Un papyrus du Livre des Morts de 16 m de long découvert à Saqqarah

Le Livre des Morts égyptien est probablement un des textes anciens les plus connus du grand public, ne serait-ce que de nom. Découvrir ces écrits sur des papyrus intacts en contexte funéraire est quelque chose de rare, et surtout de précieux pour la recherche. À la suite d'une restauration...

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MusicML : l'IA qui met en musique ce qu'on lui demande

C'est le dernier outil génial de Google. Cette IA appelée MusicML sait composer un titre musical à partir d’une description et d’un genre. Contrairement à ChatGPT, elle n’est pas encore ouverte au public, et c'est pour une bonne raison…

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Respirer des gaz d'échappement de voiture modifie l'activité du cerveau

C'est bien connu que la pollution de l'air constitue un problème majeur de santé publique, notamment en augmentant le risque de problèmes respiratoires ou cardiaques, mais il y a peu de données sur les conséquences de celle-ci dans le cerveau. Pour combler cette faille, des scientifiques de...

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Live From PS5 donne vie aux scènes de trois jeux phares pour la PlayStation 5 à Paris

Du 8 au 12 février, l’opération Live From PS5 (en direct de la PS5) vient mélanger le virtuel et la réalité dans plusieurs lieux à Paris et à la Défense. Des scènes et des évènements vont sortir des jeux God of war Ragnärok, GT7 et Forbidden West, pour se transformer en espaces réels. Des...

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L'industrie du pétrole et du gaz émet 5 fois plus de méthane que déclaré

Lorsque nous produisons du pétrole ou du gaz fossile, nous émettons du méthane (CH4), un puissant gaz à effet de serre (GES). Un peu, disent les inventaires nationaux des émissions. Mais déjà trop pour le climat. Beaucoup trop, affirment aujourd’hui des chercheurs qui jugent les chiffres des...

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Le télescope James-Webb a scruté les anneaux de Chariklo, un astéroïde aux confins du Système solaire

Pour la première fois, le télescope spatial James-Webb a observé l'occultation d'une étoile. Cette première est d'autant plus exceptionnelle que cette occultation est le fait des anneaux de Chariklo, un petit corps situé à un peu plus de 2,5 milliards de kilomètres du Soleil. Les observations du...

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Ce robot peut courir à 11 km/h sur du sable !

Quelle que soit la nature du sol, ce robot quadrupède adapte sa démarche tout seul pour ne pas tomber et c’est une véritable prouesse. Il peut même courir à 11 km/h sur du sable.

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Rio Tinto sorry for loss of radioactive capsule in Australia

Mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX, LON: RIO) apologized on Monday for the loss of a small, but “highly radioactive” capsule that has triggered a radiation alert across parts of the vast state of Western Australia.

The tiny capsule is believed to have fallen from a truck somewhere along a 1,400-kilometre (870-mile) highway through the Western Australian desert. Such distance is slightly shorter than the highway stretching from Manitoba to Toronto, in Canada.

“We are taking this incident very seriously,” Simon Trott, the company’s head of iron ore, said in a statement. “We recognize this is clearly very concerning and are sorry for the alarm it has caused in the Western Australian community.”

The capsule was part of a gauge used to measure the density of iron ore feed, which had been entrusted to a a third-party contractor to safely package and transport to a facility in Perth.

Here’s what the capsule looks like. (Source Emergency WA | Facebook)

Prior to the device leaving the site, a Geiger counter was used to confirm the presence of the capsule, which measures only 8 millimetres (0.3 inch) in length, inside the package. 

The widget contains a small amount of the radioactive isotope caesium-137, which according to Western Australia’s Chief Health Officer Andrew Robertson, carries a slow risk for the public. Exposure to the substance, however, could cause radiation burns or radiation sickness, WA Department of Health said.

“We have launched our own investigation to understand how the capsule was lost in transit. As part of this investigation, we are working closely with the contractor to better understand what went wrong in this instance,” Trott noted.

The state Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) along with other government bodies are undertaking the daunting task of locating and securing the tiny capsule, though they acknowledge it may never be found.

“DFES and radiation specialists are searching along Great Northern Highway by driving north and south directions at slow speeds,” it said in a hazmat alert Monday, adding it was using survey meters to find the capsule by detecting radiation levels.

People are urged not to touch the capsule. (Source Department of Fire and Emergency Services WA.)

Fortunately, the state’s desert is remote and one of the least populated places in the country. Only one in five of Western Australia’s population lives outside of Perth, the state’s capital.

The incident is a fresh blow to Rio Tinto’s reputation in Western Australia, where it blew up two 46,000-year-old caves of sacred significance to Indigenous Australians in 2020 as part of an iron ore mine expansion.

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New tool reveals best places for clean energy developments in the US

Researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory have developed an interactive online mapping tool that can help identify areas across the United States that are suitable for wind, solar, and other clean energy infrastructure projects.

First publicly launched in 2013 as the Energy Zones Mapping Tool (EZMT), the solution has been redesigned, rebranded as Geospatial Energy Mapper (GEM) and re-engineered. 

“In GEM, we applied lessons learned from almost 10 years hosting the EZMT, including making it easier to learn and use, updating the software architecture, and choosing a name fitting its current scope of uses,” Jim Kuiper, principal geospatial engineer and GEM technical coordinator, said in a media statement.

GEM interface showing wind and solar power plant locations with photovoltaic solar potential. (Image by the Argonne National Laboratory).

According to Kuiper, the solution offers data regarding existing energy resources and infrastructure, and other information that might influence new energy infrastructure siting decisions.

“With over 190 different mapping layers — including demographics, boundaries and utilities — users can locate areas for clean power generation, electric vehicle charging stations and more,” he said.

The system also has nearly 100 modelling criteria to choose from such as population density, proximity to the nearest substation, slope, wildfire risk and low-income household percentage, among others. Nine types of energy resources can be analyzed for clean energy development. These include biomass, coal (with carbon capture and sequestration), geothermal, natural gas, nuclear, solar, storage, water and wind.

The tool, in its previous iteration, has been already used by government planners and regulators.

As an example, the Argonne Lab mentioned the Kentucky Office of Energy Policy, which resorted to the EZMT for prototyping their Solar Site Suitability on Reclaimed Mine Lands tool.

Other users include private industry, public service commissions and regional transmission organizations.

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Rai-Bo, le premier robot tout-terrain

Quelle que soit la nature du sol, ce robot quadrupède adapte sa démarche tout seul pour ne pas tomber et c’est une véritable prouesse. Il peut même courir à 11 km/h sur du sable.

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Cette momie recouverte d'or pourrait être une des plus anciennes découvertes en Égypte

Non loin de la célèbre pyramide à degrés, au sein du site de la nécropole de Saqqarah, de nouvelles tombes antiques ont été découvertes. Ce type d'annonces fleurit en Égypte au gré des fouilles archéologiques en cours. Cette fois-ci, ce sont des tombes, des statuettes ainsi que de nouvelles...

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Où trouver le Mag Futura ?

Ça y est, le grand jour est arrivé, vous pouvez désormais vous emparer du Mag Futura dans vos kiosques et librairies. Nouveauté : découvrez aussi les formules d'abonnements sur notre boutique en ligne ! 

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Une tête d’ours photographiée à la surface de Mars !

Le site Hipod, qui partage chaque jour depuis des années une nouvelle image de la surface de Mars prise par la sonde de la Nasa MRO (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) et sa caméra haute résolution HiRIse, vient d’en publier une qui est aussi amusante qu’intrigante.Amusante, parce que l’on reconnait...

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Le retour d'El Niño aura 5 conséquences majeures en 2023

Après un triple La Niña, le retour du phénomène climatique El Niño semble de plus en plus se confirmer pour la fin de ce printemps. Celui-ci aura des conséquences importantes sur la météo d'une grande partie du monde. En voici les cinq principales.

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Va-t-on vers une légalisation encadrée du cannabis récréatif ?

Devant le constat de l’échec des politiques publiques répressives concernant le cannabis menées depuis 50 ans en France, le Conseil économique social et environnemental propose une alternative : la légalisation encadrée. De quoi s’agit-il ?

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Mummified golden boy comes ‘back to life’ in Egypt

A treasure trove of Egyptian beliefs on the afterlife has been unearthed following the examination of a ‘golden boy’ initially recovered from a cemetery used between 332 and 30 BCE in Nag el-Hassay, southern Egypt.

The body of the boy, who died of natural causes between the ages of 14 to 15 years old, was equipped with 49 amulets of 21 different types, many of which were made of gold and had been carefully placed on or inside the body.

Among the Ptolemaic period amulets, there was a golden heart scarab placed inside the thoracic cavity, a golden tongue inside the mouth, a two-finger amulet next to the boy’s uncircumcised penis, sandals and a fern garland with ritual significance.

Using computerized tomography (CT), the researchers were able to ‘digitally unwrap’ the intact, never-opened mummy.

The golden boy’s mummy The mummy was garlanded with ferns and wore a gilded face mask. (Image by SN Saleen, courtesy of the Egyptian Museum).

“Here we show that this mummy’s body was extensively decorated with 49 amulets, beautifully stylized in a unique arrangement of three columns between the folds of the wrappings and inside the mummy’s body cavity,” Sahar Saleem, first author of the study presenting these findings, said in a media statement. “These include the Eye of Horus, the scarab, the akhet amulet of the horizon, the placenta, the Knot of Isis, and others. Many were made of gold, while some were made of semiprecious stones, fired clay, or faience. Their purpose was to protect the body and give it vitality in the afterlife.”

According to Saleem, the amulets are a testament to a wide range of Egyptian beliefs. For example, a golden tongue leaf was placed inside the mouth to ensure the boy could speak in the afterlife, while a two-finger amulet was placed beside his penis to protect the embalming incision. An Isis Knot enlisted the power of Isis in the protection of the body, a right-angle amulet was meant to bring balance and levelling, and falcon and ostrich feathers represented the duality of spiritual and material life.

“The heart scarab is mentioned in chapter 30 of the Book of the Dead: it was important in the afterlife during the judging of the deceased and the weighing of the heart against the feather of the goddess Maat,” Saleem explained. “The heart scarab silenced the heart on Judgement Day, so as not to bear witness against the deceased. It was placed inside the torso cavity during mummification to substitute for the heart if the body was ever deprived of this organ.”

The sandals, on the other hand, were probably meant to enable the boy to walk out of the coffin. According to the Book of The Dead, the deceased had to wear white sandals to be pious and clean.

Based on these results, the management of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo decided to move the mummy to the main exhibition hall under the nickname ‘golden boy.’ It had been stored unexamined in the museum’s basement since its discovery in 1916.

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Arrosons l'hiver pour avoir de l'eau dans les rivières l'été, par Bruno Parmentier

L’hiver est enfin arrivé en France, avec son lot de pluie et de neige. On espère que les nappes phréatiques, durement éprouvées en 2022 avec un fort déficit de pluies et un fort excès de chaleur, vont enfin pouvoir se reconstituer. C’est malheureusement loin d’être le cas… On doit inventer de...

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Découverte en Égypte d'une tombe royale datant du Nouvel Empire !

C'est une découverte extraordinaire qu'ont fait des archéologues sur les rives ouest du Nil, en Égypte : une tombe royale datant des débuts du Nouvel Empire, donc d'il y a 3 500 ans ! 

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Alexa écoute tout ce que vous dites, vrai ou faux ?

Est-ce qu'Alexa écoute vraiment tout ce qu'on dit ?Vous connaissez certainement cette technologie d'assistant virtuel proposée par Amazon. Peut-être même l'utilisez-vous chez vous. Mais avez-vous entendu parler de ces rumeurs qui affirment que les objets connectés comportant le système Alexa...

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« 41 % des espèces rencontrées dans les jardins au printemps ont diminué » en 10 ans !

Depuis 10 ans, la LPO a lancé une opération de comptage des oiseaux de jardin à travers toute la France. Le bilan de cette décennie d'observations rapportées par les Français permet de faire un état des lieux des espèces présentes dans notre pays.

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Voici comment savoir si vos données personnelles sur Internet ont été piratées

Cela n'arrive pas qu'aux autres… Grandes entreprises, hôpitaux, PME, particuliers, personne n'est à l'abri de voir ses données personnelles s'envoler dans la nature et faire l'objet d'un commerce illicite sur le Dark Web. Have I been pwned ?, ou HIBP, est un outil grâce auquel il est possible de...

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Comment l'ère digitale modifie la perception de nos souvenirs ?

Des réseaux sociaux aux journaux de photos intelligents sur nos smartphones, nous n'avons jamais possédé autant d'outils pour sauvegarder ce que nous vivons au quotidien. Des chercheurs allemands ont enquêté afin de déceler l'impact de ces nouvelles fonctionnalités technologiques sur notre...

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C'est le moment d'observer la comète ZTF devenue visible à l'œil nu pour la première fois depuis 50 000 ans

La comète ZTF, ou C/2022 E3 (ZTF), brille de plus en plus et on peut désormais l’admirer à l’œil nu dans le ciel nocturne au-dessus de l’horizon nord. Autres bonnes nouvelles : elle est circumpolaire donc visible toute la nuit, et se rapproche à grande vitesse de nous. Plein de bons moments...

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Les intelligences artificielles à l’heure de la protection des données personnelles

Les intelligences artificielles s’invitent dans notre vie quotidienne au travers des accessoires connectés, comme les montres, ou encore la domotique à la maison. Ces IA cherchent à en savoir toujours plus sur nous pour nous simplifier la vie, mais elles peuvent le faire au détriment de données...

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Peut-on greffer un organe issu d'un donneur ayant eu la Covid-19 sans risque ?

Pendant la pandémie, les donneurs d’organes récemment testés positifs à la Covid-19 n’étaient pas prioritaires dans les programmations de transplantation. La pénurie d’organes couplée à la demande croissante de greffes oblige à changer de stratégie. Est-ce une bonne ou une mauvaise idée ?

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‘Timing is right’ for NWT to harness critical minerals boom, says minister

Canada’s Northwest Territories is positioned to capitalize on the coming critical minerals supply crunch, says the territory’s Industry, Tourism and Investment minister Caroline Wawzonek.

The territory, perhaps best known for its initial gold rush of the 1800s and subsequent rich diamond-bearing kimberlite discoveries, is once again welcoming mineral explorers and miners with renewed vigour, Wawzonek told The Northern Miner in late January.

“We’re welcoming everybody to the table. A lot of what is at the advanced stages now are projects explored and staked 20, 30, 40, and even 50 years ago. I was just talking with some folks doing some lithium work now, and they’re on a claim that was staked 30 years ago,” the minister says.

“It’s only now that the markets, the demand and the technology are such that they can actually go and explore it. So, what I think is great for us is that timing is coming together.”

She said the territory was excited about the progress Australia-based Vital Metals (ASX: V.M.L.; US-OTC: VTMXF) has made at its demonstration mining-stage Nechalacho rare earths deposit. As the territory prepares for an influx of exploration interest, the minister urges a change to the prevailing narrative about the North being far away and expensive. That was a story 20 years ago.

The minister suggests that thinking ignores the realities of the industry, where there is now more attention being paid to critical minerals and metals, for instance, and a lot more innovation for exploration and new technology available for extraction.

“For example, artificial intelligence is being utilized now on old claims to reanalyze the data and make new hits, often for new mineral resources that weren’t what was being looked for originally,” the minister says.

“There’s this whole new opposite set of opportunities that are erupting. And it’s making what might have been 25 years ago, an expensive project or prospect into something now marketable.”

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Metallic Minerals signs production royalty deal on Yukon gold claims with celebrity miner

Metallic Minerals (TSXV: MMG) has signed a production royalty agreement on a portion of alluvial gold claims at its Australia Creek property in Yukon with Little Flake Mining, a company owned and operated by Parker Schnabel of Discovery Channel‘s top-rated television series, “Gold Rush”.

Metallic Minerals holds a 100% interest in 36.4 sqkm of mining rights along the Australia Creek drainage south of Dawson City. Australia Creek is part of the historic Klondike gold district that is estimated to have produced over 20 million ounces of gold since its discovery in 1898.

Australia Creek and its benches are now recognized by Yukon Geological Survey as the eastern continuation of the Klondike goldfields, the largest placer gold producing area in the Yukon.

Under the terms of the agreement, which covers 8.85 km of the alluvial gold claims, Little Flake will be granted exclusive rights to extract gold from the Australia Creek property, with Metallic Minerals receiving a percentage of the production as a royalty.

This partnership will combine Metallic Minerals’ expertise in mineral exploration and Little Flake’s experience in gold mining to maximize production and profitability for both groups in the region, the company said.

Parker Schnabel. Image courtesy of The Discovery Channel via YouTube

Schnabel is recognized as a highly experienced miner and, in December 2022, was awarded the Robert E. Leckie Award for Excellence in Environmental Stewardship by the Yukon government for reclamation work in the Klondike goldfields.

“We are excited to be working with Parker and the highly experienced Little Flake mining team and believe this partnership will be lucrative for both our companies, given Little Flakes track record of impressive alluvial gold production,” Greg Johnson, Metallic Minerals chairman and CEO commented in a news release.

“Our recent gold discoveries at Australia Creek represent a major extension of the Klondike to the east and is one of the biggest new discoveries in this historic district in decades. Metallic Minerals is one of the largest owners of alluvial gold mining claims in the Yukon Territory, including this large block of unmined claims in the Klondike,” he continued.

The agreement with Little Flake is effective immediately, with production targeted to begin by June. The companies will be working together closely to ensure a rapid and successful start-up for the partnership.

Under the terms of the Australia Creek property agreement, Little Flake must complete a C$1 million minimum annual work commitment and pay Metallic Minerals an annual advance royalty plus a variable royalty on all gold production.

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Mucoviscidose : et si une molécule extraite d'un simple champignon permettait de la soigner ?

La recherche avance vite pour soigner la mucoviscidose. Après l'autorisation du Kaftrio fin 2022, une autre molécule issue d’un champignon comestible, et très courant dans l’hémisphère Nord, pourrait bien soigner les patients qui n'ont pas encore de solution thérapeutique. 

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Des milliers d'Américains seraient atteints d'un nouveau syndrome, le Vexas

Aux États-Unis, environ 13 200 hommes et 2 300 femmes de plus de 50 ans seraient atteints du syndrome Vexas. De quoi s’agit-il et quelle est la fréquence de la maladie dans le pays ?

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Le Mag Futura est arrivé dans les kiosques !

Ça y est, le grand jour est arrivé, vous pouvez désormais vous emparer du Mag Futura dans vos kiosques et librairies. Nouveauté : découvrez aussi les formules d'abonnements sur notre boutique en ligne ! 

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Qu'est-ce que le syndrome Vexas ?

Aux États-Unis, environ 13 200 hommes et 2 300 femmes de plus de 50 ans seraient atteints du syndrome Vexas. De quoi s’agit-il et quelle est la fréquence de la maladie dans le pays ?

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ChatGPT fonce droit dans le mur de la connaissance !

Articles de presse, plaidoyers ou encore codes informatiques. Les folles capacités de rédaction de ChatGPT fascinent. Mais certains lui prédisent d’ores et déjà un avenir moins radieux. Dès lors que l’Intelligence artificielle se sera heurtée… au mur de la connaissance ! 

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Good ESG practices lead to better operational, stock performance — report

We encounter the effects of climate change more and more every day. For example, in Turkey, we are experiencing a winter without snow on New Year’s Eve. Despite this, people still do not think about the consequences of their actions. Because when people do not experience climate impacts in their own lives, they either do not listen to warnings or do not accept them as real. This leads to the result that people’s individual behaviour turns into a permanent social approach. At this point, it becomes important to change the behaviour of individuals first.

This is also the case for companies. Companies that think about the effects of their actions and take measures to prevent negativity become more valuable. According to the biannual authorised sustainability reporting survey conducted by the global accounting firm KPMG, about half of all companies now report climate risk in their financial reporting, and this risk has increased significantly, especially in the last two years.

In particular, the extent to which stakeholder-centred companies integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into their operations is not only reflected in the improvement of the operations of stakeholders in the sectors in which they operate, but also causes them to attract more attention from investors.

In a study conducted by global asset management firm Arabesque in conjunction with the University of Oxford, 88% of the 200 studies analysed showed that good ESG practices lead to better operational performance, while 80% showed that stock price performance is improved by positive sustainability practices.

It has also led to change within the investor community, where ESG investing is predicted to overtake traditional investing in Europe as soon as 2025. Companies with stronger ESG track records in their operations are now more favourably evaluated and preferred by investors. In addition, it is widely recognised as crucial for better risk management.

In the ‘energy transition’ in the context of climate change, mineral requirements are expected to quadruple for clean energy technologies, which will require far more minerals than their counterparts by 2040 in order to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement (as in the Sustainable Development Scenario). In addition, to reach net zero globally by 2050 means that up to six times more minerals will be needed in 2040 than today for a faster transition to these technologies, which will require lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, copper, aluminium and rare earths.

This is because lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite are crucial for battery performance. Rare earths are required for permanent magnets used in wind turbines and electric vehicle engines. Electricity grids require large amounts of copper and aluminium, and copper is the cornerstone of all electricity-related technologies.

The growing importance of critical minerals in a decarbonised energy system also requires those working in this field to broaden their horizons and assess potential new areas of risk. The scope of risk goes beyond the environment. Failure to manage these risks properly can expose governments and companies to ESG-related ethical and reputational criticism.

The most important reason why ESG risks are so important is that it is the right thing to do for the affected areas. As the world makes progress towards global climate goals, it is inevitable that the energy transition must be ‘people-centred’ and ‘inclusive’. At this point, the importance of people once again comes to the fore.

For example, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA, ESG impacts of mining projects include geopolitical tensions, armed conflict, human rights violations, bribery and corruption, emissions, water stress and biodiversity loss. This is because the proper management of mineral resources can support economic development by contributing to public revenue, lifting disadvantaged populations out of poverty and providing a decent economic livelihood.

For these reasons, as recognised in the IEA publication, stakeholders should further support efforts to improve governance, transparency and accountability of the mining sector globally.

Here, the real change should start with stakeholder-based companies and lead to the change/transformation of the sector. Because companies that do not take ESG factors into account or do not take the necessary precautions may lose investment, have difficulty in obtaining a social licence for the sites they operate in, experience supply shortages, be directly exposed to climate risks in water-stressed areas, and experience difficulties associated with conflict-affected or high-risk areas.

In this context, embracing change is a priority, and the development, holistic integration, implementation and enforcement of strong ESG standards and reporting frameworks at all levels requires support from technical assistance and capacity building, transparency, anti-bribery and corruption, supply chain monitoring and legal frameworks.

Looking at the sample processes; it is seen that the positive effects that ESG factors can theoretically provide can be achieved especially by improving governance.

As a result, for the development of societies / sectors according to the highest possible ESG standards; it is key for individuals and stakeholder-centred companies to change their behaviours, raise their awareness and cause the formation of governance resources to support them in this regard.

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Discovery Silver expands Cordero project output as costs limit returns

Discovery Silver’s (TSXV: DSV) preliminary feasibility study on its Cordero project in northern Mexico expands output by 40% while increasing construction costs by nearly a quarter compared with an earlier report.

The project, located about 550 km south of the border city of El Paso, Texas, is forecast to produce 33 million tonnes of silver-equivalent over an 18-year mine life for a net present value of $1.15 billion at a 5% discount rate, Discovery said in a news release on Tuesday. Construction is estimated to cost $455 million.

That compares with estimates of 26 million tonnes of silver-equivalent produced over a 16-year mine life for a net present value of $1.16 billion at a 5% discount rate, according to a preliminary economic assessment from 2021, Discovery said. That study forecast construction at $368 million.

“Despite significant industry-wide cost escalation over the last year, cost savings from a streamlined process design and improved metallurgical performance have resulted in a highly capital efficient project with excellent margins,” Discovery chief executive officer Tony Makuch said in the release. Makuch was appointed CEO of the company on Monday.

The Toronto-based company attributed the 24% higher construction estimates on increasing the plant’s initial size by a quarter, cost inflation and a switch to owner-operated mining from contractor mining because the open pit is now projected to be nearly a third larger. It said a full feasibility study should be completed before April 2024.

The new study forecasts an internal rate of return of 28% versus 38% in the preliminary economic assessment. Both used base-case mineral prices of $22 an oz. silver, $1,600 an oz. gold, $1 per lb. lead and $1.20 per lb. zinc. All-in sustaining costs for the mine’s life are forecast at $13.62 per oz. silver-equivalent versus $12.35 an oz. in the 2021 study.

Discovery updated Cordero’s measured and indicated resources to 716 million tonnes grading 20 grams silver per tonne, 0.06 gram gold, 0.3% lead and 0.5% zinc for contained metal of 467 million oz. silver, 1.3 million oz. gold, 4.5 billion lb. lead and 8.5 b lb. zinc (1.1 billion oz. silver equivalent).

That compares with the 2021 report’s 16 grams silver, 0.04 gram gold, 0.23% lead and 0.45% zinc (39 grams silver-equivalent) for contained metal of 110 million oz. silver, 284,000 oz. gold, 1.1 billion lb. lead and 2.2 billion lb. zinc (278 million oz. silver-equivalent).

Processing would start at 25,000 tonnes per day of higher-grade sulphide material mostly from the Pozo de Plata zone for the four years in phase one, according to the new study. Throughput would increase to 51,000 tonnes a day from the fifth year onwards. This second phase would start with higher-grade sulphides from the northeast extension of the South Corridor. Then year 13 onwards would process mostly lower-grade material that had been stockpiled.

The payback period has increased to 4.2 years from two years due to replacing a heap leach process with flotation and work to expand the mill in the third year, according to the prefeasibility study. However, risks are lower in the new plan because most of the initial ore comes from the proven category and increasing capacity is easier with flotation than heap leach, it said.

The new inferred resource is 145 million tonnes grading 14 grams silver, 0.02 gram gold, 0.23% lead and 0.38% zinc (167 million oz. silver-equivalent at an average grade of 35 grams per tonne) for contained metal of 67 million oz. silver, 122,000 oz. gold, 726 million lb. lead and 1.2 billion lb. zinc (167 million oz. silver-equivalent).

In 2021, the inferred resource was 106 million tonnes grading 14 grams silver, 0.03 gram gold, 0.2% lead and 0.4% zinc (34 grams silver-equivalent) for contained metal of 48 million oz. silver, 97,000 oz. gold, 445 million lb. lead and 897 million lb. zinc (117 million oz. silver-equivalent).

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SpaceX est prêt à allumer les 33 moteurs du Starship !

Après la répétition de chronologie de lancement avec remplissage qui consistait à remplir de carburant les réservoirs et procéder à toutes les étapes précédant le décollage, SpaceX se prépare à un essai statique inédit mettant en jeu les 33 moteurs du Super Heavy.

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La Nasa prépare une fusée à propulsion nucléaire pour aller sur Mars en seulement 45 jours !

Une nouvelle ère de l’exploration spatiale s'ouvre. Avec la reprise du programme lunaire Artemis de la Nasa, nos yeux sont aussi rivés sur Mars, avec une mission habitée dans un futur proche, à l'horizon de la décennie 2030. Si SpaceX propose son Starship, la Nasa étudie un moyen de réduire le...

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La graine du noyau de la Terre s'est-elle arrêtée de tourner ?

On dirait un film de science-fiction devenu réel, le noyau interne de la Terre aurait peut-être non seulement cessé de tourner dans un état dit de super-rotation mais il pourrait bien aussi être sur le point de partir en sens inverse, réalisant en fait un cycle s'étendant sur plusieurs...

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Voici la première image directe d'une naine brune en orbite autour d'une étoile

Les naines brunes sont des corps célestes sombres qui ne sont ni tout à fait des étoiles ni tout à fait des planètes. Elles sont rarement en orbite autour des étoiles, et les milliers que l'on connait sont souvent nomades dans la Voie lactée. Ce n'est pas le cas de HIP 21152 B, qui est le...

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Eight new mines or expansions in British Columbia worth investment of $4.9 billion

There are currently eight new mines or mine expansions in the queue in B.C. worth a total investment of $6.6 billion ($4.9bn), according to Premier David Eby, who spoke Monday at the Association of Mineral Exploration (AME) Roundup conference.

Two of those new mines are aiming to be in production in a little over a year from now, and one is unique in that it will be the first mine to be built on Nisga’a Nation treaty land.

The most advanced project is the Ascot Resources (TSX:AOT) Premier Gold mine, located in northwestern B.C. on Nisga’a Nation treaty land. The company recently raised C$200 million to finance its construction, which is now underway. The company is aiming to pour first gold in early 2024.

Next in the queue is the Artemis Gold Inc. (TSX-V:ARTG) Blackwater Gold mine. The company has begun earthworks and expects a Mines Act permit this quarter. The company is aiming to start major construction in the first quarter of 2023 and be in production by the second half of 2024.

One project of note that is nearing the advanced development stage is Cariboo gold project. Formally known as Barkerville Gold, the mine’s owners, Osisko Development Corp. (TSX,NYSE:ODV), recently produced a new feasibility study that estimates a low initial capital cost of C$137 million and projects annual gold production of 72,501 ounces of gold per year in the first stage. Osisko is taking a phased approach to the mine’s development and is aiming for first production in 2024.

Most new mines or mine expansions in the queue in B.C. are either gold mines or copper-gold projects. But one new mine in late stage development is a silica mine.

Site preparation is now underway Sinova Global’s Horse Creek Silica project southeast of Golden, B.C. The mine will produce 400,000 tonnes of silica per year, which is used to make solar panels, according to a presentation Monday at Roundup.

The biggest new mine proposal in B.C. is the Seabridge Gold (TSX:SEA) KSM project in northwest B.C. This gold, copper, silver and molybdenum deposit would be mined in three distinct open pit operations, with some underground mining as well.

Seabridge recently produced a new feasibility study and preliminary economic assessment plan for its KSM project. It envisions a 33-year open pit operation and an additional 39 years of underground mining. The company plans to spend C$225 million this year on early stage construction.

“If they get the capex to get that started, that’s a going to be a huge mining operation in British Columbia,” said Gordon Clarke, director of the B.C. Mineral Development Office.

Other projects of note include the Skeena Resources (TSX,NYSE:SKE) Eskay Creek gold-silver mine. Eskay Creek is a former operating gold mine.  A recent feasibility study estimates the mine would have average gold production of 431,000 ounces a year or gold and silver. Skeena is aiming to begin construction in 2025 and be in production in 2026.

(This article first appeared in Business in Vancouver)

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UK university, Bolivian government join forces to boost lithium industry

The University of Warwick and the Bolivian Government have joined forces to collaborate on lithium battery research with the goal of backing the South American country’s efforts to become a world leader in renewable energies and electric vehicles.

In a media statement, the partners explained that the project supports Bolivia’s ambition to provide 40% of the world’s supply of lithium by 2030. 

“[The deal] will see Bolivia be at the forefront of the lithium value chain, lead to higher paying employment and industry and a transition away from simple extraction and exploitation of raw materials,” the release states.

Bolivia’s vast salt flats harbour an estimated 39 million tonnes of lithium reserve. Together with Argentina and Chile, the Andean nation is part of the so-called Lithium Triangle.

In detail, the partnership will link up the University’s Warwick Manufacturing Group with Yacimentos de Lito Bolivianos, Bolivia’s lithium mining institution, and the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and Energies in a multi-year research project to improve the understanding and possibilities for lithium battery technology. 

The partnership is also expected to address the drawbacks associated with using fresh water in the lithium extraction process – thus working towards making the industry more sustainable and less environmentally damaging.

Besides involving senior researchers from the UK and Bolivia, the initiative will allow several master’s degree students to receive scholarships connected to the program.

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Horloge de l’apocalypse : la fin de l’humanité n’a jamais été aussi proche !

L’horloge de l’apocalypse, c’est une horloge virtuelle, évidemment. Une horloge dont le mécanisme délicat est maintenu par des scientifiques. Chaque année, ils la remettent à l’heure. Et en ce début 2023, ils viennent de la positionner juste 90 secondes avant minuit. Comprenez que l’humanité n’a...

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Le Mag Futura débarque dans vos kiosques !

Ça y est, le grand jour est arrivé, vous pouvez désormais vous emparer du Mag Futura dans vos kiosques et librairies. Nouveauté : découvrez aussi les formules d'abonnements sur notre boutique en ligne ! 

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Ce médicament pourrait prolonger la durée de notre vie

D’après une nouvelle étude, un médicament prescrit pour traiter l'hypertension (la rilménidine) pourrait contribuer à ralentir les effets du vieillissement et à prolonger la durée de vie.

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Le télescope James-Webb perce les secrets de la chimie des glaces des embryons de planètes

On sait qu'il existe au cœur des nuages moléculaires denses et froids à hauteur d'environ 1 % des poussières formées par des étoiles en fin de vie et qui sont entourées d'un manteau de glace. Il s'y produit des réactions chimiques prébiotiques dont on ne connaît pas encore toute la complexité....

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Accidents de trottinette : ils sont plus graves, plus fréquents et plus… mortels

La trottinette électrique s'est invitée dans le paysage urbain entraînant dans son sillage un doublement des accidents mortels. Traumatismes crâniens et autres fractures graves touchent essentiellement le haut du corps dont le visage. Un rapport de l'Académie de Médecine souligne que la...

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Flexible copper sensor can detect heavy metals in sweat

An international team of researchers led by the University of São Paulo in Brazil has developed a portable copper sensor that is able to detect heavy metals such as lead and cadmium in sweat. 

In a paper published in the journal Chemosensors, the scientists explain that heavy metals are present in batteries, cosmetics, food and other things that are part of everyday life. When they accumulate in the human body, however, they can become toxic and cause health problems. 

“High levels of cadmium can lead to fatal problems in the airways, liver and kidneys. Lead poisoning damages the central nervous system and causes irritability, cognitive impairment, fatigue, infertility, high blood pressure in adults and delayed growth and development in children,” Paulo Augusto Raymundo Pereira, last author of the article, said in a media statement.

According to Raymundo Pereira, humans eliminate heavy metals mainly in sweat and urine, and analyses of these biofluids are a vital part of toxicological tests as well as treatment.

So far, devices to detect heavy metals in biofluids have been made with expensive materials. The new solution, on the other hand, has been produced using polyethylene terephthalate [PET], on top of which there is a conductive flexible copper adhesive tape, a label of the kind that can be bought from a stationer’s with the sensor printed on it, and a protective layer of nail polish or spray.

“The exposed copper is removed by immersion in ferric chloride solution for 20 minutes, followed by washing in distilled water to promote the necessary corrosion,” study co-author Robson R. da Silva said. “All of this ensures speed, scalability, low power and low cost.”

The device is connected to a potentiostat, a portable instrument that determines the concentration of each metal by measuring differences in potential and current between electrodes. The results are displayed on a computer or smartphone using appropriate software.

In the researchers’ view, the system is simple enough to be used by non-specialists without training, as well as by technicians in hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices. 

The device can also be used in several types of environmental management situations, such as artesian wells that are regulated and require constant monitoring to analyze water quality.

The sensor’s performance in detecting lead and cadmium was assessed in trials using artificial sweat enriched under ideal experimental conditions. Adaptations are required before the device can be patented.

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Des ondulations dans le tissu de l’Univers peuvent révéler le début des temps

Calculer comment les ondes électromagnétiques se propagent dans un plasma, c’est presque le quotidien des physiciens. Aujourd’hui, certains d’entre eux ont eu l’idée d’appliquer ces méthodes à l’étude des ondes gravitationnelles. Avec l’espoir d’enfin accéder au début des temps.

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La France mise sur des caméras intelligentes pour la sécurité des Jeux olympiques de Paris

Le Sénat étudie aujourd'hui le projet de loi relatif aux Jeux olympiques de Paris de 2024, avec la surveillance du public par des caméras intelligentes. Elles serviraient à détecter automatiquement les troubles lors des concentrations de personnes. Quels sont les enjeux de cette mesure ? 

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Comment les éléphants peuvent nous aider à limiter le réchauffement climatique

On connaissait déjà les éléphants pour leur mémoire et pour leur intelligence. Voici maintenant que des chercheurs nous apprennent qu’ils pourraient nous aider à lutter contre le réchauffement climatique anthropique. En prenant soin de la forêt tropicale africaine…

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Une IA a réussi à diagnostiquer la Covid-19 rien que par la voix

Les scientifiques de l'Institute of Data Science, de l'université de Maastricht (Pays-Bas) ont présenté à un congrès européen une intelligence artificielle capable de détecter la Covid-19 dans la voix avec une précision de 89 %. La Covid-19 est une maladie respiratoire qui affecte le son de la...

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Pourquoi le cœur des étoiles tourne-t-il moins vite que prévu ?

La courbe de rotation des étoiles révèle un profil plus plat que les prédictions. Des chercheurs ont tenté de comprendre un mécanisme clé qui en serait à l'origine, et ils pourraient bien avoir trouvé la réponse.

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Et voici les pulls anti-reconnaissance faciale

Une entreprise italienne vend des vêtements tricotés pour lutter contre la reconnaissance faciale. Grâce à des motifs conçus à l’aide d’une IA, le système de reconnaissance identifie des animaux au lieu d’êtres humains.

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Une solution pour bénéficier d’énergie renouvelable toute l’année grâce aux anciennes mines

Les énergies renouvelables sont au cœur de la transition en cours. Mais elles sont variables. Le soleil brille en été alors que nous aurions besoin de son énergie en hiver. Alors les scientifiques cherchent des solutions pour stocker l’électricité produite d’une saison à l’autre. Et des...

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Pourquoi les météorologues ne veulent pas parler de vague de froid malgré des températures glaciales

Malgré le froid actuel qui s'annonce durable en France, les météorologues se refusent à parler d'une vague de froid. Ce terme répond en effet à une définition bien précise et les conditions météo que nous traversons n'atteignent pas encore les seuils.

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Scientists develop efficient solution to monitor airborne mercury

New research conducted at the University of Nevada, Reno, verified that new technologies measure airborne mercury pollution far more accurately than the older systems that have been in widespread use for decades.

In a paper published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, the scientists explain that older technology under-measures mercury concentrations by as much as 80%.

Mercury enters the atmosphere from small-scale gold mining, coal-burning power plants, cement manufacturers and other industrial operations. It is carried worldwide.

As mercury is spread through the air, it is deposited into soil and water, where it enters the food chain. Mercury-contaminated fish pose a health risk to humans. So does mercury-contaminated rice. High levels of mercury concentration affect the reproduction of birds and other wildlife and take a silent death toll.

Despite well-documented knowledge of the environmental risks, the lack of accurate technology to measure airborne mercury pollution has hampered efforts to set global standards to reduce the threat.

Given this state of affairs and the fact that they have been conducting research on this topic since 2013, scientists Mae Gustin and Jiaoyan Huang started doing experiments and tested four air-sampling systems that used newer measurement technology, along with one of the older devices.

In their recent paper, they report that the newer systems, which rely on nylon or polyethersulfone membranes to capture airborne mercury, are much more accurate than older systems. One version of the technology used in two of the new systems that were tested was developed by the team led by Gustin at the University of Nevada, Reno; the technology used in the two other new systems was developed at Utah State University.

Gustin noted that researchers are now fine-tuning the materials used to create the membranes employed in the new measurement systems.

“Membranes are easy to collect and analyze and are easily deployed,” she said. “This would be a viable method for many researchers. The new membrane samplers have been deployed for testing at more than a dozen locations across the world—from Peavine Peak outside Reno to Svalbard in far-northern Norway, and from Amsterdam Island in the Indian Ocean to the shores of the Great Salt Lake in Utah—to gather further information in collaboration with international scientists. This is how science evolves.”

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Un robot de l'armée américaine s'est fait berner par un carton !

Aux États-Unis, des Marines ont cherché à duper le système de reconnaissance visuelle d'un robot chien de la Darpa. Ils sont parvenus à s'en approcher sans que l'IA ne les détecte en se cachant dans des cartons, ou derrière une branche d'arbre.  

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Ce que l’on sait sur Long March 9, la mégafusée de la Chine pour aller sur la Lune et Mars

Alors que SpaceX se prépare à tester en vol son Starship et que la Nasa et Boeing ont fait voler avec succès le SLS, la Chine développe un lanceur super-lourd. Bien que son premier vol ne soit pas prévu avant 2030, le CZ-9 est le signe d'ambitions très élevées dans l'exploration...

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Ne manquez pas la belle conjonction de Vénus et Saturne ce soir !

Ce week-end, une fois de plus, le ciel nous offrira un beau spectacle. La conjonction de Vénus, surnommée l’étoile du berger, et de Saturne, la planète aux anneaux. C’est du côté de la constellation du Capricorne, en direction du sud-ouest et un peu au-dessus de l’horizon, ce dimanche 22 janvier...

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Des polluants « éternels » sont présents dans les rivières et les lacs de 93 départements en France

L'ONG Générations Futures a réalisé un état des lieux de la pollution aux PFAS dans les lacs et rivières de France, des substances chimiques également connues sous le nom de « polluants éternels ». Quasiment tous les départements français sont touchés par cette pollution nocive pour la santé, en...

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Rencontre avec l'astronaute européen Matthias Maurer

Il a rejoint le corps des astronautes de l’ESA quelques années après la sélection de Thomas Pesquet. Depuis, l’Allemand Matthias Maurer a fait une mission de six mois dans l’ISS, après celle de Thomas.

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Le manteau terrestre ne se déformerait pas comme on le pense !

Très loin sous nos pieds, le manteau terrestre, bien que solide, bouge. Ce mouvement de convection est cependant si lent qu’il nous est totalement imperceptible et étudier ses mécanismes est un véritable défi. Une nouvelle étude vient d’ailleurs de montrer que le manteau ne se déformerait pas du...

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The risks of plundering the periodic table

A recent paper published in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution estimates that humans are heading for a situation in which 80% of the elements we use are from non-biological sources.

Written by researchers at the Ecological and Forestry Applications Research Centre, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the article notes that in 1900, approximately 80% of the elements humans used came from biomass (wood, plants, food, etc.). That figure had fallen to 32% by 2005 and is expected to stand at approximately 22% in 2050.

Non-biological elements, however, are scarce or practically absent in living organisms, and rare in general; in many cases, their main reserves are located in just a handful of countries.

These elements must be obtained from geological sources, which entails extraction, trade between countries, and the development of efficient recycling technologies, while their scarcity and location create the potential for social, economic, geopolitical and environmental conflicts.

Squeezing the periodic table

The study looks back at the history of humankind in relation to its use of the periodic table’s elements.

“Humans have gone from using common materials, such as clay, stone and lime, the elements of which are constantly recycled in the ground, in nature and in the atmosphere, to using lots of other elements, notably including those known as rare earth elements,” Jordi Sardans, CREAF researcher and co-author of the study, said in a media statement.

According to the article, the human elementome, which is a range of chemical elements humans need, and the biological elementome, which is the set of chemical elements that nature requires, started to diverge in the decade of the 1900s, a result of continuous growth of the use of non-biomass materials such as fossil fuels, metallic/industrial materials, and building materials.

Elements used in construction, transport, industry, and more recently, new technologies, such as computation and photovoltaic devices and mobile phones, were added to the human elementome over the course of the 20th century.

They include silicon, nickel, copper, chromium and gold, as well as others that are less common, such as samarium, ytterbium, yttrium and neodymium. In the past two decades, there has been an increase in the use of such scarce elements, owing to the implementation and expansion of new technologies and clean energy sources.

“Mineral element consumption/extraction is rising at a rate of around 3% a year, and that will continue up to 2050,” Josep Peñuelas, the other co-author of the study, said. “In that scenario, it is possible that we will have used up all our reserves of some of those elements (gold and antimony) by 2050, and of others (molybdenum and zinc) within a hundred years.”

Risks and opportunities

According to Peñuelas and his colleagues, the extraction of earth’s chemical elements could be a limiting factor and lead to crises at every level.

Using more of the periodic table’s elements involves the extraction of more minerals, rising energy consumption and the associated CO2 emissions. Furthermore, the growing scarcity of the elements in question is a threat to their availability, especially where poorer countries are concerned, and makes maintaining production difficult even for wealthy countries, thus affecting economic development.

Against this backdrop, there are also important and problematic geopolitical considerations.

The natural reserves of some elements, including rare earth elements, are located in a limited number of countries (China, Vietnam, Brazil, the US, Russia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo); China actually controls over 90% of the global supply and close to 40% of reserves. Their availability is therefore subject to fluctuations in supply and prices caused by opposing geopolitical interests, with the consequent danger of conflicts.

The authors stress the need to put an end to programmed obsolescence, which is the policy of planning or designing a product to have an artificially limited useful life, as well as to develop new technologies that contribute to more profitable use of scarce elements and allow for their widespread, efficient recycling and reuse.

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L’expansion des mines de charbon en Allemagne en timelapse

Les images de la bataille de boue qui s’est jouée ce week-end du 14 et 15 janvier aux abords du village de Lützerath (Allemagne) entre activistes écologistes et forces de l’ordre ont fait le tour des réseaux sociaux. Au cœur du combat : l’exploitation invasive d’une immense mine de charbon — du...

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Combien d’euros gagne-t-on en moyenne au cours d’une vie ?

Au cours de sa vie, une personne suit en moyenne 20 ans d’apprentissage, travaille durant 45 ans et perçoit une retraite durant 20 ans. Quel que soit le montant gagné au cours d'une vie active, nombreux sont ceux qui rêvent de gagner plus pour concrétiser tous leurs projets. Existe-t-il des...

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Les pets sentent plus mauvais sous la douche, vrai ou faux ?

Est-ce que c'est vrai que les pets sentent plus mauvais sous la douche ?Vous avez certainement déjà fait ce constat. Les flatulences ne sont pas connues pour leurs bonnes odeurs, mais si en plus elles sont faites sous la douche, l'horreur ! Melissa vous en dit plus, dans Science ou Fiction.[

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Vénus et Saturne seront au plus près l'une de l'autre dimanche soir

Ce week-end, une fois de plus, le ciel nous offrira un beau spectacle. La conjonction de Vénus, surnommée l’étoile du berger, et de Saturne, la planète aux anneaux. C’est du côté de la constellation du Capricorne, en direction du sud-ouest et un peu au-dessus de l’horizon, ce dimanche 22 janvier...

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Cet outil détecte les textes rédigés par ChatGPT

Soucieuse de promouvoir une certaine éthique de l'Intelligence artificielle, la société franco-canadienne Draft & Goal a conçu un détecteur de ChatGPT-GPT3 pour analyser les contenus rédactionnels et permettre de déterminer si un texte est écrit par un humain ou par une machine. Cette dernière,...

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Les nitrites présents dans la charcuterie augmentent le risque d'avoir du diabète de type 2

Les personnes exposées aux nitrites par leur alimentation ont plus de risque de développer un diabète de type 2. C'est la conclusion d'une étude récente menée par des chercheurs français, la première a observé une association directe entre nitrites et diabète.

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Severance ou la dissociation extrême entre travail et vie personnelle

Sortie il y a presque un an sur la plate-forme Apple TV+, la série Severance a depuis fait son bout de chemin discrètement. On y questionne l'équilibre entre vie privée et professionnelle, en poussant l'idée à l'extrême. Dans cet épisode de Science, ça tourne, on se questionne sur la...

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Découvrez qui a le plus grand cœur dans le règne animal

Sur la vidéo, tout commence par un immense cœur que l'on voit battre : c'est celui d'un requin du Groenland âgé d'environ 200 ans ! L'idée est déjà impressionnante et pourtant ce requin n'en serait qu'à la moitié de sa vie, car ces gros poissons peuvent vivre jusqu'à 400 ans ! Vivant, comme leur...

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La compensation carbone des entreprises ne serait d'aucune utilité, selon une étude choc

Le site The Guardian a mené une vaste étude de résultats sur le principal fournisseur de compensation carbone pour les grandes entreprises. Plus de 90 % des projets de compensations carbone en faveur des forêts tropicales seraient complètement inutiles, et certaines actions seraient même...

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ChatGPT doesn’t know where the world’s copper comes from, AI images show mining stuck in the Great Depression

There’s no shortage of breathless reports about the latest advances in artificial intelligence ushering in the 4th industrial revolution (whatever that is) and changing the world of work forever. 

Even the most skilled workers are supposed to fear for their jobs as chatbots like ChatGPT answer questions and solve problems that would take humans hours or days, instantly. Likewise, image generators like Midjourney can interpret our world and provide cutting edge visuals on any topic or peer into the future.   

Time to meet your new robot overlords.

A simple prompt to OpenAIs ChatGPT suggests machine learning needs a bit more study time. The same question was asked multiple times and weeks apart in case the millions of conversations since the natural language bot was opened to the public may have taught it something. 

It still got the simplest of questions on mining’s most important metal wrong. 

A quick crosscheck with the USGS bible finds not only the country level production volumes to be wrong (China has never produced more than 2 million tonnes in a year, the Chile figure is off by a half a million tonnes) but there is also a glaring omission. 

Where is the Congo? If the fact the USGS uses “Congo (Kinshasa)” to name the country threw it off, it’s a rudimentary mistake. The DRC produced 1.6m tonnes in 2020 – that’s a lot of metal to go missing. 

Source: OpenAI ChatGPT

The confidence with which it relays the mistake and the certainty with which it sources the wrong answer from a trustworthy source is, to put it mildly, disconcerting. 

Let’s hope no-one in Washington is using ChatGPT to craft critical minerals strategies or global trade policy. (They most certainly are – ed.)

At the moment, image generators like Stable Diffusion, Dall-E and Midjourney are probably just a threat to the jobs of graphic artists and game designers, but the visuals created shows up AI’s distorted view of the mining industry and mineworkers.

The prompt to Stable Diffusion of “A group of miners get ready for the morning shift at a copper mine in the USA” produced the horrors below and changing it to “modern copper mine” altered little other than to add colour and update the hard hats.

Even if you ignore the warped faces, the general demeanour and ragged clothing the images still evokes dirt poor and exploited labourers similar to the many news photos from the Great Depression. 

Source: Stable Diffusion

Using the same prompt, Midjourney also thinks mining is the most depressing job in the world, performed by despairing old men assembling in gloomy bunkers ahead of a punishing day on the job.

Several iterations paint the exact same picture, all with the same New York mining disaster 1941 vibe.  

If nothing else, these images show the mining industry has a massive public perception problem and enticing young people to join the industry is, well, not a job that can be left to artificial intelligence.

Source: Midjourney

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Iron Ore Company of Canada donates 34 hectares of land to Labrador City

Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) subsidiary The Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) and Labrador City have signed an agreement whereby IOC will donate 34 hectares of land valued at approximately C$4.2 million ($3.1m) to the City.

The donated land is made of 17 separate parcels located in different parts of the town that together represent an area equivalent to 48 football fields.

A parcel will be developed by the Town as a green space dedicated to senior citizens, including benches and signage. Over the next few months, the Town of Labrador City will be assessing how the remaining land will be used for the benefit of the community.

The announcement was made in Labrador West at a community leaders event attended by IOC President and CEO Mike McCann and Labrador City Mayor Belinda Adams.

“Over the past 70 years, IOC has built an enduring business with the community of Labrador West growing alongside us,” McCann said in a media statement.

“As we continue to support the local economy through jobs and investment, we also recognize access to land plays an important role in regional growth and prosperity, and we are pleased to give back to our community through this land donation,” McCann said.

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La calotte glaciaire du Groenland est plus chaude aujourd’hui qu’au cours du dernier millénaire

Des chercheurs ont reconstitué les températures du centre nord du Groenland sur les 1 000 dernières années. Leurs résultats montrent que, dans la région, la calotte glaciaire n’a jamais été aussi chaude. Entre 2001 et 2011, elle était même en moyenne de 1,5 °C plus chaude qu’au cours du...

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Le plus gros avion au monde propulsé par un moteur électrique à hydrogène a réussi son premier vol

Ce Dornier 228 d’une capacité d’emport de 19 passagers a réalisé le tout premier vol d’un véritable avion de ligne propulsé par une motorisation électrique à hydrogène.

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Découverte extraordinaire de la plus ancienne pierre runique au monde !

En Norvège, des archéologues viennent de mettre la main sur une pierre runique datant d'il y a 2 000 ans. C'est la plus ancienne jamais découverte, et l'inscription qu'elle porte reste mystérieuse.

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CHART: Uranium’s third bull market since 1968 has further to run

The uranium market ended 2022 on a sour note. Spot U3O8 price declined 2.3% to $48.31 per pound in December, but did finish the year 14.7% above its opening levels. Uranium mining equities fell 5% in December bringing the sector’s losses for the year to 11.4%.

A new report by Sprott Asset Management says despite the recent softness, developments just in December underpin Western governments’ renewed focus on energy security due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and will provide long-term structural support for uranium and uranium miners in 2023.

December saw Japan adopting a nuclear policy which will restart the country’s nuclear fleet, extend ageing reactors operating life beyond the current 60-year limit and build new ones. 

Also in December, the Indian government approved five new nuclear plants and announced financing for ten as part of the country’s goal to triple its reactor fleet over the next decade. 

70 years of global uranium production by country

The US strategic uranium reserve also awarded its first contracts and while the volumes are not material, the prices paid by the US for the uranium were as high as $70 per pound: 

“Given that current spot prices are approximately $50, we believe that this excess price paid for U.S.-origin material reflects the growing concerns by the U.S. Department of Energy about continuing to rely on Russian and other non-friendly countries for critical supply chains.”

Even though there are no official sanctions on Russian uranium, the country’s  dominance of conversion and enrichment with 27% and 39% respectively of the globe’s capacity saw prices for uranium conversion and enrichment services more than double in 2022.  

“We believe this upward price pressure will cascade down to the uranium spot price in 2023,” says Sprott.

Sprott, which runs a physical uranium trust (TSX:U.UN/U.U) holding just shy of 60 million pounds at the end of last year, expects the restart of the US conversion facility ConverDyn in the first half of to boost “an industry shift from underfeeding to overfeeding which should significantly increase uranium demand in 2023 and beyond.”

Sprott points out that even after the runup, the current uranium price “still remains below incentive levels to restart tier 2 production, let alone greenfield development.”

“Over the long term, increased demand in the face of an uncertain uranium supply may likely support a sustained bull market.”

Click on the chart for full size image PDF

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Scientists efficiently convert temperature fluctuations into clean energy

A team co-led by researchers at the City University of Hong Kong figured out how to trigger a significantly faster and more efficient pyroelectric catalytic reaction, which has the potential to convert environmental temperature fluctuations into clean chemical energy, such as hydrogen.

So far, pyro-catalysis has been considered an inefficient method compared with more common catalysis strategies such as photocatalysis. This is due to slow temperature changes in the ambient environment.

However, the new study challenged this notion by employing localized plasmonic heat sources to rapidly and efficiently heat the pyro-catalytic material and allow it to cool down. The findings open up new avenues for efficient catalysis for biological applications, pollutant treatment and clean energy production.

In detail, the novel strategy combines pyroelectric materials and the localized thermo-plasmonic effect of noble metal nanomaterials.

The plasmonic nanostructures, which support the collective oscillation of free electrons, can absorb light and convert it quickly into heat. Its nanoscale size allows fast yet effective temperature changes within a confined volume, without significant heat loss to the surrounding environment. Consequently, the localized heat generated by the thermo-plasmonic nanostructures can be easily fine-tuned and turned on or off by external light irradiation within an ultrashort time interval.

In a series of experiments, the team selected a typical pyro-catalytic material, called barium titanate (BaTiO3) nanoparticles. The coral-like BaTiO3 nanoparticles were decorated with gold nanoparticles as plasmonic heat sources; the gold nanoparticles can convert the photons directly from a pulsed laser to heat.

The experiment results demonstrated that gold nanoparticles act as a rapid, dynamic and controllable localized heat source without raising the surrounding temperature, which prominently and efficiently increases the overall pyro-catalytic reaction rate of BaTiO3 nanoparticles.

Gold nanoparticles

Through this strategy, the team achieved a high pyro-catalytic hydrogen production rate, speeding up the practical application development of pyro-catalysis.

The plasmonic pyroelectric nano-reactors demonstrated an accelerated pyro-catalytic hydrogen production rate of about 133.1±4.4 µmol·g-1·h-1 through thermo-plasmonic local heating and cooling under irradiation of a nanosecond laser at the wavelength of 532 nm.

Furthermore, the repetition rate of the nanosecond laser used in the experiment was 10 Hz, which meant that 10 pulses of light were irradiated on the catalyst per second to achieve 10 heating and cooling cycles. This implies that by increasing the laser pulse repetition rate, the pyroelectric catalytic performance could be improved in the future.

The research team believes that their results have offered a new approach to improve pyro-catalysis by designing an innovative pyroelectric composite system with other photothermal materials. This substantial progress is expected to make the future application of pyro-catalysis in pollutant treatment and clean energy production more feasible.

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Une météorite de plus de 7 kg retrouvée en Antarctique

Les étendues blanches et glacées de l’Antarctique sont un terrain privilégié pour retrouver des météorites. Si la plupart d'entre elles sont généralement de petite taille, il arrive de faire de belles découvertes. Une équipe de scientifiques est ainsi tombée sur une météorite de plus de 7 kg !

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Les effets de la vitamine D pourraient dépendre de notre poids

Les bienfaits de la vitamine D sur le fonctionnement de l’organisme et sur l’incidence de diverses maladies pourraient dépendre du poids corporel. Des chercheurs tentent d’expliquer cette association à partir des données d’un vaste essai clinique.

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Le métabolisme de la vitamine D est différent chez les personnes en surpoids

Les bienfaits de la vitamine D sur le fonctionnement de l’organisme et sur l’incidence de diverses maladies pourraient dépendre du poids corporel. Des chercheurs tentent d’expliquer cette association à partir des données d’un vaste essai clinique.

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Un sursaut radio rapide révèle que la masse de la Voie lactée est plus faible que prévu

En étudiant la signature d'un sursaut radio rapide provenant d'une galaxie voisine, les astronomes ont découvert que la Voie lactée contient beaucoup moins de matière qu'attendu.

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Use tech jobs to attract women to industry, Future Minerals forum panel says

The industry needs to encourage mentors, adjust mindsets and offer technology jobs to boost the level of women from just 8% of the global mining workforce, according to a panel at the Future Minerals Forum in Saudi Arabia.  

New technologies allow women to sidestep the image of a soot-covered coal miner headed underground with a pickaxe and choose careers such as geo-chemistry, finance and artificial intelligence, Emily King, chief innovation officer of Mexico-focused Analog Gold, told the conference in Riyadh on Jan. 12. 

“The more we can integrate technology into all the different ways the sector works,” King said, “the more attractive it will be to young people in general and women specifically.”   

Companies are facing increasing pressure to increase the number of women as the industry and its watchdogs push environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.  

The second edition of the two-day conference focused on the oil superpower’s efforts to continue as an energy leader — in battery metals — after the world transitions away from fossil fuels. But it also allowed state-owned miner Ma’aden to declare women hold 20% of its positions, and Saudi energy minister Prince Adulaziz bin Salman Al Saud to say the majority of his team is female. They’re following reforms led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that has also allowed women drivers and reined in the religious police.   

Remote work

It’s important for the industry’s ESG goals to engage women in remote jobs so they can work without disrupting the traditional roles they hold as caregivers, Sheila Khama, former chief executive officer of De Beers Botswana, told the forum.

“We should consider how can we use remote and digital technologies to enable women to work without having to make a choice as to whether they contribute to mining or leave children unattended,” Khama said. “The problem that happens to women is not a women’s problem, it is society’s issue and it’s one we should tackle collectively.”  

Christine Gibbs-Stewart, CEO of Sydney-based Austmine, a mining equipment association, said Australia’s relatively well-developed industry needs more leaders and mentors to raise female participation from just 16%.  

“We need the best and brightest to join the mining industry,” Gibbs-Stewart said. “Leaders need to make sure people are treated fairly, to call out bad behaviour, to encourage and promote women and most importantly they need to listen for what is needed to really foster and grow women into the mining industry.”  

Systemic biases

 Mashael Al-Omair, a metallurgical engineer at Ma’aden, said the industry needs to address systemic biases that creep into areas such as personal protective equipment (PPE) that isn’t suitable for women, or awkward on-site rapport between the sexes.  

“It’s a bit of a challenge to get your work done or get your point across but in the end they’re mostly well-intentioned,” Al-Omair said. “It’s just getting over that barrier providing PPE for women, having the sensitivity training, amenities on site that are fit for women. Being in Saudi, which has started having women in mining, it’s not a question of if, it’s when and how much.”   

Amanda Van Dyke, a fund manager at Africa-focused private equity firm Arch Emerging Partners, said she was impressed with the Saudi energy minister’s staffing and cited Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) CEO Mark Bristow as another industry leader promoting women.  

“He was hiring junior geologists and engineers 30 years ago and those women are now senior in his organization,” Van Dyke said. “It is from that leadership that recognizes talent and encourages women to come to the top that you will get there.”  

Small business support

Wendy Tyrrell, executive director of the Chicago-based Development Partner Institute, an ESG consultancy, said inclusive-minded education from grade school onwards and support for small businesses would help more women enter the industry. 

“This opportunity for education must go all the way to senior executives and board level,” Tyrrell said. “There are fantastic opportunities to broaden the space for women through education, mentorship and sponsorship.” 

Panel moderator Dina Alnahdy, a member of the Saudi National Mining Board, conducted an informal raise-your-hands poll and found only about half of the audience of maybe 100 mostly men would hire a woman even to a junior-level post.  

“How can we adjust this mindset?” she asked. 

Al-Omair replied leaders must become aware of unconscious biases while King said men must get beyond fearing to say the wrong thing in front of women, perhaps by learning from diversification mentors.  

Khama, who has also worked for the World Bank and AngloGold Ashanti (JSE: ANG), said she benefited from the confidence gained by being raised like a boy in her Botswana village because she was an only child.  

“It isn’t that I’m more intelligent than anyone, it’s that I had an attitude and a belief that I was as good as a man,” she said. “I worked so hard that if I wasn’t in the room the men knew something was missing. There’s no substitute for that.”

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ChatGPT : des hackers l'utilisent déjà pour créer des malwares

Les pirates n'ont pas tardé à utiliser ChatGPT à des fins malveillantes, comme viennent de le découvrir les experts de la société de cybersécurité Check Point.

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Une IA peut prédire l’apparition de troubles anxieux dès l’adolescence

Trois signes avant-coureurs chez les adolescents permettraient de dépister de futurs troubles anxieux à l’âge adulte. C’est le résultat d’une étude portant sur plus de 2 000 adolescents européens.

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Cette étoile a été transformée en donut par un trou noir géant !

Lorsqu’elle rencontre un trou noir, une étoile a bien peu de chance de s’en sortir indemne. C’est même généralement une fin assez tragique qui l’attend. Comme celle que des astronomes viennent d’observer. L’histoire d’une malheureuse étoile transformée en donut cosmique par un trou noir.

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Ces timelapses montrent l’expansion dévastatrice des mines de charbon en Allemagne

Les images de la bataille de boue qui s’est jouée ce week-end du 14 et 15 janvier aux abords du village de Lützerath (Allemagne) entre activistes écologistes et forces de l’ordre ont fait le tour des réseaux sociaux. Au cœur du combat : l’exploitation invasive d’une immense mine de charbon — du...

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Severance : une dissociation extrême entre travail et vie personnelle

Sortie il y a presque un an sur la plate-forme Apple TV+, la série Severance a depuis fait son bout de chemin discrètement. On y questionne l'équilibre entre vie privée et professionnelle, en poussant l'idée à l'extrême. Dans cet épisode de Science, ça tourne, on se questionne sur la...

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Découverte exceptionnelle d'une tombe royale en Égypte, datant d'il y a 3 500 ans

À Louxor, dans le sud de l'Égypte, une tombe datant d'il y a 3 500 ans vient d'être découverte. Selon les archéologues, elle abriterait les restes d'une personne de la famille royale de la XVIIIe dynastie !

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Manger du poisson d'eau douce nous expose à des polluants chimiques

Une étude menée aux États-Unis par les scientifiques du Environmental Working Group (EWG), une ONG environnementale américaine, indique que manger une portion de poisson d'eau douce par an équivaudrait à boire de l'eau concentrée en PFOS, un polluant persistant et toxique, à hauteur de 48...

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How abandoned mines can become clean energy storage systems

An international team of researchers has developed a novel way to store energy by transporting sand into abandoned underground mines. The new technique, called Underground Gravity Energy Storage (UGES), proposes an effective long-term energy storage solution while also making use of now-defunct mining sites.

In a paper published in the journal Energies, the scientists explain that UGES generates electricity when the price is high by lowering sand into an underground mine and converting the potential energy of the sand into electricity via regenerative braking and then lifting the sand from the mine to an upper reservoir using electric motors to store energy when electricity is cheap. 

Regenerative braking is an energy recovery mechanism that slows down a moving vehicle or object, such as an elevator, by converting its kinetic energy into a form that can be either used immediately or stored until needed. In other words, the electric traction motor uses the vehicle’s momentum to recover energy that would otherwise be lost to the brake discs as heat. Regenerative braking system lifts are already applied in newly highly energy-efficient buildings. 

Underground Gravity Energy Storage system: a schematic of different system sections. (Graph by Hunt et al.).

Based on this principle, the main components of UGES are a vertical shaft, a motor/generator, upper and lower storage sites, and mining equipment. Using the shaft and electric motor/generators, large volumes of sand are lifted and dumped. The deeper and broader the mineshaft, the more power can be extracted from the plant, and the larger the mine, the higher the plant’s energy storage capacity. 

“When a mine closes, it lays off thousands of workers. This devastates communities that rely only on the mine for their economic output. UGES would create a few vacancies as the mine would provide energy storage services after it stops operations,” Julian Hunt, lead author of the study and a researcher at the International Institute For Applied Systems Analysis, said in a media statement. “Mines already have the basic infrastructure and are connected to the power grid, which significantly reduces the cost and facilitates the implementation of UGES plants.”

According to Hunt, other energy storage methods, like batteries, lose energy via self-discharge over long periods. The energy storage medium of UGES is sand, meaning that there is no energy lost to self-discharge, enabling ultra-long time energy storage ranging from weeks to several years.

The researcher noted that the investment costs of UGES are about 1 to 10 USD/kWh and power capacity costs of 2 USD/kW. The technology is estimated to have a global potential of 7 to 70 TWh, with most of this potential concentrated in China, India, Russia and the United States.

“To decarbonize the economy, we need to rethink the energy system based on innovative solutions using existing resources. Turning abandoned mines into energy storage is one example of many solutions that exist around us, and we only need to change the way we deploy them,” study co-author Behnam Zakeri said.

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La disparition des pollinisateurs fait 500 000 morts par an dans le monde

Une étude a réussi à quantifier le nombre de décès humains causés par la disparition des insectes pollinisateurs. Moins d'insectes mène forcément à une production agricole plus réduite, et les conséquences sur la santé sont déjà alarmantes dans certains pays.

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La Nasa dévoile des plans pour le successeur du successeur du télescope James-Webb !

Seulement quelques mois après la mise en service du télescope James-Webb, au printemps 2022, la Nasa a dévoilé de premières informations sur le successeur du successeur de JWST. Ce sera l'Habitable Worlds Observatory, un télescope qui répond à plusieurs des recommandations du Conseil national de...

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Cette bactérie probiotique neutralise les effets négatifs des additifs alimentaires sur l’organisme

Cette bactérie, naturellement présente dans l'intestin, a la capacité de neutraliser les effets délétères des additifs alimentaires lorsqu'elle est administrée quotidiennement par voie orale chez la souris. Des scientifiques français voient dans Akkermansia muciniphila exogène un potentiel...

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SiQuance, start-up issue du CEA et du CNRS, veut révolutionner les ordinateurs quantiques

D'une façon ou d'une autre, les lois de la mécanique quantique laissent penser qu'à l'horizon d’une dizaine d’années si l'on s'y prend bien, des ordinateurs — ou pour le moins, des calculateurs spécialisés dans la résolution de certains problèmes impossibles à résoudre pendant le temps de calcul...

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Scientists make perovskite solar cells more efficient, stable

Researchers at the US’ National Renewable Energy Laboratory have developed a new approach for manufacturing perovskite solar cells that addresses previous problems and yields devices with high efficiency and excellent stability.

In a paper published in the journal Science, the scientists explain that manufacturing highly stable and efficient perovskites based on a rich mixture of bromine and iodine is considered critical for the creation of tandem solar cells. The two elements, however, tend to separate when exposed to light and heat and thus limit the voltage and stability of a solar cell.

“This new growth approach can significantly suppress the phase segregation,” said Kai Zhu, principal investigator on the project and lead author of the new paper.

The new technique addressed that problem and produced a wide-bandgap solar cell with an efficiency of greater than 20% and 1.33-volt photovoltage and little change in the efficiency over 1,100 hours of continuous operation at a high temperature.

The method also allowed for an all-perovskite tandem cell to obtain an efficiency of 27.1% with a high photovoltage of 2.2 volts and good operational stability.

In the tandem cell, the narrow-bandgap layer is deposited on top of the wide-bandgap layer. The difference in bandgaps allows for more of the solar spectrum to be captured and converted into electricity.

Perovskite refers to a crystalline structure formed by the deposition of chemicals onto a substrate. A high concentration of bromine causes more rapid crystallization of the perovskite film and often leads to defects that reduce the performance of a solar cell. Various strategies have been tried to mitigate those issues, but the stability of wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells is still considered inadequate.

Turning things around

The newly developed approach builds upon previous work that flipped the typical perovskite cell. Using this inverted architectural structure allowed the researchers to increase both efficiency and stability and to easily integrate tandem solar cells.

The NREL-led group employed that same architecture and moved further away from the conventional method of making a perovskite.

The traditional method uses an antisolvent applied to the crystallizing chemicals to create a uniform perovskite film. The new approach relied on what is known as gas quenching, in which a flow of nitrogen was blown onto the chemicals. The result addressed the problem of the bromine and iodine separating, resulting in a perovskite film with improved structural and optoelectronic properties.

The antisolvent approach also allows the crystals to grow rapidly and uniformly within the perovskite film, crowding each other and leading to defects where the grain boundaries meet.

The gas-quenching process, when applied to high-bromine-content perovskite chemicals, forces the crystals to grow together, tightly packed from top to bottom, so they become like a single grain. The process also significantly reduces the number of defects. The top-down growth method forms a gradient structure, with more bromine near the top and less in the bulk of the cell. The gas-quench method was also statistically more reproducible than the antisolvent approach.

The researchers also tried argon and air as the drying gas with similar results, indicating that the gas-quench method is a general way for improving the performance of wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells.

The new growth approach demonstrated the potential of high-performance all-perovskite tandem devices and advanced the development of other perovskite-based tandem architectures such as those that incorporate silicon.

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