The Future?, page-1081

*Speaking of all things "Green" Copper & Cobalt coloured in the DRC atm, did you know,

On May 25, 2021, Kamoa Copper reached first copper production at the initial 3.8Mtpa Kakula Mine, and we are on track to become a long-life, responsible producer of critical green metals, which the world needs desperately for global decarbonization and the electrification of its economy.

Ivanhoe also is exploring for major, new copper discoveries on its 100%-owned Western Foreland exploration licences in the DRC, near the Kamoa-Kakula Project.

Kamoa-Kakula

Democratic Republic of the Congo


Construction of multiple, high-grade underground mines at the Kakula and Kamoa copper deposits, with initial copper production beginning in May 2021.

Kamoa-Kakula is Africa's largest high-grade copper discovery and, through phased expansions, is positioned to become one of the world's largest copper producers.

April 26, 2021

Kamoa-Kakula joint-venture signs agreement with the DRC’s state-owned power company to upgrade Turbine 5 at the Inga II hydropower complex

Turbine 5 to produce 162 MW of renewable hydropower, providing the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex and associated smelter with sustainable electricity for future expansions

May 5, 2021

Ivanhoe Mines pledges net-zero greenhouse gas emissions at the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Mine

May 26, 2021

Ivanhoe Mines begins new era of commercial copper production

Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi congratulates Ivanhoe for reaching production milestone at the world-class Kamoa-Kakula discovery

July 6, 2021

Kamoa-Kakula Phase 1 concentrator plant fully operational, final performance testing to start shortly

Phase 2 concentrator expansion to 7.6Mtpa on track for Q3 2022; civil works and structural steel construction ahead of schedule

June 2, 2021

Kamoa-Kakula Phase 1 concentrator plant produced first copper concentrate on May 25; ramp up toward nameplate capacity of 3.8 million tonnes of ore per year progressing smoothly

July 19, 2021

Kamoa-Kakula begins exporting copper concentrate internationally as production ramps up

Kipushi

Democratic Republic of the Congo


A major upgrading program by an Ivanhoe-led joint venture is underway at the past-producing high-grade zinc-copper-silver-germanium mine.

In February 2020, Ivanhoe released an independently verified, updated Mineral Resource estimate for the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project in the DRC.

The Kamoa-Kakula Project Indicated Mineral Resource now stands at 1.4 billion tonnes grading 2.7% copper, at a 1% cut-off grade, and the project's Indicated Mineral Resource now stands at 423 million tonnes grading 4.68% copper, at a 3% cut-off grade.

International mining consultant Wood Mackenzie has ranked the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Project as the world's fourth-largest copper discovery, with copper grades that are the highest by a wide margin of the world's top 10 copper deposits.

Construction of the Kakula Mine, the first of multiple, planned mining areas at Kamoa-Kakula, is making excellent progress.

Initial copper concentrate production from the Kakula Mine is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2021.

Development of the Platreef and Kipushi projects also are advancing towards production.

• The Kamoa-Kakula copper project, located near Kolwezi in the DRC. An independent preliminary economic assessment (PEA) issued in February 2019 indicates that Kamoa-Kakula has a potential production rate of at least 18 Mtpa.
• Once this expanded rate is achieved, Kamoa-Kakula is projected to become the world's second largest copper mine, with peak annual production of more than 700,000 tonnes of copper.
• The Kipushi zinc project near the city of Kipushi in the DRC's Haut-Katanga province. Kipushi has an estimated 10.2 million tonnes of measured and indicated Mineral Resources grading 34.9% zinc

*To Remind,

"The Ivanhoe pullback investors have been waiting for"

The incoming Democratic Republic of Congo mining charter has knocked around 15% off Ivanhoe Mines' share price but this is an opportunity, according to Bernstein's Paul Gait.

The DRC national assembly has passed a new mining code that ups the copper royalty from 2% to 3.5% and the ‘strategic minerals' rate up to 10%.

The government's existing stake in Kamoa-Kakula means the new 5-10% "state participation" measure will not affect the project.

The new law - which is four years late - has not yet been signed off by president Joseph Kabila.

Gait said the sell-off on Ivanhoe shares was unnecessary but provided an opportunity for others wanting in on the stock.

"Investors are now able to buy a dollar's worth of Ivanhoe's copper in the ground much more cheaply than they could for most of last year," he said.

Gait questioned investors' focus on the DRC, even though its political instability is a proper investment risk.

"Were this any other developing country, the reaction from commentary around what is being proposed would not have been anywhere near as severe," he said.

Bernstein's price target for Ivanhoe is still $15, an almost-300% increase on the current level.

Gait's hypothesis for mining development continuing in the DRC is simple: the world needs its resources.

In the note, he said the country "unambigously" needs mining investment, but that the world needs the DRC "even more so".

"We have described the DRC as the Saudi Arabia of the electric vehicle age, and we mean it," he said.

"The world's use of electricity, and green electricity at that, will increase dramatically over the next few decades; this demand must be met with raw materials and, in particular, with copper and cobalt.

"There are no new Chiles but there is the Congo."

February 2018

www.mining-journal.com






www.copper.org/publications/pub_list/pdf/A6191-ElectricVehicles-Factsheet.pdf


Cobalt prices soften, lithium continues to rise: Benchmark

Cobalt prices have softened further month-on-month but lithium prices have strengthened amid “exceptional demand” for lithium chemicals, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

Glencore recently announced it would restart Mutanda although Benchmark said even with the operation back online, the cobalt market was expected to experience marginal deficits and stock drawdowns from 2023.

It noted other uncertainties in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where president Felix Tshisekedi recently announced plans to renegotiate mining contracts with foreign operators, and the country's shortlived ban on copper and cobalt concentrate exports.

Benchmark said the ban, which impacted first production at Ivanhoe Mines and Zijin Mining's Kamoa-Kakula copper joint venture, was lifted on May 28 and seemingly was targeted at the copper market more so than cobalt.

While current cobalt market sentiment was relatively negative, Benchmark said confidence remained in the strength of EV demand in H2 2021.

June 2021

www.mining-journal.com

ArcelorMittal targets zero carbon steel production by 2025

ArcelorMittal is aiming to become the first steelmaker to produce zero carbon steel following a €1 billion MOU with the Spanish government.

The Luxembourg-headquartered company plans to use green hydrogen from third parties to supply a direct reduced iron (DRI) shaft furnace, which would then be used as a feedstock for an electric arc furnace (EAF) at its Sestao plant in northern Spain.

It aims to begin production in 2025, which would beat the proposed 2026 start-up of Sweden's HYBRIT project.

Alex Griffiths, principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie, said the announcement "demonstrates how decarbonisation of the European steel industry is gaining pace".

"Construction of a solar-powered hydrogen electrolyser ready to supply hydrogen to a new DRI module, all by 2025 - just four years away - is impressively swift," he added.

However, Griffiths said the developers of the Swedish project "may decide it does not want to come second and could speed up commissioning".

Griffiths suggested that while the plans were promising, more commitment was needed by steelmakers to low carbon technology to meet goals under the Paris agreement.

www.mining-journal.com





Meet Felix Tshisekedi





Felix Tshisekedi was born in Kinshasa on June 13, 1963 to Marthe and Étienne Tshisekedi.

When his father created the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) in the early 1980s, publicly opposing Mobutu, Félix was forced to accompany his dissident father into house arrest in his native village in central Kasaïa.

This led to Felix ending his formal studies.

In 1985, Mobutu authorized Felix, his mother and his brothers to leave Kasaïa.

Mr.Tshisekedi went on to live in Brussels, Belgium, where he worked and became an active UDPS militant.

Late in 2008, Mr. Tshisekedi was named as the UDPS National Secretary for External Relations.

In November 2011, he obtained a seat in the National Assembly, representing the city of Mbuji Mayi in Kasai-Oriental province.

However, he did not take up his seat, claiming it was “out of the question to take office in institutions resulting from fraudulent elections.”

His mandate was soon invalidated for “absenteeism.”

In May 2013, Felix refused a position of rapporteur at the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), saying, “I don’t intend to put my political career between brackets.”

The CENI’s article 17 excludes membership for those who are members of a political formation.

In October 2016, Tshisekedi became vice secretary general of the UDPS, the oldest and largest opposition party in the DRC.

On 31 March 2018, he was elected to lead the UDPS, after the death of his father (predecessor and founder of the party), on February 1st, 2017.

Félix Tshisekedi, along with coalition partner Vital Kamerhe of the Union for the Congolese Nation (UNC) have been chosen by their respective parties as the presidential ticket candidates in the general election scheduled for December 23rd, 2018.

UDPS has been the standard bearer for reform in the DRC for over thirty-five years.

Felix Tshisekedi is committed to carrying on the UDPS mission for uniting the Congolese people and leading the country forward.

As president of the UDPS, Felix Tshisekedi will work to implement the agenda that the party has developed over many years, to secure a better future for the DRC.

He seeks to establish security for all Congolese and root out widespread corruption found in many of the county’s institutions.

Our Priorities

DEFENSE

A major objective of my administration will be to stand up, within five years, an army worthy of the name.

It must be capable of managing and defending its borders, establishing an effective chain of command, as well as exercising its authority throughout the national territory.

To this end, we will introduce a five year plan we call ‘One Nation, One Armyʼ to consolidate a legitimate military authority in the DRC.

Its missions will be straightforward, but challenging.

First, to defend our borders from external threats, and from insurgency within.

Second, to eradicate armed militias which have transformed some regions into hellish enclaves where looting, rape, and killing take place with near impunity.

We will take vigorous measures put an end to the chronic absence of discipline within the army, which is today like a body without soul.

These will involve, among other things, raising recruitment standards, regular pay, better training, improving food and housing conditions, qualifications for promotions.

We will endow the army with a Code of Conduct with an associated range of sanctions, without which any discussion of discipline is useless.

PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION

We will launch a gradual and controlled decentralization process.

To this end, we commit ourselves to rewrite the law on the programming of territorial division.

We will streamline the process each individual province, regardless of size, to guide to its own development.

We will revisit the restructuring these decentralized provinces which, we believe, was purposely accelerated to confuse the electoral process in 2016.

POVERTY

The destiny of the DRC is not only that of a State, it is above all that of an entire people. Therefore, like my father, Etienne Tshisekedi W. Mulumba on whose shoulders I stand, I shout with all my sincerity: “The people first!”

This cry is not for me just a shallow slogan, but a genuine rallying call to what underlies my true political commitment; to serve this primary sovereign population by which one is given a mandate of trust.

For “The People First,” I propose three pillars for job-creation and economic growth; investment in security and anti-corruption, investment in education and health, investment in infrastructure.

The DRC has the good fortune to have a tremendous wealth of natural resources in its soil. However, the abundance or lack of natural resources does not seem to be a determining factor in the creation of wealth in many other nations.

What does is good governance and responsible management of those resources. Countries that have lifted themselves out from under the yoke of poverty in one or two generations have achieved their goals, or are in the process of doing so, through the will and policies of their respective governments.

I consider that the health, welfare and education of the Congolese people is not simply about spending. The average age of the Congolese population is very young.

This youth shows a vitality and aggressiveness that only needs to be well channeled, coupled with education and work, to become the spearhead of a rapid creation of prosperity.

Once our people are provided a reasonable level of education and offered the opportunity to prosper, will prosper.

They will become our primary resource in our campaign to overcome poverty.

INVESTMENT AND TRADE

We will create the confidence and dynamism that the world investment community looks for by finalizing the process of implementation of the Treaty and the Uniform Acts of the Organization for Harmonization in Africa of Business Law (OHADA), whose ambition we share to propel economic development and create a vast integrated market in order to make Africa an attractive place for investors.

We will set up an Investment Charter that will introduce an incentive tax system for new industrial companies and exporters.

The Charter will also allow the merging of two public agencies previously in charge of investment: the National Agency for the Promotion of Industry (ANAPI) and the Ministry of Planning charged with the management of the Investment Code.

We will initiate legislation to track down, flush out and punish very severely any act of corruption and ensure that the functioning of commercial and labor courts is fair and effective.

We will review and reorganize access channels to administrative functions with single points of contact and improve operational response.

In order to ensure peace and social cohesion, we will create a framework for social dialogue with the objective of encouraging a consensus between industry, government, and social welfare groups in a spirit of transparency and participatory democracy.

We will protect and enforce private property and intellectual property rights. We will fight monopolistic forces and encourage fair trade practices.

RESOURCES

It is estimated that the mineral wealth under our beautiful landscape is valued at over 4 trillion US dollars.

Historically, much of the benefit of this precious bounty of mineral exports has been siphoned off for the profit of outside actors with the complicity of kleptocratic government administrators.

We will institute a new level of transparency to contracts and statistics along with more rigorous export controls to ensure that our mineral wealth is properly captured, channeled, and reinvested in our country for the benefit of all Congolese.

We will also work more diligently with the international community of mineral processors and end-user stakeholders to ensure that supply chains are clear of ‘conflict mineralsʼ that might support militia groups, child and forced labor, unsafe conditions, and other ‘bad actorsʼ and special interest within the extractive industry in the DRC.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Throughout the DRC, there is drastic need for basic infrastructure.

Whatever limited systems were once functioning now lie in a state of absolute neglect, breakdown and obsolescence.

We will work with public and private investment partners to develop a coherent policy for ongoing investment in our transportation systems including roads, railways, ports on our waterways and lakes, air navigation and airports.

In addition, we need to expand electric power generation capability and the distribution grid, plus alternative sources such as solar, geothermal, and other new technological solutions.

We need better communications and internet access for our economy to function in the modern data driven world.

At the community level, need to rehabilitate and modernize the work of the regular maintenance of agricultural feeder roads to allow farmers and small industry continued access to markets and revenue.

This will also give the peasant a place in the greater economic development context.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

We will ensure the DRC makes a rapid return and has a permanent presence on the international scene where the major global issues are played out.

The DRC will thus regain its leading role in regional cooperation and integration, as well as the place it deserves in the concert of nations.

We will promote in the DRC, a country surrounded by nine neighbours, a ‘good neighbourʼ policy as a foundation for mutually beneficial peaceful cohabitation.

We will seek a lasting political solution to the conflicts between the communities of Eastern DRC by targeting the root causes and create the conditions for a frank and direct dialogue with neighbouring Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda.

We will revisit our international relations and cooperation outside Africa. Mutually beneficial principles will prevail in all these reforms as the basis of any partnership.

We will seek to create a State capable of conducting responsible diplomacy and foreign policy, based on fair bi-lateral principles.

BUILDING A PROUD AND UNIFIED SOCIETY

The public policies implemented in the DRC have created a gap between the political leaders who are piloting the ship of state only for themselves while leaving the Congolese people far behind.

We must not look elsewhere for the cause of our floundering, adrift in a sea of desperation.

That is why I promise to all Congolese that I will always seek to implement an agenda for the benefit all who wish to work and contribute for the better management of our country.

In an effort to break with the past, I will appoint a diverse group of men and women at the center of the economy and throughout the government.

In this way, a broader range of Congolese will become, not only the main engine and fuel of development, but also the beneficiaries of the fruits of its success.

The reconciliation of the Congolese diaspora around the world with their country is an imperative.

We wish to encourage them to join their countrymen and women back in the DRC, to participate in the work of the re-foundation of a prosperous country for the benefit of ALL of its people.

We intend to make the Congolese abroad one of the factors generating economic growth by granting them freedom to transfer funds, trade, and most importantly, invest in their homeland.

We are a country of many divisions, even going back before colonization.

These divisions have often been used to further divide us, weaken us, manipulate us for the benefit of a few self-anointed elites.

I believe the time has come now for us to stand and take steps toward a different destiny, toward unity, toward hope, and toward a productive civilized society as the beating heart of an emerging Africa.

https://udpsdrc.com/

IEA: Mineral supplies for electric cars ‘must increase 30-fold’ to meet climate goals

At least 30 times as much lithium, nickel and other key minerals may be required by the electric car industry by 2040 to meet global climate targets, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

These metals are among a handful that are considered vital in the manufacture of solar panels, wind turbines and other clean energy technologies.

Overall, the Paris-based organisation says the production of these key minerals may need to quadruple over the next two decades to achieve the Paris Agreement target of limiting warming to “well below” 2C, or expand by as much as six times to reach net-zero globally by 2050.

Its new report examining the status of these minerals concludes that today’s supply and investment plans “fall short” of what will be necessary for a widespread clean energy transition.

Higher demand

Broadly speaking, the mineral demands of clean energy technologies are greater than their fossil-fuelled counterparts, the IEA says.

This can be seen in the chart below, which shows how an offshore wind plant today requires around 12 times more mineral resources than an equivalent gas plant.



According to the IEA, the rise of renewable power in recent years means that since 2010 the average amount of these minerals required for a new unit of power generation capacity has increased by 50%.

In its new report, the agency assesses future demand for these metals in different energy applications under two different scenarios, which see overall demand either doubling or quadrupling, as the chart below shows.
Total mineral demand for clean energy technologies by scenario. Source: IEA.
First is the IEA’s “sustainable development scenario” (SDS), which it says is aligned with the Paris Agreement target of holding warming at “well-below 2C”.

While the IEA’s SDS and its alignment with the Paris Agreement has been disputed, the report also mentions a “dramatic extra push” needed to achieve global net-zero by 2050.

The agency is expected to release a “comprehensive roadmap to net-zero emissions by 2050” in the coming weeks.

The new report also uses the “stated policies scenario (STEPS)”, which “provides an indication of where today’s policy measures and plans might lead the energy sector”.

It combined clean energy trends primarily from the World Energy Outlook 2020 with new analysis of changes in mineral usage based on “extensive literature review, and expert and industry consultations”.

Under the SDS in particular, clean energy technologies’ share of total mineral demand is set to rise significantly, becoming the primary market for nickel, cobalt and lithium. This can be seen in the graph below.
Share of clean energy technologies in total demand for lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and neodymium, a rare earth element. Source: IEA.

Material needs

Electric vehicle batteries and battery storage are expected to be by far the biggest contributor to the future surge in demand, with lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite all crucial for ensuring performance, longevity and energy density.

In the SDS, mineral demand from the battery sector grows around 30-fold by 2040. Lithium and nickel demand for electric vehicle batteries alone grows by 43 and 41 times, respectively.

This projected growth can be seen in the charts below.
Mineral demand from new electric vehicle sales. Source: IEA.
Low-carbon power generation also accounts for a considerable chunk of the future growth in mineral demand, with rare earth elements currently needed for permanent magnets in wind turbines and EV motors, for example.

As societies become increasingly electrified, the expansion of electricity networks will also require large quantities of copper and aluminium.

The IEA notes that future mineral demand is “subject to considerable uncertainty” due to both the extent of climate policies and the direction that different technologies take.

For example, mineral requirements can shift in response to market prices or the commercial success of one technology over another.

To address this, the agency assessed 11 alternative cases that account for some of the potential variability in different sectors.

These can be seen in the table below.
Alternative technology evolution pathways explored in the IEA’s report, to account for potential future directions that different sectors could take. Source: IEA.
As an example, cobalt demand could be between six and 30 times higher than current levels, depending on future developments in both battery chemistry and climate policies.

(Tesla and General Motors are among the firms exploring low- or no-cobalt car batteries.)

The report concludes that the largest uncertainty for future mineral demand relates to the ambition of global climate policies:
“The big question for suppliers is whether the world is really heading for a scenario consistent with the Paris Agreement. Policymakers have a crucial role in narrowing this uncertainty by making clear their ambitions and turning targets into actions. This will be vital to reduce investment risks and ensure adequate flow of capital to new projects.”

For the SDS in particular, the scale of demand growth for most of these minerals is far above the levels that have been seen in recent years, as the chart below shows.

For example, between now and 2040 annual average demand growth for lithium is around nine times higher than the levels seen over the past decade. Meanwhile, demand for copper must continue to be met at the same, relatively high, level.

Besides world governments being clear about their climate policies, the agency also notes the importance of promoting R&D, maintaining high environmental and social standards and strengthening international collaboration between producers and consumers.

Finally, the IEA emphasises that while mining activities produce greenhouse gases, “emissions along the mineral supply chain do not negate the clear climate advantages of clean energy technologies”.

www.carbonbrief.org







If Ivanhoe can do it in the DRC then why can't We be as Big or Better

Coming Soon - A Tin plated Green mean Lithium Machine to a Town near you

Food for thought on the Road to Manono

Frank