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Saudi Arabia Earmarks $182M For Minerals Exploration In Mining Push
Saudi Arabia has established a $182 million exploration incentive program and plans to award over 30 mining licenses in 2022 to boost domestic mineral production and reduce economic reliance on oil, part of the kingdom's Vision 2030 diversification goals. Saudi estimates of untapped mineral reserves have increased to $2.5 trillion based on early exploration, and deals worth $20 billion are expected to be signed at this week's Future Minerals Forum. The program will support mining investments and junior miners in accessing Saudi's vast phosphate, gold, copper and bauxite reserves.
Curbing Reliance On Foreign Critical Minerals Starts With Mining In The US
The U.S. relies heavily on adversarial nations like China for critical minerals, creating national security risks, so expanding domestic production is crucial for supply chain control. This requires investing in mining education to secure talent, streamlining permitting, utilizing sustainable mining techniques from states like Arizona, and adding copper to the critical minerals list. Together, these strategies can grow the domestic critical mineral supply chain, reduce dependence on unreliable foreign sources, and allow the U.S. to meet rising demand from clean energy and defense technologies.
Rethinking Recruitment: Uncovering The Full Spectrum Of Hiring Challenges In The Mining Industry
A recent LinkedIn poll by MRC Recruiting revealed the top recruitment challenges for the mining industry are sourcing and screening candidates, salary negotiations, and onboarding assistance, surprisingly not interview coordination despite its importance for experience and hiring success. Effective interview coordination requires managing complex scheduling across locations, adapting to unique candidates, strong communication, and gathering feedback. Companies can improve interviews through thorough preparation, structured formats focused on cultural fit, embracing a two-way assessment, and leveraging technology for scheduling assistance. Overall, a streamlined, candidate-centric interview process is critical for mining recruitment, ensuring a positive experience that secures top talent.
Uranium Jumps To 15-Year High As Top Miner Flags Shortfall
Uranium prices hit their highest level in almost 15 years on Friday after Kazakhstan's Kazatomprom, the world's top producer, warned it is likely to miss its output targets over the next two years due to sulfuric acid shortages and mine construction delays. Kazatomprom said the issues could persist into 2025, negatively impacting guidance. The news comes as demand for uranium is expected to rise with recent COP28 climate commitments to triple nuclear capacity by 2050 and as China plans to double its nuclear fleet by 2030. With the market already tight, analysts see continued momentum pushing uranium above $100 per pound soon.
The Latest Dirty Word In Corporate America: ESG
Many companies are moving away from using the term ESG to describe their environmental, social and governance initiatives due to growing backlash and political pressure, instead employing new language and approaches like "responsible business." Executives are avoiding mention of ESG in earnings calls and corporate documents and advisors are coaching them on alternative terminology, while some Wall Street firms close ESG funds amid fading interest. The shift reflects complications around the once widely-used acronym, though most companies are still carrying out sustainability commitments made previously. Leaders aim to be more precise in ESG goal-setting and disclosure to avoid scrutiny, with a particular focus remaining on environmental factors, but the appropriate labeling for such efforts continues to be debated.
Harvard Lithium Metal Battery May Be Apt For Industrial, Commercial Applications
Researchers at Harvard have developed a new solid-state lithium metal battery that can charge in minutes and endure over 6,000 cycles without dendrite formation by using silicon particles to facilitate homogeneous lithium plating. The silicon particles constrict the lithiation reaction, causing lithium ions to attach to the particle surface during charging rather than penetrating deeper, creating an even lithium coating around the silicon core. This prevents dendrite growth while allowing rapid charging and discharging. The design outperforms other pouch cell batteries, retaining 80% capacity after 6,000 cycles, and has been licensed to a Harvard startup working on commercialization. The researchers also identified other materials like silver that could enable similar performance, providing pathways for further battery improvements.
The Skellefteå North gold property located in Sweden consists of four exploration permits covering approximately 2,500 hectares. It is prospective for orogenic gold deposits within the Skellefteå Belt, a region that hosts significant volcanogenic massive sulphide and orogenic gold deposits. Recent exploration has identified high-grade gold mineralization at the Dalbacka prospect associated with quartz veining in a mafic dyke, with drilling intercepts up to 4.4 meters at 4.8 g/t gold and 1.8 meters at 28.4 g/t gold. A soil geochemical anomaly extends for 3,700 meters from Dalbacka and additional anomalies occur 6 km north at Storberget. The property is considered to be at an early stage of exploration with good potential for additional high-grade gold discoveries. A two phase exploration program totaling $2.78 million is recommended, involving additional drilling to expand known mineralization at Dalbacka, follow up of geochemical anomalies, and initial drill testing of new targets.
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Happy New Year from the Prospector team! In this week's Nugget we're digging into the latest mining news, social trends, and tech reports.
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