Congo court appoints temporary administrator to run China Moly’s Tenke mine

Reuters | February 28, 2022

Aerial view of the processing plant at China Molybdenum’s Tenke Fungurume mine in 2015. (Image courtesy of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold)

A court in Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday appointed a temporary administrator to run China Molybdenum’s Tenke Fungurume copper and cobalt mine at the request of state miner Gecamines, a minority shareholder in the project.


The order from the Tribunal of Commerce in the southeastern city of Lubumbashi marks a significant development in a dispute that broke out last year between Congolese authorities and China Moly over reserve levels at the mine.

Congo’s government announced in August it had formed a commission to reassess the reserves and resources at the mine in order to “fairly lay claim to (its) rights”. Several Gecamines officials were appointed to the commission.

China Moly, which has an 80% stake in Tenke Fungurume, Congo’s second-biggest copper mine, said at the time it was confident the issue would be resolved. The government has made few public comments about the matter since then.

But the court order on Monday showed state mining company Gecamines, which owns 20% of Tenke Fungurume, petitioned judges in December to strip the mine’s current leadership of decision-making powers and appoint a temporary administrator.

The court appointed Sage Ngoie Mbayo, who Gecamines recently appointed as its representative to the mine, as administrator for a period of six months. He will take over management responsibilities from China Molybdenum-appointed chief executive, Jun Zhou.

The court tasked Ngoie with “reconciling the two partners on the points of divergence, namely access to technical information and social affairs of the company”.

China Moly did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tenke Fungurume produced around 182,600 tonnes of copper and 15,400 tonnes of cobalt in 2020, the last year for which complete data is available.

(By Aaron Ross; Editing by Chris Reese)

Alcoa CEO affirms promise of no new aluminum smelters

Bloomberg News | March 1, 2022 

Image: Elysis

Alcoa Corp.’s top executive is doubling down on his company’s promise to not add new aluminum capacity, indicating the world shouldn’t rely on the largest U.S. aluminum producer to help ease supply pains.


Chief Executive Officer Roy Harvey said Tuesday that Alcoa has no plans to add capacity by building or restarting aluminum smelters. His words reiterate a position made by the Pittsburgh-based company in November, which vowed to only build low-emission mills using technology from a venture dubbed Elysis.

“We choose not to invest in conventional technology — that brownfield or greenfield capacity,” Harvey said during a BMO Capital Markets conference in Florida. “We’re just not going to do it because by the time you design and start to construct, Elysis as a package will be ready to go.”

Harvey’s comments are significant given aluminum’s surge to an all-time high on Monday as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine compounds ongoing global shortages of the industrial metal used in goods ranging from autos and airplanes to appliances and packaging.

Elysis is a joint venture between Alcoa and Rio Tinto Group that developed technology to make aluminum with production methods that don’t emit carbon dioxide. Alcoa has said it expects the project will produce at commercial scale in a few years, and vowed in November that any new capacity would only be built using this technology.

Shares of Alcoa surged as much as 14% on Tuesday in New York, while benchmark aluminum prices in London gained up to 3.7%. The global market swung to a 1.9 million-ton deficit last year, according to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics.

Harvey said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has no direct impact on Alcoa’s business, though the war will impact the global supply of alumina, a key aluminum-making ingredient. As sanctions against Russia increase, the CEO also said Alcoa is assessing what to do about its aluminum sales to Russian companies.

(By Joe Deaux)

BHP says it must do more to address toxic workplace culture

Bloomberg News | March 1, 2022 

Ken MacKenzie, BHP chairman since 2017. (Image courtesy of BHP.)

BHP Group Ltd. has been focused on tackling all forms of harassment at its workplaces for some time, but the company still has more to do, Chairman Ken MacKenzie said in a speech Wednesday.


His comments come after rival miner Rio Tinto Group in Feb. published an explosive report showing evidence of endemic sexual harassment, racism and bullying across its operations. The industry’s remote mines can be especially risky for women. They remain largely male-dominated, with workers living in camp-style accommodation that blurs the line between work and social life.

“We know unacceptable behaviour still occurs in all workplaces, including BHP. And it shouldn’t,” MacKenzie told a conference in Melbourne. “Our data shows that an inclusive and diverse workforce is safer, more engaged and more productive,” he added.

BHP revealed last year that it had fired 48 workers at its sites in Western Australia since July 2019 after verifying allegations of harassment, as well as receiving two substantiated allegations of rape.

The global miner has increased female participation across the business by two-thirds since 2016, lifting it to over 30%, MacKenzie said, although it still has work to do to meet an aspirational target of gender balance by 2025.

Demands on large corporations from a range of stakeholders “seem louder, and more conflicting than ever before,” MacKenzie said, but BHP must not lose sight of the opportunities afforded by the increased focus on environmental, social and governance issues.

(By James Thornhill)

‘Uncertainties’ for Kinross Gold’s Russian operations amidst conflict — BMO

Naimul Karim | March 1, 2022 

Image: Kinross

Prolonged international sanctions might “slow or halt” the development of Kinross Gold’s (TSX: K; NYSE: KGC) operations in Russia, BMO’s metals and mining analysts said, as the country continues to attack Ukraine.


The first wave of sanctions on Russia were announced on February 22, after Moscow’s order to deploy troops to eastern Ukraine.

“As the Russia conflict continues to evolve, uncertainties around Kinross’s operations in-country continue to build,” BMO mining analyst Jackie Przybylowski wrote in a research note to clients. Przybylowski spoke to the Kinross team, including its CEO Paul Rollinson, at the ongoing 2022 BMO Global Metals and Mining Conference in Hollywood, Florida.

International sanctions limit the ability of Russian domestic banks to purchase Kinross’s produced gold and if gold were to accumulate at site for a prolonged period, Kinross could see a shortage of working capital, which could affect short-term operations, the analyst said.

The lack of sales could also slow or halt development of the company’s Udinsk project in southeast Russia, which is currently in the feasibility stage and is expected to be funded by cash generated from the Kinross Gold’s Kupol mine in Russia.

Kinross Gold wasn’t immediately available for comment. However, in a press release on February 23, the company said that its operations in Russia were “operating according to plan” and remained “unaffected by U.S. sanctions.”

Kinross has been operating in Russia for about 25 years, and currently operates the Kupol underground mine and mill in Russia’s Far Eastern region of Chukotka, about 7,000 km from Ukraine. The mine produced 481,108 gold-equivalent oz. last year.

In 2013, the company expanded the mill from 3,500 to 4,500 tonnes per day to process additional ore from the Dvoinoye mine, about 100 km to the north, where mining activities ceased in 2020. Stockpiles from Dvoinoye are expected to be processed until about 2024.

In January 2020 Kinross acquired the Chulbatkan licence, also in Russia’s Far East. Drilling there has focused on the Udinsk resource pit, which is the first project it expects to develop on the licence, with first production forecast to start in 2025.

In 2022, Kinross expects approximately 13% of its global production to come from Russia.

The company’s stock is down 29% year to date, which is “significantly worse than other gold companies under BMO’s coverage,” said Przybylowski.

However, BMO believes that the company is taking reasonable measures to “balance risk from exposure to Russia with commitments to its local stakeholders and its operations.”

“In the near term, maintaining operations is important to ensure the long-term viability of the regional business. Kinross has a responsibility to the community; it maintains employment of its ~2,000 workers and numerous stakeholders in country (Russia),” wrote Przybylowski.

(This article first appeared in The Northern Miner)

EXPLAINER – The importance of Russian titanium to global industry

Reuters | March 1, 2022 | 

Monument to Russian Yuri Gagarin, the first person to travel in space, made of titanium. (Stock image by Сергей Детюков.)

The potential for disruptions to Russian commodity supplies has thrown a spotlight on the metal used in the aerospace, marine and auto industries.


The United States and Europe have imposed financial sanctions on Russian banks, individuals and other entities after Russia invaded Ukraine.



There are as yet no sanctions on Russian commodity exporters such as VSMPO-Avisma, which supplies titanium to planemakers Boeing and Airbus.

But a decision by Western allies to block “selected” Russian banks from the SWIFT payments system could disrupt supplies of commodities that Russia exports, as could suspension of container shipping to and from Russia.

Where is titanium produced?

Titanium minerals are used to make titanium sponge, which is turned into metal for industrial applications.

China is the world’s top producer of titanium sponge, accounting for 57% of global output at 210,000 tonnes last year, according to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

USGS data shows Japan comes next with nearly 17%, followed by Russia with nearly 13% of the market. Kazakhstan produced 16,000 tonnes and Ukraine 3,700 tonnes.

Russia has low titanium mineral reserves.

“In 2021 Ukraine was the leading source of titanium mineral concentrates imports into Russia,” USGS said. “Other leading sources included Vietnam, Mozambique and Kazakhstan.”

USGS estimates that Ukraine produced 525,000 tonnes of titanium mineral concentrates last year.

Who imports uranium?

Consultancy CRU says that China was the largest importer of titanium sponge last year with more than 16,000 tonnes, up from 6,000 tonnes in 2020.

The second-largest importer was the United States with about 16,000 tonnes last year, down from 19,000 in 2020.

Japan is the largest exporter of titanium sponge to China and the United States, shipping 8,000 tonnes and 14,000 tonnes respectively last year.

“The recovery of industries such as construction and aerospace last year led to a jump in demand for titanium products post-pandemic,” CRU analysts said.

Tight supplies can be seen in prices of titanium sponge which are up nearly 9% since the end of December at about $9 per kg.

What is titanium used for?

Titanium is used in the aerospace industry to make landing gear, blades and turbine discs, in the marine industry titanium sheet is used to make ships and submarines and in the auto sector it is used in components for internal combustion engines.

In chemical processing, titanium offers protection from fatigue and cracking, in vaping titanium wire is used to enhance safety and control temperature and in sport its uses include golf club heads.

Titanium is also used for joint replacements and dental implants because it has a similar density to human bones.

What’s in a name?

The name Titanium is derived from the Titans of Greek mythology, with the metal accounting for about 0.6% of the earth’s mass.

It is a hard, strong, lightweight metal with extraordinary resistance to corrosion. Titanium is as strong as steel, yet 45% lighter.

(By Pratima Desai; Editing by David Goodman)

BHP, Capricorn back startup promising cleaner lithium mining
Bloomberg News | March 1, 2022 

The Calgary-based startup also plans to raise at least $100 million in series B funding by the end of this year or early next year. (Adobe Stock Image.)

Capricorn Investment Group and BHP Group’s venture capital unit are backing a startup that says its processes make for cleaner and more efficient mining in lithium, the metal used in electric-vehicle batteries.


Summit Nanotech Corp. said in a statement that it closed on a $14 million investment round co-led by Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund and Temasek’s Xora Innovation, along with BHP Ventures. Funds will be used to help commercialize Summit’s technology.



Summit is tapping into an accelerating race among mining heavyweights and automakers to control more supplies of raw materials that are key to transitioning to low-carbon energy sources. Investors are pressing miners to ensure that battery metals including lithium, nickel and cobalt are produced ethically and in an environmentally friendly way amid a global push to reduce pollution in worldwide economies.

The Calgary-based startup also plans to raise at least $100 million in series B funding by the end of this year or early next year and has already engaged in talks with three automakers, according to Founder and Chief Executive Officer Amanda Hall.

(By Yvonne Yue Li)

Honduras to cancel environmental permits for mining, ban open pits

Reuters | February 28, 2022 

Stock image.

Environmental permits for Honduran metal and non-metal mining will be cancelled, the country’s government said in a brief statement on Monday, describing the industry as harmful and declaring it will specifically prohibit open-pit mining.


The statement from the Ministry of Energy, Natural Resources, Environment and Mines added that natural areas with “high ecological value” will be preserved, without going into further detail.

“The approval of permits for extractive exploitation is cancelled due to being harmful to the state of Honduras, threatening natural resources, public health and because they limit access to water as a human right,” according to the ministry’s statement.

The energy and mining ministry did not immediately respond to a request for clarification on whether the permit cancellations will only affect new projects, or whether they will also apply to existing ones.

The announcement comes from the barely a month-old government of leftist President Xiomara Castro, who took office in January promising to pull the Central American nation “out of the abyss” caused by failed economic policies and rampant corruption.

Castro’s election manifesto released last September pledged to limit mining, prior to her victory at the polls in late November. The manifesto detailed 282 mining concessions doled out by previous governments through 2017, citing the country’s geology and mining institute.

Canada’s Aura Minerals operates an open-pit mine in western Honduras, where it has encountered stiff local opposition in part due to alleged disturbances to a Maya-Chorti indigenous cemetery.

Last year, the company suspended operations due to what it described as illegal blockades.

Aura Minerals’ San Andres mine processed more than 4.4 million tonnes of ore in 2020, producing nearly 61,000 ounces of gold, according to the company’s website.

Honduran mining export revenue from silver, zinc and lead projects in the country totalled nearly $130 million last year, according to central bank data, which did not include any revenue from gold shipments.

(By Gustavo Palencia and Kylie Madry; Editing by David Alire Garcia, Chris Reese and Kenneth Maxwell)

USA 

Most Georgians prefer clean energy over coal – study
MINING.COM Staff Writer | March 2, 2022 | 6:06 am Energy News USA Coal Uranium

Solar panels. (Image from Piqsels).

A recent survey carried out on behalf of researchers at Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia found that a majority of residents of the US state of Georgia strongly support new solar and wind power capacity over new coal-fired plants and believe the government should set a carbon emissions reduction goal.


Conducted by polling firm Dynata, the survey found that 60% of residents back the creation of a state carbon emissions reduction goal. That includes 74% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 52% of independents, and 45% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.

The poll also found that seven out of 10 Georgians support new solar power and six out of 10 back new wind power, with new hydroelectric and natural gas capacity also receiving relatively favorable marks.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, the study showed that only 30% of respondents supported new coal-fired power plants.

“This survey demonstrates that many Georgians across the political spectrum are in favor of green energy solutions that will benefit the state’s environment, create new jobs, and support our economy,” Marilyn Brown, professor of sustainable systems in Georgia Tech’s School of Public Policy, said in a media statement.

Coal is the fourth most important energy source in Georgia, contributing to nearly 12% of the state’s net generation in 2020.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, most of the state’s electricity comes from natural gas, accounting for 49% of its net generation in 2020.

The southern region also exports LNG, particularly after the Elba Island liquefied natural gas import terminal added liquefication and export facilities with the capacity to export 350 million cubic feet per day. Export operations began two years ago, and more than 36 billion cubic feet were exported from Elba in 2020.

Locally, LNG was followed by nuclear power, as Georgia’s four operating nuclear reactors accounted for 27% of the net generation in the same year, while renewable energy, including hydroelectric power and small-scale solar, accounted for 12%.

GREENWASHING

After 139 years of coal mining, Peabody expands into solar

Bloomberg News | March 1, 2022 | 

Peabody’s North Antelope Rochelle Mine (NARM). 

(Image courtesy of Peabody Energy)

Peabody Energy Corp, the biggest U.S. coal producer, is expanding into clean energy.


The St. Louis-based company is forming a joint venture with Riverstone Credit Parters and Summit Partners Credit Advisors to develop utility-scale solar projects on land around retired coal mines, according to a statement Tuesday.


The move is symbolic for a company that’s been digging up the dirtiest fossil fuel since its founding in 1883. But it’s unlikely to mark a significant strategic shift. Peabody characterized the decision as a way to generate new revenue sources, but didn’t disclose how much it was investing in the effort. The company’s primary focus will continue to be coal.

“It would take a long time to turn that ship,” said Andrew Cosgrove, a mining analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. “This doesn’t move the needle, financially.”

Peabody shares gained 10% to $19.09 at 10:25 a.m. in New York.

The joint venture, R3 Renewables, is focused initially on six sites in Indiana and Illinois. It expects to develop more than 3.3 gigawatts of solar projects and 1.6 gigawatts of battery storage during the next five years.

The venture will create “additional value from our existing assets,” Chief Executive Officer Jim Grech said in Tuesday’s statement. Company representatives didn’t respond to phone calls or emails Tuesday requesting further details.

“I’m not sure how much skin is in this transaction,” BI’s Cosgrove said, suggesting that one potential scenario could see Peabody provide the land and its partners take on most of the development work.

Peabody isn’t the first coal producer to expand into solar. Hallador Energy Co. said in June plans to develop as much as 1,000 megawatts of renewable power in Indiana with Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Cooperative Inc., near a power plant that Hoosier expects to retire in 2023.

(By Will Wade)

Nutrien sees long-lasting disruption to fertilizer market from Russia’s invasion

Cecilia Jamasmie | March 2, 2022 

Nutrien will boost potash production if it sees sustained supply problems in Russia and Belarus, the world’s second- and third-largest potash producing countries after Canada.(Image courtesy of Nutrien.)

Canada’s Nutrien (TSX, NYSE: NTR), the world’s largest potash miner, sees supply shortages of fertilizer getting worse due to the ongoing and escalating Russian invasion of Ukraine, two of the world’s top producers of crops food.


Interim chief executive Ken Seitz, who took the helm in January after the sudden resignation of Mayo Schmidt, told a BMO Capital conference that Russia’s invasion could result in prolonged disruptions to the global supply of potash and nitrogen crop nutrients.

The executive said Nutrien was ready to increase potash production if it sees sustained supply problems in Russia and Belarus, the world’s second- and third-largest potash producing countries after Canada.

Nutrien has said it expects to sell as much as 14.3 million tonnes of potash this year, its most ever, and Seitz said the company plans to run its plants “flat out” as it braces for exports interruptions and plant closures from Russia.

Global spot prices for potash hit a 13-year high of around $650 per tonne in December, after a spike in crop prices and a demand recovery this year. The record price for the fertilizer was set in 2008 when supply deals were signed at around $800 per tonne.

The invasion of Ukraine is also jeopardizing Russia’s nitrogen fertilizer exports and triggering sharp price increases of oil and natural gas, a key input in nitrogen production.

Europe relies on Russia for about a quarter of its oil and more than a third of its gas, with many of those shipments flowing through pipelines crossing Ukraine.

BMO fertilizer and chemicals analyst, Joel Jackson, said the bank sees European gas prices set to remain elevated, likely leading to further plant closures and further uncertainty around Russian supply.

“This could, in our view, see Nutrien reach the high end of 10.8 million tonnes to 11.3 million tonnes 2022 nitrogen volume guidance,” Jackson wrote.

Further disruptions could leave Europe freezing in the winter and curb the continent’s electricity production, forcing energy-intensive industries such as metals smelters and fertilizer makers to slow or shut their output.
Soaring prices

Prices of both oil and gas have skyrocketed in the past week, much higher than North American levels, as European governments are looking to wean their economies off Russian gas.

Brent crude — the global benchmark for oil prices — hit $113 a barrel on Wednesday, its highest since June 2014.

Nutrien shares have climbed 54% in the past year, as global demand for fertilizer already exceeded supply prior to this week’s geopolitical crisis.

The stock was 2.15% up in pre-market trading in New York on Wednesday at $86.76 a piece, leaving Nutrien with a market capitalization of C$59.53 billion ($47 billion).

(With files from Reuters, Bloomberg)