Dockworkers to Strike in Montreal as Uncertainty Also Hangs Over Vancouver

Operations are scheduled to stop Sunday as dockworkers continues their strikes in Montreal (Port of Montreal)

Published Oct 25, 2024 12:39 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

Canada’s ports continue to struggle with labor disputes impacting both coasts and the potential to create disruptions and delays. Both disputes have been prolonged mirroring similar disputes that have developed at ports around the world as longshoremen and other workers address automation and demand recognition for their role in keeping supply chains moving during the pandemic.

Longshoremen in the Port of Montreal have been working without a contract for all of 2024, but after 35 mediation meetings over 15 months, the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) says “It is clear that the parties are still at square one and at an impasse.”

The Port of Montreal Longshoremen’s Union CUPE Local 375 filed its third strike notice on Thursday, October 24, informing the MEA and the Port of Montreal Association of its intent to hold a 24-hour strike. Approximately 1,200 members will stop work at 7:00 a.m. Sunday, October 27 with this strike set to impact all the port’s container terminals as well as the dry bulk operations. Liquid bulk and the grain terminals will again be excluded from the action.

At the end of September, approximately 300 dockworkers stopped work for three days at four of Montreal’s container terminals. This was followed by a ban on all overtime that started on October 10 and continues.

The MEA issued a statement saying, “These pressure tactics applied by the union have created significant operational problems, which are in addition to a number of obstacles that are seriously affecting stability and reliability at the Port of Montréal as well as in the Québec and Canadian supply chain.” 

However, no clear path has emerged for resolving the dispute. Last week, Canada’s Minister of Labor and Seniors, Steven MacKinnon met with both sides and proposed a special mediator and a 90-day period. The offer was not accepted and has been withdrawn.

The MEA emphasized that the uncertainty is having an impact on the port and shippers. They contend that cargo handled in Montreal decreased by 24 percent since 2022 during a series of labor disputes. They believe that shippers have shifted cargo to U.S. ports. 

The Montreal Port Authority issued a statement saying that it “remains concerned about the impact of pressure tactics on the logistics chain and on the supply of goods and commodities for businesses and the public.”

The union reports it will hold a “special general meeting” this Sunday. They did not reveal the purpose of the meeting but are urging members to attend.

At the same time, the Canada Industrial Relations Board issued a further decision this week on the ongoing dispute on the West Coast between the BC Maritime Employers Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514. The dispute is over the contract for 730 forepersons at the West Coast ports. The union’s contract expired on March 31, 2023.

The ILWU has attempted to strike against DP World but was blocked by CIRB. In the follow-up decision, the board continues to find that the union is bargaining in “bad faith.” They previously stopped a planned strike saying the union was attempting to isolate DP World. At issue are wages as well as work rules and changes planned as the ports increase automation. 

CIRB found that the union was aware as early as August 2023 of the employers' plans to use automated RMGs and the impact on work schedules. No bargaining proposal was made to the BCMEA however until April 2024.  The board concluded, “that the union did not make every reasonable effort to reach a collective agreement.”

BCMEA reports that it is in touch with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to discuss the next steps in the ongoing labor dispute. The union had previously taken a strike authorization vote but so far has not issued the required 72-hour notice.

 

Contract Negotiations to Resume for U.S. East Coast Dockworkers

ILA dockworkers returned to work after a tentative wage agreement with negotiations set to resume on other issues including automation (ILA)

Published Oct 25, 2024 3:10 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) will resume their contract negotiations in November to resolve a new master contract for container and Ro-Ro operations at 36 U.S. ports along the East Coast and Gulf Coast. Earlier this month, the two sides extended the Master Contract after a three-day strike which was the first by the union since 1977.

“The ILA and USMX welcome the opportunity to return to the bargaining table and get a new agreement in place as soon as possible,” the two sides said in a joint statement released today, October 25. The two sides also pledged not to discuss details of negotiations with the media before these meetings after having waged a war of words in the media leading up to the strike that began on October 1.

Under pressure from the White House, and the Labor and Transportation departments, the two sides reached a tentative agreement on wages on October 3 that includes a 62 percent increase over the six-year contract. The Biden administration voiced its strong support for the union and the role the dockworkers play in the supply chain while pressuring terminal operators and shipping companies to improve their wage offer to the union. 

The master contract was extended until January 15, 2025, with the sides set to return to the bargaining table. According to their statement, the first step will be to discuss all outstanding issues to reach a new agreement. The new master contract proposal would then be presented to the full ILA Wage Scale Committee for approval, and later, to ILA Longshore workers for ratification.

The key issue will be automation for container handling. The ILA has declared a firm position of no automation or semi-automation in any of the ports. One of the disputes this year was over the use of an automated gate system at the Port of Mobile which the union claimed violated its contract and threatened jobs. 

The employers said publicly that they were proposing to maintain the current contract terms regarding automation. The process that is in place requires operators to propose any new automation which is reviewed and approved by a committee that includes union representatives. Asked about the level of automation at the Port of New York New Jersey, Port Director Beth Rooney said in a media briefing that there was none currently in use in the port complex, which is the third largest in the United States and the largest on the East Coast.

Observers hope after the significant wage increase that the next round of negotiations will be less contentious. However, the outcome could have a critical impact on the operations and efficiency of U.S. ports for many years to come.

Grupo Mexico works to kick out illegal miners at Los Chancas project in Peru

Reuters | October 23, 2024 | 

Image courtesy of Grupo Mexico

Mining and transport conglomerate Grupo Mexico is working with authorities to wipe illegal mining at its Los Chancas project in Peru, the mining division’s finance chief told analysts in a call on Wednesday.


Leonardo Contreras also said that the company, controlled by billionaire German Larrea, would restart an environmental impact assessment of Los Chancas once all illegal miners had been kicked out of the site.

Grupo Mexico will then “initiate the hydrogeological and geological studies and conduct a diamond drilling campaign to gather additional information on the deposits’ characteristics,” Contreras added.

The firm had previously reported that dozens of illegal miners had invaded the project located in Peru’s southern Apurimac region.

It started legal action against them back in 2023 in order to continue the project’s development, estimated at a $2.6 billion investment.

(By Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Editing by Stefanie Eschenbacher and Kylie Madry)

Read More: Grupo Mexico’s profit jump on copper prices, production

SASKATCHEWAN

IsoEnergy to deploy AI mineral exploration tech at Larocque East in Athabasca Basin

Staff Writer | October 23, 2024 |

The Larocque East project in Canada’s Athabasca Basin. Image from IsoEnergy.

Australian space exploration company Fleet Space Technologies announced on Wednesday plans to deploy its AI-powered mineral exploration technology, ExoSphere Discovery, in partnership with Canadian uranium developer IsoEnergy (TSXV: ISO) at its Larocque East project in the Athabasca Basin.


The Larocque East project is home to the world’s highest grade indicated uranium mineral resource, the Hurricane deposit, with 48.6 million lb. of uranium oxide (U₃O₈) at 34.4% U₃O₈, plus 2.7 million lb. of inferred resource at 2.2% U₃O₈.

After drilling targets identified in 2023 with the real-time 3D imaging, IsoEnergy confirmed an extension of a hydrothermal system on strike with the Hurricane deposit and alteration consistent with potential uranium mineralization.

The company conducted an expanded summer deployment of ExoSphere, which identified six new priority targets and, together with the four areas identified from 2023 work, became the focus of the summer 2024 drilling campaign.

Using the latest advances in AI for mineral exploration, IsoEnergy will build on these findings, pioneering the use of ExoSphere Discovery at the Larocque East project to predict new opportunity zones and optimise data-driven drill targeting at the project.

The Hurricane deposit is only 40 km away from the McLean Lake mill. With a diversified portfolio, IsoEnergy is positioned to be a near-term uranium producer, deploying scalable technologies to further ESG objectives and advance exploration in Canada’s premiere uranium producing region.

The company also holds more advanced projects, including past-producing uranium mines in the United States. Earlier this month, it said it would acquire Anfield Energy (TSXV: AEC) in a C$126.8 million ($91.6m), all-stock deal for its Shootaring Canyon conventional mill in Utah.

Pioneering AI exploration technology

Image from Fleet Space Technologies

Built on the end-to-end hardware foundation of Fleet Space’s smart satellite-enabled seismic sensors (Geodes) for global multi-physics data acquisition, ExoSphere’s real-time 3D ANT surveys have accelerated and enhanced data-driven targeting decisions across five continents.

For the end-to-end capabilities and sustainability benefits ExoSphere has unlocked for the global exploration industry, the tech company was recognized at the Banksia Foundation’s 35th National Sustainability Awards as winner of the Climate Technology Impact Award for 2024 and winner of the Innovation category of the 2024 Mining Technology Excellence Awards.

FOSSIL FOOL

Coal billionaire Tykac eyes growth in bet against ESG uptake

Bloomberg News | October 25, 2024 | 

Image: Pavel Tykac’s Facebook page

As most investors turn away from coal, Czech billionaire Pavel Tykac is doubling down on the dirty fuel — just not in his home country.


Tykac’s Sev.en Group has taken advantage of cheap valuations to buy up coal power stations and mines in the US, Australia and Vietnam, as well as gas-fired plants in the UK. After building his fortune in the Czech Republic, Tykac is using the expansion to shield his wealth from European Union efforts to lead the world in giving up fossil fuels.

It’s also a bet that delays and snags in the transition to renewable energy will keep coal in the mix for years to come, at least outside Europe.

Having amassed foreign assets worth an estimated €3 billion ($3.3 billion) in the past five years, Sev.en is preparing for more and bigger deals, according to Alan Svoboda, chief executive officer of the group’s international business.

“We have much more in the pipeline than in the past, and we’re hoping to grow even faster than we have so far,” he said in an interview at the Prague headquarters of Sev.en Global Investments AS. “We look at hundreds of opportunities every year and submit dozens of binding bids.”

The Vales Point power station outside Sydney is one such example. The Czech company bought the coal-fired facility, which has a license to operate until 2029, two years ago. Yet looming electricity shortages might prompt Australian authorities to extend its lifespan until 2033, according to Svoboda. If that were to happen, it could boost profits, even if it requires additional investment.

“The entire energy sector can’t change overnight, as some people hoped,” the CEO said. “The Australians have realized that it is not totally safe to force a speedy decommissioning of coal plants, and that it is better to let market forces determine when their operation will no longer make business sense.”

As institutional shareholders, lenders and insurers flee environmentally harmful industries in droves, it remains unclear whether the company’s push into coal will pay off. Revenue at Sev.en Global Investments, which now accounts for over 70% of Tykac’s empire, jumped 23% last year to €1.85 billion. Still, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell 53% to €432 million as energy prices slid from the record levels notched in 2022.

Including his original Czech company, Sev.en Ceska Energie AS, Tykac now has about 6,000 employees worldwide and a net worth of around $3 billion, according to estimates from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Tykac, who declined to personally comment for this article, started out in business after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, when then-Czechoslovakia ditched communism. His first company was a computer manufacturer, and he later began investing in other local businesses and banks.

After 2006, Tykac transitioned into coal mines and power and heating plants around the Czech Republic. His Pocerady station, near the country’s northern border with Germany, is one of the country’s biggest polluters and has been a frequent target of environmental activists since it went online in the 1970s. It accounts for almost 6% of the country’s entire electricity production.

Unlike many peers, Tykac is not trying to greenwash his image. Sev.en Global Investment’s website describes its business model as focused on risky, high-return projects. It quotes Tykac as saying that his investments are “crucial for our economies” even as others might avoid them for ethical reasons.

“Sufficiency of reliable, safe and affordable electricity,” it reads, “is one of the basic conditions for the existence of today’s civilization.”


Svoboda joined Sev.en in 2018 to take care of its overseas expansion. The 52-year-old former executive at Czech utility CEZ AS says the EU effort to phase out coal is posing “elevated regulatory risk” to companies such as Sev.en.

“We are largely losing interest in Europe, except for the UK,” Svoboda said. “We are drawn to America and Australia.”

While the focus remains on developed nations with stable political systems, Tykac’s empire is also expanding into communist-ruled Vietnam, where it has agreed to buy 70% of a coal plant from American and Chinese investors. The 1.2 gigawatt facility outside Hanoi comes with a supply contract that hedges the owner against swings in exchange rates and coal prices until 2055.

Sev.en is hoping that the investment could be followed by expansion into places like India, Indonesia and Malaysia, according to Svoboda. Many countries in the region aren’t planning to ditch coal anytime soon, and their governments are often willing to compensate foreign owners with long-term guarantees.

“We thought it was time to try something new,” said Svoboda. “We would like to replicate our investment in Vietnam in other places across South-East Asia.”

It does remain easier to secure funding for green projects, which is one reason why the group is also seeking to diversify into industries such as electricity storage and mining minerals, including those used in batteries. In Australia, it is about to start producing potassium-sulfate fertilizer made via an environmentally friendly process.

Over the past 18 months, Sev.en has opened offices in New York, London and Sydney in an effort to expand its global footprint. “We’ve been looking at bigger and bigger transactions,” said Svoboda, adding that the “sweet spot” for acquisitions is currently between €500 million and €1 billion.

Despite the rising appetite, Sev.en remains selective, according to Svoboda.

“Rather than having a broad portfolio of many smaller items,” he said, “our goal is to own a limited number of crown jewels that we go all-in on.”

(By Krystof Chamonikolas)

Sanctions delay to Russian zinc mine causes supply miscalculation

DON'T YOU HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS

Reuters | October 25, 2024 | 

Furnace operators at Glencore’s Kazakhstan precious metals refinery. Image: VisMedia

Western sanctions on Russia’s zinc miner Ozernoye have left it struggling to replace equipment needed to ramp up output, three sources with knowledge of the matter said, meaning mined zinc supply forecasts for 2025 are likely to be too high.


Without Ozernoye’s substantial contribution to global mined zinc supply next year, a shortage of zinc concentrate – a raw material to make zinc metal, used to galvanize steel, is likely to persist. Concern over tight supplies is one of the drivers that has pushed zinc prices to a 20-month high.

Asked about the possible delay, Ozernoye told Reuters it plans next year to produce concentrate “in volume comparable to the previously announced targets”.

Ozernoye officially launched production in September, saying that it would reach full capacity of about 320,000 metric tons of zinc in concentrate in 2025.


That represents 2.5% of next year’s global mined zinc supply estimated at 12.86 million tons, industry group the International Lead & Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) said.

The ILZSG included the ramp-up of Ozernoye in its forecasts of robust growth of 8.9% in new mining zinc supply outside China in 2025.

The sources, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said Ozernoye had yet to produce any material as it could not find an adequate replacement for the components that process rocks into powder-form concentrate.

Those parts were damaged by a fire in November 2023.

Ozernoye did not give any production targets when approached by smelters and traders interested in buying their concentrates next year, the sources said.

The components Ozernoye needs were developed and are made by commodity trader Glencore’s subsidiary Glencore Technology. Glencore taps an Australian zinc-lead deposit with a similar mineral composition to that of Ozernoye.

Glencore can no longer sell the concentrator parts to Ozernoye, which the US government placed under sanctions shortly after the fire.

Glencore declined to comment. The Swiss trader-miner said only it would “fully comply with all sanctions applicable to our business activities”.


Ozernoye is working with local company TEM Partner to try to replicate Glencore’s system, one source said. Production may start in November, the same source said.

The company statement said its equipment was made in Russia by its “in-house design bureau”.

It said it expected to achieve “project capacity within a year from the start of commissioning,” without specifying when that was.

“The part of the flotation equipment, which has already been commissioned, is behaving stably and the first batches of zinc concentrates have been received,” it said.

The uncertainty over Ozernoye’s output adds to the impact of other disruption, including Century’s force majeure and a slower-than-expected ramp-up at Ivanhoe’s Kipushi project in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Reflecting the difficulty of sourcing concentrate, zinc treatment charges (TC), the fees a smelter earns for converting concentrate into refined metal and a gauge of concentrates’ availability, dropped to minus $40 a ton end of September, according to pricing agency SMM.

The lower TC pushed some zinc smelters into losses and they had to cut production.

(By Julian Luk; Editing by Pratima Desai and Barbara Lewis)

Mali accuses Barrick Gold of breaching agreement, miner denies claims

Reuters | October 24, 2024 | 

Loulo-Gounkoto complex in Mali. (Image by Barrick Gold).

Mali has accused Barrick Gold of failing to abide by commitments made in a recent agreement, charges the Canadian miner denied on Thursday, saying it did not accept any claims of wrongdoing.


Barrick, the world’s second-largest gold miner, announced on Sept. 30 it had agreed with the government to resolve disputes over the Loulo and Gounkoto gold mines, days after Malian authorities briefly detained four Malian staff working for the company.

But in a joint statement dated Oct. 23, Mali’s economy and mines ministries said Barrick had “not honoured the commitments to which it subscribed in the agreement.”

Without sharing further details, the ministries said the breaches included those relating to environmental and corporate social responsibility and foreign exchange rules.

They said there were “serious risks to the group’s continued operations in Mali, one of whose operating licenses expires at the beginning of 2026.”

“The Malian government has decided to draw all legal consequences arising from the actions taken by Barrick Gold,” they said.

In response, Barrick denied the allegations and said since Sept. 30 it had been actively engaged with the government to reach a settlement that would include an increase in the state’s share of economic benefits from the Loulo-Gounkoto complex.

“While Barrick does not accept any claims of wrongdoing, it has chosen to act in good faith as a long-standing partner of Mali,” it said in a statement, adding that the company had paid the government $85 million in early October in the context of ongoing negotiations.

Earlier this month, three sources told Reuters that Mali’s military government was seeking at least 300 billion CFA francs ($512 million) in outstanding taxes and dividends from Barrick.

Asked to comment at the time, a Barrick spokesperson said the company was still in the process of negotiation.

The demands on Barrick follow an audit of mining contracts last year and a subsequent push by the junta to renegotiate existing agreements with foreign mining firms aimed at channeling a greater share of revenues into state coffers through a new mining code.

(By Tiemoko Diallo, Sourasis Bose and Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Sandra Maler)

China to offer Taliban tariff-free trade as it inches closer to isolated resource-rich regime

MAO SAID WOMEN HOLD UP HALF THE SKY

XI SAYS ME NO SEE UM

Reuters | October 25, 2024 |

Mining in Afghanistan. (Image courtesy of CENTAR Limited).

China will offer the Taliban tariff-free access to its vast construction, energy and consumer sectors, Beijing’s envoy to Afghanistan said on Thursday, as the ailing resource-rich but diplomatically-isolated regime looks to build up its markets.


Beijing has sought to develop its ties with the Taliban since they took control of Afghanistan in 2021, but like all governments has refrained from formally recognizing the Islamic fundamentalist group’s rule amid international concern over its human rights record and those of women and girls.

But the impoverished country could offer a wealth of mineral resources to boost Beijing’s supply chain security although it risks becoming a haven for militant groups threatening China’s Xinjiang region and huge investments in neighbouring Pakistan.

Selling Afghanistan’s lithium, copper and iron deposits to feed China’s enormous battery and construction industries would help the Taliban prop up their economy, which the UN says has “basically collapsed”, and provide a much needed revenue stream as the country’s overseas central bank reserves remain frozen.

“China will offer Afghanistan zero-tariff treatment for 100% tariff lines,” Zhao Xing, Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan, wrote on his official X account late on Thursday, above a photo of him meeting acting deputy prime minister Abdul Kabir.

Afghanistan exported $64 million worth of goods to China last year, according to Chinese customs data, close to 90% of which was shelled pine nuts, but the Taliban government has said it is determined to find foreign investors willing to help it diversify its economy and profit from its minerals wealth.

The country exported no commodities to China last year, the data shows, but Zhao has regularly posted photos of him meeting Taliban officials responsible for mining, petroleum, trade and regional connectivity since his appointment last September.

“In the Horn of Africa, China’s Special Envoy Xue Bing said that the best way to resolve security and terrorism challenges is through economic development. I think they are bringing that same mindset to Afghanistan,” said Eric Orlander, co-founder of the China-Global South Project.

“I don’t buy the whole strategic minerals line that we hear in Washington about how China is eyeing Afghanistan’s vast lithium reserves,” Orlander added, citing the cost and security challenges involved in extracting them.

“(China’s) answer to everything is build a road, and from that economic development will lead to peace and harmony.”

Several Chinese companies operate in Afghanistan, including the Metallurgical Corp of China Ltd, which has held talks with the Taliban administration over plans for a potentially huge copper mine, and was highlighted in an August feature in Chinese state media on Chinese companies rebuilding Afghanistan.

Chinese President Xi Jinping at a Beijing summit for more than 50 African leaders in September announced that from Dec. 1 goods entering his country’s $19 trillion economy from “the least developed countries that have diplomatic relations with China” would not be subject to import duties, without giving details.

The policy was then repeated on Wednesday by vice commerce minister Tang Wenhong at a press conference in Beijing on the preparations for upcoming China’s annual flagship import expo.

Lin Jian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, confirmed on Friday the policy would apply to Afghanistan, adding it would promote mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation.

The Afghanistan embassy in Beijing did not respond to a request for comment.

Last October, Afghanistan’s acting commerce minister told Reuters the Taliban wanted to formally join Xi’s flagship “Belt and Road” infrastructure initiative.

Kabul has also asked China to allow it to be a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a $62 billion connectivity project connecting China’s resource-rich Xinjiang region to Pakistan’s Arabian Sea port of Gwadar.

(By Joe Cash and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Read More: Taliban says it signed mining deals worth over $6.5 billion

BHP, Vale, and Samarco reach $30 billion Fundão dam settlement

Bruno Venditti | October 25, 2024 | 

The collapse of the Fundao tailings dam in 2015 killed 19 people and polluted hundreds of miles of rivers. (Image: Agência Brasil Fotografias).

BHP Group (ASX, NYSE: BHP), Vale (NYSE: VALE), and their joint venture Samarco reached a final settlement of R$170 billion ($29.93 billion) on Friday with Brazilian public authorities for reparations related to Samarco’s Fundão dam failure.


The agreement was signed in Brasília, with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in attendance.

In February, a federal judge ruled that the companies must pay up to 47.6 billion reais ($8.4 billion) in damages for the dam collapse, though the decision is still subject to appeal.

The Fundão dam burst on November 5, 2015. Approximately 40 million cubic meters of mining waste destroyed communities and livelihoods, contaminated the Rio Doce and its tributaries, and reached the Atlantic Ocean. In total, 49 municipalities were affected, either directly or indirectly, and 19 people lost their lives.

According to BHP, the agreement builds on the existing remediation and compensation efforts by the Renova Foundation in Brazil, which have thus far totaled R$38 billion ($7.9 billion).

In addition to the $7.9 billion already spent by Renova, the agreement includes R$100 billion ($18 billion) in installments over 20 years to public authorities, municipalities, Indigenous peoples, and traditional communities. Additional performance obligations for Samarco, estimated at R$32 billion ($5.8 billion), are also included.
Payments to be completed over 15 years

The compensation covers programs for universal water sanitation, health initiatives, economic recovery, infrastructure improvements, and investment funds in education, culture, sports, and food security.

The agreement also includes compensation payments of R$95,000 ($17,000) per person for eligible fishermen and farmers in the affected areas.

“BHP Brasil’s expected outflows under the agreement align with BHP’s FY2024 Samarco dam failure provision of $6.5 billion, and no update is required to the existing provision at this time,” BHP stated.

“The Samarco Fundão dam failure was a terrible tragedy. It should never have happened and must never be forgotten,” said BHP CEO Mike Henry.

Payments are expected to be completed over approximately 15 years, with the first installment of R$5 billion ($880 million) due within 30 days. The agreement remains subject to approval by the Brazilian Supreme Court.

BHP still faces a potential $47 billion payout in damages in a lawsuit in London’s High Court. The settlement in Brazil will not impact the UK case.

The plaintiffs include over 600,000 Brazilian citizens, 46 municipalities, and 2,000 businesses, all challenging BHP’s role in the disaster.

In July, BHP and Vale agreed to equally share the cost of any damages resulting from the UK proceedings.

Shares of BHP rose 0.7% by 12:00 p.m. EDT. Vale stocks were up 3.4%.

Brazil to sign compensation deal with miners over 2015 dam disaster on Friday

Reuters | October 23, 2024 |

Image: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s official X page

Brazilian authorities will sign on Friday a long-awaited reparation deal with miners Vale, BHP and Samarco over the 2015 Mariana dam collapse, the country’s presidential office said on Wednesday.


The agreement will be signed in a ceremony attended by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at 9 a.m. local time (1200 GMT) on Oct. 25, Lula’s office said.

Vale, BHP and Samarco said last week that the deal was expected to include a total compensation of 170 billion reais ($29.9 billion), with 100 billion reais of that to be paid through 20 years directly to public authorities.

The collapse of the dam at an iron ore mine owned by Samarco, a joint venture between Vale and BHP, unleashed a wave of tailings in a disaster that killed 19 people, left hundreds homeless, flooded forests and polluted a major river.

The three mining firms have for years been negotiating a compensation agreement with Brazilian authorities, hoping a deal would end several court actions on the matter.

(By Lisandra Paraguassu; Editing by Chris Reese and Marguerita Choy)

Myanmar rebels take the road to Mandalay
AFP
October 25, 2024

Myanmar's second-largest city Mandalay is a prime target of fighters who oppose the ruling junta - Copyright AFP STR

Winding through the lawless, rugged hills of northern Myanmar, National Highway 3 links a stunning series of victories by ethnic rebels and pro-democracy fighters in their war against the junta.

An offensive launched a year ago Sunday has seen opponents of the military seize much of the 480-kilometre-long (300-mile) route that connects second city Mandalay to China, Myanmar’s biggest trade partner.

Control of the road denies the junta lucrative taxes, threatens its bases in the central plains, and is a huge morale booster for its opponents as the civil war grinds through its fourth year.

AFP images from National Highway 3 show the destruction wrought by the previous year’s fighting and rebel groups trying to administer their newly seized territory.

The route begins at Muse, a town of ill-repute pressed up against the border with China.

Each morning, hundreds of locals queued for day passes to cross into China to buy medicine and consumer goods that can be re-sold back in Myanmar.

More than $2 billion worth of trade passed through Muse in the 2023-2024 financial year, according to the junta’s commerce ministry. Analysts say much more goes through off the books.

But following the rebels’ spectacular advance, venturing into the hinterland from Muse requires some savvy — and cash — said Aung Gyi, a driver.

“We’re OK if we can negotiate when we meet with ethnic rebel soldiers on roads and they ask for money,” he said, asking to use a pseudonym.

Around an hour from Muse was a checkpoint manned by soldiers from the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the rebel groups behind last year’s offensive.



– ‘Fighting up and close’ –



Around 30 kilometres further on is the town of Kutkai, infamous for the production of methamphetamine and normally home to around 50,000 people.

The fighting that has pushed the military out has scattered many of its residents and scarred the town.

Rubble littered across an open patch of ground was all that remained of the main market, flattened by a military airstrike.

Nearby, vendors had set up makeshift bamboo stalls to sell medicine and clothes.

“In northern Shan, the sound of gunfire is not very strange for us,” said resident Soe Naung, asking to use a pseudonym.

“But when we saw the fighting up close in our town, we were very afraid. We witnessed it with our own eyes.

“We can only hope our city will revive if the national highway opens again. Now our daily lives are full of fear about air strikes.”

In Kutkai, highway traffic consisted mostly of motorbikes laden with goods wrapped in tarpaulins.

Two young police officers in ethnic rebel uniforms sat on plastic chairs by the roadside and watched the traffic go by.



– Burma Road –



Roughly halfway along the highway, the city of Lashio embodies the biggest defeat the junta has suffered since it seized power in 2021.

Its four-lane toll gate was riddled with bullet holes and several panels were hanging loose, remnants of fierce fighting for the city where around 150,000 people lived before the offensive.

Lashio was famous as the terminus of the “Burma Road” built by the British usng local labour to supply Chinese forces battling Japanese invaders during the Second World War.

Now it is the prize of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), an ethnic Chinese rebel group, whose red and blue flags flutter over its pockmarked buildings.

A spiked black gate bears the name of a military engineering unit that was chased from the city.

On another street, two men were fixing electricity pylons.

The MNDAA is working to install a civilian administration it hopes will tempt residents to return to the city.

The military is trying to keep people away, and on Wednesday launched its latest airstrike on Lashio, according to local media and a rescue group.


– Hill station –


Near the end of National Highway 3, the former British hill station of Pyin Oo Lwin is still in the hands of the military.

The road passes grand houses of teak and brick and the military’s elite officer training academy.

“We also hear shooting sounds here sometimes,” said one female vendor at the town’s bustling market.

A two-hour drive down into the dusty plains places you in the former royal capital of Mandalay and the end of the highway.

Targeting the city of 1.5 million is the “Mandalay People’s Defence Force,” which fought alongside the ethnic rebels in the Shan hills during the past year.

In August, the “Mandalay PDF” hailed the bonds its fighters now shared with Shan state, forged in battle against the military along “National Highway 3.”

“Now, the dream of a day trip for Shan noodles is coming true,” it said in a statement, referencing a popular local dish from the region.


 

Rebels take control of Myanmar rare earth mining hub

Staff Writer | October 23, 2024 |

The military seized control on February 1, 2021 following a general election that saw Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party win by a landslide. (Image courtesy of OneNews | Wikimedia Commons)

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which has been fighting Myanmar’s military junta in power since 2021 on Wednesday said it had taken control of the country’s rare earth mining region.


Rare earth mining in Myanmar is concentrated in Kachin state around the towns of Panwa and Chipwe, adjacent to southwestern China’s Yunnan province. The region also hosts a number of gem mining sites and is a key trade route into Myitkyina (Kachin state’s capital) and north into China.

A KIA spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday the group wrested control of the area from the militia group NDA-K over the weekend but did not elaborate on its plans on mining in the region. The NDA-K is allied with the ruling junta and has been working with Chinese companies involved in mining.

In a note on Tuesday, Adamas Intelligence, a Toronto-based rare earth and battery metals research consultancy, said rebel control of these mining sites could potentially disrupt rare earth concentrate shipments into China, which have declined for four months straight owing to the monsoon season and other challenges.


In June, a landslide at a rare earth mining site in Ngilot village in Panwa region claimed 10 lives and left at least 30 people missing.

Adamas says with Myanmar responsible for 57% of global dysprosium and terbium mine supply last year, a prolonged disruption would strain availability of feedstock supplies for magnet makers during what is typically a seasonally strong quarter.

More than 90% of electric vehicles feature at least one permanent magnet motor and rising production from Myanmar and low prices have made it easy for automakers “to turn a blind eye to the environmental destruction and social upheaval that rare earth mining fuels in the country,” according to Adamas.

“Should the recent border seizure and expected capture of rare earth mines this week result in a disruption of rare earth concentrate flows to China from Myanmar, importers of Chinese rare earths and magnets may soon have to pay, literally and figuratively, for failing to support and secure alternative sources of supply in time.”