New Star to Appear in Night Sky for the First Time in 80 Years, Will Be Visible for a Week

Caleb White Mar 14, 2024 

New Star To Appear in Night Sky For the First Time in 80 Years, Will Be Visible For a Week
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Nova Dawn Astrophotography)

A new star will grace the night sky and explode anytime this year. It will only be visible for a week, so you watch out for it.

New Star T Coronae Borealis

A new star will emerge in the night sky for the first time in eight decades, providing a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see it with the unaided eye. T Coronae Borealis, also known as T CrB, is a star 3,000 light-years from Earth in the sky's Northern Hemisphere. It is scheduled to explode anytime this year, and the light from the explosion will last for a week, shining like a star.

T CrB is anticipated to shine as brightly as the North Star, Polaris, and will be found in the Corona Borealis constellation, which is semicircularly positioned between the Bootes and Hercules constellations.

Although NASA has not yet released a precise date for the cosmic spectacle, it is expected to occur between now and September of this year.

According to Cornell University, Reverend Francis Wollaston claimed to have seen a star with T CrB's exact coordinates at least four times a week in 1787.

According to Cornell, Abbott Burchard saw a rapidly ascending star in Corona Borealis that "shone with great light" and persisted for "many days" in a letter he wrote in 1217.

Burchard called the object a "Stella," another word for a star. Therefore, it seems unlikely that his observation was only a remark.

The majority of Nova explosions have a lifespan of thousands of years, but T CrB is special since it finishes the entire process in just one week. Before it dims again, maybe for another 80 years, the brilliance of the Nova outburst will peak and "should be visible to the unaided eye for several days and just over a week with binoculars," according to NASA.

ALSO READ: James Webb Space Telescope Data Can Help Solve 'Hubble Tension' Mystery

Betelgeuse Star Show Boiling Motion

Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star in the constellation Orion. Recent examinations have raised questions, implying that it is rotating at a rate far quicker than one would expect for a star of its size. A recent simulation shows the notorious red supergiant rotating tens of thousands of miles per hour.

Two colors were displayed in the simulation: red and blue. It is said that the red spots represent the parts of the supergiant star traveling toward Earth, and the blue patches represent the parts traveling away from it.

Betelgeuse has exhibited peculiar conduct. It has become duller and more like Bellatrix, the third brightest star in Orion. Regaining its brightness, the red star appears to be recovering from the "great dimming."

For a few days in 2023, Betelgeuse glowed brighter than any star in Orion that astronomers had seen. On both occasions, people wondered if it would explode and disappear.

Betelgeuse can glow almost as brilliantly as Rigel, the constellation's fourth-brightest blue star, at certain times, while at other times, it will shine noticeably fainter. Pulses come and go, not as intense or persistent as that of Mira, the "star of wonder," which German priest David Fabricius discovered in 1596.

On the other hand, stars occasionally experience brief bursts of intense brightness. Supernovas, produced when a complete star explodes to annihilate itself, are the rarest and most vivid stars.

Former Vale board member claims political influence in CEO succession

Reuters | March 12, 2024 | 

Image: Daniel Mansur | Vale.

A former board member for Brazilian miner Vale said his decision to step down on Monday came after the firm’s succession process was conducted in a “manipulated manner,” according to his resignation letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday.


Last week, Vale, one of the world’s largest iron ore miners, extended the term of its CEO Eduardo Bartolomeo until the end of the year, amid media reports that the Brazilian government was seeking to influence the decision.

In the letter to Vale’s chair, former board member Jose Luciano Duarte Penido said the process of choosing a new CEO had “evident and nefarious political influence,” and that there had been frequent and biased leaks to the press made “in clear disregard for confidentiality.”

Vale had reported Duarte Penido’s resignation on Monday without detailing his reasons.

In a securities filing released by Vale on Tuesday, the board said its actions during the process of defining the next CEO complied with the firm’s bylaws, internal regulations and corporate policies.

(By Marta Nogueira and Peter Frontini; Editing by Steven Grattan and Nia Williams)

How immigration helps the U.S. economy by driving job growth

© Provided by Axios

Asurge in immigration last year helps explain the economy's striking resilience — and if sustained, could allow the job market to keep booming without stoking inflation in the years ahead.

Why it matters: Immigration policy is deeply politically contentious, but there is a strong consensus among economic policymakers that the immigration increase is a key part of the labor supply surge that helped bring down price pressures last year even amid the economy's robust growth.

State of play: New analysis from the Brookings Institution puts some hard numbers on the relationship between the rise in immigration and the labor market — finding an influx of workers is allowing the U.S. to sustain higher rates of payroll gains than forecasters thought it could before the pandemic.

• "Faster population and labor force growth has meant that employment could grow more quickly than previously believed without adding to inflationary pressures," economists Wendy Edelberg and Tara Watson write for the Hamilton Project.

By the numbers: Before the pandemic, forecasters estimated sustainable monthly employment growth would be between 60,000 and 130,000 in 2023 — a key reason why last year's monthly average of 255,000 looked way too hot.

• But Edelberg and Watson say that, accounting for higher immigration, the economy could have accommodated job growth between 160,000 and 230,000 in 2023 "without adding to pressure in the labor market that pushed up wages and price inflation."

Related video: Why the U.S. can't solve immigration (CNBC)

• The authors estimate that, if immigration continues at the current rate, "employment growth of nearly 200,000 workers a month is consistent with a healthy, but not too hot, labor market" — roughly double what forecasters thought to be the case before the pickup in immigration.

What they're saying: "It seemed rather surprising to me that we could be so close to the inflation target, and employment growth would still be well above the pace I thought was consistent with a sustainable labor market," Edelberg, a former Congressional Budget Office chief economist, tells Axios.

• "What this tells me is monetary policy does not have to do as much as I thought to slow the labor market," Edelberg adds.

How it works: The research uses immigration estimates from the CBO that suggest faster population and labor force growth in recent years not fully captured by the Labor Department (which uses Census population estimates).

The big picture: The authors estimate the immigration surge didn't just jolt the labor force — but also is at least a small factor behind resilient consumer spending and GDP growth.

• Immigration pushed up real consumer spending growth by about 0.2 percentage point last year — with a similar boost expected this year, the authors estimate.
• Economic activity directly attributable to the increase in immigration also increased real GDP by 0.1 percentage point per year since 2022.

Yes, but: The authors also note that immigration growth also heightened demand for housing — and may have put "upward pressure on rents in some areas."

Data: The Brookings Institution via Congressional Budget Office; Graphic: Rahul Mukherjee/Axios

The effects of the immigration surge may still be playing out.

• "The authorization process [for undocumented immigrants] means that labor force participation of new immigrants could be hump-shaped over several years, pointing to some of the effects of 2023 immigration still being in the pipeline," Evercore ISI vice chair Krishna Guha wrote in a note this week.

What they're saying: On Capitol Hill last week, Fed chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the math of the situation while trying to avoid being drawn into the deeply political questions around immigration policy.

• "It's just arithmetic," Powell told the House Financial Services Committee. "If you add a couple million people to an economy, a percentage of them work, there will be more output."
• "I'm just reporting the facts there," he added. "I'm not going to say anything is needed for the future or good policy indirectly or directly. I think it's just reporting the facts to say that immigration and labor force participation both contributed to the very strong economic output growth that we had last year."

Between the lines: Don't expect the Biden administration to tout immigration-driven job growth on the campaign trail, as our colleague Hans Nichols reports. Beyond the politics, there are some policy challenges generated by elevated immigration rates.

• "Our analysis shows they have been really positive for the overall economy and, frankly, really positive for the federal budget" but that some of the influx has put pressure on state resources, Edelberg says. "But these immigration flows have not been the result of optimal, well-thought out policy."
• If that's the case, "communities that have been growing like gangbusters because of really strong immigration will see that growth come to a stop. Those sorts of abrupt starts and stops for local economies can be painful."

Get the rundown of the biggest stories of the day with Axios Daily Essentials.

 

Snake Steak? Python Meat Could Be a Sustainable, High-Quality Protein Source For the Planet, Study Claims

Kendra Stacy Mar 14, 2024 

According to a new study, python meat can become an alternative to more common meats widely consumed as environmental changes threaten food supply.

Threatened Global Agriculture, Food Supply

The "Python farming as a flexible and efficient form of agricultural food security" study looked into the growth rates of Burmese and reticulated pythons at farms in Vietnam and Thailand. Researchers found that these reptiles rapidly grew over the course of the year despite not consuming as much compared to other animals raised for meat consumption.

As certain factors, including climate change, pose a rising threat to agriculture all over the world, scientists worry that the world may need to opt for proteins that are more sustainable.

Daniel Natusch, a study co-author, the director of the EPIC Biodiversity consulting company, and the chair of the Snake Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation, explains that resource volatility, disease, climate change, and insufficient sustainability all lead to current agricultural system failure. Natusch adds that it is necessary to feed the planet, but high-quality protein is becoming a more limited resource. The director explains that pythons have various attributes that could aid in meeting and mitigating such challenges.

ALSO READ: 'Exotic' Cultivated Meat Not As Harmless as Previously Claimed, Could Threaten Endangered Animals

Python Meat as Potential Protein Source

While several regions of the world have already embraced snake meat consumption, the farming industry for snakes is still small. Natusch explains that billions of individuals all over the world already consider snakes as a culturally acceptable meat source, noting further that it is Western countries that do not do so.

Natusch explains that some may love it while others won't, similar to all types of food. However, for individuals who are serious about global sustainability, they must consider consuming python meat rather than chicken or beef.

As part of their python farming study, the team of Natusch looked into 4,601 pythons. These snakes were fed different prey, such as rodents, and fish each week. They were regularly measured over the course of one year. On average, the snakes grew up to 46 grams each day, with females growing faster compared to their male counterparts.

The researchers then found that for every 4.1 grams of food consumed by the snake, 1 python meat gram could be gained. They observed that the pythons that did not consume anything between a span of 20 and 127 days had very minimal weight loss.

Conversation specialist Patrick Aust from People for Wildlife, who is a co-author of the study, also notes that these pythons have an evolutionary slant and extreme biology toward great energy and resource efficiency. Since these snakes are ambush predators that choose prey with weights equivalent to their own, they can live for lengthy periods in between meals. Aust further notes that these snakes are very good food converters, especially for proteins. They are specialists who are capable of maximizing what little they have

Research has shown that other animals that are farmed for consumption take longer reproduction compared to pythons. For instance, a female python can lay 50 to 100 eggs in just a year, while a mother cow can bear an average of 0.8 calves a year.

Such findings show that opting for python meat could be sustainable, though animal welfare organizations encourage a plant-based diet instead. Natusch also notes that the world is already at the point where such kinds of alternative food options need to be considered.

Soil Microbes Surviving 60-Year-Old Fire Reveal Negative Impact of Human Activities to the Environment

Conelisa N. Hubilla 

Mar 13, 2024

Microbes are important in maintaining healthy, fertile soil. By helping plants grow and decomposing organic matter, they play a vital role in the overall health of ecosystems. However, human activities can cause long-term damage to the environment.


(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/ Mredden)

Underground Coal Fire

A century ago, Centralia, Pennsylvania, was a busy mining center, with coal from local mines fueling its homes and economy. After mining began in the 1850s, it became home to a rich deposit of anthracite coal. Today, Centralia's streets are abandoned due to a mine fire that has been burning for several decades.

It is unclear how the tragedy began, but some theories suggest that it all started when an abandoned mine pit was converted into a garbage dump. Due to the problem with unwanted odors and rats, the city proposed in May 1962 to clean up the local landfill in time for the town's Memorial Day festivities.


The Centralia Council proposed setting it on fire, which sparked a much larger mine fire beneath the town. Soon, the fire raged in a coal seam beneath the town, making it the site of an underground coal mine fire that had been burning since 1962.

READ ALSO: Climate Change Could Heighten Active Soil Bacteria Diversity, Study Reveals

Understanding Survival of Dormant Microbes

Experts from Michigan State University provided answers on how human actions disrupt the environment. They analyzed soil microbes near a mine fire that had been burning for over 60 years. The result of their study is discussed in the paper "Arrive and Wait: Inactive bacterial taxa contribute to perceived soil microbiome resilience after a multidecadal press disturbance."

According to MSU's Department of Microbiology, Genetics, and Immunology adjunct associate professor Ashley Shade, soil has the most diverse microbiome known. Tens of thousands of different bacterial species are present in every gram of soil, which means that it is even more diverse than the human gut.

Shade has been studying soil microbial communities in Centralia, Pennsylvania, in collaboration with Samuel Barnett for seven years. In this study, the research team investigated the way bacterial communities respond and potentially recover from intense environmental change. This is particularly important in understanding the impact of another disturbance: climate change.

The scientists conducted annual sampling between 2015 and 2021. They chose sampling sites at various points along the fire's path and examined the soil before, during, and after heating. They also sampled from nearby areas that were completely undisturbed by the fire.

After soil sampling, the team extracted the genetic materials from the bacteria, sequencing the DNA to determine the type of bacteria present. Then, they compared the ratio of RNA to DNA to determine the biologically active bacteria and dormant ones. Dormancy refers to the state of activity assumed by many life forms at some point. It is a vital strategy that helps organisms withstand stress in their environment.

Centralia mine fire is an example of a press disturbance or a long-term, continuous disruption caused by human activities. Shade and her team hope to spur additional studies in developing strategies for restoring microbiomes in ecosystems affected by climate change and other press disturbances.




RELATED ARTICLE: Soil Microbes Help African Farmers: Micro-Organisms Provide Crop Protection And Boost Productivity

University of Leicester-led training centre to fuse AI into metals industry

12 March 2024

A new training centre at the University of Leicester aims to boost the metals industry with the skills in data and artificial intelligence to take on the global competition of the future.

The new £18 million Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Digital Transformation of Metals Industry (DigitalMetal) has been funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), who announced £7m funding today (12 March), five partner universities (Birmingham, Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham and Warwick) and industry.

It’s part of the UK’s biggest-ever investment in engineering and physical sciences doctoral skills, totalling more than £1 billion, announced by Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan today. 65 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) will support leading research in areas of national importance including the critical technologies AI, quantum technologies, semiconductors, telecoms and engineering biology.

The DigitalMetal CDT has been designed to meet a national, strategic need for training a new generation of technical leaders able to lead digital transformation of metals industry and its supply chain with the objective of increasing agility, productivity & international competitiveness of the metals industry in the UK.

It will provide postgraduate training that combines metals and alloy engineering with digital technology and AI skills, to help the UK metals and manufacturing industries to reap the benefits of ‘big data’. The vision is to deliver the future industry leaders who can rapidly take advantage of the latest discoveries in manufacturing processes through digital twinning to enable defect-free, ‘right first-time’ manufacturing at reduced costs.

The metals industry is a vital component of the UK's manufacturing economy and makes a significant contribution to key strategic sectors such as construction, aerospace and space, automotive, energy, defence and medical, directly contributing £20bn to UK GDP, and underpins over £190bn manufacturing GDP.

Professor Hongbiao Dong FREng from the University of Leicester School of Engineering, and Director of the Centre, said: “Without a new cadre of leaders in digital technologies, equipped to transform discoveries and breakthroughs in metals and manufacturing technologies into products, the UK risks entering another cycle of world-leading innovation but losing the benefits arising from exploitation to more capable and better prepared global competitors.

“For the UK metal industry to lead at a global level, we must raise its competitiveness and create robust and agile manufacturing processes and sustainable supply chains enabled by digital technology. DigitalMetal CDT is timely due to the readiness of smart digital technology and the availability of new scientific advances to help move the industry to Industry 4.0 and sustainability. Future students trained by DigitalMetal CDT will lead this important industry sector to drive economic growth, job creation and global inward investment in the current challenging post Brexit and Covid-19 economic landscape.”

Professor Sarah Davies, Pro Vice Chancellor and Head of the College of Science and Engineering said: “I am delighted that the University of Leicester will be working with the EPSRC, our four partner universities and thirty-five industrial partners to develop and deliver high-quality, exciting research training to our future scientists and engineers. The University of Leicester has a strategic commitment to nurture the next generation of researchers and this Centre for Doctoral Training, led by Professor Hongbiao Dong FREng, will train metals and manufacturing researchers and engineers with the required combination of experimental, analytical, computational, business and professional skills needed for innovation.”

Professor Charlotte Deane, Executive Chair of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation, said: “The Centres for Doctoral Training announced today will help to prepare the next generation of researchers, specialists and industry experts across a wide range of sectors and industries.

“Spanning locations across the UK and a wide range of disciplines, the new centres are a vivid illustration of the UK’s depth of expertise and potential, which will help us to tackle large-scale, complex challenges and benefit society and the economy.

"The high calibre of both the new centres and applicants is a testament to the abundance of research excellence across the UK, and EPSRC’s role as part of UKRI is to invest in this excellence to advance knowledge and deliver a sustainable, resilient and prosperous nation.”

Science and Technology Secretary, Michelle Donelan, said: “As innovators across the world break new ground faster than ever, it is vital that government, business and academia invests in ambitious UK talent, giving them the tools to pioneer new discoveries that benefit all our lives while creating new jobs and growing the economy.

“By targeting critical technologies including artificial intelligence and future telecoms, we are supporting world class universities across the UK to build the skills base we need to unleash the potential of future tech and maintain our country’s reputation as a hub of cutting-edge research and development.”

Column: Tin supply trapped in resource nationalism squeeze

Reuters | March 12, 2024 | 

Tin man statue. (Stock Image)

It’s no coincidence that nickel and tin are the two strongest performers in the London Metal Exchange (LME) base metals pack so far this year.


Supply in both markets is dominated by Indonesia, where production and exports are being affected by delays in approving annual work permits.

This is a relatively new phenomenon for nickel. Indonesian production has exploded over the last few years to the point the country now accounts for more than half of global supply.

Tin has been here before. Indonesia has long been the world’s largest exporter and the flow of metal to world markets has been interrupted several times in the past when the government tightened production and export rules.

Tin’s misfortune, however, is that its supply chain is not just beholden to Indonesia’s resource nationalism but also to that of the Wa State in Myanmar.
Double trouble

Indonesian exported 78,000 metric tons of refined tin last year, equivalent to around a fifth of global demand.

Exports so far this year have slumped to just 55.4 tons, compared with 4,700 tons in January-February 2023.

The last time shipments ground to a complete halt was in August 2015, when the authorities introduced “clean and clear” rules on exports to enforce environmental standards.

This time it’s a change to the annual permitting system. It’s possible that tin may be coming under special scrutiny due to an unfolding illegal mining scandal.

The government has also made no secret of its intention to limit exports as a lever to push its tin sector further downstream.

It doesn’t seem to have worked out how to replicate its nickel strategy in the tin market yet. But the threat to the rest of the world’s tin supply is not going away.

Neither is that posed by the Wa State, the semi-autonomous region of Myanmar which controls the Man Maw mine, one of the world’s largest tin resources.

All mining was suspended in August last year to allow for an audit of reserves. The suspension has been partly lifted, opens new tab for some smaller operators, although they will pay more in export tax, according to the International Tin Association (ITA).

However, operations at Man Maw have yet to resume. The ITA suggests the delay may reflect a policy re-think around the need to replenish the Wa government’s strategic stockpile.

Amid the continuing uncertainty, one thing is clear. The ruling United Wa State Army aims to exert tighter control over the jewel in its mineral crown.

Myanmar and Indonesia are combining to squeeze global tin supply driven by the same resource nationalist impulse.

LME and Shanghai Futures Exchange tin stocks

Surplus and stocks rebuild

The tin market can likely absorb the double hit over the short term.

The ITA estimates that global supply exceeded usage by 9,700 tons last year, attesting to the slump in demand from the electronics sector, where tin is used as circuit-board soldering.

Stocks registered with the LME and the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) more than doubled to 15,400 tons over the course of 2023.

Those on the LME have recently been sliding as the halt to Indonesian shipments drags on. Headline inventory has fallen by 31% to 5,300 tons since the start of January.

Shanghai stocks, by contrast, have continued growing over the Chinese New Year holiday period and at a current 11,072 tons are the highest they have been since ShFE launched its tin contract in 2015.

The flow of raw material from the Man Maw mine in Myanmar to Chinese smelters has dropped but not as much as feared after the authorities allowed the processing of surface stocks. Many Chinese operators also built up stocks of concentrate ahead of the August suspension.

China’s production of refined tin grew by 1.8% year-on-year to 169,000 tons, according to local data provider Shanghai Metal Market.

Tin users are lucky that the current supply disruption has come after a year of low demand and restocking of both raw material and metal.

Future fragility

The question worrying the tin market is how long it will be before normal supply service is resumed in both Myanmar and Indonesia.

LME three-month tin hit a seven-month high of $27,810 per ton on Friday and, currently trading around $27,460 per ton, is now up by 9.0% on the start of the year.

Even assuming a speedy resumption of Indonesian exports and mining in Myanmar, tin supply over the next few months looks challenging.

The longer-term threat is of future supply disruption as resource nationalism drives both governments further down the road of export controls.

Tin’s use as a circuit-board solder makes it a critical mineral both for the current generation of electronics and the coming internet of things.

Yet it is one with an incredibly fragile supply chain, beholden to the politics of Indonesia and the United Wa State Army.

This year’s supply squeeze may be just a taster of things to come for tin.

(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, Andy Home, a columnist for Reuters.)

(Editing by Louise Heavens)

Amid nickel glut, Indonesia’s next president vows to keep ‘downstreaming’ policy

Reuters | March 13, 2024 |

Prabowo Subianto (Image: X)

Indonesia’s incoming president, Prabowo Subianto, has pledged to continue predecessor Joko Widodo’s nickel “downstreaming” policy but faces the task of reducing oversupply while pushing to strengthen the processing industry, his advisers say.


Prabowo, said by independent pollsters to have won the Feb. 14 election, has said he will pursue the effort to extract more value from Indonesia’s vast resource wealth by halting exports of key raw materials and developing domestic processing instead.

The policy drew investments of billions of dollars from smelting firms, most of them Chinese, and boosted Indonesia’s exports.

But it led to an oversupply of processed nickel that caused a drop of 45% in prices last year, squeezing producers in Australia and elsewhere, although they have since recovered to stand up about 12% in 2024.

Experts advising Prabowo are discussing ways to stem a further decline in prices while still generating more jobs and boosting value-addition, members of his campaign team said.

“We must control supply so prices can be underpinned,” Erwin Aksa, a campaign vice-chair, told Reuters, adding that current conditions are likely to drive investors to avoid new projects.

“If there is too much oversupply and those smelters stop their operations, that would impact the whole supply chain,” he added.

Prabowo himself has not publicly detailed his nickel strategy, but told a Feb. 6 rally, “We are determined to guard Indonesia’s wealth. We want to manage and control this wealth, so the value-add can be enjoyed by all Indonesian people.”

Indonesia produced about 1.4 million tons of primary nickel last year, or about 40% of global output, data from the International Nickel Study Group showed.

“Indonesia is flooding the nickel market with low-cost supply, and we don’t think it’s going to stop anytime soon,” said S&P Global Ratings, which predicts the country will add 300,000 metric tons of smelting capacity this year.

S&P Market Intelligence expects the oversupply to continue beyond 2025, as Indonesia has excess capacity for an intermediate product, nickel pig iron (NPI).
Taking stock?

Some of Prabowo’s advisers have called for a moratorium on new smelters, allowing time to take stock of reserves and improve governance.

Last year, a miners’ association warned that reserves of high-grade nickel ore could be depleted in about six years. Recently, a government official said overall nickel ore reserves were sufficient for 30 years.

No decision has been made on a possible moratorium, however, said Eddy Soeparno, another vice-chair of Prabowo’s campaign team, while adding, “It is good to take a pause and give the policy an overview.”

Prabowo will push for further processing of NPI, helping to ease oversupply, said another campaign official, Anggawira, who goes by one name.

The main challenge was building domestic industries to consume the nickel, he said.

“When the nickel is cheaper, that would make our industries more efficient,” added Anggawira, who also chairs the Association of Indonesian Energy, Mineral, and Coal Suppliers.

(By Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Tony Munroe and Clarence Fernandez)

Wyloo says industry will turn from LME without green nickel

Reuters | March 13, 2024 

Wyloo owner Andrew Forrest. Credit: World Economic Forum

Nickel miner Wyloo, owned by Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest, said that if the London Metal Exchange (LME) doesn’t launch a green nickel contract, the industry will have to look for another trading venue.


Forrest had told Australian media last month that the LME should classify its contracts into clean and dirty to give customers more choice. Wyloo is set in May to shutter two nickel mines in Australia that it bought last year for $504 million.

The LME said that low carbon nickel, which it classifies as producing 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide or less per tonne of nickel, could already be traded on its partner MetalsHub’s system.

“Wyloo has been contacted by several parties seeking to develop a green nickel premium, so there is clearly demand for greater transparency and differentiation between clean and dirty nickel,” Wyloo CEO Luca Giacovazzi told Reuters.

“As the world’s largest metals exchange, the LME should be leading in this area,” he said.

“If the LME is to continue to set the standard for ethical metal supply practices, it cannot afford to take no action, or the industry will look for an alternative marketplace.”

Calls for a nickel price that reflects strong environmental and governance standards have grown from high-cost producers such as Australia, where low prices have forced miners to shutter operations due to a flood of Indonesian supply, most of which is produced using coal.

(By Melanie Burton; Editing by Michael Perry)

Gold output falls in Burkina Faso as terrorist ISLAMIST INSURGENTS

attacks increase

Bloomberg News | March 12, 2024 | 

Essakane gold mine, Burkina Faso. (Image courtesy of IAMGOLD)

Gold production in Burkina Faso declined last year as deteriorating security conditions in the West African nation forced some mines to shut.


An Islamist insurgency in the Sahel, a semi-arid region stretching across the continent from Senegal to Sudan, has hit hard in Burkina Faso, which also suffered two military coups in 2022. The country — ruled by Captain Ibrahim Traore for the past 18 months — accounted for almost a quarter of people killed in terrorist attacks globally last year, according to Sydney-based Institute for Economics & Peace.


Six mining companies closed down in 2022, while one more ceased activity last year. Output of the precious metal fell 1.5% to 57.3 tons in 2023, the Ministry of Mines, Quarries and Energy said.

“2023 was a very difficult year in terms of security, with mixed economic and social consequences,” Brahim Kéré, director of forecasting and macroeconomic analysis at the ministry said in an interview. “In the gold sector, terrorist attacks have resulted in the closure of certain sites and difficulties in supplying certain mines with fuel and other materials.”

Burkina Faso last year revised its mining code to enable it receive more in royalties during boom times. The country, also suspended mineral exports by small-scale miners last month.

The companies still operating in the country include West African Resources Ltd., Endeavour Mining Plc and Iamgold Corp.

(By Tanga Kafando)

P3 PENSION FUNDS PRIVATE PARTNER
Syrah Resources to raise $65m for Mozambique, US projects

Reuters | March 12, 2024 | 

Syrah’s Vidalia facility in Louisiana. Credit: Syrah Resources

Australia’s Syrah Resources said on Wednesday it would raise A$98 million ($64.73 million) through a placement and an entitlement offer for funding its Balama graphite operations in Mozambique and its US-based Vidalia project.


Syrah’s largest shareholder and the country’s top pension fund AustralianSuper have agreed to the conversion of a 5-year unsecured convertible note issued in June 2019 and December 2023 into fresh shares in the miner, it said in a statement.

AustralianSuper had committed to subscribing for all shares under the placement and taking up its full pro-rata entitlement in the institutional entitlement offer, the company said.

The placement would be at a fixed price of A$0.55 per new share, which represented a discount of 19.1% to stock’s last closing price on March 12.

The company said it had agreed with AustralianSuper to the conversion of series 1 and 3 notes into new shares at a revised conversion price of A$0.6688 per share.

The company added that AustralianSuper’s shareholding would increase to no more than 31.9% post the completion of funding round, from around 17.8% earlier.

Around 178.2 million new shares would be issued under the placement and entitlement offer, Syrah said.

($1 = 1.5140 Australian dollars)

(By Roshan Thomas; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Rashmi Aich)