BHP (ASX: BHP) has taken a key step towards its goal of reaching net-zero by 2050 after receiving the first of five LNG-powered carriers to transport iron ore from Australia’s Port Hedland to Asia.

The 299-metre long Mt. Tourmaline Newcastlemax ore carrier was built by Eastern Pacific Shipping in China and stopped off in Singapore to take on LNG fuel. It will next head to Port Hedland in Western Australia to load iron ore that will then be shipped to customers in China.

The world’s largest miner said that introducing LNG-powered ships would eliminate nitrogen oxide and sulphur oxide emissions and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 30% per trip.

BHP has inked several agreements in the past year with some of the world’s largest steel mills to co-operate on low carbon technologies, including Japan’s JFE Steel, South Korea’s Posco, as well as Baowu and HBIS in China.

“This is not small. Together these four steel mills account for 12 per cent of global steelmaking. Whatever the future landscape will be in steelmaking, we will be part of that,” BHP chief commercial officer Vandita Pant said.

While the vessel can also still burn traditional very low sulphur fuel oil, BHP intends to use LNG to power Mt. Tourmaline as much as possible, said Pant.

Hardest to tackle

Scope 3 emissions — those generated indirectly when consumers burn or process commodities produced by BHP — are undoubtedly the hardest to tackle, but they account for as much as 97% of BHP’s total, according to Market Forces executive director Julien Vincent.  They are also larger than Australia’s total emissions in 2019 of 532.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, so stakeholders were expecting more.

“The targets fall short of the ~42% reduction that would be required to align with a 1.5°C pathway from 2020 to 2030,” investors group Market Forces said. “Put simply, BHP has deliberately chosen not to meet the Paris Agreement’s ultimate aim of holding warming to 1.5°C.”

BHP is the top exporter of coking coal used in steelmaking and number three in iron ore, the raw material for steel.

The highly polluting process of making steel involves adding coking coal to iron ore to make the alloy and is responsible for up to 9% of global greenhouse emissions.

Last year, BHP invested in a start-up company seeking to develop less-polluting ways of making steel.

It also inked a deal with mining equipment giant Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) to speed up the development and deployment of zero-emissions mining trucks at BHP sites. 

The company has been working on cleaning up its portfolio by exiting thermal coal, divesting metallurgical coal assets, and increasing its exposure to what chief executive officer Mike Henry calls “future-facing commodities”. They include metals such as copper and nickel — key materials for the batteries and wiring that are key to the clean-energy transition.

UK and Australia-based researchers have identified the mechanism through which copper, cobalt, tellurium and platinum are passed from the earth’s mantle to the crust.

In a paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the scientists explain that they have discovered a ‘Goldilocks zone’ at the base of our planet’s crust where the temperature is just right at around 1000°C for metals to be transported to shallower levels near the surface, where they can be mined.

The main issue at hand is that most of these metals are primarily stored at depths of more than 25 km, making them inaccessible for exploitation. Yet in certain parts of the world, nature can bring them to the surface through the flow of liquid rock, known as magma, that originates in the earth’s mantle and rises upwards into the crust.

However, up until now the journey of metals to their final deposition site had been uncertain.

The study, thus, clarifies how a temperature-dependent zone, located at the base of the earth’s crust, acts as a valve and intermittently allows the metals to pass upwards to reach the upper crust.

“When magmas reach the base of the crust the critical metals often get trapped here and cannot reach the surface if the temperature is either too hot or too cold,” co-author Iain McDonald said in a media statement. “As with Goldilocks, we have discovered that if the temperature is ‘just right’ at around 1000°C, then metals like copper, gold and tellurium can escape the trap and rise up towards the surface to form ore deposits.”

In the view of McDonald and his colleagues, these findings can lead to more targeted, less costly, and more environmentally friendly practices to explore for and extract metals that are key to the manufacturing of renewable energy technologies.

Copper is a key commodity of the future, with demand forecast to outstrip supply over the next decade as the world ramps up the race to decarbonize and transition to a greener economy powered by renewable energy and electric cars.

The world’s top copper producers – Chile and Peru – have, over the past couple of years, seen political instability rise with new governments considering tax royalties that could threaten the economic viability of key copper mines, and consequently production, and community opposition to new projects based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk.

A new exploration company, CopperCorp Resources Inc. (TSX-V: CPER), was listed on the TSX this month, and is focused on copper exploration in Australia. 

Run by a management team made up of veteran mine-finders of the world’s majors with a wealth of experience and expertise – CopperCorp has US$11 million in funding out of the gate.

CopperCorp’s flagship asset is its 100%-owned Alpine copper project in the state of Tasmania, one of the world’s most stable and sustainable mining jurisdictions with a 150-year mining history. Tasmania’s number one source of revenue is mining and mineral projects.

“What interested me about Tasmania is the jurisdiction – it really does matter more than it ever used to,” says CopperCorp CEO Stephen Swatton, who has extensive international exploration experience with major mining companies.

“There are a lot of copper deposits in the world, but it is difficult to find large deposits in good jurisdictions,” Swatton says. “You go back to the jurisdictions you know, and make sure you’ve turned over every stone.” 

The company is currently drilling – with over 4,100 meters completed in 12 holes so far at Alpine, targeting Iron-Oxide-Copper-Gold (IOCG) deposits at a district scale. A National Instrument 43-101 resource report is pending.

This year CopperCorp also plans to drill at its nearby Skyline project in the same jurisdiction, and adjacent to critical infrastructure such as power grids and wind farms via sealed road access.

Swatton says the geology indicates higher grades at near surface, which can translate into a future mine with a smaller environmental footprint.

The Alpine project is within 30 kms of Grange Resources’ Savage River magnetite mine, within the same host rocks, and considered by geologists to be an IOA style deposit, a close relative of IOCG. 

“All the major companies would be eager to consider opportunities like Alpine,” says Swatton, “It is district-sized with the potential to host multiple mines in a safe jurisdiction, one that is powered by 100% renewable energy.”

“We’re drilling in and around there – that’s our starting point. We’re looking for multiple copper deposits around the whole district.”

The global resource is more than 600 million tonnes (mt) at 40% recoverable magnetite. Magnetite is a key indicator for finding IOCG deposits.

“This belt is a few hundred kilometers long from north to south,” says Swatton. “It’s in an area where there is a very large iron ore deposit – 600 million tonnes at 40% iron. The origin of that iron ore deposit has never been fully understood, but the reinterpretation is that the whole belt may have iron-oxide copper-gold.”

Swatton says there are a lot of prospects in that area that haven’t been looked at for many years, and the particular area CopperCorp is looking at now has been drilled in the past but has not been viewed as a district and interpreted as a whole.

“There are a few different types of copper deposits – the largest are porphyritic – and we’re looking at a reinterpretation of old rocks,” Swatton says.

“We’re aiming to secure as much of these prospective belts as possible. Alpine and Skyline are each large, district-wide plays, not just one asset.”

The preceding Joint-Venture Article is PROMOTED CONTENT sponsored by CopperCorp Resources Inc. and produced in cooperation with The Northern Miner.  Visit CopperCorp Resources Inc. for more information.

Vox Royalty (TSXV: VOX; OTC: VOXCF), which holds the second-largest mining royalty portfolio in Australia behind Franco Nevada, and has been tapped as the top company for projected revenue growth amongst its peers, has executed an agreement to acquire two world-class platinum group metals (PGM) royalties for $8.3 million (C$10.4m), expanding its portfolio of precious metals royalties.

They include a 1% royalty over the Dwaalkop project and a 0.7% gross royalty over the Messina project which collectively cover the full extent of the 36 million ounce Limpopo PGM project, operated by Sibanye Stillwater (JSE: SSW; NYSE: SBSW).

Limpopo was last successfully mined in 2009 via the existing Baobab shaft and concentrator, which are both still in place. Since the takeover of the Limpopo project in 2019, Sibanye initiated a strategic review process, including revising and updating the 2017 feasibility study in 2020 to assess an optimal development timeframe for the assets.

Due to the steep dip of the UG2 and Merensky Reefs, the project remains an attractive mechanization option, which fits well with strategic goals, Sibanye has said. Sibanye’s most recent 2020 study confirmed the financial viability of a near-term restart of Limpopo.

“This project came to us through what we’ve built up as our systematic advantage in the industry – our proprietary database – our deal sourcing agents around the world connecting the dots to find these unique and valuable acquisitions,” says CEO Kyle Floyd.

“This asset was one that we had identified and had been working on for months. It was one of those forgotten royalties of the last decade. Sibanye wound up acquiring Lonmin Plc, the company that previously operated this asset and paid the royalty,” Floyd says.

Vox’s edge is the information it obtains from the intellectual property contained in its global royalty database. Over the last ten years, Vox’s management has built the world’s largest proprietary database of over 8,000 global mining royalties. Vox uses that database to find ”under the radar”mining royalty opportunities, often in the unlikely hands of telecommunications, technology, or automotive companies.

“This royalty was created in 1998 – when this project was sold by a forgotten company called SouthernEra Resources Limited,” Floyd says.“SouthernEra was acquired by Lonmin – Lonmin was acquired by Sibanye Stillwater. People just lost track of this royalty. It was forgotten until now – surfaced by Vox deal agents working throughout South Africa and globally and vetted by the technical understanding of our team of geologists and mining engineers.”

“For us, this deal was very consistent with our theme of acquiring royalties, with very deep value, anywhere from one year to five years pre-production, with a de-risked plan to get back into production,” Floyd says.

“It’s very de-risked, in that it was an already producing asset, all of the existing infrastructure is in place, with a tremendous amount of capital already put in the ground. It has a US$10 billion operator that knows how to operate these assets as well as anyone. It checked every box for us.”

The acquisition provides exposure to an 18 million ounce 4E (platinum, palladium, rhodium, gold) Measured and Indicated PGM resource and a further 18 million ounce 4E Inferred PGM resource over a past-producing mine on the prolific Bushveld Igneous Complex. When the by-product credits from the copper, nickel and other secondary metals are included this resource hosts a total gold-equivalent resource of over 50 million ounces, a generational orebody.

It significantly increases Vox’s exposure to battery metals such as rhodium, copper and nickel contained within the resource – in 2007, Lonmin plc produced 73,600 ounces of PGMs, along with 752 tonnes of nickel and 513 tonnes of copper at the Limpopo mine.

“This is highly consistent with our strategy and our systematic advantages of finding forgotten royalties and in these cases we are able to truly delineate value through our due diligence review with our technical team, and surface the best value for shareholders,” Floyd says.

 “This is a generational acquisition for our business. Being able to check all those boxes to top it off – I don’t know that there’s been a royalty acquisition in the last decade where the royalty covered 50 million gold-equivalent resource ounces, certainly not at these prices,” Floyd adds.

“It’s a stunning acquisition from that standpoint. It’s what we’ve been communicating to investors we were going to be accomplishing all along. Our ability to connect all the dots and find this type of hidden value for shareholders is really unprecedented in the sector.”

The preceding Joint Venture Article is PROMOTED CONTENT sponsored by Vox Royalty Corp. and produced in co-operation with Canadian Mining Journal.  Visit Vox Royalty Corp. for more information.

Tanzanian Gold (TSX: TNX; NYSE: TRX) believes a three-pronged approach to developing its 2-million-ounce Buckreef project could lead to Tanzania’s next national mining success story, CEO Stephen Mullowney tells The Northern Miner. 

Situated about 45 km to the west of Barrick Gold’s (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) Bulyanhulu gold mine and nearly 35 km south from AngloGold Ashanti’s (NYSE: AU; JSE: ANG) flagship Geita mine in north-central Tanzania, Tanzanian Gold is looking to expand its current 360 tonnes per day processing plant to 1,000 tonnes per day by the end of the year, increasing the yield capacity from about 9,000 oz. of gold to more than 15,000 oz. per year.  

In the past year, subsidiary Buckreef Gold continued to operate the 5 tonnes per hour oxide test plant on the 1600-hectare property. It plans to apply the cash flow to expand its exploration program this year and to advance the metallurgical study of its sulphide development project. The company believes about 90% of Buckreef’s gold resource is held in sulphide material. 

“I don’t know many mining assets in this kind of a position,” Mullowney said in an interview. “There are many good projects, but they are funded from treasuries. We are getting in a position where we can fund it from operating cash. It’s not a large production, but it’s enough to do a lot of work.”  

In December, Buckreef produced 533 oz. of gold through its 360 tonnes per day processing plant. The two other ball mills required to upgrade the plant’s capacity to 1,000 tonnes per day have arrived in the port city of Dar es Salaam, which according to Mullowney, was the most time-consuming aspect of the expansion project.  

The world’s first mechanized development blast charging system, Avatel is set to enter Newcrest Mining’s (TSX: NCM; ASX: NCM) Cadia underground mine in the later half of 2022 as the first commercial trial in the world. 

Co-developed by Orica and Epiroc, Avatel is a first-of-its-kind semi-automated explosives delivery  system designed to remove people from harm’s way and drive productivity during underground development. The innovation enables a single operator to prepare and wirelessly charge a development face from within the safety of an enclosed cabin, while providing superior blast control and operational reliability with Orica and Epiroc’s flagship technologies. 

A critical enabler of Avatel is the second generation wireless initiation initiating system, WebGen 200, which will eliminate the need for wired connections and subsequent exposure to crews at the face, enabling continued and safe access, even in poor or seismic ground conditions, to accelerate the development cycle. 

“We are proud and excited that Newcrest have continued to place their trust in us by being the first site globally to trial Avatel,” said Orica chief technology officer Angus Melbourne. “They have provided invaluable advice throughout the design and development of the system, which we are truly grateful for. Together, we eagerly await the delivery of the first Avatel unit as it will herald the start of a new era for safer and productive underground development charging.”  

“We do expect teething issues as is common when deploying any new technology,” added Newcrest’s group manager for directional studies and innovation Tony Sprague. “However, it will  be well worth it if we can ensure our tunnel faces are charged with all human work completed from the safety and comfort of Avatel’s operator cabin.” 

Avatel is currently undergoing trials at Epiroc’s Kvantorp underground test mine in Sweden under controlled conditions before heading to Agnico Eagle’s Kittila mine in Finland to complete extended underground trials in the production environment.

Australia will receive the first commercial unit in the second half of 2022, with Canada following closely toward the end of the year.

Learn more about blasting at www.Orica.com.

Kirkland Lake Gold (TSX:  KL; NYSE: KL; ASX: KLA) ended its final quarter before its combination with Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM; NYSE: AEM) on a high note – with record production of 380,470 oz. gold achieved across its three operations.

The gold miner also posted record production for the year, with a total of 1.4 million oz. Revised guidance released in November called for between 1.35 million and 1.4 million oz. of gold 2021. 

The positive results were driven by record production at Kirkland’s Lake’s Detour Lake gold mine in Ontario and strong performance at its Fosterville mine in Australia. Detour Lake churned out nearly 211,000 oz. gold (up 38% from the last quarter of 2020) as mining hit some of the highest-grade areas in the mine plan and production benefited from mill enhancements completed during the year. 

Fosterville contributed 108,160 oz. gold in the quarter; Although down from 2020 production, the operation outperformed against expectations. It delivered 509,600 oz. for the year on higher grades (processing 677,899 tonnes at an average grade of 23.7 g/t) compared to guidance of 400,000 to 425,000 oz. gold.

The company’s Macassa mine in Ontario delivered 210,190 oz. gold for the year and 61,340 oz. for the quarter, up 17% from the same period of 2020. Production guidance for the mine was revised downward to 190,000 to 210,000 oz. in November, down from 220,000 to 255,000 oz. 

Macassa to fall short

Kirkland Lake president and CEO Tony Makuch, who will also head the combined company post-merger, noted that Detour Lake and Fosterville are both positioned to meet the three-year production guidance issued in December 2020. However, Macassa production is expected to fall short. 

“At Macassa, we are reviewing the operation to assess opportunities to incorporate Agnico Eagle’s Amalgamated Kirkland zone into the mine plan, to address ongoing performance and supply chain issues related to batteries and our battery-powered haul fleet, and to evaluate future plans for the near-surface ramp and mineralized zones,” Makuch said in a release. “Based on work to date, we expect a reduction in production in 2022 from levels included in our previously issued three-year guidance.” 

Three-year guidance figures released at the end of 2020 projected total production of 1.3 to 1.45 million oz. across all three operations in 2022, increasing to 1.4 to 1.55 million oz. in 2023. Updated guidance numbers, along with consolidated budget, will be released in late February, after the merger with Agnico closes (expected in late January to mid-February). 

Makuch also noted that the company is dealing with a reduced workforce at all its operations due to Covid-19 as the Omicron variant continues to spread quickly. (An Omicron-fuelled outbreak prompted Agnico Eagle to ramp down operations at its Nunavut mines in December.) However, he said it is too soon to know if the disruption will have any effect on production.

The company completed sinking the #4 Shaft at Macassa this month to a depth of 1,950 metres (6,400 ft.). Additional work, including construction of the loading pocket and other infrastructure development, and connection of the shaft to current operations, is on track to be completed by the end of the year. 

Kirkland Lake had success expanding resources at Detour Lake and with exploration at Fosterville last year. 

For more information, visit www.klgold.com.

BHP (ASX, LON, NYSE: BHP) is buying four battery electric trains to transport iron ore from its mines to ports in Western Australia, following in the footsteps of its main local rivals Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) and Fortescue Metals Group (ASX: FMG) .

The world’s biggest listed miner said the locomotives, scheduled for delivery in late 2023, will be supplied by US-based Progress Rail, a unit of Caterpillar, and rail technology firm Wabtec Corp.

BHP will test the battery-electric locomotives’ performance and emissions reduction capabilities in delivering iron-ore from its Pilbara mines to the Port Hedland export facility.

The deal will help the miner achieve its goal of net zero emissions by 2050 for its customers, including the heavily polluting steel industry. The industry is responsible for as much as 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions and about three quarters of BHP’s scope 3 emissions. 

BHP will also test unique “energy recapture” opportunities using the rail network’s natural topography to further reduce the trains’ overall power demand.

On the way to port, locomotives can capture energy that would otherwise be lost from braking on downhill slopes. They can then use that energy to help power empty trains back to the Pilbara.

A fully-laden BHP WA Iron Ore train typically comprises four diesel-electric locomotives pulling approximately 270 cars carrying a total of 38,000 tonnes of iron ore, BHP noted.

“Replacing diesel-powered vehicles with electric technology is a key part of our plans to reduce operational emissions, as is partnering with a broad range of global equipment manufacturers and technology providers,” BHP group procurement officer James Agar, said in the statement

“Rail is the fundamental link in our pit-to-port value chain, and the power required to deliver fully-laden iron ore wagons from the Pilbara to Port Hedland is significant,” BHP Asset President Western Australia Iron Ore, Brandon Craig, added.

A full transition to battery-electric locomotives would reduce the company’s iron ore diesel-related carbon emissions in Western Australia by nearly 30% annually, it added.

Today’s announcement follows recent BHP partnerships with Caterpillar and Komatsu to develop zero emissions haul trucks, and separate agreements for renewable energy supply contracts at its Escondida, Queensland coal mines, Nickel West and Olympic Dam operations as well as a solar farm at Nickel West.

Hexagon AB, a global leader in digital reality solutions, announced the acquisition of Minnovare, a leading provider of drilling technology that improves the speed, cost and accuracy of underground drilling on Jan. 10.

Minnovare specializes in eliminating the manual, labour intensive, and unproductive processes in underground mining that lead to blasthole deviation, dilution and downtime. Its advanced hardware and data-capture software combine to deliver drilling data faster and more accurately than ever before, thus improving the efficiency, productivity and overall profitability of underground drilling operations.

Its solution combines sensors, software and data analytics to address deficiencies in existing drilling processes across the resource definition, development and production phases.

Founded in Perth, Western Australia in 2012, Minnovare has established a proven track record, with more than 150 contracted systems in over 90 mining operations worldwide. Minnovare will operate as part of Hexagon’s mining division.

The acquisition closed earlier this year.

Visit www.Hexagon.com and www.Minnovare.com.

he electric vehicle (EV) industry will dominate demand for lithium in the coming years, Chilean copper agency Cochilco said this week, accounting for almost three quarters of the battery metal’s consumption by 2030, up from 41% in 2020.

According to the industry body, lithium hydroxide will take the leading role, reaching 56% of the total consumption versus 44% for carbonate by the end of the decade. This switch can be mainly explained by manufacturers’ growing preference for nickel-intensive cathodes, which tend to favour the use of hydroxide over carbonate, Cochilco said. 

Demand associated with cell phones, computers and tablets and other consumer goods would reach 411,000 tonnes in 2030, compared with the 79,000 tonnes expected for this year, the body estimated.

Chile, already the world’s top copper producer, is trying to regain some of the market lost to Australia in 2018. Lat year, it produced about 18,000 tonnes of lithium, far behind the nearly 40,000 tonnes generated in Australia.

Both copper and lithium are among the most coveted commodities as they are both used in EVs and infrastructure to support other green technologies.

Touchy subject

The outgoing government of President Sebastián Piñera had invited bids in October from private companies to expand lithium production to 400,000 tonnes a year. The plan, however, has triggered a debate among Chileans, who are at odds over the social and environmental risks of lithium extraction.

Lawmakers from the center-left opposition party PPD filed on Tuesday an objection before an appeals court in the capital, Santiago, to halt the bidding process. And on Wednesday, the centrist Christian Democrats introduced a bill in the Chilean legislature to prevent sitting presidents from inviting new mining-contract bids in the final 90 days of a term.

Piñera, 72, will hand over power in March to 35-year-old left-winger Gabriel Boric, whose team accuses the outgoing administration of trying to rush through the new contracts at a time when the country is reassessing its stance on natural resources in a process to draft a new constitution. 

How to handle lithium production is likely to be one of the toughest issues Boric will face. The 35-year-old former law student, vowed during his campaign to bury Chile’s “neo liberal” economic model and kick off an ambitious climate action plan.

Although he later softened his message, Boric has kept the idea of giving the State a more active role in the sector, imposing higher royalties and creating a national lithium company. 

With prices soaring on the global market, lithium mining could become a key source of income for his government, even as it could impact the ecology of the Atacama salt flat, where area the world’s two largest lithium producer, Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) and SQM (NYSE: SQM), have operations.

This article originally appeared on www.Mining.com.