#ClimateGoesMetal news round-up
Are we allowed to start a hashtag?
Climate technologies require enormous amounts of metal. I’m Ian Morse, and this is Green Rocks, a newsletter that doesn’t want dirty mining to ruin clean energy.
Be sure to check out last week’s interview with the head of a fishers’ forum in Indonesia on the expansion of tin mining on his island.
The UNHCR called on a copper miner in Mexico to give full compensation to the thousands of victims of a toxic waste spill in 2014.
A US project to mine antimony (some may be made into batteries) in Idaho is beginning to establish its supply chain, banking on a clean energy promise.
The first rare earths producer in Canada is an Australian company that recently bought up two more projects there.
Chile approved a copper-iron project that had been the center of permitting controversy for several years.
Canada’s environment ministry green-lighted the Rose lithium-tantalum project in Quebec, assuming it upholds conditions for damage mitigation.
Scientists called out Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a mining exploration group financed by Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Michael Bloomberg, for threatening Arctic ecosystems.
Tighter energy consumption policies in Mongolia may squeeze graphite supply for other countries, according to Roskill.
Copper mining companies in Chile are restricting production due to concerns about water supply.
Industry players are worried about Afghanistan’s minerals as the Taliban takes over.
Volvo has bought the first shipment of steel produced with hydrogen instead of coal and coke. Steel production emits almost 10% of global GHGs.
Australian and Chinese companies are said to be likely investors in turning part of Indonesian Borneo into a industrial nickel hotspot.
The EU, similar to the US, is seeking specialized expertise to develop a domestic supply of powerful rare earth magnets for EV motors.
Greenland Minerals, which targeted a rare earths/uranium mine in the Danish territory, will not engage in further project consultation, due to ‘safety concerns’.
Protests continue against the Rio Tinto lithium project in Serbia, which is set to become an entirely new source of lithium. Opposition has noted local corruption, insufficient information about damage mitigation, and water sources that have already been contaminated.
Dust from iron ore mines owned by BHP are impairing health in Western Australia, according to a union, and an environmental regulator began a review of the threat of respiratory illness.
Bolivia approved nine companies to carry out pilot tests on extracting lithium from what some believe could be the most lucrative deposits in the world.
Tesla is set to test a blockchain method with Re|Source to trace the minerals it manufacturers into batteries.
Rio Tinto has yet to compensate the Aboriginal owners of the ancient rock shelters it destroyed last year.
An expert group assessing Rio Tinto’s copper operation in Mongolia found the controversial cost overruns were a result of the company’s mismanagement.
North Carolina imposed a temporary mining moratorium to give it time to assess whether a lithium mine requires additional permits.
The DRC is investigating offers of infrastructure-for-minerals deals from Chinese companies.
A Nevada judge is set to rule on Native Americans’ request to halt a lithium mine.
A bill that would force copper companies to pay high taxes has cleared another major hurdle in Chile’s legislature.
Chile outlined plans to cut mines’ water use and boost traceability in the coming decades.
‘Conflict minerals’ — which include tin, tungsten and tantalum — are not the cause of conflict, but are rather symptoms of structural violence fueled by poverty and poor governance, according to a report highlighting mining the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A report found that cases of Covid-19 were higher in areas of Brazil where mining is present.
Reads
≠endorsement
Lithium fuels hopes for revival on California’s largest lake (Associated Press)
Battery pioneer Akira Yoshino on Tesla, Apple and the electric future (Reuters)
The Observer view on the pros and cons of deep-sea mining (The Observer)
Is deep-sea mining a cure for the climate crisis or a curse? (The Observer)
America's Security May Depend On Critical Minerals. But Mine Workers Are Scarce (NPR)
A Massive Landslide Sends a Wake-Up to BC’s Mining Sector (The Tyee)
With free education, Congo's child miners swap hammers for books (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
Underwater mining threatens Mexican waters (China Dialogue)
Electric cars and batteries: how will the world produce enough? (Nature)
The big tech quest to find the metals needed for the energy overhaul (MIT Tech Review)
Millions of electric car batteries will retire in the next decade. What happens to them? (The Guardian)
Saturday read: Battery recycling and material uncertainty (Me for PV Magazine)