Russia’s RUSAL plans to split higher carbon assets

Russian aluminium producer Rusal is planning to split its higher carbon assets into a separate company.

The move is part of RUSAL’s aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and would result in two companies with separate strategies. As part of the plan, RUSAL will change its name to AL+.

RUSAL general director Evgenii Nikitin said: “This transformation represents our commitment to our core values and environmental stewardship progress as we continue along our journey as a clean, low-carbon, transparent aluminium and VAPs producer.”

Following the proposed demerger, the newly created company will comprise four alumina refineries in Achinsk, Bogoslovsk, Urals, and Pikalevo, Russia.

The entity, which will also own smelters in Bratsk, Irkutsk, Novokuznetsk, Volgograd, and Kandalaksha, Russia, will focus on ‘promising growing markets’.

The new entity will also own two bauxite mines in Russia.

AL+ will retain the majority of production assets and focus on developing inert anode technology to achieve carbon-free aluminium production.

RUSAL board of directors chairman Bernard Zonneveld said that AL+ will focus on its net-zero priorities, further promoting its low carbon brand ALLOW whereas the newly created company would focus on delivering a long term modernisation programme.

Zonneveld stated: “The proposed transformation would allow both companies to unlock their full potential. I believe that the proposed separation of assets with different carbon footprint will open the door for future shareholder value creation and will accelerate growth opportunities.”

RUSAL's parent company En+ Group executive chairman Lord Barker said: “AL+ will be a market leader in green aluminium production as measured by carbon footprint and other environmental credentials.”

BHP commissions $3.6bn South Flank iron ore mine in Australia

BHP has commenced production from the $3.6bn South Flank iron ore mine in the central Pilbara, Western Australia (WA).

The South Flank project comprises an 80Mtpa crushing and screening plant, an overland conveyor system, and stockyard and train loading facilities.

The project will replace the production from the 80Mtpa Yandi mine, which is nearing the end of its mine life.

Claimed to be the most technically advanced iron ore mine in WA, the South Flank mine created 9,000 construction jobs and is expected to create more than 600 jobs during its operational life.

BHP Australia minerals president Edgar Basto said: “South Flank is Australia’s largest new iron ore mine in over 50 years and is on time and on budget.

“South Flank’s high-quality ore will increase WAIO’s average iron ore grade from 61% to 62%, and the overall proportion of lump from 25% to 30%-33%.

The South Flank project expands BHP’s Mining Area C (MAC) operation located 8km to its north.

Together with MAC operation, the South Flank mine will form the largest operating iron ore hub in the world, BHP said.

The hub is estimated to have a 145Mtpa capacity of iron ore production.

Basto said that the production from the South Flank mine would cater to the global steel markets for the next 25 years.

Basto added: “And its high-quality ore will have an important role in helping BHP’s customers lower their greenhouse gas emissions.”

BHP owns an 85% stake in the South Flank project while other partners include Itochu (8%) and Mitsui (7%).

British Lithium applies for a patent with extraction invention

UK-based company British Lithium has invented and filed for patent a low-energy, chemical-free process, Mi-Sep, for physically separating the mica in granite that contains lithium.

The mineral has seen demand increase for its use in numerous battery technologies including laptops, electric vehicles (EVs), and grid storage.

Innovate UK, a non-departmental public body working with the government, has funded part of the necessary research and development work and Innovate UK Edge, growth and scale support company, has provided the legal expertise required to file a patent application at the UK Intellectual Property Office.

The company has identified a resource of over 100 million tonnes in a former china clay mine near St Austell, Cornwall, which is enough to support a projected annual production of 20,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate. The deposit could also meet one-third of Britain’s likely demand by 2030 when all UK car manufacture converts to EVs.

British Lithium is also building a £3m pilot plant nearby Roche, Cornwall, on the southwestern tip of England, for the production of battery-grade lithium, with the plant expected to be operational in early 2022.

Landslide at Guinean gold mine kills 15 miners

A landslide at an artisanal gold mine in the northeastern part of Guinea has reportedly led to at least 15 deaths.

The accident at the artisanal mine located near the village of Tatakourou, about 40km from Siguiri, occurred on 9 May 2021.

The incident resulted in the deaths of 15 miners, Al Jazeera reported citing local councillor Sekou Biniou Simagan.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a local resident told Reuters that the bodies of miners have been recovered that included two women.

Citing a government spokesman, BBC News said that the "exact circumstances and causes of the tragedy" will be investigated.

Police captain Mamadou Niare was quoted by AFP as saying: “This situation in the Siguiri mines concerns all of us – at the end of the day these landslides are more deadly than the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Reportedly, there are hundreds of unofficial ‘artisanal’ mines that are ‘notoriously dangerous’ around Siguiri.

The zone is claimed to hold some of the largest gold reserves in the West African country.

Two years ago, a landslide in Guinea killed 17 miners followed by 12 more miners approximately nine months later as a result of a similar incident.

Scotland Fife coal mine to turn into eco-therapy wellness park

Hargreaves Land, a property regeneration specialist, has sold the restored woodland of the former Fife open cast mine in Dunfermline, Scotland, to social enterprise company National Pride, which will convert it into a leisure and tourism destination.

The 930-acre St Ninians and Loch Fitty site will be developed by National Pride to become an eco-therapy wellness park.

Fife Council has also reached an agreement with Hargreaves Land to licence the removal of the remaining coal and complete land restoration.

The development is planned to create more than 500 jobs, with National Pride pledging to ensure at least 10% of the hired workforce comes from vulnerable groups in order to support employment and recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The site also includes a restored former surface mine and landforms created by American landscape architect Charles Jencks, co-founder of Maggie’s cancer care centres, with the landforms being planned to remain on site after the new construction.

National Pride hopes that a planning application will be submitted to Fife Council before the end of the year.

Hargreaves Land senior planning and development manager Philip Rayson said: “St Ninians is a fantastic site with great potential to deliver significant benefits to the area and the investment and scale of environmentally sensitive development that National Pride have planned are very exciting.”

The news comes after last month’s announcement that Edinburgh-based renewable energy developer Brockwell Energy, will be constructing a renewable heat and power plant on parts of another former coal mining site in Fife, Westfield site, with the project planned to start this summer.

The construction will take place at the former open cast coal mine west of Glenrothes, Westfield, where Brockwell Energy has already planned the construction of a solar energy facility.

The new plant will aim to assist in meeting the Scottish Government’s environmental and legislative targets in advance of a landfill ban being implemented in 2025.

UK appeals court to reassess lawsuit against BHP for Brazil dam collapse

The UK Court of Appeal has reportedly agreed to hear an application to reconsider the $6.95bn lawsuit against BHP over the Fundão tailings dam disaster that occurred in Brazil in 2015.

The oral hearing has been agreed upon by Judge Nicholas Underhill.

Reuters reported Underhill as saying in an order: “I am satisfied that, exceptionally, an oral hearing is appropriate in this case.”

The move reverses an earlier decision made by the Court of Appeal to reject a Brazilian claimant group permission to revive the lawsuit.

The Court of Appeal previously ruled that the case against BHP, if allowed to further proceed in the UK, would be ‘irredeemably unmanageable’ as claimants were already making claims in Brazil.

In November 2015, the tailings dam burst at Samarco’s Germano mining site resulted in 19 deaths and a flood of heavy water and mud into Bento Rodrigues.

The collapse of the dam polluted the Doce River, impacting marine life and contaminating drinking water with toxic sludge.

Samarco Mineracão is a joint venture of iron ore firms BHP Billiton and Vale, each holding 50% stakes.

A BHP spokesman was cited by Reuters as saying: “Previous (court) rulings have supported our position that the civil claim proceedings were unnecessary as they duplicated matters already covered by the existing and ongoing work of the Renova Foundation and are, or have been, the subject of ongoing legal proceedings in Brazil.”

Last year, the UK’s High Court of Manchester blocked the lawsuit filed by SPG Law against BHP over the Brazil dam disaster.