SPACE RACE
Bonkers company plots space station to rival ISS as ‘outpost for civilian astronauts’


Harry Pettit,

 Deputy Technology and Science Editor
26 Aug 2021

A MYSTERY space fan is plotting to build a private, orbiting outpost that can house civilians for prolonged stays in space.

According to SpaceNews, part of the station will be built by Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of US military contractor Raytheon Technologies.

A company is building its very own private space hotel similar to the ISS

Credit: AFP


Collins announced this week that it had been awarded a $2.6million contract by an undisclosed customer.

It said it will work on environmental control and life support technologies for a "privately owned and operated low Earth orbit outpost".

The nature of that outpost, and who awarded the contract, remains a mystery.

SpaceNews reports that the contract involves producing machines capable of controlling both temperature and pressure levels in space.


The machines would be capable of supporting a prolonged stay in low-Earth orbit, much like astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Collins has previously developed and manufactured life support technologies for Nasa. It built the ISS's current water recovery system.

"A new era of commercial spaceflight is creating the need for Earth-like atmospheres at low orbit destinations," Collins' Dave McClure said.

"This award underscores Collins’ commitment to working with both the private and public sectors on providing the foundation for commercial space travelers to eventually live, work, and play in space."

It's unclear when the orbiting outpost might be completed.

Speaking to Space News, Shawn Macleod, Collins’ director of business development, said the mission’s timeline would be driven by the customer.

However, he said that "typically hardware can be deployed within a few years.”

The race to build the first space hotel is heating up.


At the forefront is Axiom Space, a Houston-based, privately funded company planning to construct its own commercial space station.

The firm has hired a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft to carry three paying customers and a former astronaut to the ISS next year.

Virgin Galactic, the space tourism firm funded by Richard Branson, has also publicly mooted plans to build a space hotel.

 

Here’s why NASA may depend on outside companies for its next space outpost

The International Space Station will likely be retired within the decade. NASA hopes to save money by having commercial companies build the next space outpost. Some companies, including Sierra Space and Axiom Space, are already working on a commercial space station. But the question is, will these stations be ready in time?

THU, AUG 26 20217:59 AM EDT

Magdalena Petrova

Over the last couple of years, NASA has increasingly relied on outside companies to complete tasks that have traditionally been reserved for the government agency. 

Under its Commercial Resupply Services program, NASA has contracts with SpaceX and Northrop Grumman to send cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station. Last year, SpaceX made history by becoming the first private sector company to carry NASA astronauts to the ISS under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. NASA is now hoping to replicate the success of its commercial crew and commercial cargo programs with the Commercial LEO Destinations project. 

As part of the project, NASA plans to award up to $400 million in total to as many as four companies to begin development of private space stations. Covering part of the developmental costs of the station would be a big money saver for NASA. The ISS cost $150 billion to build, and the U.S. picked up the largest chunk of that bill ahead of its partners, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada. NASA also spends about $4 billion a year to operate the ISS.

“We’ve had all these years of success on the ISS, and NASA now wants to put our eye toward moon and Mars and other exploration items and turn over this area of space to the commercial market,” says Angela Hart, manager of the Commercial Low Earth Orbit Program Office at NASA.

A number of companies, including Colorado-based Sierra Space and Houston-based Axiom Space, are already well on their way to launching private space stations. 

Watch the video to find out more

The International Space Station got its start in 1998 when its first segments were launched, and it’s now starting to show its age.

Since 2000, the ISS has continuously housed a rotating group of astronauts from 19 countries. The station has the only laboratory for long-duration microgravity research and has been instrumental in a number of scientific developments including creating more efficient water filtration systems and exploring new ways to treat diseases such as Alzheimer’s and cancer.

“The International Space Station is currently approved to operate through at least December 2024 with our agreements with the international partners,” said Angela Hart, manager of the Commercial Low Earth Orbit Program Office at NASA. “However, as we are actively working to continue to do science and research, we understand that the ISS at some point will have its end of life.”

But NASA will likely not build the next space station. Instead, the agency will depend on the technology of outside companies. A few, like Sierra Space in Colorado and Houston-based Axiom Space, are well on their way to constructing their own commercial space stations.

The Earth’s Crust Is Warping Due To Glacier Melt, Scientists Say
BY : EMILY BROWN

ON : 26 AUG 2021 

PA Images

A new study suggests melting ice from glaciers and landmasses is causing the Earth’s crust to warp.

Led by Sophie Coulson of Harvard University in Massachusetts, scientists studied the effects of melting ice by looking at early 21st century ice loss from Greenland, Antarctica, mountain glaciers and ice caps using data derived from satellites, and combined it with a model of how the Earth’s crust responds to changes in mass.

Though there have been previous studies about the vertical response of the land in relation to ice loss, this study instead focuses on the horizontal movement of the ground

.

PA Images


In the study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the researchers describe how ice melting from Greenland and the Arctic glaciers has ’caused the ground to shift horizontally’ across much of the Northern Hemisphere between 2003 and 2018.

The ground has changed by as much as 0.3 millimetres a year in large parts of Canada and the US, with the Earth’s crust thought to lift in response to the sudden loss of overlaying weight on the surface as massive chunks of ice melt. The crust forms the outermost shell of Earth and extends to around 40 kilometres under the surface.

The melting, which sees water redistributed to global oceans, could cause a pattern of 3D motions at the Earth’s surface as far as 1,000 kilometres away from the ice loss. On average, the surface motion is ‘several tenths of a millimetre per year, and it varies significantly year to year’, according to the scientists.

PA Images

They explain: ‘We show that, rather than only being localised to regions of ice loss, melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet and Arctic glaciers has caused significant horizontal and vertical deformation of the crust that extends over much of the Northern Hemisphere.’

Having considered the past data, the scientists predicted the Earth’s crust would be deformed by 0.05–0.3mm per year in most parts of Canada and the US, and 0.05–0.2mm per year in Europe, including parts of the region which constitutes Finland, Norway and Sweden.

The study states: ‘The redistribution of mass between continents and oceans results in significant and time-varying crustal deformation.’

Researchers believe more studies are needed to further assess the warping of the Earth’s crust due to melting ice, to improve both horizontal and vertical measurements made by navigational satellite systems.

NASA’s ISAAC software turns robots aboard the ISS into caretakers

Shane McGlaun - Aug 26, 2021, 

NASA is talking about software that it uses in autonomous robots that operate inside ISS. The software is called ISAAC, which stands for Integrated System for Autonomous and Adaptive Caretaking. The software was integrated into Bumble, one of the Astrobee robots currently aboard the ISS. Bumble and its software were used to investigate a simulated anomaly aboard the station.

The simulation had Bumble responding to life-support systems aboard the space station that detected a simulated high concentration of carbon dioxide. Excess carbon oxide in the atmosphere inside the station could be deadly to crewmembers living there. During the simulation, Bumble was able to deftly navigate the station to find the location designated as a vent for the cabin air circulation system.

Once at the correct location, the robot used computer vision to detect a foreign object blocking the vent. For this simulation, the foreign object was a printed image of a sock. Once Bumble identified the foreign object, it was able to call for a crewmember to help remove the object. However, the robot’s task wasn’t as easy as simple as floating its way to the location of the vent.

There were hazards in its path, including cables it bumped into that it had to untangle from, and it had to deal with simulated communication interruptions. Ultimately, Bumble and its ISAAC software completed mission objectives with little help from operators on the ground.

While ISAAC worked well in its simulated mission utilizing a robot, the long-term vision of software managers at NASA is to transform an entire spacecraft into an autonomous robotic system. This latest demo was the final milestone for ISAAC’s first testing phase, with additional testing in the following future. Ultimately, the goal is to allow the technology to be used on future deep-space missions. The second phase of testing for ISAAC aboard the ISS focuses on managing multiple robots transporting cargo between an uncrewed space station and an uncrewed cargo spacecraft.

Will it be safe for humans to fly to Mars?

A human space mission would be viable if it doesn't exceed four years, an international research team concludes in new research

Date: August 26, 2021

Source: University of California - Los Angeles

Sending human travelers to Mars would require scientists and engineers to overcome a range of technological and safety obstacles. One of them is the grave risk posed by particle radiation from the sun, distant stars and galaxies.

Answering two key questions would go a long way toward overcoming that hurdle: Would particle radiation pose too grave a threat to human life throughout a round trip to the red planet? And, could the very timing of a mission to Mars help shield astronauts and the spacecraft from the radiation?

In a new article published in the peer-reviewed journal Space Weather, an international team of space scientists, including researchers from UCLA, answers those two questions with a "no" and a "yes."

That is, humans should be able to safely travel to and from Mars, provided that the spacecraft has sufficient shielding and the round trip is shorter than approximately four years. And the timing of a human mission to Mars would indeed make a difference: The scientists determined that the best time for a flight to leave Earth would be when solar activity is at its peak, known as the solar maximum.

The scientists' calculations demonstrate that it would be possible to shield a Mars-bound spacecraft from energetic particles from the sun because, during solar maximum, the most dangerous and energetic particles from distant galaxies are deflected by the enhanced solar activity.

A trip of that length would be conceivable. The average flight to Mars takes about nine months, so depending on the timing of launch and available fuel, it is plausible that a human mission could reach the planet and return to Earth in less than two years, according to Yuri Shprits, a UCLA research geophysicist and co-author of the paper.

"This study shows that while space radiation imposes strict limitations on how heavy the spacecraft can be and the time of launch, and it presents technological difficulties for human missions to Mars, such a mission is viable," said Shprits, who also is head of space physics and space weather at GFZ Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, Germany.

The researchers recommend a mission not longer than four years because a longer journey would expose astronauts to a dangerously high amount of radiation during the round trip -- even assuming they went when it was relatively safer than at other times. They also report that the main danger to such a flight would be particles from outside of our solar system.

Shprits and colleagues from UCLA, MIT, Moscow's Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology and GFZ Potsdam combined geophysical models of particle radiation for a solar cycle with models for how radiation would affect both human passengers -- including its varying effects on different bodily organs -- and a spacecraft. The modeling determined that having a spacecraft's shell built out of a relatively thick material could help protect astronauts from radiation, but that if the shielding is too thick, it could actually increase the amount of secondary radiation to which they are exposed.

The two main types of hazardous radiation in space are solar energetic particles and galactic cosmic rays; the intensity of each depends on solar activity. Galactic cosmic ray activity is lowest within the six to 12 months after the peak of solar activity, while solar energetic particles' intensity is greatest during solar maximum, Shprits said.

Journal Reference:
M.I. Dobynde, Y.Y. Shprits, A.Yu. Drozdov, J. Hoffman, J. Li. Beating 1 Sievert: Optimal Radiation Shielding of Astronauts on a Mission to Mars. Space Weather, 2021; DOI: 10.1029/2021SW002749

University of California - Los Angeles. "Will it be safe for humans to fly to Mars? Mission would be viable if it doesn’t exceed four years, international research team concludes." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 26 August 2021. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210826111716.htm

Scientists identify safest times for humans to travel to Mars

Maybe book your SpaceX Starship ticket for 2030 to avoid some of the worst space radiation.

Amanda Kooser
Aug. 26, 2021 1


Clouds and ice caps on the red planet.

NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)/J. Bell/M. Wolff (Space Science Institute)

This story is part of Welcome to Mars, our series exploring the red planet.

Humanity is set on the idea of visiting Mars in person, but there's the pesky problem of hazardous radiation during long-duration spaceflights to get there. Scientists have raised concerns about brain damage, gastrointestinal issues and cancer on a journey to the red planet. All in all, it sounds pretty off-putting, but it's not impossible to pull off.

A new study has some suggestions for dealing with the safety issues, and it could partly come down to strategically picking the best time to travel

"This study shows that while space radiation imposes strict limitations and presents technological difficulties for the human mission to Mars, such a mission is still viable," says the paper published this month in the journal Space Weather. It covers simulations that point to the optimal time to travel to Mars.

The paper calls out two main types of hazardous particle radiation: solar energetic particles (SEP) from our sun and galactic cosmic rays (GCR) from outside the solar system. The researchers point to a time known as solar maximum -- when our sun is at its highest activity level -- as an ideal time for humans to head to Mars.

"The scientists' calculations demonstrate that it would be possible to shield a Mars-bound spacecraft from energetic particles from the sun because, during solar maximum, the most dangerous and energetic particles from distant galaxies are deflected by the enhanced solar activity," UCLA said in a statement on Wednesday.

Spacecraft designers would need to focus on shielding astronauts from SEP, but there would be a reduced impact from damaging GCR during solar maximum. The team also recommends keeping a Mars round trip to less than four years in duration, though the study acknowledges this could change based on the development of new shielding materials.

The travel time to Mars can vary (it took NASA's Perseverance mission about seven months to get there), but there are a couple of prime times coming up in 2030 and 2050 when shorter Earth-to-Mars journeys will coincide with periods of solar maximum. Hopefully that will help with your Martian vacation planning.

Manned Mars mission viable if it doesn't exceed four years, concludes international research team

by Stuart Wolpert, University of California, Los Angeles

Yuri Shprits, a UCLA research geophysicist, said limiting the duration of a round trip to the red planet would help reduce the amount of dangerous radiation to which astronauts are exposed. Credit: NASA

Sending human travelers to Mars would require scientists and engineers to overcome a range of technological and safety obstacles. One of them is the grave risk posed by particle radiation from the sun, distant stars and galaxies.

Answering two key questions would go a long way toward overcoming that hurdle: Would particle radiation pose too grave a threat to human life throughout a round trip to the red planet? And, could the very timing of a mission to Mars help shield astronauts and the spacecraft from the radiation?

In a new article published in the peer-reviewed journal Space Weather, an international team of space scientists, including researchers from UCLA, answers those two questions with a "no" and a "yes."

That is, humans should be able to safely travel to and from Mars, provided that the spacecraft has sufficient shielding and the round trip is shorter than approximately four years. And the timing of a human mission to Mars would indeed make a difference: The scientists determined that the best time for a flight to leave Earth would be when solar activity is at its peak, known as the solar maximum.

The scientists' calculations demonstrate that it would be possible to shield a Mars-bound spacecraft from energetic particles from the sun because, during solar maximum, the most dangerous and energetic particles from distant galaxies are deflected by the enhanced solar activity.

A trip of that length would be conceivable. The average flight to Mars takes about nine months, so depending on the timing of launch and available fuel, it is plausible that a human mission could reach the planet and return to Earth in less than two years, according to Yuri Shprits, a UCLA research geophysicist and co-author of the paper.

"This study shows that while space radiation imposes strict limitations on how heavy the spacecraft can be and the time of launch, and it presents technological difficulties for human missions to Mars, such a mission is viable," said Shprits, who also is head of space physics and space weather at GFZ Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, Germany.

The researchers recommend a mission not longer than four years because a longer journey would expose astronauts to a dangerously high amount of radiation during the round trip—even assuming they went when it was relatively safer than at other times. They also report that the main danger to such a flight would be particles from outside of our solar system.

Shprits and colleagues from UCLA, MIT, Moscow's Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology and GFZ Potsdam combined geophysical models of particle radiation for a solar cycle with models for how radiation would affect both human passengers—including its varying effects on different bodily organs—and a spacecraft. The modeling determined that having a spacecraft's shell built out of a relatively thick material could help protect astronauts from radiation, but that if the shielding is too thick, it could actually increase the amount of secondary radiation to which they are exposed.

The two main types of hazardous radiation in space are solar energetic particles and galactic cosmic rays; the intensity of each depends on solar activity. Galactic cosmic ray activity is lowest within the six to 12 months after the peak of solar activity, while solar energetic particles' intensity is greatest during solar maximum, Shprits said.Mars-directed coronal mass ejection erupts from the sun

More information: M.I. Dobynde et al, Beating 1 Sievert: Optimal Radiation Shielding of Astronauts on a Mission to Mars, Space Weather (2021). DOI: 10.1029/2021SW002749

Provided by University of California, Los Angeles 

The Chinese Soldiers On Mars Rover Go To Work After Completing The Initial Program 

by Jake Pearson

China Rover Surong Mars After completing the initial program of exploring the Red Planet and searching for chilled water, you can give clues as to whether it has supported life.

China’s National Space Administration said on its website on Friday Surong He completed the 90-day program on August 15 and was in perfect technical condition and fully charged. It said it would continue to explore the area known as Utopia Planetia, which landed on May 14.

Surong continuously transfers images and data through the Tianwen-1 orbiter, which passes once a day. China is the second largest landing and operating country after the United States A spacecraft on the surface of MarsDays are 40 minutes longer than on Earth.

1.85 m high, Jurong. Is much smaller than American Perseverance Rover, Explores the planet in a small helicopter. NASA expects the rover to collect the first sample in early July 2031. Meanwhile, China is adding its permanent space station, and now three astronauts have been launched into orbit in Tianhei, or Heavenly Harmony, in April. . 29. Two astronauts completed their second spaceflight on Friday. All three will return to Earth in September and will be replaced by a new crew.

China has previously launched two small test space stations. It has been removed from the International Space Station at the insistence of the United States, which is concerned about the secrecy of China’s space program and close military ties.

Any cooperation between NASA and the CNSA requires congressional approval. China, the space program of any country since the 1970s, recently returned lunar samples and launched a probe and rover on the far side of the unexplored moon. In 2003, China launched the first astronaut into orbit, becoming the third country to do so.

Volcanic eruptions may have spurred first ‘whiffs’ of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere

Hannah Hickey
UW News

Roger Buick in 2004 at the Mount McRae Shale in Western Australia. Rocks drilled near here show “whiffs” of oxygen occurred before the Great Oxidation Event, 2.4 billion years ago. New analyses show a slightly earlier spike in the element mercury emitted by volcanoes, which could have boosted populations of single-celled organisms to produce a temporary “whiff” of oxygen.

Roger Buick/University of Washington

A new analysis of 2.5-billion-year-old rocks from Australia finds that volcanic eruptions may have stimulated population surges of marine microorganisms, creating the first puffs of oxygen into the atmosphere. This would change existing stories of Earth’s early atmosphere, which assumed that most changes in the early atmosphere were controlled by geologic or chemical processes.

Though focused on Earth’s early history, the research also has implications for extraterrestrial life and even climate change. The study led by the University of Washington, the University of Michigan and other institutions was published in August in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“What has started to become obvious in the past few decades is there actually are quite a number of connections between the solid, nonliving Earth and the evolution of life,” said first author Jana Meixnerová, a UW doctoral student in Earth and space sciences. “But what are the specific connections that facilitated the evolution of life on Earth as we know it?”

In its earliest days, Earth had no oxygen in its atmosphere and few, if any, oxygen-breathing lifeforms. Earth’s atmosphere became permanently oxygen-rich about 2.4 billion years ago, likely after an explosion of lifeforms that photosynthesize, transforming carbon dioxide and water into oxygen.
UW News | July 2018: “Oxygen levels on early Earth rose and fell several times before the successful Great Oxidation Event“

But in 2007, co-author Ariel Anbar at Arizona State University analyzed rocks from the Mount McRae Shale in Western Australia, reporting a short-term whiff of oxygen about 50 to 100 million years before it became a permanent fixture in the atmosphere. More recent research has confirmed other, earlier short-term oxygen spikes, but hasn’t explained their rise and fall.

In the new study, researchers at the University of Michigan, led by co-corresponding author Joel Blum, analyzed the same ancient rocks for the concentration and number of neutrons in the element mercury, emitted by volcanic eruptions. Large volcanic eruptions blast mercury gas into the upper atmosphere, where today it circulates for a year or two before raining out onto Earth’s surface. The new analysis shows a spike in mercury a few million years before the temporary rise in oxygen.

These are drill-cores of rocks from the Mount McRae Shale in Western Australia. Previous analysis showed a “whiff” of atmospheric oxygen preceding the Great Oxidation Event, 2.4 billion years ago. New analyses show a slightly earlier spike in minerals produced by volcanoes, which may have fertilized early communities of microbes to produce the oxygen.Roger Buick/University of Washington

“Sure enough, in the rock below the transient spike in oxygen we found evidence of mercury, both in its abundance and isotopes, that would most reasonably be explained by volcanic eruptions into the atmosphere,” said co-author Roger Buick, a UW professor of Earth and Space Sciences.

Where there were volcanic emissions, the authors reason, there must have been lava and volcanic ash fields. And those nutrient-rich rocks would have weathered in the wind and rain, releasing phosphorus into rivers that could fertilize nearby coastal areas, allowing oxygen-producing cyanobacteria and other single-celled lifeforms to flourish.

“There are other nutrients that modulate biological activity on short timescales, but phosphorus is the one that is most important on long timescales,” Meixnerová said.

Today, phosphorus is plentiful in biological material and in agricultural fertilizer. But in very ancient times, weathering of volcanic rocks would have been the main source for this scarce resource.

“During weathering under the Archaean atmosphere, the fresh basaltic rock would have slowly dissolved, releasing the essential macro-nutrient phosphorus into the rivers. That would have fed microbes that were living in the shallow coastal zones and triggered increased biological productivity that would have created, as a byproduct, an oxygen spike,” Meixnerová said.

The precise location of those volcanoes and lava fields is unknown, but large lava fields of about the right age exist in modern-day India, Canada and elsewhere, Buick said.

“Our study suggests that for these transient whiffs of oxygen, the immediate trigger was an increase in oxygen production, rather than a decrease in oxygen consumption by rocks or other nonliving processes,” Buick said. “It’s important because the presence of oxygen in the atmosphere is fundamental – it’s the biggest driver for the evolution of large, complex life.”

Ultimately, researchers say the study suggests how a planet’s geology might affect any life evolving on its surface, an understanding that aids in identifying habitable exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system, in the search for life in the universe.

Other authors of the paper are co-corresponding author Eva Stüeken, a former UW astrobiology graduate student now at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland; Michael Kipp, a former UW graduate student now at the California Institute of Technology; and Marcus Johnson at the University of Michigan. The study was funded by NASA, the NASA-funded UW Virtual Planetary Laboratory team and the MacArthur Professorship to Blum at the University of Michigan.


For more information contact Meixnerová at janameix@uw.edu or Buick at buick@uw.edu. Note: Meixnerová is on European Time; Buick is on Pacific Time.

NASA: NNX16AI37G, 80NSSC18K0829

Volcanoes Have Been Acting As A Safety Valve For Earth's Long-term Climate: Research

Researchers of the University of Southampton have found concrete evidence to establish volcanoes are responsible for maintaining temperatures at Earth's surface

Written By

Ajeet Kumar

Image Credit: AP

Researchers of the University of Southampton have found concrete evidence to establish that volcanoes are responsible for maintaining temperatures at Earth's surface. The scientists also noted that it is the volcano that acts as a safety valve for Earth's long-term climate. The latest findings which were published in the journal 'Nature Geoscience' found that widespread series of volcanoes have been responsible for both emitting and then extracting climatic carbon dioxide (CO2) over geological time. According to the journal, scientists from the University of Leeds, University of Southampton, University of Sydney, Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Ottawa have contributed to the latest finding that explored the combined impact of processes in the Earth, oceans and atmosphere over the past 400 million years.

They found that the natural break-down and dissolution of rocks at Earth's surface (chemical weathering) flushes elements like calcium and magnesium via rivers to the oceans. Later, they form minerals that lock up CO2. "In this respect, weathering of the Earth's surface serves as a geological thermostat," said lead author Dr Tom Gernon, Associate Professor in Earth Science at the University of Southampton, and a Fellow of the Turing Institute. "But the underlying controls have proven difficult to determine due to the complexity of the Earth system," added Dr Gernon. "Many Earth processes are interlinked, and there are some major time lags between processes and their effects," explained Eelco Rohling, Professor in Ocean and Climate Change at ANU and co-author of the study.

Research throws uncertainty on a long-held theory

"Understanding the relative influence of specific processes within the Earth system response has therefore been an intractable problem," continued Rohling. The team, further constructed a novel "Earth network", combining machine-learning algorithms and plate tectonic restoration. The research throws uncertainty on a long-held theory that Earth's atmosphere balance over tens to hundreds of millions of years exhibits equilibrium between weathering of the seafloor and continental interiors. "The idea of such a geological tug of war between the landmasses and the seafloor as a dominant driver of Earth surface weathering is not supported by the data," stated Dr Gernon. "Unfortunately, the results do not mean that nature will save us from climate change," stressed Dr Gernon. "Today, atmospheric CO2 levels are higher than at any time in the past 3 million years, and human-driven emissions are about 150 times larger than volcanic CO2 emissions," explained Dr Gernon.

Indonesia says Fortescue, Tsingshan to invest billions in Borneo

Reuters | August 24, 2021 | 

Borneo Island (Image credit: Needpix)

Australia’s Fortescue Metals Group and China’s Tsingshan Holding Group could invest billions of dollars to build an industrial estate for metal smelting near a planned hydropower plant on Borneo island, an Indonesian minister said.


The companies have been in talks since early this year about the project and minister of maritime affairs and investment, Luhut Pandjaitan, has said smelting of iron, nickel and copper ores at the estate could start as early as 2023.

Fortescue could invest $12 billion, while Tsingshan has the “potential” to pump in $30 billion, a slide displayed by Luhut during a presentation on Tuesday showed.

“Total investment, there will be $100 billion, including the dam, and it will be completed in 10 years,” the minister said, adding that groundbreaking was planned for October.

TSINGSHAN ALREADY HAS LARGE INVESTMENTS IN INDONESIA RANGING FROM INDUSTRIAL PARKS TO STAINLESS STEEL PROCESSING

Last September, a Fortescue subsidiary, Fortescue Future Industries (FFI), signed an agreement to conduct feasibility studies into the utilisation of Indonesia’s hydropower and geothermal resources for industrial operations, for potential domestic supply and exports, FFI’s chief executive Julie Shuttleworth said in email in March.

FFI has been announcing ambitious global green energy plans, mostly via green hydrogen. It plans to fund the majority of its projects off its balance sheet, investing about $1 billion a year of its own money.

“FFI is already conducting studies on potential projects in Kalimantan, and we look forward to continuing our positive engagement with local stakeholders,” FFI’s Shuttleworth told Reuters on Wednesday.

Tsingshan already has large investments in Indonesia ranging from industrial parks to stainless steel processing. A spokesman did not respond to a request by Reuters for comments.

Top nickel producer Indonesia has ambitious plans to start processing its rich supplies of nickel laterite ore used in lithium batteries and eventually become a global hub for producing and exporting electric vehicles (EV).

Miners and EV companies alike are keen to ensure that the supply chains of their batteries are green compliant, and are hesitant to invest in projects powered by coal, which nickel smelters usually rely on in Indonesia.

The new metal smelting estate will be located near the 11,000 megawatt Kayan hydropower project in North Kalimantan province, on Indonesia’s side of Borneo island.

(By Bernadette Christina Munthe, Melanie Burton, Tom Daly and Fathin Ungku; Editing by Ed Davies)

Fortescue best positioned to weather industry disruption – report
MINING.com Editor | August 24, 2021 |

Fortescue Metals leads an Australia-heavy Top 10 based on GlobalData research.

Fortescue Metals leads in an Australia-heavy Top 10 listing of companies based on leadership in 10 areas that matter the most to the mining sector, GlobalData reports.


The company, the fourth biggest iron ore producer globally, is the mining company best positioned to take advantage of future disruption in the industry, according to GlobalData analysts.

ON A SCALE OF ONE TO FIVE, AUSTRALIAN COMPANIES RECEIVED AN AVERAGE SCORE OF 3.7, WITH FORTESCUE LEADING THE COUNTRY’S SCORECARD WITH 4.5

The scores are based on overall technology, macroeconomic and sector-specific leadership in the ten key thematic areas developed by GlobalData.

Fortescue Metals is followed by several gold mining firms – US-based Newmont, Russia-based Polyus, South Africa’s Gold Fields, Australia’s Newcrest Mining and Canada’s Kirkland Lake Gold.

Click here to view an interactive chart comparing company ratings across the 10 themes in question.

South African Gold Fields was also highly ranked in GlobalData’s thematic scorecard, announcing new digitizing mines and renewable power operations projects.

On a scale of one to five, Australian companies received an average score of 3.7, with Fortescue leading the country’s scorecard with 4.5.

Australia also has one of the highest representations among top mining companies, being home to five out of 50 of the companies in the GlobalData analysis, only behind China and Canada. However, this number doesn’t include multinational corporations such as Anglo-Australian Rio Tinto or companies that have significant operations in Australia, such as AngloGold Ashanti.

Overall, 44% of the top companies in the GlobalData thematic scorecard are from the Asia-Pacific region, including China.


In the case of Australia, where the five companies on the list shone brightest was the workplace safety theme, scoring an average of 4.4 out of five. Commodity markets and ESG, climate change, and capital raising were also among the most promising themes for Australian companies, while investment in lithium-ion batteries was below the scorecard average.

Companies based in other countries had their own strengths and weaknesses: Chinese corporations, for example, perform well on capital raising but poorly when it comes to climate change, while British companies are more ambitious when it comes to climate change and score well on commodity markets.

For the latter, Rio Tinto, for example, has benefited from the steep rise in iron ore prices over the last 12 months, and is looking to build its position in copper. The successful development of the Jadar project in Serbia would also improve its position in lithium-ion battery theme.

These scores are based on overall technology, macroeconomic and sector-specific leadership in 10 of the key themes that matter most to the mining industry and are generated by GlobalData analysts’ assessments.

Peru wants mining companies to help build railway to Pacific coast
Reuters | August 25, 2021 |

Harbour in San Juan de Marcona, Peru. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Peru is asking help from mining companies Las Bambas, of China’s MMG Ltd, and Grupo Mexico’s Southern Copper to build a rail system from a mineral-rich Andean zone to the country’s central Pacific coast, Mining Minister Ivan Merino said in an interview.


Representatives of both companies said they were open to discussing participation in the railroad, which would be used to transport both commodities and people. Peru is already the world’s No. 2 copper producer, and the country’s new government want to further develop the sector.

The railway, in the technical evaluation stage and with construction scheduled to start in 2023, would start in Cusco or Apurimac and go to the port of Marcona, Merino told Reuters in an interview late on Tuesday.

PERU’S SOUTHERN ANDEAN REGION HAS LARGE MINES SUCH AS MMG’S LAS BAMBAS AND GRUPO MEXICO’S LOS CHANCAS

“The cost of the project is being evaluated,” the minister said, adding that the train should be ready to roll in 2028.

Peru’s southern Andean region has large mines such as MMG’s Las Bambas and Grupo Mexico’s Los Chancas.

Las Bambas produces an average 350,000 tonnes of copper per year and Los Chancas is a $2.6 billion project, currently in the environmental impact study phase. Southern Copper plans to produce 100,000 tonnes of copper per year at the site.

“They are part of the project,” Merino said.

Asked about the plan, Southern Copper Vice President of Finance Raul Jacob said that he had discussed the train proposal with Merino.

“We consider it an interesting project that must be carefully evaluated,” he told Reuters in a written message.

MMG ‘s corporate affairs manager, Maggie Qin, said in an email that Las Bambas is aware of the railway plan.

“We are willing to work closely with the government and help it when and where it is needed,” she said.

Australia-based MMG is a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned enterprise China Minmetals Corp.

(By Marco Aquino and Hugh Bronstein)

Peru will seek to tax miners more when prices high
Reuters | August 26, 2021 | 

Guido Bellido. Credit: Wikipedia

Peruvian Prime Minister Guido Bellido asked Congress on Thursday for legislative powers for the executive on tax matters as he seeks a first vote of confidence for the new cabinet of leftist president Pedro Castillo.


Bellido said that the government also plans to tap the excess profits of mining companies at times of high international prices of raw materials. Peru is the world’s second largest copper producer and mining is the engine of the Andean country’s economy.

(By Marco Aquino and Aislinn Laing)

BHP turns to electric pickups as miners seek emissions cuts

Bloomberg News | August 24, 2021 | 

Miller Technology’s Relay electric vehicle. Credit: Miller

BHP Group and Mitsubishi Corp. will deploy electric pickup trucks and fast-charging units at an Australian coal mine to test technology that could aid the challenging task of cutting the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions.


The BHP Mitsubishi Alliance joint venture, Australia’s top coal producer, will initially use two of Canadian firm Miller Technology Inc.’s Relay trucks to transport workers at the Broadmeadow mine in Queensland. The vehicles — which can be juiced up in about 20 minutes for a 10-hour shift — will be backed by Tritium Pty Ltd. chargers that are adapted for use in harsh mining environments.

Miners are beginning to test out options to replace their vast diesel-powered fleets, including pickups and excavators, with zero-emissions alternatives, a step that could assist in curbing the industry’s sprawling climate footprint. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. is adding hydrogen fuel-cell buses, while BHP, Vale SA and Rio Tinto Group have challenged suppliers to speed up development of large electric haul trucks.

Eliminating all combustion-engine vehicles at mines would require major investment and only tackle a portion of their pollution. Use of diesel, including by mining equipment, accounts for about 40% of BHP’s so-called scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions, the company said in its most recent annual climate report.


“The new electric transporters are a major step toward safer and more sustainable underground mining,” BMA President James Palmer said in a statement. The Relay trucks will replace diesel vehicles at the mine, and BMA plans a broader fleet replacement program that will eventually retire its entire diesel fleet.

Brisbane-based charger manufacturer Tritium, which in May reached an agreement to go public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, sees further opportunities to supply charging equipment to miners.

The industry will need “charging technology that is sealed to protect against sediment, dust and moisture, and rated to operate in harsh conditions,” Jane Hunter, Tritium’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

BHP is seeking to lower greenhouse gas emissions from its own operations — a small fraction of the total — by almost a third by 2030 and to zero by 2050. The company last week agreed to split off its oil and gas unit to accelerate a retreat from fossil fuels, and is working with customers to reduce emissions.

(By James Thornhill)

BHP risks two notch downgrade on oil asset sale

Reuters | August 24, 2021 | 

Credit: BHP

BHP Group is at risk of a two notch downgrade that would provoke its lowest ever credit rating as the sale of its petroleum business raises the miner’s dependence on its major business of iron ore, S&P Global said on Tuesday.


BHP has agreed to hive off its petroleum business to Woodside Petroleum Ltd in a nil-premium merger, in return for new Woodside shares which will go to BHP shareholders, who will own 48% of the enlarged group.

The sale will reduce BHP’s portfolio diversity and will raise its dependency on a single asset, the agency noted.

S&P Global said it was placing ‘A’ long- and ‘A-1’ short-term ratings on BHP, as well as the ‘A’ issue rating on the group’s senior unsecured notes on CreditWatch with negative implications.

That means BHP’s rating could fall to BBB+, which would be its lowest since it was first rated in 1995.

“The CreditWatch placement indicates that we could lower our ratings on BHP by up to two notches in the coming months, based on our updated review of the strength of the group’s business risk profile, if the divestment of its petroleum assets takes place as proposed,” it said in a note.

(By Melanie Burton; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Jacqueline Wong)

WANT SOME CHEESE WITH THAT WHINE

Royalty bill will put Chile’s private miners out of business, trade group says
Reuters | August 25, 2021 | 

Diego Hernández, President of Sonami and a former Codelco CEO. (Image courtesy of Codelco via Flickr)

Chile’s sprawling mining sector believes a royalty bill under discussion in Congress could shut down the country’s private miners as currently written, a senior mining executive told lawmakers on Wednesday.


The controversial legislation has gained momentum this year as prices of the red metal – critical for its use in construction and automaking industries – have soared amid a nascent global recovery following the coronavirus pandemic.

The bill, approved by the Chamber of Deputies and now under review in the Senate, would slap a 3% royalty on sales of copper that would increase sharply alongside rising prices.

Diego Hernández, president of the National Mining Society (Sonami) – an umbrella group for Chile’s mining sector – said in a presentation Wednesday to Senators that the rates under consideration “are exaggeratedly high … in practice it would make private mining impossible.”

PROPONENTS OF THE BILL SAY PROCEEDS FROM THE PROPOSED ROYALTY ARE URGENTLY NEEDED TO UNDERWRITE SOCIAL PROGRAMS

Hernandez said the bill was also regressive “since it affects less competitive mines most and does not account for the for the heterogeneity of Chilean mines.”

Chile, the world’s top copper producer, has a vast array of copper mines of varying sizes, productivity and ages, complicating the task of creating a tax scheme that does not unfairly disadvantage one over the other.

Proponents of the bill nonetheless say proceeds from the proposed royalty are urgently needed to underwrite social programs for Chileans suffering from the coronavirus pandemic.

The administration of center-right President Sebastian Pinera has warned of the potential economic and unemployment related impacts of the bill, and has questioned its validity, saying it believes such legislation must originate from the executive branch.

(By Fabian Cambero and Dave Sherwood; Editing by Sandra Maler)