TOP OF THE WORLD
Northern Fleet with missiles warnings north and south of Bear Island

Russia’s missiles’ impact areas are in the strategically important Bear Gap, the waters between mainland Norway and Svalbard where the shallow Barents Sea meets the deeper Norwegian Sea.

Control over these waters is important in a conflict scenario. A Russian submarine is more difficult to detect in the deeper Norwegian Sea (darker blue colors). 

Map: Google Earth / NotamMap / Barents Observer

By Thomas Nilsen

Barents Observer
August 07, 2023

Russia’s Northern Fleet notes the impact of missiles will happen sometime from August 11 to 15, from 5 in the morning to 18 in the evening.

There is no publicly available information about what kind of missiles or how many. Neither the press service of the fleet in Severomorsk nor Russia’s defense ministry in Moscow have detailed any pre-announced exercises involving the western Barents Sea.

The Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) differs from previous Russian navy warnings in the so-called Bear Gap as they now stretch much further west into the Norwegian Sea. All previous NOTAMs near the Bear Gap in the period after Russia’s all-out war on Ukraine in February 2022 have been northeast or east of Bear Island.

Russia’s Port Administration for Northwest and the Arctic, located in Murmansk, has published similar warnings to seafarers indicating there will be rocket firing in the area. If so, the Northern Fleet will most likely send warships to the two zones that are in international waters, but part of the Norwegian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). These are also important fishing grounds for Norwegian, Russian, and EU trawlers. When warnings of missile impact - and rocket shootings - are issued, most fishermen chose to stay away.

The Bear Gap is a military term for the strategically important waters between North Cape, Bear Island, and further north to Spitsbergen Island. This is where the Barents Sea meets the deeper Norwegian Sea and by that access to the North Atlantic.

In a conflict scenario, keeping control of the Bear Gap would be important for the Russian Northern Fleet to protect its strategic missile submarines in the eastern Barents Sea from NATO forces.

Russian Bastion Defence in relation to Norway and the Bear and GIUK Gaps. Source: Mikkola / RAND Europe report

Russian missiles jeopardize Norwegian Arctic SAR response

The NOTAM warnings place strong restrictions on possible search- and rescue (SAR) operations, says Lars Fause, Governor of Svalbard. Russia closes off huge areas north and south of Bear Island from Friday to Tuesday.

The Governor of Svalbard operates two Super Puma AWSAR helicopters, key to Norway's Search- and Rescue (SAR) capabilities in the Arctic. 

Photo: Thomas Nilsen

By Thomas Nilsen
Barents Observer
August 08, 2023

Bear Island is crucial for helicopter operations in the western Barents Sea as it holds a fuel deposit extending the range of achievable operations.

Located halfway between mainland Norway and Longyearbyen airport, Bear Island is also the point of no return for the smaller ambulance propellers flying northbound missions to Svalbard. It is here the pilot has to decide if the weather at Longyearbyen is good enough to land or if the flight must return to Tromsø or Hammerfest for fuel reasons.

The Barents Observer yesterday reported that Russia has announced closure of huge airspace and waters both south and north of Bear Island, forcing pilots and ship captains to make a long detour either east or west of the strategically located Arctic Island.

The Northern Fleet will sail out in the Barents Sea and has warned international aviation about missile impacts planned for the areas. Port authorities in Murmansk, responsible for Russia’s western Arctic regions, simultaneously warn about rocket shooting in the area.

Bjørnøya (Bear Island) is the southernmost island of the Svalbard archipelago, located halfway between mainland Norway and Spitsbergen. The weather station at the island is key to forecasting the Barents Sea. 

Photo: Thomas Nilsen

Governor concerned

The rescue service in Svalbard is part of the Norwegian rescue service.

“Our captains of the two rescue helicopters routinely, and in advance of missions, review NOTAM messages relevant for areas of operation,” says Governor of Svalbard, Lars Fause, to the Barents Observer.

He says the Russian warning to air traffic in the given area and time window “must be taken with the utmost seriousness.”

“It clearly places strong limitations also on possible SAR missions,” Fause makes clear.

Eminent Svalbardposten was first to report on the Governor’s worries.

Lars Fause assures his office will clarify potential impacts during the day.

“One thing is commercial airliners scheduled- and charter flights to and from Svalbard. Of equal importance is if the missile will limit our possibilities to the requisition of ambulance planes to the island,” he says to the Barents Observer.

Russia’s warning concerns airspace up to 10,000 meters (32,800 ft). While commercial airliners normally fly higher, ambulance propellers and helicopters are far below such limit.

For commercial airline captains, an important consideration to take is Russian missiles’ unreliable flight patterns, likely redirecting them to avoid flying over areas although the missile limit is set to 10,000 meters. Following the Russian-caused downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine’s airspace in 2014, insurance companies in dialogue with airlines agree to stay in safe distance.
Longer flying time

Spokesperson Anja Kristin Bakken with Norway’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centres confirms that the consequence for rescue operations using helicopter from the mainland or Svalbard is a detour to be taken to Bear Island if they need extra fuel.

“In the extreme, this can lead to longer time spent, which may have consequences for patients in need of evacuation from a vessel (MEDEVAC),” Bakken says to the Barents Observer.

Norwegian SAR helicopters are frequently picking up patients with injuries or illnesses that need to be treated as quickly as possible in hospital. The Norwegians assist all vessels, including Russia’s large fleet of trawlers fishing in Svalbard waters and the Barents Sea.

Anja Kristin Bakken underlines that although longer flying time, Bear Island is still within reach. “It just takes longer time,” she adds.

A helicopter can potentially refuel from a Norwegian Coast Guard vessel, but it is unclear whether any currently are sailing in the waters between Svalbard and Bear Island.

According to MarineTraffic.com, more than 10 expedition cruise ships are at Svalbard or en route to or from the archipelago this week.

Charter plane approaching Longyearbyen.

 Photo: Thomas Nilsen

Safety is Russia’s responsibility

Norway’s military Joint Headquarters keep an eye on developments.

“The Defence together with our allies follows the situation near our areas closely, and we have a good situation awareness on activities going on provided by our daily operations,” says Corporal Jonny Karlsen, spokesperson with the Joint Headquarters.

“A Russian NOTAM warning in this area is not abnormal, nor does it mean that the area is completely closed off to traffic at all times,” Karlsen says.

The missile launching hours set by the Northern Fleet for the period August 11 to 15 are active every day from 7 am to 8 pm CET.

Corporal Karlsen says it is for Russia to take responsibility for awareness that no one inside the area is in danger.

“For the Norwegian Armed Forces, this will not have any practical significance, but civil aviation will probably still have to fly around such a danger area,” Karlsen adds.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Oslo has not replied to Barents Observer’s questions about the case.

The powerful Northern Fleet has Severomorsk north of Murmansk as the main base for its larger warships. 

Photo: Thomas Nilsen

After ten days aground in Franz Josef Land, researchers are evacuated from wrecked ship

Divers found damages to the hull of the research ship, and Arctic expedition was aborted.

The Mikhail Somov in Franz Josef Land. Photo: Floating University on VK

By Atle Staalesen

Barents Observer
August 07, 2023

The almost 50 years old vessel ran aground in shallow waters between the islands of Komsomolsky and Wilczek Land on the 24th of July. On board were 91 people, including a group of university students from Arkhangelsk.

The ship was on its way to or from the nearby Krenkel research station and the plan was to visit a total of 21 research stations across the Russian Arctic. About 800 tons of equipment was to be delivered to the remote stations.

Those goods will have to be delivered otherwise. On 2nd of August, the people on board the Mikhail Somov were rescued by Professor Molchanov. Both ships are operated by Semeteo, the regional unit under the Russian Meteorological Service (Roshydromet).

On the 5th of August, the Professor Molchanov sailed southwards with the evacuated passengers.

The Professor Molchanov was sent from Arkhangelsk to rescue the passengers and crew of the wrecked Mikhail Somov.

 Photo: the Floating University on VK

The divers that were brought to site by the Professor Molchanov concluded that the hull of the Mikhail Somov is too damaged to continue the voyage, the expedition social media page informs.

It is unclear what will now happen to the aging ship.

On board the ship is a helicopter.

Rio Tinto releases interactive map of tailings facilities in alignment with GISTM requirements

Business Wire
Thu, August 3, 2023

MELBOURNE, Australia, August 04, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rio Tinto has today disclosed detailed information on 14 of its global tailings facilities and their progress towards conformance with the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM).

These tailings facilities are those rated Very High or Extreme under GISTM classifications, based on the highest potential consequences in the extremely unlikely event of a failure.

Rio Tinto Chief Technology Officer Mark Davies said "Since the tragic failure of the tailings facility at Brumadinho in Brazil in 2019, the entire industry has been working to improve the way we manage tailings facilities.

"Responsible tailings management is critical to ensure the safety of our people and communities and to protect the environment. It is fundamental for our business and social license. We have made considerable progress since August 2020 towards conformance with the GISTM. We have completed most of the work and have detailed plans to complete outstanding items.

"GISTM has meant a step change in how the industry manages its tailings facilities. Good tailings management is also about transparent partnership, and we have been working with the local communities near our facilities to increase awareness of our management practices and how we can best work together to continue to keep people and the environment safe from harm."

Details of these facilities and their progress in implementing the requirements of the GISTM can be accessed via an interactive map available at http://www.riotinto.com/tailings.

Column: Rio Tinto counts the cost of producing green aluminum

Reuters | August 4, 2023 | 

Credit: Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto is finding out just how hard it is to produce low-carbon aluminum.


The company booked a $1.175 billion impairment charge against its two Australian alumina refineries in its second-quarter results.

This is in part down to what Rio Tinto called “challenging market conditions” for alumina, which is refined from bauxite and then fed into a smelter for conversion into metal.

But it is also down to the cost of decarbonizing two of the company’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters.

The short-term cost comes in the form of Australia’s new carbon tax on big industrial operators.

The long-term problem is the dependence of both Rio’s alumina refineries and aluminum smelters on a national power grid that is largely driven by coal and gas.

Such is the aluminum paradox. A metal that is core to the green energy transition comes with a heavy carbon footprint, the sector accounting for around 2% of all man-made emissions every year.

Carbon problems

Rio Tinto has conceded it is unlikely to meet its 15% target for reducing group emissions by 2025 without buying carbon credits, although it remains committed to its goal of cutting emissions in half by 2030.

The company’s biggest carbon headache is its aluminum business, which last year accounted for 21.1 million metric tons of carbon emissions out of a group total of 30.3 million metric tons.

Rio’s Canadian smelter network draws power from Quebec’s hydro-electric system, meaning its Atlantic operations generated 4.8 million metric tons of carbon equivalent last year, half the amount produced by its Pacific operations, according to Rio’s 2022 sustainability report.

The two Pacific region refineries, Queensland Aluminium (QAL) and Yarwun, with combined alumina production last year of 6.4 million metric tons, are responsible for half of Rio’s Scope 1 direct emissions in Australia.

Together with the company’s three power-hungry smelters, the Australian operations represent around half of the group’s direct and Scope 2 emissions, which include the carbon footprint of energy used in the aluminum production process.

Write-downs

Rio’s impairment charge, which comes in at $828 million after tax, comprises a complete write-down of the Yarwun refinery and a $227 million impairment of the QAL plant.

The company is evaluating a major capital investment project at QAL aimed at boosting efficiency and cutting emissions. If the so-called “double digestion” project doesn’t go ahead, the operation will also be fully written down, Rio said.

The trigger for the write-down is the Australian government’s revised Safeguard Mechanism, which came into force in July. It sets carbon caps on some of the country’s biggest emitters, forcing them to pay for carbon offsets if they breach the upper threshold.

That imposes extra costs on a business in which “we’re actually not really making money”, Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm told analysts on the company’s quarterly results call.

The baseline for calculating the carbon caps will decline by 4.9% each year until 2030, which the government hopes will allow companies time to decarbonize their operations.

Rio has won some concessions from the government on the basis that its aluminum assets are a strategic part of the country’s industrial profile, but its two refineries have still not escaped the negative financial impact.

Grid-lock

As well as looking at an upgrade at QAL, Rio has partnered with Japan’s Sumitomo Corp on a project to use hydrogen rather than natural gas at Yarwun.

The pilot plant will produce around 6,000 metric tons of alumina per year while cutting carbon dioxide emissions by about 3,000 metric tons per year.

This, however, is experimental technology and doesn’t provide an immediate solution to the bigger problem of decarbonizing Australia’s grid.

The country’s six alumina refineries were 93% dependent on coal or gas power in 2021, according to the International Aluminium Institute.

Rio’s three smelters and the Portland plant, majority owned by US producer Alcoa, are equally tied to fossil fuel power.

The scale of converting the existing grid to renewable energy is daunting.

Switching Rio’s operations to wind or solar would mean building a renewable energy park 12 times larger than anything so far constructed in Australia, according to Stausholm.

“So it’s not something you just solve from one day to another,” he told analysts.
Long-term threat

Rio is pursuing multiple paths towards greener aluminum in its North American operations.

It has partnered with Alcoa on producing aluminum using inert cathode technology, which will reduce Scope 1 emissions in the smelting process.

Construction of the first commercial-scale prototype cells has begun at the company’s Alma smelter in Canada with operations due to begin this year.

Capacity at the low-carbon AP60 smelter, also in Quebec, will be expanded by 160,000 metric tons per year, with commissioning expected in 2026.

Rio is investing heavily in recycled aluminum, which can be remelted using just 5% of the power needed to produce virgin metal.

The company has just announced a joint venture with Giampaolo Group, one of North America’s largest secondary aluminum operators, with the capacity to produce 900,000 metric tons a year of recycled metal.

But its Australian operations are going to remain a significant brake on the company’s journey towards a lower carbon future.

Rio views the business as “critical” to its wider portfolio, according to Peter Cunningham, the company’s chief financial officer.

It is also critical to Australia, not just because of its size but because, as Stausholm pointed out, it is “a business that can underwrite a lot of renewable energy”.

“But if we can’t get firm renewable energy at a competitive price, it’s going to be impossible for us to manufacture and export aluminum out of Australia,” he warned.

Rio’s predicament neatly encapsulates the power paradox facing aluminum producers everywhere. Going green needs green energy, and there’s not enough of it around right now.

(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, Andy Home, a columnist for Reuters.)

(Editing by Jan Harvey)

One year after the mine collapse in Coahuila, Mexico: The interminable wait to locate the bodies of the 10 miners buried 197 feet underground

Authorities assure the victims’ families that the corpses will be recovered within the next few months

Geologists conduct reconnaissance work and drilling at the El Pinabete 

and Conchas Norte mines in Coahuila, Mexico.

MARIO JASSO (CUARTOSCURO)

ALEJANDRO SANTOS CID
Mexico - AUG 03, 2023 - 

On August 3, 2022, 10 miners were buried underground when the Pinabete coal shaft in Sabinas, Coahuila, Mexico, collapsed. A year later, their bodies remain there. In the first days after the collapse, the mission was a frantic and desperate struggle to rescue the workers alive, but now the sole objective is to recover the remains. The miners’ relatives are experiencing an interminable deferred mourning period, and the goal is to find the dead so that their families can finally bury them in graves marked with names and surnames, where they can mourn the dead, bring flowers, and get some closure after the traumatic experience.

Recovering the bodies has been a slow process. After four months of apparent inactivity, last December the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) began to use dynamite at the Pinabete mine. The objective was to open a huge pit to access the miners’ remains, which are about 197 feet (60 meters) underground. The main obstacle to doing so is that the tunnels were flooded with water as a result of their proximity to the Sabinas River.

Now, the salvage teams are a little closer to achieving their goal. Family members hope to recover the bodies in one or two months. In February, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador estimated that the bodies would be found in December, but official estimates have already been wrong more than once: at the end of August, after weeks of insisting that the rescue was imminent, Civil Protection gave a proposed time frame of between six and 11 months.

“It has been a difficult process, [one that’s involved] going to appointments with psychologists. My children aren’t getting over it; it is very different when they tell you that ‘a person died’ and you see him, he is in a casket, you bury him, you know where he is buried. We know where he is, but we don’t have access to that part of the pit,” explains Carolina Álvarez, the widow of Jorge Luis Martínez, one of the buried miners. “[Recovering the bodies] is something we all need to be at peace, calm. There are moments of anguish, of loneliness, when you start to think about many things, and you want it to be over. Not because of the fatigue of going [to work] every day; it’s not that. It’s no longer the heart [that aches]; it’s the soul that hurts so much. More so for my children, it seems to me that they need [closure] to be at peace.”

SABINAS, COAHUILA, MEXICO. 11/08/2022. 

Family and friends of the miners trapped in the "El Pinabete" mine walk with candles to the mine’s access point.

ANTONIO OJEDA

From hope to anger

Last August, the area around the El Pinabete mine was an adrenaline-filled scene of soldiers, rescue teams, family members refusing to go home and neighbors dropping off supplies. Despite the unlikelihood of rescuing the miners, there was a certain hope in the air, a belief that the 10 men would be seen alive again. Every minute was important, each small piece of news was seen as an opportunity for progress. But time went by, and hope gave way to a state of agony, frustration and anger.

On August 29, Andrés Manuel López Obrador subtly declared that the miners were dead. In his daily morning speech, which at the time was plagued with questions about the condition of the 10 men, he stopped talking about a “rescue” effort and referred to the response to the tragedy as an operation to “recover the bodies.” The news did not go over well with the men’s relatives, who grudgingly had to accept the obvious: that no human being can survive for a month in a cave 196 feet underground without drinking water or food, in absolute darkness.

It would be inaccurate to call the collapse an accident. Rather, it was a tragedy waiting to happen. The Pinabete mine was unusual in that the shafts through which the precarious elevator that the miners used to descend barely fit. It lacked even the most basic safety conditions, such as a list of who had entered and exited the mine. Pinabete was also located next to the old Las Conchas mine, which was abandoned decades ago. The Sabinas River, just a few hundred meters away, had flooded the abandoned Las Conchas tunnels for years.

On August 3, a deep, dry rumble shook the ground around the Pinabete mine as the miners were working in the shafts. The cause was the accumulated water at Las Conchas, which had finally made its way through the cracks in the subsoil and was sweeping through the tunnels, where the workers were cutting, at full speed. A few miners managed to escape. The 10 unluckiest ones remained below.

This Thursday, the victims’ relatives will hold a mass where the shafts used to be to honor the miners. The widows have continued to check that the operations are continuing. “We despaired because we saw no progress. Our hands are tied, and we can only wait for them to do their work, but for a few months now, we have been seeing progress. That has calmed us down; [it’s] not like [it was] at the beginning when we saw so much water everywhere,” says Álvarez.

She says that Civil Protection (PC) has promised to tour the pit on the 15th: “There is very little water left; they hope that there won’t be any water left over the next few days to begin the rescue.” A team of forensic anthropologists will begin to search the terrain to exhume the remains. This newspaper contacted Laura Velázquez, the PC coordinator in charge of dealing with the relatives, but there was no response before this article was published.

Work to locate the miners’ remains continues at El Pinabete mine in 2023.

CORTESÍA

Compensation and arrests

A two-pronged struggle began for the families in August. On the one hand, they were mourning the death of a loved one. On the other, they were fighting for compensation. The government provided each widow with 4.7 million pesos (about $250,000). Alvarez explains that, in her case, she has also been receiving a widow’s pension and an orphan’s pension for her two children, a total of 12,000 pesos ($700) a month. The El Pinabete mining company responsible for the extraction has declared bankruptcy. After the mine collapsed, the company started to pay the wives their husbands’ salaries — or at least a percentage of it — until the miners’ remains were recovered. At first, the company provided a salary of about 4,000 pesos ($23.11) a week, but the money stopped coming in October and has not resumed.

For the moment, two people have been arrested for the collapse. The first was Cristian Solís Saavedra, a sort of foreman, who was arrested in September. The families consider him to be a mere figurehead who only appeared in the contracts as the legal representative in case there were any problems. In May, Luis Rafael García Luna Acuña, one of the presumed owners of the company, was also arrested and charged with the “crime of illicit exploitation of an asset belonging to the nation.” A third person, Arnulfo Garza Cárdenas, is at large, and Interpol has issued an international warrant for his arrest.

The Attorney General’s Office believes that García Luna Acuña, Solís Saavedra and Garza Cárdenas “incurred criminal liability by allowing coal mining activities to be illegally carried out in the shaft.” However, the El Pinabete company had a contract with the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) for 75 million pesos ( around $4.3 million). According to an investigation by the Animal Político website, the CFE described the extraction as “safe” and agreed to purchase all minerals extracted between 2020 and 2024.

Mining experts and the victims’ families point to CFE as another culprit in this tragedy. The agency is the key player in López Obrador’s electricity reform, and 99% of the coal it buys comes from the Coahuila coal region.

But since the collapse, the mining company has not adopted new safety measures; the activity in Coahuila’s mines continues as usual. This July, two men died in another shaft accident, also in Sabinas. Year after year, victims continue to mount. According to the records kept by the victims’ families, over 3,100 miners have died in this region since coal mining began at the end of the 19th century.

Coahuila is a poor area, and the only employment opportunities are in the mines or in the maquilas, the factories, which are safer but far more precarious. Experts warn that if new economic outlets are not provided and safety conditions in the mines are not regulated, more miners will die in Coahuila.

The 10 miners who died at El Pinabete


1. José Rogelio Moreno Morales (22 years old), José Rogelio Moreno Leija’s son.

2. Ramiro Torres Rodríguez (24 years old)

3. Hugo Tijerina Amaya (29 years old)

4. Jorge Luis Martínez Valdez (34 years old)

5. Sergio Gabriel Cruz Gaitan (41 years old)

6. Jose Rogelio Moreno Leija (42 years old), Jose Rogelio Moreno Morales’s father.

7. Mario Alberto Cabriales Uresti (45 years old)

8. José Luis Mireles Argüijo (46 years old)

9. Margarito Rodríguez Palomares (54 years old)

10. Jaime Montelongo Pérez (61 years old)

EL   PAÍS USA Edition

China Baowu wants new models of cooperation with Vale

Reuters | August 3, 2023 | 

Stock image.

The world’s largest steelmaker China Baowu Steel Group Corporation has held talks with Brazilian iron ore miner Vale on potential opportunities for future cooperation, according to an update on its WeChat account on Thursday.


Hu Wangming, chairman of the group, held a face-to-face meeting with Eduardo Bartolomeo, Vale’s chief executive officer, at Baowu’s headquarter Shanghai.

Hu said Baowu and Vale need to explore new models of future cooperation to achieve sustainability in the steel value chain.

He hopes to keep a stable iron ore supply with a reasonable price.

The meeting came after Hu, previously the general manager, stepped into his new role in June.

Both sides also discussed cooperation in investment in mineral resources as well as the research and development of the low-carbon metallurgical technology, it said without giving further details.

(By Amy Lv and Andrew Hayley; Editing by Alison Williams)

Vale Indonesia plans to divest 14% stake – minister

Reuters | August 4, 2023\

Image courtesy of PT Vale Indonesia.

Nickel miner Vale Indonesia is planning to divest 14% of its stake this year to fulfill divestment rules, Indonesia’s mining minister Arifin Tasrif told reporters on Friday.


The shares will be sold to MIND ID, Indonesia’s state mining holding company, at a price negotiated between them, he said.

Shares of Vale Indonesia traded at 6,800 rupiah ($0.4482) per share on Friday on Indonesia’s stock exchange.

Under Indonesian rules, foreign miners are required to divest 51% of their stake to Indonesian buyers after a certain period of operation.

Vale Canada Ltd and Sumitomo Metal Mining in 2020 sold 20% of their stake in Vale Indonesia to the state holding company.

Vale Indonesia declined to comment, while Vale Canada, Sumitomo and MIND ID were not able to comment immediately.

($1 = 15,172.0000 rupiah)

(By Bernadette Christina Munthe and Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor)

INDONESIA

Jokowi’s EV ambition takes a step forward with cathode factory

Bloomberg News | August 3, 2023 | 

Indonesian president Joko Widodo. 

President Joko Widodo’s ambition of building out Indonesia’s electric-vehicle supply chain is seeing another step forward with plans for a cathode plant.


Indonesian state miner Aneka Tambang, Indonesia Battery Corporation and a consortium led by South Korea’s LG Energy Solution Ltd. are building the facility as part of a $9.8 billion “grand package” to build battery production onshore, according to a statement by Indonesia’s investment ministry on Thursday.

The Southeast Asian country is the world’s largest source of nickel, a key material for high-performance batteries, and it’s seeking to use that advantage to build out an EV industry onshore. Indonesia has seen a rush of investments into building nickel smelters, followed by plans for a cathode precursor facility. A cathode plant would take the country one notch higher in the value chain.

Construction for the cathode plant will begin as early as this year after the companies resolved the trickiest part of the negotiation involving shareholding, LG Energy chief executive officer Young Soo Kwon said in the ministry statement.

The group of companies are also building a nickel smelter, cathode precursor factory and a $1.1 billion battery cell factory set to start production in April. Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said the plans were set back after the US issued the Inflation Reduction Act, which disrupted the global supply chains for EV battery materials.

(By Fathiya Dahrul and Norman Harsono, with assistance from Eko Listiyorini)

Vale loses bid to block BHP’s London lawsuit in Brazil dam case

Reuters | August 7, 2023 | 

Reconstruction efforts at the Fundão tailings dam in 2017.

 (Image courtesy of BHP.)

Vale on Monday lost a bid to block fellow mining giant BHP Group’s bid to have it share potential liability in a 36 billion-pound ($46 billion) London lawsuit over Brazil’s worst environmental disaster.


More than 720,000 Brazilians are suing BHP, the world’s biggest miner by market value, over the 2015 collapse of the Fundao Dam, which was owned and operated by the Samarco joint venture between BHP and Brazilian iron ore producer Vale.

The disaster killed 19 people as more than 40 million cubic metres of mud and toxic mining waste swept into the Doce river, obliterating villages and reaching the Atlantic Ocean more than 650 km (400 miles) away.

BHP, which denies liability, applied in December to have Vale join the case and contribute to damages if they are found liable to the claimants.

The company argued that Vale should share in any potential liability because BHP Brasil and Vale both owned 50% of Samarco.

Vale challenged the jurisdiction of London’s High Court to hear BHP’s claim, arguing that any dispute between it and BHP should be heard in Brazil.

However, Judge Finola O’Farrell rejected Vale’s challenge in a written ruling on Monday. She said BHP’s claim against Vale essentially mirrored the claimants’ case against BHP, meaning it should be decided as part of the existing lawsuit.

A BHP spokesperson said Monday’s ruling would have no impact on the underlying case.

They also pointed to reparation and compensation programmes implemented by the Renova Foundation, a redress scheme established in 2016 by Samarco and its shareholders, which has funded more than $6 billion of rehousing, rehabilitation and indemnification for those affected by the disaster.

A Vale spokesperson said the company will “carefully consider” the court’s ruling. They also said Vale “reaffirms its commitment to repairing the damage caused by the Fundao dam collapse”, under agreements with the Brazilian authorities.

Tom Goodhead of law firm Pogust Goodhead, which represents the claimants, welcomed the decision.

“It’s time for BHP and Vale to both do the right thing and to engage with the claimants in this case in order to affect an effective resolution,” he said in a statement.

(By Sam Tobin and Clara Denina; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Elemental magic: How gemstones can reveal ancient trade routes

The researchers analyzed gems from the Arabian-Nubian Shield and compared them with similar gems from around the globe to find unique characteristics of gems from the region.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Published: AUGUST 4, 2023 

Sunrise Ruby and Diamond ring of 25 carats by Cartier and a 90 carat Briolette of India Diamond Necklace by Harry Winston, are seen during a preview of the 700-piece jewellery collection of the late Austrian billionaire Heidi Horten at Christie's before the auction sale in Geneva, Switzerland, May 8
(photo credit: DENIS BALIBOUSE/REUTERS)

Gems have unique elemental compositions that can be used to identify their location of origin, according to a new study published earlier this week found.

The peer-reviewed study, published in the academic journal AIP Advances, recorded how researchers were able to examine the unique elemental compositions to identify ancient trade routes.

What is a gemstone?

A gem, or gemstone, is a piece of mineralized crystal which has been cut and polished. Gems, often appreciated for their beauty, have been harvested from mines and traded throughout the world for thousands of years.

The researchers analyzed gems from the Arabian-Nubian Shield and compared them with similar gems from around the globe by using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy.

An employee shows a large gem-quality diamond named by Russian miner Alrosa after Sputnik-V, a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Moscow, Russia February 25, 2021. Picture taken February 25, 2021. 

(credit: TATYANA MAKEYEVA/ REUTERS)

By using the aforementioned technologies to review the gems, the researchers identified the elements which caused the gems’ unique colors. The iron content, for example, correlated to the amethysts' purple color.

In the Arabian-Nubian Shield, gemstones are exposed to mineral deposits between the Red Sea in Egypt and Saudi Arabia that originate from the Earth’s earliest geological age. Through looking at the gems’ unique compositions, and where those gems have been found globally, the researchers were able to identify historic trade routes.

"We showed the main spectroscopic characteristics of gemstones from these Middle East localities to distinguish them from their counterparts in other world localities," said author Adel Surour to Science Daily. "

This includes a variety of silicate gems such as emerald from the ancient Cleopatra's mines in Egypt, in addition to amethyst, peridot, and amazonite from other historical sites, which mostly date to the Roman times.

"Gemstones such as emerald and peridot have been mined since antiquity," Surour said. "Sometimes, some gemstones were brought by sailors and traders to their homelands. For example, royal crowns in Europe are decorated with peculiar gemstones that originate from either Africa or Asia. We need to have precise methods to distinguish the source of a gemstone and trace ancient trade routes in order to have correct information about the original place from which it was mined."

Using Gemstones’ Unique Characteristics To Uncover Ancient Trade Routes

AUGUST 1, 2023
AIP ADVANCES

Modern spectroscopy techniques can rapidly identify gemstone origins, distinguish natural from synthetic, and isolate elements that contribute to their quality.

From the Journal: AIP Advances

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2023 – Since ancient times, gemstones have been mined and traded across the globe, sometimes traveling continents from their origin. Gems are geologically defined as minerals celebrated for beauty, strength, and rarity. Their unique elemental composition and atomic orientation act as a fingerprint, enabling researchers to uncover the stones’ past, and with it, historical trade routes.

In AIP Advances, from AIP Publishing, Khedr et al. employed three modern spectroscopic techniques to rapidly analyze gems found in the Arabian-Nubian Shield and compare them with similar gems from around the world. Using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy, the authors identified elements that influence gems’ color, differentiated stones found within and outside the region, and distinguished natural from synthetic.

Locations of the investigated gem minerals from Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Scaled photos of colored gem minerals are given. For all, field of view (FOV) = 4 cm. (1) Peridot, Zabargad (St. John’s), off the Egyptian Red Sea coast. (2) Peridot from Harrat Kishb (volcanic field), Saudi Arabia. (3a) Emerald and (3b) Amazonite, Wadi Sikait, Wadi El-Gemal area, Eastern Desert, Egypt. (4) Low-grade emerald (beryl), Wadi Ghazala, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. (5) Amethyst, Aswan area, Eastern Desert, Egypt. Credit: Khedr et al.

The Arabian-Nubian Shield is an exposure of mineral deposits that sandwiches the Red Sea in current-day Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The deposits date back to the Earth’s earliest geological age, and the precious metals and gemstones have been harvested for thousands of years.

“We showed the main spectroscopic characteristics of gemstones from these Middle East localities to distinguish them from their counterparts in other world localities,” said author Adel Surour. “This includes a variety of silicate gems such as emerald from the ancient Cleopatra’s mines in Egypt, in addition to amethyst, peridot, and amazonite from other historical sites, which mostly date to the Roman times.”

The various spectroscopic techniques they employed revealed different information about the stones. LIBS quickly characterizes chemical composition, while FTIR determines functional groups connected to the structure and indicates the presence of water and other hydrocarbons. Even for chemically identical materials, Raman spectroscopy shows the unique crystalline structure of the gems’ atoms.

The authors identified that iron content correlates to amethysts’ signature purple hue, and other elements such as copper, chromium, and vanadium are also responsible for colorization. A signature water peak exposes lab-grown synthetic gems, which are useful for scientific purposes and identical to natural gems but are less expensive.

Crystalline structure differentiated amazonite beads from Mexico, Jordan, and Egypt.

“Gemstones such as emerald and peridot have been mined since antiquity,” Surour said. “Sometimes, some gemstones were brought by sailors and traders to their homelands. For example, royal crowns in Europe are decorated with peculiar gemstones that originate from either Africa or Asia. We need to have precise methods to distinguish the source of a gemstone and trace ancient trade routes in order to have correct information about the original place from which it was mined.”

Article Title
Characterization and discrimination of some gem silicate minerals adopting LIBS, FTIR and Raman spectroscopic techniques

Authors
Amal Abdelfattah Khedr, Adel A. Surour, Ahmed El-Hussein, and Mahmoud Abdelhamid
Author Affiliations

Jouf University, Cairo University, Galala University

Atlantic Lithium says it is confident of getting mining lease in Ghana

Reuters | August 7, 2023 

The Ewoyaa lithium deposit in Ghana. (Credit: Atlantic Lithium)

Atlantic Lithium said on Monday the Africa-focused company was confident of getting a lease for a lithium mine in Ghana following the approval of a green minerals policy by the country’s government.


The company said the new policy included “changes to the mining royalty rate and the state’s carried interest in minerals projects” and that Atlantic Lithium was in talks with Ghana’s Minerals Commission.

In 2021, Piedmont Lithium invested $100 million in the company to secure spodumene, or high-purity lithium ore, from Atlantic Lithium’s mine in Ghana.

In March, short seller Blue Orca Capital alleged Atlantic Lithium obtained key Ghana mining licenses by making secret payments. The company had rejected the allegations.

(By Seher Dareen; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

Graphic: Healthy tin inventories, soft demand caps upside from Myanmar ban

Reuters | August 7, 2023 | 

Tin man statue. (Stock Image)

A surge in tin inventories, weak demand and the risk of speculators selling bullish positions are likely to constrain tin prices rallying further following a mining ban in the world’s third biggest tin mining nation Myanmar.


Tin is the strongest performing metal on the London Metal Exchange (LME) this year, rising by 12% so far compared to a 1.4% gain for the next best performer, copper.




The LME tin cash contract is expected to average $25,000 a metric ton in the fourth quarter, down 10% from Monday’s close, according to a median forecast of 14 analysts polled by Reuters last month.

Gains were spurred by an announcement in April by Myanmar’s ethnic minority Wa militia of a suspension of all work at mines in areas it controls from Aug. 1.


“It’s hard to get too excited about the price upside. The fact that it’s been well-flagged means there’s been opportunity for people to prepare,” said Citi analyst Tom Mulqueen.

The Wa militia earns significant revenue from mining so it would be surprising if the ban lasted for more than a few months, he added.

“Our view is that the inventory levels are relatively strong and even if you get a couple months of disruption, the market should be able to absorb that.”

The run-up in prices was fuelled by speculative buying, with long positions held by investment funds on the LME more than doubling since April, but moves to lock in profits could weigh on the market, analysts said.

The Myanmar mining ban may dampen Chinese smelter output in the second half of 2023, but analysts note that tin production elsewhere is healthy, having rebounded since January due to gains from Indonesia, Peru and Bolivia.


The world’s biggest tin producing company, Indonesia’s PT Timah, aims to boost refined tin output by a third this year.

Another factor that may weigh on tin prices is weak global demand since more than half of global tin supply is used as solder for circuit boards for the semiconductor industry.


The world’s largest contract chipmaker recently forecast a drop of around 10% in 2023 sales.

“We suspect this ban on mining will take the sting out of the drag on prices we expect later this year from weakening global electronics demand,” Kieran Tompkins, commodities economist at Capital Economics, said in a note.

(By Eric Onstad; Editing by Mark Potter)

JUST SAY NO!

Canada's TMC to seek license next year to mine Pacific deep sea

Ottawa (AFP) – Canada's The Metals Company will seek a license next year to start mining the depths of the Pacific Ocean, with production expected to follow in 2025, according to a statement.


Issued on: 03/08/2023

A handout image made available by the National Oceanography Centre on July 24, 2023, shows a carnivorous sponge, Axoniderma mexicana, photographed during a recent expedition to the NE Pacific abyss and found in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone 

© Handout / National Oceanography Centre / Smartex project (NERC)/AFP/File

It posted on its website late Tuesday that its subsidiary Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. intends to submit an application to the International Seabed Authority (ISA).

"Assuming a one-year review process, NORI expects to be in production in the fourth quarter of 2025," it added.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA)'s member nations agreed in July on a two-year roadmap for the adoption of deep sea mining regulations, despite conservationists' calls for a moratorium on mineral extraction they say would avert marine threats.

The little-known global body is tasked with regulating the vast ocean floor.

Some countries want to hurry up and begin retrieving rock-like "nodules" scattered across the seafloor, which contain minerals important to battery production such as nickel, cobalt and copper.

But NGOs and scientists say that trawling the deep seas could destroy habitats and species that may still be unknown or potentially vital to ecosystems.

Graphic showing the three different types of seabed zones being explored for potential mining © Jonathan WALTER, Paz PIZARRO, Laurence SAUBADU / AFP/File

The Metals Company and others are eyeing an abyssal plain stretching between Hawaii and Mexico, known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), for the nodules.

Its chief executive Gerard Barron said the timeline it has laid out "gives us more time to strengthen our environmental dataset" while providing more time also for ISA work on mining code regulations and procedures.

It estimated it must also raise $60 million to $70 million to proceed with its application for a license, in addition to $20 million in cash it has on hand.

The company said it lifted 3,000 tonnes of nodules from the seafloor in trials last year, and aims to mine an estimated three million wet tonnes per year.

© 2023 AFP

THE WAGNER CODE
Mali adopts new mining code that boosts state interests

Reuters | August 8, 2023 |

Mali-based Loulo-Gounkoto complex. (Reference image by Barrick Gold.)

Mali adopted a new mining code on Tuesday that mining sector officials said would channel a greater share of revenue to state coffers and increase state and private Malian interests in new projects.


The government announced the review of the mining code in January after it said an internal audit had shown that Mali, one of Africa’s biggest gold producers, was not receiving a fair slice of profits while granting too many tax breaks.

The new code now allows the government to take a 10% stake in mining projects and the option to buy an additional 20% within the first two years of commercial production, mining commission chairman Assane Sidibe told reporters.

A further 5% stake could be ceded to locals, taking state and private Malian interests in new projects to 35%, from up to 20% today.

Meanwhile certain tax exemptions have been abolished, Sidibe said.

International miners in July said they were in talks with the government over new rules for the sector that has remained attractive despite coups and a deadly Islamist insurgency.

The approved code would generate an additional 500 billion CFA francs ($803 million) per year for the state and increase the mining sector’s contribution to the economy by up to 20% of gross domestic product, from the current 9%, Economy Minister Alousseni Sanou and Mines Minister Amadou Keita said.

Barrick Gold, the world’s No. 2 gold miner, and Canadian rival B2Gold are among the biggest producers and have been expanding output in Mali, even amid frequent changes in government and rising insecurity.

($1 = 622.7300 CFA francs)

(By Tiemoko Diallo, Sofia Christensen and Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Imperialism and World Economy

Japan signs deal with Namibia to explore for rare earth minerals
Reuters | August 8, 2023 | 

Workers manufacturing industrial magnet parts. (Stock Image)

Japan on Tuesday signed an agreement with Namibia to jointly explore for rare earth minerals as part of its broader plan to develop supply chains for cobalt and other minerals used in making electric vehicle batteries.


The Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) will collaborate with Namibia’s state-owned mining firm Epangelo, a Namibia mines and energy ministry official said on the sidelines of the signing ceremony in Windhoek.


Details of the agreement were not immediately available.

Yasutoshi Nishimura, Japan’s minister for economy, trade and industry is visiting five countries with significant deposits of rare earths, including Namibia, Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo to try to build an African supply chain of critical minerals.

Japan, like other advanced economies, is seeking to be less reliant on China, which has dominated supplies of battery minerals.

JOGMEC is already partnering with Namibia Critical Metals Inc. in developing the Lofdal deposit, rich in yttrium, in north-western Namibia, which is the country’s most advanced rare earth project.

In addition to yttrium, used in alloys, the Lofdal deposit has the potential for significant production of dysprosium and terbium, two of the most valuable heavy rare earth elements, used in permanent magnets in the batteries of electric cars and in wind turbines.

In 2022, Namibia signed an agreement to supply rare earth minerals to the European Union.

(By Nyasha Nyaungwa; Editing by Nelson Banya and Barbara Lewis)

How a mining standoff in Saskatchewan can be a boon to both reconciliation and the economy

Ken Coates - The Globe and Mail | August 8, 2023 | 

Cigar Lake uranium mine. Image from Cameco.

Ken Coates is a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute

 (CONSERVATIVE THINK TANK)

and a faculty member at Yukon University.


Mining has become one of Canada’s frontlines in terms of reconciliation. After feeling excluded from earlier resource booms, First Nations and Métis want in on the modern-day gold rush that is the quest for lithium, cobalt, uranium and other critical minerals, and are rightly demanding hard equity from lucrative resource projects on their traditional lands.

And the potential rewards are high. Globally, Chinese-based interests own or control many of these resources essential for manufacturing EV batteries, solar panels, smartphones and other products in a world hooked on technology. As mining companies scour the planet for new deposits, seeking to bring more of these resources into production, it’s become a race where the first mines into production will secure large contracts. (The urgency sires many scenarios, from companies returning to reprocess old tailing ponds, to illegal mining that has devastated African landscapes.)

In Canada, such haste is not a common characteristic when it comes to economic development. Canadian firms are among the most technologically capable in the world, and Canada provides substantial financing for mining exploration and production, exporting both its expertise and its experience with community engagement. But domestically, the country’s environmental and social assessment policies invariably slow the journey from discovery to commercial production.

The province of Saskatchewan, however, has nurtured one of the world’s more receptive mining environments, as evidenced by its successful potash and uranium mines. The business community is technologically sophisticated and highly responsive, and several properties – particularly those run by Cameco and Areva in northern Saskatchewan – maintain impressive collaboration with regional First Nations and Métis communities. Saskatchewan’s economy, too, has become largely supported by oil, gas, uranium and potash.

But now a potential political storm looms there, with Indigenous people and their leaders – who have an assured place in Canadian mining, based on treaties and Supreme Court decisions on the duty to consult and accommodate – saying that the transfer of control over natural resources via the 1930 Natural Resources Transfer Act ignored treaty rights and other legitimate Indigenous interests.

The provincial government says that it and the mining companies are bound by existing laws. In Saskatchewan, this has come to mean that Indigenous “engagement” commences when a promising property has been identified and a company wishes to move toward production. This, they argue would bring communities benefits including employment, training, business opportunities and other collaborative possibilities.

Indigenous leaders want more than “token” jobs or support contracts at billion-dollar operations on treaty lands – they want in on mineral development, and on their terms. They want full life-cycle engagement, from permits through approvals to operations; they want investments in the companies and projects themselves, and legitimate financial returns. In short, they’re talking about parity and shared ownership of the resources themselves, and in this boom, First Nations and Métis leaders have made clear that their expectations are immovable.

“We are willing partners, willing to do business. We aren’t the boogeyman. But we won’t sit back,” Thunderchild First Nation Chief Delbert Wapass, the only North American First Nations leader invited to last month’s critical minerals roundtable in Washington, told the CBC. “This new gold rush will not happen without us.”

The 21st-century economy needs a rapid infusion of critical minerals, and an increase from our current production; it will also require a concerted effort to break China’s near-monopoly on these resources. Indigenous people need to be part of that effort. Done properly, a renewed approach could accelerate development, providing stability for companies, solid returns for government and a realistic shot at long-term prosperity for Indigenous peoples.

Importantly, there is a dialogue taking place to try to make this possible. Indigenous peoples are not trying to derail successful development or stop substantial returns from going to the provincial treasury. Mining companies and the Mining Association of Canada have demonstrated their support for Indigenous aspirations, including a commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

This has been a long time coming, and the Saskatchewan government would do well to embrace this opportunity for collaboration and accept the offer of partnership extended by Indigenous leaders. Resisting this outreach will only lead to greater conflict, delays and lost opportunities for all of Saskatchewan and Canada.

An inconvenient truth… there’s not enough critical metals to reach net zero

James Cooper | August 8, 2023 | 

Stock image.

I’ve taken the title for this article from the 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore’s campaign to educate people about global warming…


It was called An Inconvenient Truth.

So today, we’re going to deliver you perhaps a more pressing ‘inconvenient truth,’ one that’s set to undo our multi-generation assumption that energy supplies would remain cheap and abundant.

I set the scene back in June showing you why this energy crisis is being born out of years of under investment in the oil and gas industry.

If you haven’t already, I suggest you read that here.

Its why I believe storm clouds are approaching for global energy security…. The fossil fuel industry is running on empty.

It means we need to come up with an alternative base load energy source far earlier than the 2030 or 2050 targets mandated by western leaders.

Yet these governments have told us that renewables will naturally take up the slack from declining oil and gas output.

But dive into the data and it seems we’ve made a gross miscalculation on our ability to achieve net zero.

Why?

It centres around the lack of metal supplies sitting in the ground… Also known as mineral reserves.

That’s what the research from Associate Professor Simon Micheaux has uncovered.

Micheaux was engaged by the Geological Survey of Finland to calculate the entire volume of metals needed to bring one-generation of solar panels, windfarms, and EV’s into our energy mix.

Now, when Micheaux explains ‘one-generation’ this means the volume of raw materials needed to entirely replace fossil fuel reliance with renewables.

According to his research, these renewable energy sources have a service life of around 15-20 years.

Once that’s complete we’ll need to re-start and build the next generation all over again!

So how much metal do we actually need to create just that first round of renewables?

This is the part that will make most politicians shift uneasily in their seats…

Based on current annual output, Micheaux’s peer reviewed studies indicate we’ll need a staggering…

· 9,920 years’ worth of Lithium production

· 1,733 years’ worth of Cobalt production

· 3,287 years’ worth of Graphite production

· 189 years’ worth of Copper production

· 400 years’ worth of Nickel production

All condensed into 20-30 years!

But as I explained last month, thanks to a stranglehold on oil and gas development we’ll need to transition far earlier.

But as Micheaux’s data highlights, the crux of the problem is not so much the enormous increase in output but the fact we don’t actually have the metal in the ground to begin with.

Staggering!

Using data from the US Geological Survey, Micheaux discovered global copper reserves will fall short by 80%, global nickel reserves by 90%, and cobalt by around 96%.

Simply put, of all the cobalt we know that exists in the ground today, if we were to mine all of it then we’d have just 4% of the cobalt needed to achieve net zero.

It highlights a gross miscalculation by political leaders in their assumption that renewables would naturally pick up the slack from declining oil and gas output.

A problem they have created by penalising investment into fossil fuel industries.

It also points toward a disturbingly high probability of global energy shortages… This is backed up by Goehring & Rozencwajg’s recent report predicting multi-fold increases to energy prices set to manifest by the mid-2020’s.

This is as a complex problem that has the potential to erode global standards of living.

It’s also highly inflationary.

For over a century we have taken for granted uninterrupted access to abundant energy that has enabled technological innovation and improved standards of living.

But the seeds have been sown… An end to civilisations ‘era of abundance’ is fast approaching.

While this is set to be a monumental miscalculation with potentially dire consequences for the global economy…

There are perhaps a few key areas for investors to take shelter from a looming energy crisis.

The first and most obvious solution is gaining broad exposure through a highly liquid oil and gas ETF.

The iShares U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (IEO) offers a market-cap-weighted ETF with exposure to companies engaged in the exploration, production, and distribution of oil and gas.

Assets under management stand at around $1.3 billion… The ETF also offers investors a 1.96% annual dividend yield.

With leverage to rising oil and gas prices it also enables investors to capture upside from future discovery.

Given the impetus to find more oil after a decade-long slump, holding exposure to both production and exploration should serve investors well.

However, the service-side of the oil and gas business is also set to capitalise on future energy volatility.

It offers investors a strategy for de-risking their exposure to production shortfalls and declining output among those companies that have chosen not to invest in future supply thanks to government net-zero mandates.

Should the global economy look to re-align itself with stabilising energy supply then capex spending will be enormous… Service companies will benefit the most.

The VanEck Oil Services ETF (NYSE: OIH) tracks the world’s largest O&G service companies… Including big names like Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB), Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) and Baker Hughes (NYSE: BKR).

These are multi-national companies with a global reach.

That limits jurisdictional risk… Something that hangs over producers operating in countries committed to ending oil and gas licenses and development applications.

Another angle to this investment theme is to focus on mining stocks.

Despite the seemingly impossible task in finding enough critical metals, governments will continue to push the net zero mandate.

It means they’ll be abundant opportunities to gain upside from explorers and developers focussed on critical metals.

But the most important point to understand is this…

Our modern economy has been built on decades of abundance… Cheap and plentiful supplies of energy.

But poor planning and lack of investment is steering the global economy toward a much more difficult future… One that will be mired in scarcity and far higher energy costs.

It’s why commodity stocks… From oil, gas, nickel, rare earths to copper, offer enormous long term upside for investors able to look beyond these short term market pressures.

Given this sector has endured heavy selling in 2023 investors are well placed to snap up bargains before this long term theme gains momentum.

James Cooper is a commodities analyst and geologist.

WTF! 
Western Australia to scrap 2021 Aboriginal heritage protection laws

THAT DID NOT TAKE LONG
Reuters | August 8, 2023 

The Juukan 2 cave destroyed during works with explosives. 

Photo: The Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura Aboriginal Corporation

Western Australia will overturn its 2021 Aboriginal cultural heritage protection laws, introduced after the destruction of the ancient Juukan Gorge rock shelters, in response to opposition from landowners, the state’s premier said on Tuesday.


The Indigenous group whose shelters were legally destroyed by Rio Tinto in 2020 said it was outraged by the decision to scrap the protection. The rock shelters had shown human habitation stretching back 46,000 years.

State Premier Roger Cook said the 2021 legislation would be dropped after widespread opposition from farmers and pastoralists. Instead, a 1972 law would be restored and amended to ensure the protection of important sites.

“The Juukan Gorge tragedy was a global embarrassment but our response was wrong, we took it too far, unintentionally causing stress, confusion and division in our community,” Cook said.

The amendments to the 1972 law were “simple and effective” and would prevent another Juukan Gorge from happening, he said.

Landowners have been up in arms over what they said was onerous and costly regulation set down in the 2021 law.

But the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura Aboriginal Corporation (PKKP) condemned the decision, saying it had lost faith in the state government to protect Aboriginal cultural heritage and the return of sections of the old 1972 law was a disgrace.

“The PKKP are outraged that they, and Traditional Owners in Western Australia are back to square one, and the Cook government is reverting to laws that allowed the destruction of Juukan Gorge,” the group said in a statement,

The change, which comes after the legislation had been in place for just five weeks, may temper rising angst in the state over Indigenous rights.

Support has been falling nationally for Federal government-backed plans to establish an Indigenous advisory body in parliament that Australians will vote on in a referendum later this year.

‘Unworkable’

The destruction of Western Australia’s Juukan Gorge rock shelters for an iron ore mine caused deep distress to Indigenous groups and a global outcry that eventually cost Rio’s chief executive, chair and senior executives their jobs.

It sparked a national inquiry, forced miners to overhaul their practices and brought stricter governance requirements from investors.

The PKKP said at the weekend that the 2021 law, while not perfect, was an improvement on the 1972 regulations.

Rio Tinto sent a letter to Aboriginal groups, including the PKKP, assuring them of its commitment to protecting cultural heritage, according to a copy seen by Reuters.

The miner said in a statement it would continue to engage with the state government to advocate for increased protection of Aboriginal cultural heritage.

The CEO of WAfarmers Trevor Whittington told Reuters the 2021 legislation was not fit for purpose and his group was waiting to see what the amendments entailed.

“Every new farming activity that we undertook would require a new heritage survey,” he said of the 2021 legislation.

“It was unworkable.”

Cook, however, dismissed those assertions saying the only obligations for farmers or other landowners to undertake a heritage survey under the 2021 legislation was if they planned activity that would impact a known cultural heritage site.

One of the key grievances that Aboriginal groups had with the new act was that they had no right of veto and the ultimate decision maker over heritage destruction was a government minister. In the 1972 legislation, which governed development until June, miners or landowners could appeal a minister’s decision but Indigenous groups could not.

“We will make sure they have a right of appeal in the event a decision is made,” Cook said.

(By Melanie Burton; Editing by Kim Coghill and Robert Birsel)

Graves a barrier for Jindal’s $2 billion South African iron mine

Bloomberg News | August 8, 2023

Residents say an assessment of the area that Jindal wants to mine shows it could lead to more than 3,000 households and 3,000 graves being moved. (Image: Plexus Films)

A plan by Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. to develop an up-to $2 billion iron-ore mine in South Africa is facing opposition from communities who say the operation would require thousands of homes and graves to be relocated.


The proposed mine in Melmoth, in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, would dwarf recent investments in South Africa’s mining industry. It could produce 32 million tons of magnetite ore a year by 2031 after starting production in 2027, the company said in an emailed response to questions. Jindal is controlled by Asia’s richest woman, Savitri Jindal, and family.

“Our community of Makhasaneni has been fighting Indian giant mining company, Jindal Mine, who for years have been intruding with their plans to dig up iron ore in the lush hills that we have called home for generations,” community members said in a petition signed by more than 6,700 people. Jindal says a minority of residents oppose the project.

The obstacles faced by the company highlight the challenges of investing in South African mining, where decades of violations of environmental and social rights under apartheid eroded trust. At the same time, chronic unemployment and poverty in one of the world’s most unequal nations often pits people against each other when projects offer the prospects of work and business opportunities for some.

The Entembeni Crisis Forum, the group that organized the petition, said an assessment of the area that Jindal wants to mine shows it could lead to more than 3,000 households and 3,000 graves being moved. According to the firm, about 350 homes would be impacted, subject to a final determination, for the first stage of mining. That could take about 15 years, while the number of graves that would need to be relocated is yet to be assessed.

“All resettlement decisions will be made in consultation with affected households,” Jindal said. “If graves are to be exhumed, the exhumation of graves will follow the legal requirements.”

The forum said it’s also concerned about the potential for environmental harm and the loss of agricultural land.

The mine lies about 70 kilometers (44 miles) from the port of Richards Bay and the ore, which has a grade of about 26%, could be exported for use by Jindal’s steel mills in Oman or India or sold, the company said. It expects to get a mining license next year and a processing plant will take two-and-a-half years to construct. It will be the second-biggest operation of its kind in South Africa after Kumba Iron Ore Ltd.’s Sishen.

Jindal also mines anthracite in South Africa and metallurgical coal in Mozambique. It signed a contract on July 25 to dig a coal mine and build power plants to supply Botswana with 600 megawatts of electricity. That project will start with construction of a 300 megawatt plant, according to the government.

(By Antony Sguazzin, with assistance from Mbongeni Mguni and Swansy Afonso)