US imposes sanctions on Nicaraguan gold miner over Russian links 

The US has sanctioned state-run Nicaraguan mining company Empresa Nicaraguense de Minas (Eniminas) and its board president for their growing ties to Russia as its military offensive against Ukraine continues.

Last week, Nicaragua’s Congress renewed a decade-long decree allowing the training of Russian forces in the country. 

Executive Order 13851 bars any dealings by US assets with the designated parties. According to the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, gold revenue has been used by Eniminas and the Daniel Ortega government to repress the Nicaraguan people and pose a “threat to the security of the hemisphere”. 

High-ranking members of the Ortega-Murillo regime have benefited from increased gold exports from the country, mainly due to Eniminas’s role in “funnelling profits to private sector partners and kickbacks to regime insiders”, the US Treasury Department said. 

US Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said: “As the Ortega-Murillo regime increasingly engages Russia and continues lining its coffers with significant revenue exploited from the Nicaraguan gold sector, the regime has turned its back on the Nicaraguan people, neglecting their livelihoods for regime gains."

Kinross divests Russian assets to Highland Gold at half the set amount 

Canadian-based gold and silver mining company Kinross Gold has divested a 100% stake in its Russian assets to Russian firm Highland Gold Mining and its affiliates for $340m in cash. 

In early March, the Canadian company suspended operations in Russia to comply with Western sanctions against Moscow over its military offensive against Ukraine. The sale included the Kupol and Dvoinnoye operating mines, exploration assets – including the Chulbatkan project – and related infrastructure. 

According to the deal, Kinross has received a $300m cash payment and is due to receive a deferred payment of $40m on the first anniversary of the deal closing. 

Although previously the transaction’s total consideration was set at $680m, including a $100m payment upon closing, the parties made adjustments based on a review by the Russian Sub-commission on the Control of Foreign Investments.

The commission approved the deal between Kinross and Highland for a price not surpassing $340m. 

Kinross president and CEO J Paul Rollinson said: “We would like to thank our Russian workforce for their dedication, professionalism and hard work. Their ongoing commitment to safety and the environment, especially during the transition of our business in the country, has been commendable.” 

Chile and Ecuador resume talks over stalled Llurimagua copper project 

Ecuador and Chile have resumed talks over the development of the Llurimagua copper-molybdenum project in the Andean region of Imbabura, Ecuador, following years of deadlock, reported Bloomberg News. 

The move comes as demand is anticipated to increase for copper in a clean-energy transition and as Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso intends to develop its mining industry.

Ecuador’s Energy and Mines Minister Xavier Vera was cited by the publication as saying that a request from Ecuador’s National Mining Company was approved by Chilean state copper producer Codelco to suspend two arbitration processes over the Llurimagua project. 

Located 80km north-east of Ecuador’s capital city Quito, the 982Mt Llurimagua project is in the advanced exploration stage.

Codelco and Ecuadorian state-owned mining company Enami initially signed a cooperation agreement over the project in 2008. 

However, the parties started talks over the Llurimagua project development in 2015 and signed a deal on partnership terms and conditions four years later.

Last year, Codelco filed two arbitrations against the Ecuadorian mining company due to its failure to comply with a 2019 agreement to jointly develop the Llurimagua project.

Artisanal diamond mine collapse in Congo kills at least six people 

At least six people died due to the collapse of an artisanal diamond mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

According to a Reuters report, the incident happened when workers were working underground at the mine situated near the city of Tshikapa. 

Six bodies have been recovered while the search and rescue operations in the ruins continue.

Xinhua reported that the incident had affected more than 40 wells between 15m and 18m in depth. After the collapse, the Congolese authorities suspended mining activities at the site. 

Operations are usually conducted manually in artisanal mines without proper safety measures, which increases the risk of fatal accidents.

In September 2020, a similar collapse of an artisanal gold mine near Kamituga in eastern DRC killed more than 50 people.

According to government data, artisanal miners produced around 9.2 million carats of diamonds last year. 

Congolese artisanal mining agency SAEMAPE provincial director Luc Pongo Mwamba was quoted by the news agency: “For the moment, SAEMAPE and the Kasai provincial mines ministry acknowledge six fatalities from the landslide that took place in Tshikapa.” 

Vale launches venture capital arm to back mining start-ups 

Brazilian mining company Vale has announced the launch of a corporate venture capital unit to support start-ups offering “disruptive innovations” in the metals and mining sectors. 

Named Vale Ventures, the business has initially earmarked $100m for companies engaged in sustainable mining initiatives. Vale said that the venture capital initiative would create business opportunities and innovative technologies to incorporate into its operations. 

The unit is expected to offer initial funding and early-stage investments in start-ups in exchange for minority stakes of 3% to 5% in those companies, as reported by Bloomberg News. 

Vale Ventures’ investment will focus on four themes, namely zero-waste mining, decarbonisation in the mining value chain, energy transition metals and the future of mining.

Vale Ventures head Viktor Moszkowicz said: “We will collaborate with forward-thinking start-ups bringing big ideas and bold thinking to these monumental challenges.

“By creating a portfolio of disruptive solutions, we can generate financial and strategic return and bring new business opportunities, insights and knowledge to our company, customers and society.” 

LG begins building nickel processing plants in Indonesia 

South Korean battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution (LGES) has started building two nickel processing plants in Indonesia, as reported by Reuters. 

The work forms part of the company’s wider $9.8bn investment plan to produce electric vehicle batteries in the country.

LGES officials said that the company will invest $3.5bn to build a smelter, which will be equipped to produce 150,000t of nickel sulfate a year. 

The company will also build a $2.4bn factory in Batang industrial park in Central Java, which will produce precursor and cathode. The facility will have an annual production capacity of 220,000t of precursor and 42,000t of cathode.

These materials will serve as the main raw material for a planned 200GWh battery cell plant. The battery cell plant is planned to be built with a $3.6bn investment in the industrial town of Karawang in West Java.

Reuters quoted LGES President Lee Bang-Soo as saying that the company would sign an agreement with Indonesian state miner Aneka Tambang in September this year. 

Under this agreement, the two companies will jointly invest in a nickel mine in the eastern island of Halmahera. The $300m mine is expected to produce 16 million tonnes of nickel ore.