Science décalée : l'oxygène de l'air serait cancérogène

L'oxygène de l'air, pourtant indispensable à la vie, pourrait favoriser le cancer du poumon. La raison évoquée : l'oxygène favorise la formation de radicaux libres qui causent des dommages aux cellules et à l’ADN.

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Contre l'effet de serre : des moutons sélectionnés pour émettre moins de méthane

Grâce à des croisements, une équipe de chercheurs néozélandais a créé une race de mouton émettant 10 % de méthane en moins. Une avancée loin d’être anecdotique, tant ce gaz à effet de serre menace le climat.

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Le visage de Jules César reconstitué en 3D

Quelle tête avait Jules César ? Le Musée national des antiquités de Leiden, aux Pays-Bas, vient de dévoiler une représentation hyperréaliste en trois dimensions du dictateur romain. Un portrait qui ne laisse pas indifférent.

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Notre top 5 de la semaine : Encelade bonne pour la vie, des pilules d'insuline et la comète venue d'un autre monde

La bonne nouvelle nouvelle de la semaine est pour les diabétiques : il serait possible de gérer son taux d'insuline par voie orale. En d'autres termes sans injections mais avec une pilule. À valider. L'autre grande nouvelle est venue de l'espace : dans les données de la sonde Cassini, l'analyse...

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Lucapa digs up another large diamond, this time in Lesotho

Australia’s Lucapa Diamond (ASX:LOM) has found an 89-carat yellow diamond at its 70%-owned Mothae mine in Lesotho during the current bulk sampling program.

The company’s managing director, Stephen Wetherall, said the recovery of such a large diamond so early in the bulk sampling program provided further proof that, just like the neighbouring Letšeng mine, Mothae is another source of large diamonds.

Lucapa believes recovering such a large gemstone early in the bulk sampling program proves Mothae is a source of big diamonds.

“Having recently recovered a 25-carat yellow diamond from the previously untested neck zone in our bulk sampling program, we are tremendously encouraged that this 89-carat diamond was recovered from the south-east zone, an area of the Mothae kimberlite pipe where there has been very limited historical testing,” Wetherall said in the statement.

The ongoing bulk sampling programme, Lucapa said, is designed to expand and improve the current Mothae resource by processing areas of the kimberlite pipe either not included in the resource or where the company believes there has been significant historical sampling.

It also noted that construction of a new 150 tonne-per-hour commercial diamond plant continues on schedule for commissioning in the second half of 2018.

It’s been a good year for Lucapa so far, with the company fetching $1.7 million in March from selling findings from its prolific Lulo mine in Angola, which recently yielded a 46-carat pink stone, the largest coloured gem-quality rock ever recovered in that country.

The Mothae project is located within 5 km of Gem Diamonds' (LON:GEMD) Letšeng mine, the world’s highest dollar per carat kimberlite diamond operation, which in January yielded a 910-carat rock. It was the fifth biggest gem-quality diamond ever found.

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Bluerock Diamonds trades up on resumption of production at Kareevlei

Bluerock Diamonds was up 7.87% to GBX1.27 (CAN0.02) a share after announcing production had resumed at its South African diamond mine, Kareevlei.

The company announced that it had found a long-term fix for its cone crusher which had been affecting throughput.

The company says that changes made to the crushing circuit will positively impact the plant’s performance, improving throughput rates and will provide an update in its July quarterly statement.

Year-to-date the company's stock has slid 60 percent.

Creative Commons image courtesy of Mechanical Curator's Cuttings

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Chile injects $1bn into state-owned copper giant Codelco

Chile’s government is giving state-owned Codelco $1 billion in "extraordinary" capitalization to help it fund an ambitious plan aimed at upgrading its aging mines and dealing with dwindling ore grades.

The country’s mining minister, Baldo Prokurica, said the backing was essential for Codelco to keep up production numbers and so remain as the world’s No.1 copper miner, Diario Financiero reports (in Spanish).

The figure, though significant, is minor when taken in the context of Codelco’s investment strategy, originally pegged at $25 billion (now sitting at $18bn).

The miner, which hands over all of its profits to the state, holds vast copper deposits, accounting for 10% of the world's known proven and probable reserves and about 11% of the global annual copper output with 1.8 million metric tonnes of production.

However, most of its mines are running out of copper and need heavy investment in order to extend their productive life.

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BHP adds electric vehicles to its light truck fleet

BHP Billiton will add two electric vehicles to its 240 fleet of trucks at its Olympic Dam mine in South Australia.

The vehicles are being tested looking at various performance measures, such as the vehicles’ performance, power supply, maintenance requirements, charging time and corrosion resistance underground. The electric vehicle will look like a traditional Land Cruiser. The company says a decision on wider deployment at Olympic Dam is expected to be made during in the coming financial year.

The company says that Olympic Dam relies on a team of approximately 800 underground employees and uses diesel equipment for development, production, ore handling and mine services.

The deployment of electric vehicles is part of a broader initiative aimed at achieving a 50 per cent reduction, right across BHP, in the number of employees with potential exposure to particulate matter.

The company says that Olympic Dam’s switch to LEVs in its operations will reduce emissions, exposure and costs – as well as influencing the rollout of similar initiatives in our other locations.

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Éruption du volcan Agung : l'aéroport de Bali à nouveau perturbé

Une reprise de l'activité éruptive du volcan Agung, à Bali, a conduit les autorités à fermer temporairement l'aéroport international avant de le ré-ouvrir ce vendredi 29 juin 2018, perturbant plus de 400 vols domestiques et internationaux. Le volcan sacré ne se calme que très lentement depuis la...

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ʻOumuamua serait bien une comète

Rebondissement dans la détermination de la nature du fameux astéroïde interstellaire 'Oumuamua. La mesure précise de sa trajectoire indique un mouvement anormal qui ne s'explique que par un très léger dégazage... du type de celui d'une comète, même si aucune queue n'est visible.

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Sibanye, Regulus join efforts to develop Argentina’s Altar project

South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater (JSE:SGL) (NYSE:SBGL), the precious metal miner target of several lawsuits over mounting deaths at its operations, said Friday it has inked an agreement with Canada’s Regulus Resources (TSX-V: REG), and its newly formed subsidiary Aldebaran Resources, to jointly unlock value at the Altar copper-gold project, in Argentina.

Under the terms of the deal, Sibanye’s wholly-owned branch Stillwater Canada will enter into an option and joint venture with Regulus’ newly formed Argentinean subsidiary Aldebaran Resources. This company, in turn, will have the option to earn a maximum 80% interest in a division of Stillwater Canada – Peregrine Metals, which owns Altar.

Vancouver-based Regulus will also spin out its Rio Grande copper-gold project and other early-stage mining assets it has in Argentina to Aldebaran, including the drill-ready Aguas Calientes gold-silver project.

Altar Project location. (Image courtesy of Regulus Resources.)

The Altar project, located in the San Juan province, is about 10km from the border with Chile, the world’s No. 1 copper producer. As of December, it contained 2,057 million tonnes of measured and indicated resources at 0.3% copper and 0.1 g/t gold (14.5 billion pounds of copper and 5.2 million ounces of gold) and 557 million tonnes of inferred resources at 0.3% copper and 0.1 g/t gold (3.4 billion pounds of copper and 1.1 million ounces of gold)

The Rio Grande project, in the north western Salta province, is located along the NW-trending Archibarca Lineament, which also controls the location of the BHP’s Escondida copper mine in Chile, the world’s largest.

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Trois innovations surprenantes : porteur à deux roues, décryptage de contrat par IA et optimisateur de chantier

Compliqué de lire un contrat et d'en apprécier tous les détails ? Une intelligence artificielle peut aider. Trop lourdes, les charges à transporter d'un bout à l'autre de l'usine ? Un droïde peut le faire tout seul. Trop dangereuse et trop improvisée, la traversée d'un chantier ? L'Internet des...

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Comment les satellites Jason ont révolutionné notre connaissance du climat

Le satellite Jason 2 fête ses 10 ans. Discrètement. Pourtant, en surveillant quotidiennement le niveau des océans, les missions altimétriques ont changé notre perception du changement climatique en cours. Les explications d'un spécialiste sur le travail précieux de ce satellite, de ses frères et...

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Lèpre : plus de la moitié des tatous seraient infectés dans la forêt brésilienne

Une étude réalisée dans l’État de Pará, au Brésil, conclut que plus de la moitié des tatous testés étaient infectés par Mycobacterium leprae, l’agent de la lèpre. Ces animaux peuvent transmettre la maladie à l'Homme.

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Centerra mine’s future up in the air as Kyrgyzstan to review deal

Fresh doubt has been cast over a deal reached last year between Centerra Gold (TSX:CG) (OTCMKTS: CAGDF) and the Kyrgyz Republic ending long-dragged disputes, after a government speaker confirmed Friday the parliament will review the settlement in September.

According to radio Azattyk, the upcoming revision of the strategic agreement may lead to increased environmental payments for the company.

The news comes two weeks after MINING.com reported the country’s new Prime Minister, Muhammadkaliy Abylgaziev, was reconsidering the agreement signed by his predecessor, adding his administration planned to submit to parliament its own proposals regarding the document.

The parliament’s revision of the strategic agreement, set for September, may lead to increased environmental payments for Canada's Centerra Gold.

It also follows recent charges of corruption against former Prime Minister Sapar Isakov, who signed the deal with Centerra last year — a development local media said it could jeopardize the legitimacy of the pact.

Last week, the Canadian miner said it had extended the deadline for completion of all conditions included in the agreement from June 22 to July 23, without providing details about the reasons for the deferral.

When and if finally signed, the wide-ranging arrangement would end a long-drawn-out dispute that crippled investor confidence in the impoverished Central Asian country and prevented Centerra from partaking in any profit from its majority-held and majority-operated Kumtor mine, resulting in the Canadian company filing for international arbitration.

The settlement would also end mutual lawsuits and force the Kyrgyz government to drop all environmental claims against Centerra and its subsidiary. In return, the miner would increase its annual environmental contributions.

Kumtor, which lies near the Chinese border at an altitude of 4,000 metres, has produced around 11m ounces since inception and remaining reserves are pegged at 5.6m ounces.

The Kyrgyz government owns just under a third of Kumtor and the mine contributes nearly 10% of the country's GDP.

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Chinese electric car battery maker to build plant in Germany

China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) is said to be ready to start building a battery factory in Germany, planting a flag on the grounds of car giants BMW, Volkswagen and Daimler AG as part of a plan to settle close to most European automakers.

Plant expected to be at the German state of Thuringia.

According to anonymous sources quoted by Reuters, an official signing ceremony will take place at a summit in Berlin with China's Premier Li Keqiang on July 9.

The factory’s location is said to be Thuringia, in east-central Germany, as the state’s Economy Ministry himself hinted to Reuters on Friday, when acknowledging he was negotiating with the Asian company about it.

CATL, China’s No.1 maker of battery cells for electric vehicles (EVs), sold 10% of its stock in an initial public offering to finance expansion beyond its homeland earlier this month.

The successful IPO, Bloomberg reported, gave the company a market value of about $13.5 billion, pushing the net worth of shareholder Pei Zhenhua past the $1bn mark, according to its Billionaires Index.

Source: IEA’s Global Electric Vehicle Outlook 2018.

BMW, which plans to offer 25 electrified vehicles by 2025, has already awarded CATL a contract worth just over 1 billion euros ($1.16 billion) and other carmakers including Daimler, are said to be in talks with the company over a possible supply deal in Europe.

A battery plant in Germany could help ease an expected negative impact in the country’s automotive industry, highlighted by the IG Metall labour union in early June. The growing adoption of is likely to add 25,000 jobs by 2030, though another 75,000 positions in engine and transmission making are likely to disappear, the study shows.

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Réalité virtuelle : un sens du toucher inédit pour ce simulateur de vol

FlyInside, un concepteur de simulateur de vol en réalité virtuelle (VR) pour l’armée et les compagnies aériennes, s’est associé à une start-up française pour ajouter le sens du toucher sur les commandes virtuelles dans une cabine de pilotage. Économique, ce type de simulateur peut également être...

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Google Duplex : comment fera Google Assistant pour téléphoner à votre place

Google a décidé d'ouvrir au grand public la possibilité de tester son assistant virtuel, capable de passer des appels téléphoniques et de mener une conversation avec la même aisance qu'un humain. Une nouvelle démonstration permet de découvrir l’étonnante fluidité du système et de quelle manière...

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Les hommes migraineux auraient plus d'œstrogènes

On savait déjà que les œstrogènes étaient impliqués dans les migraines des femmes. Mais une nouvelle petite étude suggère que l’hormone sexuelle féminine joue aussi un rôle dans la migraine des hommes.

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Tourisme suborbital : Blue Origin veut vendre ses tickets pour l'espace dès 2019

La société Blue Origin, engagée dans la course au « tourisme spatial », annonce que la commercialisation des vols suborbitaux, aux frontières de l'espace, dans le vaisseau New Shepard, démarrera en 2019. L'annonce laisse penser que le premier vol d’essai habité pourrait avoir lieu d’ici la fin...

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US junior secures $1M for superalloy project in southeast Nebraska

US miner NioCorp Developments (OTCMKTS:NIOBF)(TSX:NB) revealed Thursday is about to receive a $1 million-shot in the arm from an entity managed by The Lind Partners, a New York-based asset management firm.

The Colorado-based company, which expects to receive the funding on or around July 9, is in the midst of developing its huge Elk Creek superalloy project in southeast Nebraska, which some politicians believe it could produce American-made "super steels" for existing infrastructure projects across all 50 states.

All the metals NioCorp plans to mine at its Elk Creek project — niobium, scandium, and titanium — were included last month on the US government’s register of critical minerals.

According to the miner, the project is the only primary niobium deposit in the US, and the highest-grade, large-tonnage currently undeveloped in North America.

NioCorp has completed a positive feasibility study for the minerals used in super-alloys and said it obtained key US federal permits to build the $1 billion mine with a mine life of 32 years. The company also said 75% of Elk Creek's primary product – ferroniobium – is already under contract over the first 10 years of production.

German industrial giant ThyssenKrupp is one of its early customers and NioCorp said the project is eligible for German Government loan guarantees.

Based on current forecasts, Niobium demand is going to surpass the supply capacity from the three existing producers — CBMM, Anglo American and IAMGOLD's Niobec.

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Encelade : une forme de vie pourrait vraiment y exister...

En utilisant des données de Cassini sur Encelade, une équipe internationale a trouvé la trace de grosses molécules organiques. Ces macromolécules proviendraient de l'océan se trouvant sous la surface de glace de cette lune de Saturne. Elles seraient passées par des fissures.

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Lumina Gold soars on positive economic assessment for Ecuador project

Shares in Canadian gold junior Lumina Gold (TSX-V:LUM) (OTC:LUMAF) jumped Thursday after the company announced it had received positive results of the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for its Cangrejos gold-copper project in southern Ecuador.

Based on the PEA, the asset has gained a place in the list of top 15 undeveloped gold projects in the world based on its average annual production potential, the Vancouver-based gold minor said.

Lumina Gold’s President and CEO, Marshall Koval, called the reports a “crucial first step” in demonstrating the value of the Cangrejos project to both the company’s shareholders and Ecuador.

The miner’s stock shot up 5.4% in New York, trading at 57 cents, while the Canadian shares were up 1.35% to 75 cents by 9:44Am ET.

Ecuador has gained ground as a mining investment destination in the past two years 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.

In March, Anglo American (LON:AAL) became the latest big miner to land in the South American country. Through a deal with Lumina Gold itself, the company plans to develop two copper and gold concessions there.

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.

More to come…

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La sûreté nucléaire aidée par le numérique

Désormais, un réacteur nucléaire peut être complété par une maquette et un « jumeau », tous deux numériques. La réalité virtuelle et augmentée, ainsi que l’intelligence artificielle et le big data, ont fait leur entrée dans l’industrie nucléaire. Explications.

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Sibanye-Stillwater hit with lawsuit over mounting fatalities, loses

A US law firm has filed a class action lawsuit against South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater (JSE:SGL) (NYSE:SBGL) on behalf of shareholders over losses suffered after a series of deaths at its mines, which has caused a sharp drop of the stock price.

Bernstein Liebhard LLP said in a statement the suit would deal with "misleading statements" made by the precious metals producer, which has had 21 fatalities on its operations so far in 2018, almost half of the total in South Africa's mining industry.

More to come…

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Tesla Truck : Elon Musk lâche plusieurs indices sur son projet de pickup

Elon Musk, le patron de Tesla, en a dévoilé davantage à propos de son projet de pickup électrique appelé Tesla Truck. Il a révélé quelques-unes des fonctionnalités envisagées.

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Une catapulte pour mettre les satellites en orbite

La start-up américaine SpinLaunch assure pouvoir envoyer des objets dans l’espace sans grosse fusée, grâce à une centrifugeuse géante électrique. Une idée ancienne, que les technologies actuelles pourraient rendre réalisable.

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Au Japon, les caméras dopées à l'IA font baisser le vol à l'étalage

AI Guardman est un système de caméra de surveillance combinée à une IA qui analyse le langage corporel pour repérer les voleurs à l'étalage. Testé depuis quelques semaines dans plusieurs grands magasins au Japon, il a permis de réduire les vols de 40 % dans certains cas.

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La Nasa réduit de 70 % le bruit des avions près du sol

En optimisant le train d'atterrissage et les volets d'un avion, la Nasa est parvenue à réduire le bruit aérodynamique de 70 % lors de son approche finale.

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Virus du Nil occidental : une infection transmise par des moustiques en France

Comme la dengue, le Zika, ou le virus Usutu, le virus du Nil occidental (ou West Nile en anglais) se transmet par la piqûre de moustiques. Présente dans des pays méditerranéens et d’Europe de l’Est, la fièvre du Nil occidental a touché une femme près de Nice en octobre 2017.

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Goodwood : la voiture autonome Robocar va participer à la course

Pour les 25 ans du festival de vitesse de Goodwood, au Royaume-Uni, Robocar alignera sa voiture de course autonome pour parcourir le mythique tracé sans assistance humaine de 1,8 kilomètre.

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Porteur à deux roues, décryptage de contrat par IA et optimisateur de chantier : trois innovations surprenantes

Compliqué de lire un contrat et d'en apprécier tous les détails ? Une intelligence artificielle peut aider. Trop lourdes, les charges à transporter d'un bout à l'autre de l'usine ? Un droïde peut le faire tout seul. Trop dangereuse et trop improvisée, la traversée d'un chantier ? L'Internet des...

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US steel users challenge Trump's authority to impose tariffs in court

A group representing users of imported steel filed Wednesday the first known legal challenge to steel tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump earlier this year.

With the lawsuit, taken to the US Court of International Trade in New York by the American Institute for International Steel (AISS) and two of its member companies, the plaintiffs are trying to overturn the decades-old trade law that allowed Trump to penalize imports of aluminum and steel.

The group argues Trump’s move is unconstitutional, adding that it rests on another constitutional flaw that lets Congress delegate trade powers to US presidents.

“Unlike most cases brought against actions of the Trump administration, it is Congress—through its delegation of unfettered discretion to the President in this statute—and not the President that is the violator of the Constitution,” Alan Morrison, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “The President simply took advantage of the opportunity to impose his views on international trade on the American people, with nothing in the law to stop him.”

 

More to come…

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Exclusif : 5 photos incroyables de l'éruption du volcan Kilauea à Hawaï

En mai 2018, le Kilauea, puissant volcan de Big Island, dans l'archipel d'Hawaï, entrait en éruption, provoquant des dégâts aux alentours et contraignant à évacuer des villages. Sur place, le photographe Olivier Grunewald a saisi l'évènement, observant les coulées et le lac de lave depuis un...

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OZ Minerals to complete Brazil-focused Avanco takeover

Australian copper-gold miner OZ Minerals (ASX:OZL) has begun a compulsory takeover Avanco Resources (ASX:AVB), after months of slowly increasing its interest in the Brazil-focused explorer.

The Adelaide-based company said the fact it now owns more than 90% of Avanco allows it to acquire all of the remaining shares to acquire it entirely.

OZ Minerals first launched its $418 million-takeover bid for Avanco in March, with the goal of expanding its operations into South America.

Adelaide-based OZ Minerals first launched its A$418 million- (about $320 million) takeover bid for the fellow listed copper junior in March, with the goal of expanding its operations into South America.

The takeover will give Oz control over Avanco’s Antas copper-gold mine, its only one currently in operations, and two copper prospects within the Carajás region of Brazil, plus an early stage gold prospect in neighbouring Maranhao. The junior currently produces around 14,000 tonnes of copper, but targets around 50,000 tonnes.

Carajás has similar geology to South Australia, where copper mines such as Oz’s Prominent Hill, and Carrapateena, as well as BHP's Olympic Dam are contained in "iron oxide copper gold" structures.

At around 1,800km2, Carajás is the second largest land holding in a region known for iron oxide copper-gold deposits of which Vale’s 200ktpa Salobo is the prime example. In January this year, Avanco acquired an option for 100% of the Rio de Janeiro giant’s Pantera copper project near its Antas mine, which produced about 14,000 tonnes of copper last year and generated $17.3 million of profit.

According to Avanco, the mine is expected to produce up to 13,000 tonnes in 2018.

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En Islande, bientôt un sanctuaire marin pour bélugas

Au printemps 2019, deux baleines blanches, ou bélugas, qui évoluent dans un aquarium de Shanghai, en Chine, devraient rejoindre un sanctuaire marin de la baie de Klettsvik, en Islande. Environ 3.000 baleines et dauphins vivent actuellement en captivité dans le monde.

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La sonde Hayabusa 2 rapportera un peu de l'astéroïde Ryugu

Partie en 2014, la sonde japonaise Hayabusa-2 est arrivée à son point de référence, à 20 kilomètres de l’astéroïde Ryugu. Les trois très petits rovers Minerva et l'atterrisseur Mascot, qu'elle transporte, sont en parfait état de fonctionnement. Aurélie Moussi, chef de projet Cnes, nous explique...

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Ghana OKs AngloGold plan to reopen mine that battled illegal miners

South Africa’s AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) (JSE:ANG), the world’s third-largest producer of the metal, said Wednesday it had received environmental permits to reopen its idled Obuasi mine in Ghana.

The operation, which for years battled incursions by illegal miners, is expected to start gold production by the third quarter of 2019, at an initial cost estimated between $450 million to $500 million over the first two and a half years.

AngloGold fired most Obuasi workers in 2014 and put the mine on limited operations as costs soared and the price of bullion dropped.

“With the key permitting and regulatory process complete, we will continue to progress the redevelopment of the Obuasi mine as a modern, productive, operation that will benefit a range of key stakeholders for at least two decades,” AngloGold Ashanti Chief Executive Officer, Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan, said in the statement.

AngloGold halted operations at its aging Obuasi mine at the end of 2014 after suffering from substantial financial losses. The gold miner was working on plans to redesign the mine when it was overrun by informal miners in 2016, which forced it to evacuate employees.

The Johannesburg-based company was able to clear the site and has signed a raft of agreements with the government of Ghana that led to today’s permits delivery.

Obuasi has reserves of 5.8 million ounces and will operate at costs lower than AngloGold’s current average, the company said in February. Annual gold output will average 350,000 ounces to 450,000 ounces during the first ten years.

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Cette roue de l'armée américaine passe du pneu aux chenilles en deux secondes

La Darpa a développé une jante de roue reconfigurable qui permet de passer d'un mode pneu classique à un format triangulaire à chenilles, le tout en deux secondes et pendant que le véhicule roule.



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Antarctique : sous la glace, un volcan se réveille après plus de 2.000 ans d’inactivité

C’est un peu par hasard que des chercheurs ont découvert, sous le glacier de l’île du Pin, dans l’ouest de l’Antarctique, les preuves d’une activité volcanique en cours.

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Diabète : bientôt une pilule d'insuline au lieu des injections ?

Des chercheurs de Harvard proposent une formulation d’insuline sous forme de traitement oral pour éviter les injections quotidiennes que subissent les diabétiques. Il a fallu résoudre deux problèmes : la sensibilité de l'insuline à l'acidité gastrique et sa mauvaise absorption intestinale. 

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De Beers just sold 34 million rough diamonds more than last year

Anglo American’s De Beers, the world’s largest rough diamond producer by value, said Tuesday it had sold $575-million worth of gemstones in the fifth sales cycle of this year.

The figure represents a 6% increase from the $541m obtained in the same period last year and 3.7% higher than the $554m it sold last month.

"Sentiment in the diamond industry’s mid-stream is positive following the JCK Las Vegas trade show [the jewellery industry’s premier trade show] at the start of the month," chief executive Bruce Cleaver said in the statement.

Mid-stream refers to an industry’s sector that buys roughs from the mines and sells them to jewellers, typically made up of diamond cutters and polishers.

De Beers has stepped up efforts in recent months to lead the industry quest for a way to verify the authenticity of diamonds and ensure they are not from conflict zones where gems may be used to finance violence.

Last month, the group shocked the diamond market by announcing it would start selling jewellery made with synthetic diamonds, rather than with what De Beers digs up at its several mines.

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Hawkstone Mining lithium buy back on

Australia’s Hawkstone Mining (ASX:HWK) has decided to revisit plans to buy lithium projects in the US only weeks after it said it wouldn’t proceed with their acquisition.

Earlier this month, the miner walked away from its planned 100% takeover of USA Lithium, saying it was unable to reach a deal to de-risk the transaction. But now it has agreed to sign a revised deal.

Deal adds two lithium projects – Big Sandy in Arizona and the Lordsburg in New Mexico – to company’s portfolio.

Investors welcome the news that gives Hawkstone two lithium projects – the Big Sandy in Arizona and the Lordsburg in New Mexico. The company’s shares soared almost 40% to A$.0.04 on the news, closing 32% higher at A$0.029.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Hawkstone would acquire all of the shares of USA Lithium in exchange for 250-million shares. The first half of the shares will be issued at the completion of the transaction, with the issue of the remaining shares subject to Hawkstone declaring an inferred resource of no less than 30-million tonnes, at grades greater than 2,000 parts per million at the Big Sandy project, within 36 months of the transaction.

The issue of the second batch of shares was also subject to the ASX granting a waiver for the issue of the deferred consideration shares. Following shareholder approval, Hawkstone will also transfer A$250,000 to USA Lithium.

Big Sandy and Lordsburg projects location. (Courtesy of Hawkstone Mining.)

The Big Sandy lithium clay project extends over about 20.9 square kilometres of granted Bureau of Land Management claims. A further 53 claims covering 4.9sq km were also recently pegged.

According to Hawkstone, the asset has returned high-grade assays from surface soil sampling and the company plans to kick-off a diamond drilling program immediately.

The Lordsburg lithium brine project, in turn, comprises 28.7sq km and has had no modern exploration, but surface sampling has uncovered lithium concentrations of 160ppm.

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WPA3 : la sécurité des connexions Wi-Fi est renforcée

La Wi-Fi Alliance vient d'annoncer que le protocole WPA3 était désormais finalisé. Quatorze ans après l'introduction du WPA2, celui-ci va renforcer la sécurité des connexions Wi-Fi pour les particuliers et les entreprises.

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Yamana kicks off production at Argentina’s gold-silver mine

Canada’s Yamana Gold Inc. (TSX: YRI) (NYSE: AUY) said Tuesday it has produced first gold and silver at its Cerro Moro mine, located in Argentina’s Santa Cruz province.

The Toronto-based miner, which began construction at Cerro Moro in 2015 and poured first doré last month, expects to finish building the mine this year.

The company expects most of Cerro Moro’s 2018 production in the second half of the year

Production ramp-up remains on track, the company said, with commercial production expected in the second quarter of the year. Once at full tilt, Cerro Moro is expected to yield 85,000 ounces of gold and 3.75 million ounces of silver this year.

“While the ramp up remains the primary focus, efforts are already shifting to optimizing the operation and, in particular, ensuring that operating costs reach guidance levels,” Yamana said in the statement.

It also noted that the stockpile at Cerro Moro had continued to increase since late 2017 and through the first quarter of 2018.  As at May 6, it was estimated at 42,300 tonnes at 21.5 grams per tonne of  gold and 995 grams per tonne, Yamana said.

The company, which has other five operating mines in South America and one in Canada, has set an exploration objective of adding one million gold equivalent ounces to the mineral inventory at Cerro Moro in the next several years.

Yamana has set an exploration objective of adding one million gold equivalent ounces to the mine's mineral inventory.

To achieve such goal, Yamana has hiked its exploration budget for 2018 to $11.2 million from the $9 million allocated in the first quarter of the year.

For 2019, the mine’s production should rise to 125,000 gold ounces and 6 million silver ounces. The additional output should help Yamana’s plans to ramp up gold production by 20% and its silver production by a whopping 200% next year.

Cerro Moro is a high-grade, low-cost gold and silver operation sourcing ore from a combination of underground and open-pit mining.

The company has other five mines in South America and one in its home country — the Canadian Malartic mine, which the company owns as part of a 50/50 joint venture (JV) with Agnico Eagle Mines.

The open-pit mine is one of Canada’s largest and boasts a low all-in sustaining cost (AISC) that was below the companywide average of $820 an ounce in 2017.

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Un médicament à base de cannabis approuvé aux États-Unis pour la première fois

Les autorités sanitaires américaines ont autorisé pour la première fois la mise sur le marché d'un médicament dérivé du cannabis. L'Epidiolex est destiné au traitement de certaines formes d'épilepsie sévère chez l’enfant.

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La sonde Hayabusa 2 arrive en vue de sa cible, l'astéroïde Ryugu

Partie de la Terre en 2014, la sonde Hayabusa-2 est maintenant arrivée aux portes de sa nouvelle demeure, l’astéroïde Ryugu. Plutôt arrondi sur les premières photos, il y a 15 jours, le géocroiseur arbore en réalité une étonnante forme cubique !

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Extraterrestres : sommes-nous les seuls êtres intelligents dans l’Univers ?

Vous rêvez de faire une rencontre du troisième type ? Cette étude réalisée par des chercheurs britanniques va peut-être vous ramener les pieds sur Terre. Elle conclut en effet que l’humanité pourrait bien être la seule forme d’intelligence hébergée par notre galaxie.

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Des robots colombes surveillent les citoyens chinois

Selon un article du South China Morning Post, plus de 30 agences militaires et gouvernementales ont déployé des drones ressemblant à des oiseaux dans plusieurs provinces chinoises. L’ancien empire du Milieu n’en est pas à son coup d’essai en matière de surveillance de sa population.

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Why the lithium and cobalt story is the same yet different

While demand for both lithium and cobalt is expected to soar due to electric vehicle adoption, the supply picture for both commodities is quite different.

Unlike lithium, cobalt supply is mostly centered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which hobbles supply due to ". . .a lack of transparency in the value chain and DRC country risk", says McKinsey in a newly published report comparing the two metasl.

"More than 95 percent of the world’s lithium supply occurs as a primary product in the form of brines or hard-rock ores, with a global production footprint including Australia, China, and Latin America. Conversely, less than 10 percent of cobalt supply occurs as a primary product, with the remainder produced as a by-product of primarily copper and nickel mines and more than 65 percent of global production concentrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)," writes the reports authors.

McKinsey warns both suppliers and buyers in the cobalt space to have a sound understanding of future supply and demand dynamics and pursue policies that are "long-term greedy" by creating markets that have long-term stability that will help keep the market intact.

Instead of looking for short-term profits, miners need to collaborate with battery suppliers, automakers, and financial players to create a larger market for their materials. This might include partnering with battery manufacturers to shape existing technologies to ensure a stable, cost-competitive supply of necessary materials to customers; working with financial players to access cost-competitive, long-term funding to ensure the timely development of new capacity; and facilitating the development of a liquid contract market to help users and producers hedge out price risk.

McKinsey warns buyers need to look beyond substitution and create maximum optionality.

Financial players will have a role in helping increase marketing liquidity and develop future and derivative products.

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Cette bosse sur son visage était un ver qui rampait sous sa peau

En Russie, une femme de 32 ans a fait plusieurs selfies montrant une bosse en différents endroits de son visage. Le ver parasite qui se promenait sous sa peau a été retiré par chirurgie et analysé. Il a probablement été transmis par une piqûre de moustique...

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Lithium demand from battery makers to almost double by 2017

The outlook for lithium continues to shine, with demand from companies that produce batteries to power electric cars, laptops and other high-tech devices, expected to increase more than thirtyfold by 2027, a new study shows.

While the next nine years will drain less than 1% of the reserves in the ground, battery makers will need more lithium to support their production, which will boost demand for the key metal almost 16% to reach 1 million tonnes, according to Roskill’s 15th edition market outlook report.

Expected supply, however, is far from the astronomical figure forecast by the research firm, with Canada’s Bank of Montreal expecting between 80,000 and 91,500 tonnes of lithium coming from mines by 2025. And BMO’s numbers include recently up-sized expansion plans by the market leaders, Chile’s SQM, China’s Tianqi Lithium, Albemarle and FMC, as well as Nemaska Lithium’s plans to build a spodumene mine in northwestern Quebec, Canada.

Wave of much-needed spodumene based supply coming online. (Source: BMO Capital Markets, companies reports.)

Roskill estimates that demand from lithium-ion battery manufacturers will grow from 46% last year to 83% by 2027. Use of lithium hydroxide, in turn, is also forecast to become more prevalent, increasing from 25% of lithium compounds used in rechargeable batteries in 2021 to 55% by 2027.

The analysts expect the market for battery-grade lithium compounds to remain tight, however, as installing new battery grade capacity has proven complex and forecast demand growth is greatest for these products.

Source: BMO Capital Markets.

In terms of lithium prices, they are expected to peak in 2018, as greater supply availability of mined and refined lithium will enter the market in coming years, causing prices to briefly fall back in 2019, with a floor of $11,000/t battery grade lithium carbonate, Roskill says.

Beyond 2021, the research firm expects lithium prices to rise  above 2018 levels again, as continued demand growth for battery grade lithium compounds will apply greater demand-side pressure on prices.

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Galantas Gold jumps after hitting main vein at Irish mine expansion

Shares in Galantas Gold (TSX, LON:GAL) climbed on Monday in London after the company announced it has reached the main gold vein in development works underground at its Omagh gold mine in Northern Ireland.

The main tunnel that Galantas has dug descends at a slope with a gradient of 1-in-7 from near the base of the former open pit, the company said.

Galantas’ Omagh is Northern Ireland’s only producing gold mine.

The vein intersection, it added, is located about 15 metres below the base of the Kearney open-pit and reaching it means the company can now begin limited production, with increased feed to the mill anticipated in a couple of months.

The stock jumped 12.5% to trade at 6.75p in London early morning.

The miner also said it planned to develop a horizontal tunnel, which is expected to provide a "limited feed to the mill" early in the third quarter. Galantas will also extend the existing decline tunnel in late 2018 or early 2019.

Galantas’ Omagh is Northern Ireland’s only producing gold mine. The firm, which kicked off the mine’s expansion last year after the open-pit site was exhausted, has said it expects to produce about 8,000 ounces next year.

Northern Ireland holds the world’s seventh richest undeveloped seam of gold, but political violence kept most investors away for about three decades.

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Volkswagen ID R Pikes Peak : record historique pour la voiture électrique

Le prototype de voiture électrique aligné par Volkswagen pour la course de côte de Pikes Peak a explosé le record absolu de 16 secondes. Une performance impressionnante et une première victoire historique en compétition face aux voitures à moteur thermique.

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No end in sight for Acacia Mining tax row with Tanzania’s Gov’t

Acacia Mining (LON:ACA), Tanzania's No.1 gold producer, said Monday that parent company Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX) has yet to reach an agreement with the East African nation’s government to end running dispute over taxes that has severely hit the miner’s bottom line.

Barrick, which has been negotiating on Acacia’s behalf with the Tanzanian government for over a year, had said it would deliver a deal for Acacia’s board to vote on by the end of June.

In an update on the matter published late Sunday, however, the world’s largest gold producer didn’t commit to set a new deadline, limiting instead to say that talks had been “constructive” and ongoing.

“Progress has been made on the drafting of definitive agreements necessary for the implementation of the proposed framework,” Barrick said in the statement, adding that it could not provide a new cut-off date “in order to allow the process to continue in an orderly manner.”

In March last year, Tanzania accused Acacia of understating its production and seized containers of gold and copper concentrate ready for export. The move was followed shortly after by a $190-billion tax bill.

Barrick, which owns 63.9% of Acacia, struck a framework agreement in October that was supposed to end the tax row. The deal would see the company giving Tanzania a 16% stake in three gold mines operated by Acacia, a one-off payment of $300 million (£227.6 million), and a 50:50 partnership with the government to split “economic benefits” from operations.

Acacia Mining, which owns and operates Tanzania’s three major mines — Bulyanhulu, Buzwagi and North Mara, has said that a final draft for such agreement would need to be reviewed by its board.

“The company will continue to engage with Barrick to seek to understand its expectations for the future conduct and a timetable for the completion of its discussions with the Government of Tanzania,” it said Monday.

The African nation is the continent’s third-largest gold producer.

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Rotation de Vénus : pourquoi ralentit-elle ?

La surveillance de la rotation de Vénus depuis des décennies montre qu'elle varie avec une tendance moyenne au ralentissement. Au moins une partie de ce ralentissement serait due au frottement d'une onde de gravité géante dans l'atmosphère de Vénus avec ses montagnes.

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RoboCup 2018 : les meilleurs moments en images

Du 16 au 22 juin se déroulait à Montréal une autre compétition de football : la RoboCup 2018, rassemblant 5.000 robots autonomes, issus de 35 pays. Pour la troisième fois, les Français sont champions du monde et organiseront la prochaine Coupe l'an prochain à Bordeaux. Il n'y avait pas que le...

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Détecter les séismes grâce aux câbles Internet sous-marins, c’est possible

Un groupe de chercheurs européens propose d'utiliser le réseau sous-marin de câbles en fibre optique pour détecter les tremblements de terre. Comment ? En projetant un faisceau laser à une extrémité de la fibre optique et en surveillant la lumière qui sort à l'autre extrémité.



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Class action to be launched over casuals in Australia’s coal mining

On Monday, Adero Law is planning to launch a class action that involves some 400 people and that is led by a former worker at BHP Billiton’s (ASX, NYSE:BHP) Mount Arthur coal mine.

According to the Fairfax Media, the workers allege they were left $40 million worse off because they were hired as casuals and not as permanent staff, despite their rosters being published weeks in advance. They also say that they were in charge of the same tasks permanent workers had to perform and that they were not eligible for benefits such as paid sick leave.

The workers complain about being paid less than 15 years ago, despite the fact that more mines in Australia are casual-driven these days.

Fairfax reports that two separate proceedings make up the class action and that two BHP companies, Mt Arthur Coal Pty Ltd and Hunter Valley Energy Coal Pty Ltd, will be sued. The latter, which is part of the BHP group, owns the mine while Mt Arthur Coal operates its namesake deposit.

The firms Chandler Macleod and TESA, which were in charge of recruiting the workers, will also be sued.

Both BHP and Chandler Macleod told the news company that they have not received any formal communications regarding the legal actions.

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Germans rally against the country’s reliance on coal

Residents of five German cities, including Berlin and Hamburg, took it to the streets on Sunday to protest against the country’s reliance on coal for power production.

According to Deutsche Welle, the massive rallies were aimed at pressing the Angela Merkel administration two days before a state commission on coal consumption is to convene for the first time. The commission is tasked with finding a way to eliminate Germany’s dependence on the black mineral.

A report by the Associated Press states that about 22 per cent of Germany’s electricity comes from burning lignite or brown coal, 12 per cent from hard coal and 33 per cent is generated using renewable energy.

Both black and brown coal emit considerable amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when burned.

Besides demanding a boost in green energy sources, protesters were also expressing their rejection to a recent announcement by the environment minister, Svenja Schulze, who said the country will likely miss its goal of cutting emissions by 40 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020.

According to the protests’ organizer, WWF, Germany's CO2 emissions have not dropped for nine years.

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Workers protest at Newmont Ghana’s operation

Ghanaian media are reporting that people that work for Newmont Ghana’s subcontractor at the Ahafo gold mine have downed their tools while protesting in demand for additional compensation and benefits.

According to the local press, a police constable from the Brong-Ahafo Regional Police Operational Unit was injured in the eye while responding to one of the workers’ rallies earlier this week.

“Our thoughts are with the policeman who was injured in the line of duty. We are committed to ensuring fair and sustainable compensation for our contractors and have provided them with equitable remuneration guidelines,” Yaw Okyere Ntrama, Acting General Manager for the Ahafo mine, told Modern Ghana.

The news site reports that Ntrama said that Newmont Africa cannot directly negotiate wages and other benefits with a subcontractor’s employees. However, he encouraged both parties to restart a dialogue in order to reach a satisfactory agreement.

Ghana Web states that tensions, however, are rising in the area and therefore police presence has increased, particularly with the idea of protecting the nearby communities of Kenyasi and Ntotroso.

The Ahafo mine is located in what is known as the Brong Ahafo region, approximately 307 kilometers northwest of Accra.

MINING.com reached out to Newmont (NYSE: NEM) for an update on the situation at its Ahafo mine but did not receive an answer by publication time.

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Drôle de Tech : la météo du futur, une « feuille furtive » qui rend invisible et un grand orchestre de robots

Dans le viseur de Drôle de Tech cette semaine, des drones pourraient remplacer des caméras sur les autoroutes, une incroyable révolution se prépare pour la météo télévisée, nos smartphones pourront bientôt créer de superbes ralentis vidéo, l’étonnante invention de chercheurs américains pour...

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Science décalée : la posture de triomphe est innée et non culturelle

Dans les compétitions importantes, tous les sportifs, peu importe leur culture d’origine, exultent de la même façon en cas de succès. Cette attitude triomphante révèle en réalité un comportement de domination, ce qui suggère que nous aurions un besoin inné de hiérarchie.

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Pour coloniser une planète, il suffirait de 98 personnes

Grâce à un modèle mathématique, deux chercheurs ont examiné le nombre minimal de passagers à embarquer pour assurer la survie d’une population en partance pour Proxima Centauri b.

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Notre top 5 de la semaine : l'envol de l'araignée, l'IA qui débat et l'hélico champion

Comment trouver des civilisations extraterrestres ? En cherchant leur ceinture. C'est une proposition sérieuse... Seront-ils des « intelligences artificielles » ? Peut-être. Sur Terre, IBM vient de proposer une « IA » censément capable de débattre d'un sujet avec des humains. Dans les...

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Volkwagen invests USD$100m in solid-state battery research firm

Volkswagen is investing USD$100m in QuantumScape and its solid-state battery business to accelerate the commercialization of its technology.

Solid-state batteries are a rival technology to lithium-ion batteries with advantages such as higher energy density, enhanced safety, fast-charging capability and significantly less space requirements. A successful solid state battery could potentially decrease or eliminate the need for raw materials like cobalt and nickel. Materials being tested to run solid-state batteries include ceramics and glass, as well as lithium sulfide.

QuantumScape's CEO touted the investment.

“Volkswagen is the world’s largest automotive manufacturer and leads the industry in its commitment to electrification of its fleet,” says Jagdeep Singh, CEO of QuantumScape, in a news release.

“We are thrilled to be chosen by Volkswagen to power this transition. We think the higher range, faster charge times, and inherent safety of QuantumScape’s solid-state technology will be a key enabler for the next generation of electrified powertrains.”

The Stanford spin-off says it plans to establish a production line for solid-state batteries by 2025.

Honda, BMW, Nissan and Toyota have all announced various partnerships and research initiatives to push solid-state battery technology forward to commercialization.

Creative Commons image courtesy of Dennis Wong

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En Nouvelle-Zélande, des moutons sélectionnés émettent moins de méthane

Grâce à des croisements, une équipe de chercheurs néozélandais a créé une race de mouton émettant 10 % de méthane en moins. Une avancée loin d’être anecdotique, tant ce gaz à effet de serre menace le climat.

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Terraformation : rendre Mars habitable, c'est peut-être possible…

Une étude suggère qu'une bactérie terrestre, connue pour être capable, tout comme les plantes, d’accomplir la photosynthèse, pourrait aider à coloniser Mars en rendant la Planète rouge respirable. Scénario de science-fiction ? Pas vraiment.

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Centerra delays completion of deal over Kumtor mine as Kyrgyz PM mull revisions

Canada's Centerra Gold (TSX:CG) agreed this week to extend the deadline for completion of all conditions included in a deal it signed in September with the Kyrgyz government, ending long-dragged environmental dispute over the firm’s Kumtor gold mine, the country’s largest.

While the Toronto-based miner did not provide much detail about the reasons for the deferral, it said the date had been moved from June 22 to July 23.

The announcement comes about a week after MINING.com reported the country’s new Prime Minister, Muhammadkaliy Abylgaziev, was reviewing the agreement signed by his predecessor, adding his administration planned to submit to parliament its own proposals regarding the document. The authority, however, didn’t elaborate on when or how radical those suggested changes might be.

Deadline for fulfillment of conditions included in agreement that would end all disputes over the firm’s Kumtor gold mine, has been pushed back about a month.

The news also follows recent charges of corruption against former Prime Minister Sapar Isakov, who signed the strategic agreement with Centerra last year — a development local media said it could jeopardize the legitimacy of the pact.

When and if finally signed, the wide-ranging arrangement would end a long-dragged dispute that crippled investor confidence in the impoverished Central Asian country and prevented Centerra from partaking in any profit from its majority-held and majority-operated Kumtor mine, resulting in the Canadian company filing for international arbitration.

The settlement would also end mutual lawsuits and force the Kyrgyz government to drop all environmental claims against Centerra and its subsidiary. In return, the miner would increase its annual environmental contributions.

Kumtor, which lies near the Chinese border at an altitude of 4,000 metres, has produced around 11m ounces since inception and remaining reserves are pegged at 5.6m ounces.

The Kyrgyz government owns just under a third of Kumtor and the mine contributes nearly 10% of the country's GDP.

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Baccalauréat 2018 : découvrez les corrigés des épreuves

Vous venez de passer le baccalauréat S et vous voulez estimer vos chances en consultant des corrigés ? Suivez Futura, toujours en première ligne pour la cause estudiantine... Nous allons publier ici ceux de toutes les épreuves, à télécharger gratuitement au fur et à mesure de leur disponibilité.

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Le café est bon pour le cœur : on a compris pourquoi

La consommation de caféine est associée à un risque moindre de maladies comme le diabète de type 2, les maladies cardiaques, l’AVC, mais le mécanisme moléculaire était jusqu'à présent peu clair. Une étude allemande montre que la caféine favorise l'activité des mitochondries et protège les...

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Asanko, Gold Fields $185 million-venture in Ghana gets the green light

Ghanaian authorities have approved a $185-million partnership between South Africa’s Gold Fields (JSE, NYSE: GFI) and Canada’s Asanko Gold (TSX: AKG) aimed at developing one of the West African country’s newest gold mine.

The Ghanaian Minister of Lands and Natural Resources’ approval, said the companies, was the main hurdle they needed to clear to complete the previously announced joint venture deal. That transaction will see Gold Fields acquiring a 50% interest in the Vancouver-based company’s 90%-ownership of Asanko Gold Mine (AGM).

Once the deal is closed, which is expected to happen in early July, Gold Fields’ local unit will subscribe to a 9.9% share placement in Asanko by way of a private placement of 22,354,657 Asanko shares at a price of approximately $0.79 cents.

The Canadian miner has said it intended to use the money to repay in full all outstanding principal and accrued interest ($164 million) owing to its lender, Red Kite.

Gold Fields, whose net debt stood at $1.3 billion at the end of its last financial year, said the deal fitted in with its growth strategy, focused on improving its portfolio by lowering all-in costs and extending mines' lifespans to enhance cash generation.

It also mentioned it could fund the joint venture and the share subscription through cash and existing debt facilities. The South African miner has $400 million in cash and another $1 billion in credit facility.

AGM, located in the country’s Ashanti Region, has a 15-year mine life, but Asanko president and CEO, Peter Breese, has long spoken of expanding it. In June, his company completed a bankable feasibility study regarding the expansion of the mine, which would increase production to some 230,000 ounces of gold a year.

Asanko said at the time it would then hike annual gold output to 460,000 ounces, possibly from 2022, spending a total of $200 million. According to Gold Fields, its new business partner has the potential to make further discoveries.

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L'hélicoptère du futur existe déjà, il vole deux fois plus vite

Le S-97 Raider de Lockheed-Martin est un hélicoptère doté d’un système unique associant deux rotors contrarotatifs et une hélice propulsive. Il peut évoluer deux fois plus vite que les autres hélicoptères.

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Et si le dioxyde de titane rendait diabétique ?

Dans les peintures ou dans les cosmétiques, mais surtout dans les produits alimentaires, le dioxyde de titane est partout. Et depuis quelque temps, les scientifiques émettent des doutes quant à son innocuité. Ainsi une étude le soupçonne-t-elle d’être responsable des diabètes de type 2.

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Du graphène dans une paire de baskets, c'est une première

En décembre dernier, la marque britannique inov-8 annonçait sa volonté de révolutionner l’industrie de la chaussure de sport. Dès ce 22 juin, elle proposera, à la précommande, des chaussures de running et de fitness dont les semelles contiennent du graphène.

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Trade worries aside, copper price has further to fall

After taking a breather yesterday copper was in retreat again on Thursday falling to $3.018 a pound or $6,650 a tonne, down nearly 9% or $640 a tonne since touching four-year highs just two weeks ago.

Copper is often used as an indicator for economic prospects thanks to its widespread use in industry, transportation, power grids and construction.

Worries about the impact of a trade war between the US and China, responsible for almost half the world's consumption of copper and other base metals,  is behind the recent pullback.

Via Capital Economics

But a Thursday note by commodities economist Simona Gambarini of Capital Economics, an independent London-HQed research house, warns even if trade tensions ease over the course of the year prices of industrial metals are bound to fall in 2018:

Indeed, although trade tensions have already escalated further than we had originally thought, we had always expected that the prices of industrial metals would fall this year owing to slower growth in China.

We think that there are now clear signs that the economy is losing momentum – investment growth was particularly downbeat in May and our proxies for metals demand are also showing some warning signals – but we suspect that this has not fully been factored into industrial metals prices yet. As such, we expect prices to fall further as it becomes evident that China’s demand will be more subdued.

Capital Economics believes cobalt, the prime beneficiary of an expected boom in electric vehicle production, and to a lesser extent tin, are the exceptions in this forecasts.

Separately, the International Copper Study Group, on Thursday released a report estimating world copper mine production rose 7.1% or by 330,000 tonnes during the first quarter of this year.

That was mainly thanks to higher output at the world's largest copper mine, Chile's Escondida, and ramp-ups in the Congo and Zambia.

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Global copper output up 7.1 pct in first three months of 2018

Miners around the globe dug up 330,000 more tonnes of copper between January and March this year than in the same period of 2017, helped by higher production in world’s leader Chile, data released by the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) shows.

The general increase, a 7.1% compared to Q1 2016, was mirrored by bought concentrates (+7%) and solvent extraction-electrowinning or SX-EW (+7.3%) production.

Output in Chile increased by 19% mainly because production in February/March 2017 was constrained by a strike at Escondida, the world’s biggest copper mine, but also due to an improvement in state-owned miner Codelco’s production levels.

Miners around the globe dug up 330,000 more tonnes of copper between January and March this year than in the same period of 2017.

Indonesian output rose by 58% because comparative output in 2017 was negatively affected by a temporary ban on concentrate exports that started in January and ended in April.

A 9.5% increase in SX-EW production in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and a 16% rise in Zambian mine output due to the restart of temporarily closed capacity.

Although there were no major supply disruptions in the period, overall growth was partially offset by lower output at some mines in Canada (-10%) and in the U.S. (-7.5%), the ICSG says.

After a strong increase in the last few years due to new and expanded capacity, output in Peru (the world’s No.2 copper mine producing country) has levelled off.

On a regional basis, mine production is estimated to have increased by around 11% in Africa, 7% in the Americas, 6% in Asia, 4% in Europe and 5% in Oceania.

According to the ICSG, global refined copper output increased 3% in the first quarter of the year when compared with Q1 2017, with direct use scrap output growth (+6%) outpacing primary production (+2.3%) on a year over year basis.

Apparent usage was estimated to have increased 1.8% y/y in Q1 with consumption growth in China driven by a significant increase in refined copper imports, up 10% y/y. Analysts at BMO Metals, however, believe inventories in China increased at the lowest pace in recent history over that period.

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Carte interactive de la Terre : où était votre maison il y a 750 millions d’années ?

Grâce à cette mappemonde interactive, vous allez découvrir à quoi ressemblait les sites de votre choix il y a des dizaines ou des centaines de millions d’années dans le passé. Passionnant !

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Yukon junior adds to its gold and silver mineral resources

Rockhaven Resources (TSX-V:RK) updated its mineral resources to 686,000 indicated and 507,000 inferred gold ounces at its Klaza project in central Yukon.

Rockhaven says its updated mineral resource estimates incorporate results from approximately 13,300 m of in-fill and expansion diamond drilling completed subsequent to the 2015 mineral resource estimate, and utilizes results from recent metallurgical test work to revise cut-off grades.

Highlights are the following:

• Indicated mineral resources of 4.5 Mt containing 686,000 oz gold and 14,071,000 oz silver (grading 4.8 g/t gold and 98 g/t silver) or 907,000 oz gold equivalent (grading 6.3 g/t gold equivalent).
• Inferred mineral resources of 5.7 Mt containing 507,000 oz gold and 13,901,000 oz silver (grading 2.8 g/t gold and 76 g/t silver) or 725,000 oz gold equivalent (grading 3.9 g/t gold equivalent).
• Pit-constrained resources significantly increased in tonnes and grade compared to previous mineral resource estimates, including the Western BRX Zone with 759 kt at an average grade of 9.5 g/t gold, totaling 232,000 oz gold in the indicated category.

Creative Commons image courtesy of Arthur Chapman

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New York-based equity fund buys Ireland-focused Dalradian for Cdn$537m

Shares in dual-listed Dalradian Resources (TSX:DNA) (LON:DALR) soared around 52% in London and more than 59% in Toronto on Thursday after the company, which is developing a vast gold deposit in Northern Ireland, said it had agreed to be bought by Orion Mine Finance, in a desal that values the gold explorer at Cdn$537 million (about $230m).

As part of the agreement, each Dalradian shareholder would receive cash consideration of Cdn$1.47 for each Dalradian share held, which represents a 62% premium to Wednesday’s closing price of company’s stock in Toronto.

Dalradian acquired mineral rights in 2009 to more than 80,000 hectares of land in Northern Ireland, including the Curraghinalt gold deposit outside Gortin, identified as one of the top ten undeveloped gold deposits by grade in the world.

Since then, it has carried out exploratory drilling at the asset and compiled a planning application running to 10,000 pages, which it expects to take about two years to process, including a public enquiry.

The Toronto-based miner said last month it planned to operate the proposed gold mine for an initial 20 years, though it says Curraghinalt has the potential to remain in production longer than that.

The project, for which Dalradian has yet to secure the permits needed to build it, is estimated to hold 1.4 million ounces of gold reserves — worth about $1.8 billion at today’s prices.

If it gets the green-light, Dalradian has said Curraghinalt could transform one of the poorest regions in the UK, boosting investment and creating jobs. The company already employs 100 people on the project and the number would rise to 350 workers once the mine is operating, plus hundreds more indirect jobs.

Northern Ireland has the seventh richest undeveloped seam of gold in the world, but political violence kept most investors away for about three decades.

Dalradian’s London-listed shares climbed 52% to 81p. In Toronto, they were trading 59% higher to Cdn$1.45 at 11:24am.

Project location. (Courtesy of Dalradian Resources.)

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Le T-Rex ne pouvait pas tirer la langue !

Alors que le Muséum d’histoire naturelle de Paris présente cet été au public un rare spécimen de T-Rex, une étude s’est intéressée aux os de sa langue. Contrairement à ce que montrent de nombreuses illustrations, il semble que la langue du T-Rex restait collée dans sa bouche.

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Lumina Gold, First Quantum ink deal to advance exploration in Ecuador

Canadian gold junior Lumina Gold (TSX-V:LUM) has inked a formal five-year earn-in deal with First Quantum Minerals (TSX:FM), which will see the copper miner contributing $1.5 million for moving forward with exploration at Orquideas and Cascas gold/copper concessions in Ecuador.

The agreement gives First Quantum the option of investing an additional $37 million over the course of the last four years.

First Quantum will invest $1.5 million to advance exploration work at the Orquideas and Cascas assets in the first year, with the option of investing an additional $37 million.

The Vancouver-based gold minor, which is also advancing its Cangrejos and Condor gold-copper project in southern Ecuador, will receive $100,000 due upon signing, and will be reimbursed about $840,000 for expenditures made on the properties from September 2017 to mid-May 2018.

Ecuador has gained ground as a mining investment destination in the past two years 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.

In March, Anglo American (LON:AAL) became the latest big miner to land in the South American country. Through a deal with Lumina Gold itself, the company plans to develop two copper and gold concessions there.

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.

Work at Orquideas and Cascas is ongoing under the supervision of FQM, with Lumina acting as operator.

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Newmont sells stake in Yanacocha gold mine to Japan’s Sumitomo for $48 million

Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) has sold Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. a 5%-stake in its Yanacocha gold mine in Peru for $48 million, making the Asian trading house a partner in the business that also involves local miner Buenaventura.

The US miner and Buenaventura’s ownership interests in the mine, which was Peru’s largest gold operation until output began falling in recent years, will be 51.35% and 43.65%, respectively.

“We had a long and productive partnership with Sumitomo at Batu Hijau in Indonesia, and we look forward to working with them and Buenaventura to advance the next generation of profitable production at Yanacocha,” Newmont’s executive vice president for strategic development, Randy Engel, said in the statement.

Newmont, the only gold company that forms part of the S&P500 index, approved last year full funding for the Quecher Main project, which is expected to extend the Peruvian mine productive life to 2027.

Sumitomo said Yanacocha, which has been in operations since 1993, had “substantial future growth options” as it also contains copper deposits, adding that the mine life could be extended for further 12 years — until 2039.

Based on Newmont’s March report, Yanacocha is expected to produce 470,000-545,000 ounces of gold this year on a 100% basis.

Sumitomo’s move comes as Japanese trading companies have been grabbing assets and increasing their stakes on a few of them thanks higher commodities prices, which have boosted their profits.

Early this year, Mitsui & Co. increased its stake in Chile’s Collahuasi copper mine to 11.03%. Anglo American and Glencore also hold a stake on the operation (44% each),

Mitsubishi Corp said last week it was hiking its holding in the Anglo American's Quellaveco copper project in Peru by 21.9% for $600 million, taking its holding to 40%.

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Ce robot dragon se transforme en vol

Créé par une équipe de l'université de Tokyo (Japon), le robot Dragon peut changer de forme en vol pour se faufiler dans des environnements complexes et même manipuler des objets.

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Extraterrestres : oubliez les sphères de Dyson, chassez les exoceintures de Clarke !

Il y a de plus en plus de satellites sur l'orbite géostationnaire, dite orbite de Clarke. À ce rythme, une « ceinture de Clarke » sera un jour suffisamment peuplée pour être détectée par une civilisation extraterrestre installée dans la Voie lactée. Réciproquement, de telles exoceintures...

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