Pan Asia Metals to buy large Chilean lithium project

Cecilia Jamasmie | January 2, 2024 | 

Evaporation ponds in Atacama’s Salt Flat, Chile. (Image courtesy of SQM.)

Shares in Pan Asia Metals (ASX: PAM) jumped on Tuesday after the Australian lithium miner said it had entered into binding option agreements to buy the Tama Atacama lithium project in Chile.


The asset, the company said, is one of the largest lithium brine projects in South America, covering about 1,200km2 across three salt flats. It comprises the Dolores North, Dolores South, Pozon and Pink projects, but Pan Asia is also acquiring the northern half of the nearby Ramatidas project.

Managing director Paul Lock said that surface assays for lithium are extremely high at the project, which has an “enviable” strategic positioning with all infrastructure requirements satisfied.

The purchase of Tama Atacama follows a string of acquisitions in Chile by multinational mining and chemical companies, including France-based Eramet SA, and moves by Australian and Chinese processors to build lithium conversion plants in the South American country.

The deal will hand Pan Asia a 100% interest in the Dolores North and South project over three years — plus an additional year by mutual agreement with vendor Rajo Partnership — by making a $100,000 option payment by December 2024, a $100,000 option payment by the end of 2025, and a final $2 million option payment by December 2026.

The Tama-Atacama project is located in the Pampa del Tamarugal basin in the northern part of the Atacama Desert, Chile. (Courtesy of Pan Asia Metals.) Click to view in full size.

The company said it plans to start geophysics and drilling in the early months of 2024.

The announcement comes on the heels of the creation of a new government-controlled lithium partnership that fuses assets of state-run Codelco with private miner SQM (NYSE: SQM), as Chile’s President Gabriel Boric advances his push for greater public control over the battery metal.

SQM said it would partner with copper giant Codelco for the future development and production of the metal in the Atacama salt flat, in a tie-up set to kick off in 2025 and run through 2060.

The deal gives Codelco majority control in line with the president’s plans announced in April, Chile mines minister explained to MINING.COM in detail in May.

Pan Asia Metals’ stock rose as much as 40% to A$0.175, their biggest intraday percentage gain since May 19, 2023 and the highest level since Dec 15, 2023. It closed at A$0.16.

GEMOLOGY
EU adds Alrosa and CEO to sanctions list

MINING.COM Staff Writer | January 3, 2024 

Alrosa accounts for over 90% of all Russian diamond production. 

(Image from Alrosa)

The European Union has added Alrosa as well as its CEO, Pavel Alekseevich Marinychev, to its sanctions list.


“In line with the diamond ban we have introduced with the 12th package of sanctions, the EU today lists Alrosa, the largest diamond-mining company in the world, and its CEO,” EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on social media platform X.

Last month, G7 nations announced a direct ban on Russian diamonds starting Jan. 1. This will be followed by phased-in restrictions on indirect imports of Russian gems from around March 1. A new system to trace the origin of the gems will be introduced in September.

“This is part of our coordinated efforts at G7 level to deprive Russia of this important revenue source,” Borrell added.

Alrosa accounts for over 90% of all Russian diamond production.

In total, the EU’s restrictive measures concerning actions that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine now encompass nearly 1,950 individuals and entities.

Alrosa did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

(With files from Reuters)

 

Shell Awards Contract for New Gulf of Mexico Platform to Seatrium

Shell's Vito platform, a near-sister of Sparta (Shell file image)

PUBLISHED JAN 1, 2024 9:21 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

Oil major Shell is wasting no time in advancing the development of the Sparta deepwater project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Just days after making the final investment decision (FID) on the project, the company has awarded the contract for the construction of a semi-submersible floating production unit (FPU) as part of plans to ensure production commences in 2028.

Shell awarded the contract to Seatrium, which will build the hull, topsides and living quarters of the FPU. It follows a letter of intent sealed by both parties in August last year.

The Sparta FPU will be situated in the Garden Banks area, about 150 nautical miles off the coast of Louisiana. It will have a single topside bolstered by a four-column, semi-submersible floating hull. It is designed to produce 90,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d). The FPU will be deployed in a depth of more than 1,400 meters of water to support eight initial wells.

Shell, which owns a 51 percent operator stake in Sparta, reached a final investment decision for the project on December 19.

Sparta currently has an estimated, discovered recoverable resource volume of 244 million boe. It marks Shell’s first development in the Gulf of Mexico to produce from reservoirs with extreme pressures up to 20,000 pounds per square inch. It is scheduled to begin production in 2028.

The Sparta FPU cements the relationship between Shell and Seatrium, which also constructed the Vito and Whale newbuild facilities. The FPU is a near-sister of Vito and Whale in that it replicates about 95 percent of Whale’s hull and 85 percent of Whale’s topsides. The two-level topside for Sparta will be integrated and lifted to the hull using Seatrium’s Goliath twin cranes, which are capable of lifting up to 30,000 tonnes.

“We are deeply honored that Shell has awarded Sparta, the third FPU newbuild, to Seatrium, following the successful deliveries of the Vito and Whale FPUs. It is a strong affirmation of our team’s capabilities and the long-standing partnership between both parties,” said William Gu, Seatrium Executive Vice President and Head of Oil & Gas International.

Though the two companies did not disclose the cost of the FPU, market intelligence firm DBS Group Research estimated it could be worth $300-400 million. “This marks a good start to the year and also a strong affirmation of Seatrium’s capabilities and the long-standing partnership with Shell,” said DBS in a research note.

The Sparta development will be the first of Shell’s "replicable" projects with all-electric topside compression equipment, reducing greenhouse gas intensity and emissions from its in-house operations. 

 

Maersk Reverses Course Again, Pausing Red Sea Transits

Maersk reversed its earleir decision and is again rerouting away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal for secuirty reasons (SCA file photo)

PUBLISHED JAN 2, 2024 12:04 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

Maersk has reversed its previous decision and decided once again to divert all ships away from the Red Sea after the attacks over the weekend on one of its containerships. The move comes as the industry remains divided on the safety of vessels and the best actions, but most of the largest container carriers are continuing to divert while other segments of the industry remain more divided.

“Following the December 30 incident involving our vessel, Maersk Hangzhou, we have decided to pause all transits through the Red Sea / Gulf of Aden until further notice,” the company wrote in a customer advisory issued today, January 2, after reporting it had paused transits immediately after the incident. “We remain committed to minimizing the impact on our customers’ supply chains and will continue to keep you updated on the situation.”

Maersk previously had shown a vote of confidence for the international coalition effort in late December reporting that it was resuming some transits. The most recent voyage updates, Reuters calculated, showed more than 30 Maersk vessels scheduled for the Red Sea transit while 17 had been diverted. 

The company’s website shows the impact to 15 different routes reaching not only its service to the Mediterranean and Northern Europe but ships that were planned to go through the Suez Canal on their routes to North America. Some ports such as those in Saudi Arabia as well as Jordan remain largely stranded although some ad hoc voyages are being operated as round trips through the Suez Canal.

Hapag-Lloyd also reports that it continues to “monitor the situation closely day-by-day,” after having formed a crisis committee in response to the security challenges. Like other major carriers, they began diverting ships in December and based on its assessment has decided today to continue to reroute ships at least through January 9. 

Its online live ticker on the Red Sea situation also shows a broad impact on its fleet as well as its partners in The Alliance. In addition, Hapag shows that some vessels were turned around with one sent back to Tangiers to await orders. Some vessels that appear to have previously been rerouted to the Suez Canal away from the Panama Canal due to the reduced transits and wait times in Panama, are now showing as “switch back to Panama Canal.”

AIS signals show that CMA CGM is however continuing its previous announcement that it would be sending some vessels through the Suez Canal. Today, January 2, at least three of the company’s ships appear in the region with at least one having cleared the Red Sea. Neither the UK Maritime Trade Organizations nor US Centcom has reported any incidents today.

The Suez Canal has not provided any updates on daily transits after its mid-December statement that it was monitoring the situation. Tankers and bulkers however appear to be making the transit although some majors such as BP and Equinor said last month that they would be diverting vessels.

The diversions are reported to be having an impact both on available space for shippers with container costs on spot markets rising to their highest levels for the year in recent weeks. In addition to adding two weeks to many trips to make the trip around Africa, concerns have been raised about having sufficient fuel supplies for vessels to bunker mostly likely in South Africa. Reuters calculated that the diversions would add $1 million in additional fuel costs for each voyage. 

 

U.S. Became the World's Biggest LNG Exporter in 2023

SO MUCH ENERGY SECURITY THE U$ CAN EXPORT IT

File image courtesy Freeport LNG

PUBLISHED JAN 2, 2024 7:47 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

According to energy analysts, the United States now leads the world in selling domestic natural gas to overseas customers, thanks to the rapid expansion of LNG liquefaction terminals on the U.S. Gulf Coast. 

The pace of U.S. exports jumped 15 percent year-on-year in 2023, driven by the commissioning of a new plant and the completion of repairs at another mega-facility. The rate of growth has outdistanced the exports of Australia and Qatar, the world's other leading LNG producers. However, the U.S has stiff competition: Qatar is ramping up for a massive expansion of its liquefaction facilities, enough to increase its output by two-thirds by the end of the decade. 

In December alone, about eight million tonnes of American natural gas departed from LNG terminals for buyers in Europe and Asia, withdrawing 390 billion cubic feet (bcf) from the U.S. domestic market. This accounted for about 12 percent of all American gas production for the month. 

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) assesses that “higher LNG exports result in upward pressure on U.S. natural gas prices," and LNG production was responsible in part for high domestic natural gas prices in 2022. In projections for 2050, high LNG exports could boost the price of natural gas for American households by as much as 30 percent when compared to a low-export scenario, EIA found.

Higher exports are expected. 17 more LNG plants are on track to be built in the U.S. by 2028, and seven more are awaiting permitting decisions from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Depending on global gas prices, this could double U.S. LNG exports by the early 2030s, EIA assesses.

 

Crew Kidnapped from Tanker in Ongoing Incident in the Gulf of Guinea

Pirates are believed to have taken two crewmembers in the latest incident on a product tanker in the Gulf of Guinea (file photo)

PUBLISHED JAN 2, 2024 2:21 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

The security services are reporting an ongoing incident in the Gulf of Guinea where at least two crewmembers have been taken from a tanker operating in the area. Unconfirmed reports are suggesting that the captain might be among those taken from the vessel which was in the region near Equatorial Guinea.

The reports are coming from EOS Group and private services unconfirmed by the joint British-French monitoring effort, Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade Gulf of Guinea (MDAT GoG). They have not recorded incidents in the Gulf of Guinea since early December when a fisherman was killed in an attack on fishing boats off Nigeria where the pirates also took engines and fishing gear. In November, some material was also stolen off a supply vessel while it was anchored off Angola.

In the latest incident, the chemical tanker Hana I (13,000 dwt) registered in Tuvla was sailing from Abidjan in the Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) to Douala in Cameroon, according to the alert from EOS Risk Group. The tanker was reported to be in the vicinity of Malabo, on Bioko island, the port city and capital of Equatorial Guinea, on January 1, when it was boarded by an unknown number of pirates. EOS in its alert says the initial information is that two crewmembers were taken.

The Equasis database reports the vessel, which was built in 2007, is owned and managed out of Singapore. It has been operating as the Hana I for Raffles Shipmanagement since 2019 with its recent AIS data showing it operating around Cote d'Ivoire. 

The current AIS signal reports the vessel has now arrived in Douala, Cameroon. It is unclear what support the vessel might be receiving from local authorities. 

Tankers have been the target of attacks in the Gulf of Guinea over the course of 2023. Reports have been that the pirates often steal a portion of the vessel’s cargo. They took over a South Korean product tanker Success 9 (4,374 dwt) in April 2023 and later released the crew and vessel after taking fuel. There was a similar incident with another product tanker off Cote d’Ivoire in December 2022.

In March 2023, the Monjasa Reformer (13,700 dwt) was boarded while sitting idle approximately 140 nautical miles off Port Pointe-Noire, Congo. After holding the tanker for a few days, the pirates kidnapped six crewmembers who were held for six weeks. The French Navy located the missing vessel and with assistance from Nigeria, it was moved safely to port.

The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) had warned at mid-year 2023 of renewed piracy activity in the Gulf of Guinea. They called for continued vigilance in the international security efforts to prevent a resurgence to the level of activity in previous years.

Marine Scientists Surprised by Toxicity of Plastic and Rubber Products

Images of recently hatched cod larvae showing spine deformities after exposure to chemicals leached from plastic 

(Photo: SINTEF)

PUBLISHED JAN 2, 2024 8:13 PM BY GEMINI NEWS

[By Christina Benjaminsen]

Tonnes of waste from standard plastic products have been uncontrollably released into the world’s oceans, where they gradually break down. But how harmful is this plastic to living organisms, and what is it in these plastics that is so damaging?

The plastic with which we surround ourselves contains a range of chemical additives that can leach out into water systems in the natural environment. This can happen both before and during the plastic degradation process. Even if it takes a long time for products to break down into microplastic particles, the chemicals start to leach from the plastic as soon as it enters the water.

Researchers have been trying to find out more about whether this phenomenon is harmful to animals, and perhaps also to humans.

“In this project, we’ve been focusing on the impacts on marine organisms of chemical additives in plastics”, says Lisbet Sørensen, who is a research scientist at SINTEF Ocean. “To do this, we’ve been studying a variety of marine species. During the first screening exercise, we examined two groups of microorganisms – bacteria and microalgae, also known as phytoplankton. These species are easy to work with and provide us with quick answers that we can use to help us map out the future direction of our research”, she says.

“Later, we worked with the eggs and larvae of cod, which is one of our most important natural resources”, says Sørensen. “We’re well aware that fish, just like humans, are more vulnerable to the health effects of pollution when they’re immature”, she explains.

Fifty different everyday products

“It is of course impossible to test every single plastic product available, so we made a ‘qualified selection’ of fifty items that we use in our everyday lives”, says Sørensen.

Among the fifty products were plastic bags, disposable cups, dishwashing gloves, car tire granules, a variety of children’s toys and balloons. And that was just for starters.

“The initial idea was simply to select ‘classic’ plastic products, but I fell for the temptation to include some items made of rubber”, says Sørensen. “And this proved to be a wise decision”, she says.

The research team behind the MicroLEACH project. From left: Stefania Piarulli, Amaia Igartua, Andy Booth and Lisbet Sørensen. 

Photo: Thor Nielsen

What happens when plastic breaks down?

The MicroLEACH project has been carried out by a cross-disciplinary team of international research scientists, including both biologists and chemists. MicroLEACH stands for Microplastics – Long-term Effects of plastics and Additive CHemicals on marine organisms.

Analytical lab work provided the team with a broad overview of the types and amounts of chemicals found in the various products.

“We were very surprised at the number of different chemicals we identified in these products”, says Sørensen. “Only 30 percent of the chemical compounds identified were found in two or more products. There were also a large number of chemicals that we couldn’t identify with certainty because they were not listed in established substance indexes. This told us how little we know about the composition of many of the everyday products that we have around us all the time”, she says.

The aim of the project is purely and simply to investigate how toxic these chemicals are to living organisms once the plastic products find their way into the marine environment. In recent years there has been a major focus on problems related to microplastics. When plastics are broken down, either physically into fragments or chemically due to environmental factors, they eventually end up as microplastic particles. However, long before this process has been completed, chemical additives in the plastics may leach out into the natural environment.

There were also a large number of chemicals that we couldn’t identify with certainty because they were not listed in established substance indexes. This told us how little we know about the composition of many of the everyday products that we have around us all the time.

“It was this issue that we wanted to address in the MicroLEACH project”, says Andy Booth, who is a Chief Research Scientist at SINTEF. “The question is: how toxic are the chemical additives we find in standard plastic products available on the Norwegian market, and how much of a problem are they compared with the microplastics generated by the products themselves?”, he says.

Booth has been working with marine pollution for many years and has also conducted research into what happens to nanoparticles that enter the marine environment.

Natural rubber is far from harmless

The research team looked into the effect of chemicals that leach from microplastics and rubber particles into the marine environment.

“What we found is that products that either consist of, or contain, high levels of rubber, had the worst impact on the microorganisms that we investigated in our experiment”, says Booth. “This was a little surprising – not least because untreated rubber is seen as a ‘natural’ product. We found, however, that it was among the substances that was most toxic to the microorganisms we were studying”, he says.

Worst of all were the chemicals that leached from rubber gloves.

“It’s well worth noting that chemicals added to natural rubber and used in dishwashing gloves proved to be the most toxic to the microorganisms”, says Booth. These are substances that we found in four of the fifty products that we tested – dishwashing gloves, car tyres, rubber balloons and disposable gloves”, he says.

Deformed fish larvae

A further study conducted by the project involved exposing cod embryos and recently hatched larvae to both microplastic particles and the chemicals identified in the plastics. The team also exposed both eggs and larvae to a combination of the two, because, in the real world, they cannot be distinguished from each other. The team has presented its results in an article and two scientific papers that can be accessed via the online platform ScienceDirect.

Initially, the researchers characterised and extracted the toxic chemicals from the various plastics and investigated their effects on cod larvae.

“What we observed was that some chemicals acted directly to prevent the eggs from hatching, while others exerted major physical effects on the larvae”, says Stefania Piarulli, who is a biologist and research scientist at SINTEF. “We discovered that the larvae developed vertebral deformities that reminded us of what we call scoliosis”, she says.

Research Scientist Stefania Piarulli in her lab at SINTEF Ocean. Piarulli is studying the toxicity of various chemicals that leach from plastic products. 

Photo: Thor Nielsen

Which is worse – microplastic or the chemicals?

But what about the microplastic particles? Are they harmful in their physical state, or is it the combination of their size and the chemicals that leach out of them that make them so toxic?

In order to investigate this, the researchers compared the effects of the particles and chemicals separately, and were a little surprised to find that the chemicals were essential to producing the toxic effect.

“The particular feature of this experiment is that we developed an entirely new method of ‘cleaning’ the microplastic of all traces of chemicals”, explains Piarulli. “This is the only way of being able to say anything for certain about the effect of the microplastic particles”, she says.

In other words, the team identified no toxic effects from the physical particles if they did not contain chemicals.

Elastic plastics – in a class of their own

The research team found that not all types of plastic are toxic. It is the combination of different plastic products that determine the level of toxicity, and elastic plastic products proved to be among the worst.

“This means that we now know that it’s possible to reduce toxicity in a number of products simply by selecting alternative polymer combinations during manufacture”, says Andy Booth. “It’s well worth noting that chemicals added to natural rubber and used in dishwashing gloves proved to be the most toxic to the microorganisms."

This article appears courtesy of Gemini News and may be found in its original form here.

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

 

Turkey Refuses to Let Two Royal Navy Minehunters Pass Through Bosporus

Istanbul's skyline over the Bosporus (file image courtesy Alexxx Malev / CC BY SA 3.0)

PUBLISHED JAN 2, 2024 8:56 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

The Turkish government said Tuesday that it will not allow the UK to move two ex-Royal Navy minehunters through the Bosporus for delivery to Ukraine. Turkey controls the strategic waterway under the terms of the Montreux Convention of 1936.

The convention empowers Turkey to close the Bosporus to warships while a conflict is under way in the Black Sea - even to ships of Turkey's allies, like fellow NATO member Britain. 

"Türkiye immediately classified Russia's special military operation against Ukraine as 'war' and, in accordance with Article 19 of the Montreux Convention . . . closed the Straits to warships of the belligerent parties (Russia and Ukraine)," the office of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement. "Our pertinent allies have been duly apprised that the mine-hunting ships donated to Ukraine by the United Kingdom will not be allowed to pass through the Turkish Straits to the Black Sea as long as the war continues."

Ukraine has already acknowledged that the much-needed minehunters won't be able to make it through the Turkish-controlled waterway, at least not until the war is over. However, the announcement from Ankara makes it official: the vessels will have to wait for a hoped-for conclusion to the conflict, when they would be handy for reopening ports and waterways. 

Since the outset of the invasion in February 2022, Russia has been determined to cripple Ukrainian shipping, and one of its tactics has been to lay naval mines in the Black Sea. In recent months, at least three ships have been damaged by mines along the route, and Ukraine says the number could be much higher. 

To counter Russia’s covert mine-planting missions, the UK is donating two older Sandown-class minehunters to Ukraine. The Royal Navy is transitioning to an unmanned vessel-based minehunting platform and is phasing out its manned mine countermeasures ships. The two donated vessels come equipped with two underwater remote-controlled mine-disposal vehicles and a high-resolution sonar. 

“These minehunters . . . will help save lives at sea and open up vital export routes, which have been severely limited since Putin launched his illegal full-scale invasion,” UK defense secretary Grant Shapps said last month. 

Top image: The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge over the Bosporus (file image courtesy Alexxx Malev / CC BY SA 3.0)

 

Gas tax paused in Manitoba, returns in Alberta at a lower rate

The Canadian Press

As one province pauses the gas tax to provide savings at the pumps, another is bringing it back. 

The Manitoba government says that starting Jan. 1, motorists won't have to pay 14 cents per litre in fuel tax for the next six months.

The province has said it introduced the measure to help motorists with inflation.

Meanwhile, the Alberta government is reintroducing the gas tax after pausing it nearly two years ago. 

Starting Jan. 1, motorists in Alberta can expect to pay a tax of nine cents per litre at the pumps.

Alberta said the rate of nine cents is cheaper than the 13 cents motorists had paid before the pause. 

Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner said the tax rate is based on the average price of oil. 

Should the price of West Texas Intermediate average US$80 per barrel, Albertans can expect to save some or all of the fuel tax, he said. 

“Alberta’s fuel tax is a predictable source of provincial revenue, helping to offset the volatility of other revenue sources," Horner said in a December news release. 

He said the province plans to provide an update on the fuel tax in the spring. 

In Ontario, the provincial government is to extend a break on the gas tax to June, so motorists are to continue to pay nine cents per litre.

Opposition parties in British Columbia and Saskatchewan have asked for a break on gas taxes, but those provinces have refused to do so. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 1, 2023.

 

Calgary home sales outpace long-term trends in 2023 as migration fuels demand

The Canadian Press

The Calgary Real Estate Board says the city saw 1,366 home sales in December, a 13.8 per cent increase compared with the same month a year earlier as the number of homes that changed hands in 2023 outpaced long-term trends and activity prior to the pandemic.

There were 1,248 newly listed units last month, up 21 per cent compared with December 2022, but the board says housing demand remained relatively high thanks to strong migration levels as inventory declined 2.5 per cent.

CREB chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie says supply levels were low compared to demand throughout 2023, resulting in stronger than expected price growth.

The unadjusted home benchmark price at the end of the year stood at $570,100, down around $2,600 from the previous month, but 10.4 per cent higher than December 2022.

The board says the detached market saw the most significant decline in sales activity in 2023 at nearly 20 per cent.

Apartment-style properties were the only type to report an annual sales gain, hitting a record high of 7,884.