Infomine

By Cecilia Jamasmie Katanga boasts one of Congo’s biggest reserves of copper and cobalt, but it has underperformed for decades. (Image: Musonoie-T17 open pit mine. Courtesy of Katanga Mining.) Congolese-American businessman and convicted fraudster Charles Brown has brought back a lawsuit against Glencore (LON:GLEN) the company considered dead, becoming the third court challenge the mining […]

By Frik Els Striking Escondida workers clash with police March 2017 (Image: Telam | YouTube) Copper’s stunning rally continued in New York on Thursday to a high of $3.32 a pound ($7,310 a tonne), the highest since January 2014, as worries about labour-related supply disruptions in key producing regions resurface. Workers at the Escondida copper

By Cecilia Jamasmie Impala Platinum (JSE:IMP), the world’s No. 2 producer of the metal, said on Wednesday it had resolved a long-standing legal dispute with Zimbabwe by agreeing to give up almost half of its mining land to the government. In exchange, the Zimbabwean government has given Zimplats two leases valid for the life of

By Cecilia Jamasmie Shares in London-listed Botswana Diamonds (LON:BOD) received a fresh shot in the arm on Wednesday after the miner said it had been granted rights to explore a piece of land close to the Venetia mine, operated by De Beers, which delivers around 40% of South Africa’s annual diamond production. The miner believes

By Cecilia Jamasmie Angola, the world’s fifth-largest diamond producer, is working on easing up its restrictive legislation over the industry in order to attract more foreign investment, up production and secure higher government revenue. The country has historically had in place limiting rules over diamond operations, including not allowing foreigners to hold a majority stake

By Frik Els Production at Escondida began in 1990 and peaked in 2007 at more than 1.4 million tonnes of copper. Image: BHP Copper jumped 3.7% in New York on Tuesday to trade at $3.25 a pound ($7,165 a tonne), the highest since end-February, as worries about supply disruptions in key producing region resurface. Workers

By Cecilia Jamasmie The growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is expected to cost Germany’s key auto industry about 75,000 jobs by 2030, a study released Tuesday shows, with parts suppliers set to suffer the most. The adoption of EVs will lessen the importance of petrol- and diesel-fuelled cars, an industry where German carmakers have

By Valentina Ruiz Leotaud Despite the fact that top coal producers are receiving the highest profits in six years from their coal mines, Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) continues to work towards accomplishing its mission of completely divesting from its coal assets. In a media brief, the world’s No.2 miner announced that it had

By Frik Els Even best-case, early roll-out of new cobalt-light batteries won’t solve supply issues Cobalt, a crucial element in batteries for cellphones and electric vehicles, has been drifting lower since hitting near 10-year peaks on the LME in March, but is still up nearly fourfold from its 2016 trough. Mindful of the fact that

By Valentina Ruiz Leotaud Local media in Pakistan are reporting that four workers died after a gas explosion prompted the collapse of the coal mine where they were working. The mine is located in an area known as Sanjadi, some 70 kilometres from Quetta, the capital city of the northern province of Balochistan. Chief Inspector