rocketing, with China’s Yunnan Tin, the world’s top refined tin producer, saying the mining halt could lead to a further tightening of global tin supply.

“We are revising up our tin price forecasts for 2023 from $20,000 a tonne to $25,000 a tonne as a number of regulatory changes point to a looming supply crunch in the global tin market,” said analysts at BMI in a note.

While Chinese demand remains tepid, the seaborne tin market will see a tighter market in the coming months which will support prices, BMI said.

LME aluminum rose 1.1% to $2,230 a tonne, zinc declined 2% to $2,268 a tonne, lead eased 0.4% to $2,040 a tonne, copper rose 0.6% to $7,946 a tonne and nickel increased 1.6% to $21,070 a tonne.

SHFE aluminum shed 0.4% to 17,650 yuan a tonne, zinc declined 2.1% to 19,050 yuan a tonne, lead eased 0.1% to 15,270 yuan a tonne, copper dropped 0.8% to 63,460 yuan a tonne, while nickel rose 3.1% to 169,080 yuan a tonne.

($1 = 6.9121 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(By Mai Nguyen; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Mark Potter)

SASKATOON
Catholic Schools Superintendent tells teachers, chaperones to avoid Rainbow Tent at Children's Fest

Principals were told to "speak personally" to teachers and parent chaperones and "inform them that the Rainbow Tent should not be part of their visit."

Author of the article:Julia Peterson
Published May 25, 2023 • 

Children sit with a performer at the 2022 Nutrien Children's Festival. 

PHOTO BY MATT SMITH /Saskatoon StarPhoenix

An email from Superintendent of Education Tom Hickey to the principals of Saskatoon Catholic elementary schools says teachers and parent chaperones are not to take students to the “Rainbow Tent” at the Nutrien Children’s Festival this year.

“Based on the description on the festival website, engagement and participation by our students in that particular onsite offering would not be supported,” Hickey wrote on May 17.

The Rainbow Tent is one of many activities offered at the Children’s Festival, which takes place in Kinsmen Park from June 1 to 4.

“From Drag Queen Storytime to inclusive dress up performances filled with colour and fun, this tent is full of rainbows,” was the entire description of the Rainbow Tent on the festival website at the time Hickey’s email was sent.

It advised principals to “speak personally” to teachers and parent chaperones taking students to the festival, and “inform them that the Rainbow Tent should not be part of their visit.”

A screenshot of an email sent by GSCD Superintendent of Education Tom Hickey, advising school principals that “the Rainbow Tent should not be part of their visit” to the Nutrien Children’s Festival this year. PHOTO BY SUBMITTED BY KATE HOFSTRA

Former student Kate Hofstra said she was “gutted” when she saw Hickey’s email, which has been circulating on social media.

“I was just so sad,” said Hofstra. “I loved that teacher. He was my homeroom teacher in high school

“(And) I just hope that, whatever the intention was, he knows this is so hurtful for our family.”

Hofstra and her wife have a four-year-old son who starts school in the fall.

“I grew up Catholic, and I like the traditions of being in a Catholic school — but these specific reasons are the reasons he’s not going to a Catholic school,” she said.

Students deserve to see all sorts of families and identities represented and celebrated, rather than being hidden away, she added.

“To be going to a children’s festival and being told you’re not allowed to go in that tent — because of the potential that you might see some representation of what you live every day — is so scary to think about,” said Hofstra. “It’s scary to think that a totally normal family like ours would be under attack in such an innocent atmosphere.”

Seth Rabby-Dowling, dad to a transgender student currently enrolled in the Saskatoon Catholic system, said Hickey’s email was “ridiculous” and “not something I’m OK with.”

His daughter’s high school experience has been roundly positive, with supportive faculty, staff and classmates, so hearing about the superintendent’s directive against visits to the Rainbow Tent seemed “so out of left field,” he said.

“Purposefully avoiding the rainbow tent doesn’t seem like something the Catholic schools would be okay with, (and) it doesn’t seem right to me,” said Rabby-Dowling. “I don’t think there should be a problem with going to the Rainbow Tent.”

On Thursday, the Nutrien Children’s Festival reiterated its commitment to the Rainbow Tent and inclusive activities.

“Every child is welcome at the festival and as such, we curate our programming to reflect who we are and who we aspire to become as a community,” organizers said in a statement. “We believe that every child should feel heard, loved, accepted and supported and we work hard to provide performances and activities that support this belief.”

Festival organizers also offered a reminder that “all are welcome” at the festival, and there will be “rigorous security standards and protocols” on site to ensure the safety of all attendees.

Multiple attempts were made to contact Hickey and Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools for comment. All phone calls were transferred to voicemail.

Sask. Research Council designs, manufactures cell tech for rare earth element processing

Saskatchewan's Rare Earth Processing Facility is expected to be fully operational late next year.

Author of the article: Rob O'Flanagan

Saskatoon StarPhoenix 
Published May 25, 2023 •

A solvent extraction cell under construction at an industrial fabrication facility on Millar Avenue in north Saskatoon on May 25, 2023, to be used in a new rare earth processing facility under development by the Saskatchewan Research Council. 

(Rob O'Flanagan/Saskatoon StarPhoenix) 

The Government of Saskatchewan was emphatic in March about its intention to make Saskatchewan a global hub for the exploration and processing of valuable critical minerals and rare earth elements.

A major spoke in that hub was unveiled Thursday morning, when the government’s research and technology organization, the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC), announced it has designed and is manufacturing a component critical to rare earth element extraction

The advanced tech is exclusively owned by the provincial government and makes Saskatchewan and Canada one of only a small number of jurisdictions in the world with a similar capability.

Saskatchewan Research Council associate vice-president Erin Herman, left, and president and CEO Mike Crabtree explain the technology behind a new rare earth element solvent extraction cell technology at a media event in Saskatoon on May 25, 2023. 

(Rob O’Flanagan/Saskatoon StarPhoenix) 

Media, SRC officials and employees gathered in an industrial fabrication facility on Millar Avenue in north Saskatoon, where commercial-scale solvent extraction cell technology, vital to next-level rare earth element processing, was unveiled.

While the technology was in a state of partial assembly, officials were quick to build up its importance. The extraction cell technology will separate rare earth elements one from another, making them much more valuable.

An SRC processing facility, currently under construction and expected to open next year, will use the technology to process rare earth elements to a much higher level of refinement. The Millar Avenue fabrication facility will manufacture 140 of the cells for use in the processing facility.

SRC chief executive officer Mike Crabtree said the type of processing done there will allow the making of a “mid-stream” product that will increase the value of the elements by a factor of 10 to 20 times.

The extraction cells will take a liquid mixture, known as rare earth chloride, containing all 17 rare earth elements and separate them into individual rare earth oxides. Crabtree added that the processing facility, once up and running, will process minerals mined in Saskatchewan, other places in Canada and across North America.

The elements are used in an ever-increasing number of contemporary products, including cellphones, electric vehicles and wind turbines. Rare earth elements also have applications in the defence industry.

“Saskatchewan has the expertise, the capability and the reserves of rare earths to become that processing hub,” Crabtree said, adding that the facility will be “the most environmentally sustainable of its kind in the world,” with safeguards in place to prevent the release of environmental contaminants.

Crabtree said rare earth elements will remain in high demand into the future because they’re an integral part of existing technology widely used in the world. We would be lost without it, he suggested.

“They are that important to the industrial base of the planet.”

“Innovation and technology development are at the heart of what SRC does,” Minister Responsible for SRC Jeremy Harrison said in a news release. “The design, fabrication and automation of these solvent extraction cells right here in Saskatchewan is helping to develop an innovative and secure rare earth element supply chain in North America.”

Saskatchewan’s Rare Earth Processing Facility will use hydro-metallurgy, separation and metal smelting stages. It is expected to be fully operational late next year.

SRC is Canada’s second largest research and technology organization, with more than 350 employees and $277 million in annual revenue. It provides services and products to clients in 23 countries.

Botswana president insists on bigger share of diamonds from De Beers venture

Reuters | May 25, 2023 |

Stock Image

Botswana will not back down on demands for a bigger share of rough diamonds from its joint venture with De Beers, President Mokgweetsi Masisi said on Thursday, upping the stakes as talks for a new sales deal appear to be stalling.


Botswana and De Beers mine the precious stones through their equally owned, 54-year-old mining venture, Debswana Diamond Co. The current diamond sales deal, in place since 2011, has been extended three times since 2020 but is set to expire next month.

De Beers, a unit of Anglo American Plc, gets 75% of Debswana’s production, which was 24 million carats in 2022. The balance is sold to state-owned Okavango Diamond Company, a vehicle established in 2011 as Botswana began moves to independently sell some gems outside of the De Beers system.

Masisi, who has been Botswana’s president since 2018 and will seek re-election in next year’s elections, now wants Botswana to sell more of its diamonds outside the De Beers channel.

“Our agreement with De Beers is very restrictive to us. We signed it at a time when we didn’t know much, but now our eyes are open,” Masisi said at a community meeting in Mmadinare, 400 kilometres (248.55 miles) north-east of the capital, Gaborone.

Masisi hinted at a possible stalemate and litigation over the sales agreement.

“Even if we lose the litigation, our diamonds will remain ours and we will never give in. If I am going to lose votes because of this issue, then so be it,” said Masisi, speaking in Setswana.

Masisi has previously threatened to walk away from the talks if Botswana does not get a bigger share of Debswana’s output for marketing outside the De Beers system. The government has not publicly stated what share it seeks, but it is believed to be as high as 50%, double the current allocation.

De Beers was not immediately available to comment.

The diamond giant says Botswana receives more than 80% of returns from Debswana, after taxes and royalties are factored in. De Beers has previously expressed confidence that its five-decade partnership with Botswana will continue, on terms “that make economic and strategic sense for both parties.”

(By Brian Benza; Editing by Nelson Banya and David Gregorio)

HALT DEEP SEA MINING

Researchers detect 5,000 species threatened by deep sea mining

Bloomberg News | May 25, 2023 

Metal reserves in the deep sea are estimated to be worth anywhere from $8 trillion to more than $16 trillion. (Image: The Metals Company)

Researchers have released the first tally of deep ocean animals that inhabit the seabed targeted for strip mining, finding more than 5,000 species — nearly all of them unknown to science.


The peer-reviewed paper published in the journal Current Biology on Thursday highlights the lack of scientific knowledge about the biodiversity of the deep ocean, and arrives as the United Nations-affiliated International Seabed Authority (ISA) prepares to allow mining to commence as soon as next year. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea established the ISA in 1994 with a mandate to manage the exploration and exploitation of the seabed in international waters while at the same time ensuring the effective protection of the marine environment.

The scientists estimated there may be more than 8,000 species living in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a region of the Pacific Ocean that stretches from Hawaii to Mexico. Of the 5,580 species so far detected, only 438 have been identified, according to the study.

The CCZ seabed lies 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) below the surface and is covered by billions of potato-sized rocks called polymetallic nodules, which are rich in cobalt, nickel and other valuable metals used to make batteries for electric cars. The ISA has issued 16 contracts that allow companies to prospect for minerals in the CCZ. One venture, a Canadian-registered firm called The Metals Company, has told investors it will apply for a license to mine the nodules by the end of 2023.

The new findings are likely to fuel an increasingly contentious debate within the ISA, which next meets in July at its headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica. A growing number of the agency’s 167 member nations are calling for a moratorium or pause on seabed mining due to the dearth of scientific data about the potential impact on deep sea ecosystems.

“It’s critical that we address these data gaps so we actually can understand what species are there if mining happens,” said Muriel Rabone, a biologist and data analyst at the Natural History Museum in London and co-author of the study. Rabone said the researchers estimate that at least 30% to 40% of CCZ species live on the nodules. “They are most vulnerable to mining because if the nodules are removed you’re literally taking out their habitat, their house,” she said.

Many of the nodule-dwelling species are tiny corals, sponges and worms. But some larger animals depend on nodules to incubate their young, including a ghostly white octopus nicknamed Casper that lays its eggs on the stalks of dead sponges attached to the rocks.

Among the many unknowns about the biodiversity of the CCZ is how widely distributed species are throughout the region. Species found only in certain locations are at greater risk of extinction from mining, according to scientists. The researchers said that just six of 185 recently named species in the CCZ exist elsewhere in the world.

“I think it’s entirely fair to say that there is high diversity in the region,” Rabone said. “But some of these species are incredibly rare and have been described from just one individual and it’s literally the only one recorded in the entire CCZ.”

The study does not include another crucial but little-studied deep sea life form: microbes that may play a key role in the food web by transforming carbon into organic matter.

“The nodules have high diversity of microbial communities but it’s tricky to know what all the microbes are doing,” said Beth Orcutt, a geomicrobiologist and senior research scientist at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, an independent nonprofit research group in Maine, who was not involved in the study.

Scientists in 1989 conducted a deep sea mining experiment by plowing four square miles (11 square kilometers) of a nodule field so they could monitor the seabed ecosystem’s recovery. Twenty-six years later, microbial abundance remained reduced by 30%, according to a 2020 paper. Microbes also flourish in the sediment below the nodules. If full-scale mining proceeds in the CCZ, said Orcutt, “It’s going to take decades to hundreds of years or thousands of years for the same level of microbial ecosystem service to come back.”

The ISA’s strategy to ensure species don’t go extinct from mining in the CCZ has been to establish a network of protected zones called Areas of Particular Environmental Interest (APEI) that are supposed to preserve animals that could be wiped out in adjacent mining concessions. The study, however, determined that nearly no data has been collected on species that actually live in the preserves. About 95% of the species that live elsewhere in the CCZ have not been recorded as present in the APEIs, according to the paper.

“We desperately need more data and more sampling from the APEIs to actually know if they can provide refuge for these species,” said Rabone.

The researchers analyzed more than 100,000 records from a variety of databases, but said at least 25% of the species records submitted by mining contractors to the ISA’s own database — called DeepData — were duplicates. That could lead to underestimating the CCZ’s biodiversity. In a statement to Bloomberg Green, the ISA said its database is in the process of being corrected.

(By Todd Woody)

GREENWASHING

JV Article: BHP launches global open innovation call for water treatment solutions at mine sites

MINING.COM and BHP | May 25, 2023 | 

Escondida in Chile. Image: BHP.

Aligning with its vision for greater global water security by 2030, one of the world’s biggest miners, BHP, (ASX: BHP) has launched the “Global Water Challenge”, a scouting process in alliance with Fundación Chile’s Expande, which seeks to identify disruptive water treatment solutions to sustainably enhance water efficiency, recovery and contribute to sustainable development goals in the mining industry.

The initiative calls for companies, start-ups, institutes, research centers, universities, and other entities that have, or are developing disruptive water treatment solutions, with a focus on facing water challenges at BHP’s global copper and nickel mining assets.

Challenges the initiative aims to address are minimizing brine discharge from reverse osmosis plant; treatment of acidic pit lake waters; treatment of hypersaline groundwater; treatment of neutral brine effluent from leaching operations; and treatment and reuse of brines recovered from tailing storage facilities.

“Water is an integral and vital resource for our company’s production and operations, and we have a responsibility to effectively manage our water interactions and minimize our potential impacts on water resources. We are trying to solve how we can maximize the use of water and improve the quality of usage” says Ingrid Oyarzún, Head of Sustainability Innovation at BHP.

BHP's Olympic Dam in Australia. Image: BHP

“Facing this challenge and making our vision for a water secure world by 2030 a reality, requires collaboration with those companies that are addressing global challenges through innovation and disruptive technologies. We have a lot of people across the business who are working in water stewardship and sustainability teams that are contributing actively to achieve goals” she adds.

Goals include identifying repurposing technologies by eliminating water brine treatment, constraint optimization of water and maximizing water usage, recirculating water into the system through recovery and treatment and promoting circular economy models —creating marketable solutions.

“This challenge is connected to BHP’s sustainable goals and Social Value strategy — we believe that working together with external ecosystems and working in collaboration we can achieve these goals. We're very committed to make a difference and make meaningful things happen with the process, provide feedback, and move forward”, says Ingrid Oyarzún.

“We are committed to supporting Chile with its water transition, through collaborative efforts and a multi-sectoral dialogue. Global Water Challenge is a clear example of this, and we are very pleased to collaborate once again with BHP to identify and address the sustainability challenges that it is facing in its assets globally, as well as help achieve its climate change targets and goals,” says Philip Wood, Mining Innovation director at Fundación Chile.

The finalists will have the opportunity to present their solutions at a ‘Demo Day’, where winners will be able to collaborate on the next steps with the company through proof of concept, a controlled environment test or industrial pilot on a BHP asset.

Nippon Steel still in talks with Teck as it seeks stake in coal asset

Reuters | May 25, 2023 | 

Teck has four steelmaking coal operations in the Elk Valley of British Columbia, Canada. 

(Image courtesy of Teck.)

Nippon Steel Corp is still in talks with Teck Resources, despite Glencore’s bid for the Canadian miner, as Japan’s top steelmaker remains eager to take a stake in Teck’s high-grade coking coal asset, a senior executive said.


“We are still negotiating with Teck toward making an equity investment in coal assets,” executive vice president Takahiro Mori told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.



“The amount of our investment may need to be lifted due to Glencore’s bid, but we are determined to take 15% or more stake in the coal asset so that we can make it an affiliate unit,” he said.

Nippon Steel said in February it will spend around 1.15 billion Canadian dollars ($860 million) to buy a 10% stake in Elk Valley Resources Ltd (EVR), the coking coal unit to be spun off from Teck, with a right to raise its stake to maximum 17.5%.

But Teck last month withdrew its plan to split its coal and metals business after it failed to receive shareholders’ approval. The company’s board rejected the offer from Glencore and said it will come up with a new simplified plan of separation.

Nippon Steel, the world’s fourth largest steelmaker, wants to invest in Teck’s high-quality coking coal to secure a stable supply of the key steelmaking ingredient and to gain profits from the asset, Mori said.

Nippon Steel has said it plans to buy more stakes in coking coal and iron ore mines to hedge against volatility in the price for the raw materials. Currently, 20% of Nippon Steel’s annual coking coal imports of 27 million tonnes are supplied by mines in which it holds stakes.

Asked whether Nippon Steel would invest in the coal asset if Glencore buys Teck, Mori said: “there could be a different decision if thermal coal and coking coal are integrated,” pointing to a negative implication in terms of climate action.
China demand

Steel prices in Asia have been under pressure in recent months amid patchy economic recovery in top consumer China.

The outlook for demand in China has deteriorated compared to three months ago and a recovery could be delayed till next year, Mori said.

“Demand is expected to stay weak for a long time, with no firm economic stimulus policy in place and the real estate market remaining sluggish,” Mori said.

($1 = 1.3372 Canadian dollars)

(By Yuka Obayashi and Mayu Sakoda; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Teck Resources’ coal business raises questions about ESG successes
Wendy Stueck and Jeffrey Jones - The Globe and Mail | May 22, 2023 |

Teck has four steelmaking coal operations in the Elk Valley of British Columbia, Canada. (Image courtesy of Teck.)

In fending off a hostile takeover bid from mining giant Glencore PLC (LON: GLEN) Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX: TECK.A, TECK.B) (NYSE: TECK), highlighted its successes with environmental, social and governance issues and urged investors to consider Glencore’s failures as a reason to spurn the Swiss company’s offer.


That strategy means Vancouver-based Teck can point to unsavoury episodes in Glencore’s past, including a bribery scheme that featured cash deliveries by private jets. But it also opens the door for shareholders, regulators and would-be partners to cast a critical eye on Teck’s own record.

Teck’s ESG record includes innovative programs – the company last year announced plans to become “nature positive” by 2030 by conserving or protecting at least three hectares for each hectare affected by its mining. But it also has long-standing problems, including in coal-mining operations in British Columbia’s Elk Valley. Teck has paid millions in fines related to pollution from those operations and is still working to stem the contamination of watersheds in the region.

“In terms of the legacy fines, the issues with the Columbia River, the selenium in the coal operations – in many ways, those are textbook examples of why ESG matters. They cost hundreds of millions in regulatory and financial penalties,” said Jamie Bonham, director of corporate engagement at ESG-specialist fund manager NEI Investments Inc., who lauds Teck’s overall approach.

“In some ways,” he said, “they are a constant reminder to the company of what not to do,”

Teck’s focus on sustainability has drawn top ratings from several ESG agencies. But it’s an open question whether those ratings translate into a stock-market premium and a reason for investors to favour the company’s independence, or if it suffers a discount from risks tied to environmental problems that have strained relations with local communities.

Teck is Canada’s biggest diversified miner, with a market value of about $30-billion. In February, it announced plans to split its business into two companies: Teck Metals Corp., a metals business that would produce materials such as copper and zinc, and Elk Valley Resources Ltd., a coal division that would produce steelmaking, or metallurgical, coal from Teck mines in Elk Valley in southeastern B.C.

Teck withdrew its restructuring proposal on April 26 after it failed to win shareholder support. Glencore has since said it remains interested in acquiring Teck. This month, a consortium led by Canadian mining veteran Pierre Lassonde proposed to buy Teck’s coal operations.

Before the split proposal was scrapped, The Globe and Mail reported that former B.C. premier John Horgan joined the board of the spin-off coal company, prompting B.C. Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau to call for amendments to the province’s conflict-of-interest legislation that would have prevented the move.

Mr. Horgan’s appointment took place as Indigenous peoples on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border call on the two countries to refer long-standing pollution concerns from Teck’s Elk Valley coal operations to the International Joint Commission, a bilateral panel established under the terms of the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty.

The Montana-based Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) is part of the Ktunaxa Nation, a six-member alliance of four First Nations in B.C. and two U.S. tribes that has been pushing for a reference to the IJC since 2012.

Asked if he had concerns about Glencore’s ESG standards, CSKT chairman Tom McDonald said he wasn’t familiar with the company. But he didn’t think any company could be much worse than Teck itself. “If Teck was in the United States, they’d be a bad actor,” Mr. McDonald said in an interview.

“They’d be labelled and treated as a bad-actor company. They wouldn’t be allowed to continue operations. They wouldn’t be allowed to create spin-off companies or shield themselves from any obligations from former activities.”

Mr. McDonald’s dim view of Teck is based on its record in the Elk Valley. Teck has operated there since the early 1990s and currently runs four mines in the region that together directly employ about 4,000 people.

A 2022 study by the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, Teck and the United Steelworkers concluded that Teck’s Elk Valley coal operations account for more than 30,000 jobs overall, including 12,820 in B.C., and contribute $1.5-billion in revenues each year to local, provincial and federal governments. The valley’s watershed contains Lake Koocanusa, a reservoir that crosses the Canada–U.S. border into Montana and feeds into the Columbia River system.

The coal operations result in huge amounts of waste rock that, when exposed to air and water, can leach selenium, nitrate and sulphate into nearby waterways and, eventually, across the border into the U.S. Selenium is an essential nutrient for humans, but beyond certain levels, can be toxic. In waterways, it can pass from plants to fish, causing reproductive problems.

In a 2016 report, Carol Bellringer, B.C.’s then-auditor-general, said the province’s environment ministry had noted dramatic annual increases of selenium in the watershed’s tributaries over 20 years of monitoring but “took no substantive action to change it” and had only recently begun efforts to control it.

Those efforts included the Elk Valley Water Quality Plan, a 2014 agreement overseen by the provincial government meant to first stabilize, and eventually reverse, contaminant trends in valley waterways.

Under that plan, Teck has invested more than $1.2-billion on water-quality monitoring and research and construction of four treatment plants that are “effectively removing 95 per cent of selenium from treated water,” Teck spokesman Chris Stannell said in an e-mail. The company plans to invest an additional $750-million to expand treatment capacity with new facilities coming online “virtually every year for the next five years,” he added.

If Teck does spin off its coal business, the resulting company would remain committed to implementing the 2014 plan, Mr. Stannell said.

Critics say only a fraction of contaminated water is being treated, that selenium levels are trending upward in some boundary waters and that worrisome levels of selenium have been detected in several species of fish.

“I’ve come to see that plan as a failure, because it is not achieving what it was intended to achieve,” Erin Sexton, a senior scientist at the University of Montana’s Flathead Lake Biological Station who has worked with the CSKT, said in an interview.

In March, U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a joint statement saying they intend to reach an agreement in principle by this summer to reduce and mitigate the impacts of water pollution in the Elk-Kootenay watershed, in partnership with tribal nations and Indigenous peoples.

The Ktunaxa Nation, meanwhile, continues to push for a reference to the IJC.

Against this backdrop, Teck has taken a number of steps to improve its appeal to global investment institutions that have avoided it because of ESG-related risks, especially those connected to climate change. In 2022, Teck sold its Alberta oil sands holdings to Suncor Energy Inc. for $1-billion.

This year’s proposed split by Teck was meant to hive off coal assets after the company had struggled to persuade the market that its metallurgical coal is less CO2-intensive than that of its competitors and is key to making the steel necessary in the energy transition. Some investors balked at the proposal because of its structure, which would have seen Teck’s metals division reap 90 per cent of the coal entity’s cash flow for up to 10 years.

If the coal assets remain under the Teck umbrella, some carbon-averse institutions may keep avoiding the stock, said Mr. Bonham, the ESG specialist.

“I would prefer somebody like a Teck running the operation than maybe someone else,” he said. “But I do think they’ll face that [market] pressure and it’s not going to go away.” That’s unfortunate, he said, because steel is necessary for electric vehicles, alternative energy equipment and infrastructure for expanding the low-carbon economy.

The company has said it is pursuing a new plan to separate base metal from coal operations.

Teck touts its successes in the ESG realm, including emissions targets, disclosure and other environmental and social measures, saying they are key to its business prospects. In its 2022 sustainability report, chief executive Jonathan Price noted that several rating agencies that focus on ESG give Teck top marks. In addition, the company was included on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for the 13th straight year.

The company has set a goal to be carbon neutral in its own operations and in the electricity it buys by 2025, and fully net zero by 2050. In Institutional Shareholder Services’ recent proxy and voting recommendation report for Teck’s 2023 annual meeting, the agency noted that the company meets or exceeds standards in four key areas of climate-related disclosure. (It also recommended shareholders reject the coal split.)

But when it comes to value in the market, critics say the company’s prospects are most limited by a thorny governance issue: the dual-class share structure that keeps control of the company in the hands of its chairman emeritus, Norman B. Keevil, and his family, along with Sumitomo Metal Mining Co.

“Nothing can be done without the Class A shareholders agreeing to it,” said Laura Lau, chief investment officer at Brompton Funds, who rates governance as the top ESG-related concern for any company. “Whether it be splitting off the coal, whether it be addressing climate change, how Teck is run, who the CEO is – it’s all driven by the Class A shareholders.”

That also gives Mr. Keevil ultimate say over whether Teck can be acquired by a competitor such as Glencore. That power will remain for the next six years, after Teck shareholders approved a sunset clause last month that will eliminate the dual-class structure.

Some of Teck’s legacy issues, meanwhile, are expected to continue for decades to come. Teck has proposed expanding its coal-mining footprint in the Elk Valley with a project called Fording River Extension project, or FRX, raising alarm among those who say the company’s current operations have yet to clean up their act.

“There’s a legacy problem of mine contamination in the Elk Valley that needs to be addressed,” Ms. Sexton said.

“And so of course, we’re concerned about who’s actually going to address those legacy damages.”

Climate-colonialism: Anglo American's mining expansion in Chile endangers millions

This article was published on
28.04.2023 | News and analysis
WAR ON WANT


As the world scrambles to transition away from fossil fuels, Chile finds itself at the centre of the struggle between two very different visions of the future.

With its vast reserves of copper and lithium — essential components of renewable energy infrastructure, from wind turbines to batteries — and the potential to become a global production centre of ‘green hydrogen’ (a process powered by renewables, which doesn’t release polluting emissions), Chile will play a central role in the transformation of our global energy systems.

However, the question that remains is whether this transformation will continue to fuel the extraction and exploitation of people and planet to further corporate profit, which led us into the climate crisis – the continuing legacy of colonial injustice – or instead forge a new path balancing human rights, ecological wellbeing, energy needs, and decarbonisation.

We can't mine our way out of the climate crisis

Earlier this year, London-based mining giant Anglo American was given the greenlight by the Chilean government for its $3 billion Los Bronces Integrated Project, which will massively expand Anglo American’s existing copper mining project just 50km outside the Chilean capital Santiago.

Anglo American has claimed that copper is one of the essential "future-enabling metals and minerals for a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable world". Yet its new mining project will jeopardise the lives and livelihoods of local communities and undercut climate-critical environmental systems – deepening the existing social and environmental conflict in the area.

Chile’s Ministerial Committee gave the go ahead to Anglo American despite its project failing an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Chilean environmental authorities validated the long-standing concerns held by communities and movements that the Maipo River Basin – which provides drinking water for nearly six million people – could be contaminated, that air quality could be drastically reduced, and that glaciers could disappear at an accelerated rate.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric's support for Anglo American’s Los Bronces mining project is a blow to the environmental movements whose support helped bring Boric to power – and who were promised a feminist and eco-centric administration. Anglo American's attempts to address environmental concerns with plans for a desalination plant (to make water drinkable) and a green hydrogen valley (to decarbonise its operations) have not convinced local communities and environmentalist groups – who have seen the damage similar projects have done to Chile’s natural ecosystems and biodiversity. Instead, Anglo American’s plans have simply illuminated the power the mining lobby continues to wield in Chilean politics.


The La Paloma Glacier located in the Yerba Loca Park, about 50km from Santiago, Chile's capital. This glacier is allegedly under threat from the current upgrade plans of Anglo American's Los Bronces project. Photo credit: Jai

Unmasking Anglo American’s greenwash

Anglo American is attempting to position itself as a climate leader — claiming to be a crucial facilitator of sustainable energy — through its mining of copper and other metals. Anglo American even claims to practice ‘sustainable mining’ that ‘improves people's lives.’

No Más Anglo (No more Anglo), a land defenders’ movement composed of various communities affected by Anglo American's operations, have denounced the mining giant’s strategies as greenwashing and false solutions. No Más Anglo refuses to let the destructive nature of mining industries — which endanger communities' lives and damage crucial ecosystems — be swept under the rug, or greenwashed. The mining industry’s relentless pursuit of profit is incompatible with climate justice. Movements have vowed to challenge the Chilean government's decision at environmental tribunals.


Anglo American, which used to own the Cerrejon coal mine in Colombia - one of the largest open coal mines in the world - now say they have no responsibility, despite widespread environmental and social impacts 

Photo credit: Paola Serna


The ‘green mining’ narrative pushed by wealthy mega-mining corporations, such as Anglo American, places the need for metals to fuel the energy transition in the Global North above the impact on Global South communities. Not only does this perpetuate a colonial mindset which places less value on the lives of Black, brown and Indigenous communities — it is simply not true.

Metals are crucial in the shift toward renewable energy, including for photovoltaic (PV) panels and wind turbines — a necessary step toward decarbonisation. But renewable energy technologies do not necessarily require more metals than fossil fuel-based energy — which uses metals for building conductors, oil rigs and power plants.

In fact, a recent study by German non-governmental organisation Power Shift suggests that the major uptick in metal demand projections originates from the automobile industry — with metals primarily destined for private electric vehicle production, as well as large-scale construction projects.

The Earth’s metal resources are finite. To ensure a stable supply of metals for the global transition to renewable energies we must take bold action. This means setting metal reduction targets in less critical, resource-intensive sectors — such as transport and construction — to help control demand for metals, while promoting the adoption of alternative materials. This would ensure adequate supplies of essential metals remain for all countries to transition.

Electric cars cannot deliver climate justice

At the heart of mining corporations' strategies to position themselves as leaders in solving the climate crisis lies a business-as-usual approach — an approach uncoincidentally mirrored by the wealthy Global North nations driving the climate crisis. These same nations are home to the corporations' headquarters, taxable income, CEO’s mansions, and shareholders. Rather than question the patterns of extraction, exploitation and consumption — an illogical model based on the idea of infinite growth — corporations believe that endlessly extracting to make enormous profits for the few is a viable solution to the climate crisis.

The UK's role in enabling large-scale mining projects like Los Bronces Integrated cannot be ignored. Anglo American is headquartered in the UK, and trades on the London Stock Exchange alongside numerous other global mining giants.

While the UK government touts itself as a climate leader with ambitious plans for clean energy investment, its actions speak louder: continued support for new fossil fuel projects and an aggressive agenda to secure so-called 'critical metals'. This approach contradicts the vital cooperation needed between nations to address the climate and ecological crisis, instead fostering a ‘race to the bottom' driven by endless competition. The result is an unchecked, unjust, and unequal energy transition.

Plundering the Global South’s resources, hoarding crucial metals, then using these resources to maximise corporate profits and not human dignity, all whilst leaving behind intense environmental degradation, isn’t climate justice — it’s climate colonialism.

Climate justice not ‘climate colonialism’

As wealthy Global North countries look to export-oriented Global South markets to achieve their promised carbon emissions reductions, the demand for raw materials like cobalt, lithium, and balsa wood increases. This is intensifying pressure on the Global South, leading to further environmental degradation, impacting millions of people — particularly women in economies based on agriculture — as well as non-human life. It is transforming the Global South into a sacrificial zone for the Global North's clean energy ambitions.

A fair approach to resource use is vital to ensure energy justice. That means reducing the energy consumption of Global North countries, which can be done whilst still raising living standards for the majority of people. For instance, rather than replacing petrol or diesel cars with electric cars, the focus for governments should be on ensuring high-quality, affordable and energy efficient public transport. Similarly, retrofitting homes with insulation would increase energy efficiency whilst reducing heating bills.

Promoting energy efficiency, making lifestyle changes, and facilitating sustainable consumption patterns, can help reduce the overall demand for resources and alleviate pressure on the Earth's ecosystems. We need to reimagine our energy system from source to use, prioritising justice, equity, and sufficiency.

Climate solutions come from communities not corporations

The approval of Anglo American’s Los Bronces Integrated Project underscores the challenges and complexities of achieving a just and equal energy transition. The Chilean government’s decision is a worrying step backward, but it has driven renewed public indignation and attention to the local conflict, sending ripples across a much larger section of the Chilean population – who have become aware of the potential impact of the project's expansion.


War on Want alongside Latin American land defenders and London Mining Network outside Anglo American's 2023 AGM in London

Corporations such as Anglo American have made extraordinary profits from exploiting people and planet – and decimating Global South ecosystems. Now, these same corporations are co-opting Global North citizens’ calls for a low carbon future — by claiming that decarbonising our economies requires the continued plunder of the Global South. War on Want rejects this false narrative, and stands alongside our partners, including the Observatory for Environmental Conflicts in Latin America (OLCA) and the Movement for Water and Territory (MAT), in their struggles to defend Global South territories, nature and human rights against corporate encroachment.

We can’t mine our way out of the climate crisis. We must focus on viewing energy as a public good, rather than a commodity for corporations to profit from. We need a Global Green New Deal to ensure everyone can live with dignity – and can access heating and adequate food – while restoring harmony with our living planet. We must hold energy corporations legally accountable for eliminating human rights abuses in their supply chains and set legally binding targets for reductions in resource use.

Social movements and frontline communities across the world continue to challenge corporate power — their struggles are key to the search for a just energy transition. Our current energy model, based on extraction and exploitation, must be changed. With determination and persistence, movements can foster meaningful steps towards building a brighter future — a post-extractive future — for all, from Chile to the UK.



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