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Written by arnbethnic

After dismal 2019, could Tesla-Glencore deal spark cobalt price turnaround?

January 16, 2020 arnbethnic

Annual cobalt production is only around 130,000 tonnes, mostly as a byproduct of nickel and copper mining. Some two-thirds of supply comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where fears about political instability and the challenges of ethical sourcing combine to supercharge supply concerns. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Tesla is in talks to buy cobalt from Glencore for its third gigafactory, recently opened in Shanghai, according to people familiar with the matter. Tesla, alongside Google, Apple and others, were sued by a human rights group in December about artisanal cobalt mining… Read More Here

Congo opens Chinese-owned Deziwa copper and cobalt mine

January 16, 2020January 16, 2020 arnbethnic

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s state mining company Gécamines on Wednesday opened the Deziwa copper and cobalt mine and processing plant, part of a joint venture majority-owned by China Nonferrous Metal Mining Company (CNMC). The Deziwa deposit, around 35 kilometres east of Kolwezi, is estimated to hold 4.6 million tonnes of copper and 420,000 tonnes of cobalt. Somidez, the joint venture controlling it, is held 51% by CNMC and 49% by Gécamines. THE DEZIWA MINE IS THE LATEST EXAMPLE OF THE CLOSE INVESTMENT TIES CHINA HAS FORGED WITH CONGO An… Read More Here

Emeralds Iron Mining in DRC

Gecamines chairman Yuma heaps praise on Deziwa JV as China strengthens DRC hand

January 16, 2020 arnbethnic

ALBERT Yuma, chairman of the Democratic of Congo’s (DRC’s) state-owned base metals company Gecamines, heaped praise on the firm’s joint venture with China Nonferrous Metal Mining Company (CNMC) owing to the nature of the association. Unlike joint ventures with other companies in the country, the arrangement with CNMC left Gecamines “… the only masters on board”, said Yuma in an article by Reuters. Yuma was commenting following the opening of Deziwa, a copper and cobalt mine in which Gecamines has a 49% stake.I By contrast, Gécamines holds just 25%… Read More Here

Cobalt Mining in DRC

Tesla in Talks to Buy Glencore’s Cobalt

January 16, 2020 arnbethnic

Tesla is reportedly in talks with mining giant Glencore to secure a supply of cobalt, a controversial mineral used to produce Li-ion batteries used in most electric vehicles today Cobalt is a controversial mineral due to most of it coming from mining operations in Congo, a place that has historically been affected by conflict and corruption, which has resulted in child labor in some mining operations. Most tech and auto companies using cobalt have taken steps to avoid sourcing from those operations, but it’s a hard thing to track since… Read More Here

Copper Mining in Zambia

A Glimpse into the future of Chinese loan financing in Africa | Zambia’s spiraling debt offers

January 15, 2020January 15, 2020 arnbethnic

Zambia is already restructuring, renegotiating or refinancing its extensive Chinese project finance debt, and Chinese companies are playing hardball, according to new research. Southern Africa’s third-largest economy is under pressure from an impending breakdown of its power supply and its inability to pay for electricity imports, and is staring down the barrel of further defaults on construction project financing and bond payments. State power utility Zesco revealed last month that a supply shortfall reached 810 megawatts in November, with Zambia and neighboring Zimbabwe both suffering 20-hour per day power… Read More Here

Copper Gold

No need to dig deep: New tool maximizes extraction of gold and porphyry copper

January 15, 2020January 15, 2020 arnbethnic

A UNIGE researcher has discovered the particularities of porphyry copper and gold deposits, providing mining companies with a new tool to maximize the extraction of these two metals. Why are some porphyry deposits—formed by magmatic fluids in volcanic arcs—rich in copper while others primarily contain gold? In an attempt to answer this question, a researcher from the University of Geneva investigated how the metals are accumulated over the time duration of a mineralizing event, looking for a correlation between the amounts of copper and gold extracted from the deposits. Not only… Read More Here

Copper Mining in DRC Mining in Zambia Precious Metals

Copper price jumps to 8-month high

January 14, 2020January 15, 2020 arnbethnic

On Monday in New York, copper for delivery in March closed the day near $2.8640 a pound ($6,314 a tonne), an 8-month high and up 3% from 2019’s closing level. The US Treasury on Monday lifted China’s designation as a currency manipulator, paving the way for the signing on Wednesday of a phase-one trade deal with China. Radomiro Tomic copper mine in Chile. (Image courtesy of Codelco via Flickr) China consumes half the world’s copper, and the dispute with the US has weighed on the market for more than a… Read More Here

Mining in DRC Oil & Gas

DRC Seeks To Seize 2 Oil Licenses From Israeli Billionaire

January 11, 2020January 11, 2020 arnbethnic

The Democratic Republic of Congo is considering taking over two oil licenses from an Israeli billionaire who is under U.S. sanctions for corrupt deals, and sell the exploration blocks to another operator, Bloomberg reports, quoting people familiar with the talks. Israeli businessman and billionaire Dan Gertler, whose companies hold the licenses for exploring for oil on two blocks in Congo close to the border with Uganda, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in December 2017. Gertler “has amassed his fortune through hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of opaque and… Read More Here

Mining in DRC

10 000 families to be moved from DR Congo cobalt site

January 8, 2020January 9, 2020 arnbethnic

DR Congo authorities are to pay some 10 000 families to move away from a south-eastern town sitting atop billions of dollars worth of cobalt, a provincial governor said Tuesday. “If the state determines that it is in the interest of the entire nation, it can relocate and compensate the inhabitants,” said Richard Muyej, governor of Lualaba province and a former interior minister. He said the relocation plan would cost some $800 million. Impoverished but mineral-rich DR Congo is the world’s largest producer of the rare metal, which is crucial… Read More Here

Mining in DRC

A Steady growth forecast for global copper production.

January 8, 2020January 9, 2020 arnbethnic

Steady growth is forecast for global copper mine production over the next few years, as a number of new projects and expansions are expected to come on line. According to Fitch Solutions, global copper production is forecast to increase by an average rate of 3.1% a year over 2020 to 2028, with total production rising from 21.6-million tonnes to 27.8-milliontonnes over the period. The organisation states in a December 15 report focusing on the global copper mining outlook, that rising copper prices and demand will support new projects and expansions… Read More Here