Gra-fight! | Climate and mining news round-up #49
Gra-fight! | Climate and mining news round-up #49
China and US wield exports as weapons in a graphite fight. Chinese companies linked to violence at overseas projects. Western companies chasing after foreign licenses.
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.
Gra-fight!
China caused a stir last Friday when it announced tighter controls on exports of graphite. The material forms the inert carbon on the anode side of the majority of lithium-ion batteries. (Cathodes, often made up of cobalt and nickel, have historically received more attention in the press.) By weight, it makes up the largest share of any material in a battery, and China dominates of the world’s supply of natural and synthetic graphite. Both kinds, from December onward, will need export permits.
Two geopolitical moves preceded this one: In July, China restricted exports of gallium and germanium, two materials mined as byproducts and used in silicon chips. Then, the US curbed exports of its own “advanced artificial intelligence” semiconductor chips, aiming to restrict use in China’s military.
Further reading:
China ups critical minerals heat with graphite controls (Commentary by Andy Home for Reuters)
Tesla needs graphite. Alaska has plenty. But mining it raises fears in nearby villages. (Alaska Public Media)
African conflict zone may supply key U.S. battery material (E&E News)
Graphite buyers to boost imports ahead of China’s curbs – analysts (Reuters)
Miners race to realise graphite projects as China controls exports (Reuters)
US steps up efforts to access Africa’s critical minerals [including graphite] (Bloomberg)
Backgrounder from me: The ‘other side’ of batteries
News round-up in mining for the climate
A court ordered government agencies and nickel mining companies to address Indigenous communities’ concerns about forest destruction in the Philippines.
Residents of Kolwezi, DRC report insufficient compensation, pollution and poor living conditions as a Chinese company relocates them to build a cobalt mine.
A Chinese copper mine in Myanmar, which as for years poisoned farmland and promoted violent crackdowns on protest, has allowed the country’s junta military to use the mine as a base to raid nearby towns and kill civilians. Reportedly, the military has also trained militia members to guard the mine and evicted villagers for the company.
A Chinese miner in Laos held 50 villagers hostage, allegedly beating them, after it accused them of illegal gold mining. After keeping villagers who couldn’t pay a fine to the company in a cell, they were released to the police.
A Chinese potash (fertilizer) company is expanding operations after it rushed through a feasibility study, taking over nearby farmland and residences and offering little to no compensation.
A worker at a Chinese nickel smelter in Indonesia died after it caught fire.
A leaked document led to allegations that a Chinese copper miner in Serbia is violating local labor laws with unreasonable punishments for small infractions.
An Australian agency recommended that a mining company based there would need to obtain consent for Indigenous communities near its planned copper and gold mine in Papua New Guinea.
Federal prosecutors in Brazil said that an Indigenous community in the Amazon was misled regarding a planned Canadian potash mine. However, the judge ruled in favor of the company in the case over Indigenous land demarcation.
Mexico’s Environment Department found that a 2014 spill from a copper tailings dam was the result of poor design.
In South Africa, a company seeking to resurrect a copper mine has met opposition from nearby residents who worry about the return of pollution.
Civil society organizations urged Vale shareholders to pressure the company to address human rights concerns at Indonesia’s oldest nickel mine.
The Turkish owner of a gold mine in Liberia faces a class action lawsuit over its management of cyanide pollution.
A regional agreement to establish a moratorium on deep-sea mining is likely to halt the advance of a Canadian project in Papua New Guinea’s waters.
The European Commission voted to pass the draft of the world-first Critical Raw Materials Act with some amendments to boost human rights and other adjustments that miss opportunities to do the same. Activists also responded to the cote, saying “Stop selling people and nature to the mining.”
After a deadly clash between small-scale gold miners and Colombia’s military, human rights groups have called for an investigation.
An Australian company received a mining lease to start lithium production in Ghana.
New data reveal forests totaling the size of New York City have been cut down for nickel mining in Indonesia.
A Canadian company is asking the US state of Maine to rezone 400 acres for its copper and zinc plans.
Marine scientists discover evidence of high biodiversity in an area where a mining company plans to dispose waste.
Uganda granted an Australian company a license to mine rare earth elements. (Press release doesn’t mention which elements, but that they can be used for magnets.)
Australian Lynas will curtail its rare earth operations in Malaysia, following growing concerns about radiation and government talks of export controls.
A lithium project in Portugal is colliding with local, communal ownership of land.
Nigeria is preparing new rules for lithium extraction in preparation for an expected rush for the mineral.
Canada’s Teck Resources faces fines for failing to comply with conditions set out in its environmental permit.
Plans to build a 200-mile road in Alaska to access minerals will likely have widespread environmental and social harms, according to the federal government.
Reports and Research
A study found water pollution from mining metals affects at least 23 million people worldwide, mostly from abandoned mines.
General reports on minerals for clean energy: Zero Emission Transportation Association and Center for American Progress.
Oxfam’s policy brief Recharging Community Consent interrogated mining policies, finding approaches to free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) have “significant limitations.”
The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre has put together a resource for Indigenous-owned renewable energy projects, some of which relate to extraction.
A briefing from Transport and Environment offers guidance for Europe to create safe local production of nickel.
A mapping project from the Monitoring of the Amazon Project found dozens of instances of illegal mining across the rainforest.
Data gathered by Marine Sand Watch suggest that underwater sand mining is a problem much larger than previously thought, and impacts not fully understood.
Reads
≠ endorsement
South Africa’s tailings dams – ticking time bombs? (Mining Review Africa)
Downstream Industries (Phenomenal World)
Rocky road for critical minerals (me for PV Magazine)
It’s Long Past Time to Rewrite Outdated US Mining Laws (Sierra Magazine)
‘It’s a real mess’: Mining and deforestation threaten unparalleled DRC wildlife haven (Mongabay)
The China-West Lithium Tango in South America (The Diplomat)
Norway, a New Mining Nation? (PRIO Blogs)
China is set to dominate the deep sea and its wealth of rare metals (Washington Post)
Canada wants to be a global leader in critical minerals. Why is Australia eating our lunch? (Globe and Mail)
‘We were not consulted’: Native Americans fight lithium mine on site of 1865 massacre (Guardian)
The fall of China’s “manganese king” may hit global EV supply chains (The Economist)