Mining Cost Blowouts Intensify Inflationary Concerns Liontown Resources, an Adelaide-based mining company, projected the Kathleen Valley lithium mine to cost $300 million two years ago. Today, this estimate has doubled. With contractors raising their charges by 30% and a persistent labor shortage in Australia’s mining sector since the Covid-19 outbreak, wages have surged. Tony Ottaviano, Liontown’s CEO, remarked on the...
International Relations Amid Domestic Unrest Guinea, under the rule of Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya and his junta, is in the midst of intense international and domestic scrutiny. The junta, which seized power in 2021, has strategically maintained relations with global powers while simultaneously dealing with internal opposition with an iron hand. Chinese Investment and Economic Interests China’s deepening economic ties in...
See full Global Zinc Market Infographic here Zinc prices have been on a downward trend since January, following the sharp rises seen in 2022. This trend is not encouraging for zinc producers in Europe, who are already struggling with high electricity costs. In other regions of the world, the situation is different, but also ambiguous. In the depths of Spain...
Metallurgy has evolved from a highly conservative industry to one of the most innovative and high-tech in the world. Here’s an overview of how Russian companies’ R&D efforts are structured and what they’re working on. A pivot to innovation Metallurgy and mining have historically been considered conservative industries. The first decade of the 21st century saw a significant increase in...
Chile’s state mining corporation, Codelco, is preparing for a new era under the leadership of incoming CEO Ruben Alvarado. His tenure, set to commence on September 1, carries the substantial responsibilities of reviving copper production, curbing escalating costs, and spearheading Chile’s foray into lithium, a vital battery metal. Alvarado, a veteran chemical engineer, initially joined Codelco as a graduate in...
Ural Construction Union is about to launch a copper ore mining project in Kazakhstan. This is another boom in the creation of small companies in Kazakhstan to develop smaller deposits of the red metal. And this is not the first in the non-ferrous metallurgy of Russia’s neighbour. Western players The pioneer of Kazakhstan’s small-scale non-ferrous metallurgy is the British company...
Aluminium prices are facing considerable challenges in 2023, as indicated by reports from Australia’s Office of the Chief Economist and research agency BMI. The ongoing weakness in global demand is expected to prevent a recovery in aluminium prices this year. Projections suggest a year-on-year decline of 13% in the London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminium spot price for 2023, largely influenced...
Scientists from the V.I. Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences (GEOKHI RAS) have developed a method to eliminate iron and other metals from low-grade aluminum raw materials, resulting in a product that meets industrial requirements. This breakthrough technique enables the extraction of aluminum from nepheline (a byproduct of ore mining), which is abundant...
Net long positions in copper on the London Metals Exchange (LME) have surged to a six-month peak, partially driven by dwindling Chinese copper inventory figures. However, industry insiders assert that this often-bullish signal does not necessarily align with the actual market conditions. China, the world’s largest consumer of copper, currently maintains a combined inventory of 110,314 metric tonnes across the...
A technological revolution is underway in the segment of the mining industry that is closely linked to metallurgy — working methods that have remained unchanged for decades and centuries are giving way to new ones. Before our very eyes, robots are becoming human assistants and polluting industries are being transformed into clean ones. A number of trends are changing the...
