Birimian eyes 2020 production at $199m Mali lithium mine

Birimian Limited, (ASX:BGS) the Australian developer of a $199 million lithium mine in Mali, is targeting first production for Q1 2020.

The Goulamina mine is one of the world’s largest undeveloped high-grade lithium deposits and will represent 15% of the current global lithium supply.

The Goulamina mine is one of the world’s largest undeveloped high-grade lithium deposits and will represent 15% of the current global lithium supply

At the Paydirt 2018 Africa Down Under mining conference in Perth, Birimian Limited CEO, Greg Walker, said the company had adopted a schedule to get its Goulamina lithium project in southwest Mali into production over the next 19 months.

Walker said an updated prefeasibility study confirmed that Goulamina can be profitably developed as a large-scale, low cost, hard rock lithium mine with a 16-year operating life.

Substantial progress has been made with Goulamina, and the focus is now on completing environmental and mine approval processes and securing project financing.

“We are favoured by a very strong Mali government which has a track record of facilitating and rapidly permitting mineral development projects, so we are confident of meeting our March 2020 first production target,” Walker said.

“Independent analysts have rated Goulamina as the fifth lowest cost ex-mine gate hard rock lithium project worldwide, so it sits at right end of the lithium mine cost curve.”

Walker said the equities market had been hard in recent months on lithium stocks, but the project’s net present value significantly increased, to sit currently at $920 million.

“Binding agreements also need to be finalised and signed, and we have a well detailed construction, commissioning and production ramp-up schedule to insert this new Mali lithium mine into the global lithium supply chain,” Walker said.

 

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Tahoe halts operations at its La Arena gold mine in Peru after protest

Precious metals miner Tahoe Resources (TSX:THO)(NYSE:TAHO) had to temporarily halt operations at its La Arena gold mine in Peru following the trespassing of about 100 protesters demanding compensation for alleged environmental impacts of the operation.

The illegal action by the group, from a nearby community located about three km southwest of the mine, follows recent meetings between Tahoe and some La Ramada residents who requested payment for unnamed damages, allegedly caused by dust and vibrations from blasting at the mine, the company said.

Tahoe has filed charges of illegal trespass against leaders of the protest and, for the safety of its employees, contractors and members of the community, it suspended mining operations on Thursday night, ordering all workers to stay home. The company added that leaching activities were unaffected at this time.

The incident comes only two days after Tahoe said there had been an attempted robbery at the premises. The would-be thieves tried extracting gold from a pipeline by cutting holes in the top of it and placing bags of carbon inside to steal precious metal particles from the solution.

Instead, one of the bags blocked the pipe and it overflowed, sending solution into a collection pond from which clean water is discharged.

Tahoe reported the spill to the appropriate government agency, police, public prosecutors, and nearby communities. It said it was in the process of addressing the contamination of the storm water management system, but didn’t anticipate a material effect on production.

The miner reiterated it carries out permanent monitoring, which proves mine blasting complies with the law and environmental quality standards.

The company obtained the La Arena property in April 2015 as part of its acquisition of Rio Alto Mining. The open-pit mine has been in operation since 2011.

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Dalradian shareholders back Orion Mine’s $230m takeover bid

Shareholders in dual-listed Canadian miner Dalradian Resources (TSX:DNA) (LON:DALR), which is developing a large untapped gold deposit in a remote part of Northern Ireland, approved Friday the sale of the company to New York-based private equity group Orion Mine Finance.

The deal, proposed two months ago, values Dalradian at Cdn$537 million (roughly $230 million) — a 62% premium to the explorer’s share price at close on June 20, a day before it was announced.

Over 276 million shares, representing 77.66% of the total issued and outstanding Dalradian shares, were cast. Of those votes about 273 million, representing 98.78%, were voted in favour of selling the company, the dual-listed miner said in the statement.

Dalradian has the mineral rights for more than 80,000 hectares of land in Northern Ireland, which includes one of the world's top ten undeveloped gold deposits by grade.

Dalradian’s board had not only recommended the deal, gathering support to push it through before informing investors, but had also said it planned to keep it stakes in the business.

The Toronto-based miner said it will seek final approval of the transaction by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice early next week, with the deal expected to close on or about Sep.7, 2018.

Dalradian acquired mineral rights in 2009 to more than 80,000 hectares of land in Northern Ireland, including the Curraghinalt 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.

In May, the company said it planned to operate the proposed gold mine for an initial 20 years, though it noted that Curraghinalt had 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 3.1 million ounces of gold reserves — worth about $3.7 billion at today’s prices.

Previous efforts to bring Curraghinalt into production have failed, in part because of difficulties getting an explosives licence during the so-called Troubles in the 1980s. Currently, the project faces some opposition from those against the company’s planned use cyanide to extract gold at the site.

Dalradian believes 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.

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Opium : le génome du pavot révèle ses secrets de fabrication

Des chercheurs internationaux ont travaillé sur le génome du pavot à opium et ont trouvé comment la plante avait évolué pour produire des opiacés, aujourd’hui utilisés en médecine humaine. Cette recherche pourrait fournir de nouveaux outils pour améliorer la production de médicaments antidouleur.

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Awake : les successeurs du LHC bientôt miniaturisés ?

L’expérience Awake (A proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration experiment) a connu son premier succès au Cern. Les premiers tests de l’effet d’accélération par champ de sillage plasma sur des électrons sont prometteurs. Les accélérateurs de particules du futur seront plus petits, plus...

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China’s Zijin wins race for Serbia’s largest copper mine

Serbia has picked a Zijin Mining, China's largest gold miner and one of the country’s top copper producers, to take over its debt-hit copper mining and smelting complex RTB Bor, Minister of Mines and Energy Aleksandar Antic said on Friday.

The $1.26 billion-deal, which gives Zijin a 63% stake in the asset, marks the latest expansion of Beijing’s economic footprint in the Balkan region.

China views Serbia as part of its One Belt, One Road initiative, which is aimed at opening new foreign trade links for local companies.

Deal gives the Chinese miner a 63% stake in the RTB Bor mining and smelting complex in eastern Serbia.

It has invested over $1 billion so far in the Balkan country — a candidate for European Union membership — mostly in soft loans, infrastructure and energy projects.

The contract also fits Serbia’s efforts to sell-off indebted state-run companies to help spur growth and relieve pressure on the budget, as recommended by the International Monetary Fund.

As part of the agreement, published on the Serbian government's website, Zijin has also promised to cover RTB Bor’s $200 million debt and keep 5,000 jobs at the mine.

Antic said that out of the $1.26 billion, $135 million would be invested in improving the environment while another $320 million in opening a new copper mine.

The deal is expected to be signed next month, which means that Zijin could start managing the company early next year, according to Antic.

RTB Bor, in eastern Serbia, will be the second company a Chinese firm buys in the European country. In 2016, China’s Hesteel acquired Serbia’s steel plant in the town of Smederevo.

The copper complex was key in the development of Serbia’s industrial sector before the collapse of communist Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. However, it later became a burden on the country’s struggling economy because of malpractices and international sanctions during the regime of late president Slobodan Milosevic.

Currently, RTB Bor accounts for only 0.8% of Serbia’s GDP. According to company data, it exported 15,000 tonnes of copper in the first half of 2018 with a total revenue of $107 million, a 23% increase compared to last year.

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Fuite d'air et chute de pression à bord de la Station spatiale internationale

Un trou de deux millimètres dans le Soyouz amarré à la Station spatiale a provoqué une très légère chute de pression du complexe orbital. Une fuite sans danger pour les astronautes qui dormaient au moment de sa détection. Cette fuite a au moins eu le mérite de montrer que les capteurs de...

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HiClBaS, le chasseur d'exoplanètes en ballon, a été lancé !

Avec HiCIBaS, des chercheurs canadiens espèrent étudier et imager des exoplanètes à moindre coût en utilisant des ballons stratosphériques. Les essais ont débuté avec le lancement réussi du premier engin.

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Dimanche soir, découvrez les trésors des Antilles

Dimanche 2 septembre à 20 h 55, un conseil, regardez France Ô. La chaîne de l'Outre-mer diffuse deux très beaux documentaires, Allez savoir, dont Futura est partenaire. Au fil de leurs randonnées et de leurs rencontres avec des scientifiques et des associations, Sabine Quindou et Yves Paccalet...

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Un œil bionique imprimé en 3D

Un chercheur de l'université du Minnesota est parvenu à créer un prototype d'œil bionique à l'aide d'une imprimante 3D. Il incorpore des photodiodes qui pourraient à terme stimuler le nerf optique d'une personne non-voyante.

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Un manchot de Nouvelle-Zélande parcourt 6.800 km en deux mois !

Grâce à des balises Argos, des chercheurs ont suivi 20 gorfous du Fiordland au départ de la Nouvelle-Zélande. Ils ont été surpris de constater qu’ils pouvaient parcourir jusqu’à 6.800 kilomètres aller-retour en deux mois, lors d'un marathon solitaire qui démarre chaque année en décembre.

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Spaceborne Computer : le supercalculateur de l'ISS a simulé son voyage vers Mars

La Nasa et Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) ont testé avec succès, à bord de la Station spatiale internationale, un système informatique standard de très hautes performances. Il a démontré sa puissance et ses capacités de calculs pendant plus de 365 jours et ce, dans des conditions très...

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Nevada Copper shares jump on construction decision

Shares in Nevada Copper Corp (TSX:NCU) jumped on Thursday after the company’s board gave the go-ahead for the construction of its Pumpkin Hollow underground mine.

In more than three times usual trading volumes Nevada Copper popped 12% higher at the open, before paring some of those gains, for a market value of C$304m.

Nevada Copper said in a statement the decision follows the company’s recently completed C$108.5 million public offering of common shares and pre-construction activities which have been ongoing since May this year. The full-scale production decision allows the company to draw down C$70 million from its precious metal streaming agreement.

President and CEO Matt Gili, who joined Nevada Copper earlier this year from Barrick Gold, said the Pumpkin Hollow underground project, which will include the processing plant and completion of the underground mine, is the first key step in the company's strategy of capital-efficient, phased growth from its base in Nevada.

Roughly US$220m have already been sunk into the Pumpkin Hollow project. Nevada Copper has an aggressive schedule to start producing first concentrate in the fourth quarter of next year. Pre-production capex is pegged at $197 million.

The 5,000 tonnes per day underground mine will produce 60m pounds of copper (~27,000 tonnes) in the first five years of operations, as well as 9,000 ounces of gold and 173,000 ounces of silver.

The mine plan is based on total reserves of 23.9m tonnes grading 1.74% copper equivalent, with the grade averaging just over 2% copper during the first five years of production.

Pumpkin Hollow boasts an initial mine life of 13-and-a-half years with “significant extension potential from identified resources” according to Nevada Copper.

The company's November 2017 NI 43-101 Technical Report also provides the option to develop a 70,000 tonnes per day integrated underground and open pit mine at the property.

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Canadian cobalt company says thieves stole 76 tonne hoard

Canadian commodity firm Cobalt 27 in its earnings filing reported theft of 76 tonnes of cobalt from a warehouse in Rotterdam in early July.

A total of 112 tonnes of cobalt was taken from warehouses owned by the Vollers Group in the Dutch city, Bloomberg reported at the time.

Cobalt 27's stocks – which were fully insured at market prices according to the Toronto-listed company – are worth around $5 million.

Cobalt 27 has stockpiled 2,982 tonnes worth just shy of $200 million at today's prices, holds options on cobalt juniors and enters into streaming and royalty deals in an effort to be a pure play on the cobalt price.

Since hitting near decade highs in March near $100,000 a tonne, the raw material mainly used in lithium ion batteries, is down by more than a third as new supply from the Congo, responsible for the bulk of cobalt mining, enter the market.

Cobalt sulphate prices, the refined form commonly used in the battery supply chain, has also succumbed and is trading at its lowest level since November 2017.

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Canada’s controversial Trans Mountain pipeline quashed by court

Canada’s second-highest court has sided with opponents to a controversial $9.3-billion oil pipeline expansion, ruling that the country’s government had not fulfilled its duty to consult with First Nations on the pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia.

The verdict, one of the project’s most significant legal hurdles to date, means the National Energy Board will have to redo its review of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline’s extension. In a written decision, the Federal Court of Appeal said the board’s review was so flawed that the federal government could not rely on it as a basis for its 2016 decision to approve the expansion.

As a result, it effectively halts construction of the 1,150-kilometre project indefinitely.

Justice Eleanor Dawson’s ruling is expected to cause further delays and increase the project's costs. It came the same day as Kinder Morgan shareholders in Houston vote to finalize the sale of the project to Canada for $4.5 billion.

Canada's Minister of Finance, Bill Morneau, said the government had received the rulingand is taking the appropriate time to review the decision. He is expected to speak to reporters in Toronto shortly after 1 p.m. ET.

“This is a great victory for Indigenous communities everywhere fighting against destructive projects being imposed upon their territories,” Patrick McCully, Climate and Energy Program Director at Rainforest Action Network, said in an emailed statement.

Some of the main concerns raised by First Nations and other critics of the project were related mostly to the consequences of spills in the ocean or on land, and the contribution of expanded Alberta oil sands production on carbon emissions and climate change.

If ever constructed, the pipeline would twin the existing 1,100-km pipeline and triple the flow of diluted bitumen and other oil products, sending 890,000 barrels a day from Alberta through the pipelines to B.C.’s coast.

It would also result in a sevenfold increase in tanker traffic through the Salish Sea from Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby.

Download (PDF, 281KB)

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Les néonicotinoïdes interdits en France à partir du 1er septembre

Les néonicotinoïdes, des pesticides controversés accusés de participer au déclin des abeilles, ne seront plus autorisés en France à partir du samedi 1er septembre 2018. Les agriculteurs devront avoir recours à des alternatives plus respectueuses de la biodiversité.

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Canada’s Orosur to shut Uruguay’s San Gregorio West gold mine

Canadian gold junior Orosur Mining (TSX, AIM:OMI) will close its San Gregorio West mine in Uruguay after lower than expected grades at the underground operation lead the company to post pre-tax loss of $27.18-million in the 2018 financial year.

The miner, which has decided to focus on Colombia, said it expected the operation to yield between 2,500 – 3,500 ounces of gold in the next three months, after which it will be placed on care and maintenance.

“All future production shall depend on material developments in the funding and environmental permitting of the Veta A Underground project in Uruguay and the ongoing discussions with the government of Uruguay and other third parties,” it said in the statement.

Orosur is also withdrawing from Chile, where it has already sold its remaining 25% stake in Talca for $120,000 and returned its interest in the Anillo project to state-owned Codelco.

The firm’s main focus is now the Anzá exploration project, in Colombia, for which it is raising finance to fund the next stage of exploration.

“The drilling campaign in Anzá resulted in a number of high grade gold intercepts, providing support for our geological model, as well as materially extending the known extent of mineralization,” chief executive officer Ignacio Salazar said in the statement.

More to come…

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Microsoft et Kymeta dévoilent une voiture connectée

Microsoft et le fabricant de systèmes de communications par satellite Kymeta viennent de présenter deux prototypes de véhicules connectés qui combinent l’équipement matériel, logiciel et cloud computing pour en faire une plateforme de télécommunications mobiles voix et données destinée aux...

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Australia’s Northern Star to buy gold mine in Alaska for $260 million

Australia’s Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) is expanding overseas by acquiring Sumitomo Metal Mining Co and Sumitomo Corp’s Pogo underground gold mine in Alaska for $260 million.

Pogo, located southeast of Fairbanks city, is currently the eight largest gold mine in the US. It has produced 3.8 million ounces of gold over the past 12 years at an average mine grade of 13.6 grams per tonne.

Pogo, located southeast of Fairbanks city, is currently the eight largest gold mine in the US.

The acquisition, said Northern Star, will add 250,000 to 260,000 ounces to its full-year 2019 guidance, boosting expected output to between 850,000 to 900,000 ounces at all-in sustaining costs of $1,050 to $1,150 per ounce.

Northern Star said Pogo had several key parallels with its Jundee mine, in Western Australia, at the time of that project’s acquisition.

The company plans to fund the acquisition through cash reserves and by raising about A$175 million ($128 million) through a placement.

Pogo rests in the Tintina mineral belt, a 200km-wide province that stretches 1200km across much of Alaska through to the south-eastern Yukon. Aside from holding large gold deposits, the area also hosts copper, lead, zinc, silver and tungsten.

Barrick Gold, Teck Resources, South32 and Newmont Mining are other miners operating in the region.

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Pesticides : l'étrange addiction des bourdons aux néonicotinoïdes

Une expérience sur des bourdons a montré qu'ils peuvent développer une sorte d'addiction aux pesticides néonicotinoïdes : plus les insectes en mangeaient, plus ils en redemandaient. Un phénomène particulièrement inquiétant pour la biodiversité.

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Des start-up réinventent trois concepts :gyropode modulable, drone sauveteur et micro-écouteurs multifonctions

Un drone peut apporter une bouée à un nageur en difficulté mais encore faut-il que l'appareil soit efficace, fiable et agréé. Un gyropode peut permettre à tous de se faufiler dans des lieux publics mais il doit être modulable et très maniable. S'il est facile d'imaginer des écouteurs utilisables...

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Spry : ce drone étanche vole et peut plonger sous l'eau

Le Spry est un drone quadricoptère, muni d'une caméra Ultra HD, qui peut non seulement voler, mais aussi se poser sur l'eau ou plonger pour filmer.

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Boson de Higgs : l'origine de la masse des quarks se précise

Le boson de Brout-Englert-Higgs n'explique pas la masse des protons et des neutrons mais il sert bel et bien à donner des masses à leurs constituants, les quarks, dans le cadre de la théorie standard des hautes énergies. Au LHC, les détecteurs Atlas et CMS viennent de le confirmer avec le quark...

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Apple : bientôt un siège auto intelligent pour alerter le conducteur en cas de danger ?

L’Office des brevets et des marques américain vient d’accorder à Apple un brevet décrivant un siège automobile intelligent. Un siège qui pourrait alerter le conducteur en cas de situation potentiellement dangereuse via des effets haptiques. Il serait même capable de modifier sa forme pour...

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Old coal mines in Glasgow to host geothermal research lab

The Glasgow City Council and the South Lanarkshire Council in Scotland approved the construction of the approximately $11.7-million Glasgow Geothermal Energy Research Field Site, a project proposed by the Natural Environment Research Council and the British Geological Survey.

The research hub will be located on the eastern side of Scotland's largest city, where once different coal mines operated. According to local media, the idea is for scientists to focus on exploring if old coal mines can generate harnessable low-carbon heat for domestic use.

In detail, experts working at the facility will have to drill narrow boreholes into the ground and, using what has been deemed “state-of-the-art sensors,” they will measure the temperature, water flow and seismic activity in the disused mine tunnels. This information, which will feed an online, open-access database, will allow scientists to determine whether the warm water could be used for renewable heat.

This initial study at the Geothermal Field Site is expected to be carried out for at least 15 years. It will also measure near-surface chemistry, gases and waters.

Local and country authorities told reporters that the project is part of Scotland’s efforts to transition to a low carbon economy, as it has committed to reducing emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.

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New seven powerhouses to drive mineral demand: EMR exec

China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Indonesia, and Turkey will be leading the world’s mineral demand in the coming decades, Owen Hegarty, Executive Chairman of Australian private equity manager EMR Capital, predicts.

Speaking at the Paydirt 2018 Africa Down Under mining conference taking place in Perth, Hegarty said that the new top seven economies will lead the expected doubling of the global economy by 2050.

“You have to look at China – a country rebalancing, reforming and transforming – and that will make it the key driver of minerals commodity demand,” the investment expert said.

In his view, the Asian giant will need a large amount of construction and technology materials in the coming years as it ramps up its Belt and Road initiative, which is designed to improve infrastructure and connectivity between China and Eurasia.

“Future supply constraints will parallel the more than halving in minerals exploration spend."

“But it is not just China. India will derive 25 per cent of its GDP from manufacturing by 2022 and its Smart Cities Mission has committed $3 trillion to infrastructure spending to 2035,” Hegarty said. “This alone will create another wave of minerals commodities demand,” he added.

The EMR Capital Chairman foresees an increased demand for raw and processed minerals also taking place in Indonesia, given the country’s focus on developing its infrastructure to create a solid platform for growth.

According to Owen Hegarty, copper, gold, potash and coking coal are the minerals that these countries will be asking for. “The demand for copper has been robust for decades and there are emerging new uses but the existing supply is already stretched and there are limited new supply options,” he said.

Hegarty also said that, despite the current insufficient exploration, gold will continue to be seen as an alternative currency, while the limited supply of potash is creating strategic opportunities.

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Australian southern state open to mining

Australia’s most densely populated state, Victoria, has just released a Mineral Resources Strategy 2018–2023 in which the government presents its ideas to give the mining sector a boost.

According to the document, the provincial administration wants to grow investment and jobs in the mineral sector by spending $220 million on exploration and drilling one million metres by 2023, as well as by making at least one significant mineral resource discovery by 2028.

Such targets are based on current trends observed by authorities. The report cites a 79 per cent year-on-year growth in mineral spending to March 2018, which is nearly three times the national rate and the highest level since 2011.

The southeastern state also reported $40.7 million in mineral exploration expenditure between 2016 and 2017, $805 million in mining capital expenditure in the same period and $13.6 billion as the total direct and indirect contribution of the mining sector to the regional economy in the prior year.

“The world-class Fosterville Gold Mine near Bendigo is a prime example of the significance of mining to Victoria. It currently employs 570 people and contractors, mostly from around Bendigo, and sustains many more jobs in mining and other services in the Bendigo region and Victoria. On the back of substantial recent discoveries, the mine owner has commenced a large mineral exploration program to drive future discoveries and production. This strategy is about fostering the jobs and wealth creation of mines like Fosterville across Victoria,” Tim Pallas, Minister for Resources, wrote in the report.

With Toronto-based Kirkland Lake Gold’s (TSE:KL) mine taking the lead, gold is a sector that Victoria aims at reclaiming, the strategy states. Following a rush in the mid-1800s, the next decades saw a bit of a dip. However, the government reports a resurgence in the north-central and western parts of the state, where there have been a few mineral exploration and production successes. The province hosts 13 goldfields that have each produced more than one million ounces of gold.

Across the state -the document says- there are also copper, lead, zinc, antimony, molybdenum, tin, tungsten and nickel deposits ready to be exploited.

Besides its plans to encourage mineral exploration and development, the Victorian government also says it is going to release a resource prospectus, integrate resource and freight transportation planning and conduct competitive tenders to attract high-performing explorers, all of this while reducing costs and red-tape.

The so-called Garden State is home to giants such as BHP, Newcrest and OceanaGold. Melbourne-based firms account for 65 per cent of the mining stock from the ASX100 in 2018.

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L'été 2018 est le deuxième plus chaud de l'histoire de France

L’été 2018 a été le deuxième plus chaud de l'histoire en France. Il reste encore loin derrière celui de 2003 et sa canicule meurtrière. Paradoxalement, des gelées précoces en août ont été relevées.

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Rides du front : elles en disent long sur votre santé cardiovasculaire

Les rides du visage ne sont pas que le signe du vieillissement. D’après une nouvelle étude française, plus les rides de votre front sont importantes, plus vous risquez de mourir d'un problème cardiovasculaire.

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Teck seeking partner for $4.8bn Quebrada Blanca mine expansion

Canada's largest diversified miner Teck Resources (TSX:TECK.A | TECK.B)(NYSE:TCK) is looking for a business partner before moving ahead with its Phase 2 at Quebrada Blanca copper mine in northern Chile.

The Vancouver-based company, which earlier this month received regulatory approval for a $4.8-billion mine extension, said that before kicking off work, it would have to secure a development partner able to invest $2billion for up to 30% to 40% stake in the project.

Earlier this year, Teck had said it was exploring various potential financing alternatives for the project.

The copper mine is nearing the end of its life, but the expansion will keep it producing for at least another 25 years.

Chile’s Mining Minister Baldo Prokurica had said that Teck would begin the mine extension, aimed at extending Quebrada Blanca’s life by 25 years, in November, local paper El Mercurio reports.

The upgrade, which will boost mine production to 300,000 tons of copper a year, includes building a new 140,000-tonne-per-day concentrator and the first large-scale use of desalinated seawater for mining in Chile’s arid Tarapacá region.

Last year, Quebrada Blanca produced 23,400 tonnes of copper, generating a $182 million-revenue.

Teck owns 90% of the mine and Chile’s national mining company ENAMI holds a 10% preference share interest in it, which does not require the state agency to fund capital spending.

Copper, one of four business units at Teck besides steelmaking coal, oil and zinc, is considered a company's priority.

Smelting back on track

On separate development, Teck announced Tuesday the resumption of lead smelting operations at its Trail, British Columbia, facility after a seven-day suspension because of wildfires in the province.

Last wee, Teck shut down the smelter, which provides oxygen to Teck Trail Operations,  due to poor air quality in the area.

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Robotique : l'effet inattendu du Brexit

Du fait du Brexit, le Royaume-Uni se retrouve confronté à une pénurie de main-d'œuvre dans les fermes horticoles pour le ramassage des fruits rouges. En conséquence, des chercheurs de l'université de l'Essex s'activent pour développer des robots ramasseurs de fraises qui, pensent-ils, seront...

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Grâce à cette IA, dansez comme Michael Jackson (ou faites-le croire)

Des chercheurs de l'université de Berkeley ont développé une IA qui est capable de copier les mouvements de danse d'une personne puis de les transférer sur le corps d'une autre personne pour créer de fausses vidéos. Monsieur tout le monde pourra danser comme Michael Jackson.



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Cerveau : un nouveau type de neurone découvert chez l'Homme

Des chercheurs américains et hongrois décrivent un nouveau type de cellules découvert dans le cerveau humain. Ces neurones inhibiteurs du cortex n’ont jamais été décrits chez la souris ni d’autres animaux de laboratoire.

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Espace : la Chine autorise l'accès privé avec le lanceur Zhuque-1

Après avoir terminé son rattrapage technologique dans le domaine spatial, l'industrie spatiale privée chinoise part à la conquête du new space, poussée par son gouvernement. Plusieurs star-up et sociétés se sont créées pour se lancer dans la bataille de l'accès à l'espace à bas coût. LandSpace...

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La hausse du CO2 atmosphérique réduira la qualité des aliments de base

D’ici 2050, l’augmentation de la quantité de CO2 dans l’atmosphère réduira la qualité nutritive de nombreuses cultures. Conséquence : des carences en zinc, en fer, en protéines toucheront des millions de personnes dans le monde.

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Le spectre de l'antihydrogène révélera-t-il l'énigme de l'antimatière ?

L'expérience Alpha au Cern traque d'éventuelles différences entre les atomes d'hydrogène et d'antihydrogène, à la recherche d'une nouvelle physique et d'une solution à l'énigme de l'antimatière en cosmologie. On a réussi cette fois-ci à observer l'équivalent de la raie Lyman-α de l'hydrogène...

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Hecla’s silver-copper project in remote Montana overcomes hurdle

Kootenai National Forest, an agency that manages 154 forests and 20 grasslands in the U.S., announced today that they have approved the first phase of Hecla Mining’s silver and copper mine in northwestern Montana.

The Rock Creek Mine would be built beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, an area of glaciated peaks and valleys that take their name from the area’s box-like rock formations. Grizzly bears and wolverines inhabit the terrain.

Despite the KNF’s approval for the project, the Associated Press reports there is no clarity as to when work could begin at the remote site because of an ongoing legal dispute between Montana environmental regulators and Hecla (NYSE: HL).

Back in March, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality accused Phillips S. Baker Jr., president and chief executive officer of the Idaho-based firm, of being in violation of the state’s “bad actor” law because of ongoing pollution caused by the now-defunct Zortman Mining Inc. and Pegasus Gold Mining Inc., where Baker once worked. Hecla replied with a legal challenge against the ruling.

The company has chances of prevailing, given that the “bad actor” law has only been used once before, and Hecla’s CEO is the first top executive to be scrutinized under it. However, even in that scenario, there is uncertainty around the miner’s plans to explore 20 acres to determine the feasibility of a full-scale, 500-acre operation because an operating plan has to be previously approved by the federal government.

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The latest episode in the Crystallex-Venezuela saga

State-owned Petróleos de Venezuela SA or PDVSA announced on Twitter that it filed an appeal requesting that a Delaware court vacate a decision made public on August 23 granting Canadian miner Crystallex the right to seize its U.S. assets.

In its statement, the oil company said it had filed a petition on Friday, August 24, 2018, to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The petition is to direct the Delaware District Court to acknowledge it had been “divested of jurisdiction with respect to PDVSA and its property.”

The petition refers to a decision made on August 9, 2018, by U.S. District Judge Leonard Stark in the eastern U.S. state. Stark approved a request by Crystallex to attach shares in PDV Holdings, a U.S. subsidiary of PDVSA that indirectly controls refiner Citgo.

Citgo owns three refineries in Louisiana, Texas and Illinois, as well as other assets that have been valued between $8 billion and $10 billion.

With this move, Crystallex is aiming at collecting a $1.4-billion-award in compensation following a decade-long dispute over Venezuela’s 2008 nationalization of its gold mine in the southern Bolívar state. The amount is comprised of $1.2 billion plus $200 million of interest awarded by a World Bank arbitration tribunal in 2016.

If PDVSA’s appeal does not proceed, the Nicolás Maduro government could be forced to comply to Crystallex’s demands.

The Canadian firm has accused the Nicolás Maduro government of performing “fraudulent transfers” to avoid paying what it owes. Among those transactions, Crystallex has cited the payment of dividends from PDV Holding to PDVSA for $2.2 billion and the issuance of 49.9% of Citgo’s shares to secure a $1.5 billion loan granted by Russian giant Rosneft in 2016.

A lawsuit introduced by the miner against such asset transfers by Citgo was initially dismissed in January 2018, but the Toronto-based company requested a new hearing.

Nevertheless, PDVSA’s lawyers have argued that Crystallex cannot seize the holding company’s shares because it doesn’t have proper grounds for suing in the U.S. and because it couldn’t show the unit was the Venezuelan company’s “alter ego.”

In November 2017, Crystallex and Venezuela agreed to settle the dispute before Ontario Superior Court Justice Glenn Hainey. However, the deal did not resolve the fight over the $1.2 billion award because the cash-strapped South American country did not honour its payments.

With files from Reuters, Bloomberg, El Universal.

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Platinum-gold alloy is the most wear-resistant metal in the world

Researchers at the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico engineered a platinum-gold alloy believed to be the most wear-resistant metal in the world.

The metal is 100 times more durable than high-strength steel, making it the first alloy, or combination of metals, in the same class as diamond and sapphire.

The alloy is made of 90 per cent platinum with 10 per cent gold, which is nothing new. The innovation behind it is the handpicked metals, proportions and a fabrication process that the scientists employed based on simulations that calculated how individual atoms were affecting the large-scale properties of a material.

Such simulations allowed them to propose a new theory that says wear is related to how metals react to heat, not their hardness.

The scientists' findings were published in a paper in Advanced Materials. In their article, they explain that the alloy will be particularly useful for the tech industry because in most electronic devices moving metal-to-metal contacts or pieces usually need to be coated with outer layers of gold or other precious metal alloys to prevent them from wearing down, corroding or getting deformed. Such alloys, however, don't last for long as connections press and slide across each other day after day, year after year, sometimes millions of times.

Using an example to explain their achievement, the researchers said that the alloy is so durable that if car tires were fabricated with it, it'd be possible to skid around the Earth’s equator 500 times before wearing out the tread.

The new platinum-gold coating is so strong that only a single layer of atoms would be lost after a mile of skidding on the hypothetical tires. According to the lead researcher, Nic Argibay, this means that it could save the electronics industry more than $100 million a year in materials alone and make electronics of all sizes and across many industries more cost-effective, long-lasting and dependable.

In Argibay’s view, from aerospace systems and wind turbines to microelectronics for cell phones and radar systems could benefit from the new material, as it addresses current reliability limitations of metal microelectronic components.

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Acacia Mining searches for chairman as Dushnisky leaves for AngloGold

Acacia Mining (LON:ACA), the Tanzanian gold producer dealing with an ongoing dispute with the country’s president, is losing its chairman.

Kelvin Dushnisky, who leaves Acacia and its parent company Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX), will become South Africa’s AngloGold Ashanti (JSE:ANG) (NYSE:AU) new boss.

He will be replaced on interim basis by Rachel English, one of Acacia’s non-executive directors, Acacia said.

The company, Tanzania's No.1 gold miner, is still waiting for its largest shareholder, Barrick Gold, to reach an agreement with the East African nation’s government and so end a running dispute over taxes that has severely hit its bottom line.

The company, Tanzania's No.1 gold miner, is still waiting for its largest shareholder, Barrick Gold, to reach an agreement with the East African nation.

Barrick, which has been negotiating on Acacia’s behalf with the Tanzanian government for over a year, has been unable to make a final deal for Acacia’s board to vote on, which was expected to happen by the end of June.

The country accuses Acacia of understating its production and seized last year 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.

In the nine-months of talks between Barrick and Tanzania, Acacia Mining has seen its chief executive and finance director both leave. Shares in the company, in the meantime, have dropped more than 78%.

Dushnisky was considered the second most senior executive among Barrick’s management team, as the gold miner did away with the chief executive position a few years ago. As a chairman of Acacia, he was also the main person in charge of reaching a deal with Tanzania.

“The Board will continue to consider opportunities for additional Board appointments as part of its orderly succession planning processes, and to ensure that it retains the appropriate balance and expertise to meet Acacia’s business objectives,” Acacia said in the statement.

The company, which owns and operates Tanzania’s three major mines — Bulyanhulu, Buzwagi and North Mara, noted it would announce a permanent successor to Dushnisky in due course.

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World’s ‘most beautiful’ electric car to hit the road in 2020

Jaguar Land Rover Classic has dropped a bombshell in the growing electric vehicles (EVs) sector by announcing the start of production for its ‘E-Type Zero’ car, said to be “the most beautiful” of its kind in the world.

Designed by Italian racing driver Enzo Ferrari,  the body and style of this electric car was inspired by the E-Type series of the 1960s.

Customers who already own classic E-types will be able to pay to have their car converted to electric drive — the original engine and transmission will be preserved so that they can be put back in, if that's ever wanted — or customers can pay Jaguar to acquire an E-type for conversion.

Image courtesy of Jaguar.

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the positive reaction to the Jaguar ‘E-Type Zero’ concept. Future-proofing the enjoyment of classic car ownership is a major stepping stone for Jaguar Classic,” Tim Hannig, Jaguar Land Rover Classic Director, said in the statement.

The announcement is nothing but good news to battery metals miners, which have seen demand for their mined commodities soar in the past year.

The scramble by automakers to secure supply of battery materials has spiked the price for lithium, cobalt, nickel, rare earths and even copper (there’s 300kg of copper in an electric bus and nine tonnes per windfarm megawatt).

The all-electric Jaguar E-Type is the same classic sports car from the 1960s with its long hood, curved roof and chrome bumpers, but with its engine and transmission removed and replaced by a battery pack and an electric motor. (Image: CSBA | Twitter.)

Recent studies show that automotive-related commodity costs jumped to six-year highs in 2017 — up 70%, or $884 per vehicle, since 2015.

Should key battery metals prices continue to climb, it could bring more headaches to carmakers already selling EVs at a loss amid fierce competition, low volumes and disadvantages to internal combustion engines. An International Energy Agency (IEA) report pegs $125/KWh as the level at which EVs achieve parity with those equipped with internal combustion engines (ICEs), but it also warns that since battery costs remain a major component of the current price tag for EVs, financial incentives such as rebates, tax breaks or exemptions will be needed to support electric car deployment.

Image courtesy of Jaguar.

Not surprisingly, AlixPartners, a US consulting firm, sees an eye-popping $255 billion pouring into research and development and capital expenditures to bring some 207 electric models to the market by 2022. A further $61 billion has been earmarked for autonomous-vehicle technologies according to the study.

BMW recently said raw materials needed for car batteries will grow 10-fold in seven years, adding it has been surprised by "just how quickly demand will accelerate". BMW plans to offer 25 electrified vehicles by 2025 and, like many of its peers, it prefers using nickel-magnesium-cobalt batteries (EVs pioneer Tesla's favoured battery technology that uses less cobalt).

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Un astéroïde gros comme une pyramide va frôler la Terre sans risque

L'astéroïde 2016 NF23 va bientôt passer à 5 millions de kilomètres de la Terre et sa taille est de l'ordre de la centaine de mètres. L'objet est considéré comme potentiellement dangereux mais son passage n'est en réalité pas inquiétant... pour cette fois.

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Chaarat Gold to buy polymetallic project as part of acquisition spree

Chaarat Gold Holdings (LON:CGH), the company trying to buy Centerra's Kumtor mine in Kyrgyzstan, said Tuesday it would raise up to $100 million to help fund the acquisition of a producing polymetallic mine in Central Asia.

While the Kyrgyz Republic-focused explorer and developer did not reveal what project it was pursuing, it did say the acquisition was part of its consolidation strategy for the regional gold sector. It also noted it would transform the company from a developer onto a cash-flow generating producer.

Last year, the undisclosed asset produced around 50,000 ounces of gold equivalent and generated around $19 million profit before tax with gross assets of around $100 million.

Undisclosed project produced 50,000 gold ounces last year and that figure is set to grow by 25% in 2018 and 2019.

Production from the project is expected to grow by almost 25% per annum in 2018 and 2019, Chaarat said, thanks to significant investment over the past two years.

The company, which is developing the Tulkubash project in Kyrgyzstan, intends to fund the $75 million-deal by a combination of debt and fundraising proceeds.

Expanding footprint

Chaarat seems far from being done with its intended acquisitions in Central Asia Russia and the Caucasus region. The junior noted it continued “to make progress” with its pipeline of “highly attractive” targets in those jurisdictions.

It also referred to its touted, but so far unsuccessful intention to add Centerra Gold’s Kumtor mine to its portfolio.

Chaarat noted it was still interested in buying Kyrgyzstan’s largest gold mine and that it remained committed to completing the proposed $800-million deal, as its financing continue to support the transaction.

“[The company] has sought a productive dialogue with Centerra's management but has yet to receive any engagement from Centerra’s board and management team with respect to its proposal,” it said in the statement.

Chaarat said it had yet to receive any engagement from Centerra's board and management team concerning its intended acquisition of Kumtor mine.

Centerra rejected the unsolicited bid in April, but state-owned miner Kyrgyzaltyn, which holds $400 million in Centerra shares, said later it had not seen the offer, refusing to comment on whether or not the deal seemed attractive.

Under the proposal, Chaarat and Kyrgyzaltyn would acquire Kumtor from Centerra. Chaarat would then operate the mine, while Kyrgyzaltyn would own Kumtor’s preferred equity and be entitled to 50% of the economic benefits of Kumtor.

Centerra’s mine is located in the southern Tien Shan Metallogenic belt, in which Chaarat owns a namesake project, comprising the Tulkubash and Kyzyltash deposits, which are set to yield 300,000 to 400,000 ounces of gold a year when in full production.

The gold junior is awaiting decisions regarding the future of Kumtor from the Kyrgyzstan’s government. Last week, the parties extended for the fifth time the deadline to fulfill all conditions included in a deal they signed in September, which was supposed to end long-dragged environmental and economic disputes over Kumtor mine.

The announcement came only two months 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.

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Les compétences transverses, aujourd’hui indispensables à l’ingénieur

Les entreprises attendent de leurs jeunes ingénieurs qu’ils soient un peu « un mouton à cinq pattes », comme nous l’explique Fabrice Bardèche, vice-président du groupe d’écoles Ionis, qui observe cette évolution vers un élargissement des compétences. Les élèves eux-mêmes, constate-t-il, sont...

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Mercedes Vision EQ Silver Arrow : la mythique Flèche d'Argent W 125 ressuscitée en version électrique

81 ans après la sortie de la première Flèche d'Argent, Mercedes fait revivre le mythe en proposant une version électrique développant 750 cv. Le résultat est toujours aussi spectaculaire.

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Un monde en feu : la Nasa dévoile une carte mondiale des incendies

Des milliers de feux ravagent en permanence notre planète. Des incendies qui n’épargnent aucun pays, riche ou pauvre, et qui sont souvent dus à des pratiques délétères.

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Un nouveau « micro-organe » découvert dans le système immunitaire

Une nouvelle structure anatomique a été identifiée dans le système immunitaire. Elle apparaît à la surface de ganglions lymphatiques et servirait à combattre des infections déjà connues de l'organisme. Cette découverte pourrait avoir des applications dans l'élaboration de nouveaux vaccins.

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Incroyable : un écran Oled flexible d'à peine 0,01 mm d'épaisseur

Royole, une start-up américaine, fait une incursion remarquée sur le créneau des écrans flexibles avec une dalle Oled si fine qu'elle flotte au vent comme un drapeau.



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L'astéroïde Bennu est en vue de la sonde Osiris-Rex

Partie de la Terre il y a deux ans, Osiris-Rex n’est plus très loin de sa cible, le géocroiseur Bennu. L’approche finale vient de commencer.

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Zacatecas governor welcomes reopening of Grupo Mexico's mine after 11-year strike

The governor of the northern Mexican state of Zacatecas, Alejandro Tello, issued a statement welcoming the reopening of the San Martín mine after an 11-year worker strike.

Operations at the zinc-copper-silver mine were halted in 2007 due to a conflict between unions. However, in February this year, in what the company deems a "peaceful election process," the National Federation of Independent Unions took over the duties of representing mine workers in substitution of section 201 of the Mining Union.

Looking at the numbers provided by Industrial Minera México, Grupo Mexico's subsidiary in charge of San Martín, the provincial officer said he was optimistic about the future of his home state.

In Tello's view, Zacatecas will greatly benefit from the $500 million that the mine is expected to generate over the next decade.

The governor said that the reopening of the mine is a "historic event," as it should create 3,600 direct and indirect jobs. Some $12.5 million are expected to be paid in wages every year.

He said that his government wants to join forces with investors and labourers. "Only by working together, we will be able to achieve common wellbeing," he said.

According to Grupo México, the San Martín mine hosts 17 million tonnes of zinc, silver, lead, copper, and gold.

Following the decade-long stoppage, the company needs to invest some $77 million to get the mine up and going.

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Amplats taking steps to control emissions from South African platinum smelter

Following the signing of new regulations that limit the amounts of sulfur (SO2) that mining operations are allowed to emit, Anglo American Platinum (JSE: AMS) decided to implement a new technology at its platinum smelter facility in Polokwane, northern South Africa.

The No.1 producer of the transition metal enrolled Denmark’s Haldor Topsøe in a project aimed at installing a Wet gas Sulfuric Acid emissions control technology at the smelter. The $1.1 million plan should be completed in a couple of years.

Also known as WSA, the plant is designed to reduce emissions of SO2 from around 90,000 mg/Nm3 to less than 1,200 mg/Nm3 and, at the same time, produce up to 148 tonnes per day of commercial-grade sulfuric acid.

According to Haldor Topsøe, the recovery process is energy-efficient because it uses no or very little support fuel and requires only minimal cooling water.

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Old, large soil stockpiles and mine site restoration

For those who work at a mine site on a day-to-day basis, seeing huge mountains of organic matter aimed at future site reclamation may be a common occurrence that doesn’t provoke much thought. But for Lauchlan Fraser, those mountains represent an unexplored universe ready to be scrutinized.

For a while now, a question has been roaming the mind of the Biology professor: “Can soil from an old, large stockpile still retain viable organics, nutrients and microorganisms for successful site reclamation?”.

Luckily for Fraser, he and his team at Thompson Rivers University have just received funding to look for answers to such a question at some of British Columbia’s mine sites. In the western Canadian province, operators are required to reclaim disturbed land to a defined condition upon mine closure.

“Topsoil is the top ~5 cm layer of soil where most biological soil activity occurs. It is high in organic matter, nutrients and microorganisms. A self-sustaining, fully-functioning terrestrial ecosystem requires a biologically active topsoil.”

“So far we are focused on stockpiles from New Gold’s New Afton mine. We have also
discussed the possibility of sampling at Teck’s Highland Valley copper mine, and are in
discussions to expand sampling to other mines,” the researcher told MINING.com.

According to Fraser, it is important to look at these soil reserves because some of them can reach heights of 30 metres and sit untouched for decades. “I expect height to matter, at least to a certain degree. I wonder, though, whether there is a threshold height, after which there is little change,” he said.

By analyzing the age and depth of the stockpiles and running DNA sequencing tests on the soil samples they collect, the researchers also want to see if there are any variations in the microbial communities that are key for the restoration of the ecosystems in exhausted mine sites. They anticipate that older, deeper piles will show a reduction in the abundance and diversity of such microbial aggregations.

If this is the case, then Fraser and his team would test a second hypothesis: Is it possible to rejuvenate stockpiled soil at the time of site reclamation? “Perhaps we need to add specific microbes, or another soil amendment such as biosolids, ash or wood chips to encourage microbial development,” he said.

Fraser’s project involves five more people, among them post-doctoral fellows and master students, and it is expected to last for at least five years. Both the federal government and local non-profit Geoscience BC are funding it.

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Scottish firm to launch UK's first asteroid mining mission

Scottish startup firm, Asteroid Mining Corporation (AMC), is ready to take on the mission of launching the UK's first asteroid mining journey.

The company, which unveiled its development plans for the Asteroid Prospecting Satellite One (APS-1) last month, is hoping to raise £2.3million (roughly $3 million) to build such satellite, and it plans to do so through crowdfunding.

It would be the UK’s first space mining mission, aimed at extracting and process materials from asteroids.

APS-1 would be used in obtaining material readings of near-Earth celestial bodies to better evaluate future missions for asteroid mining.

Asteroids can be mined for water, oxygen and construction materials (for large scale space infrastructure). Additionally, they contain an abundance of valuable resources, mainly gold, rare earth elements and platinum group metals.

The asteroid mining market is valued up to trillions of dollars.

AMC aims to bring the world the Third Industrial Revolution. "Moving as many polluting industries into Space and out of Earth's fragile biosphere as possible so that the Earth can become the garden of the Solar System."

They've received positive feedback on the APS-1 and their “plans to develop the extraterrestrial economy”.

Written with material from Asteroid Mining Corporation.

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KGHM to go ahead with $2bn expansion of Sierra Gorda copper mine in Chile

Polish miner KGHM (WSE:KGH), Europe's second-largest copper producer, was given Monday environmental approval for a $2 billion expansion and upgrade of its flagship Sierra Gorda mine in northern Chile, 60 km south-west of the town of Calama.

The state-controlled company grabbed the copper and molybdenum project in 2012, after completing the acquisition of Canadian rival Quadra FNX, in what was the largest-ever foreign acquisition by a Polish company.

Upgrades are expected to extend the mine’s life by 21 years.

KGHM, also one the world's largest silver miners, had planned to extend Sierra Gorda earlier, but the 2015-2016 rout in commodity prices forced the company to place the plan in the backburner.

According to Chilean newspaper Estrategia, the approved upgrades would extend the mine’s life by 21 years. They include an increase to the capacity of the facility's mill from 190,000 tonnes to 230,000 tonnes per day, though overall production of copper cathodes will stay at 55,000 tonnes.

Sierra Gorda, a joint venture 55% owned by KGHM and 45% by Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd, began operations in July 2014 with an expected output of 220,000 tonnes of copper a year once the now approved expansion was completed.

Last year, the mine produced 101,700 tonnes of copper. In the first half of 2018, however, output fell by 10% year-on-year to 25,000 tonnes, versus a full year target of 59,000 tonnes.

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Famous yellow diamonds yielding mine set to reopen

The Ellendale mine produced almost half of the world’s supply of rare yellow diamonds during peak production, and was also the main supplier of fancy-yellow diamonds for luxury jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co. (Image courtesy of Government of Western Australia.)

The mothballed Ellendale mine in Western Australia, renowned for its fancy yellow diamonds, is officially up for grabs.

The state government is calling for expressions of interest from mining companies to reopen the mine, which was operated between 2002 and 2015 by Kimberley Diamond Company, which went into administration.

The Ellendale mine yielded around half of the world’s supply of rare yellow diamonds during peak production.

Liquidators sold off plant, equipment and machinery and then quit the failed operation, leaving it in the hands of the state government.

Ellendale, located 120km east of Derby, yielded around half of the world’s supply of rare yellow diamonds during peak production, and was also the main supplier of fancy-yellow diamonds for luxury jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co.

According to Western Australia officials, the mine is still considered to contain marketable diamonds

A panel from the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety will evaluate tenders ahead of a formal decision by Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston.

“I expect the successful company will have experience in diamond mining and marketing, they’ll understand Western Australia’s regulatory requirements and be able to fund the new operation,” Johnston said.

Submissions close on Nov. 30 with a decision expected early in the new year. The winning company will be invited to apply for a new mining lease.

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Taxis volants : le Japon mise sur Airbus, Boeing et Uber

Le Japon se donne dix ans pour favoriser l'arrivée des taxis volants en réunissant 21 entreprises parmi lesquelles Airbus, Boeing et Uber. Le pays veut notamment avancer rapidement sur la législation qui encadrera ce mode de transport.



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POSCO to buy lithium mining rights in Argentina from Galaxy

South Korean steelmaker POSCO has inked a deal to acquire lithium mining rights in Argentina from Australia's Galaxy Resources, in a deal worth $280 million.

The deal, said the company, will secure stable lithium supplies for its battery material manufacturing affiliate POSCO ES Materials.

Deal gives POSCO a package of mining tenements for 17,500 hectares of land in the northern area of the Salar del Hombre Muerto salt flat. 

The Asian firm, which has been trying to ramp up its lithium business as the global steel market suffers from oversupply and protectionist policies, also said it planned to build a lithium plant in the South American country. The facility is expected to produce 25,000 tonnes of the white metal for 20 years, starting in 2021.

Lithium, a key ingredient in the making of batteries that power electric vehicles (EVs), has seen demand soar in recent years as more people shift away from cars powered by fossil fuels.

Experts expect the need for the commodity from battery makers alone to jump 650% by 2027, while overall demand is forecast to rise more than threefold in the next nine years.

Despite bullish forecasts, lithium may have a funding problem. Banks are wary, citing everything from the industry’s poor track record on delivering earlier projects to a lack of insight into a small, opaque market. Without more investment, Bloomberg reported, supplies of the commodity could remain tight, sustaining a boom that already has seen prices triple since 2015.

Source: BMO Capital Markets, companies reports.

In May, Galaxy announced it had agreed to sell the Korean firm a package of tenements in the Salar del Hombre Muerto (The Dead Man’s salt flat) in northern Argentina.

It said at the time it would invest the proceeds from the deal in its flagship Sal de Vida (Salt of Life) lithium and potash brine project, also located in Argentina, within an area known as the Lithium Triangle, which straddles the border with Bolivia and Chile.

POSCO has hit some legal challenges to acquire mining rights for salt lakes in South America. This has led the company to develop alternative technologies to extract lithium from lithium minerals and used batteries instead of saltwater. According to the steelmaker, it is the only company in the world capable of producing lithium from three different sources.

Assets are located in Argentina, within an area known as the Lithium Triangle, which straddles the border with Bolivia and Chile. (Map courtesy of Lithium Power International, which is developing The Maricunga Lithium Brine project in northern Chile.)

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Huit maladies qu’on croyait disparues et qui reviennent

Gale, rougeole, syphilis, tuberculose : elles ont causé des millions de morts avant qu’on ne découvre enfin un traitement. Sauvés ? Non, car ces maladies que l’on pensait enterrées font leur retour depuis quelques années. Voici pourquoi.

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Nasa : prenez des selfies dans l'espace avec cette nouvelle app

Vous pouvez poser dans l’espace dans une combinaison d’astronaute maintenant grâce à l’app de selfie que la Nasa vient de lancer. Et ce n’est pas tout : toujours pour accompagner l’anniversaire du télescope spatial Spitzer, l’Agence spatiale a aussi préparé une app de réalité virtuelle, à...

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Bientôt des communications sans fil à travers l'eau ?

Un sous-marin pourrait transmettre directement un message à un avion grâce à cet ingénieux système utilisant la surface de l’océan comme canal de communication.

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Formation du Système solaire : du quartz découvert pour la première fois dans une météorite

Le quartz est un minéral banal sur Terre mais, curieusement, on ne l'avait jamais trouvé dans des météorites, pourtant reflet du matériau à l'origine des planètes rocheuses du Système solaire. C'est chose faite avec la météorite Yamato-793261 qui nous renseigne donc sur la cosmogonie planétaire.

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En Amazonie, une tribu d’Indiens inconnus filmée par un drone

Quelques personnes se promenant dans une clairière au milieu de l’abondante végétation amazonienne : ces images inédites, enregistrées par un drone près de la frontière entre le Brésil et le Pérou, dévoilent l’existence d’une nouvelle tribu isolée, découverte par la Fondation nationale indienne.

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Fueling a town with waste

Pollution from activities that fuel day-to-day life are not only a cause for concern in China. Other countries, among them many developing nations, are beginning to take action on the issue.

Taking one small step at a time, Benin is among the countries that have started to implement measures to curb emissions from fuel burning.

In the southern town of Houégbo, Swiss foundation for sustainable development ReBin, together with German social start-up (B)energy, built a 1.3-hectare facility were every week six tonnes of organic waste is processed under oxygen-free conditions, turned into 200 cubic metres of a flammable mixture of carbon dioxide and methane, packed and then used to fuel the kitchens of about 100 households.

Digester. Image by ReBin.

“The process is rather simple and works like a human body. You feed the digester with organic waste, animal excrement (such as chicken droppings). For one tonne of waste, you need 1000 liters of water (it's a 50/50 ratio). In order not to use clean water, we have developed a fish farming activity so we could use the enriched water coming from the ponds. It also provides fresh fish to local people. Biogas is then naturally produced and stocked in big bags before we can distribute it,” ReBin’s founder, Mark Giannelli, told MINING.com.

The input for the underground, dome-like digester is brought into the facility by the villagers, who can fill their bags for free when they bring 20 kilos of waste or receive about $1.14 in cash. If they don’t bring any garbage, they can fill a bag that lasts for four hours for about $0.71; they also pay approximately $0.18 to cover micro-credits that allow them to own their bags and stoves. Local craftsmen fabricate the latter.

The inspiration

In order for it to be a safe process, the “big bags” that contain a little bit over 1 cubic metre of gas need to be tight and the outside temperature needs to be above 20°C, something that is not difficult to achieve in warm countries such as Benin.

Gianelli said he was inspired to bring the project to that specific place after a scouting trip through a few West African countries. Once he landed in the continent’s fourth-biggest exporter of pineapples and took a glance at the mountains of pineapple skins that were being discarded, he saw an opportunity.

“West Africa represents more than 50 per cent of the challenges that we must solve through the 17 Sustainable Development Goals,” the executive explained. “Benin, because it is a stable and peaceful democracy, opened to the changes.”

ReBin’s centre launched in June and since then has processed more than 20 tonnes of waste, saving about 164 tonnes of wood from being used to make charcoal. “The idea was to replace wood and charcoal that are usually transported on the back of women and children through long distances. Results: deforestation and millions of death each year because of the house fires,” Gianelli said.

According to the World Health Organization, close to 500,000 people die in Sub-Saharan Africa every year by smoke inhalation from domestic fires. Worldwide, total deaths from the same cause amount to 2 million, as some 3 billion people rely on stoves and open fires for cooking and heating.

For ReBin’s founder, such devastating outcomes can be avoided by fueling daily life with alternative sources of energy. “We have set an example of ‘nothing is lost, everything is transformed.’ There is no waste on this Planet, only misplaced resources!” he said.

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Quebec miner looking for cobalt and precious metals

Manganese X Energy (TSXV: MN), a company that claims to focus on ethically sourced minerals, announced this week that it has signed a Property Option Agreement to acquire the Peter Lake copper-nickel-cobalt project located in the Mont-Laurier Terrane, in the Central Grenville Province, Quebec.

The company said it will be exploring for cobalt and possible gold-platinum-palladium at the eastern Canada property. By December 2018, it has to invest at least $150,000 in exploration to be able to earn 40 per cent interest in the property.

In a media statement, the miner explained that Peter Lake consists of 34 claims totalling 1985 hectares and lies within a sequence of metasedimentary rocks intruded by gabbroic and felsic to mafic intrusions.

According to Manganese X, two copper-nickel-cobalt occurrences known as Peter Lake North and Peter Lake South are included within the property and previous grab sampling returned values ranging from 0.4% to 22.8% copper, 0.14% to 0.73% nickel, 500 ppm to 0.266% cobalt, as well as elevated gold and silver.

"Also worth noting is that the Peter Lake Property situated approximately 20 kms south of Kintavar Exploration Inc's Mitchi Project is where Kintavar recently announced significant new copper, silver, and gold mineralization," the Pointe-Claire-based firm said in the brief.

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The secret to safer oil & gas pipelines: graphene

Incorporating graphene into a polymer liner used in pipes that transport crude oil and gas from the sea floor makes them stronger, researchers say.

According to a team of scientists from the University of Manchester and The Welding Institute, laminating a thin layer of graphene nanoplatelets to polyamide 11 (PA11) – a plastic often used in the aforementioned liners – helps produce structures that behave as exceptionally good barriers, avoid the escape of gasses and, therefore, stop corrosion.

In a study published in Advanced Materials Interfaces, the experts explain that pipes are generally made of internal layers of polymer or composite and external strengthening steel. Within these pipes, fluids may be at very high pressure and elevated temperature.

Image by the University of Manchester.

Occasionally, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and water permeate through the protective barrier layer of the pipe and this makes the steel corrode causing the pipe to lose strength over time. Such weakness could cause a catastrophic failure.

However, the researchers tested their multi-layered laminate structures at 60oC and at pressures up to 400 times atmospheric pressure and noticed that CO2 permeation was reduced by over 90 per cent compared to PA11 alone, while permeation of hydrogen sulfide can be reduced to undetectable levels.

In a media statement, the researchers said that corrosion costs the oil and gas industry in the US alone $1.4 billion every year but, in their view, this graphene technology has the potential to significantly extend the life of the underwater pipework and therefore reduce the time between repairs.

Beyond the oil & gas sector, the scientists say graphene membranes like the ones they used, have the potential to revolutionise industrial processes, such as food packaging, water filtration and gas separation.

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Science décalée : subir le racisme accélère-t-il le vieillissement ?

Le stress constitue l’un des facteurs qui pourrait diminuer l’espérance de vie, de par ses effets délétères sur le génome humain. Qu’en est-il pour des personnes victimes du racisme ou de discrimination au quotidien ? Une étude suggère qu’ils pourraient, dans certains cas, en pâtir. Le rejet de...

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