Behre Dolbear will be attending Mines and Money, London on 28 to 30 November 2023, at the Business Design Centre, London, N1 0QH. Email london@34.175.151.149 to arrange a meeting.
HEADLINES
Giant lithium deposit in DRC sparks boardroom battle
First Quantum plans to start arbitration against Panama – ministry
Panama copper miners attacked by protesters, union boss says
Nornickel to pay $18m to drop its stake in nickel JV in South Africa
Uranium sector ‘scrambling’ to fill supply gap
Environmental protesters board deep-sea mining ship between Hawaii and Mexico
Perseus Mining lifts stake in Tanzanian gold company to 19.9%
Italy, Saudi Arabia discuss investments in automotive, mining, oil
Giant lithium deposit in DRC sparks boardroom battle
A battle over control of a massive untapped lithium deposit shifted gear as AVZ Minerals Ltd.’s biggest shareholder signaled it will support the ouster of the Australian miner’s board.
The Manono lithium-tin project in the DRC.
The Manono project in the Democratic Republic of Congo has the potential to be one of the world’s largest sources of the battery metal but, after acquiring exploration rights seven years ago, AVZ has found itself locked in lawsuits and arbitration against its partners and the Congolese government. Competition to develop new sources of lithium has heated up in recent years due to an anticipated explosion in demand for electric vehicles, although the price has tumbled this year on a supply glut.
Yibin Tianyi Lithium Industry Co., a Chinese producer of chemicals used in EV batteries, said it would vote for the removal of the directors. “We are very disappointed with the work of the existing board,” a company representative said in a written response to questions. “The Manono project has missed the best development time already.”
Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co. – the second-biggest shareholder — will also back the attempt to unseat the directors at a meeting in Perth on Thursday, according to a group called Make Manono Great Again, or MMGA, that’s spearheading the campaign.
Huayou Cobalt didn’t respond to a request for comment, while AVZ declined to comment. Yibin Tianyi and its affiliates control around 7% of the shares of the Australia-listed miner and Huayou Cobalt owns about 6%. The MMGA group has just 0.14%.
AVZ had a market capitalization of A$2.75 billion ($1.8 billion) before trading was halted in May 2022, as it waited for Congo to convert the exploration permit to one that would allow it to build a mine. Authorities in the central African nation then withdrew the permit entirely earlier this year due to persistent conflicts between shareholders, before splitting the exploration area in two last month, giving the northern section to Zijin Mining Group Ltd. and Congo’s state-owned Cominiere.
First Quantum plans to start arbitration against Panama – ministry
Canada’s First Quantum sent two notifications of intent to start an arbitration process against Panama, the Central American country’s trade ministry said Sunday, amid protests demanding the miner’s contract to run a key mine be scrapped.
Panama’s top court started deliberations to rule on several constitutional challenges to First Quantum’s contract on Friday and is expected to issue a ruling in the coming days.
Panama copper miners attacked by protesters, union boss says
Protesters attacked workers leaving the Cobre Panama mine early Sunday in an incident that left about eight people injured, a union leader said.
A group of protesters in a pickup truck threw stones at buses carrying staff from the First Quantum-operated mine, Michael Camacho, a leader of the Utramipa union, said by telephone.
After one bus was forced to stop, the passengers fled as protesters detained the driver, Camacho said. He said he was unaware of the extent of the injuries suffered by workers.
The union has called for protection of members as demonstrators pushing for the mine’s closure block key supplies from reaching it, which has forced the company to wind down operations.
Nornickel to pay $18m to drop its stake in nickel JV in South Africa
Russia’s Nornickel will pay $18 million to pass its 50% stake in Nkomati nickel mine in South Africa to its partner African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), ARM said on Friday, ending years of Nornickel’s attempts to exit Africa.
Nickel prices in London are heading for a 46% fall this year, the largest slump since the financial crisis in 2008, due to rising production in Indonesia and a build-up of bets on even lower prices.
Nkomati was part of Nornickel’s $6.5 billion purchase of LionOre Mining with assets in Africa and Australia in 2007 after outbidding Xstrata. It was the largest foreign acquisition by a Russian company at that time.
By 2013, the metals prices had fallen and Nornickel, the world’s top palladium producer and a major refined nickel producer, started selling LionOre’s legacy to focus on its lucrative mines in the Arctic home territory in Russia.
“With this agreement Nornickel underscores its commitment to developing its unique resource base and Tier-1 assets portfolio in Russia as well as its long-term strategy to exit non-Tier-1 assets,” the Russian miner said in a statement.
A uranium supply gap will widen by 2030 as more nuclear plants come online, analysts say.
The price of uranium will hit triple-digits for the first time since 2007 as nations weaning off oil and seeking energy security deplete nuclear fuel supplies, the world’s largest investment fund in the physical metal says.
The spot price for uranium should rise from $79 per lb. this week to $100 or more per lb. within a year to 18 months, John Ciampaglia, CEO of of Sprott Asset Management, which runs the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (TSX: U.U for $US; U.UN for $CAD), said by phone on Monday. The trust holds 62 million lb. of yellowcake uranium valued at $4.9 billion.
Global yellowcake supply might reach 145 million lb. this year or next, Ciampaglia said, citing the World Nuclear Association. But annual demand is already at 180 million lb. and the industry group expects it to nearly double to 300 million lb. by 2040. Some 60 nuclear plants are under construction globally and more are planned. Countries like Germany and Japan that considered phasing them out are reversing course.
“You’ve got an industry that’s scrambling to meet the supply requirement that’s forming and the market today is already out of balance,” Ciampaglia said in Toronto where he’s based. “Around 2030, there’s a very large supply deficit that that could play out and that’s why the price of uranium is obviously starting to move.”
Environmental protesters board deep-sea mining ship between Hawaii and Mexico
MEXICO CITY -- Greenpeace activists have boarded a deep-sea mining ship in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico and said Sunday they'll stay to protest exploration the ship is conducting to support activity that would destroy marine life.
Canada-based The Metals Company, whose subsidiary runs the ship, accused the protesters of endangering the crew and breaking international law.
The escalating conflict comes as international demand for critical minerals found on the seafloor grows, but an increasing number of countries say more research is needed into the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining.
Greenpeace began the protest Thursday by positioning kayaks beneath the ship, Coco, for up to 10 hours at a time to block it from deploying equipment to the water.
Perseus Mining lifts stake in Tanzanian gold company to 19.9%
After Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX:PRU, TSX:PRU, OTC:PMNXF) this morning announced that it had acquired a 15.03% interest in OreCorp Ltd, the African gold producer has lifted its stake to 19.9%.
This enhances Perseus’ investment in the precious metal in Africa with ASX-listed OreCorp holding the multi-million-ounce Nyanzaga Gold Project in northwest Tanzania.
Nyanzaga hosts a probable ore reserve of 40.08 million tonnes at 2.02 g/t gold for 2.6 million ounces.
OreCorp has recently fielded an offer from Canadian-listed Silvercorp Metals Inc (TSX:SVM, AMEX:SVM).
Perseus advises that it is not currently in active discussions with OreCorp and does not intend to submit a change of control transaction in competition to the scheme that Silvercorp proposed on August 7, 2023, and subsequently revised on November 23.
Italy, Saudi Arabia discuss investments in automotive, mining, oil
ROME (Reuters) - Italy is discussing joint investments with Saudi Arabia in the automotive, mining, oil & gas, defence, hydrogen and space sectors, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said on Monday.
Since taking office in October 2022, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has sought to forge closer ties with the Gulf, shrugging off the concerns of previous coalitions over human rights in the region.
Urso is visiting the Arabian peninsula until Tuesday, with meetings in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
"Italy and Saudi Arabia are committed to developing a regulatory and industrial framework that favours and accelerates strategic autonomy in the critical raw materials sector," Urso said in a statement after a meeting in Riyadh with Khalid Al Saalem, president of the Royal Commission for Jubail & Yanbu, which helps oversee development of Saudi Arabia's energy industry.
"We explored the possibility of partnerships and joint investments especially in the mining sector, both in our respective countries and in third areas, such as the African continent."
Top representatives of companies including Pirelli, Maire Tecnimont and Prysmian attended the meeting, the minister added.
