Week of October 9, 2024

AI rendering of copper world globe on top of a pile of copper.

Rio Tinto backs six mining tech startups

Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News | Oct 10, 2024

Founders Factory unveils first cohort of companies developing innovative solutions for more productive and sustainable mining. Founders Factory has unveiled the first cohort of startups under its Mining Tech Accelerator, a program being advanced in partnership with Rio Tinto to discover and foster breakthrough technologies with the potential to transform the way mining companies deliver the minerals and metals the world needs. To build upon its legacy of innovation and...

  • Up close picture of a Rio Tinto hard hat on the job site.

    Rio Tinto to buy lithium producer Arcadium

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News | Oct 11, 2024

    The proposed $6.7 billion purchase indicates that the global mining giant foresees a lithium market rebound. On Oct. 9, Rio Tinto announced plans to acquire lithium producer Arcadium, boosting Arcadium's value and enhancing Rio Tinto's lithium market exposure, crucial for electric vehicle growth. What does this investment say about the future outlook for the lithium market? Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm has maintained an attitude of "cautious optimism" in interviews,...

  • A burned container being hoisted onto a trailer by a crane.

    Redwood recycles natural disaster batteries

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News | Oct 11, 2024

    From natural disaster recovery to sustainable solutions, Redwood leads the charge in active battery recycling. As natural disasters and major accidents become more frequent, Redwood Materials Inc. steps in to ensure that lithium-ion batteries, often damaged in these events, are safely recovered and recycled, preventing further harm to affected communities and the environment. In just a few short years, Redwood has grown from a small recycling startup into a critical player...

  • Row of drums filled with HALEU fuel for advanced nuclear reactors.

    DOE grants contracts for domestic HALEU

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News | Oct 9, 2024

    Funding supports deconversion essential for nuclear fuel supply chain. Amid growing efforts to secure a reliable domestic nuclear fuel supply, the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded contracts to six companies as part of an $800 million initiative to bolster the deconversion of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), a critical component of the supply chain for advanced nuclear reactors. Over the past few years, the U.S. has been actively working to elevate nuclear energy...

  • A pile of blue-green colored nickel sulfate powder.

    Clean battery-grade nickel from BC project

    Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News | Oct 15, 2024

    Pilot tests demonstrate that a mine site hydrometallurgical refinery at Baptiste could produce high-quality, low-carbon nickel sulfate. A recently completed pilot-scale program has confirmed the idea that a hydrometallurgical refinery built alongside a mine at FPX Nickel Corp.'s Baptiste project in British Columbia could offer a significant supply of low-carbon battery-grade nickel sulfate for North America's energy transition. "Baptiste would represent an almost 50%...

  • Night shot of BHP’s Escondida Mine in Chile, one of the largest copper mines.

    Demand and deficit drive up copper price

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News | Oct 3, 2024

    BHP projects copper demand to rise by 1 million tons annually, lining pockets with high prices, but will a short-term deficit hurt mining in the long run? Copper has enjoyed rising prices since 2020, all while miners face rising operating costs and declining ore quality. With new mine construction requiring at minimum a capital-intensive ten-year commitment and existing operations in key copper-producing countries – Latin America, Australia, and Africa – aging, the...

  • Researcher holding a spoon of graphite battery anode material.

    Fastmarkets launches graphite price scale

    A.J. Roan, Metal Tech News | Oct 7, 2024

    New U.S. benchmark to boost market transparency, supporting battery supply chain growth. With lithium batteries forecast to power a sixfold surge in United States graphite demand by 2034, Fastmarkets has launched a new price assessment that aims to provide greater transparency and reliability benchmarks to manufacturers, producers, and investors involved in U.S. graphite. Established over 150 years ago, England-based Fastmarkets has built a reputation for delivering reliable...

  • Man walking a long corridor between computer banks.

    AI is eating up copper supplies twice over

    K. Warner, Metal Tech News | Oct 7, 2024

    Building and powering the infrastructure AI requires to operate has already consumed double the gigawatts and may soon tax copper resources exponentially. The need for copper is steadily growing as worldwide urbanization spreads and global superpowers rush to electrify their transportation and energy industries. In addition to physical expansion, the world is also invisibly run on data centers that require vast amounts of copper for both their construction and operation....

  • Computer graphic of a LEO satellite collecting and transmitting geological data.

    The path to mineral exploration innovation

    Flavia Tata Nadini, Fleet Space Technologies | Oct 15, 2024

    Satellite connectivity, quality 3D multiphysics data, and AI offer faster decision-making at every stage of the exploration journey. Technological innovation is the cornerstone of human progress. At their best, the foundational technologies of the modern world – such as the global internet, digital technologies, space travel, clean energy, and AI – fill me with the belief that hard problems are not permanent fixtures in time and space. They are mutable barriers humanity...

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