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Nexperia To Acquire UK's Largest Chip Manufacturer For $87 Million—Chinese Acquisition Leads To National Security Concern?

Griffin Davis , Tech Times 02 July 2021

Nexperia, a Chinese-owned semiconductor manufacturer, could soon acquire the largest chip creator in the United Kingdom, Newport Wafer Fab (NWF).

(Photo : Photo by Liu Yucai/VCG via Getty Images)
HEFEI, CHINA - FEBRUARY 24: A resercher presents a newly-developed 77GHz millimeter-wave automotive radar chip at a laboratory of the 38th Research Institute of China Electronic Technology Group Corporation (CETC) on February 24, 2021 in Hefei, Anhui Province of China.

China's giant SoC developer now wants to purchase NWF for about $87 million. On the other hand, Nexperia also announced that the upcoming acquisition could take place in the second week of July.

However, the chip manufacturer hasn't confirmed the exact date of the acquisition. This information was first leaked by two anonymous sources, which are closed to the two companies.

"We are in constructive conversations with NWF and the Welsh Government about the future of NWF. Until we have reached a conclusion we cannot further comment," said a spokesperson of Nexperia.

The alleged acquisition was confirmed during the current global chip shortage, affecting various EV makers, computer developers, and other tech companies.
Nexperia's NWF Acquisition Poses Security Concern?

According to CNBC News' latest report, many manufacturers are forced to rely on their own plants to make chipsets because of the global SoC shortage. As of the moment, most of the chips are created in Asia.

(Photo : Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)
The Intel 486 microprocessor (left) was introduced in 1989 and marked a significant improvement in the processing capacity of computers over that of the previous Intel 386 (introduced in 1985). In addition, the 486 processor was the first to offer a built-in �math co-processor�. This increased computing speeds because complex mathematical functions could be processed away from the central processor.

The largest manufacturers creating them include South Korea's Samsung and China's SMIC, Taiwan's TSMC, and other chip producers. On the other hand, China's largest chip creator and the U.K.'s NWF could soon join forces as the acquisition is about to occur.

However, some experts claimed that this could lead to a national security concern. Tom Tugendhat, leader of the U.K. government's China Research Group and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, is one of the people who believe this could happen.

'I must stress again that having the U.K.'s leading 200mm silicon and semiconductor technology development and processing facility being taken over by a Chinese entity - in my view - represents a significant economic and national security concern," he claimed.

Because of this, he is now suggesting that the U.K. government should review the deal under the National Security and Investment Act. On the other hand, he also explained that it should be investigated since NWF is the last remaining advanced semiconductor factory in the U.K., which will be sold to China.


Global Chip Shortage Affects Automakers

ZDNet reported that the automotive industry is one of the markets greatly affected by the current global chip shortage. In the United Kingdom, car production this 2021 has lessened to around 50% compared back in 2019.

SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) claimed that the U.K.'s car manufacturing operations are down by 58% in June. It added that the sudden decrease is due to the global chip shortage.

For more news updates about Nexperia and other giant chip developers, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Why science can’t resist the allure of Venus: new missions to Earth’s nearest planetary neighbour

Venus is close to Earth in size, composition and distance to the sun. But carbon dioxide has turned it into a ‘vision of hell’. Photograph: AP


With a surface hot enough to melt lead, Venus has been left alone by space agencies for a decade. Now we are about to learn more about its climate – and the chances of life on other planets

Robin McKie Science Editor

Sun 4 Jul 2021 09.00 BST

Afleet of robot spaceships is to descend on Venus in a few years and begin probing the most inhospitable world in the solar system. One craft will drop through the planet’s crushingly dense – and searingly hot – atmosphere while two others will orbit over the thick, acidic clouds that cover Venus and use sophisticated radar telescopes to survey the terrain beneath them.

Such scrutiny represents a remarkable renewal of interest in Earth’s nearest planetary neighbour. For more than a decade, American and European space agencies have ignored the planet – only for three new Venus missions to be announced within days of each other at the beginning of June.

Håkan Svedhem, former project manager for Europe’s previous probe to the planet, Venus Express, told the science journal Nature last week: “Venus has been a forgotten planet for too long.”

The aim of the new missions – Nasa’s Veritas and Davinci+ probes and Europe’s EnVision satellite – is straightforward. They want to know why Earth’s sibling planet is so utterly different from our own world.

As astronomers knew at the beginning of the “space age” in the 60s, both planets are the same size and have similar ages, compositions and orbits round the sun. Beneath the thick clouds of Venus, it was assumed there could be oceans or forests. And so a series of robot probes were sent by American and Soviet space agencies to uncover the truth in the 70s and 80s.

The ESA’s EnVision orbiter will map the surface from high above. Photograph: ESA/PA

They revealed a world that was a vision of hell. Venus was found to have a surface temperature of 475C, which is hot enough to melt lead. At the same time, the atmospheric pressure at its surface is 93 bars, the equivalent to that experienced a kilometre under the ocean on Earth. Soviet probes that landed on Venus in the 70s and 80s managed to transmit data from the planet for only brief periods – two hours was the best they managed – before the heat and crushing pressure destroyed them.

For good measure, Venus was also found to be covered in thick clouds of sulphuric acid. By contrast, our own world possesses oceans of liquid water, clouds and ice caps and supports myriad forms of living creatures in its seas, on land and in the skies. The differences between the two planet – despite their superficial similarities – could not be more stark.

And the key cause of these vastly different sets of conditions is explained by the vast amounts of carbon dioxide that have built up on Venus. This has trapped solar radiation and triggered a runaway greenhouse effect that exists on a scale that utterly dwarfs the impact of the climate crisis that is now disrupting weather patterns and melting ice caps on Earth.

How did this build up of carbon dioxide occur, scientists ask. Did Earth get lucky or was it the case that Venus was just unlucky? Is it the norm for planets in orbits like those of Venus and Earth to develop thick atmospheres of carbon dioxide which trap solar radiation and trigger runaway greenhouse effects – or was it just a one-off development in the case of Venus?

The surface of the planet is obscured by dense cloud cover. Photograph: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstadt/Heidi N. Becker/Koji Kuramura)/PA

“These are key questions and they have important ramifications, not just in understanding how life appeared and evolved on Earth,” said physicist Colin Wilson of Oxford University. “They also have implications for searching for habitable planets in orbit around other stars in our galaxy.”

At present, astronomers pin their hopes of finding promising planets that might support life elsewhere in the galaxy by seeking out small rocky worlds – like Earth – that orbit stars at a distance in which water is likely to exist in liquid form. However, to judge from the only other world in our solar system that is found in such a zone – Venus – that may not be such a promising locale, after all. In other words, if Earth is the exception and Venus the norm, we might find that such planets are far less encouraging as hosts for alien life.

This point was stressed by Giada Arney, deputy principal investigator for Nasa’s Davinci+ probe: “Our investigation of the evolution of Venus may help us better understand how habitable worlds are distributed elsewhere in the universe, and how habitable planets evolve over time in a general sense,” she said. However, it may be that Venus was simply in the wrong place. Being closer to the sun than the Earth – 67 million miles versus 93 million miles – made it slightly warmer when it formed during the solar system’s birth 4.5 billion years ago. As a result, the water vapour in its atmosphere never condensed into oceans as it did on Earth, where our seas played a key role in absorbing carbon dioxide and prevented runaway greenhouse heating.

Other evidence hints that Venus may have had liquid water on its surface at one time, and that some other event set off the rampant warming that now envelops the planet. The three new probes will try to uncover clues as what they might be. “Studying the planet’s surface will be crucial,” said Wilson. “The US Magellan probe – which arrived at Venus in 1989 – used radar to peer through the clouds and give us a wonderful global map of Venus, which revealed volcanoes and a fractured surface that had clearly gone through lots of turmoil. But it was just a snapshot.

“We don’t know if those volcanoes are still active, for example. The new space probes will take 21st-century radar technology and apply it to Venus and give us a much more dynamic picture of the planet.”

Nasa’s Davinci+ will descend into the atmosphere. Photograph: NASA GSFC visualization by CI Labs Michael Lentz and others

This point was backed by astronomer Professor Jane Greaves of Cardiff University. “Some instruments, such as radar and mass spectrometers, have already been used to study Venus in the past, but their technology today is so much better and more sophisticated. We will be able to probe deeper and identify molecules more easily.”

Both Nasa’s Veritas and the European Space Agency’s EnVision will be involved in mapping Venus’s surface from an orbit high above its acid clouds. By contrast, Davinci+ will carry a small probe to the planet that it will release so that it parachutes down through its atmosphere, sampling its component gases every 100 metres as it descends. These measurements will be crucial in understanding the origins of Venus’s atmosphere and provide clues about its evolution.

For example, by studying levels of deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, it should be possible to determine how much water there once was on Venus, while analysis of noble gases – such as argon and neon – in the atmosphere may also allow scientists to determine if the planet once supported liquid water – data that will be crucial in providing clues about Venus’s path to the dark side.

“It is astounding how little we know about Venus,” said Tom Wagner, Nasa’s Discovery Program scientist.

“However, the combined results of these missions will tell us about the planet from the clouds in its sky through the volcanoes on its surface all the way down to its very core. It will be as if we have rediscovered the planet.”

146,000-Year-Old Archaic Human Cranium Represents New Species: Homo longi

Jun 28, 2021 by News Staff / Source

Homo longi is phylogenetically closer to Homo sapiens than to Neanderthals or other archaic humans, according to new research described in The Innovation.

A reconstruction of Homo longi in his habitat. Image credit: Chuang Zhao.

A well-preserved ancient human fossil known as the Harbin cranium was reportedly discovered when a bridge was built over the Songhua River in Harbin City, the Heilongjiang province, China.

Because of its unsystematic recovery and the long time interval, information about the exact site and fossil layer was lost.

“The Harbin fossil is one of the most complete human cranial fossils in the world,” said Professor Qiang Ji, a paleontologist at Hebei GEO University.

“It preserved many morphological details that are critical for understanding the evolution of the Homo genus and the origin of Homo sapiens.”

The Harbin cranium is massive in size, larger than all other known-archaic humans. It is also relatively long and low and lacks the globularity of the modern human braincase.

It has larger, almost square eye sockets, thick brow ridges, a wide mouth, and oversized teeth.

Its endocranial capacity is estimated as 1,420 ml, falling in the range of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, and larger than other Homo species such as Homo erectus, Homo naledi, Homo floresiensis, and even some Homo heidelbergensis/Homo rhodesiensis.

It is so distinctive that Professor Ji and colleagues have even suggested naming the cranium as a new species of Homo. They have called it Homo longi.

The species name is derived from the geographic name Long Jiang, which is a common usage for the Heilongjiang province and literally means ‘dragon river.’



Portrait of Homo longi. Image credit: Chuang Zhao.

“While it shows typical archaic human features, the Harbin cranium presents a mosaic combination of primitive and derived characters setting itself apart from all the other previously-named Homo species,” Professor Ji said.

“The Harbin cranium is huge, showing either the largest or second largest values for many measurements in our comparative fossil database, and its brain volume at 1,420 ml matches that of modern humans,” added Professor Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London.

“It also shows other features resembling our species. It has flat and low cheekbones with a shallow canine fossa, and the face looks reduced and tucked under the braincase.”

The authors believe the Harbin cranium came from a 50-year-old male living in a forested, floodplain environment as part of a small community.

“Like Homo sapiens, they hunted mammals and birds, and gathered fruits and vegetables, and perhaps even caught fish,” said Professor Xijun Ni, a paleoanthropologist at Hebei GEO University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Using sophisticated geochemical analyses, including rare earth elements, strontium isotopic ratios and X-ray fluorescence, and direct Ur-series dating, the researchers dated the fossil to at least 146,000 years, placing it in the Middle Pleistocene, a dynamic era of human species migration.

They hypothesize that Homo longi and Homo sapiens could have encountered each other during this era.

“Although it is impossible to pin the cranium to an exact location with currently available technology, all the evidence suggests that it was from a bed of water-laid sediments aged between 138,000 and 309,000 years ago in the Harbin region,” said Dr. Junyi Ge, a geochemist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“We are quite confident now that the fossil is older than 146,000 years,” added Dr. Qingfeng Shao, a geochemist at the Nanjing Normal University.

“We see multiple evolutionary lineages of Homo species and populations co-existing in Asia, Africa, and Europe during that time,” Professor Stringer said.

“So, if Homo sapiens indeed got to East Asia that early, they could have a chance to interact with Homo longi, and since we don’t know when the Harbin group disappeared, there could have been later encounters as well.”

The scientists also found that Homo longi is one of our closest hominin relatives, even more closely related to us than Neanderthals.

“It is widely believed that the Neanderthal belongs to an extinct lineage that is the closest relative of our own species,” Professor Ni said.

“However, our discovery suggests that the new lineage we identified that includes Homo longi is the actual sister group of Homo sapiens.”



The Harbin cranium throws new light on debates concerning the diversification of the Homo genus and the origin of Homo sapiens. Image credit: Ni et al., doi: 10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100130.

The team’s reconstruction of the human tree of life also suggests that the common ancestor we share with Neanderthals existed even further back in time.

“The divergence time between Homo sapiens and the Neanderthals may be even deeper in evolutionary history than generally believed, over one million years,” Professor Ni said.

“If true, we likely diverged from Neanderthals roughly 400,000 years earlier than scientists had thought.”

“It’s widely believed that Neanderthals form the sister group of the sapiens lineage,” Professor Stringer said.

“But our analyses suggest that the Harbin cranium and some other Middle Pleistocene human fossils from China form a third East Asian lineage, which is actually closer to sapiens than the Neanderthals are.”

“Thus, the excellent preservation of the Harbin cranium throws new light on the evolution of the genus Homo.”

“It’s estimated Middle Pleistocene age places it as an Asian contemporary of the evolving Homo sapiens, Homo neanderthalensis and Denisovan lineages.”

“It may even be a representative of the enigmatic Denisovans, but that is something for the next stages of research.”

_____

Xijun Ni et al. Massive cranium from Harbin in northeastern China establishes a new Middle Pleistocene human lineage. Innovation, published online June 25, 2021; doi: 10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100130

Qingfeng Shao et al. Geochemical provenancing and direct dating of the Harbin archaic human cranium. Innovation, published online June 25, 2021; doi: 10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100131

Qiang Ji et al. Late Middle Pleistocene Harbin cranium represents a new Homo species. Innovation, published online June 25, 2021; doi: 10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100132

 

Ancient Roman Military Camp Uncovered in Portugal

Jun 28, 2021 by News Staff / Source

The 2,100-year-old camp of Lomba do Mouro in Melgaço, Portugal, was used by around 10,000 Roman soldiers sent to conquer Northwest Iberia.

Covering more than 20 hectares, the site of Lomba do Mouro was discovered using remote sensing techniques.

“Written sources mention the army crossing different valleys, but until now we didn’t know exactly where,” said Dr. João Fonte, an archaeologist at the University of Exeter and a member of the Romanarmy.eu project.

“Because of the temporary nature of the site, it’s almost impossible to find without using remote sensing techniques, and radiocarbon dating wouldn’t have been accurate because plant roots creep into the structure.”

Dr. Fonte and colleagues analyzed a section of sediment from the foundations of the camp’s wall using optically stimulated luminescence dating technique.

This made it possible to date the last time the quartz crystals were exposed to sunlight and how long they were buried under the walls.

“We have found numerous military camps in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula in recent years, but their dating is very complex,” Dr. Fonte said.

“As they are temporary enclosures, there is very little material or organic evidence in them that would allow a scientifically valid dating to be obtained, until now.”

The Lomba do Mouro camp was constructed in the 2nd century BCE by Roman troops who were crossing the Laboreiro Mountain between the Lima and Minho rivers.

It was designed to be a temporary fortification, used for a day or weeks at a most in the warmer months, and was built quickly.

The camp is the oldest scientifically identified Roman camp to date in Galicia and northern Portugal.

“The dating of Lomba do Mouro places the site in a historical context known from classical sources: the growing pressure of Rome on Northwest Iberia and the first advance of its legions to subdue the territory of the Callaici,” the researchers said.

“From this context of confrontation, the best-known episode is the campaign carried out in 137 BCE by the Roman consul Decimus Junius Brutus, who entered Gallaecia with two legions, crossing the rivers Douro and Lima and reaching the Minho.”

“It was on the river Lima that classical sources narrate the legendary episode of the River of Oblivion.”

“The two absolute dates of the wall, together with the large dimensions of the enclosure, support the hypothesis that the camp may have been erected by a contingent linked to these times, although due to the degree of uncertainty of the dates it is difficult to establish a direct association with the episode of Decimus Junius Brutus.”

“Because of his success in the military campaign, Decimus Junius Brutus was known as Callaicus.”

Vale autonomous trucks have hauled 100Mt at Brucutu

Cecilia Jamasmie | July 2, 2021 |

Autonomous off-road truck at Brutucu iron ore mine. (Image courtesy of Vale.)

Vale’s (NYSE: VALE) driverless trucks achieved a major milestone this week as they have moved 100 million tonnes of material since first introduced at the company’s Brucutu iron ore mine in 2016.


The amount of ore transported is equivalent to the weight of 35,000 major soccer stadiums like the Maracanã, in Rio de Janeiro.

In terms of distance travelled, the trucks have already covered 1.8 million km — or 46 laps around the Earth, Vale said.

Over the past five years autonomous trucks have not been involved in any accidents at the mine, the largest in Minas Gerais state and the company’s second biggest, behind Carajás.

Carbon emissions have been reduced due to lower fuel consumption and the mine’s productivity has increased, Vale said.

AUTONOMOUS HAUL TRUCKS WERE INTRODUCED AT BRUCUTU IN 2016, MAKING IT THE FIRST MINE IN BRAZIL WITH 100% AUTONOMOUS OPERATION BY 2018

With a capacity to transport 240 tonnes, the trucks are controlled by computer systems, GPS, radar and artificial intelligence, covering the route between the mining front and the unloading area.

In 2019, all 13 trucks circulating in Brucutu were already using the new technology, making it the first mine in Brazil with 100% autonomous operations.

Vale said fuel consumption of autonomous trucks is 11% lower than traditional vehicles, resulting in a reduction of 4,300 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

The trucks favoured the maintenance of equipment. Tires had a 35% increase in their useful life – 10% points more than expected, Vale said. In addition to saving the company money, this number generates less waste disposal.

Drivers who used to stay in the cabin have been trained and relocated to other functions, mainly in control rooms, where they have air conditioning and no vibration or noise.

“There are many results and lessons learned to be celebrated with the current level of maturity of the autonomous mine,” Jefferson Corraide , executive manager of the Brucutu and Água Limpa complex said in the statement. “Certainly the most important advance provided by the implementation is the reduction of people’s exposure to risk.”

Autonomous drills

Vale is also investing in autonomous drills. There are currently 11 of them in operations in Minas Gerais and Pará. Another ongoing project is to automate yard machines, which has already been completed in Malaysia and is being implemented in four Brazilian states.

The miner aims to have 21 autonomous drills across Carajas, Brucutu and Itabira before the end of the year. It also wants to expand the fleet to 50 trucks by the end of 2024, with an investment estimated in $400 million. It also plans to put into permanent operation 10 autonomous trucks at its Carajás mine, the world’s largest iron ore open pit mine.

Malaysian news portal ordered to pay damages to Australian miner in defamation case
Reuters | July 2, 2021 | 

Kuala Lumpur High Court. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Malaysia’s highest court on Friday ordered news portal Malaysiakini to pay 550,000 ringgit ($132,179.76) in damages for in a defamation case filed by a now-defunct Australian mining firm.


The ruling comes amid concern among activists about freedom of expression in Malaysia and is the latest against Malaysiakini, an independent publication that has often attracted scrutiny from authorities.

Malaysiakini was sued in 2012 for publishing several articles and videos about residents’ concerns over pollution allegedly linked to Raub Australian Gold Mine Sdn Bhd’s gold mining operations in Malaysia. The company had said the articles were defamatory and malicious.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court in 2016 ruled in favour of Malaysiakini on the grounds of responsible journalism and reportage, but the decision was later overturned on appeal.

On Friday, the Federal Court upheld the appellate court’s decision in a 3-2 majority ruling, saying Malaysiakini had not been “fair, disinterested or adopted a neutral approach” in reporting the residents’ campaign against the mining activities.

The court found Malaysiakini had failed to take steps to verify assertions made in the articles.

“This is irresponsible rather than responsible journalism,” the court said in a copy of its judgment seen by Reuters.

Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan expressed disappointment with the outcome and said the news portal had merely been carrying out its duties as journalists in reporting the residents’ health concerns.

Raub Australian Gold Mine could not be contacted for comment. Lawyers for the company did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

In February, Malaysiakini was fined 500,000 ringgit after the Federal Court found it in contempt over publishing readers’ comments about the judiciary, a ruling condemned by rights groups as a blow to press freedoms.

($1 = 4.1610 ringgit)

(By Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Martin Petty)

US Forest Service advances Perpetua Resources’ plan for Idaho Stibnite-Gold project

MINING.com Editor | July 1, 2021 | 

Stibnite gold project, Idaho. Image from Midas Gold.

Perpetua Resources (Nasdaq: PPTA) (TSX: PPTA) announced Thursday that the United States Forest Service (USFS) is advancing the company’s modified proposed action in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process and updated the permitting schedule for the Stibnite Gold project in Idaho.


The results of an independent feasibility study released last year envision the project becoming one of the largest and highest-grade open-pit gold mines in the United States with over 4 million ounces of gold in reserve —and the country’s only primary producer of antimony, a critical and strategic mineral.

There is currently no domestic antimony source, and 90% of world supply is controlled by China, Russia and Tajikistan.

Perpetua Resources’ modified proposed action was submitted to USFS in December 2020 and represents refinements to Alternative 2 of the August 2020 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).

The refined plan incorporates stakeholder feedback on the DEIS and is designed to reduce the project footprint and improve environmental outcomes. Modifications include the elimination of waste rock storage areas, overall reductions in mined material, additional pit backfilling and restoration, and improvements to water quality and water temperature.

The USFS’s decision advances Perpetua Resources’ improved project design in the NEPA process.

“We are pleased the USFS is advancing our proposed action forward and establishing a well-defined path towards a Record of Decision,” Laurel Sayer, CEO of Perpetua Resources said in a press release.

“These actions expressly integrate public input and additional analysis in the process, reduce the project’s environmental effects, and enhance our restoration and community objectives.”

The proposed improvements, which reduce the project footprint and are predicted to improve water quality conditions at the site during and after project operations, have been incorporated in Perpetua Resources’ 2020 Feasibility Study.

US EPA weighs Taseko copper mining process akin to fracking

Reuters | June 30, 2021 | 

Florence copper project. (Image courtesy of Taseko Mines)

Taseko Mines (TSE: TKO) wants to produce copper in Arizona using a process that evokes oilfield fracking, but first the company has to convince the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it will not harm the state’s water supply.

The Canadian firm, which said it expects an EPA decision imminently, wants to use a process that involves injecting sulfuric acid and water deep underground to break up a mineral deposit. Uranium miners in rural parts of Australia and the United States have used the process, known as in situ leaching, for decades, but it has rarely been used to extract copper.

Worried about potential groundwater contamination, officials in Florence, Arizona, which sits atop 2.4 billion pounds of copper, tried unsuccessfully for a decade to block Taseko’s project.

A U.S. appeals court this past spring put an end to the town’s legal roadblocks, which included an attempt to take the company’s land via eminent domain. The EPA is now deciding whether to approve Taseko’s plan.

“It’s a very green way of producing copper,” said Stuart McDonald, Taseko’s president, adding the “proven technology” can safely boost U.S. production of a metal key to President Joe Biden’s electrification plans.

OPPONENTS, INCLUDING ENVIRONMENTALISTS, WORRY IT COULD POLLUTE WATER SUPPLIES IN THE DROUGHT-STRICKEN STATE AND MAY ALSO DAMAGE HISTORICAL SITES

Opponents, including environmentalists, worry it could pollute water supplies in the drought-stricken state and may also damage historical sites.

“There’s no way you can put sulfuric acid in the aquifer and not pollute it,” John Anderson, a council member in Florence, about 63 miles (101 km) southwest of Phoenix, told state officials at a public hearing last year.

State officials approved Taseko’s plan in December over objections from Anderson and other town officials, who declined to comment for this story.

The EPA said it expects to decide whether to issue a so-called draft underground injection control (UIC) permit during its current fiscal year, which ends in September.

Vancouver-based Taseko has told investors it expects a decision very soon. Investors see the mine’s opening as key to boosting Taseko’s stock price, which an average of analysts believe is undervalued by about 22%, according to Refinitiv data.
Water studies

After the mixture of water and acid is injected and dissolves the copper – at a pressure less than oilfield fracking – the solution is drawn back to the surface where a process similar to electrolysis separates out the metal. Taseko said it aims to produce 85 million pounds of copper annually, enough to make nearly 500,000 electric vehicles.

In situ leaching does not require an open-pit mine or a smelter. It also emits less carbon than most copper mines, according to ESG consultancy Skarn Associates. A two-year study by Taseko did not detect any leaks from test wells.

The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), an environmental group, noted the movement of water in underground aquifers can be hard to predict.

“Just because test wells show no risk doesn’t mean there won’t be damage in the future,” said the CBD’s Joe Trudeau.

The EPA is studying whether the project complies with regulations designed to “ensure that underground sources of drinking water are protected from contamination by any authorized subsurface injection activities,” said spokesperson Joshua Alexander.

When used to extract uranium, in situ leaching can leave behind radioactive elements, requiring nearby aquifers to be rinsed out.

Taseko said it plans to also rinse out the underground ore body after it extracts the copper – a process that takes at least a year – but has detected no radioactive elements in the rock formation.

The EPA is also worried construction of tanks and other equipment could damage Native American historical sites. The agency is talking with tribes to determine whether the project complies with the National Historical Preservation Act.

Taseko said it will curate artifacts for preservation when it cannot avoid historical sites.

Steve Enders, a mining engineering professor at the Colorado School of Mines, said in situ leaching is better for the environment than traditional mining.

“There’s no better way to recover copper if you want to minimize the impact on the environment,” said Enders, who added the process could potentially be used at a few other Arizona copper deposits that are naturally fractured, like Taseko’s.

If the EPA issues a draft UIC, there would be a public comment period before a final permit is issued, though the timing of that decision is unclear, the EPA said.

Taseko said it could be operational within 18 months of receiving its permits.

(By Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Amran Abocar and Marguerita Choy)

Myanmar army tightens grip on lucrative jade sector
Cecilia Jamasmie | June 30, 2021 | 6:45 am Markets Asia Diamond

Myanmar generates about 70% of the world’s jade, worth billions of dollars and destined mostly to neighbouring China. (Stock image)

Myanmar’s military has further tightened its grip on the country’s jade trade, using the industry to finance the February 1 coup that plunged the country into turmoil, a new report released Tuesday shows.


According to human rights organization Global Witness, the military junta (Tatmadaw) is now in charge of the multibillion-dollar industry whose business mostly goes to China, as it is in charge of handing out jade mining permits.

The investigation, which builds on a landmark 2015 report, alleges the family of coup-leader and commander of the armed forces, General Min Aung Hlaing, profited from bribes as corruption in the jade industry worsened in recent years.

“Our revelations about the military’s increased control of the multibillion-dollar jade trade is emblematic of the Tatmadaw’s broader capture of valuable sectors of the country’s economy, which funds their abuses, fuels conflict and helped enable their recent illegal power grab,” Keel Dietz, Myanmar policy advisor at Global Witness and author of the report, said in a statement.

“The military has such strong control over the country’s jade trade that it would be “nearly impossible” to buy the gemstones without enriching the generals and their allies.”

The coup has destabilized the sector further, the investigation shows, triggering renewed fighting in jade mining areas. The report also found that jade money was being directly channelled into the arms trade between several ethnic armed groups, fueling conflict in the country’s north.

“THE MILITARY HAS SUCH STRONG CONTROL OVER THE COUNTRY’S JADE TRADE THAT IT WOULD BE “NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE” TO BUY THE GEMSTONES WITHOUT ENRICHING THE GENERALS AND THEIR ALLIES”

Global Witness

The report looks specifically at the role played by the Kachin Independence Organization/Army (KIO/A), the United Wa State Party/Army (UWSP/A), and the Arakan Army (AA). The latter has emerged as a significant new player in the jade sector in recent years, according to the research.

It paints a picture of a lawless land where “men with guns” rule over a haven of dangerous, illicit, and corrupt activities and impose a “climate of fear and violence” over a region ravaged by war and fueled by the green gemstone.

Myanmar accounts for about 70% of the world’s jade production. Before the coup and covid-19, up to 500,000 artisanal miners, known locally as yemase, traveled to Kachin state’s Hpakant every year to seek their fortunes in the mines.

Jade miners work under extremely dangerous conditions, particularly those who pick through churned up material from large-scale machinery on unstable hillsides. So accidents and landslides are, unfortunately, quite common.

Global Witness and other non-profits dedicated to investigating corruption and environmental abuse, are demanding stronger sanctions for Myanmar’s military.

“It is up to the international community to limit the amount of funding the military can receive from selling Myanmar’s natural resources by preventing the import of those resources and blocking financial transactions that pay for them,” the report concludes.

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Australia, US and Canada launch interactive map for critical minerals
Reuters | June 29, 2021 | 

The data can be used by governments to identify options to diversify their critical minerals sources and by companies to better target their exploration strategies. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Australia said it has teamed up with the United States and Canada to launch an interactive map of deposits of rare earths and other critical minerals that are expected to be in hot demand as the world moves to cleaner forms of energy.


The website contains the world’s largest dataset of minerals such cobalt, lithium and rare earth elements and has more than 7,000 mineral samples from over 60 countries which could help identify new areas of critical minerals.

The data can be used by governments to identify options to diversify their critical minerals sources and by companies to better target their exploration strategies, Keith Pitt, the minister for resources, water and northern Australia, said in a statement.

“While Australia is known across the world for its rich gold and iron ore deposits, our country also has an abundance of critical minerals – which are key to everything from iPhones to fighter jets,” he added.

China is the dominant supplier of rare earths, which are used in electric vehicle batteries, a wide range of consumer products as well as satellites and lasers. Western governments have been keen to diversify procurement amid trade and political tensions with Beijing.

The United State said this month it would work with allies to secure the minerals needed for electric vehicle batteries and process them domestically.

The dataset was compiled by Geoscience Australia, the Geological Survey of Canada and the United States Geological Survey.

(By Melanie Burton; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)