April 10th, 2024 - The Mine Wire

METALS MARKET

A very impressive week for metal commodities all around as silver, palladium and zinc saw strong gains with most metals showing gains of nearly 5% or more.

^{**For our chart above we are taking prices from Tuesday 4pm EST to Tuesday 4pm EST, so not the typical week of Monday through Friday.}

KEEPING AN EYE ON GOVERNMENT DECISIONS

With many forecasting significant demand for metals into the foreseeable future, governments are all over the place with their policies. Here are some of the notable moves this week. We saw a lot of news out of Canada, due to the large PDAC conference:

• 🇺🇸 The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management announced $75 million for a project to develop a Critical Minerals Supply Chain Research Facility.

• 🇺🇸 The U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) unveiled a final rule last week that reverses prior Trump administration policy and allows coal communities to more easily appeal to the federal government to hold mine operators accountable for environmental violations.

• 🇺🇸 Oregon’s Govenor Tina Kotek, signed a bill April 4 that directs the Oregon State Treasury to end new state investments in thermal coal and phase out existing holdings in coal stocks.

• 🇺🇸 The United States Institute of Peace came out with a report titled “Critical Minerals in Africa: Strengthening Security, Supporting Development, and Reducing Conflict amid Geopolitical Competition.” The report has 13 recommendations for the United States to follow to build a win/win relationship with African nations.

• 🇲🇽 🇪🇨 Mexico breaks off relations with Ecuador, after the latter stormed Mexico’s embassy in Quito this past week to arrest the former Ecuadorian Vice President who was convicted of corruption. Mexico had granted the former Vice President asylum only days before.

• 🇸🇦 The Saudi Arabian government announced six new mining investment opportunities for local and international investors.

• 🇯🇴 His Majesty King Abdullah directed the government to facilitate the Arab Potash company’s (APC) projects in water and energy, including solar power initiatives, to enhance competitiveness in global markets. The King and government have publicly recognized the importance of the mining and mineral sector to the nation.

• 🇸🇳 Senegal’s newly elected President, a tax inspector, declared that the government will do an audit on the oil, gas and mining sectors. The President also took a step to ensure foreign investors that they are welcome in the country and their rights would be protected along with the rights of the people.

• 🇧🇼 🇦🇴 🇳🇦 Botswana, Angola and Namibia sent a letter to the G7 nations asking for a reversal of the initiative requiring all diamond producers to send their gems to Belgium for certification.

• 🇹🇭 The governor of the Samut Sakhon province in Thailand declared two disaster zones after 15,000 tonnes of cadmium waste were discovered at two foundry sites.

• 🇻🇳 Vietnam's top miner Vinacomin plans to invest 182 trillion dong ($7.3 billion) to ramp up its alumina-aluminium production to meet the country's rising demand for the metal, according to the government.

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MINING MATTERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

• Trans-Tasman Resources Limited, a subsidiary of Manuka Resources, put out a statement on April 8th, saying it had been invited to apply for the fast-track consenting process in New Zealand. A day later the Infrastructure Minister said the company was “being misleading” as a generic letter went out to hundreds of companies to apply for the program.

• The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that it will award Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (2330.TW) a $6.6 billion subsidy to build advanced semiconductors in Phoenix, Arizona. It will also allow the company to access up to $5 billion in low-cost government loans.

• The Greenbushes lithium mine in Western Australia delivered a $6.28 billion profit in 2023. IGO and Tianqi Lithium currently share a 49 per cent stake in Greenbushes, with Albemarle owning the remainder.

• Tesla has cancelled or at least delayed their plans for a low-cost EV as Musk believes they can’t compete with Chinese manufacturers. Former CEO Martin Eberhard called it a mistake and that it would be a better investment than trying to compete in the gigantic truck space.

• Windsor Salt mine in Canada has been put on idle with dozens of layoffs due to warmer weather this season. The mine produces road salt which isn’t needed when the weather is mild.

• Congrats to Freeport-McMoRan who had an impressive 24.4% increase to its stock in March. On Tuesday a number of miners on the TSX saw solid daily gains after a Scotiabank analyst made a number of upgrades.

• A proposed mine near the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia has been a hot local topic for some time. But now Leonardo Di Caprio has weighed in with his opposition of the project. Stay tuned for how this plays out.

MINING BITS

• 🇭🇰 Authorities in Hong Kong seized over $10 million in gold disguised as machine parts. The gold was headed to Japan and was molded to look like parts of an air compressor.

• ☠️ Hemorrhoids gone wrong - a woman in California who ordered hemorrhoid cream from Vietnam through family, ended up with a fatal amount of lead poisoning.

• 🇸🇻 The Guardian takes a look at the battle between environmentalists and President Bukele’s government, as it potentially moves to overturn a ban on mining for metals in the country.

• 🇲🇬 The law firm Leigh Day is helping rural villagers in Madagascar bring a case against Rio Tinto in the UK courts. They claim the mining giant contaminated local lakes and waterways that resulted in lead poisoning.

• 🇵🇭 France24 looks at the booming Nickel industry in The Philippines. With the 2nd largest reserves in the world, the country is moving quickly to grow its operations and exports but locals are opposed and question its impact on the environment. More evidence of the need for a “Clean Nickel” category?

• 💻 The rise of artificial intelligence could lead to an additional million metric ton copper deficit by 2030 as more data centers and energy are needed to fuel the growth. There is already expected to be a 4 to 5 million metric ton deficit so this will only add to the pain.

• 🇯🇵 Researchers at the Institute for Chemical Reaction Design and Discovery (ICReDD) at Hokkaido University have discovered that when plastic bags are thrown into a ball mill, their chemical bonds break apart, creating radicals - basically the ability to turn plastic waste into something useful.

• 🇹🇼 Taiwanese music celebrity and blockchain personality Machi Big Brother sold $40 million worth of a meme coin in a presale, only for it to fall nearly 75% during its opening.

• 💊 Magnesium is all the rage these days on social media. Low magnesium intake leads to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, inflammation, heart disease, stroke, migraine headaches, asthma, and colon cancer. Most of the social media hype relates to better and longer sleep although the data is inconclusive. Still we recommend a regular dose of pumpkin seeds, almonds or other magnesium rich foods to make sure you are living your best healthy life.

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