Crocodiles du Costa Rica : pourquoi leur sexe change-t-il ?

Lorsque leur environnement change, les animaux évoluent. Au Costa Rica, une étude montre qu’au royaume des crocodiles américains, les populations mâles prédominent assez largement. Cette situation, peut-être due à l'activité des fermes piscicoles alentour, pourrait mettre l’espèce en péril.

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Govt electricity supply report 'will not save US coal'

In April, US energy secretary Rick Perry tasked researchers at the DOE to produce a report on electricity markets and grid reliability.

Given the White House’s call to "bring back coal", renewable energy backers did not bother to wait for the findings to criticize the report.

The green lobby needn’t have worried. The final report published a week ago gives coal miners little to cheer about.

The decline of coal-fired electricity generation in the US – at just 30% of the total already the lowest on record – illustrated starkly by the graph below is only set to continue. There isn't a single new commercial coal-fired plants in the planning stage in the entire country.

The report’s main finding has been an established reality for a long time: “The biggest contributor to coal and nuclear plant retirements has been the advantaged economics of natural gas-fired generation,” according to the report.

The report also states that other technologies besides fossil fuels can provide baseload generation and concludes that the energy markets “are currently functioning as designed – to ensure reliability and minimize the short-term costs of wholesale electricity.”

The report does call for reduced regulatory compliance costs. While this might extend the life of some coal plants, we expect the benefit to the coal industry to be marginal, if any.

The report goes on to say that despite the retirement of 11% of generating capacity available in 2002, the system today has more dispatchable capacity capable of operating at high utilization rates than it did in 2002, with the significant addition from natural gas, wind and solar generation.

A research note by Moody’s Investor Services expects ongoing coal plant retirements and coal substation by natural gas and renewables.

“This trend will continue to challenge the US coal miners, particularly those focused on supplying thermal coal to domestic utilities, such as Cloud Peak Energy Resources, Murray Energy Corporation and Armstrong Energy,” says Moody’s.

Moody’s does not believe that the call in the report for further study of variable renewable energy (VRE) impact on grid management assessment “signals a brighter future for coal.”:

The report predicts 37,800 megawatts of coal retirements by 2022, tapering off to another 4,400 megawatts of retirements by 2030. With almost 20,000 megawatts of additional natural gas capacity coming online by 2020 to replace retiring coal-fired generation, we don’t expect a material and rapid change that would reverse coal’s fortunes.

With respect to concrete policy recommendations and solutions, the report falls short of recommending anything specific and does not promote coal-fired generation as irreplaceable for grid reliability. Instead, the report suggests pricing mechanisms for grid-reliability services that are fuel and technology neutral, and urges research and developments efforts focused on new-generation technologies and improved VRE integration, among other things. The report does call for reduced regulatory compliance costs across the grid infrastructure, including the coal-fired capacity. While this might extend the life of some coal plants, we expect the benefit to the coal industry to be marginal, if any.

Although biomass generation is not specifically addressed in the report, we note that biomass (specifically wood pellets) is a renewable resource that has been extensively incentivized by policy makers in Europe to ensure grid reliability while transitioning to VRE power sources. Biomass can be co-fired with coal in conventional coal plants, or alternatively, coal plants can be converted to biomass use, in order to retain baseload generation and simultaneously reduce coal consumption in favor of renewables.

Although US policy to ensure grid reliability remains uncertain, we do not view coal as the likely candidate to resolve the complex energy challenges of the future. Technology enhancements and alternative energy sources appear to be the keys to reliable power generation that is also cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Advancements in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies could change that, but so far, CCS has not been economically viable on a large scale.

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Canada’s Trevali among world’s top zinc producers with Glencore’s mines buy

Canadian miner Trevali (TSX:TV) reached a milestone Thursday, as it finished the acquisition of majority stakes in Glencore’s (LON:GLEN) Rosh Pinah mine in Namibia and the Perkoa mine in Burkina Faso.

The deal, announced in March, places the Vancouver-based company among the world’s top ten zinc producers.

Rosh Pinah opened in 1969 and is expected to have a further 14 years of operating life, while Perkoa is set to produce for another six years.

The two African mines complement Trevali’s existing operations at the Caribou zinc-lead mine in Canada’s New Brunswick and Santander copper-zinc mine in Peru.

Zinc was one of the best performing commodities last year, climbing up 60% as a few top mines, such as Lisheen in Ireland and Century in Australia, closed down and miner including Glencore and Nyrstar suspended some production.

More to come …

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Greece to begin arbitration process over Eldorado mine plans next month

Greek Energy Minister George Stathakis said Thursday the government expects to kick off an arbitration process over Canada's Eldorado Gold’s (TSX:ELD)(NYSE:EGO) mining plans in the north of the country mid-September.

"We have decided to resort to arbitration to stop the tug of war that has been going on for many years and have things cleared up," minister Stathakis told state-owned broadcaster ERT.

He noted the arbitration process is expected to last about three months, though Eldorado has yet to receive formal notice of the looming mediation.

To be clear, we have not yet received formal notice of arbitration and permits applied for remain unissued," Eldorado's President and chief executive George Burns said in a statement earlier this month. "We continue to evaluate all capital spending and development timelines at our projects in Greece."

The Vancouver-based company, which already operates Stratoni mine in the country’s north, has been trying to develop the Skouries and Olympias projects for years, but local opposition and an ongoing back-and-forth with authorities have delayed progress.

The biggest differences between the company and Greek authorities revolve around testing methods applied to comply with environmental regulations at Skouries, whose final permits are still pending. Last week the company said production is now targeted for 2020, adding it had reviewed the project's capital spending.

Licensing for the company’s Olympias project is in the final stage and Eldorado had said it expects to begin production at the gold, silver, zinc and lead mine before year-end.

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Une thérapie génique approuvée aux États-Unis pour la première fois

La FDA, l'agence américaine qui donne les autorisations pour les médicaments, a approuvé la mise sur le marché de la première thérapie génique dans le monde contre la leucémie. Le traitement baptisé Kymriah utilise des globules blancs du patient qui sont génétiquement modifiés.

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iPhone 8 : bientôt la fin des rumeurs

Trois nouveaux modèles de smartphones, dont l'iPhone 8, seront présentés mardi 12 septembre. Les rumeurs vont bon train, comme avant chaque grand-messe d'Apple. Cette fois, quelques innovations technologiques sont pressenties.

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SolGold on a roll in Ecuador, extends mineralization at Cascabel

Shares in Ecuador-focused miner SolGold (LON:SOLG) (TSX:SOLG) got a fresh boost Thursday after the company announced it has further extended the mineralized footprint of its 85%-owned Cascabel copper-gold project, 180 km north of the country’s capital Quito.

The company said assay results from hole 26 returned an open-ended 810 metres at 0.72% copper equivalent, and extended the property’s Alpala mineralized trend 300 metres to the northwest of hole 15R2, which in turn returned 830 metres at 0.93%.

SolGold's Cascabel project is located in the northern portion of the Andean copper belt in Ecuador, renowned for hosting almost half the world’s copper known reserves.

The Australian gold miner noted that Alpala Northwest now presents second potential large block cave target.

SolGold’s Cascabel has been compared to Rio Tinto’s world class Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia and the results from hole 26 seem to indicated there is much more intense mineralization in the property than evident in previous drilling results.

“It appears that holes 11 and 13 may have skirted the top southwest side of the deposit, underscoring the importance of the magnetic modelling,” SolGold’s chief executive Nick Mather said in the market update. “We now envisage a second large block cave target at Alpala Northwest. Hole 27 has extended the halo mineralization on the south east side of Alpala Central," he said.

Sold Gold, which recently began trading in the Toronto Stock Exchange, is directing drilling capability and operations currently to the collection of drill data to be used in the delivery of a maiden inferred resource estimate to address this target by end of 2017, it said. The company is also commencing planning for the collection of necessary data to complete a prefeasibility assessment by end of 2018.

The miner’s stock was up 0.8% on Thursday at 36.44 pence right after the announcement.

In the last year, the share price has climbed almost 390%. This is ahead of other companies listed in London, including BHP (LON:BLT), Glencore (LON:GLEN) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO). In the same period, BHP Billiton has risen 49%, Glencore is up 110%, Rio Tinto has gained 62%.

Cascabel project location. (Courtesy of SolGold.)

SolGold's Cascabel project is located in the northern portion of the Andean copper belt in Ecuador, renowned for hosting almost half the world’s copper known reserves.

The South American country has been gaining ground as a mining investment destination thanks to a revised regulatory framework and a major investor engagement campaign that has already attracted around 420 applications for concessions in less than a year.

Currently, the nation’s emerging mining sector employs 3,700 people, but the government estimates the figure will rise to about 16,000 in the 2017-2020 period.

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Ouragan Harvey : les inondations vues par satellite

Comme à chaque catastrophe naturelle, les satellites d’observation de la Terre sont rapidement mis à contribution pour assister les secours. Dans le cas de l’ouragan Harvey, avec sa couverture nuageuse très dense, les satellites radar sont entrés en action. Ainsi, Airbus Defence and Space a...

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Le rayonnement X des trous noirs remis en cause par la Z machine

Grâce à la Z machine, des expériences viennent de réfuter une explication vieille de vingt ans concernant les émissions X des disques d'accrétion des trous noirs. Il faut revoir la copie.

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Rio opens 16th Pilbara iron ore mine

Rio Tinto (ASX, LON:RIO), the world's second largest iron ore producer, on Wednesday formally opened its 16th iron ore mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

The Silvergrass mine is due to be commissioned during the final quarter and the $338 million brownfield development is set to produce 10m tonnes of low-sulphurous ore a year.

Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques said Silvergrass was a "great example of our value-over-volume approach," as the mine would provide low-cost, high-grade material to maintain the quality of the miner's brandname Pilbara Blend.

Silvergrass is located adjacent to Rio's Nammuldi mine and ore would be moved to the Namuldi plant by a 9-km conveyer system currently under construction.

The initial phase, with a five million tonne per annum capacity, began production in the fourth quarter of 2015. Final capacity could be in excess of 20m tonnes per year, but most of Silvergrass output would replace depleting resources elsewhere.

Rio is also moving ahead with its $2.2 billion Koodaideri iron ore project in Western Australia, 110km west-north-west of Newman. The project would begin construction in 2019 and enter production two years later.

Rio Tinto said it shipped its five billionth tonne of iron ore last year after 50 years of operations in the Pilbara and has invested some $20 billion in Western Australia over the past decade.

Last month, the Melbourne-based giant cut back guidance for iron ore output in 2017 by up to 10m tonnes to around 330m tonnes. Iron ore accounts for just less than half Rio's earnings.

The Northern China import price of iron ore was holding steady in the mid-$7os a tonne range this week, up more than 40% from lows struck mid-June.

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Brazil judge blocks decree allowing mining in Amazon

A Brazilian court blocked Wednesday a controversial decree by President Michel Temer that would have opened up a vast national reserve in the Amazon, larger than the size of Switzerland, to mining.

The order, signed by federal judge Rolando Spanholo, "suspends possible administrative acts based on the decree," signed by Temer, local O’Globo reports (in Portuguese).

It also determines that abolishing the abolished the protected status of the National Reserve of Copper and Associates (Renca), can only be done by the Congress.

The area, covering 46,000 sq. km (17,800 sq. miles), is thought to be rich in gold, iron ore, copper and other minerals.

The area, covering 46,000 sq. km (17,800 sq. miles), is thought to be rich in gold, iron ore, copper and other minerals. The exploitation of those riches could help Brazil speed up its recovery from its worst recession on record, the government said when announcing the decree.

Temer also said the ruling would help authorities crack down on illegal mining that was taking place in the reserve, while opening the area up to legal operations and projects.

The Brazilian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) recently warned that mining in the area would lead to "demographic explosion, deforestation, the destruction of water resources, the loss of biodiversity and the creation of land conflict".

The report said the main area of interest for copper and gold exploration is in one of the protected areas, the Biological Reserve of Maicuru. There is also said to be gold in the Para State forest, which lies within the area.

But the government ended up yielding to pressure from environmentalists, celebrities and the even Brazils’ Catholic Church. Earlier this week, it reissued the decree with more details on overlapping protections that will remain in place after the abolition of Renca.

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Innovations : éolien offshore, robotique industrielle et intelligence artificielle pour le recrutement

Dans la catégorie « Smart Business », les trois finalistes concourant aux Prix EDF Pulse 2017 ont été désignés. Ils innovent chacun dans leur domaine : Riminder apporte au recrutement les immenses possibilités de l'intelligence artificielle ; MIP Robotics démocratise la robotique industrielle...

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Romania wants former mining city of Rosia Montana to be pulled from UNESCO list

Romanian Prime Minister Mihai Tudose plans to ask UNESCO to revoke the status of World Heritage site for the former mining town of Rosia Montana, as the nomination means important gold reserves can no longer be exploited.

The application, submitted to UNESCO by the former government, was the last nail in the coffin for Canadian Gabriel Resources’ (TSX:GBU) namesake project, which faced relentless local opposition and several attempts to block the proposed mine by the government.

Canada's Gabriel is seeking $4.4 billion in damages from Romania for losses related to its long-stalled project in Rosia Montana.

In 2014, parliament yielded to pressure from environmentalists, worried about the potential use of cyanide to mine about 314 tonnes of gold and 1,500 tonnes of silver, and halted the project.

By then, the Toronto-based miner filed had spent 15 years and about and $700 million trying to build its $2bn Rosia Montana mine, so it filed a request for international arbitration. The idea was to seek compensation from Bucharest for the many delays to the company’s flagship project.

Currently, Gabriel is requesting Romania to pay $4.4 billion in damages for losses related to its long-stalled project.

But Tudose believes the company won’t get what it wants because it “never actually invested in mining and the money was spent on development projects, including building a church and saving the patrimony in the area,” local News.ro reports (in Romanian).

The open pit operation would have been Europe’s largest gold mine and, according to the company, it would have injected up to $24 billion into Romania’s economy.

The damage claim sought by Gabriel Resources represents more than 2% of the nation’s forecast gross domestic product of just under $200 billion this year.

Romania has until early 2019 to respond to the suit. The court will hear arguments in September next year.

For now, a protest is being organized on Facebook against the idea of withdrawing Rosia Montana from the UNESCO list. The march is planned for this Friday, in Bucharest.

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Sibanye halts divvy for first time as it swings to loss

South African precious metals producer Sibanye-Stillwater (JSE:SGL) (NYSE:SBGL), until today known as Sibanye Gold, won’t pay dividend for the first time since it was spun off from Gold Fields in 2013, after reporting losses for the first half of the year and rising debt levels.

The miner, South Africa’s largest gold producer and the world’s third largest producer of palladium and platinum, said that in the absence of a cash divvy, it’ll give investors two new shares for every 100 held.

The miner, which conducted a $1 billion rights issue earlier this year, posted a first half net loss of $363.8 million, compared to a profit of $21.7 million in the same period last year.

Finance costs also increased on the back of new debt facilities, the company noted. Most of that debt is related to the company’s recent acquisitions, including some Anglo American Platinum’s mines in South Africa and Stillwater in the US.

Sibanye said the losses were attributable to impairments related to closure costs of some South Africa assets, as well as provisions for an expected settlement with miners who contracted lung diseases at work.

The company’s shares were hit by the news, falling as much as 7.6% in Johannesburg and trading 5.44% lower to 2,070 Rand by 3:26PM local time. The stock was also underperforming in New York, falling almost 5% to $6.33 in early trading.

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Régime : réduisez les glucides plutôt que les graisses

Une vaste étude portant sur 18 pays suggère que ce sont les glucides, plus que les graisses, qui sont dangereux pour la santé. Les auteurs souhaiteraient que certaines recommandations officielles soient réévaluées afin d’inciter les populations à manger moins de glucides.

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Des astronautes européens s'entraînent pour voler à bord de la station spatiale chinoise

Les astronautes européens Samantha Cristoforetti (italienne) et Matthias Maurer (allemand) ont débuté un cycle d’entraînement avec leurs homologues chinois. Objectif : préparer leur séjour à bord de la future station spatiale chinoise.

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Vénus : quel ordinateur survivrait à ses conditions extrêmes ?

Comment un atterrisseur pourrait-il résister à l'infernale atmosphère de Vénus, avec sa température élevée et sa pression énorme ? En faisant appel à la mécanique plutôt qu'à l'électronique, estime la Nasa, qui présente ses projets.

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No 1 producer joins copper rally skeptics as price hits new 3-year high

December copper futures trading on the Comex market in New York made fresh highs on Tuesday on signs of supply tightness.

Copper touched $3.1215 a pound ($6,882 per tonne) in morning trade, the highest since mid-September 2014 before paring some of the gains. Copper is now up close to 50% compared to this time last year.

According to Reuters weekly copper stocks in warehouses registered by the Shanghai Futures Exchange declined by more than 8% over the past week to 187,444 tonnes while in LME warehouse so-called on-warrant inventories – those not earmarked for removal – have halved to 112,950 tonnes over the past six weeks.

"It's true that all of the fundamentals are good in the medium- and long-term…but I would be very cautious."

In contrast Comex stocks have climbed to levels last seen in 2004 and at 181,072 this week have tripled since November 2016, at least in part due to unprecedented speculative interest from hedge funds.

On Tuesday, the chairman of the world's number one producer, Chile's Codelco, joined the chorus expressing doubts about the sustainability of the recent rally:

"I'm a little skeptical…in the short-term," Oscar Landerretche said a mining conference in Chilean capital Santiago. "It's true that all of the fundamentals are good in the medium- and long-term…but I would be very cautious."

Codelco produced  over 1.8m tonnes of the red metal in 2016, a 3% drop over the previous year but the state-owned firm managed to stay ahead US-based Freeport which expanded output by 12% last year to a shade under 1.7m tonnes. Codelco is likely to retain the copper crown after Freeport agreed to sell a majority stake in its Grasberg mine to the Indonesian government.

Analysts polled before copper's latest run up gave forecasts well below the ruling price. Investment banks and other institutions polled by research firm FocusEconomics forecast that prices will average $5,722 per tonne in Q4 2017 and $5,832 per tonne in Q4 2018. The lowest forecast for Q4 2017 was $4,899 per tonne, while the maximum forecast was $6,200 per tonne.

Whether copper's 13% rise in little more than a month will convince the smart money to lift their low-ball projections remains to be seen.

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Worker dies at Eldorado Gold Skouries project in Greece

Canada’s Eldorado Gold (TSX:ELD)(NYSE:EGO) said Tuesday a contractor employee at its Skouries gold and copper project in Greece was struck by a branch from a falling tree Monday, and the accident resulted in fatal injuries.

"Our deepest condolences and support go out to the individual's family, friends and colleagues at this time," George Burns, Eldorado's President and Chief Executive Officer, said in the statement. "Safety is our top priority at Eldorado Gold and we are committed to the well-being of our employees and contractors on all of our sites."

The Vancouver-based company noted an investigation related to the incident was already underway.

Eldorado, which already operates one mine in the north of Greece — Stratoni —, has been trying to develop the Skouries and Olympias projects for years, but local opposition and an ongoing back-and-forth with authorities have delayed progress.

The biggest differences between the company and Greek authorities revolve around testing methods applied to comply with environmental regulations at Skouries, whose final permits are still pending. Last month, the company said production is now targeted for 2020, adding it had reviewed the project's capital spending.

Licensing for the company’s Olympias project is in the final stage and Eldorado had said it expects to begin production at the gold, silver, zinc and lead mine before year-end.

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US to extend ban on mining near Yellowstone national park

The US government plans to speed up the approval of a 20-year ban on gold mining claims on forested public lands in Montana, near Yellowstone National Park, and may even consider extending the prohibition to other metals and minerals.

New mining claims in the 30,000-acres stretch near the park’s northern entrance have been blocked since November last year, when the Obama administration launched two-year review of mining in the area, known as Paradise Valley. Such ban was supposed to stay in place until Nov. 2018, while the Departments of Interior and Agriculture evaluate whether to withdraw the land from new mining claims for further 20 years.

But government spokeswoman Heather Swift told the Associated Press that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke aims to move forward the proposed withdrawal “as quickly as possible.”

The move would make it more difficult to pursue large-scale mining by limiting the ability of the companies to expand their operations in the, federal officials told AP.

One of those firm is Canada’s Lucky Minerals (TSX-V:LJ), which wants to explore for copper, gold and silver on the western flank of the Absaroka Mountains. The other one is Spokane, Washington-based Crevice Mining Group, which plans to explore for gold near Jardine, just north of the Yellowstone National Park border.

The news come just days after Zinke recommended President Donald Trump to keep current sites considered national monuments, though he let a window open for shrinking some of them in to allow mining and oil extraction.

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Irish court approves Dalradian takeover of Minco

An Irish court approved Tuesday Canada’s Dalradian Resources’ (TSX:DNA) (LONDALR) proposed takeover of Minco PLC (LON:MIO), which gives the Toronto-based firm control over a 2% net smelter return royalty on the Curraghinalt gold project in Northern Ireland.

The transaction means Minco is also demerging its wholly owned subsidiary Buchans Resources so that, on the completion of the Dalradian scheme, the only asset held by Minco will be the royalty.

Dalradian is advancing applications to build a mine that initially will operate for just over 10 years at Curraghinalt, one of the world’s top ten undeveloped gold deposits by grade.

The mine is expected to produce 1.36 million ounces of gold and 380,000 ounces of silver, using an average overall gold recovery of 94.3% over the time frame.

The Toronto-based miner, which set foot on Northern Ireland in 2010, has the mineral rights to more than 80,000 hectares in the country. The nation is said to hold the seventh richest undeveloped seam of gold in the world. Political violence, however, kept most investors away for about three decades.

Project location. (Courtesy of Dalradian Resources.)

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Freeport to yield control of giant Grasberg copper mine to Indonesia

Shares in Freeport McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) were down in pre-market following the world's second largest copper miner’s announcement that it was giving Indonesia a majority stake in the firm’s massive Grasberg copper and gold mine

The deal means Freeport is giving a 51% ownership in the mine to Indonesia and has committed to build smelters in the country. In return, the US miner will be allowed to keep the mine open until 2014 after months of bitter dispute.

The Grasberg mining complex is responsible for more than a quarter of Freeport’s total output and before the current troubles it was set contribute an even greater proportion in 2017 as copper grades improve and gold production is boosted.

In 2016, the iconic mine produced more than 500,000 tonnes of copper and over 1 million ounces of gold.

 

More to come…

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Tempête Harvey : quels risques pour la santé des habitants ?

Après les inondations en Inde, au Népal et au Bangladesh il y a deux semaines, c’est la région de la ville de Houston (Texas, États-Unis) qui est durement touchée à cause de la tempête Harvey. Quels sont les risques sanitaires pour les populations pendant et après de telles inondations ?

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Trigonométrie : non, les Babyloniens n'étaient pas plus forts que les Grecs !

Ce weekend, une tablette d’argile vieille de quelque 4.000 ans a fait le buzz ! Nom de code : Plimpton 322. Selon une récente étude, cette tablette révélerait une trigonométrie plus simple que celle employée aujourd'hui. Alors, les Babyloniens étaient-ils plus forts que les Grecs ? Pas sûr…

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Copper price powers on but doubts are starting to creep in

December copper futures trading on the Comex market in New York powered ahead on Monday after hedge funds pushed bullish bets on the metal to fresh record highs. Copper touched a high of $3.1095 a pound ($6,855 per tonne) up more than 1% from Friday's closing price and the highest since October 2014. Copper is now up 23.4% in 2017.

Hedge funds built long positions– bets on higher prices in future –  in copper futures and options to a new record high last week according to the CFTC's weekly Commitment of Traders data. So-called managed money investors' net longs now total over 122,000 lots, the equivalent of over 3 billion pounds or nearly 1.4m tonnes worth $9.5 billion at today's prices.

It shatters the previous peaks achieved mid-2014 when the price of the bellwether industrial metal was above $3.20 a pound and represents the equivalent of $12.5 billion swing from 2016 second quarter net short position (bets that copper can be bought back cheaper in future).

With speculative interest in unchartered territory (see graph below) some analysts are expressing doubts about the sustainability of the rally given the fundamentals of the industry – less than stellar demand growth flattered by higher than usual supply disruptions – haven't changed much.

Bloomberg quotes Bernard Dahdah, a metals analyst at Natixis in London, expressing concern over the outsized speculative interest on derivatives markets:
"We think that this is a market that is overreacting to short-term conditions and ignoring several warning signs."

Without support from the physical industry, prices could be set for a swift drop as investor positions are unwound.

“Private investors can leave these markets just as quickly as they get in,” Dahdah said.

Barclays is quoted by CNBC as saying the recent rally (up 13% in little over a month and seven straight weeks of gains) is "puzzling":

They said supply disruptions have increased and the market is in a deficit, with mined production set to decline this year if those disruptions continue. Those factors and the fact that China has defied expectations for a slow down have helped push copper higher.

"Yet something seems off about this recent rally, and we still remain skeptical of its strength and duration," wrote Barclays' Dane Davis. "We think that this is a market that is overreacting to short-term conditions and ignoring several warning signs."

Source: www.tradingfloor.com

Bears in a scrap

The latest rally was sparked by reports at the end of July that China, responsible for some 46% of global consumption of the metal, is planning to ban the importation of scrap copper by the end of next year. China imported more scrap (1.85m tonnes) than refined copper (1.54m) during the first half of 2017.  China-bound cargoes of copper concentrate is expected to match 2016's 17m tonnes annual total.

With the release of its annual financial results last week, world number four producer BHP flagged scrap as a crucial factor in the prospects for the copper market:

Turning to the outlook, we expect the copper market to be roughly balanced through to the end of the decade, with solid demand growth met by existing and committed supply. A key uncertainty is the balance between primary mine supply and scrap that will meet the solid growth in demand that we project in the next few years.

A key uncertainty is the balance between primary mine supply and scrap that will meet the solid growth in demand that we project in the next few years
A structural deficit is expected to open in the early 2020s, at which point we see some sustained upside for prices. Grade decline, increased input costs, water constraints and a scarcity of high-quality future development opportunities are expected to require higher prices to attract sufficient investment to balance the market.

Developments in China will be vital. Major themes include the regulatory environment for scrap imports, the scale of investments in scrap processing capability, lifecycles of copper intensive capital stock, and technical standards for aluminium usage in mid-voltage grid applications, in addition to what we see as its likely structurally lower demand for cathode imports going forward.

 

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Gold price leaps to 10-month high

Heavy buying saw the price of gold jump on Monday reverting to levels last seen before Donald Trump's election as the dollar weakens and hopes for faster economic growth in the world’s largest economy begin to fade.

Gold for delivery in December, the most active contract on the Comex market in New York with nearly 30m ounces traded by early afternoon, was exchanging hands for $1,317.10 an ounce. That a 1.5% gain from Friday's close and brings gold's year-to-date gains to over 14% or $165 an ounce.

Hedge funds which abandoned the gold market for equities and other yield-producing investments in what became known as the Trump trade, are now jumping back in

Gold is now at its the highest since the beginning of November. The metal touched a high of $1,338 on election night when results showed a likely Trump victory, but the rally in record volumes for the Comex market, soon evaporated and by mid-December gold was languishing at $1,150.

Gold bears had been making big bets that Trump's plans for fiscal stimulus, including a $500 billion infrastructure spending program, will lead to strong US economic expansion, higher interest rates and a more robust dollar. All bad news for the gold price.

That narrative has now run its course. Global uncertainty and geopolitical worries including North Korea, the wobble on equity markets, the dollar at the cheapest since January 2015 and continued loose monetary policy have seen the return of the safe haven buyer.

Hedge funds or so-called managed money investors in gold futures and options which abandoned the market for equities and other yield-producing investments in what became known as the Trump trade, are now jumping back in.

Suki Cooper, an analyst at Standard Chartered in New York, quoted by the Financial Times estimated that investors bought a record 474 tonnes worth more than $19 billion over the past five weeks on the Comex market. "Buying only came close to such levels in Comex futures after the vote for Brexit," according to Cooper.

Hedge funds added to their exposure to the yellow metal for the fifth straight week according to trader positioning data supplied by the government. Net longs – bets that gold will be more expensive in the future – rose 9% to the equivalent of 19.6m ounces (610 tonnes), the highest since October. That's well below the mid-2016 record high, but marks a sharp reversal from the negative sentiment that prevailed for a good part of the summer.

Source: www.tradingfloor.com

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Innovations : un bois "augmenté" et une remorque électrique pour vélo

Voici les trois finalistes des Prix EDF Pulse 2017 dans la catégorie « Smart City », celle des innovations pour la ville. Les projets retenus contribuent à la rendre plus simple et agréable à vivre, et aussi plus respectueuse de l’environnement : K-Ryole, une remorque électrique qui,...

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India launches world's first diamond futures exchange

The world’s first diamond futures exchange began trading in India on Monday, with the goal of providing producers a tool to better hedge price risks.

The Indian Commodity Exchange Limited (ICEX), which is backed by companies including Reliance Capital and MMTC, will start trading in 1 carat/100 cent contracts, to later add 50 cent and 30 cent contracts, according to a statement issued by ICEX.

ICEX will start trading in 1 carat/100 cent contracts, to later add 50 cent and 30 cent contracts.

About 90% of the global rough diamond supply is cut and polished in India, with the sector employing around 800,000 people.

Most of the rough gems come from mines operated by De Beers, the world's top diamond producer by value, which owns a grading facility in the country since 2015.

Diamond sellers will have to be certified by International Institute of Diamond Grading and Research and will get credit in electronic form equivalent to the carat deposited.

ICEX kicked off activities with 20 well-known members, including Rosy Blue and Kiran Gems Pvt. The exchange expects about 45 sightholders of De Beers to transact on the online platform, it said.

India is the third-largest diamond jewellery market behind the US and China, accounting for about 8% of global demand.

Screenshot of ICEX's homepage.

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Glencore to offload second coal mine in Australia in less than three months

Miner and commodities trader Glencore (LON:GLEN) said Monday it has begun the sale process for a second Australian coal mine as it readies to pay up to $300 million for shares in Yancoal Australia, as part of a deal that allowed the firm to put its hands on Rio Tinto’s (ASX, LON:RIO) former coal assets in the Hunter Valley.

Rolleston mine produced 13.3 million tonnes of thermal coal last year, out of Glencore’s total Australian coal production of about 93 million tonnes.

The decision to sell Rolleston mine, made together with its Japanese joint venture partners — Itochu Corp and Sumitomo Corp —, is part of Glencore’s ongoing plan to optimize its portfolio and redeploy capital into other opportunities, it said in the statement.

The mine, which produced 13.3 million tonnes of thermal coal last year, out of Glencore’s total Australian coal production of about 93 million tonnes, is located far from the Swiss firm’s main collieries. That makes it less cost-effective than the other operations from a shipping standpoint.

This not the first coal mine Glencore puts up for sale in recent months. In May, it decided to offload its wholly-owned Tahmoor coking coal mine, also in Australia, saying it was planning on mining just thermal coal in the future.

Last month, in fact, the company was finally able to grab a stake in the coal mines that Yancoal Australia (ASX:YAL) is acquiring from Rio Tinto.  The $1.1 billion deal gives Glencore almost half (49%) of those mines and will help Glencore add 7 million tonnes of thermal coal a year to its coal division.

Glencore owns 75% of the Rolleston open cut mine, located in Australia’s Bowen Basin in Queensland state, while its Japanese partners each have a 12.5% stake on it.

Merrill Lynch has been appointed as sole financial adviser on any deal, the company said.

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Levothyrox et thyroïde : 5 choses à savoir

À quoi sert la thyroïde ? Pourquoi l'enlève-t-on parfois ? Quels problèmes avec le Levothyrox, censé compenser le manque d'hormones thyroïdiennes ? Voici cinq choses à savoir sur la thyroïde et le Levothyrox, pour mieux comprendre l’inquiétude actuelle des patients.

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Dans Neptune, il pleut des diamants

Il y aurait bien des pluies de diamants dans les planètes géantes comme Neptune ou Uranus. C'est ce que confirment des expériences réalisées dans le domaine de la physique des hautes pressions.

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Le satellite SensorSat part à la chasse aux débris spatiaux

Malgré les efforts des agences spatiales, la population de débris spatiaux poursuit sa croissance. Un satellite militaire lancé par les États-Unis va tester de nouveaux instruments pour repérer depuis l'orbite basse tous les objets en orbite géostationnaire. Les débris, bien sûr, mais aussi tous...

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100 % d'énergies renouvelables en 2050, ce serait possible dans 139 pays selon une étude

Des scientifiques de Stanford affirment que 139 pays pourraient ne fonctionner qu'avec de l'énergie renouvelable (vent, soleil, eau) à l'horizon 2050, créant plus de 24 millions d'emplois. Ces changements pourraient aussi empêcher 4 à 7 millions de décès par la pollution de l’air chaque année....

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Mars : il y aurait des millions de tourbillons de poussière chaque jour

Des chercheurs ont calculé une nouvelle estimation du nombre et des caractéristiques des fameux tourbillons de poussière martiens, cousins des dust devils sévissant sur Terre. Ils pourraient y en avoir plus de 100 millions par jour.

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UK coal use drops to 135-year low

Once the engine of the Industrial Revolution rooted in the UK, coal is now less popular than ever as an electricity source.

According to Aurora Research, the fossil fuel contributed just two percent of total power generated in Britain in July. That's half the amount of coal used since last July. In 2015, coal use was at 22% of the total. For the whole of last year, coal use accounted for 9%, versus 23% in 2015.

In April the UK ran a whole day without coal, a statistic often cited by anti-coal campaigners as a sign the fossil fuel's days are numbered.

“The decline in coal in recent years is partly as a result of higher carbon prices, and partly the growth in renewables,” Richard Howard, Aurora Energy’s head of research, was quoted in The Independent. ”In August coal load factors have been even lower than in July and the trend is continuing.”

The UK government has said it plans to cut coal use entirely by shutting down all coal-fired plants by 2025.

The closure of coal mines, including the last British underground coal mine in 2015, has meant a dramatic fall in greenhouse gas emissions for the island nation.

According to Carbon Brief, an energy and climate science website, with the use of British coal used for electricity at record lows, carbon emissions in 2016 were about 381 million tonnes. New Scientist points out that with greenhouse gas escapes dropping almost 6% in 2016, the UK's carbon pollution is at its lowest level since 1894.

 

New Scientist names cheaper natural gas, a hike in carbon taxes, expansion of renewable energy, less demand for overall energy, and the closure of Redcar steelworks in late 2015, as all factors resulting in cleaner air. Although, it points out that carbon from natural gas use rose 12.5%, and emissions from oil increased 1.6% due to lower gasoline prices, in 2016.

Apart from coal, UK electricity is also generated from natural gas (30%), nuclear (21%) and renewables (25%), according to 2015 figures provided by the Energy UK, the trade association for Britain's energy industry.

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Tremor kills 2 at Harmony Gold mine

Two miners have been killed in an underground mine collapse in South Africa caused by an earth tremor.

The two deceased workers and three others were trapped underground at Harmony Gold's  Kusasalethu Mine after the ground collapsed following the tremor on Friday.

The incident occurred about 3,100 metres underground. Two bodies were brought to surface sometime between Friday and Sunday.

Search and rescue operations were continuing Sunday by Harmony employees and volunteer rescue teams, to located the three missing miners.

"Efforts to reach the remaining employees will continue until each and every employee has been found,"  the company said in a statement. Harmony suspended operations at the mine shortly after the accident.

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Diaporama : top 15 des illusions d'optique

Des formes inanimées s'agitent, des couleurs identiques semblent différentes, la perspective nous trompe en dessinant des objets irréalisables... tout cela est bien étrange. Il s'agit en fait d'illusions d'optique qui jouent avec notre perception et trompent notre cerveau. Préparez-vous pour un...

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L'extrême en vidéo : au cœur de la vague géante Belharra, en Pays basque

Un mur d’eau monstrueux. Il faut avoir vraiment besoin d’adrénaline pour oser affronter ce géant qui se soulève en moyenne une fois tous les deux ans, mais qui vient de survenir trois fois entre octobre et janvier. Certains l’ont fait pourtant, ils ont surfé sur la vague géante Belharra,...

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E171, le colorant alimentaire fait de nanoparticules de dioxyde de titane, est-il nocif ?

Dans son numéro du mois de septembre 2017, le magazine 60 millions de consommateurs dévoile les résultats de son enquête sur la présence de nanoparticules dans les bonbons. En janvier déjà, comme Futura l'indiquait, la présence nanoparticules de dioxyde de titane (cachées sous la dénomination...

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Science décalée : les hommes sont plus heureux quand ils font le ménage

En 2012, une étude venait tordre le cou aux idées reçues des machos. À la grande surprise des auteurs, elle révélait que plus les hommes participent aux tâches domestiques et plus ils vivent heureux. Et s’il suffisait de faire la vaisselle pour qu’un homme (mé)nage dans le bonheur ?

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Jus de pamplemousse et médicament : un cocktail à éviter

Surprenante information que Futura diffusait en 2011 mais qu'il n'est peut-être pas inutile de rappeler, à l'heure où l'on vient d'apprendre qu'un excès de vitamine B n'est sans doute pas bon. Le jus de pamplemousse ne doit pas être associé à certains médicaments. L’Afssaps rappelait en effet...

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BHP seeking $2 billion Jansen stake sale

BHP is considering selling a 25% stake in Jansen,  its Canadian potash project, according to a Reuters report quoting anonymous sources.

The Anglo-Australian mining giant is working with an investment bank for the potential sale and according to the report a deal "could be worth close to $2 billion."

If you bring in a partner, you can share the capital and risk and, depending on who the partner is, help secure an off-take (supply agreement) or offer expertise

BHP spokeswoman Bronwyn Wilkinson told Reuters "it was too early in the process for the company to have determined the size of a potential stake sale.":

“If you bring in a partner, you can share the capital and risk and, depending on who the partner is, help secure an off-take (supply agreement) or offer expertise,” Wilkinson said.

Activist investors Elliott Advisors have put pressure on BHP to quit the project in the province of Saskatchewan, stating that bringing Jansen into production would be “a severe strategic misstep”.

BHP has spent more than $2 billion on its first foray into potash and the mine could have a final bill north of $12 billion. Jansen is projected to produce 8 million tonnes of potash a year or nearly 15% of global output of the crop nutrient.

CEO Andrew Mackenzie said this week the project won’t come before the board before 2019 and that a number of options – including divesting – are on the table to proceed with Jansen.

BHP is spending $500m to finish Jansen’s two shafts by the end of 2019 and Mackenzie pointed out that once the shafts are completed by the end of 2019, Jansen would be “totally de-risked” and engineers would have “dealt with all the difficult parts”.

By that time according to Mackenzie: “We will only be three years away from first potash.” BHP also touted 2023 as a possible start-up date for Jansen earlier this year.

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NOW READ: Shale may be gone but BHP won't ditch potash

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Innovations Maison : recharge sans fil, interphone vidéo connecté et vidéosurveillance

Pour le choix des lauréats 2017 des prix EDF Pulse, l'heure est venue de départager les finalistes. Ils sont douze en tout, sur 529 candidats. Découvrez les trois projets dans la catégorie « Smart Home ». L'un veut recharger nos mobiles sans fil ni complications, l'autre invente un...

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Des mini-antennes révolutionnaires pour un Wi-Fi dans le corps

Des antennes de moins d’un millimètre efficaces pour les ondes radio VHF et UHF, c’est possible, démontre une équipe de chercheurs américains. Un changement de paradigme permet ce tour de force : il faut en passer par des ondes acoustiques… À la clé, la possibilité de miniaturiser à l’extrême...

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Philippines to expand mining ban to watershed areas, ore exports

The Philippines may soon toughen up its already hard-core stance on mining by banning the activity in watershed areas, blocking the export of unprocessed minerals and forcing companies to seek legislative approval before operating.

The fresh restriction, contained in a 16-page bill authored by 22 congressmen and filed Friday, include shortening the duration of mineral agreements from 25 years to 10 years, and demanding firms to rehabilitate mined areas within 10 years of the expiration of their permit, Inquirer.net reports.

"Hopefully, this creates a more rigid and transparent process which weeds out the undeserving companies from securing a mining permit," the lawmakers wrote.

The country is the world's top nickel ore supplier but President Rodrigo Duterte says miners pay too little tax and not enough to compensate mining communities that suffer environmental damage.

More to come…

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Guatemalan court backs Tahoe’s Escobal mine suspension

Shares in Latin America-focused Tahoe Resources (TSX:THO)(NYSE:TAHO) collapsed Friday after a Guatemalan court upheld the suspension of the company’s license to operate Escobal, the world's third largest silver mine.

The Canadian miner said the court decision responds to an appeal filed by its Guatemalan subsidiary, Minera San Rafael, in an action brought by the anti-mining group, CALAS, against the country's Ministry of Energy and Mines in May.

The organization alleged Tahoe violated the local indigenous people's right of consultation in advance of granting the Escobal mining license to Tahoe's local unit.

Originally, Tahoe was prepared to face a three-month mine suspension, period during which 5.1 million ounces of silver production were expected to be deferred, about $10 million lost and the fact the company would have to review its previously issued guidance for the year.

Today’s ruling means operations at the Escobal mine will have to remain longer than expected. At the same time, the company said the main road to the mine continues to be blocked by protestors and, despite ongoing efforts to solve outsanding issues with locals, the blockage “shows no signs of immediate resolution.”

As a result, the miner said that together with reevaluating its previous multi-year guidance, is now reviewing the financial impact to its longer term capital and exploration programs.

Until operations are resumed, Tahoe will not be able to access the full capacity of the revolving credit facility entered on July 18, 2017, and may continue to be subject to events of default, it said in the statement.

Escobal, the world's third largest silver mine, began commercial production in 2014 and recently drove Tahoe’s record cash flow and strong first quarter 2017 results.

The underground operation, located in southeast Guatemala, about 3 km from San Rafael Las Flores, generated last year a record 21.2 million ounces of silver in concentrate.

But it has also been a source of polemic. Last month, protesters blocked access to the mine, delaying shipments and supplies. Tahoe is also facing action in Canada’s court system by a group of Guatemalan for alleged violence at a protest outside Escobal in 2013.

More to come…

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Graphène : un conductivité miracle grâce à un fluide d'électrons turbulent

Dans le graphène, matériau prometteur pour l'électronique du futur, le courant électrique peut s'écouler en rencontrant une résistance étonamment basse. C'est qu'il se comporte alors comme un fluide visqueux, ce qui, paradoxalement, améliore la conductivité, expliquent des scientifiques.

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La vie du dodo retrouvée... dans ses os

Digne d'une belle enquête policière, une minutieuse étude de fossiles de dodo, ce curieux oiseau qui vécut à l'île Maurice et dont l'espèce s'est éteinte, a permis de révéler sa vie tout au long de l'année. Delphine Angst, qui a mené cette recherche avec son équipe, nous explique comment, par...

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Intelligence artificielle : les 7 innovations majeures selon Joël de Rosnay

Nous avons demandé à Joël de Rosnay, parrain de Futura, docteur ès sciences, grand vulgarisateur et fin observateur de l'évolution des connaissances, quels sont pour lui les exemples les plus frappants de l'intelligence artificielle et des réseaux neuronaux.

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Des enfants extraordinaires en apesanteur

Novespace et l’association « Les Chevaliers du Ciel » ont organisé un vol parabolique à bord duquel huit enfants touchés par un handicap et la maladie ont pu découvrir les joies de l'apesanteur. Une initiative à laquelle a participé l'Agence spatiale européenne en envoyant cinq de ses...

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Copper price rally is only gathering momentum

September copper futures trading on the Comex market in New York moved higher again on Thursday as the likely impact of new regulations in China spark another round of heavy buying in the US and Shanghai.

On a busy day where more than 3 billion pounds of  copper changed hands, the price jumped to 3.048 a pound ($6,720 per tonne), up more than 2% from yesterday's settlement and the highest in nearly three years. December copper topped $3.07 a pound earlier in the day.

The latest rally was sparked by reports at the end of July that China, responsible for some 46% of global consumption of the metal, is planning to ban the importation of scrap copper by the end of next year. China imported more scrap (1.85m tonnes) than refined copper (1.54m) during the first half of 2017.  China-bound cargoes of copper concentrate is expected to match 2016's 17m tonnes annual total.

With the release of its annual financial results on Tuesday, world number four producer BHP flagged scrap as a crucial factor in the prospects for the copper market:

Turning to the outlook, we expect the copper market to be roughly balanced through to the end of the decade, with solid demand growth met by existing and committed supply. A key uncertainty is the balance between primary mine supply and scrap that will meet the solid growth in demand that we project in the next few years.

A key uncertainty is the balance between primary mine supply and scrap that will meet the solid growth in demand that we project in the next few years
A structural deficit is expected to open in the early 2020s, at which point we see some sustained upside for prices. Grade decline, increased input costs, water constraints and a scarcity of high-quality future development opportunities are expected to require higher prices to attract sufficient investment to balance the market.

Developments in China will be vital. Major themes include the regulatory environment for scrap imports, the scale of investments in scrap processing capability, lifecycles of copper intensive capital stock, and technical standards for aluminium usage in mid-voltage grid applications, in addition to what we see as its likely structurally lower demand for cathode imports going forward.

While the impact of the ban on prices and primary supply demand is uncertain and few details have emerged, large-scale speculators in copper futures such as hedge funds have pushed bullish bets to record highs in recent weeks. LME and Comex managed money investors now hold net long positions worth $21.7 billion at today's price. On Chinese commodity markets regulators have stepped in to cool speculative demand as base metal prices inside the country rack up double digit percentage gains in a month.

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Trump to open parts of Utah National Monument to miners, oil firms — report

US President Donald Trump may soon revoke the protected status from Bears Ears National Monument, in southeastern Utah, opening parts of the area to mining and oil companies under a recommendation that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is expected to issue on Thursday.

Bears Ears, one of the 27 national monuments President Trump is taking a second look at, covers 1.3 million acres, including land considered sacred to Native Americans. 

The monument, one of the 27 President Trump is taking a second look at, covers 1.3 million acres (about 5,260 square km), and it includes land considered sacred to Native Americans.

Former President Barack Obama designated it a national monument near the end of his time in office and if Trump decides to reopen it for commercial mining and drilling, it would be a direct blow to his predecessor’s environmental legacy, and the first major test of a century-old conservation law, The New York Times reports.

Shrinking the protected area or plainly abolishing its status of national monument is likely to be met vocal opposition from environmental groups, outdoor outfitters and Native American tribes, who argue federal protection is not only better for the environment, but better for the economy in a rural, economically depressed area of the Beehive State.

They have vowed to file lawsuits if Trump attempts to rescind or reduce the monument designations for Bears Ears and the other 26 sites under revision, AP reports.

Supporters of downsizing national monuments rather than eliminating them argue that state governments are better suited to make management decisions that would ensure federal lands are used for a mix of uses.

Last month, a group of Utah and Arizona officials asked Trump to end a 20-year ban on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, which came into effect in 2012.

They’ve also pushed for the abolishment of national monument designations in Arizona, such as Grand Canyon-Parashant and Vermillion Cliffs. They argue those nominations have limited coal, natural gas and oil production in the area, severely hurting the local economy

Zinke recently announced, though without providing details, that he would recommend no changes for six of the monuments on the list. Of the remaining sites, 15 are considered the most vulnerable to revision, reduction or even reversal, he noted.

The secretary’s final guidance to the President Trump should be known before the end of the week.

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SpaceX : Elon Musk dévoile les premières images de la combinaison spatiale

Le patron de SpaceX, Elon Musk, vient de révéler sur son compte Instagram l'aspect de la combinaison spatiale pour les astronautes de ses futurs vols habités. Toutefois, de nombreuses interrogations demeurent. Nous devrions en savoir plus bientôt.

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Bacanora to complete Sonora lithium project feasibility study this year

Lithium exploration and development company Bacanora Minerals (TSX-V, LON:BCN) said Thursday it expects the feasibility study at its Sonora lithium project in Mexico to be completed by the end of the year.

Final study is focused on a two-phase open pit mine and lithium carbonate processing facility with a life of over 20 years.

Finalizing the report would be the fourth major milestone achieved by the company in just two years. In 2015, the firm and its joint-venture partner Rare Earth Minerals (LON:REM) signed a conditional agreement with Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA) to supply the electric cars and energy storage products company with lithium hydroxide from the Sonora project. In May last year, the company secured a $11 million investment from Blackrock, and this April, it  inked a long-term supply deal with Japan’s Hanwa Corporation that will see the Tokyo-based trader acquire up to 100% of the output coming from Sonora.

A Pre-Feasibility Study completed in early 2016 established Probable Mineral Reserve for the Sonora project of 2.1 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent.

The definitive feasibility study focuses on a two-phase open pit mine and lithium carbonate processing facility with a life of over 20 years.

Phase one will see Bacanora process 17,500 tonnes per year of battery-grade lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) for the first two years. It will then ramp up to phase two where it will process 35,000 tonnes of Li2CO3 each year.

According to the company, while expenditure at Sonora may be higher than brine deposits in Chile, the length of time to produce lithium carbonate should be considerably shorter and Sonora's operating expenditure is expected to be higher than brine deposits in Chile, the length of time to produce lithium carbonate and the operating costs should be considerably shorter.

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Brazil to let mining happen in Amazon area the size of Switzerland

Brazil’s president Michel Temer has opened up a vast national reserve in the Amazon, larger than the size of Switzerland, to mining and mineral exploration, as part of a broader plan to fuel economic activity in the country.

The presidential decree, published Wednesday in the official government gazette, abolished the protected status of the National Reserve of Copper and Associates (Renca), which straddles the northern states of Amapa and Pará.

The area, covering 46,000 sq. km (17,800 sq. miles), is thought to be rich in gold, iron ore, copper and other minerals. The exploitation of those riches is expected to help Brazil speed up its recovery from its worst recession on record.

Foreseeing the criticism the move would trigger among environmentalists, the government noted that only a third of the area (or 30%) will be effectively opened up to mining, adding that lifting Renca’s status of protected area does not cancel other protections for native vegetation and indigenous land in the area.

Eliminating certain protections in the area will normalize the claims of squatters who have illegally occupied lands inside Renca, usually for running cattle or mining operations. The destruction caused by those illegal activities was one of the major drivers of a 29% increase in deforestation in Brazil last year.

The decree comes on the heels of a series of polemic changes introduced to the country’s mining code last month.

Together with updating the country’s legal framework for mineral exploitation, the package of three presidential decrees issued in July hikes royalties by as much as 80%.

The changes, which include some reduction on reduce bureaucracy through the creation of a National Mining Agency, are being perceived as a “missed opportunity” to make material changes to ease financing, encourage investment and optimize procedures in the mining sector, Adriano Trindade, a local lawyer specializing in mining regulations from Pinheiro Neto Advogados, told MINING.com.

While the expert acknowledges the decrees include a few positive changes such as the increase of exploration term from three to four years (extendable for another four), and the possibility of continuing with exploration work once the exploration license expires. But for Trindade, those points are not enough to shore up government finances.

The lawyer is also critical of the way the changes are coming into effect. “Instead of sending one (or three) bill to the Congress, which would be reviewed, discussed and approved before entering into force, the President enacted three Provisional Measures (MPs) that are in force immediately from the date they are enacted,” he noted, adding the interim rules still need to be reviewed and approved by Congress within a 60-day term.

“During this period, members of the Congress may propose changes to the MPs and, in fact, approximately 500 proposals for amendments have been presented and need to be reviewed,” Trindade said. “That means that the framework designed by the MPs will still change and the outcome is not totally clear at this point.”

But when it comes to yesterday’s governmental decision on the Renca reserve, the lawyer is positive:

“[The reserve] was created in 1984 and it has been said that such decision was not backed by proper studies or a policy for the area,” he said. “I see the opening up of Renca as a very positive move towards mining and investment in general.”

It’s also helpful in his opinion that mining in indigenous reserves will be restricted, since the government has still to come up with regulations for mining activities in those lands.

“Above all, I see the move as a good political message and an opportunity to investors,” he concluded.

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Étoile : l'extraordinaire image de la supergéante rouge Antarès

Visible l’été, vers le sud, reconnaissable à sa teinte rouge, l’étoile Antarès est passée devant un des meilleurs photographes du monde : le VLTI, qui combine la luminosité collectée par plusieurs télescopes géants. Le résultat est un portrait sans précédent, offrant une cartographie des gaz en...

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Venµs, le satellite qui regarde la végétation, donne ses premières images

Unique en son genre, le satellite franco-israélien Venμs préfigure peut-être l'avenir de l'observation de la Terre. Dédié au suivi de la végétation, il survolera 110 sites tous les deux jours durant deux ans et demi. Commentant ses premières images, Jean-Yves le Gall, le président du...

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Bientôt du Wi-Fi dans le corps grâce à des mini-antennes ?

Des antennes de moins d’un millimètre efficaces pour les ondes radio VHF et UHF, c’est possible, démontre une équipe de chercheurs américains. Un changement de paradigme permet ce tour de force : il faut en passer par des ondes acoustiques… À la clé, la possibilité de miniaturiser à l’extrême...

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Shale may gone but BHP won't ditch potash

On the face of it BHP caved into demands from activist investor Elliott Advisors when it suddenly announced this week that it’s actively seeking to exit oil and gas.

When it comes to potash however, the Melbourne-based company (Elliott also wants BHP to ditch its Australian listing, but that’s a fight – or should that be stoush – for another day) appears to be digging in its heels.

If you were looking for management missteps BHP’s petroleum business was always an easy target. No-one spending top dollar on tight oil in 2011 when crude was in triple digits doesn’t look foolish today. And despite similarities mining and oil doesn’t appear to mix – just ask Freeport.

“Given that we do think some time in the 2020s we are going to see a requirement for some form of new greenfield production […] the same way as we think that’s not so true for copper”

But Elliott did not mince words about BHP’s potash plans either.

The fund called the Jansen project in Saskatchewan just another example of the company’s “dubious strategy of ‘Thinking Big’ — a concept that has been disastrous for BHP shareholders”. Just to make sure the message sank in, Elliott said bringing Jansen into production would be “a severe strategic misstep”.

With a final bill north of $12 billion BHP is certainly thinking big with Jansen, regarding it as a business that could one day rival its Western Australia iron ore division. While attention has been focused on the announcement that the project won’t come before the board before 2019, BHP remains essentially on the same development path for Jansen.

The company is spending $500m to finish Jansen’s two shafts. And as CFO Peter Beaven helpfully explained to a banking analyst if you don’t finish the work the shafts will collapse “which doesn’t make any sense at all.”

Andrew Mackenzie also pointed out that once the shafts are completed by the end of 2019, Jansen would be “totally de-risked” and engineers would have “dealt with all the difficult parts”. That would make it easier to sell or in Mackenzie’s corporate parlance “crystallize value”. Then according to Mackenzie: “We will only be three years away from first potash.” Production in 2023 has been the plan all along.

In its outlook, BHP said overcapacity in the potash industry would “likely get worse before it gets better” and greenfield projects are slated to enter the market “through 2021”. But new supply is also entering the market amid record demand for the crop nutrient – Chinese imports are likely up more than 30% this year.
BHP admits potash demand is volatile, but its forecast trend demand growth of 2m tonnes per year through the 2020s does not seem overly optimistic

BHP admits potash demand is volatile, but its forecast trend demand growth of 2m tonnes per year through the 2020s does not seem overly optimistic.

Perhaps most telling of the extent of support Jansen enjoy within the company is Mackenzie hinting that potash may be BHP's best (if not only) growth opportunity: “Given that we do think some time in the 2020s we are going to see a requirement in [the potash] market for some form of new greenfield production […] the same way as we think that’s not so true for copper.”  Well in the same way it's not so true for iron ore or coal either.

There is no shortage of detractors – just read MINING.com’s comment section whenever Jansen is mentioned. But one bullish (and seasoned reader) predicted the fate of the shale assets and Jansen this way more than a month ago.

I remember when the "smart" money types were denigrating Escondida. The development of greenfields has always been BHP's best route to success – not acquisitions like shale operator PetroHawk.

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Innovations Santé : mieux guider les aveugles, semelle interactive et neurorééducation à domicile

Pour le choix des lauréats 2017 des prix EDF Pulse, l'heure est venue de départager les finalistes. Ils sont douze en tout, sur 529 candidats. Découvrez les trois projets dans la catégorie « Smart Health ». Chacun a de quoi changer la vie d'une personne handicapée par l'âge, la maladie...

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Germany brings home $28bn worth of gold reserves earlier than expected

Germany’s central bank has completed its plan to bring back home 54,000 gold bars it had in vaults located in New York and Paris to beneath its Frankfurt headquarters, three years ahead of schedule.

The Bundesbank, one of the world’s top bullion holders, repatriated 674 tonnes from the vaults of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Banque de France, the French central bank, over the past four years in one of the biggest operations of its type.

Each of the 53,780 bars weighs 12.5kg and is worth about $5,200 (€440,000). In total, the haul is worth €23.7 billion ($28bn).

 

More to come…

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Cryogénisation : une femme congelée pour la première fois en Chine

La cryogénisation (ou cryonie) consiste à conserver dans le froid une personne récemment décédée dans l’espoir de la ressusciter un jour. Une femme de 49 ans a ainsi été cryogénisée dans deux mille litres d'azote liquide en Chine.

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Des cyanobactéries dans la Loire à l’origine de la mort mystérieuse de chiens

Dans le Maine-et-Loire, autour d'Angers, des proliférations d'algues toxiques inquiètent les autorités et ont causé au moins treize intoxications de chiens, dont huit mortelles. Dans le Louet et la Loire, les poissons pourraient être contaminés, si bien que la pêche a été interdite là où les...

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Disparition des dinosaures : l'astéroïde aurait plongé la Terre dans la nuit durant 2 ans

Une nouvelle simulation de l'impact des incendies producteurs de suies causés par l'impact d'un astéroïde à la fin du Crétacé précise ce qui a pu se passer au moment de la disparition des dinosaures. Les suies pourraient avoir bloqué suffisamment le rayonnement solaire pour stopper toute...

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Scientists figure out how to make it rain diamonds

Scientists have just achieved what it seemed impossible — they have successfully recreated conditions present in Neptune and Uranus to make it rain diamonds.

The team, formed by American, British and German researchers, were able to mimic environments found deep inside those two icy giant planets of our Solar System and watched as tiny diamonds formed.

The team of researchers successfully recreated conditions present in Neptune and Uranus, and made diamond rain happen.

In an article published in Nature Astronomy, the group reveals how they fired very powerful lasers at polystyrene — a substitute for the hydrocarbons found within the two icy planets.

They used one of the brightest machine in the world to see the diamonds, which belongs to the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University.

“You need these intense, fast pulses of X-rays to unambiguously see the structure of these diamonds, because they are only formed in the laboratory for such a very short time,” Siegfried Glenzer, professor of photon science at SLAC and a co-author of the paper, said in a statement.

Scientists have long believed that the extreme high pressures on Neptune and Uranus would squeeze carbon atoms in the atmosphere, triggering a diamond rain. But until now, nobody had ever watched it happen.

On Uranus and Neptune, the study authors predict that diamonds would become much larger, maybe millions of carats in weight.

The Matter in Extreme Conditions instrument at SLAC gives scientists the tools to investigate the extremely hot, dense matter at the centers of stars and giant planets. (Image: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.)

“Previously, researchers could only assume that the diamonds had formed,” Dominik Kraus, scientist at Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf and lead author said in a statement. “When I saw the results of this latest experiment, it was one of the best moments of my scientific career.”

Kraus said the outcome suggests there is not necessarily a pure diamond core inside Neptune and Uranus, but certainly “a large diamond envelope around the rocky cores that are supposed to exist inside those planets,” Gizmodo reported.

The next step for the researchers is applying the same method to look into the interior of other types of planets.

“We can’t go inside the planets and look at them, so these laboratory experiments complement satellite and telescope observations,” Kraus concluded.

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Un satellite va créer des éclipses artificielles

L'éclipse totale du Soleil qui a traversé les États-Unis d'ouest en est a ravi des millions d'Américains. Le grand public comme les astronomes amateurs ont profité de quelques secondes de nuit en plein jour et les astronomes professionnels ont braqué leurs instruments pendant au mieux plusieurs...

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Iron ore nears $80 a tonne

Iron ore prices held steady above $79 per tonne on Tuesday on the back of a strengthening billet market a day earlier, when Chinese steelmakers began stoking production ahead of mandated cuts going into winter.

Ore with 62% content in Qingdao traded at $79.65 per tonne, after hitting $79.93 a tonne on Monday, according to the Metal Bulletin, even though enquiries in the seaborne market have quietened down.

From the recent low of $53.36 a tonne hit on June 13, the benchmark price is now up more than 49% — an impressive return in a little over two months. It also means seaborne is trading higher now than at the beginning of the year.

Despite both pessimistic and conservative predictions about the direction iron ore prices would be headed this year until 2020, the steelmaking material’s ongoing rally hasn’t come as a surprise for some experts.

According to the UN’s trading, investment and development arm (UNCTAD), the upturn began brewing last year and key indicators of demand and supply, seaborne trade and price prove so, as they all made gains through the year.

In a report published late July, the UN body said that although Chinese consumption remained relatively low last year, and prices did not improve for much of the year, a significant shift became evident in the final quarter of 2016.

The analysts expect prices to remain on the high-end for the rest of this year, helped by Beijing’s ongoing efforts to curb low quality steel production and so reduce emissions.

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5 aliments aphrodisiaques pour booster sa libido

De nombreux aliments sont connus pour leurs soi-disant effets aphrodisiaques. Mais quels sont ceux qui marchent vraiment ? Voici cinq aliments ou compléments alimentaires dont les propriétés aphrodisiaques ont été démontrées.

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Copper rally lifts Antofagasta’s profits — up 88% in first half of 2017

Chile-focused copper miner Antofagasta Plc. (LON:ANTO) posted Tuesday an impressive 88% jump in earnings during the six months to June 30, thanks to a sustained rally in prices for the metal, which has surged 19% so far this year, as well as cost savings.

The miner, one of the oldest companies listed in London, said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, increased to $1.1 billion in the period, as revenues grew by 42% to $2 billion.

Chief executive Iván Arriagada, who has been at the helm for less than a year and a half, said the improved performance will allow the company to pay an interim dividend of 10.3 US cents a share, up from 3.1 a year ago. This is in line with Antofagasta’s policy of paying out a minimum of 35% of underlying net earnings to investors, he said.

Company’s margins have returned to a level not seen since 2012, helped by the stronger copper price and cost savings.

The copper market is moving to a “tighter demand-supply position” with a small deficit expected this year and next, Arriagada said in the statement.

“However, volatility is anticipated as demand expectations are continually reassessed although supply has stabilised following the spate of disruptions earlier in the year,” he added.

The executive highlighted that the company’s margins have now returned to a level not seen since 2012. This came despite a strengthening in the Chilean peso versus the dollar, which weighed on Antofagasta’s costs.

Copper prices hit a fresh three-year high on the news, which together with other companies positive results, buoyed sentiment towards the sector. The industrial metal also found support from robust gains in steel material prices in China.

London copper rose to $6,642.50 a tonne in London, the highest since Nov 2014, before trading at $6,622 a tonne by 03:12AM ET, a 0.6% gain. Copper had already jumped 1.5% in the previous session, spurred partly by troubles at Freeport's copper mine in Indonesia and large-scale speculators positioning themselves for a continued run in prices.

Antofagasta has majority stakes in four Chilean copper mines — Los Pelambres (60%), El Tesoro (70%), Michilla (74.2%) and Esperanza (74.2%). At two of them, Los Pelambres in central Chile and Centinela in the north, the company is currently expanding operations to feed growing demand.

The miner is also conducting exploration activities in Peru, while its majority owner — the billionaire Luksic family — holds exploration and mining ventures in Europe, Turkey, Australia, Africa and across the Americas.

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Essayez la lévitation acoustique chez vous

La lévitation acoustique, compte tenu de sa difficulté de mise en œuvre, a longtemps été confinée au laboratoire. Aujourd’hui, des chercheurs britanniques dévoilent les plans d’un appareil capable de faire léviter de petits objets à la force des ultrasons. Un appareil dont le fonctionnement et...

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Éclipse de Soleil aux États-Unis : les plus belles photos

La fièvre de l’éclipse totale de Soleil s’est emparée de dizaines de millions d’Américains, ce lundi 21 août 2017. Voici une sélection des plus belles images et vidéos de cet évènement céleste.

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Éclispe de Soleil aux États-Unis : les plus belles photos

La fièvre de l’éclipse totale de Soleil s’est emparée de dizaines de millions d’Américains, ce lundi 21 août 2017. Voici une sélection des plus belles images et vidéos de cet évènement céleste.

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Les éclipses de Soleil ont permis de grandes découvertes scientifiques

Depuis plus de 2.000 ans, les éclipses de Soleil ont permis des bonds de géant en astronomie. Par des méthodes astucieuses, des savants grecs de l'antiquité les ont exploitées pour arpenter notre Système solaire. Elles ont aussi aidé l'astrophysique et conforté la théorie d'Albert Einstein.

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BHP annual profits rise fourfold

World number one mining company BHP posted a fourfold rise in underlying profits on Tuesday in Australia of $6.7 billion.

But event that stellar number was below analysts' forecasts, as was the Melbourne-based company's full year dividend of US$0.83 cents per share, equivalent to a 66% payout ratio.

Net debt was reduced by 37% or nearly $10 billion to $16.3 billion. The company said it expects to allocated less than $8 billion per year over the next year on capital expenditure.

"Strong momentum will be carried into the 2018 financial year, with volume growth of 7% and further productivity gains expected," Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie said in a statement.

Last week BHP greenlighted the long-awaited $2.5 billion expansion of its Spence copper mine in Chile, which will add another 50 years to the operation’s life.

Updating…

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Iron ore price jumps again – up 47% in two months

The Northern China import price of 62% Fe content ore jumped again on Monday as the country's steelmakers stoke production ahead of mandated cuts going into winter.

According to data supplied by The Steel Index the steelmaking raw material advanced 4% to exchange hands for $78.10 per dry metric tonne, the highest since April 7.

The iron ore price is now trading up a whopping 47% from its 2017 lows struck just two months ago as Chinese anti-pollution crackdown on its heavy industries force the country's steelmakers to chase high quality imports and avoid domestic producers which contend with Fe content in the 20%-range.

In Hebei province, China's key producing region, steelmakers said they will comply with stringent new emissions regulations by the September 1 deadline. 

Iron ore's latest rally comes after another furious day of trading on ferrous derivates markets in China ahead of new curbs on trading going into force tomorrow to dampen speculative activity.

In Shanghai rebar futures – the world's most traded steel contract – gained  3.6% near 4½-year highs. Dalian coking coal futures rose 3.6% while iron ore contracts closed 6.6% higher, bringing gains over the past three sessions to 11%.

China's steel production last month rose more than 10% compared to last year to a record 74m tonnes as traders worry about a steel supply crunch going into the new year. Beijing wants to cut output by as much as 50% during winter months to fight smog, particularly in its capital city and surrounding areas.

In Hebei province, China's key producing region, steelmakers said they will comply with stringent new emissions regulations by the September 1 deadline. Some 120 million tonnes of low-quality steel capacity were shuttered during the first six month of the year.

 

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