Mining News and Discussions

User avatar
ººº
Posts: 359
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2022 3:54 am

Re: Mining News and Discussions

Post by ººº »

wjfox wrote: Sat Dec 24, 2022 9:30 pm ‘Develop Batteries for Electric Vehicles Here’: Zimbabwe Bans Export of Raw Lithium

December 23, 2022, 16:35 IST

Zimbabwe earlier this week stopped the export of raw lithium from its mines and said that it wants cash in on the value addition and also stop losing billions to foreign companies via mineral proceeds, news agencies reported.

On December 20, Zimbabwe’s ministry of Mines and Mining Development in a directive published under the nation’s Base Minerals Export Control Act said that the move was made to “ensure that the vision of the president to see the country becoming an upper-middle income economy has been realized.”

Winston Chitando following the export ban said: “No lithium-bearing ores, or unbeneficiated lithium whatsoever, shall be exported from Zimbabwe to another country except under the written permit of the minister.”

The directive excludes mining companies which build processing plants, deputy mining minister Polite Kambamura said. He told Quartz that if Zimbabwe continues to export raw lithium then it shall go nowhere.

https://www.news18.com/news/world/devel ... 79645.html
Interesting approach.
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Mining News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Mining News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Mining News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Mining News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

Huge rare earth metals discovery in Arctic Sweden

2 hours ago

Europe's largest deposit of rare earths - which are used from mobile phones to missiles - has been found in Sweden.

No rare earths are mined in Europe at the moment and a Swedish minister hailed the find as a way of reducing the EU's dependence on China.

The discovery is also being seen as "decisive" for the green transition, given the expected rise in demand for electric vehicles and wind turbines.

Some 98% of rare earths used in the EU in 2021 were imported from China.

Over one million tonnes are reported to have now been found in Sweden's far north.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64253708
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Mining News and Discussions

Post by caltrek »

Study: Enough Rare Earth Minerals to Fuel Green Energy Shift
January 27, 2023

Introduction:
(AP via Courthouse News) — The world has enough rare earth minerals and other critical raw materials to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy to produce electricity and limit global warming, according to a new study that counters concerns about the supply of such minerals.

With a push to get more electricity from solar panels, wind turbines, hydroelectric and nuclear power plants, some people have worried that there won’t be enough key minerals to make the decarbonization switch.

Rare earth minerals, also called rare earth elements, actually aren't that rare. The U.S. Geological Survey describes them as a “relatively abundant.” They're essential for the strong magnets necessary for wind turbines; they also show up in smartphones, computer displays and LED light bulbs. This new study looks at not only those elements but 17 different raw materials required to make electricity that include some downright common resources such as steel, cement and glass.

A team of scientists looked at the materials — many not often mined heavily in the past — and 20 different power sources. They calculated supplies and pollution from mining if green power surged to meet global goals to cut heat-trapping carbon emissions from fossil fuel.

Much more mining is needed, but there are enough minerals to go around and drilling for them will not significantly worsen warming, the study in Friday’s scientific journal Joule concluded.
Read more of the AP Courthouse News article here: https://www.courthousenews.com/study-e ... gy-shift/

Read an article in Joule on the subject of future demand for electricity generation materials here: https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S25 ... 23)00001-6
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Mining News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

India strikes 'White Gold', 5.9 mn tonnes lithium deposits found in Jammu and Kashmir

10 Feb 2023, 11:26 PM IST

The Union Government on Thursday said that 5.9 million tonnes of lithium reserves have been found for the first time in the country in Jammu and Kashmir. Lithium is a non-ferrous metal and is one of the key components in EV batteries.

"Geological Survey of India for the first time established Lithium inferred resources (G3) of 5.9 million tonnes in the Salal-Haimana area of the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir," the Ministry of Mines said on Thursday.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... s?from=mdr
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Mining News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

Iran discovered to have 10% of World’s Lithium Deposits, in Good News for China’s EV Industry

Juan Cole 03/07/2023

The Indian Express reports from Iran’s PressTV that the country has discovered a deposit of 8.5 million tons of lithium in the Qahavand Plain of western Hamedan province. There are only 89 million tons of lithium in the world in known deposits so far, with the bulk of them in Latin America. If the report is true, Iran has about ten percent of the currently known world supply.

Lithium has emerged as crucial to the green energy transformation because it forms the basis for the leading battery technology, the lithium ion battery. Lithium powers electric cars and large lithium ion batteries have come to serve as back up power for the grid in states like California. It is emerging as the world’s most strategically important mineral, given the likely rapid decline of oil, gas and coal.

The International Energy Agency has worried about the world running out of lithium if all cars go electric. One estimate is that under the latter conditions, the world would only have a 70-year supply.

These concerns are legitimate but premature. It is likely that geologists will find a lot more lithium once they start looking for it in earnest. The Metal Mining Agency of Japan is said to believe there are enormous deposits in Pakistan. Lithium recycling will become a big business, too. In addition, battery technology is changing quickly and new discoveries may allow magnesium– a common metal — to be used for battery-making.

The Indian Express explains, “According to the US Geological Survey, the world’s largest identified lithium resources (not counting Iran) are as follows: Bolivia, 21 million tons; Argentina, 20 million tons; Chile, 11 million tons; Australia, 7.9 million tons; China, 6.8 million tons. India recently established inferred lithium resources of 5.9 million tons in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir.”

https://www.juancole.com/2023/03/discov ... ustry.html
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Mining News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »

Deep-sea mining for rare metals will destroy ecosystems, say scientists

Sun 26 Mar 2023 09.00 BST

An investigation by conservationists has found evidence that deep-seabed mining of rare minerals could cause “extensive and irreversible” damage to the planet.

The report, to be published on Monday by the international wildlife charity Fauna & Flora, adds to the growing controversy that surrounds proposals to sweep the ocean floor of rare minerals that include cobalt, manganese and nickel. Mining companies want to exploit these deposits – which are crucial to the alternative energy sector – because land supplies are running low, they say.

However, oceanographers, biologists and other researchers have warned that these plans would cause widespread pollution, destroy global fish stocks and obliterate marine ecosystems.

“The ocean plays a critical role in the basic functioning of our planet, and protecting its delicate ecosystem is not just critical for marine biodiversity but for all life on Earth,” said Sophie Benbow, the organisation’s marine director.

Fauna & Flora first raised concerns about ocean mining in a 2020 report. Since then, scientists have intensified their study of deep-sea zones and highlighted further dangers posed by mining there. These form the focus of the organisation’s report. “It has become increasingly clear in the last couple of years that, apart from other dangers, deep-sea mining poses a particular threat to the climate,” said Catherine Weller, Fauna & Flora’s director of global policy.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... scientists


Image
Credit: GSR/Reuters
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8732
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Mining News and Discussions

Post by wjfox »





Post Reply