Northisle’s new gold resource may boost Vancouver Island project’s economics

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Northisle Copper and Gold Inc. (TSX-V: NCX) (“Northisle” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce an initial mineral resource estimate (the “Resource Estimate”) for the Northwest Expo deposit at its 100% owned North Island Project, located on Vancouver Island in BC, Canada.

Sam Lee, President & CEO of Northisle stated “Today’s new resource estimate at Northwest Expo has exceeded our expectations of defining a 40 to 50 million tonne resource within the gold enriched Zone 1. Including the impact of the 88% gold and 76% copper recoveries, the average NSR value per tonne is nearly triple the NSR value in the North Island Project PEA and approximately $80/tonne at spot prices. With a relatively low strip ratio, this sets a strong basis for the rapid advancement of a potential high margin, near surface deposit that could be sequenced at the beginning of our large, long life North Island Copper and Gold project. We will be aggressively advancing development and exploration under our fully funded 2024 program.”

The initial Northwest Expo Indicated Resource contains 40.3 million tonnes grading 0.80g/t Au Eq. for 1.0 million ounces Au Eq. plus an additional 30.6 million tonnes grading 0.68g/t Au Eq. for 0.7 million ounces Au Eq. in Inferred Resources, at a 0.18g/t Au Eq. cut-off grade. Based on exploration costs by Northisle at Northwest Expo to date, this represents a discovery cost of well below $10/oz Au Eq.

As shown in Table 1 below, following the addition of the Northwest Expo deposit, the total resource for the North Island Project now comprises an Indicated Resource of approximately 2.4 bn lbs Cu and 4.9Moz Au plus Inferred Resource of approximately 1.4 bn lbs Cu and 3.0Moz Au. The Northwest Expo deposit boasts an attractive NSR value of $55/t for the Indicated resource as a whole and $67/t for the higher grade zone which represents 2-3 times the NSR value of Hushamu and Red Dog, due to higher gold grade and higher recovery rates. At spot prices NSR values are approximately $80/tonne at a 0.5 g/t Au Eq. cut off.

The near surface sizeable initial resource delineated within the gold-enriched Zone 1 at Northwest Expo provides the opportunity to optimize the development plan of the North Island Project. Trade-off studies have been launched to study the possibility for a lower capex staged approach, prioritizing the higher-grade Northwest Expo deposit with potential to concurrently focus on the higher-grade areas of the Red Dog and Hushamu deposits. These trade-off studies are expected to be completed in Q2-2024 and will form the basis for advanced economic and technical studies.

Northisle Announces an Initial Indicated Resource Estimate of 1.0 Million Ounce Au Eq. and 0.7 Million Ounce Au Eq. Inferred Resource Estimate at Northwest Expo

Highlights:

• Sizable gold-rich initial resource delineated for the Northwest Expo target
  • Indicated Resource of 1.0Moz Au Eq. grading 0.80g/t Au Eq., which includes a higher-grade subset of 0.9Moz Au Eq. grading 0.96 g/t Au Eq.
  • Inferred Resource of 0.7Moz Au Eq. grading 0.68g/t Au Eq., which includes a higher-grade subset of 0.5Moz Au Eq. grading 0.92g/t Au Eq
  • Low strip ratio of 2.52:1 waste to mineralized material
  • Weighted average recovery rates of 88% and 76% for gold and copper, respectively
  • 2024 drill program anticipated to further improve Indicated resource grade by targeting near-surface higher grade areas to achieve a +80% ratio of Indicated to Inferred Resources
• Low Indicated resource discovery cost for Northwest Expo of less than $10/oz Au Eq.
• Attractive Net Smelter Revenue (“NSR”) value of $55/t for the Indicated resource as a whole and $67/t for the higher grade zone which represents 2-3 times the NSR value of the current North Island Project PEA
• Total combined Indicated Resource at the North Island Project increases to approximately 2.5 bn lbs Cu and 4.9Moz Au plus Inferred Resource of approximately 1.4 bn lbs Cu and 3.0Moz Au
• Significant exploration potential with step out to the south of Zone 1 and at West Goodspeed discovery to be advanced in H1 through fully funded 2024 drill program
• Trade-off studies have commenced for a lower capex staged approach, utilizing the higher-grade Northwest Expo deposit within the context of the North Island Project

Tables 1 & 2: Combined North Island Project Resource Estimate

Polish court allows Turow coal mine to stay open for now

Reuters | March 13, 2024 | 

The Turów coal mine in the Czech Republic. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

A Polish coal mine near the Czech border will be able to continue operating for now, the state news agency PAP reported on Wednesday, following the latest in a series of contradictory court rulings.


The previous nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government resisted attempts led by environmental campaigners to close the mine at Turow, which supplies lignite to an adjacent power plant responsible for 8% of Poland’s energy.

On Wednesday, PAP reported a court had overturned a 2022 decision that allowed the mine to continue operations. However, it reported the court had not ruled on policy, meaning the mine can still operate.

The main Turow case is pending at a Warsaw administrative court that will rule on a government decision dating from February 2023 that would allow Turow to continue mining until 2044.

“The judgment regarding the environmental decision does not result in the suspension of the operation of the Turow mine. The state’s energy policy was not subject to the court’s assessment,” PAP cited the court as saying.

Environmental groups have long criticized the environmental impact of the open-pit mine, and filed several lawsuits aimed at halting its operations.

“PGE GiEK is waiting for written justification of the judgment and is analyzing further steps in this case,” state-controlled utility PGE unit, which owns the Turow mine and adjacent power plant, wrote in a statement.

The present government, elected last October, has said it wants to kickstart the country’s transition to lower carbon energy.

(By Alan Charlish, Marek Strzelecki, Anna Koper and Karol Badohal; Editing by Barbara Lewis and Aurora Ellis)

Russian diamond ban creates costly delays, Antwerp diamond dealers say

Reuters | March 14, 2024 

|
Antwerp’s diamond district, dubbed the Square Mile, consists of several square blocks covering an area of about one square mile. Credit: Wikipedia

Antwerp’s diamond dealers face long and costly delays following an EU ban on Russian-origin diamonds that took effect on March 1 and has slowed imports, they say in a letter seen by Reuters.


The letter, dated March 13, said the disruptions would erode the competitive advantage of the centuries-old Antwerp diamond trade. It was addressed to Belgium’s main diamond industry group, Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), and requested a review of the new procedures.


Any impact is likely to be reduced by sluggish market conditions. Diamond inventories are high and prices have fallen. Paul Zimnisky, a global diamond analyst, said last month that prices were down 25% from their early 2022 peak.

Al Cook, CEO of mining company Anglo American’s De Beers’ diamond business, has said the miner would reduce production this year in response to surplus supply.

“While we fully support the decisions taken by Belgium, the European Union, and the G7 nations, in regards to the sanctions of January 1st 2024, the implementation of the measures to enforce the sanction has adversely affected all of our operations,” said the letter, signed by over 100 local firms.

“The intention was to prevent the flow of diamonds from sanctioned states, but the reality we face is the severe disruption of our supply chains, and alienation from the rest of the global trade.”

A Belgian government official said the delays were temporary and were easing.

The EU and Group of Seven (G7) countries agreed to ban direct imports of Russian diamonds to their markets as of Jan. 1 and before phasing in a full ban on Russian-origin stones via third countries from March 1 because of Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Russia’s state-run Alrosa, which together with De Beers is one of the world’s top diamond producers, was also placed under sanctions by the EU.

Diamond hub

Antwerp remains the world’s biggest diamond hub though 90% of stones are polished in India. Belgium pushed hard for the G7 to adopt a version of its proposed plan to try to prevent Antwerp from losing more business after major Western jewellers began eschewing Russian stones.

Diamond dealers said their shipments have been held up for over a week at customs even if the gems were straight from African producers.

The Belgian government official said shipments pending would be processed within 24 hours.

“The indirect ban coincided with the Hong Kong Diamond Fair which is an annual peak period… This, in combination with the expected teething problems caused some initial delay in processing of shipments during the first days,” he said.

Diamond dealers say they expect more problems when the additional tracing requirements take effect from September.

“We see the procedures will cause Antwerp to further lose competitive advantage… rather than deal a meaningful blow to any sanctioned products,” the letter said.

“The current trajectory threatens the existence of Antwerp’s diamond industry, a heritage of six centuries.”

The head of the AWDC, Ari Epstein, said the group would soon present the new measures, adding it was “acutely aware of the challenges and disruptions this timing may have caused”.

“Let me be unequivocally clear: the violation of sanctions is criminal in nature and not taken lightly by governments or our organization. Our commitment to compliance… is unwavering and absolute,” Epstein said in a statement.

(By Dmitry Zhdannikov and Julia Payne; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Covert forms of sexual harassment remain an issue in Western Australia’s mining industry – study

Staff Writer | March 14, 2024 | 

Women in Mining and Resources Western Australia event.

 (Reference image by WIMWA, Facebook.)

Being put down or condescended to based on gender, and receiving offensive sexist remarks, remain common themes in Western Australia’s mining sector, the Mental Awareness, Respect and Safety (MARS) Program Landmark Study shows.


The report was produced by the Centre for Transformative Work at Curtin University, whose researchers surveyed more than 2,500 workers and conducted in-depth interviews with 60 individuals to gain insights into their experiences with a focus on three critical areas – creating mentally healthy workplaces, building a culture of safety and respect, and preparing for workplace safety in future mining.

In detail, 41% of female mining workers reported they had experienced being put down or condescended to, while 34% reported receiving offensive sexist remarks such as suggesting that people of their sex are not suited for the kind of work they do.

Even though the study found that covert forms of sexual harassment such as sexism and misogyny are high, it also noted that sexual attention and sexual coercion are decreasing.

In addition to the prior, only four in 10 WA mining workers reported feeling satisfied with their jobs and nearly one in three said they were likely to try to find a new job with another employer in the next 12 months.

“Our research found one in three mining workers experiences emotional exhaustion regularly, indicating high levels of burnout. Disturbingly, covert forms of sexual harassment, including sexism and misogyny, persist,” MARS Program Landmark Study chief investigator, Sharon Parker, said in a media statement. “The negative impact of these experiences on mental health and well-being is evident, emphasizing the urgent need for change through improved work design, leadership and organizational culture.”

In Parker’s view, given that the mining sector constitutes 10% of the Western Australia workforce and plays a pivotal role in the state’s economy, this type of study is crucial.

Lead author Cheryl Yam said that while the findings acknowledge workplace culture was improving as companies pay more attention to reducing discrimination and harassment, a collective commitment is needed to achieve meaningful and lasting change in building a respectful workplace culture.

“The mining industry is a leader in physical safety. With the support and resources from the MARS Program, we are confident that the mining industry is well positioned to also be a leader in mental health and well-being,” Yam said. “Our research findings provide a roadmap for meaningful action to address and reduce covert forms of sexual harassment and create respectful workplaces to attract, retain and prevent harm to women and people in other minority groups.”

The study also highlighted that 30% of mine workers reported high or very high levels of psychological distress and 38% reported feeling burnt out at work.

Also, 16% of workers reported having experienced bullying (22% reported witnessing bullying) at least 2-3 times per month in the past six months.

On the positive side, most WA mine workers reported high levels of physical safety behaviours such as safety compliance and safety participation. Yet, underreporting of notifiable safety incidents and near misses continues to exist in the industry.

Finally, 60% of fly-in-fly-out mine workers reported being satisfied with their accommodation while 73% of male FIFO workers reported feeling physically very safe in their work-provided accommodation compared to 53% of female FIFO workers.

Rockfall at Australia gold mine kills one worker, injures another

Reuters | March 13, 2024 |

Credit: Ballarat Gold Mine

A 37-year-old man has died and another was seriously injured after rocks collapsed inside an underground gold mine in Australia’s Victoria state, while 28 other workers at the site were rescued, authorities said on Thursday.


Emergency crews were called to the Ballarat gold mine in Mount Clear, about 100 km (62 miles) west of Melbourne, on Wednesday evening after reports of a rockfall. The incident happened about 3 km from the underground mine’s entry, Victoria police said in a statement.

Paramedics were able to rescue one miner, who was treated for lower body injuries and airlifted to hospital in a serious condition. The miners who took refuge in a safety pod were winched to safety, police said.

A workers’ union said the death and serious injury of the workers could have been avoided because they were performing a task called “airleg mining” – a manual handheld type of drilling into rocks – on unsupported ground when it collapsed.

“The information that we’re getting back was that this was a quick, cheap and easy way to chase gold,” Ronnie Hayden, Australian Workers Union’s Victoria secretary, told reporters.

Hayden said the union members at the mine had been raising concerns “about this style of mining and it seems to have fallen on deaf ears.”

Victory Minerals, which owns the Ballarat gold mine, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The site has been closed down for police and Victoria’s workplace safety regulator to conduct their investigations, authorities said.

Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King told ABC Radio that all safety processes at the mine will be checked thoroughly, adding it was “too early to really go into any speculation” about the accident.

In 2007, 27 miners were trapped underground at the same mine for several hours before being rescued, according to reports in Australian media.

(By Renju Jose; Editing by Jamie Freed)

IMPERIALI$T RIVALRY FOR AFRIKA
Africa to play ‘huge role’ in US critical mineral strategy, says Treasury’s No. 2

Reuters | March 14, 2024 |

Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo. Credit: US Treasury department

The United States is looking to Africa to help loosen a Chinese stranglehold on battery metals and reduce Russia’s influence over the market for other minerals, US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on Thursday.


Coronavirus pandemic fallout and Moscow’s war in Ukraine have sent Western governments scrambling to reduce their reliance on Chinese supply chains and disentangle their economies from Russia.

But as Washington plots a course for its energy transition it is lagging behind China, which has spent the past decade securing access to minerals needed for the production of products like electric vehicle batteries and solar panels.

“We don’t want to be overly reliant on any one country or any one company for global supply chains for critical minerals,” Adeyemo told Reuters during a visit to a platinum mine in Marikana, South Africa, owned by Sibanye-Stillwater.

While the US government has launched a raft of measures to incentivize increased production of strategic and critical minerals at home, notably under the Inflation Reduction Act, Adeyemo acknowledged that overseas resources were also vital.

“Africa is going to play a huge role,” he said. “A lot of critical minerals are located here.”

Chinese assets in Africa already include massive copper and cobalt projects in Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia as well as lithium in Zimbabwe, where companies are assisted by heavy Chinese state investment in accompanying infrastructure.

Adeyemo said the United States was working with G7 allies to close that infrastructure gap.

The US International Development Finance Corporation is, meanwhile, aiming to de-risk private investment in Africa. And the deputy secretary said Washington was incentivizing US manufacturing to boost demand for those minerals and create favourable market conditions for miners.

But he added that the White House also stood ready to ensure a level playing field.

“We are talking to our European allies … about some of the actions we can take using trade tools to make sure that a country like China can’t flood the market with things like electric vehicles and solar panels,” he said.
Hold accountable

Regarding Russia, Adeyemo said countries like South Africa also had a role to play.

In the wake of Moscow’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the US government slapped sanctions on a number of Russian miners and mineral exports. But it left Russian platinum group metals (PGM) largely untouched.

The United States is a major consumer of palladium, a PGM used in catalytic converters, with 32% of its imports of the metal coming from Russia between 2019 and 2022, according to the US Geological Survey.

“South Africa has a real opportunity to help supply the global economy,” Adeyemo said. “And it gives us the ability to take other actions to hold Russia accountable.”

South Africa is a major palladium producer, and Sibanye-Stillwater mines the metal both in Marikana and at a US project in Montana.

“Between what comes out of South Africa and what’s produced in the US, the US does not need to be dependent on sources from any other country,” CEO Neal Froneman told Reuters.

However, he said companies like his needed US government support.

“You can provide loans or introduce tariffs or whatever it might be,” he said. “That is a role that they need to think very differently about and help companies that are trying to source and provide these critical metals into those ecosystems.”

(By Joe Bavier; Editing by Mark Potter)

Congo, Chinese partners sign reviewed Sicomines copper-cobalt joint venture agreement

Reuters | March 14, 2024 | 

Aerial view of the Chinese joint venture Sicomines copper and cobalt mining facility in Kowlezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Credit: Sicomines

Democratic Republic of Congo and Chinese investors on Thursday signed an agreement reached in January that revises some terms of their Sicomines copper and cobalt joint venture, Congo’s Infrastructure Minister Alexis Gisaro Muvunyi said on Thursday.


President Felix Tshisekedi had sought to re-negotiate the terms of the joint venture to bring more benefits for Congo, the world’s biggest cobalt producer.

Under the revised deal, both parties have agreed that China will invest up to $7 billion in infrastructure projects in the central African country, up from $3 billion in the original agreement.

They have also agreed Chinese partners, including Sinohydro and China Railway group, will pay 1.2% of royalties annually to Congo while maintaining the same shareholding structure.

“Today, at the end of several months of negotiations, we reached this advent,” Minister Muvunyi said at the signing ceremony in the capital Kinshasa

Congo is also the world’s third-largest copper producer and holds significant deposits of lithium, tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold.

(By Benoit Nyemba and Sofia Christensen)

Australia earmarks $550m for Arafura rare earths project

Reuters | March 13, 2024 |

Pre-construction site inspection at the Nolans project. Credit: Arafura Rare Earths

Australia will provide up to A$840 million ($550 million) for the first combined rare earths mine and refinery in the country’s Northern Territory, owned by Arafura Rare Earths, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday.


Arafura expects the funding, mostly in government loans, for the Nolans project north of Alice Springs in central Australia to be matched by investment from international and commercial financiers.

The investment comes as Australia and its allies diversify the global supply chain for rare earths after Covid-19-related snarls highlighted supply risk in China which produces more than 80% of the world’s rare earths.

“We will deliver critical jobs and economic development in the heart of the Territory and the north,” Albanese said in a statement.

Arafura, whose largest shareholder is mining magnate and Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart, saw its shares open up as much as 59% at A$0.235 after the news on Thursday. They had been in a trading halt since Wednesday pending news of debt financing.

The project will be Australia’s third rare earths processing plant after Lynas Rare Earths’ Kalgoorlie operations and Iluka Resource’s Eneabba heavy rare earths plant which is under development – both in the country’s west.

Arafura already has supply agreements with Hyundai Motor, Kia Corp and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, and a provisional agreement with General Electric.

Its funding includes loans of $325 million under the government’s Critical Minerals Facility (CMF), A$200 million through the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, up to $75 million from Export Finance Australia and a further A$30 million in grants under the Modern Manufacturing Initiative.

Backed by the funding, Arafura in an exchange filing said it plans a major equity raising to complete the funds needed for construction, commissioning and first production.
Price slump

Rare earths are used to make powerful magnets and are essential for renewable energy and defence technologies. Electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, robotics and mobile phones all rely on rare earths.

Prices of rare earths neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) have slumped as China has ramped up supply to levels well below those needed when it comes to seeking finance for a new project, said analyst Daniel Morgan at Barrenjoey.

“A lot of these projects face economic challenges… Getting private money is very difficult,” he said, adding there is a role for government to help companies enter production given the strategic nature of the industry.

In 2022, the government approved a A$1.25 billion loan for Iluka’s Eneabba plant through the CMF.

Iluka in December said the project was delayed and that costs were likely to have increased by around 20%.

Lynas is the world’s biggest producer of rare earths outside China, which it mines at Mount Weld in Western Australia. It has been allocated $258 million from the US government to build the first commercial heavy rare earths separation facility in the United States.

($1 = 1.5088 Australian dollars)

(By Melanie Burton; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Christopher Cushing)

Lithium Americas gets record $2.2 billion loan for Thacker Pass

ON TRIBAL LAND

Staff Writer | March 14, 2024 | 

Thacker Pass in Nevada. (Image: Lithium Americas)

Lithium Americas (TSX: LAC; NYSE: LAC) announced on Thursday that it has received a conditional commitment loan of $2.26 billion from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to finance the construction of processing facilities at Thacker Pass in Nevada.


The project will be adjacent to Lithium Americas’ $2.2 billion Thacker Pass mine, which aims to produce an initial 40,000 tonnes per year of battery-grade lithium carbonate. The mine is also expected to create approximately 1,800 direct jobs during its three-year construction period and around 360 jobs in operations for its 40-year mine life.

This funding represents the largest-ever loan to a mining company from the DOE’s Loan Programs Office, amid increasing efforts to bolster domestic supplies of critical minerals. General Motors, which has invested $650 million in Lithium Americas, has an exclusive offtake agreement for 100% of the lithium production from the mine for up to 15 years after expected production begins in 2027.

The proposed mine has the potential to become North America’s largest source of lithium for electric vehicle batteries and would support US President Joe Biden’s efforts to reduce dependence on Chinese supplies of the metal.

Currently, about 65% of the critical mineral is processed in China, although US lithium production is projected to increase 13-fold thanks to tax credits and other subsidies provided in 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Wednesday at a conference held by SAFE.

Measured and indicated mineral resources at Thacker Pass are estimated at 385 million tonnes averaging 2,917 parts per million (ppm) lithium for 6 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE). Inferred resources are 147 million tonnes averaging 2,932 ppm for 2.3 million tonnes of LCE.

Shares of Lithium Americas surged 28% in New York trading and 18% in Toronto on Thursday morning. The Vancouver-based miner has a market capitalization of C$1.18 billion ($870m).

(With files from Bloomberg)

Argentine court in key lithium region halts new permits over environmental concerns

Reuters | March 14, 2024 | 

Livent’s Fénix lithium project in Catamarca, Argentina. (Image by Livent).

An Argentine court in the northwestern province of Catamarca has suspended the issuance of new mining permits, demanding fresh environmental impact studies be carried out looking at local lithium projects, a judgment seen by Reuters showed.


The ruling involves the Los Patos River-Salar del Hombre Muerto area, where global lithium giant Arcadium Lithium Plc, formerly Livent, has a project. It comes after tensions over water use with local communities in the region.

Argentina, inside South America’s so-called “lithium triangle”, is one of the world’s top producers of the metal that is key for the batteries needed to power electric vehicles.

A local company spokesperson declined to comment.

The ruling, shared with Reuters on Thursday, comes after a case presented in 2021 by a chief of the Atacameños Native Community, which alleged the province authorized mining projects in the Salar del Hombre Muerto basin without informing the population or carrying out an environmental impact assessment.

The case said that local mining operations impacted water supply due to the use of “huge quantities of fresh and salt water”, which they alleged had caused a local river to dry up.

A source from Catamarca’s mining ministry, told Reuters that the province was evaluating the ruling to determine next steps.

The court ordered the local government to “refrain from granting new permits/authorizations” in relation to operations in the Los Patos River – Salar del Hombre Muerto area “until the new environmental impact study is complete”.

Four sources in the industry Reuters spoke to said the sector would have to work on the impact studies to define how they would be able to develop the projects, although in principle the decision would not impact current production.

(By Lucila Sigal; Editing by Adam Jourdan)

Marubeni to invest in Hudbay’s exploration activities

Reuters | March 13, 2024 | 

The 777 mine in Flin Flon. Credit: Hudbay Minerals

Canadian miner Hudbay Minerals said on Wednesday that Japanese trading house Marubeni will invest up to C$12 million ($8.90 million) across exploration activities at three of the miner’s projects.


Once the funding and some other obligations are met, the two firms could also form a joint venture under which Marubeni would gain 20% interest in the three mining projects located within trucking distance of Hudbay’s processing facilities in Flin Flon, Manitoba, the company said.

The agreement follows a memorandum of understanding the companies signed in July.

The agreement would allow Hudbay to explore its large Flin Flon land package to potentially bring another mine into production and utilize its idle processing infrastructure in the region, Hudbay CEO Peter Kukielski said.

Canada is home to a large mining sector for minerals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt and has been wooing firms involved in all levels of the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain.

However, it has also tightened foreign investment rules for the critical minerals sector over national security concerns and had forced three Chinese investors to sell their stakes in Canadian mineral companies in 2022.

($1 = 1.3486 Canadian dollars)

(By Sourasis Bose; Editing by Tasim Zahid)