Hypervine, the Scottish cleantech innovator leveraging satellite imagery and data analytics, is set to announce the launch of its unlimited satellite survey service for the mining industry. The service, built through its partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) and leveraging NASA’s resources, marks a pivotal moment in global mining operations and data analysis – absolutely vital for all key stakeholders across the mining industry’s supply chain, from investment and wealth managers to the sustainability specialists on the ground.  Unlike traditional survey methodologies, Hypervine ..read more

Lithium production from Africa is projected to triple in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. In 2023, the region contributed 4% to global lithium production, but this year it’s expected to reach 10% of the global supply. This significant surge is largely due to increased Chinese investment in the continent. Chinese companies hold a virtual monopoly on lithium extraction in Africa, with over 90% of the continent’s projected lithium supply for this decade stemming from projects partly owned by Chinese entities, as estimated by Benchmark Mineral Intel ..read more

Global miner BHP (ASX: BHP) (NYSE: BHP) revealed on Thursday that the first phase of its massive potash mine in Saskatchewan, Canada, is ahead of schedule and near the halfway point of completion at 44%. Located 140 km east of Saskatoon, the Jansen project is set to become one of the world’s largest producers of potash, a commodity considered to be a pillar of future growth for the company. It also represents the single largest private economic investment in the province’s history. BHP speeds up Jansen project in Saskatchewan despite falling potash prices Since giving the project its go-ahea ..read more

Rare earth miner NioCorp Developments (TSX: NB) plans to start a research project to evaluate the feasibility of recycling rare earth permanent magnets.  This effort would be part of the company’s proposed Elk Creek critical minerals project in southeast Nebraska, United States. NioCorp believes the research could improve the sustainability and strategic significance of Elk Creek. The initiative will focus on creating a process to efficiently convert used neodymium-iron-boron magnets into separated rare earth oxides for new magnet production.  “The process flow sheet that we hav ..read more

Saudi Arabia is said to be close to reaching a deal to acquire a minority stake in Pakistan’s $7 billion Reko Diq copper and gold mine, controlled by Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX)(NYSE:GOLD). According to Bloomberg, the kingdom’s investment fund Manara Minerals intends to invest close to $1 billion in the project and it may announce a preliminary agreement on the transaction terms within weeks. The Saudi company might gradually raise its stake in Reko Diq, in which the government of Pakistan has a 25% interest and the province of Balochistan has the remaining 25%.  Discussions are at a very earl ..read more

The United States Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) launched a series of fee-based grants totalling more than $124.8 million, available through fiscal year 2024 to states and tribes for abandoned mine land (AML) reclamation efforts. In a media statement, OSMRE explained that AML fee-based grants are funded, in part, by a fee collected on all coal produced in the United States.  “The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law reauthorized and extended the AML fee through September 30, 2034, ensuring AML fee-based grants to states and tribes through 2035,” the brief reads. “In ..read more

The US Department of Labor announced Tuesday that its Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has issued a final rule to better protect the nation’s miners from health hazards associated with exposure to respirable crystalline silica, also known as silica dust or quartz dust.   The final rule lowers the permissible exposure limit of respirable crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air for a full-shift exposure, calculated as an 8-hour time-weighted average. If a miner’s exposure exceeds the limit, the final rule requires mine operators to take immediat ..read more

Western Copper and Gold (TSX: WRN; NYSE: WRN) is making a C$40 million($29m) upsized bought deal offer that will be spent at its Casino copper-gold-molybdenum project 150 km northwest of Carmacks and 300 km northwest of Whitehorse, in Canada’s Yukon Territory. The company has an arrangement with Eight Capital, on behalf of a syndicate of underwriters, who have collectively agreed to purchase approximately 21.1 million common shares of Western at a price of $1.90 per share. The underwriters have been granted a 15% overallotment. The offer is expected to close about April 30, 2024. The Casino pr ..read more

O3 Mining (TSXV: OIII; OTCQX: OIIIF) has received partial assays – including a bonanza 119.1 g/t gold over 2.5 metres – from the Malartic H area within the wholly owned Marban Alliance project between Malartic and Val d’Or, Quebec. Highlights of recent assays from the Malartic H area include the following: 119.1 g/t gold over 2.5 metres, including 298.0 g/t over 1.0 metre at a vertical depth of 114.2 metres. 80.6 g/t gold over 3.1 metres, including 411.0 g/t over 0.6 metre at a vertical depth of 33.6 metres. 1.9 g/t gold over 40.6 metres at a vertical depth of 77.6 metres. “Malartic H contin ..read more

Several arrests have been made and 19 charges laid in what police have called a “daring theft, the single-largest gold heist in Canadian history,” CBC News reported on Wednesday. Police said among those charged are two men who worked for Air Canada and allegedly played key roles in the theft of some C$22.5 million in gold and cash from Toronto Pearson International Airport last spring, according to the CBC. Canada’s national police force investigated the heist last April at the country’s busiest airport that may have netted thieves more than C$20 million ($14.8 million) in gold taken from a ca ..read more