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JANUARY 10–23, 2022 / VOL. 108 ISSUE 1 / GLOBAL MINING NEWS · SINCE 1915 / $5.25 / WWW.NORTHERNMINER.COM
Chile elects Gabriel Boric to lead the country POLITICS
| Miners ask new administration to foster industry
Brazil fines Great Panther Mining's Tucano operation LEGAL
| Company says it intends to appeal
BY CECILIA JAMASMIE
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leftist millennial who rose to prominence during antigovernment protests in 2019 was elected as Chile's next president on December 19, following a bruising campaign against a free-market and anti-immigrants candidate often likened to former U.S. President Donald Trump. The National Mining Society (Sonami), an industry body, congratulated Gabriel Boric and said voters had "sent a clear message" about the need to maintain Chile's economic and social development. "We trust that the spirit of programmatic convergence, moderation and openness to dialogue shown during the last week of the campaign will prevail," Sonami said in a statement. Boric, a 35-year-old former law student, vowed during his campaign to bury Chile’s “neoliberal” economic model. Although he later softened his message, he has kept the idea of giving the state a more active role in the sector, as well as higher royalties. He is also a fierce supporter of a state lithium firm and green investments. Since Chile not only is the world’s top copper producer but has the largest known reserves of lithium, his vision could prove positive for the country if he’s able to deliver on campaign promises. Both copper and lithium are among the most coveted commodities as they are both used in electric vehicles and infrastructure to support other greener technologies. During his victory speech, Boric reiterated he would oppose mining initiatives that “destroy” the environment, particularly the controversial US$2.5 billion Dominga copper-iron ore project that was approved in 2021. Born in 1986 to an educated middle-class family in the country's southernmost Punta Arena region, Boric attended one of the most elite private schools there before studying law at the University of Chile in Santiago. NorthernMiner_CMYK_Nov.pdf He didn't graduate but it took his
BY TRISH SAYWELL
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Gabriel Boric gives his victory speech for the 2021 Chile Presidential Election. FOTOGRAFOENCAMPANA/ WIKIMEDIA COMMONS CC 4.0
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interest in activism to new heights. In 2011, he became one of the main leaders of a historic student movement demanding free education for all, which eventually led to educational reform. In 2013, he was elected to Congress, and in 2016, he started his own political party, the Autonomist Movement. Political scientists, including Chilean Eugenio Tironi, have highlighted that Boric’s vision connects with this century's agenda: climate change, feminism, decentralization, the green economy, diversity and direct democracy. He’ll have a challenging time delivering on his equality promises, however, as Chile, once the most stable economy in Latin America, has one of the world's largest income gaps. About 1% of the population owns 25% of the country's wealth, according to the United Nations. Boric, Chile’s youngest president in history, has promised to address this inequality by expanding social rights and reforming the country’s pension and healthcare systems, as well as reducing the work week from 45 to 40 hours, and boosting renewable energy. Other major challenges include the delicate redrafting of a constitution to replace the divisive text adopted in 1980 during General Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. The election happened against 2021-11-24 10:46 AM the backdrop of a controversial tax
reform bill that may put a third of the world’s copper supply at risk. Under the proposed change, the “royalty” rate — the amount taken by the government — would be based on output rather than profits and could rise to 75% when copper prices exceed US$4 per pound. Around 14 of the country’s large copper mines have production costs above US$2.50 per pound. With a royalty, many could be forced to close when prices slip again. “Many low-grade operations will be put out of businesses, destroying jobs,” Manuel Viera, president of the Chilean Mining Chamber, said in May 2021. The full impact of the new tax would not be felt immediately. According to the Mining Council of Chile, most privately owned mines are covered by tax invariability agreements signed with the state until 2023. The government has projected mining investments of about US$70 billion through the end of the decade, most from private firms. Last year Chile produced a third of the world’s copper in the form of concentrates, anodes and cathodes. The nation is also the number 2 producer of lithium and is home to large zinc, molybdenum, gold, silver and lead reserves. It’s estimated that Chile would need US$150 billion in investment to reach its goal of nearly doubling copper output by 2050. TNM
reat Panther Mining (TSX: GPR; NYSE-AM: GPL) announced on December 30 that its Brazilian subsidiary, Mina Tucano, was notified on December 21 by the country’s Amapa State Environmental Agency, that a leak in a reclaimed water pipe at its Mina Tucano mine site in northeastern Brazil, was associated with the death of fish in the Areia and Silvestre Creeks. The state agency is imposing fines of R50 million (US$9 million) that are payable by January 31, the company said. The Vancouver-headquartered company said it intends to appeal the “amount of the fines and timing of any payment in its defense statements.” “Mina Tucano is actively investigating whether there could be any connection between the fish mortality event and the Tucano mine site,” Great Panther Mining stated in a December 30 press release. “Based on its initial investigation, including independent reports on fish toxicology and water quality received by Mina Tucano on December 28 2021, the company has prepared a formal defense against the position taken by the agency.” The relatively remote Tucano gold mine, about 200 km from Macapa, the state capital, consists of eight open pits, the Urucum North underground project, a processing plant and tailings dam. The company declined an interview request from The Northern Miner for more details and said it preferred to respond in writing. "The company has now filed its formal defense with SEMA in Brazil, which is available publicly, and has no further comments to the news release issued this morning," it wrote in an email. Great Panther also stated that the leak was not related to tailings.
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According to information about the mine on Great Panther’s website, production from the pits is the responsibility of a mining contractor, U&M Mineração e Construção S.A., and the existing processing plant was designed by Ausenco. “After approximately four years of operation, an expansion was planned, also by Ausenco, as part of the original definitive feasibility study to install a 3 MW ball mill,” the website states. “This new secondary grinding mill, alongside the 7 MW single stage SAG mill, was installed in order to maintain 3.1 million tonnes per annum throughput capacity treating 100% of the much harder sulphide ore type.” It has been a challenging time for the company’s Brazilian mine. The announcement about the fines follows news in mid-October that consolidated production from the Tucano mine was expected to be lower than previously anticipated and costs higher, due to remediation work required at the Urucum See GREAT PANTHER MINING / 3 PM40069240