AUSTRALIA
Whitehaven Coal expects govt to decide by Aug 30 on controversial mine expansion
Reuters | July 14, 2021 | 10:24 pm Exploration Australia Coal

Site of the proposed Vickery coal mine. (Image courtesy of Whitehaven Coal).

Australia’s Whitehaven Coal said on Thursday it expected a government decision by Aug. 30 on approval for its Vickery coal mine extension, after a court ruled in May that climate change factors must be considered in the decision.

The Federal Court of Australia had ruled that the country’s environment minister has an obligation to children to consider the harm caused by climate change as part of her decision-making in approving the project. 

The ruling came in response to a class-action lawsuit brought by eight teenagers that argued the expansion of the project in New South Wales state would contribute to climate change and endanger their future.

Australia’s government said last week it would challenge the court ruling.

“This does not prevent the minister from determining the project,” Whitehaven said in a production report, in its first public comments on the matter since the government indicated it would appeal. It added that it expected a government decision on the project by the Aug. 30 deadline.

Whitehaven also welcomed the government’s intention to appeal the court decision.

“There are broader potential implications of the judgement for greenhouse gas-emitting projects as a precedent,” it said.

“We are aware the government is seeking to have this appeal dealt with on an expedited basis.

“Whitehaven continues to progress design work for site infrastructure and draft management plans which will be further updated once conditions of approval of (environmental regulations) have been received,” it said.

The International Energy Agency, which has previously championed the oil and gas industry, outlined in May a path to net-zero emissions that suggested stopping new investments in oil, gas and coal supply.

Australia is the world’s top coal exporter and has not signed up to a zero emissions target by 2050, unlike most other developed nations. It ranked last out of 193 United Nations member nations for action taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the Sustainable Development Report 2021 released last month.

Whitehaven announced a 39.2% fall in fourth-quarter saleable coal production, hurt by downtime at the Narrabri mine following geological challenges and repair work.

(By Melanie Burton; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Teck releases climate change outlook report, focus on copper growth

MINING.com Editor | July 14, 2021 | 

Quebrada Blanca mine in Chile. (Image courtesy of Teck Resources.)

Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.A, TECK.B, NYSE: TECK) on Wednesday released its third TCFD-aligned climate change report, Climate Change Outlook 2021, outlining how the company will continue working to reduce emissions to achieve the goal of being a carbon-neutral operator by 2050.


Teck’s 2021 report outlines three climate-related scenarios looking forward to 2040, helping to identify the range of future risks and opportunities to inform corporate strategy and risk management.

The first scenario highlights Teck’s current focus, copper growth to transition its portfolio to metals; the second, its 10+ years focus on growing its metals business in areas essential to the transition to a low-carbon world and continue to produce steelmaking coal required for the low-carbon transition and reduce carbon; the third, the 20+ years scenario, focuses on becoming a leading metals producer for a low-carbon world.

TECK’S QB2 PROJECT IN CHILE, CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION, WILL DOUBLE ITS CONSOLIDATED COPPER PRODUCTION WHEN PRODUCTION STARTS IN 2022

In all scenarios, Teck said it sees continued demand for copper, zinc and steelmaking coal — some of the basic building blocks of a low-carbon future.

Copper demand growth is directly tied to decarbonization, driven by growth in low-emissions vehicles, energy storage and transmission, improved energy efficiency and renewable energy generation.

As a copper producer in the Americas with a strong pipeline of projects, Teck said its Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 (QB2) project in Chile, currently under construction, will double its consolidated copper production when production starts in 2022.

“Teck is taking significant steps to address climate change risks because we know all sectors, including mining, need to play an active role in contributing to solving the challenge of climate change,” said Marcia Smith, SVP, Sustainability and External Affairs in the media statement.

“We are working to reduce the carbon footprint of our operations, while at the same time rebalancing our portfolio towards copper, which is an essential metal for low-carbon technology and infrastructure,” Smith said.

Teck said it is committed to reducing operational greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

“In 2020, we set an ambitious, long-term goal to become a carbon-neutral operator by 2050, with a shorter-term goal to reduce the carbon intensity of our operations by 33% by 2030,” Teck said. “To realize this vision, we have set an initial roadmap with corresponding 2025 and 2030 goals, including procuring 50% of our electricity demands in Chile from clean energy by 2025 and 100% by 2030.

Last year, Teck switched to 100% renewable power at its Carmen de Andacolla operation and entered into a power purchase agreement to procure over 50% of operational power needs at QB2 from renewable sources.

These initiatives, the company said, will avoid approximately one million tonnes of GHG emissions annually, equivalent to the emissions from about 210,000 passenger vehicles.

The full report is here.

Freeport Indonesia cancels Tsingshan copper smelter plans
Reuters | July 15, 2021 | 

Weda Bay, Indonesia. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Freeport McMoRan will not proceed with plans to build a new copper smelter with China’s Tsingshan Holding Group, its local Indonesian unit, PT Freeport Indonesia’s spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.


Indonesian authorities have for months said that a deal would be made between Freeport Indonesia and the Chinese steel and nickel company to build a new copper smelter worth $2.8 billion.


“(We) could not reach an agreement,” Freeport Indonesia’s spokesman Riza Pratama said.

Instead, Freeport Indonesia will go ahead with plans to build a new smelter near its existing copper refining operations in Gresik, East Java.

Freeport Indonesia separately announced on Thursday that it had signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Japanese engineering company Chiyoda to build the new Gresik smelter, which will have a capacity of 1.7 million tonnes of copper concentrate a year.

The two companies will also build a precious metal refinery nearby.

“This contract signing affirms Freeport Indonesia’s commitment to build a smelter in accordance with divestment agreement in 2018,” PT Freeport Indonesia president director Tony Wenas said in the statement, without disclosing how much the deal was worth.

Tsingshan Holding Group did not immediately respond to requests for comments. The new copper smelter that it wanted to build with Freeport in Weda Bay would have been Tsingshan’s first copper project.

It is building nickel and aluminum smelters in Indonesia.

(By Bernadette Christina Munthe, Tom Daly and Fathin Ungku; Editing by David Goodman and Kirsten Donovan)

JV Article: Lomiko Metals is preparing for the electric vehicle revolution
MINING.COM and Lomiko Metals | July 16, 2021 | 

+50 mesh carbon flake graphite from Lomiko Metals’ La Loutre project in Quebec. Credit: Lomiko Metals.

Canadian junior Lomiko Metals (TSXV: LMR, US-OTC: LMRMF) is exploring for graphite and lithium – critical materials used in the lithium-ion batteries driving electric vehicles (EVs) and in grid-level energy storage systems.

Lomiko’s flagship asset is its high-grade La Loutre project in Quebec, about 120 km northwest of the port of Montreal. It is also earning a 70% stake in Critical Elements Lithium’s (TSXV: CRE; US-OTC: CRECF) Bourier lithium project in the province’s James Bay region.

The company’s current focus is on its wholly-owned La Loutre project, which Paul Gill, Lomiko’s CEO, believes “could potentially provide the low-cost, high-quality natural graphite needed to produce spherical graphite used in the anodes of lithium-ion batteries.”

Lomiko is working on a preliminary economic assessment for La Loutre, which Gill said will be released soon, and initial findings suggest that the project “could have attractive economics for potential investors.”

“Our goal for the project is to provide a source of competitively-priced graphite for customers in the North American and European markets,” he said.

The project, near the port of Montreal, is close to major industrial centres on the east coast of the United States, and also has easy access to European markets – making it in Gill’s view the perfect spot to source critical minerals needed in the shift to clean energy.

It also lies in the middle of several other graphite projects in a mineralised area called the Grenville Trend and therefore benefits from existing infrastructure, including access via highways and electricity generated from hydropower, as well as a skilled workforce.

In addition, the Lac-des-Iles mine, the only graphite mine currently operating in North America, is about 53 km northwest of La Loutre. The mine is owned by Imerys Graphite & Carbon.

Lac-des-Iles commenced operations in 1988 but is slated for closure in 2022. That mine “will need a replacement if there is going to be a domestic supply of graphite,” Gill said, adding that “currently, La Loutre is the best candidate.”

Created in 2009, Lomiko initially focused on optioning lithium properties around the world. However, as it searched for good projects, Quebec appeared to be one of the best jurisdictions in which to take a project from exploration to a producing mine, explained Gill. “It now looks a wise decision, and we feel that we have found that opportunity with La Loutre.”

Previous owners initially explored La Loutre for base and precious metals. But graphite mineralisation at the property ranged from 1-17% graphite close to surface, including visible outcrops of graphite flakes, historic data showed.

The 2,509-hactare La Loutre project comprises two zones: the Electric Vehicle (EV) zone and Graphene-Battery (GB) zone. The names, Gill noted, reflect the potential applications for the graphite from each zone.

A recent grab sampling and mapping program confirmed a graphite-bearing structure approximately seven km by one km in area. Samples returned multiple parallel zones of mineralisation 30-50 metres wide in the EV zone with grades of up to 20% graphite, and 20-50 metres wide on the GB zone grading up to 18% graphite.

In 2019, a 21-hole (2,985 metre) drill program completed on the EV zone returned multiple intervals of near-surface mineralisation. Highlights included drillholes LL-19-05, which intersected 116.9 metres grading 4.8% graphite starting from 51 metres down hole, including 15.2 metres of 18.04% flake graphite. Hole LL-19-17 cut 47.3 metres of 7.56% graphite from 15 metres, including 11.3 metres of 17.45% graphite.

“These high-grade graphite intervals are common on the EV zone,” noted Gill. “The graphite flakes on La Loutre are also larger and have lower sulphur content than those observed from the other graphite projects in the region, which increases the value of the graphite from the project.”

In April, metallurgical testing on composite samples returned a 93.5% recovery rate for graphitic carbon. The program culminated in a locked cycle test that yielded a combined graphite concentrate grading over 97% graphite.

These initial test results “were very encouraging and suggested that the graphite produced at La Loutre may be suitable for high-end industrial use,” said Gill.

Lomiko’s other asset in Quebec, Bourier, is about 450 km northeast of the town of Val-d’Or and lies within a region that Gill refers to as the “lithium triangle north.” The project, he said, could potentially provide a new source of lithium.

Under its earn-in agreement signed in April the company has the right to earn an initial 49% interest in Bourier by paying $50,000 in cash, issuing five million common shares of Lomiko to Critical Elements Lithium, and spending $1.3 million on exploration by December 31, 2022.

Once completed, Lomiko will then have the option to increase its interest in Bourier from 49% to 70% by paying an additional $250,000 in cash, issuing a further 2.5 million common shares, and spending $2 million on exploration. It must also deliver a resource estimate on the project by the end of December 2023.

Critical Elements Lithium will retain a 2% net smelter return (NSR) royalty on Bourier, of which Lomiko can purchase 1% for $2 million. Critical Elements Lithium will remain as project operator while Lomiko is completing its earn-in.

“Bourier also hosts a volcanic massive sulphide system over fifteen miles [24 km] long,” said Gill. “Under the option agreement with Critical Elements, we can also explore for other battery mineral discoveries, including nickel, copper, and zinc, which ideally positions us to provide the materials for de-carbonising global economies.”

Lomiko’s two projects should benefit from the support of the government of Quebec, which is keen to develop the province’s graphite resources and is supportive of the region’s extractive industries, Gill said.

Last year the province unveiled the Quebec Plan for the Development of Critical and Strategic Minerals 2020-25. Among other things, the plan is designed to support the exploration and mining of battery materials such as graphite, lithium, nickel, and cobalt by sharing the financial risk of exploration and helping mining companies manage their relationships with local communities and First Nations.

The federal government is also helping to support the development of a supply chain for EV battery materials in Quebec, Gill said.

In March, Ottawa and the government of Quebec pledged to invest $100 million ($50 million each) in Lion Electric, which is building a lithium-ion battery factory in Quebec. The plant is expected to produce lithium-ion battery packs for 14,000 medium-sized and heavy-duty vehicles per year. Scheduled to begin operations in 2023, the facility will likely be a significant source of demand for La Loutre’s graphite, Gill noted.

He also expects La Loutre to benefit from U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to invest US$400 billion over the next ten years as part of a broad mobilization of public investment in clean energy and innovation. Those funds will be used to accelerate the deployment of clean energy technology throughout the U.S., including the deployment of more than 500,000 new public charging outlets for EVs by the end of the decade.

In addition, recent agreements between Canada and the U.S. have identified graphite as a critical element and recognised the need to develop a North American supply chain for the material.

In January last year, the two countries signed the Joint Action Plan on Critical Minerals Collaboration. The plan aims to secure supply chains for critical minerals, including graphite and lithium, needed for essential manufacturing industries, including communication, aerospace, defence, and clean energy technology.

“It will be essential to develop a source of inexpensive, high quality graphite for the North American market as quickly as possible,” said Gill, who is also CEO of Lomiko Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lomiko Metals. He has also funded the launch of G6 Materials (TSXV: GGG; US-OTC: LMRMF), a graphene and 3D printing company.

Demand for high-quality graphite is forecast to increase 15-fold over the next decade, rising from the current 200,000 tonnes to three million tonnes annually by 2030, according to forecasts by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

The market analyst said it expects the lithium-ion battery segment to be the fastest-growing application for natural graphite and is expected to be the largest end-user of graphite by 2024.

However, graphite supply is likely to remain tight over this period, says UK-based analytics firm GlobalData. In 2020, total global graphite output was 952,600 tonnes, a 15% decline from the previous year, it said.

“This market imbalance will keep upward pressure on graphite prices, making La Loutre an increasingly attractive prospect for investors,” noted Gill.

The preceding Joint-Venture Article is PROMOTED CONTENT sponsored by LOMIKO METALS and produced in cooperation with The Northern Miner. Visit www.lomiko.com for more information.

CAPITALI$M IS NOT SUSTAINABLE

World’s most sustainable company, software innovator team on tech support for greener mining

MINING.com Editor | July 16, 2021 | 

Stock image.

Schneider Electric, named this year by Corporate Knights as the world’s most sustainable company focused on the digital transformation of energy management and automation, has teamed with industrial software innovator AVEVA to create combined technology offerings supporting the sustainability initiatives of mining companies in four key pillars: energy efficiency, yield improvement, low greenhouse emission technology adoption, and new green processes.


The partner companies aim to decarbonize the mining, minerals and metals value chains through the provision of an industrial IoT platform with technology and software elements supporting the capability for energy management and automation.

According to the IDC Technology Spotlight, Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure platform combined with AVEVA’s digital mining and metals transformation solutions can provide the operational and organizational insight required to make sustainable operations and improved decisions through the collection and analysis of data.

Global decarbonization is heavily reliant on the sustainable production of minerals and commodities. A thriving and healthy mining and metals sector is crucial for the global economy and to support the innovation of new technologies and materials needed for climate change reduction, environment protection, and the circular economy, the companies said in a joint release.

Schneider Electric and AVEVA are assisting operators and managers make informed sustainability choices to position organizations to tackle some of the challenges associated with adopting sustainable practices, potentially resulting in reduced operating costs.

According to an IDC Technology Spotlight, sponsored by AVEVA and Schneider Electric, Transitioning to Sustainable Mining, Minerals and Metals Practices, the top three market pressures driving the sustainability agendas of mining and metals organizations are the need to improve brand equity; reduce the risk of an adverse event and ensure compliance with current and future regulations

AS THE INDUSTRY CONTINUES TO EXPERIENCE BACKLASH FROM ITS PERCEIVED STAGNANT POSITION ON SUSTAINABILITY, PLATFORMS WITH ADDED ANALYTICS ARE ENABLING IMPROVED OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES

“Technology has a critical role to play in supporting mining companies,” Ben Kirkwood, senior research manager, IDC Energy Insights – WW Mining said in a media release.

“Efforts to hit sustainability targets and gain greater visibility and control over operations will enable corporate insight and action relating to energy, water usage, and management of the operational environment,” Kirwood said.

“IDC’s global analysis of the revenue growth and profitability of industrial companies shows that those with a committed and ongoing sustainability-based strategy combined with a long-term, funded, digital transformation agenda considerably outperform their competitors.”
Digitalization underpins mining sustainability

The IDC Technology Spotlight also reinforces the fact that as the industry continues to experience backlash from its perceived stagnant position on sustainability, platforms with added analytics are enabling improved operational efficiencies while enhancing the visibility of the changes being made.

“Digitally integrated operations can address key areas of an organization’s sustainability agenda by combining power and process intelligence and controls,” said David Willick, Schneider Electric’s VP North America, mining, minerals and metals segment.

Willick noted that digitalization is a critical evolution for the resources industry, and said Schneider Electric and AVEVA partnered to marshall the power of connected systems and human insight to bring operational performance to its highest level.

“Although the benefits of digital transformation are crystal clear, the mining industry has thus far been limited by legacy infrastructure, data inadequacies, and piecemeal optimization programs,” Martin Provencher, AVEVA’s industry principal, mining, metals and materials, said.

“Increasingly virulent cyberattacks and a growing mandate for decarbonized minerals have further emphasized the importance of having high data availability and embracing a secure, cloud-first approach to visualize and contextualize enterprise-wide processes across global operations,” he said.

Some key takeaways from IDC Technology Spotlight are here.

Gemfields aims for transparency on how much miners pay host countries in taxes, dividends

MINING.COM Staff Writer | July 14, 2021 | 

(Image courtesy of Gemfields).

Gemfields (LON: GEM) (JSE: GML) called on governance bodies, mining organizations, industry observers and host governments to adopt the ‘G-Factor for Natural Resources,’ a new measure promoting greater transparency regarding the level of natural resource wealth shared with the governments of host countries.


The London-based company, which has operations in Mozambique and Zambia, and holds controlling interests in licenses in Ethiopia and Madagascar said the G-Factor is intended to be an uncomplicated indicator of the percentage of a natural resource company’s revenue that is paid to the host country government in primary and direct taxes, plus — where the host government is a shareholder — dividends.

The miner suggests that each company or multinational engaged primarily in the extraction and sale of natural resources calculates its own G-Factor and makes it public for the parent company itself and each operating subsidiary.


GEMFIELDS SUGGESTS THAT EACH COMPANY OR MULTINATIONAL ENGAGED PRIMARILY IN THE EXTRACTION AND SALE OF NATURAL RESOURCES CALCULATES ITS OWN G-FACTOR AND MAKES IT PUBLIC

The G-Factor for Natural Resources takes its name from the ‘g’s’ in ‘government,’ ‘governance’ and ‘good practice.’

“In an era witnessing significant strides in transparency and governance, and where extensive reporting on so many facets of corporate activity is already required in the annual reports of public companies, it is surprising that practical parameters allowing more direct insight into, and comparison of, the sharing of natural resource wealth still elude us,” Sean Gilbertson, Gemfields’ CEO, said in the press brief.

“We invite collaboration, input and support for the adoption of the ‘G-Factor for Natural Resources’ as a step forward. We hope it will be voluntarily adopted by other companies, insisted upon by host countries and incorporated into projects such as EITI.”

Gilbertson said the G-Factor is expressed as a percentage and is calculated by adding up the total mineral royalty paid by the reporting company to the host country government during the relevant period; plus the total corporate tax paid to the host country government during the same period; plus the dividends paid by the reporting company to the host country government during the period if the host country government is a shareholder in the reporting company, and all of this divided by the total revenues of the reporting company during the period.

The formula looks like this:

Ap + Bp + Cp / Dp

where:
A = total mineral royalty (tax on revenue) paid to the host country government
B = total corporate tax (tax on profit) paid to the host country government
C = the dividends paid to the host country government (where the host country government is a shareholder in the reporting company)
D = total revenues of the reporting company
p = the relevant period, typically calculated for each of (i) the prior year; (ii) the preceding 5 years and (iii) the preceding 10 years

Gemfields suggests using the sums actually paid during the period, rather than the sums accrued or falling due during the period, for the purposes of A, B and C.

Gilbertson recognized that no measure of this type is perfect and, therefore, the G-Factor should be interpreted as a ‘rule-of-thumb,’ understanding that it may not be suited to every situation.

He also admitted that there are additional and indirect taxes that are not included in the G-Factor for Natural Resources and which further increase the contribution made to host nations by natural resource companies. Such taxes include area/surface charges, social security contributions, taxation on the salaries of employees, import and export duties, VAT, among others.

When it comes to comparing company to company using the new measure, the executive acknowledged that the variety and variations in natural resource deposits, types and occurrences lessen the ability to make direct comparisons.

Regardless of the caveats of the tool and to lead by example, Gemfields calculated the G-Factor for its two main operations, namely, the Montepuez mine in Mozambique, which is the world’s richest known ruby deposit and the only asset that generated a profit for the company last year, and the Kagem emerald mine in Zambia, which is responsible for approximately 25% of the world’s emerald supply.

Gemfields has made headlines two weeks in a row after a sudden, 10% hike in its share price on July 9, which was attributed to “non-disclosable unpublished price-sensitive information”.

The firm, which returned to the London Stock Exchange’s market for juniors last year, revealed it expects to announce sales of $95 million for the first half of 2021, up 533% from the same period in 2020.

Congo’s cobalt monopoly to set price floor for artisanal miners

Reuters | July 15, 2021 | 

(Image courtesy of Enough Project | Flickr)

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s state cobalt buyer will put in place a price floor of $30,000 a tonne for the cobalt it buys from artisanal miners, Entreprise Generale du Cobalt (EGC) director-general Jean-Dominique Takis told Reuters.


Cobalt, which is trading at around $50,000 a tonne, is used in the batteries that power electric vehicles, sales of which are expected to soar over coming years as the world strives to cut carbon emissions.

The world’s top cobalt producer, the Congo set up EGC to buy all artisanal cobalt produced in the country to try to boost government revenue from the largely informal sector in which miners work by hand and sell to unregulated middlemen.

On Monday, the EGC said it planned to start its cobalt buying at the Kasulo site, near Kolwezi in the southern Lualaba province, within eight weeks.

COBALT PRICES HAVE BEEN VOLATILE AND HIT DECADE HIGHS OF NEARLY $100,000 A TONNE IN 2018, ALMOST DOUBLE THE PRICE NOW

In a telephone interview, Takis said the EGC aimed to source 7,000 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide from Kasulo this year. That will be followed by 15,000 tonnes in 2022 and 20,000 tonnes in 2023.

Processing of the cobalt ore mined at Kasulo into cobalt hydroxide will be outsourced to existing facilities near the site, Takis said.

The Congo produced around 100,000 tonnes of cobalt last year or about 71% of the global total, Darton Commodities’ review of the market found.

Of this, around 9,000 tonnes was artisanal production, research house CRU estimates.

EGC is working with international trader Trafigura, which in November signed a five-year marketing deal with the body to provide pre-financing for a total of 45,000 tonnes of cobalt.

Under the deal, the EGC has an option to market 50% of the cobalt production directly to buyers other than Trafigura. That option can be exercised at the point of export, Takis said.

Cobalt prices have been volatile and hit decade highs of nearly $100,000 a tonne in 2018, almost double the price now.

Takis said the EGC would create a fund to insulate artisanal miners from price swings and supplement their pay if the cobalt prices falls below $30,000 a tonne.

Of the EGC’s revenues from cobalt sales, 3% will go to the fund when cobalt prices are under $50,000 a tonne, rising to 5% if the price is higher than $50,000 a tonne, Takis said.

(By Helen Reid; Editing by Pratima Desai and Barbara Lewis)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

UK fraud unit finds alleged bribe network behind cobalt hub

Bloomberg News | July 15, 2021 | 

Image courtesy of Fair Cobalt Alliance.

U.K. prosecutors have told Swiss authorities they have proof of an alleged money-laundering ring spanning from Africa to Europe that paid almost $380 million in cash bribes to authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.


Companies repeatedly bribed officials to further their business interests in the mineral-rich nation, according to the Swiss court judgment that cited information from U.K. prosecutors. Congo is Africa’s biggest producer of copper and supplies about 70% of the world’s cobalt, a critical input for the batteries that power electric vehicles.

The $379 million that was allegedly siphoned off in bribes over a five-year period is more than Congo’s total spending on health care last year. According to the World Bank, about one of every six people living in extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa is in Congo, a country the size of Western Europe with a population of more than 90 million.

The evidence of alleged bribery was presented when an unidentified company tried to block the transfer of its banking records, which were requested in a U.K. investigation into allegedly corrupt mining deals in Congo and a related money-laundering network. The ruling on March 30 by Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court has since been posted on its website, with coded initials to shield the identities of individuals and entities mentioned.

Joseph Kabila

The U.K.’s Serious Fraud Office has been investigating the transactions with help from Swiss authorities, according to the judgment, which provides the most extensive account yet of alleged bribery in Congo. The SFO told Swiss officials that individuals and entities in Congo, Gibraltar, the U.K. and Switzerland were involved in the alleged money-laundering ring between 2006 and 2011, according to the ruling.

The U.K. prosecutors have records and affidavits showing that the alleged cash bribes went to “people in senior positions” in Congo’s government, as well as to “the right-hand” adviser of former President Joseph Kabila, 50, the Swiss court decision said. It refers to Kabila as “President M.”

DRC’s President Joseph Kabila. Photo by the US Department of State, Wikimedia Commons.

A spokesman for the SFO and Congo’s government declined to respond to requests for comment. Kabila, who does not have a spokesperson, did not respond to messages requesting comment sent via an associate.

Kabila ruled the country for 18 years, taking over from his father when he was assassinated in 2001. He is currently a senator-for-life in the Congolese parliament.

The Swiss court rejected the appeal by the unidentified company to block the transfer of its records.

Individual “C”

Also making an appearance in the court decision is “C,” an individual alleged to be the main source of cash for the bribes. Information provided suggests that it’s Dan Gertler, an Israeli billionaire active in Congo who’s been sanctioned by the U.S. for alleged corruption there.

A lawyer for Gertler said his client was not aware of the Swiss court case and emphatically denies involvement in any corruption, payment of bribes or other such wrongdoing. Gertler has never been charged with a crime and was not party to the Swiss lawsuit.

The SFO letters say that “C” made the payments for a Gibraltar-registered group of businesses in Congo, according to the Swiss judgment. The court said the SFO felt it had reasonable grounds to believe that the large payments to Congolese officials were “tainted by corruption.”

“C” worked with a “local financial entity” to collect cash from various companies in Congo that generated large sums of U.S. dollars, according to the court, citing the SFO. “C” would then use it to pay government officials locally, and later repay those companies using the client account of a law firm in Gibraltar and bank accounts in Switzerland, the SFO said, according to the judgment.
Stealth transfers

“These companies in the DRC did not necessarily know what C was doing with this cash and are therefore not considered to be knowingly complicit in this system of corruption,” the SFO told Swiss authorities, according to the decision. The companies benefited by avoiding Congolese controls on electronic money transfers outside the country, it said.

“It seems that dozens of DRC-based companies have put massive amounts of cash at the disposal, possibly willy-nilly, of corrupt businessmen in Congo and were paid back offshore in an effort to dodge currency-export controls,” said Elisabeth Caesens, an expert on Congo’s mining industry and founder of Resource Matters, a Brussels-based research and advocacy group. “The SFO investigation suggests that Congo doesn’t only have a huge corruption problem but also a gigantic money-laundering problem.”

According to the World Bank, about one of every six people living in extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa is in Congo. (Image from archives)

The SFO first requested assistance from Swiss authorities in 2014 as part of its investigation into mining deals in Congo, and again in 2019 as part of the related money-laundering probe, the decision says.

More broadly, U.K. anti-corruption campaigners have criticized the SFO for failing to secure high-profile convictions and for agreeing to settlements with companies without prosecuting individuals for wrongdoing. It recently dropped its probe into former Airbus SE directors and was dealt a humiliating setback when its trial against two former Serco Group Plc directors fell apart.

(By Michael J. Kavanagh, with assistance from Ellen Milligan)

NDP GOVT

BC approves early construction at Artemis Gold’s Blackwater
Canadian Mining Journal Staff | July 15, 2021 | 

An aerial view of the Blackwater gold project. Credit: Artemis Gold

British Columbia has granted a permit for early construction work at the Blackwater gold project belonging to Artemis Gold (TSXV: ARTG). This is the first step in construction of a mine, allowing for site preparations and land cleaning at the site 150 km southwest of Prince George, BC.


Blackwater is estimated to be the largest gold mine development in the Cariboo region of BC in the last decade, supporting regional employment over 25 years, including the construction period, with the potential for that to be extended through further exploration.

DAM C
Blackwater is to be connected to the BC Hydro grid, which is powered by hydro-electricity providing it with a sustainable source of low-carbon power, with the potential to produce gold and silver with one of the lowest GHG emissions from an open pit in the world.

BLACKWATER HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE GOLD AND SILVER WITH ONE OF THE LOWEST GHG EMISSIONS FROM AN OPEN PIT IN THE WORLD

The project will be developed in phases as an open pit and carbon-in-pulp processing plant. Initial capital requirements will be C$592 million ($470m) for phase one with a mill capacity of 5.5 million t/y and an annual output of 248,000 oz. of gold. Over the 23-year life of the mine, throughput will be increased to 20 million t/y with two further expansion phases.

The Blackwater gold project has an after-tax net present value (5% discount) of C$2.2 billion ($1.75bn), an internal rate of return of 35%, and a payback period of 2 years.

The deposit is estimated to contain 251 million measured and indicated tonnes grading­ 1.04 g/t gold and 8.3 g/t silver for 8.4 million oz. gold and 68 million oz. silver. The inferred estimate is 5.6 million tonnes at 0.79 g/t gold and 26 g/t silver, containing 142,000 oz. gold and 4.6 million oz. silver. These numbers reflect a 0.5 g/t gold cut-off.

(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)

GRAPHIC: Metals recycling to be a key plank for cutting emissions

Reuters | July 14, 2021 | 

Scrap metal. (Stock image)

Consumer awareness of carbon emissions from the production of metals for the energy transition will eventually energize the recycling industry and stimulate searches for substitutes that could spoil the party for miners.


Analysts at Wood Mackenzie estimate an additional 360 million tonnes of aluminum, 90 million tonnes of copper and 30 million tonnes of nickel will be needed over the next 20 years under a scenario that limits global warming to less than 2˚C.





Aluminum, copper and nickel are key materials for electric vehicles, sales of which are expected to soar over coming years.

“We can reduce our carbon footprints by going down the recycling route,” said Wood Mackenzie’s Julian Kettle.

“There are a plethora of new technologies such as hydrogen and polymer energy storage that could dramatically change the clean-energy landscape.”

Producing one tonne of aluminum from scratch results in an average of 17 tonnes of carbon emissions compared with the 0.6 tonnes emitted from secondary or recycled aluminum.

Copper mining emits 2.3-2.5 tonnes of carbon per tonne of metal, while smelting adds another 1.65 tonnes compared with up to 1.5 tonnes for recycled metal.


Related Article: Biden’s electric vehicle plan includes battery recycling push

A precedent for awareness of the problems arising from the extraction and production of metals is plastic made from fossil fuels, which over the last 10 years has pushed consumers to look at recycling and substitution.

Metals consumption could also be cut by for example switching to pooled rather than individual vehicle ownership,

“The era of consumption consciousness could well be the next chapter in society’s awakening – and it would undoubtedly be uncomfortable for those banking on unfettered demand for metals,” said Wood Mackenzie’s Simon Morris in a release.


Specifically for electric vehicles, the challenge for automakers is to how to operate with inelastic retail prices and access critical minerals at affordable prices.

“They will look to innovate or thrift them out to the greatest extent possible,” Morris said.

Examples of miners that also have recycling operations are few. One is aluminum producer Norsk Hydro, which has recycling operations that contributed 1.4 billion Norwegian crowns to its EBITDA last year.

(By Pratima Desai; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)