arnbethnic - Copperbelt Katanga Mining

Written by arnbethnic

Construction of Busanga Hydroelectric Power Plant: 4 villages must evacuate before 29 July

July 27, 2020July 27, 2020 arnbethnicSinohydro

The construction of the 240MW hydroelectric power plant of the Sino-Congolese Hydroelectric Company (Sycohydro) in Lualaba province continues to make a name for itself. With a budget of $660 million, this structure is to be installed in Busanga. The concession has been awarded by the government to the company since 2016. This energy project, which is part of sicomines’ “minerals and infrastructure” partnership, is moving forward. However, there is a dispute with local communities demanding better compensation. Eleven civil society organizations are warning of the threat to at least four… Read More Here

Covid-19

South Africa mines minister hospitalized with covid-19

July 25, 2020July 25, 2020 arnbethnic

South Africa’s Minister of Minerals and Energy Gwede Mantashe has been hospitalized after testing positive for covid-19. Mantashe, who is also chairman of the ruling ANC party in the African nation, went into self-quarantine about a week ago. “Minister Mantashe was admitted to hospital on the advice of their family doctor for better medical attention and monitoring,” the presidency said in an emailed statement on Monday, Bloomberg reported. It was revealed last week that Zindzi Mandela, the daughter of the country’s first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela, tested positive for covid-19… Read More Here

Cobalt Mining in DRC

Sanctioned Israeli billionaire to gain from Elon Musk cobalt deal

July 25, 2020July 26, 2020 arnbethnic

Elon Musk may help sanctioned Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler get a little richer. Tesla Inc., the company Musk runs, struck a deal last month with Glencore Plc to buy as much as 6,000 tons of cobalt annually for use in the rechargeable batteries that power its electric vehicles. Glencore, in turn, is obligated to pay Gertler about 2.5% of sales from its mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo – royalty rights he acquired from state-owned miner Gecamines. What makes the arrangement eye-catching is that Gertler has been blacklisted from… Read More Here

Battery Metals Nickel Uncategorized

Tesla offers “giant contract” to responsible nickel miners

July 24, 2020July 25, 2020 arnbethnic

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) boss Elon Musk is calling miners to produce more nickel, a key ingredient in the batteries that power his company’s electric cars, and has offered a “giant contract for a long period of time” to any firm able to extracted it in an efficient, environmentally sustainable manner. Musk noted on a second-quarter earnings call that the high price of electric car batteries continues to be one of the main hurdles for Tesla. TESLA’S PRIMARY BATTERY TECHNOLOGY IS BASED ON A BLEND OF NICKEL, COBALT AND ALUMINUM “The real limitation… Read More Here

Mining Careers Mining in Zambia

Head of Transport & Forwarding Division | Careers at Alistair Group, Zambia

July 23, 2020July 25, 2020 arnbethnic

Head of Transport & Forwarding Division Company Name: Alistair Group Company Location: Northern, Zambia Based: Zambia Apply for this job NOW Alistair Group is seeking a strong Leader for our Transport & Forwarding division, our biggest revenue generator and our largest service line. We are looking for a people leader as well as a problem solver and strategist to run this service and grow our business to double its size in record time. Are you someone who likes to mentor and develop people? Do you want to do things differently? If this sounds like you, please have a look at the description… Read More Here

Uncategorized

Maamba supplies full capacity as demand peaks

July 23, 2020July 23, 2020 arnbethnic

Maamba Collieries is working flat out to meet the nation’s peak season energy requirement with demand increasing in the winter with additional requirement for heating, hot water, farm irrigation as well as industry as the nation slowly resumes life in the new normal. The country’s only coal-fired thermal power plant, which provides 24/7 assured ‘baseload’ power independent of rain or sunshine, has been operating continuously at 100% capacity for the last two months, achieving an average of 91% availability since the start of the year. “Despite implementing stringent measures to… Read More Here

Diamond Exploration

Russia’s Alrosa kicks off diamond exploration in Zimbabwe

July 22, 2020July 22, 2020 arnbethnic

Russia’s Alrosa (MCX:ALRS), the world’s top diamond producer by output, has begun prospecting and preliminary exploration works for deposits in Zimbabwe through it’sjoint venture with the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC). The move is a welcome boost to the southern African nation’s attempts to expand diamond mining revenues. Zimbabwe first began allowing foreign companies to dig up precious stones in 2018, opening the door to private investors. Mines minister Winston Chitando said at the time that his office was considering letting foreigners hold majority stakes in local operations on the condition that… Read More Here

Copper Mining in Zambia

Jiangxi Copper sells shares in First Quantum Minerals

July 22, 2020July 27, 2020 arnbethnic

Jiangxi Copper sold 1.2 million shares in First Quantum Minerals (TSX: FM; LSE: FQM) last week according to SEDI filings, BMO reports. The Chinese company bought its equity stake in the miner in December 2019. BMO analyst Jackie Przybylowski said the move did not come as a surprise. FIRST QUANTUM REPORTED CONSOLIDATED COPPER PRODUCTION OF 195,285 TONNES IN Q1, A 43% YEAR-ON-YEAR INCREASE “We have seen the relationship between First Quantum and Jiangxi strained since late last year,” the analyst said in a research note to clients. “On the Q1/2020 earnings call Tristan Pascall,… Read More Here

Rare Earth Metals

Pensana seeks funding for it’s Angola rare earth project

July 22, 2020July 22, 2020 arnbethnicAngola

Pensana Rare Earths is in early stage talks with lenders including Barclays, South Africa’s Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and funds including Fidelity to secure more funding for its Angola project, its chairman said on Monday. Chairman Paul Atherley said the miner planned to raise between $30-$50 million of working capital from the banks while funds would be tapped for about $25 million in equity for the construction of the mine. State-owned China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) will provide the rest of the up to $170 million required to build… Read More Here

Safety & Health Covid-Resilient Operations Explosives

Securing mining supply chains under lockdown | BME

July 20, 2020September 13, 2020 arnbethnic

BME – supply security in SADC with Covid-19 pandemic Covid-19 lockdown restrictions around Southern Africa have thrown the spotlight on mines’ supply security, especially key inputs like explosives and specialised blasting services. According to Albie Visser, General Manager at blasting specialist BME, mines have relied heavily on the flexibility and ingenuity of service providers to keep the supply chain functioning. “The first weeks of the lockdown were challenging, especially regarding the logistics of moving our emulsion product across national borders from South Africa into other southern African countries,” said Visser.… Read More Here