COBALT: INDUSTRY DEALING WITH GROWING SUPPLY GAP / 3 Geotech_Earlug_2016_Alt2.pdf 1 2016-06-24 4:27:20 PM
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Iamgold halts transport from Burkina Faso mine after attack SECURITY
| No fatalities were reported
Coalition urges US to incentivize rare earth industry RARE EARTHS
| Tax incentives could
unlock supply chain BY HENRY LAZENBY
A
I
BY CECILIA JAMASMIE
amgold (TSX: IMG; NYSE: IAG) suspended convoys to and from its Essakane gold mine in Burkina
Faso near the border with Niger, after gunmen attacked a convoy travelling to the operation on August 31. The ambush occurred about 115 km from the mine on the route from
Haul trucks at Iamgold’s Essakane gold mine. IAMGOLD
the country’s capital city of Ouagadougou. The company said no passengers were hurt. One police officer was injured while the convoy’s security detail returned the gunfire, but he’s in a stable condition, the Torontobased miner said. The Canadian gold miner also said the situation “has been resolved” and that it “does not expect any negative impact on production from this incident.” Militant violence in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali has intensified in recent years despite the presence and interventions by UN, Western and regional troops. Endeavour Mining (TSX: EDV; LSE: EDV), West Africa’s top gold producer, has also been the subject of attacks in Burkina Faso. Its Boungou mine, previously owned by Semafo, was ambushed in 2019 resulting in 37 deaths and over 60 people injured. The same year, Canadian geologist Kirk Woodman was kidnapped and killed. His body was found in rural Burkina Faso. He was the ninth Canadian killed in the West African country since 2016. Essakane is Iamgold’s flagship mine and has been in production since 2010. The company recently revised production guidance for the operation to between 390,000 and 400,000 ounces of gold from the 365,000 to 390,000 ounces previously expected. TNM
group of rare earth industry players have sent a letter to the U.S. Congress urging lawmakers to pass bipartisan legislation to incentivize the domestic manufacturing of permanent rare earth magnets. NioCorp Developments (TSX: N.B.; US-OTC: NIOBF) participated in the lobbying, urging leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives to support bill HR 5033, co-sponsored by Representatives Eric Swalwell and Guy Reschenthaler, in time so that its provisions can be added to pending federal infrastructure legislation. The bill would create a US$20 per kilogram production tax credit for magnets that are manufactured in the U.S., or US$30 per kilogram for magnets that are both manufactured in the U.S. and for which all component rare earth material is produced and recycled or reclaimed wholly within the U.S. To be eligible, the rare earth magnets may not include any component rare earth magnet material produced in non-allied foreign nations, such as China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. “This bipartisan legislation would provide important tax incentives for the production of permanent rare earth magnets, which, if enacted, could provide powerful incentives for investment across all areas of rare earth production in the U.S., from mining to magnet manufacturing,” said NioCorp CEO Mark Smith in an August 30 media release. “We are pleased to support this legislation and to work in this alliance to push this bill and other legislative initiatives designed to promote greater production of these and other critical minerals in the U.S.” Rare earth magnets are used in various applications, such as electric vehicles, wind power turbines, home appliances, factory automation systems, computers, cell phones, and energy-saving electric motors. Most electric cars today contain a powertrain driven by rare earth magnets, and virtually all modern automobiles use rare earth magnets in smaller electric motors throughout the vehicle. The Biden administration recently issued an executive order setting a goal that 50% of all new vehicles sold in 2030 will be zero-emissions
WHEATON’S RANDY SMALLWOOD TALKS ABOUT STREAMING / 5
vehicles, including battery-electric, plug-in hybrid electric, or fuel cell electric vehicles, all of which rely on rare earth magnets. The bipartisan infrastructure bill recently passed by the U.S. Senate includes US$5.75 billion to replace thousands of transit vehicles, including buses, with zero-emission vehicles. NioCorp is currently evaluating the potential to produce rare earth elements (REEs) as a by-product of the planned production of the critical minerals niobium, scandium, and titanium from the Elk Creek project, in southeast Nebraska. Subject to receiving the necessary project funding, the company’s REE initiative was launched in response to intense interest by governments and industrial consumers worldwide for additional sources of rare earths beyond current suppliers. In a recent interview, Smith told The Northern Miner the company was considering producing neodymium-praseodymium oxide, dysSee RARE EARTHS / 8 PM40069240