A Missouri University of Science and Technology professor has been awarded $875,000 from Rio Tinto for a two-year project researching new techniques to recover critical minerals in the waste byproducts that come from extracting and refining copper.  Dr. Lana Alagha, a Robert H. Quenon Associate Professor of Mining Engineering and one of her former Ph.D. students, Dr. Mostafa Khodakarami, were recently awarded patents for  chemicals which Alagha says will work well due to their ability to effectively separate specific components from the materials.    “Our project ..read more

Russia’s worst floods in decades sparked fears that radioactive and chemical pollution from Soviet-era uranium mines in the Kurgan region could seep into the Tobol River in western Siberia. As reported by the investigative news outlet Agentstvo, the Dobrovolnoye uranium deposit is located within the flood zone in Kurgan’s Zverinogolovsky district. Its mines are operated by an enterprise owned by state nuclear energy agency Rosatom. The hundreds or even thousands of mine wells drilled into the deposit have compromised the natural protective barrier surrounding the uranium ore, Alexei Shvarts, t ..read more

Probe Gold (TSX: PRB) says it continued to intersected high gold grades during drilling at the Monique deposit, part of the Novador project near Val d’Or, Quebec. Intersections occurred from under and inside the modelled Monique gold zone from surface to a depth of 450 metres. Infill drilling confirmed gold zones inside and under the potential pit outline with up to 23.1 g/t gold over 3.1 metres, 8.3 g/t over 4 metres, and 1.5 g/t over 20 metres. Expansion drilling within and around the Monique conceptual pit cut up to 3.4 g/t gold over 16 metres, 4.2 g/t over 14.7 metres, and 1.8 metres over ..read more

TMC the metals company Inc. (Nasdaq: TMC) announced on April 23 that the world’s first nickel sulphate derived exclusively from seafloor polymetallic nodules has been recovered. The sulphate was generated during bench-scale testing of a hydrometallurgical flowsheet in partnership with SGS Canada. Undertaken on samples of nickel-cobalt-copper matte produced by TMC in 2021, the extractive metallurgy team at SGS tested TMC’s flowsheet that processes high-grade nickel matte directly to nickel sulphate without making nickel metal. The process produces fertilizer by-products instead of solid waste o ..read more

Shares of Endeavour Silver Corp. (NYSE: EXK; TSX: EDR) rose on Tuesday as the company announced that its new Terronera mine in Jalisco state, Mexico, has surpassed the 50% completion mark. The commissioning of the mine is expected in Q4 2024, with an anticipated 10-year mine life. The capital expenditure (capex) is $271 million, up by less than 20% from earlier estimates. The Terronera project is situated within the Sierra Madre volcanic belt, which hosts most of Mexico’s silver and gold deposits. Both the Terronera and La Luz underground deposits will be mined using a combination of long hol ..read more

JP Morgan and UBS were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisers by total deal value in the metals & mining sector during the first quarter of 2024, according to UK-based analytics firm GlobalData. The two banks jointly occupied the top position in GlobalData’s latest financial advisers league table (see below), with each of them advising on $2.2 billion worth of deals. Aurojyoti Bose, lead analyst at GlobalData, said their involvement in the $2.2 billion Alcoa-Alumina M&A deal helped these two firms top the chart by value. They were followed by Bank of Americ ..read more

Jersey-based Metals Acquisition (NYSE: MTAL; ASX: MAC) has updated its mineral resource count for the first time since the company acquired the CSA copper mine from Glencore in a $1.1 billion deal last year. The CSA mine, whose name stands for ‘Cornish, Scottish and Australia’ after the nationalities of its first owners, is one of Australia’s longest operating copper mines with a history stretching back almost 150 years. It is located 11 kilometres northwest of Cobar, in central-western New South Wales. The new update comes after roughly 10 months of ownership by MAC, a former special purpose ..read more

Research by the University of California, Davis found that trains carrying loads of coal bring with them higher rates of asthma, heart disease, hospitalization and death for residents living nearest the rail lines. People of colour, as well as young, old, or low-income residents, are affected the most. The study, published in the journal Environmental Research, focuses on the San Francisco Bay Area and is the first-ever health impact assessment of coal train pollution. While centred on East Bay neighbourhoods, the study has implications for communities living alongside pass ..read more

Anglo American (LON: AAL) reported an 11% increase in its copper output for the first three months of the year, but cut its 2024 production guidance for diamonds, as its inventory levels remain high in slow recovery market. The mining giant said it produced 198,000 tonnes of copper in the period, thanks mainly to the Quellaveco mine in Peru achieving its highest throughput rate. In Chile, where the company has the bulk of it copper operations, production rose 6%, with Collahuasi and El Soldado mines more than compensating for a weaker quarter at Los Bronces. Anglo’s copper output for the year ..read more

Miners Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) and Eramet (EPA: ERA), along with battery maker LG Energy, were among 30 companies from 12 countries that presented plans to develop lithium extraction technology in Chile’s salt flats, responding to a cal from state-run mining company Enami. The tender process, kicked off in early March, sought to help Enami choose the best approach to develop untouched salt flats in northern Chile, particularly “Salares Altoandinos” project, spans about 100 square miles in the Atacama region. “It is crucial for Enami to learn about processes that contribute to the ..read more