J2. Fossil Fuel Industry

Steve Jurvetson. Image from LinkedIn.

The Metals Company (Nasdaq: TMC) announced the Wednesday the appointment of Steve Jurvetson to its board of directors as vice chairman and his engagement as special advisor to the CEO.

For over 25 years, Jurvetson has been known for his early-stage venture investments in some of the world’s most impactful technology companies.

As co-founder and managing director of the venture capital Draper Fisher Jurvetson, he led the firm’s founding investments in several companies that had successful IPOs (Tesla, Planet Labs, D-Wave) and others that were acquired (Skype, Nervana, Hotmail), representing $800 billion of aggregate value creation.

In 2018, Jurvetson co-founded Future Ventures to focus on trailblazing, purpose-driven entrepreneurs with ideas that have the potential to reinvent entire industries — from nuclear fusion and space exploration to sustainable energy and AI.

As a former long-standing board member of Tesla and a current board member of SpaceX, Jurvetson brings a wealth of experience in helping companies navigate through high-uncertainty industry startup phase and transition to global scale and industry leadership.

At TMC, he will help guide the seafloor mining company through the next phase of growth as it seeks to harness the potential of deep-sea polymetallic nodules for the energy transition and wider global development.

“Steve Jurvetson is not just a legendary investor but a visionary with wide and deep-ranging curiosity,” TMC chief executive officer Gerard Barron said in a news release.

Whether it’s the world of bits or atoms, Steve has the uncanny ability to quickly get to simplicity on the other side of complexity,” Barron said. “He’s played a pivotal role in the growth of some of the greatest companies of our time and I am personally excited about the prospect of benefiting from his counsel on our challenging journey.”

Newmont (NYSE: NEM) confirmed on Wednesday that two members of its workforce died this week at the Cerro Negro mine located in the Santa Cruz region of Argentina.

Details regarding the cause of the death are currently under investigation. Both workers were part of the Newmont’s technical services team.

Mine activities have been suspended at Cerro Negro. Relevant authorities have been notified and a full investigation into the incident has begun, the world’s biggest gold miner said.

Additional information will be provided once available, and relevant learnings from the investigation will be embedded into Newmont’s safety standards, it added.

NextSource Materials (TSX: NEXT) said on Wednesday it has signed a long-term lease agreement for a site in the Freeport Zone of Port-Louis to build its first battery anode facility (BAF) plant in Mauritius.

It has also integrated engineering improvements into the plant design and initiated the environmental permitting (EIA) process, the graphite miner said.

The news comes just days after NextSource submitted an application to build the facility to process graphite in the African island nation.

The plant will have capacity to produce 3,600 tonnes of battery-grade graphite a year, increasing to 14,400 tonnes after 2024, according to filings with the country’s government.

Set within an industrial environment, the site has logistics improvements over the previously leased site, including direct port access and a high-quality concrete structure requiring minimal modifications with sufficient space to expand the plant capacity in the future.

NextSource has pre-ordered process equipment with a production capacity of 3,600 tonnes per annum of spheronized and purified graphite (SPG) and coated SPG. The process equipment is currently being fabricated and assembled offshore and will be shipped to Mauritius once the EIA process is completed.

Graphite concentrate from the company’s Molo mine in Madagascar and equipment for a small-scale pilot line have already arrived at the site in order to prepare for production of samples for key OEM customers, said the company, adding that it is preparing an updated economic assessment for the site.

The quest to bring graphite projects to fruition has become more urgent since China announced in October it will require export permits for the kind of graphite used for electric vehicle batteries. Africa-mined graphite could help the car industry meet requirements under Washington’s Inflation Reduction Act, which encourages auto makers to be less reliant on Chinese components.

NextSource Materials’ stock was up over 12% in afternoon trading in Toronto. Shares were traded over 834,000 times, compared to an average daily volume of 81,198.

The Toronto-based company has a C$122 million ($89m) market capitalization.

A new investment platform called Argo Digital Gold, backed by the Sprott Family and SCP Resource Finance chair Peter Grosskopf, launched last month to transform how investors interact with gold, says president Michael Petch.

The platform aims to innovate precious metals investing with features like enhanced security, 24/7 trading, fractional ownership, and low, transparent fees, according to Petch, an experienced leader in digital assets and blockchain technology.

“We are setting our sights on providing seamless crypto-to-gold trading and to be on the leading edge of the tokenization of gold which will unlock powerful use-cases for this $5 trillion industry,” Petch told The Northern Miner’s western editor, Henry Lazenby, during last month’s Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s annual convention in Toronto.

As Argo plans global expansion, Petch says the platform democratizes gold access, making gold investment more accessible and appealing to a broader audience.

Listen to the full interview below.

Contact:
Oil Change International, press@priceofoil.org

Expert Quotes on Japan’s Global Derailing of the Clean Energy Transition on Day of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida’s State Visit with U.S. President Biden

Background:

One of the key goals for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit with U.S. President Biden is to build pressure to lift the U.S. LNG export approvals pause and to support Japan’s efforts to expand fossil fuel-based technologies across Asia. Below are resources and quotes from international experts.

• Photos: Pikachu Rally in DC – April 10, 2024 (Photo Credits: Charles Belt for Oil Change International)
• Read Newsweek Op-Ed: Japanese PM Kishida Must Stop Derailing the Global Energy Transition
• Climate Home News Op-Ed: Louisiana communities are suffering from Japan-funded LNG exports
• A new report issued yesterday by Oil Change International and Friends of the Earth United States reveals that Japan is the largest financier of upstream fossil fuels, providing almost half of the G20’s finance for upstream fossils between 2020 and 2022. Japan is also the 3rd largest international fossil fuel financier among G20.
• Listen to April 4 NRDC press conference with experts on this topic here – passcode: *Se3jj

Japanese financing of LNG projects has a legacy of environmental and human harm, especially along the US Gulf Coast. Japanese private banks (MUFG, Mizuho, SMBC) are the top three financiers for LNG export terminals in the U.S., and the U.S. is the largest exporter of LNG in the world. Though Biden’s LNG pause was a positive step, the continued exploitation of vulnerable communities for LNG projects is alarming. Japan is also one of the largest public financiers of gas projects in the Gulf and throughout the world, most recently approving billions in public finance for gas projects in Australia, Vietnam and Mexico. Protesters will call attention to Japan’s role in promoting dirty energy in the US and abroad, and urge Kishida and Biden to say #SayonaraFossilFuels.

Susanne Wong | Asia Program Manager, Oil Change International

“Prime Minister Kishida is driving the expansion of gas and LNG, which is harming communities and ecosystems, undermining energy security and worsening the climate crisis. Despite their rhetoric, the US continues to fuel the climate crisis as the world’s top producer of oil and gas. We urge Kishida and Biden to stop derailing the global energy transition and sacrificing our communities and planet for corporate profit.”

Allie Rosenbluth | US Program Co-Manager, Oil Change International

“Pushed by opposition from frontline communities and climate activists, Biden’s move to pause authorizations for new LNG exports is an important first step. But he has to do more. He must use his executive authority to stop all approvals for new fossil fuel projects while ensuring a just transition for workers and impacted communities. In the meantime, Japan is driving the expansion of fossil fuels across Asia and globally and is derailing the transition to renewable energy. Japanese financed LNG projects have left a legacy of harm, particularly along the US Gulf Coast.”

Travis Dardar | Louisiana Shrimper and Founder, Fishermen Interested in Saving Our Heritage (FISH), United States

“My wife had a heart attack, and my little boy was on depression medicine. They made life a living hell for us. There are more families waking up next to this thing gasping for air. I don’t know what the cleanest solution is but I know that this isn’t it. To continue down this path is very destructive, but they’re willing to sacrifice what makes Louisiana Louisiana for profit.” 

“When people think of south Louisiana they think of shrimp and seafood, not what you see now, which is industrial waste land. This benefits no one but the corporations who own it.”

Gerry Arances | Executive Director, Center for Energy, Ecology and Development, Philippines

“It’s astonishing that countries that have been historically responsible for the climate crisis we now suffer from are still digging up more fossil fuels, burning more, and financing massive expansion in the US, Southeast Asia, and the rest of the world. Japanese banks, including government owned JBIC, are at the forefront of this – to the detriment of people, biodiversity, and the energy transition of our countries.

In the Philippines, we’re on the cusp of an enormous energy transition, and the potential for 100% renewable energy is massive and fully capable of aligning to the 1.5°C goal. Japan is not only harming communities but also undermining already available solutions. Investing in gas and other false fossil solutions will only serve corporations, not the people of Southeast Asia and the Philippines.”

Brendan Guy  | Natural Resources Defense Council Director, International Climate

“Global fossil fuel use must decline at least 40% this decade to achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement. Yet Japan and Prime Minister Kishida are doubling down on their fossil fuel reliance, and derailing the wider regional and global transition to clean energy in pursuit of their narrow commercial interests. Given the clear climate science and the need to follow-through on the global agreement to accelerate away from fossil fuels, it’s high time for Japan to change course.”

Ayumi Fukakusa | Deputy Executive Director, Friends of the Earth Japan, Japan

“If Prime Minister Kishida truly wants to promote energy security, peace and prosperity as he claims, he would use the trilateral meeting to help Asia and the US transition to renewables, not double down on dirty fossil fuels like gas.

Kishida’s actions speak far louder than his rhetoric. By continuing to support climate-wrecking projects like Freeport and Cameron LNG, Kishida is jeopardizing a liveable future and putting the world on track to a catastrophic 5-6C of warming.”

Lidy Nacpil | Coordinator, Asian Peoples’ Movement On Debt And Development, Philippines

“Japan’s energy strategy is leaving a worldwide trail of destruction. From LNG buildout in the US Gulf coast to the LNG expansion in the Philippines, Japan is plundering communities and ecosystems in the name of profit. 

All over the world, communities are fighting back and demanding a just transition. Prime Minister Kishida has the opportunity to make that happen.

The choice for Kishida is simple — listen to the people and stop pursuing LNG, or face resistance.”

Jeffrey Jacoby | Deputy Director, Texas Campaign for Environment, United States

“Local communities, particularly along the US Gulf Coast, are already losing their livelihoods, their homes, and the lives of loved ones to the toxic impacts of Japan-backed gas projects. To date, the Japanese government and private banks have pumped over $52 billion into US LNG projects, including Cameron LNG which is devastating local fisheries, and Freeport LNG which literally exploded less than two years ago.

By backing these projects while touting ‘energy security’, Prime Minister Kishida is turning a blind eye to the communities all over Texas, Louisiana, and around the world who are undoubtedly less secure due to LNG.”

The post Expert Quotes on Japan’s Global Derailing of the Clean Energy Transition on Day of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida’s State Visit with U.S. President Biden appeared first on Oil Change International.

One of the four new P&H electric rope shovels purchased for the Mantoverde development project in Chile. Credit: Capstone Copper

Capstone Copper (TSX: CS; ASX: CSC) has introduced the first ore to the new mineral processing plant at the Mantoverde development project in the Atacama region of Chile.

The project – including a new concentrator, tailings management facility, and doubled desalination plant – came in on budget at C$870 million.

Mantoverde is 70% owned by Capstone and 30% by Mitsubishi Materials.

John MacKenzie, Capstone’s CEO, said: “I am pleased with the progress to date as we work towards a safe and efficient ramp-up of the Mantoverde development project. In March we saw first ore through the grinding circuit, and we remain on track for first saleable concentrate during the second quarter of 2024.”

“Mantoverde is a transformational asset for Capstone, driving significant production growth and margin expansion across our portfolio,” he added.

The Mantoverde project consists of four open pits and the new 32,000 t/d mill. Together they will extend the life of the project to 2042. The mill will treat primarily sulphide ore, producing a 29.6% copper concentrate. Oxide ore will continue to be heap leached.

The existing solvent extraction/electrowinning (SX/EW) circuit, which has a capacity of 132.3 million lb. of copper annually, will remain in service.

Capstone is planning a second phase of expansion for the concentrator. Phase two will evaluate adding a second processing line to the mill, boosting throughput by 77%.

The Eagle mine, part of the Dublin Gulch heap leaching property in Yukon. Credit: Victoria Gold

Victoria Gold (TSX: VGCX) produced 29,580 oz. of gold from its Eagle mine during the first quarter of 2024, compared to 37,619 oz. in the first quarter of 2023.

“While quarterly gold production is down year over year, the summer and fall seasons are our strongest operating periods, and we expect to achieve 2024 gold production guidance of 165,000 to 185,000 oz. and cost guidance of $1,450 to $1,650 per oz. of gold sold,” said CEO John McConnell.

For the second year in a row, ore was placed on the leach pad throughout the winter. The 2 million tonnes of ore delivered for leaching was in line with the 2.1 million tonnes of 2023.

However, the average grade was 0.63 g/t gold in 2024, compared to 0.86 g/t in 2023. The lower year-over-year grades were related to mine sequencing in the Eagle orebody, the timing of placing stacked tonnes under leach, and lower-than-planned stacking rates in the last quarter of 2023.

Both the Eagle and Olive gold deposits are being mined as part of Victoria’s Dublin Gulch project, located 375 km north of Whitehorse and 85 km from Mayo, Yukon.

Metso’s TSE Series screens are compact, high performance units for either portable or stationary applications. Credit: Metso

Metso has expanded its standard product offering of screens for the North America, Mexico, and Central America markets with TSE Series triple shaft screen.

The new TSE Series screen is a high-performance horizontal screen used in a wide range of wet or dry applications in coarse or fine screening. They are designed for superior accuracy and efficiency in a very compact installation.

The TSE Series offers a robust design to support the stresses generated by the high-performance mechanism that produces the high G elliptical motion.

The rigidity in the design is provided by frames made from standard sections with K-bracing and with side plates that are huck bolted without any welding. The result is a reliable screen design with less natural frequencies and a much larger operating window.

The high-performance mechanism offers the flexibility to operate the screen in a large range of applications due to the ease of gear and counterweight adjustments. The TSE Series screen’s elliptical motion is combined with high acceleration, thereby bringing more performance in terms of throughput and screening efficiency.

The TSE Series screen is suitable for replacement of most standard triple shaft machines on the market in which minimal changes are required.

Metso TSE Series offers several benefits. The robust, compact design makes it portable due to low height. The screen gives high performance elliptical motion up to 6.5 times gravity. The TSE Series can be used for wet or dry applications and separates even sticky material. Adjustments to the elliptical stroke and stroke angle are easy and maximize production of any material.

Chile-focused explorer and developer CleanTech Lithium (LON: CTL) has suspended its chief executive officer, Aldo Boitano, pending an investigation into a loan he entered into with an unnamed lender.

The company said it noted that between September 8, 2023 and February 6, 2024, Boitano transferred his entire holding of 9,400,002 ordinary shares to a custodian account nominated by the lender. 

When questioned, Boitano was not able to ascertain the extent to which these shares might have been transferred to a further nominee account in the name of the lender or sold by the lender, CleanTech said.

CleanTech Lithium kicks off exploration at two new Chilean assets

Shares in the company took a big hit in early trading in London, falling to 11p. The stock recovered later in the day, closing 3.46% higher at 11.65p. That leaves the company with a market capitalization of £16.91 million ($21.2m).

“The board of CleanTech Lithium would like to make it clear that Mr Boitano is cooperating with the investigation,” the company said.

To ensure there is no impact to the ongoing work program at the Laguna Verde project, Steve Kesler, currently executive chairman, has assumed the CEO’s responsibilities, it said.

Personal loans secured by executives’ own company shares can be contentious, as they may result in share sales or create a long-term overhang on share prices.

CleanTech, which recently opened a direct lithium extraction pilot plant in northern Chile, told stakeholders that it will provide updates on the situation as the investigation progresses.

Posted by John Donovan: 10 April 2024

In a move that has the London Stock Exchange quaking in its trading boots, Shell’s CEO Wael Sawan has dropped a bombshell threat: Shape up or we ship out to the Big Apple!

Sawan, not one to mince his words, has warned that if London’s stock market continues to undervalue Shell, they’re packing their bags and heading Stateside faster than you can say “oil spill.” 

Despite enjoying the swanky lifestyle in London, Sawan’s loyalty to the UK is about as solid as a house of cards in a hurricane. With dual Lebanese and Canadian citizenship, he’s got one foot out the door already. He’s sick and tired of London investors treating Shell like yesterday’s news while simultaneously picking their pockets clean with hefty taxes.

But wait, there’s more! Former Shell bigwig Ben van Beurden chimed in, backing Sawan’s play and highlighting the “major issue” of Shell’s valuation gap between London and New York. It’s like a game of Monopoly, and London is losing big time.

And if you thought the drama ended there, think again! Shell’s share price soared to an all-time high, hitting a whopping 2,860p. It’s like a rollercoaster ride, but instead of adrenaline, you get existential dread about the future of London’s financial hub.

But fear not, dear investors, for Shell has kindly given London a two-year notice period to shape up. So, buckle up, London Stock Exchange, because if you don’t improve, you’ll be bidding adieu to Britain’s most valuable listed company faster than you can say “tax evasion.”

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Gold’s blistering run came to a halt on Wednesday after a key US inflation report signalled a likely delay in Federal Reserve interest rate cuts until later in the year.

Spot gold slid 0.6% to $2,354.80 per ounce by 1:50 p.m. EDT, retreating below the key $2,350 level. US gold futures were also down 0.3% at $2,354.80 per ounce.

The pullback comes on the back of a 0.4% rise in the core consumer price index, according to government data Wednesday. This measure, which economists view as a better indicator of underlying inflation than the CPI, has now advanced 3.8% from a year ago.

The hot print in price pressures means that interest rates may remain high for a longer period of time, which hurts the appeal of non-yielding assets like gold. Both the US Treasury yields and the dollar advanced after the print, sending bullion down by as much as 1.4% to $2,320.12 an ounce.

Still, gold is holding at elevated levels, having registered all-time peaks for eight straight sessions including $2,365.35 an ounce on Tuesday. Since mid-February, the metal has gone up by nearly 17%.

The rally has left some onlookers puzzled because of the lack of any obvious triggers — especially as convictions on three quarter-point rate cuts faded fast. Heightened geopolitical risks in the Middle East and Ukraine, plus buying by central banks led by China, have added some bullish momentum for the precious metal.

Gold is partly helped by buying as some investors shifted focus “from the number of rate cuts to sticky and rising inflation,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank AS. 

Hansen sees a short-term correction in bullion “given how far gold has traveled in a short period of time,” with a dip below $2,230 likely to trigger a round of long liquidation.

(With files from Bloomberg)

Revival Gold (TSXV: RVG) said on Wednesday it has signed an agreement to buy privately held exploration company Ensign Minerals in an all-stock deal worth approximately C$21.9 million. This acquisition gives US-focused Revival a second gold exploration asset to complement its Beartrack-Arnett project in Idaho.

Ensign’s flagship Mercur project in Utah is located 57 km southwest of Salt Lake City in the Oquirrh Mountains region, which is known to host sediment-hosted gold deposits. Bingham Canyon, one of the world’s largest copper-gold mines, is also situated there.

Historically, approximately 2.6 million oz. of gold were mined from the Mercur district, including 1.5 million oz. by Getty Oil Company and later Barrick Gold between 1983-1998, after which it closed due to low gold prices. Since then, Barrick completed reclamation of the Mercur site.

From 2020 to 2022, Ensign entered various agreements to consolidate the Mercur project area, which now covers 62.55 square kilometres divided between private land, federal claims, and state leases. Amongst the deals was an option to acquire Barrick’s interest in the area for $20 million.

Work by past owners has resulted in the delineation of an inferred resource estimate that totals 89.6 million tonnes grading 0.57 gram per tonne gold for 1.64 million oz. of contained metal. This estimate has an effective date of Feb. 1, 2024, and is based primarily on exploration of the private land.

By adding the Mercur project, Revival’s gold resource base would now grow to 3.8 million oz. in the inferred category, on top of the 2.4 million oz. measured and indicated category already at Beartrack-Arnett, for which permitting preparations are underway.

CEO Hugh Agro says the combined mineral resource will vault Revival Gold ahead to become one of the largest pure gold development companies in the US. With Mercur, he believes the company is obtaining a “high-quality complementary project” at an attractive acquisition price of about $10 per ounce in situ.

Revival Gold considers the large regional package at Mercur to “hold attractive potential for additional discoveries” based on the project’s track record of past production and the results of recent fieldwork undertaken by Ensign.

In the short term, its primary objective with Mercur over the next 6-12 months will be to advance metallurgy, optimize the project’s geological model and pursue a potential preliminary economic assessment (PEA), the company said.

While advancing towards a PEA, Revival Gold expects to continue the compilation of historical data, property-wide prospecting, geological mapping and planning for potential future exploration drilling.

Agro said the addition of Mercur will shorten the estimated timeline to heap leach gold production while increasing the potential production scale of the company’s heap leach gold business to approximately 150,000 oz. per year.

To complete the deal, nearly 61.4 million Revival Gold shares, more than half of those outstanding, will be used to acquire Ensign’s 52.6 million outstanding stock. This share exchange ratio (1.1667:1) gives Ensign an implied value of C$0.4164 per share, a 17% premium over its 20-day volume weighted average of C$0.3569.

Upon completion, current Revival Gold shareholders would own 65% of the new company, with former Ensign holders owning 35%.

Ensign had previously agreed to a takeover by Vancouver-based Taura Gold (TSXV: TORA) in October 2023 for an implied value of C$24 million. However, the deal fell through earlier this year due to disagreements over how the Mercur project resource was calculated.

Revival Gold’s shares were up 1.1% at C$0.38 by 10:30 a.m. ET on the news, giving the Toronto-based gold developer a market capitalization of C$42.4 million ($31m).

Researchers from the Universities of Cambridge, Oxford and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam discovered that Byzantine bullion fueled Europe’s revolutionary adoption of silver coins in the mid-7th century, only to be overtaken by silver from a mine in Charlemagne’s Francia a century later.

In a paper published in the journal Antiquity, the experts note that these findings could transform our understanding of Europe’s economic and political development.

According to the article, between 660 and 750 AD, Anglo-Saxon England witnessed a profound revival in trade involving a dramatic surge in the use of silver coins, breaking from a reliance on gold. Around 7,000 of these silver ‘pennies’ have been recorded, about as many as we have for the rest of the entire Anglo-Saxon period (5th century–1066).

By analyzing the make-up of coins held by the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, the study’s authors solved the mystery of where the silver in these coins came from.

“There has been speculation that the silver came from Melle in France or an unknown mine, or that it could have been melted down church silver. But there wasn’t any hard evidence to tell us one way or the other, so we set out to find it,” Rory Naismith, co-author of the paper, said in a media statement.

Teflon helps figure things out

Previous research tested coins and artifacts from the silver mine at Melle but Naismith and his colleagues turned their attention to less-studied coins which were minted in England, the Netherlands, Belgium and northern France.

To begin, 49 of the Fitzwilliam’s coins (dating from 660 to 820 AD) were taken to the laboratory of Jason Day in Cambridge’s Dept. of Earth Sciences for trace element analysis. Next, the coins were analyzed by ‘portable laser ablation’ in which microscopic samples were collected onto Teflon filters for lead isotope analysis.

While the coins mostly contained silver, the proportion of gold, bismuth and other elements in them guided the researchers to the silver’s previously unknown origins. Different ratios of lead isotopes in the silver coins provided further clues.

Byzantine silver

In the 29 coins tested from the earlier period (660–750 AD)—which were minted in England, Frisia and Francia—the researchers found a very clear chemical and isotopic signature matching 3rd to early 7th-century silver from the Byzantine Empire in the eastern Mediterranean.

The silver was homogenous across the coins and characterized by high gold values (0.6–2%) and a consistent isotopic range, with no distinguishable regional variations among them. No known European ore source matches the elemental and isotopic characteristics of these early silver coins. Nor is there any meaningful overlap with late Western Roman silver coins or other objects. These coins did not recycle late Roman silver.

“This was such an exciting discovery. I proposed Byzantine origins a decade ago but couldn’t prove it. Now we have the first archaeometric confirmation that Byzantine silver was the dominant source behind the great seventh-century surge in minting and trade around the North Sea,” Naismith said.

These coins are, thus, among the first signs of a resurgence in the northern European economy since the end of the Roman Empire. They show deep international trade connections between what is now France, the Netherlands and England.

Cash-strapped king

The researchers emphasize that this Byzantine silver must have entered Western Europe decades before it was melted down because the late 7th century was a low point in trade and diplomatic contacts.

“Elites in England and Francia were almost certainly sitting on this silver already,” Naismith said. “We have very famous examples of this, the silver bowls discovered at Sutton Hoo and the ornate silver objects in the Staffordshire Hoard.”

Together, Sutton Hoo’s Byzantine silver objects weigh just over 10 kilograms. Had they been melted down they would have produced around 10,000 early pennies.

“These beautiful prestige objects would only have been melted down when a king or lord urgently needed lots of cash. Something big would have been happening, a big social change,” the study’s lead author Jane Kershaw said. “This was quantitative easing, elites were liquidating resources and pouring more and more money into circulation. It would have had a big impact on people’s lives. There would have been more thinking about money and more activity with money involving a far larger portion of society than before.”

The researchers now hope to establish how and why so much silver moved from the Byzantine Empire into Western Europe. They suspect a mixture of trade, diplomatic payments and Anglo-Saxon mercenaries serving in the Byzantine army. The new findings also raise tantalizing questions about how and where silver was stored and why its owners suddenly decided to turn it into coins.

Melle was an important mine

The study’s second major finding revealed a later shift away from Byzantine silver to a new source.

When the team analyzed 20 coins from the second half of the period (750–820 AD), they discovered that the silver was very different. It now contained low levels of gold which is most characteristic of silver mined at Melle in western France. Previously obtained radiocarbon data has shown that mining at Melle was particularly intense in the 8th and 9th centuries.

A selection of the Fitzwilliam Museum coins which were studied, including coins of Charlemagne and Offa. (Image by The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge).

The study proposes that Melle silver permeated regional silver stocks after c.750 and was mixed with older, higher-gold stocks, including Byzantine silver. In the coins minted closest to Melle, the proportion of gold was lowest (under 0.01%) while furthest away, in northern and eastern Francia, this climbed to 1.5%.

“We already knew that Melle was an important mine but it wasn’t clear how quickly the site became a major player in silver production,” Naismith said. “We now know that after the Carolingian dynasty came into power in 751, Melle became a major force across Francia and increasingly in England too.”

The study argues that Charlemagne drove this very sudden and widespread surge in Melle silver as he took increasing control over how and where his kingdom’s coins were made. A detailed record from the 860s talks about Charlemagne’s grandson, King Charles the Bald, reforming his coins and giving every mint a few pounds of silver as a float to get the process going. “I strongly suspect that Charlemagne did something similar with Melle silver,” Naismith said.

Management of silver supply went hand-in-hand with other changes introduced by Charlemagne, his son and grandson including changing the size and thickness of coins and marking their name or image on the coins.

“We can now say more about the circumstances under which those coins were made and how the silver was being distributed within Charlemagne’s Empire and beyond,” Naismith said.

Pioneer Lithium (ASX: PLN) has received a fresh shot in the arm from the Ontario government, which recently handed the company C$180,916 for its flagship Root Lake project in Canada.

The Australian explorer and developer said the funds were granted through the Ontario Junior Exploration Program (OJEP). The amount received represents a rebate of up to 50% of eligible exploration costs, capped at C$200,000, incurred by the company at Root Lake between April 1, 2023 to February 15, 2024, it said in the statement. 

“The OJEP program is a vital part of financing and fostering early exploration projects and allows us to further advance our exploration activities,” chairman Robert Martin said in a statement.

The company has been expanding its footprint in Canada, where it now holds five exploration projects across the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

Its most recent acquisition, the Benham Project in northwest Ontario, became an instant hit for Pioneer. Bought in November, the company’s exploration team had by mid-January discovered numerous pegmatite outcrops, including a 40-metre long mineralized prominence.

Lithium market struggles to recover after epic boom and bust

Pioneer is also advancing the early exploration Root Lake lithium project in north-west Ontario.

Lithium prices hit rock bottom last year and are struggling to make a significant recovery. This is partly because miners, refiners, and auto makers are still dealing with an excess stockpile that is causing the current oversupply of the battery metal. 

Despite some projects and mines being affected by the lithium price collapse, several major producers are determined to continue expanding, adding to the uncertainty about when prices will eventually recover.

Canada’s Silvercorp Metals (TSX, NYSE: SVM) has officially stepped aside from the race to control Africa-focused gold explorer OreCorp (ASX: ORR), agreeing to sell its 15% stake in the company to rival Perseus Mining (ASX, TSX: PRU).

The Vancouver-based miner, which has been a rival bidder for OreCorp for months, has agreed to sell its 15.6% shareholding in the Australian junior to Perseus. This takes Perseus’ interest in OreCorp to just under 75%.

Silvercorp and Perseus vied for months to acquire the OreCorp, which saw Perseus raise its cash offer in March to A$0.575 a share. The figure, representing 4.5% increase over its previous bid of A$0.55, had been originally turned down by OreCorp earlier this year.

OreCorp gave Silvercorp five days to increase its bid, but the period expired on March 26, resulting in the company encouraging shareholders to accept Perseus’ proposal. This offer remains unconditional and open until April 19, unless it is extended.

OreCorp noted on Wednesday that it’s already actively working with Perseus to transition its board and management team in respect of the takeover.

Central to the battle for OreCorp was the company’s Nyanzaga gold project in northwest Tanzania, which is located near Barrick Gold’s (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) Bulyanhulu mine and AngloGold Ashanti’s (JSE: ANG) (NYSE:AU) Geita mine.

A 2022 definitive feasibility study gave Nyanzaga an after-tax net present value of $618 million at a 5% discount rate and an internal rate of return of 25%.

Perseus had been looking for additional gold assets in Africa to grow its portfolio. This prompted it to throw its hat in the ring, approaching OreCorp with an off-market offer.

Currently, Perseus operates three gold mines in Africa: Edikan in Ghana, and Sissingu and Yaour in Côte d’Ivoire.

CONTACT:
Shayna Samuels, press@priceofoil.org
Shaye Skiff, kskiff@foe.org

Pikachu Protest Against Japanese LNG Expansion to Take Place During Prime Minister Kishida’s White House Visit, Wednesday, April 10

#SayonaraFossilFuels 

On April 10-11, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will meet with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington, DC, address Congress, and join a trilateral meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.. This visit comes on the heels of the Biden Administration’s decision to pause pending LNG export approvals to non-free trade countries after intense pressure from frontline communities. Many don’t realize that Japan is one of the largest financiers of U.S. LNG export projects and is working to derail clean energy transitions across Asia and globally. 

Japanese financing of LNG projects has a legacy of environmental and human harm, especially along the US Gulf Coast. Japanese private banks (MUFG, Mizuho, SMBC) are the top three financiers for LNG export terminals in the US, and the US is the largest exporter of LNG in the world. Though Biden’s LNG pause was a positive step, the continued exploitation of vulnerable communities for LNG projects is alarming. Japan is also one of the largest public financiers of gas projects in the Gulf and throughout the world, most recently approving billions in public finance for gas projects in Australia, Vietnam and Mexico. Protesters will call attention to Japan’s role in promoting dirty energy in the US and abroad, and urge Kishida and Biden to say #SayonaraFossilFuels 

WHAT: Pikachu Protest of Japan’s LNG projects during Japanese Prime Minister

Kishida’s visit to the White House. People will be in large inflatable Pikachu suits holding  a large cut out of Kishida’s face, and banners and signs that say “Japan Stop Poisoning US Communities” and “Sayonara Fossil Fuels.”

WHEN:  Wednesday, April 10th – 9:30 AM
WHERE: Lafayette Square, White House
WHO: The event is organized by Oil Change International, Friends of the Earth US, and Texas Campaign for the Environment

PHOTOS will be available HERE immediately following the event.

The post Media Advisory: Pikachu Protest Against Japanese LNG Expansion to Take Place During Prime Minister Kishida’s White House Visit appeared first on Oil Change International.

The state of Amazonas in Brazil has issued a license to Brazil Potash to built the Autazes project, pegged to be the largest fertilizer mine in Latin America within the Amazon rainforest.

Governor Wilson Lima declared on Monday that the installation license was granted by the state’s environmental protection agency, IPAAM. The company intends to invest 13 billion reais ($2.6 billion) to establish the mine, located 120 km southeast of the state capital Manaus.

The project, which could reduce Brazilian agriculture’s 90% dependence on imported potash, has been held up for years due to opposition from Indigenous Mura people, who say they have not been consulted about the use of their ancestral lands.

Federal prosecutors said on Tuesday that the license should come from Brazil’s environmental protection agency, IBAMA, and not from the local agency in the state.

“The license violates constitutional rights, international standards and also the rights of Indigenous peoples,” the federal prosecutors office in Manaus said in a statement.

The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of the Amazon (APIAM), an institution that advocates for the rights of Indigenous peoples in the Amazon, told MINING.COM that the Mura people’s communities were not consulted, nor was the Indigenous Component Study conducted in the environmental licensing process.

Indigenous leaders told news website Amazonia Real that they will not accept the state decision and warned about the possibility of conflicts if the issue is not reconsidered by the courts.

In October, Federal Judge Marcos Augusto de Souza suspended a lower court decision that ruled if the land would be demarcated Indigenous in the future, then only Brazil’s Congress and federal agency IBAMA could authorize mining in the area.

The IPAAM further reinforced its understanding of being the correct authority and argues that United Nations International Labour Organization protocols do not require 100% indigenous support for approval of the project.

Brazil Potash has also received a letter from the Conselho Indígena Mura (Mura Indigenous Council) declaring that more than 90% of the Indigenous people voted in support of the Autazes project.

The proposed mine and processing facilities would require about three years to build.

It would be built on low-density cattle farm land deforested several decades ago by prior owners, according to Brazil Potash, who says the ore body is not located under Indigenous land, but is within 10 km of two reserves resulting in the need for consultations with locals.

Production is expected to start in 2026 with an initial output sufficient to cover about 20% of Brazil’s potash needs. Project capacity is pegged at 2.2 million tonnes of potassium chloride per year, the company estimates.

Sixty North Gold Mining (CSE: SXTY) is planning to install a temporary camp at its Mon gold project near Yellowknife, NWT, to replace the camp trailers destroyed by a wildfire last year. Plans include restarting mining of the A zone at the historic mine.

The company previously widened the North ramp to 3 by 4 metres to accommodate its larger mining equipment and advanced the ramp by 132 metres to within 60 metres of the planned first stopes, about 20 metres below the historic stopes.

Crews are expected to take four weeks to reach the initial mining level before crosscuts will be driven into the vein and bulk sampling can begin, the Canadian gold junior said.

The former Mon mine produced 15,000 tonnes of ore grading 30 g/t from a folded quartz vein. Recent and historic drilling shows the vein continues to the planned depth and beyond with widths and grades similar to what was mined before.

Sixty North believes the A zone is similar to the Discovery mine, located 45 km to the north, where a million tonnes of ore yielded the same number of gold in ounces from a marginally smaller vein.

CEO Dave Webb said: “We are well positioned to take advantage of the recent record high gold prices, with our potential for early gold production.

“Our next two milestones to production are within reach – the completion of the underground development with bulk sampling of the vein, and once grade and tonnage are confirmed, installation and commissioning of the mill circuit.”

The company holds permits for both mining and milling at Mon.

The Guinea government announced on Tuesday that shareholders involved in Simandou have signed $15 billion in financing agreements for the iron ore project.

The accords provide funds for rail and port infrastructure that Compagnie du Trans-Guinéen — a joint venture 15% owned by the Guinean government and 42.5% equally by a Rio Tinto group with Chinese investors and China-backed Winning Consortium Simandou — will build.

The signing occurred on April 2 after approvals came from the country’s transitional parliament and Chinese regulators, Guinea’s presidential office said in a statement on X.

“Simandou is no longer a dream but a reality,” Djiba Diakite, head of the strategic committee who led the talks, said in the statement. “There is no doubt that the project will be delivered on schedule by the end of December 2025.”

In February, Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm said that the company’s board had given the green light to the project in West Africa.

Set to be the world’s largest and highest-grade new iron ore mine, the project will add around 5% to the global seaborne supply when it comes online.

The project has long been the subject of prolonged negotiations due to its complex ownership structure, delays caused by legal disputes, Guinea’s political changes and construction challenges.

Rio Tinto plans to invest $6.2 billion in Simandou.

(With files from Bloomberg)

Posted by John Donovan 9 April 2024

In a move with the City of London quaking in its well-polished brogues, former Shell honcho Ben van Beurden has sounded the alarm bells, warning that the company’s valuation in London compared to the Big Apple is a “major issue.”

Speaking from the Financial Times Global Commodity Summit in Switzerland, van Beurden lamented that Shell, the heavyweight champ of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) with a market cap of £118 billion, is being shamelessly undervalued. Cue the tiny violins!

With Shell’s share price soaring to an all-time high of £2,832 per share, you’d think they’d be popping champagne corks in the boardroom. But no, van Beurden insists they’re “massively undervalued” and eyeing up the land of opportunity across the pond.

Why, you ask? Well, according to van Beurden, the US is the promised land where oil giants frolic in higher stock valuations, bask in the warm embrace of friendly investors and have a golden ticket to unlimited capital. Meanwhile, poor old Europe is left sucking on the exhaust fumes of its disdain for conventional energy.

But wait, there’s more! Current Shell CEO Wael Sawan, ever the trendsetter, chimed in to echo van Beurden’s sentiments. In an interview with Bloomberg Opinion, Sawan declared the London exchange as “undervalued,” painting a picture of despair akin to a Shakespearean tragedy.

“I have a location that seems to be undervalued,” Sawan bemoaned, sounding more like a woeful protagonist than a high-flying CEO.

And if you thought this tale couldn’t get any more dramatic, think again! Van Beurden dropped the bombshell that discussions about moving Shell’s listing to New York were already in the pipeline during his tenure. It’s like a soap opera with oil execs and shareholder drama instead of love triangles.

So, there you have it, folks. While Shell’s bigwigs wring their hands over their paltry valuation in London, spare a thought for the poor investors left scratching their heads. Because when it comes to the high-stakes game of corporate finance, it’s Shell’s world, and we’re all just living in it.

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