Staff Writer
C
OMPANIES and researchers developing asphalt, graphene, graphite, agricultural char, and carbon fibre and extracting rare earths from coal and coal byproducts, now have a 9.5-acre site to work on their innovations.Earlier this week, non-profit Energy Capital Economic Development officially opened the Wyoming Innovation Center (WyIC), a 5,500-square-foot coal commercialization facility located on a reclaimed mine site in the US’ coal-rich “Carbon Valley” region. This area hosts 65 billion tons of recoverable coal.
Built under a $1.5-million grant from the Wyoming Business Council and a $1.46-million grant from the US Economic Development Administration, the WyIC features two buildings and seven demonstration sites for pilot plants, for private companies and researchers to advance coal-to-product and rare earth element processes.
In a press release, Energy Capital Economic Development said that tenants at WyIC will focus on evaluating the commercial viability of high-value nonfuel, low- or zero-emissions products made from coal and extracting REEs found in coal fly ash.
Previous studies have shown that the region’s Powder River Basin coal contains high extractable rare earth element content in portions of the coal seams—particularly in the coal ash materials produced at power plants.
“It’s the perfect destination for us to fulfill our mission— to research and develop the commercialization of rare earth elements,” Tom Tarka, an engineer at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), said. NETL focuses on applied research for producing and using clean energy resources and is the Wyoming Innovation Center’s first tenant.
According to Tarka, in addition to the massive facilities, the main draw of the WyIC is the 7.5-acre demonstration sites that function as an open-access platform for tenants to upscale lab-proven processes from using a few pounds of coal a day to processing up to several hundred pounds of coal or coal byproducts daily.
Daily News Update Page 23
India's Russian coal buying spikes as traders offer steep discounts
US officials have told India there is no ban on energy imports from Russia but they do not want to see a 'rapid acceleration'
Reuters, New Delhi
I
NDIA's purchases of Russian coal have spiked in recent weeks despite global sanctions on Moscow, as traders offer discounts of up to 30 per cent, according to two trade sources and data reviewed by Reuters.Russia, facing severe Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, warned the European Union in April against sweeping sanctions on coal, saying they would backfire as the fuel would be redirected to other markets.
India has refrained from condemning Russia, with which it has longstanding political and security ties, while calling for an end to violence in Ukraine. New Delhi defends its purchases of Russian goods as part of an effort to diversify supplies and argues a sudden halt would jack up world prices and hurt its consumers.
US officials have told India there is no ban on energy imports from Russia but they do not want to see a "rapid acceleration".
Yet as European importers shun trade with Moscow, Indian buyers are lapping up huge quantities of Russian coal despite high freight costs.
Its purchases of coal and related products jumped more than six-fold in the 20 days through Wednesday from the same period a year earlier to $331.17 million, according to unpublished Indian government data reviewed by Reuters.
Indian refiners similarly have snapped up cheap Russian oil shunned by Western countries.
The value of India's oil trade with Russia in the 20 days through Wednesday jumped more than 31-fold to $2.22 billion, the data showed.
India's trade ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
"The Russian traders have been liberal with payment routes and are accepting payments in Indian rupee and United Arab Emirates dirham," one source said. "The discounts are attractive, and this trend of higher Russian coal purchases will continue."
Coal buying to continue
Offshore units of such Russian coal traders as Suek AG, KTK and Cyprus-based Carbo One in places including Dubai and Singapore offered discounts of 25 per cent to 30 per cent, triggering bulk purchases of Russian thermal coal by traders supplying to utilities and cement makers, the sources said.
The second source said the Singapore-based unit of Suek was also accepting payments in dollars.
Suek and KTK did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters could not immediately reach Carbo One.
Daily News Update Page 24
The EU ban has barred new coal contracts and by mid-August will force members nations to terminate existing ones.
India bought an average $16.55 million of Russian coal a day in the three weeks through Wednesday, more than double the $7.71 million it bought in the three months after Russia's Feb. 24 invasion, according to Reuters calculations.
Oil purchases averaged $110.86 million a day in the 20-day period, more than triple the
$31.16 million it spent in the three months ended May 26.
Indian bulk buying of Russian coal is set to continue, with June imports expected to be the most in at least seven and a half years, Refinitiv Eikon ship tracking data showed.
Bulk shipments of Russian thermal coal started reaching India in the third week of May, with orders mainly from cement and steel firms and traders, according to shipping data compiled by an Indian coal trader.
Top 10 largest gold mining companies in Q1 2022 - report
By Vladimir Basov
K
ITCO ranked the top 10 largest gold mining companies by production in Q1 2022 based on publicly reported quarterly data.This rating does not include Russia’s biggest and one of the world’s largest gold miners, Polyus, which has decided to switch from quarterly to semiannual reporting of its operating results and consolidated financial statements effective the first half of 2022.
Newmont was the top gold producer in Q1 2022. The company’s attributable gold production decreased 8% to 1,344 thousand ounces from the prior year quarter primarily due to lower mill throughput at CC&V, Tanami, Porcupine and Nevada Gold Mines, lower ore grades milled at Peñasquito, Pueblo Viejo, Éléonore and Porcupine, and a build-up of in-circuit inventory.
These decreases were partially offset by higher ore grade milled at Boddington and higher production at Yanacocha due to the acquisition of Buenaventura's 43.65% ownership in February 2022.
Barrick sits second with 990 thousand ounces of gold produced on Q1 2022, a 10% decrease compared to Q1 2021 (1,101 thousand ounces). Lower gold production was due to the depletion of stockpiled higher-grade Carlin and Cortez underground ore. Production at Kibali, Turquoise Ridge and North Mara impacted by planned mill maintenaance.
Agnico Eagle is third with payable gold production in the first quarter of 2022 of 661 thousand ounces. These results include a full quarter of production from the Agnico Eagle mines and 52 days of production from the legacy Kirkland Lake Gold mines (Detour Lake, Macassa and Fosterville).
Daily News Update Page 25
AngloGold Ashanti is fourth and produced 588 thousand ounces of agold in Q1 2022.
Production was flat year-on-year as AngloGold Ashanti continued to progress its reinvestment across key assets. Production was notably up year-on-year at Sunrise Dam (+33%), Cerro Vanguardia (+21%), Siguiri (+17%) and Tropicana (+14%), driven by a combination of higher throughput and generally improved overall yields across these operations.
Gold Fields sits fifth. Gold Fields said that despite the global challenges, the company had a solid Q1 2022. Group attributable equivalent gold production was 580 thousand ounces, up 7% year-over-year.
Kinross is sixth with 506 thousand gold equivalent ounces produced in Q1 2022. The decrease compared to Q1 2021 (559 thousand ounces) was largely due to lower production at Round Mountain and Paracatu, partially offset by record high quarterly production at Tasiast.
Newcrest produced 480 thousand ounces of gold in Q1 2022, down 6% compared to Q1 2021 (512 thousand ounces).
China’s Zijin Mining produced 421 thousand ounces of gold in Q1 2022, up 17% over Q1 2021.
Freeport-McMoRan sits ninth and produced 415 thousand ounces of gold in Q1 2022, up 40% over Q1 2021, primarily due to the ramp-up of underground mining at the Grasberg minerals district.
Northern Star Resources is tenth. The company produced 380 thousand ounces of gold in Q1 2022, a 4% increase over Q1 2021.