It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, April 04, 2023
Philippine Regulators are Treating Princess Empress Spill as a "Crime"
Japanese salvor Fukada has begun installing bags on leak locations on the wreck (Philippine Coast Guard)
Philippine regulators are moving to pursue formal charges against the operator of the lost tanker Princess Empress, and are treating the matter as a criminal investigation.
The vessel went down off Oriental Mindoro on February 28 with about 800,000 liters of fuel oil on board, and the Philippine Coast Guard believes that three out of its five cargo tanks have leaked their contents into the sea. The resulting pollution has wreaked havoc on the coastal villages of the province, which are reliant on fishing and tourism for income. A full fishing ban for the region remains in effect, and beach cleanup operations continue.
The Philippines' Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) maintains that the Princess Empress did not have a valid operating permit for domestic trading at the time of the casualty, raising questions about the authenticity of the paperwork that the crew presented to the Philippine Coast Guard prior to departure on the accident voyage. In addition, the Philippines' justice department alleges that the product tanker was not a newbuild - as operator RDC Reield Marine Services claimed - but was rather a rebuilt "scrap ship" that had been purchased and converted. As the investigation picks up speed, MARINA has revoked RDC's permit and ordered it to cease sailing its remaining three vessels.
Additionally, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has filed an administrative complaint against RDC over the damage from the spill, which could lead to daily penalties for the shipowner beginning February 28.
"We are determined to make sure that people do not forget that what happened was a crime and not an accident. It was a crime,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla told local media on Tuesday.
Penalties could be coming for officials inside MARINA as well.
"We wish to provide assurance that management will really pursue any formal charge should the fact-finding investigation and process provide probable cause to really file formal charges [against] our officials or employees," MARINA deputy administrator Sonia Malaluan told Rappler.
On scene off Mindoro, spill response operations are still under way. Japanese salvor Fukada and the U.S. Navy Supervisor of Diving and Salvage (SUPSALV) are providing assistance to the response in the form of ROV inspection and intervention, and the U.S. Coast Guard is advising on containment and cleanup operations. NOAA is assisting the Philippine government with satellite imaging and analysis to map the spread of slicks on the surface.
Facing $2M Fine, Port of Morrow Contends With Another Wastewater Spill
Port officials said initially they didn’t know about the leak but later acknowledged they had, violating their wastewater permit
A new wastewater treatment lagoon at Port of Morrow, 2022. The spill occurred from a pipe leading to a lagoon complex (Port of Morrow file image)
The Port of Morrow, the state’s second-largest port, faces a new violation over contamination in eastern Oregon that may have been going on for some time.
The violation is linked to a spill of port wastewater in an area reeling from years of water contamination from the port and other sources. The Department of Environmental Quality, which failed for years to act, is now negotiating a settlement with the port over previous violations.
DEQ appears to have been slow to act again, waiting weeks until two people complained about the spill.
The agency, which regulates the port’s wastewater system, asked the port about the leak in mid-January after a second area resident complained to the agency that they’d heard about a leak or seen pooling water around the port’s main pipeline. DEQ officials asked port officials the day it received the second complaint whether its main pipeline carrying contaminated water from its industrial facilities in Boardman to nearby storage ponds was leaking atop an already contaminated aquifer.
Port officials acknowledged the leak, and within days temporarily shut down the port’s wastewater system, repaired the leak and began cleaning up the contaminated area.
Port officials told DEQ that it was the first time they had heard about the leak, according to Laura Gleim, a DEQ spokesperson.
But an investigation by the Capital Chronicle found the port had known about it for some time and had not informed DEQ, violating the port’s wastewater permit.
“It would be a violation if the port knew about it and didn’t report it to us within 24 hours,” Gleim told the Capital Chronicle in a February email.
The leak occurred in an industrial area and does not appear to have harmed residents, DEQ said. Thousands in the county have been exposed for years to well water contaminated with nitrates from port wastewater and agricultural sources.
The port acknowledged the lapse on Wednesday when Lisa Mittelsdorf, the port’s executive director, told DEQ it had known about the leak before fixing it, according to Gleim. In January, the port told DEQ officials that its inspectors thought it was snowmelt, Gleim told the Capital Chronicle.
“This shouldn’t have happened,” Gleim told the Capital Chronicle on Wednesday.
Video courtesy of Nella Parks, shot Dec. 14, 2022
The violation is the port’s third in just over a year. It is already facing more than $2 million in fines for allowing too much of its nitrate-laden wastewater to be spread over northeast Oregon fields for years, further contaminating an aquifer that thousands of people in Morrow and Umatilla counties rely on for drinking water.
“We are currently working through a settlement, and this is an additional violation, so it will be taken into account,” Gleim said.
She did not answer follow-up calls seeking more information by late Wednesday night, and Mittelsdorf did not answer emailed questions about why the port did not report the leak earlier or for how long port officials knew the pipe was leaking. Mittelsdorf also did not answer questions about the leak in February.
Earliest reports
It’s unclear when the leak started. Residents told the Capital Chronicle that it could have dated to last spring.
Ryan McComb, who works at an Amazon data center at the port, said he first saw a large pool of dark and milky water near his workplace in May.
“I take that road to work and to go home, so I drive by it every day, twice a day,” he said.
He described it as a 6- to 8-foot-wide pool. He wasn’t concerned until he read the signs on purple and green stakes at the site that said: “Caution. Industrial Waste Water.”
Under its wastewater permit, the port is required to visually inspect its wastewater system daily and note irregularities. Officials must provide them to DEQ upon request. Any leaks or violations of the permit need to be reported within 24 hours. None of these reports supplied to DEQ after the leak was found, from Jan. 12 to 18, reference a leak or pooling water. DEQ first contacted the port about the leak on Jan. 18.
In August, McComb said he noticed earth movers and workers near the spill.
In November, he told his grandfather, Mike Pearson, about the pool. Pearson is one of hundreds of people in Boardman with wells contaminated by nitrates. Alarmed about the leak, Pearson photographed the site and sent them to Nella Parks, a senior organizer with the nonprofit Oregon Rural Action, Parks said.
Parks alerted DEQ on Dec. 2.
“I am hearing reports that port wastewater is either being dumped or running onto private ground and that there are leaks in the waste water pipes,” Parks said in an email to Mike Hiatt, a regional DEQ specialist. “Are you aware of this?”
Hiatt forwarded the email to the regional water quality permit writer, Justin Sterger, who said he had not heard about a leak from the port, according to an email he sent to Hiatt.
Sterger sent Parks a link to a DEQ portal for submitting pollution complaints, but Parks did not submit one. Neither Hiatt nor Sterger contacted the port about the leak, Gleim, the DEQ spokeswoman, told the Capital Chronicle.
Hiatt now regrets failing to follow up. Hiatt said he had just started his job in August and wasn’t entirely sure what to do when Parks emailed.
“I do regret not reaching out to the port right after that,” he said.
January report
DEQ receives about 5,000 pollution complaints and emergency spill reports each year, Gleim said. She said the agency acts promptly.
It did on Jan. 18, the day a member of the public anonymously filed a formal pollution complaint through the DEQ portal with photos.
In response to the wastewater pipeline leak, the port excavated potentially contaminated soils for testing and disposal. (Port of Morrow)
Port engineers said the pipe leaked between 5 to 50 gallons of contaminated water per minute, according to correspondence between the port and DEQ. They show the port sucked at least 6,000 gallons of water from the pools on Jan. 23.
The leak was due to an old fitting on an elbow joint of the pipe, the port’s leak report said.
“Age, velocity, type of water with high silts, are all good theories for why this fitting failed,” the report said. “There was no unusual activities or uses leading to the leak note.”
The leak was not near residential areas, and the groundwater beneath it does not flow toward population centers or private wells, Gleim said.
She said the port plans to fully replace the pipe in 2023.
Alex Baumhardt has been a national radio producer focusing on education for American Public Media since 2017. She has reported from the Arctic to the Antarctic for national and international media, and from Minnesota and Oregon for The Washington Post.
This article appears courtesy of Oregon Capital Chronicle / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. It may be found in its original form here.
The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.
Australia’s energy storage capacity needs 10-fold increase by 2050 – report
Valentina Ruiz Leotaud | April 2, 2023 | Photovoltaics. (Image from the Renewable Energy Storage Roadmap, CSIRO.)
A recent, 200-page report released by Australia’s science agency CSIRO indicates that the national electricity market (NEM) could require a 10 to 14-fold increase in its electricity storage capacity between 2025-2050. This, in order to respond to rapidly rising energy demand spurred by the ongoing electrification of building and transport industries.
The study also found that while traditional storage technologies, such as batteries and pumped hydro, will continue to play a key role, all forms of energy storage must be considered to meet Australia’s growing demand across multiple sectors, each of which may favour different storage technologies.
“Although there are existing storage systems used to deliver energy from fossil fuels, higher levels of renewables in Australia’s energy system will result in a greater requirement for renewable energy storage technologies. These include electricity storage through electrochemical processes (e.g. batteries), mechanical storage (e.g. pumped hydro energy storage [PHES]), chemical storage (e.g. hydrogen in tanks or pipelines) and thermal storage (e.g. molten salts),” the report reads.
According to the document, batteries may be the best option for local and short-duration storage of electricity while thermal or heat energy – like steam – might be technology better suited for heat-intensive industries.
Renewable energy storage systems in Australia. (Graph by CSIRO).
The roadmap uses a scenario-based approach, building on pathways developed in the Australian Energy Market Operator’s 2022 Integrated System Plan that could materially impact the country’s energy sector.
In two of the cases, the Step Change and Hydrogen Superpower scenarios, the suggestion is that the national electricity market could require 44–96 GW/550–950 GWh of dispatchable electricity storage capacity by 2050, with Western Australia alone requiring 12–17 GW/74–96 GWh.
“As Australia transitions to net zero, there may also be an increase in thermal storage requirements, driven by the greater need for renewable process heat in industrial production,” the dossier states. “In addition, the strong profile for hydrogen exports in the Hydrogen Superpower scenario will lead to large increases in the demand for both electricity and hydrogen storage systems.” Large investments
Despite the uncertainty in storage outcomes in 2050, the modelling results suggest that all net-zero pathways will require large investments in renewable energy storage capacity.
In particular, larger investments in short- and medium-duration electricity storage are expected to be required to provide a reliable electricity supply, and significant investments in hydrogen (or hydrogen carrier) storage systems would be required if Australia wants to become a leader in green hydrogen exports.
Local mining tycoon Andrew Forrest has been at the forefront of the green hydrogen revolution, building and expanding facilities to manufacture electrolyzers, as the demand outlook for the clean fuel strengthens.
In CSIRO’s view, investment is also likely to be required for thermal energy storage systems, given the important role of process heat in industry and the use of variable renewable energy for heat production and the requirement for a constant heat supply.
“Determining the most competitive and appropriate forms of energy storage requires an understanding of the context in which the storage system will be used,” the agency’s document reads. “This requires stakeholders to go through a site- and region-specific approach to understand the role of energy storage, the deployment considerations and the technology options available (both commercial and developing). This approach is critical because site and regional factors can affect the requirements, costs, risks and integration considerations for a given storage system.” Not an easy road
CSIRO’s report notes that, regardless of the positive trend toward renewable energy deployment, many Australian sectors face challenges in integrating storage technologies.
When it comes to short-duration electricity storage (1–4 hours), which is expected to play a major role in decarbonization across Australia’s grids and industries, particularly by 2030, supply chain risks could create deployment bottlenecks and drive up prices.
To address this issue, CSIRO’s experts recommend the development of strategies to de-risk battery supply chains through a number of strategic diversification pathways, including, but not limited to strategic supply chain and manufacturing partnerships; developing domestic value chains; developing resource circularity; and investing in research, development and demonstration for alternative battery chemistries.
(Graph by CSIRO).
Looking at medium (4–12 hours) and long intraday (12–24 hours) electricity storage, the report recognized that although some commercial technologies exist, they are not always applicable depending on the end use or region in question. There are also several other technology options currently in development, but these are not yet competitive and require further demonstration and deployment.
Thus, the suggestion is to rapidly demonstrate and commercially deploy medium to long intraday duration technologies capable of providing hundreds of megawatt hours to multiple gigawatt hours of storage to create a diverse set of options for major grids and industry applications.
The dossier also proposes the idea of conducting further regional studies to better understand geological storage opportunities, such as with adiabatic compressed air energy storage and PHES subsystems, and opportunities to take advantage of existing capital and sites, including evaluating opportunities created through mine closure efforts.
In the case of long multiday (24–48 hours) and seasonal (100+ hours) electricity storage, which is expected to play a key energy ‘insurance’ and resilience role in major and isolated grids, the main issue is that storage technology options are limited and often have long lead times, with many stakeholders still considering investment options, including those that minimize storage investments, and evaluating trade-offs as they transition to net zero.
Given this situation, CSIRO believes that it is crucial to conduct further analysis to better understand Australia’s requirements for multiday and seasonal storage, the trade-offs that exist and the technology pathways available.
“Develop the pipeline of projects to meet Australia’s potential long-term seasonal and multi-day needs, including identifying and implementing opportunities to accelerate PHES deployments, and progressing emerging multi-day and seasonal technologies,” the report recommends.
The roadmap also proposes feasible pathways when it comes to the storage needed for mid‑temperature processes (150–500°C), high‑temperature processes (500°C and above) and hydrogen and hydrogen carriers.
CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Swiss court upholds corruption ruling against mining magnate Steinmetz
Reuters | April 4, 2023 | Beny Steinmetz was sentenced two years ago in one of the mining industry’s most high-profile legal disputes. (Image taken from Beny Steinmetz’s website)
A Swiss appeals court said on Tuesday it had upheld a guilty verdict for corruption against mining magnate Beny Steinmetz, who was sentenced in Geneva two years ago in one of the mining industry’s most high-profile legal disputes.
However, the court acquitted him of an earlier charge of forgery. Steinmetz, who is currently in Israel, said he will appeal the verdict to Switzerland’s highest federal court, calling the decision “unfair and politically motivated”.
The March 28 ruling, made public on Tuesday, followed seven days of hearings in August-September 2022 in which Steinmetz and two other defendants challenged an earlier verdict which found they had paid, or arranged payment, of bribes to obtain exploration permits for the world’s richest untapped deposits of iron ore in Guinea, and of forging documents to cover it up.
The higher court’s three judges reduced Steinmetz’s five-year prison sentence to three years of which 18 months must be served, citing the amount of time elapsed. The earlier 50 million Swiss francs ($55 million) fine was upheld.
During the appeal, lawyers for Steinmetz called for his full acquittal or, failing that, for the case’s closure on the grounds that Switzerland was not the appropriate venue to rule on the case since the alleged crimes were not committed there.
In its ruling in January 2021, a lower court in Geneva found Steinmetz and two others paid, or arranged payment, of $8.5 million in bribes between 2006 and 2012 to one of the wives of former Guinea president Lansana Conte, Mamadie Toure, to obtain exploration permits for iron ore buried beneath the Simandou mountains in Guinea.
Conte died in 2008. The Guinean government, which was by then a different administration, made no comment at the time of the ruling. Guinean authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling on Tuesday.
The whereabouts of Toure are unknown and Reuters could not reach her for comment. Untapped resources
In closing arguments, Steinmetz’s lawyer Daniel Kinzer told last year’s appeal hearing that Toure had merely “lobbied” her husband to give Beny Steinmetz Group Resources (BSGR) the mining permits. He said that meant the worst his client could be accused of was “influence-peddling”, which is not a crime under Swiss law.
Geneva’s chief prosecutor Yves Bertossa called these arguments “not serious” and repeated his call for the initial sentence to be upheld.
Steinmetz, 67, is a former Geneva resident who moved back to Israel in 2016 and has in the past been ranked as a billionaire. He attended the original trial and the appeal in person and told the court that he had never corrupted anyone.
He has not served any jail time, under Swiss rules which allow for the safe passage of non-resident defendants who attend their trials.
A spokesperson for Steinmetz said he was not required to serve the sentence pending the decision of the federal court.
The two other defendants found guilty alongside Steinmetz also saw their corruption verdicts upheld although their jail sentences were fully suspended. They were acquitted of forgery.
Simandou, in Guinea’s southeastern corner, is the largest known iron ore deposit of its kind, which analysts estimate holds more than 2 billion tonnes of high-grade ore, but legal disputes and the cost of building infrastructure mean it is untapped nearly three decades after its discovery.
($1 = 0.9118 Swiss francs)
(By Emma Farge, Clara Denina and Saliou Samb; Editing by Friederike Heine, Rachel More and Catherine Evans)
Anglo American, Sweden’s H2 Green Steel to work on low-carbon steelmaking processes
Anglo American said on Tuesday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Swedish hydrogen and steel producer H2 Green Steel to work on advancing low-carbon steelmaking processes.
The miner said the agreement includes studying and trialling the use of iron ore products from its Kumba mines in South Africa and Minas-Rio mine in Brazil as feedstock for H2’s direct reduced iron (DRI) production process at its Boden plant in Sweden.
DRI steel production is estimated to be significantly less carbon intensive than traditional blast furnace and basic oxygen furnace integrated processes.
Anglo American has agreements with a number of steelmakers in Europe and Asia to research efficient feed materials suited to use in DRI steelmaking, including iron ore pellets and lump iron ore.
H2 Green Steel, which was launched in 2021, is currently developing its DRI plant in Boden, which the company said would be powered by hydrogen plants running on renewable electricity.
Anglo American’s shares were up 0.4% by 0715 GMT.
(By Muhammed Husain; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Kirsten Donovan)
Rio Tinto to spend $216.5m to fund Ranger uranium mine rehab costs
Reuters | April 3, 2023 | Era has operated the Ranger mine since 1980, producing about 132,000 tonnes of uranium oxide. (Image courtesy of Energy Resources of Australia.)
Rio Tinto said on Tuesday it would buy A$319 million ($216.54 million) worth of shares in Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) to help fund rehabilitation costs related to a former uranium mine in the Northern Territory.
The world’s biggest iron ore miner has been under pressure to fund the cleanup costs of ERA’s Ranger mine site, which it operated for more than 30 years and is surrounded by the Kakadu national park rainforest.
Rehabilitation costs are estimated at A$1.6 billion to A$2.2 billion, ERA said in a statement.
ERA is hoping to raise up to A$369 million via an entitlement offer, with Packer & Co and Zentree Investments Ltd also expected to contribute to the capital raising.
Even if the offer is fully subscribed, ERA will need another A$210 million to A$756 million to fund the remaining rehabilitation cost, the company said, adding that it was likely to miss its January 2026 rehabilitation deadline.
“We are committed to ensuring the critical rehabilitation of Ranger is completed to a standard that will establish an environment similar to the adjacent Kakadu National Park,” said Rio Tinto’s chief executive for Australia, Kellie Parker.
Rio was the target of some of the biggest environmental protests across Australia in 1998, including an eight-month blockade and 500 arrests, after the local Indigenous Mirarr people opposed its planned development of the nearby Jabiluka concession.
The Australian government documented more than 200 environmental incidents at the mine between 1979 and 2003.
ERA will issue shares at a price of A$0.02 apiece under the entitlement offer, representing a 90.2% discount to the stock’s last close of A$0.205.
ERA shares declined 9.8% to A$0.185, their lowest since June 2022, while the benchmark index was marginally higher.
Rio Tinto’s voting power in ERA could increase to up to 89.1% from 86.3% now following the completion of the capital raising.
ERA will also use the proceeds to partly repay a A$100 million loan from Rio Tinto.
($1 = 1.4732 Australian dollars)
(By Harish Sridharan; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
Biden’s landmark climate bill lures China’s clean energy giants
Bloomberg News | April 1, 2023 | JA Solar’s power plant in Utah. (Image by A Solar Technology).
China’s leading renewables firms are joining the rush to open factories in the US after Washington passed a landmark climate bill that supports local clean energy manufacturing.
Some of the nation’s top solar panel makers are involved in setting up American plants, while the Chinese company that makes the world’s largest wind turbine, Ming Yang Smart Energy Group Ltd., is exploring whether to establish production and research facilities there.
The building boom underscores how the US has rebuilt its credentials as a cleantech manufacturing hub after last year’s Inflation Reduction Act. The bill, a signature achievement for the Biden administration, includes $374 billion in new climate-related spending. That’s drawn the attention of China’s world-leading renewables industry despite deepening tensions between the two governments.
“The US is working on low-carbon, green development, has plans, and has introduced many good policies and mechanisms — it is very attractive,” Ming Yang Chairman Zhang Chuanwei said in an interview last week at the Boao Forum for Asia on the island of Hainan, an event dubbed as China’s version of Davos.
The company hasn’t announced any US plans yet, but three of its clean energy peers are in the process of building their presence there: JA Solar Technology Co. in Arizona, Longi Green Energy Technology Co. in Ohio, and Jinko Solar Co. in Florida.
Chinese solar firms dominate global panel production, but have been stymied from shipping to the US because of a series of trade disputes and allegations of human rights abuses, which China has denied. Some of the firms have moved to expand exports from plants in southeast Asia to navigate curbs on US trade.
Biden’s climate policy is designed to boost domestic cleantech industries and reduce America’s reliance on imports. The bill extends to encouraging foreign firms to set up shop in the US, sparking a wave of new factory announcements since it was passed in August. But Chinese companies have been reticent about publicizing their investments.
That’s due to Washington’s increasingly adversarial approach to Chinese firms, according to Li Junfeng, managing director of the China Energy Research Society, a government-affiliated think tank. He cited the scrutiny faced by battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. over its recent tie-up with Ford Motor Co., as well as the furor linked to national security concerns that has erupted over social-media platform TikTok.
That’s left Chinese companies fearing they won’t get the same treatment as their South Korean or European counterparts, Li said.
“It isn’t enough for the US to just introduce the IRA bill. It needs to give a clear expectation that companies will be treated equally,” he said. “If one day it says that solar panels are also national security issues, we won’t be able to talk reasonably anymore.”
Cleantech is assuming a strategic importance as it becomes the world’s biggest source of new energy. China’s advantage means that governments elsewhere are trying to chip away at its dominance by carving out their own supply chains. But Beijing is fighting its corner, albeit in ways that could undercut the industry’s pleas for fair treatment from US authorities.
The Chinese government has launched its own probe of the CATL-Ford deal, to ensure the battery giant’s core technology isn’t handed over to the US carmaker. It’s also considering an export ban that would help maintain its substantial lead in solar manufacturing.
Li said the proposed solar ban is only a draft, and has met objections from some companies. China has spent over 20 years building the world’s best solar industry, but it needs to balance local manufacturing capabilities with maintaining a robust global supply chain, he said.
China is scared of being cut off from key technologies, but other countries have the same fear, Li said. One answer is to “encourage Chinese companies to build factories abroad.” Trade barriers
Trade barriers in countries such as the US and India are raising the cost of clean energy, Gao Jifan, chairman of another Chinese firm, Trina Solar Co., told a panel at the Boao Forum. “We should build a mechanism that makes everybody feel safe, instead of building barriers,” he said.
Clean energy equipment should be manufactured where the cost is lowest, and it should be traded around the globe without any obstacles, Gao said. Trina is also willing to build manufacturing capacity in the US, as well as Europe given the supportive policies there, he said.
Ming Yang’s Zhang said the company could buy parts and equipment from local firms if it does decide to set up in America. And the nation’s infamously hurricane-prone coastal areas will also benefit from deploying its turbines because they’re designed to resist extreme winds.
“The US, like China, is a massive renewable energy market,” he said. “We are willing to enter the US, and we hope that the US will create a fair, inclusive, and predictable environment.”
Copper ore analyses reveal deep connections between ancient African civilizations
Staff Writer | April 2, 2023 | Jay Stephens (right) collects samples of copper ore. (Image by Jay Stephens, courtesy of the University of Missouri).
An international team of researchers ran chemical and isotopic analyses of copper artifacts from southern Africa and discovered new cultural connections among people living in the region between the 5th and 20th centuries.
In a paper published in the journal Plos One, the researchers explain that people in the area between northern South Africa and the Copperbelt region in central Africa were more connected to one another than scholars previously thought.
“Over the past 20 to 30 years, most archaeologists have framed the archaeological record of southern Africa in a global way with a major focus on its connection to imports coming from the Indian Ocean,” said Jay Stephens, lead author of the study and a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Missouri.
“But it’s also important to recognize the interconnected relationships that existed among the many groups of people living in southern Africa. The data show the interaction between these groups not only involved the movement of goods but also flows of information and the sharing of technological practices that come with that exchange.”
Mining copper ore
For years, scholars debated whether the artifacts analyzed, called rectangular, fishtail and Croisette copper ingots, were made exclusively from copper ore mined in the Copperbelt region or from Zimbabwe’s Magondi Belt. As it turns out, both theories are correct.
“We now have tangible linkages to reconstruct connectivity at various points in time in the archeological record,” Stephens said. “There is a massive history of interconnectivity found throughout the region in areas now known as the countries of Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This also includes people from the contemporary Ingombe Ilede, Harare, and Musengezi traditions of northern Zimbabwe between at least the 14th and 18th centuries A.D.”
To arrive at these conclusions, Stephens and his colleagues took small samples from 33 copper ingots and analyzed them at the University of Arizona. All samples were carefully selected from archeological samples found in the collections of the Museum of Human Sciences in Harare, Zimbabwe, and the Livingstone Museum in Livingstone, Zambia.
“We didn’t want to impact the display of an object, so we tried to be aware of how museums and institutions would want to interact with the data we collected and share it with the general public,” Stephens said. “We also want our knowledge to be accessible for the individuals in these communities who continue to interact with these objects. Hopefully, some of the skills linked with these analyses can be used by whoever wants to ask similar questions in the future.”
One of the croisette copper ingots analyzed in the study. (Image by Jay Stephens).
In the researcher’s view, copper ingots are excellent objects for these types of analyses because they often have emblematic shapes that allow archaeologists to identify specific markings and follow changes over different time periods.
“By looking at their changes in shape and morphology over time, we can pair those changes with how technology changed over time,” he said. “This often comes from observing the decorative features produced from the cast object or mould, or other surface attributes found on these objects.”
No previous data
Once the pieces arrived at the University of Arizona lab, the researchers took a small amount of each sample—less than one gram—and dissolved it with specific acids to leave behind a liquid mixture of chemical ions. Then the samples were analyzed for lead isotopes and other chemical elements. One challenge the team encountered was a lack of existing data to match their samples with.
“One part of the project included analyzing hundreds of ore samples from different geological deposits in southern Africa—especially ones mined before the arrival of European colonial forces—to create a robust data set,” Stephens said. “The data can provide a scientific foundation to help back up the inferences and conclusions we make in the study.”
Stephens noted that the data he and his team collected are one of the only remaining tangible links that exist today to those precolonial mines in Africa.
“Unfortunately, large open-pit mines have destroyed a lot of the archaeological sites and broader cultural landscapes around these geological deposits,” he said. “This makes it a challenge to reconstruct the history related to these mines. It’s a concerning development, especially with the global push toward more electric vehicles which use minerals like copper and cobalt found in the Copperbelt.”
New tool could help Brazil’s crack down on illegal gold mining
Cecilia Jamasmie | March 31, 2023 | Aerial view of deforested area of the Amazon rainforest caused by illegal mining activities in Brazil. (Image: Imago Photo | Adobe Stock.)
Brazilian gold aggregator Fênix DTVM and Minespider, which runs a traceability platform for tracking down the precious metal through the supply chain, completed this week the first stage of a project that aims to make Brazil’s gold sector transparent.
The two companies have integrated traceability in gold sourcing and processing activities, delivering the first fully traced gold bar to one of Fênix’s clients.
By the end of 2023, Fênix DTVM plans to aggregate 100% traceable gold with the Minespider traceability platform, based on blockchain technology.
The milestone comes as Brazil’s government is increasing efforts to crack down on illegal gold mining in the Amazon, through legislation that would require electronic tax receipts for the buying and selling of the precious metal.
Electronic tax receipts can be an important tool for eradicating illegal mining,” Christian Ecker, Client Partner at Minespider, told MINING.COM.
Currently, gold is sold with paper receipts based on the “good faith” of the seller, making it impossible to trace its origin.
“Paper documents can be more easily faked or edited (…) If done right, electronic receipts can make this harder and thereby reduce gold laundering and smuggling,” Ecker said. “It might also make tax collection more efficient.”
The electronic receipt, or “nota fiscal” in Portuguese, would identify the name and tax number of the seller, the operation where the gold was extracted, as well as the authorization number of the mining license.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is preparing legislation to add transparency to the sector and end deforestation, which surged to a 15-year-high under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
Lula has also pledged to take better care of indigenous populations in the Amazon who are threatened by armed wildcat miners.
In 2015, an indigenous alliance demanded that Brazil halt Amazon dam construction. (Image courtesy of Amazon Watch.)
Mining industry lobby group Ibram’s figures are equally alarming. It claims that close to half of the 100 tonnes of gold Brazil produces each year is thought to be illegally mined and laundered by financial brokerages that are regulated by the central bank.
Fênix DTVM and Minespider Fênix DTVM and Minespider’s solution can be integrated with legacy systems and could, potentially, help the government achieve its objectives.
“This tool enables transparency about gold’s provenance as buyers know where it’s coming from,” Ecker said. “We want to get to a point where this traceability is considered ‘normal’ and buyers expect transparency and are skeptical about non-transparent gold.”
Fênix DTVM and Minespider will expand the use of their platform to all supply chains with the overall goal of having 100% traceability across all suppliers and operations by the end of 2023.
Illegal Amazon miners are expanding into copper as prices surge
Bloomberg News | March 31, 2023 \ Specialized Inspection Group (GEF) carries out an operation to combat illegal gold mining on the Jamanxim River, in the state of Pará. (Photo Felipe Werneck/Ibama.)
Authorities in Brazil are cracking down on illegal copper mining in the Amazon as high prices of the wiring metal attract black-market operators who normally focus on gold.
Earlier this month, 50 agents dismantled illicit mines in Canaa dos Carajas — near Vale SA’s biggest copper mine, Sossego — after two similar actions last year. There are signs the metal has been shipped to China, task-force leader Ezequias Martins said via his press office. The case may lead to convictions for environmental crimes and criminal association, he said
Unlicensed miners, known in Brazil as garimpeiros, have diversified into copper in recent years as techniques improve and prices surge on growing battery-metal demand in the shift away from fossil fuels. At the same time, major mining companies are looking to add copper assets. Vale wants to raise money to grow its base metals business.
While illegal production accounts for a tiny portion of total copper supply, it can have an outsized impact on the environment and indigenous communities. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government has vowed to crack down on Brazil’s illegal gold rush, with non-government organization MapBiomas estimating that irregular operations now occupy a larger area than industrial mines in the country.
The clandestine copper mines demobilized this month are the so-called gallery type, in which explosives are used to blast out ore containing copper and gold. Some galleries can extract 30 tons a day. Copper trades at about $9,000 a ton in London versus less than $5,000 three years ago.
The environmental and community damage caused by such practices are a threat to the formal industry by tarnishing the reputation of mining in general.
The illegal mining push has started to encroach into land held by Vale, the world’s No. 2 iron ore producer and a major supplier of nickel and copper. With illicit miners now hunting for copper, Vale has reinforced monitoring and provides intelligence to regulator ANM on clandestine operations on its land, the company said in response to Bloomberg questions.
“In addition to constituting a crime, the practice imposes drastic impacts on the environment, public coffers, security and the attraction of investments and the implementation of new enterprises,” Vale said.
(By Mariana Durao and James Attwood, with assistance from Joe Deaux)
Researchers find new way to shape tiny gold pieces for electronics
Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology have found a way to melt nano gold nuggets using highly charged ions.
In detail, the scientists bombarded extremely small pieces of gold, consisting of a few thousand atoms and with a diameter in the order of ten nanometers, with multiply-ionized xenon atoms. This made it possible to change the shape and size of these gold pieces in a targeted manner.
In a paper published in the journal Small, the scientists explain that up to 40 electrons were removed from the atoms, so they are highly electrically charged.
The highly charged ions then hit small gold islands placed on an insulating substrate—and then different things happened: The gold islands became flatter, they melted, or they evaporated.
“Depending on how highly our ions are electrically charged, we can trigger different effects,” Gabriel Szabo, first author of the paper, said in a media statement.
The highly charged ions hit the tiny gold nuggets at elevated speed—at around 500 kilometres per second. Nevertheless, it was not the force of the impact that changed the gold islands.
“If you shoot uncharged xenon atoms at the gold islands with the same kinetic energy, the gold islands remain practically unchanged,” Szabo said. “So the decisive factor was not the kinetic energy, but the electrical charge of the ions. This charge also carries energy, and it is deposited exactly at the point of impact.”
Throwing gold out of balance
As soon as the positively charged ions hit the nano gold pieces, they snatched electrons away from the gold. In a large piece of gold, this would have no significant effect: Gold is an excellent conductor, the electrons can move freely, and more electrons would be supplied from other areas of the gold nugget.
But the nano-gold structures are so small that they can no longer be regarded as an inexhaustible reservoir of electrons.
“The charged energy of the impacting ion is transferred to the gold, thus the electronic structure of the entire nano-gold object is thrown completely out of balance, the atoms start to move and the crystal structure of the gold is destroyed,” head researcher Richard Wilhelm explained. “Depending on how much energy you deposit, it may even happen that the entire nano-gold piece melts or is vaporized.”
The effects of the ion bombardment can then be studied in an atomic force microscope. Depending on the charge of the ions, the height of the gold pieces is reduced to a lesser or greater extent.
“Just as our models had also predicted, we can control the impact of the ions on the gold—and not by the speed we give our projectiles, but rather by their charge,” Szabo reported.
According to the team, improved control and a deeper understanding of such processes are important for making a wide variety of nanostructures.
“It’s a technique that allows you to selectively edit the geometry of particularly small structures. That’s just as interesting for the creation of microelectronic components as it is for so-called quantum dots—tiny structures that allow very specific tailor-made electronic or optical effects due to their quantum physical properties,” Wilhelm said.
