Tag: Mining

Space Law–Part 2

I am a student of international relations….of laws and diplomacy……but could I expand that into the regions we call “Outer Space”?

Our president has proposed a new branch of our military, a Space Force…….personally I do not think it is a good idea from a monetary point but could there be other reasons just as valid?

I wrote about what I thought about this idea from a legal point of view……https://lobotero.com/2019/04/12/space-law/

Scientists have considered setting parts of space as “wilderness”..this would preclude the encroachment of humans into the regions of the unknown….

The resources of the solar system only seem infinite. They’re not, say scientists who have proposed declaring more than 85% of the solar system “space wilderness,” safe from human development. The primary goal, the Guardian reports, is to keep us from using up all the resources within our reach. That runs counter to mining companies’ argument that taking minerals from other planets would preserve Earth’s environment, per the BBC. “Once you’ve exploited the solar system, there’s nowhere left to go,” said Martin Elvis, a senior astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Massachusetts. Elvis and British philosopher Tony Milligan say that opening one-eighth of the solar system to mining is less restrictive than it sounds; one-eighth of the asteroid belt’s iron could supply Earth for centuries, their report estimates.

Space mining companies have their sights set on iron and precious metals in asteroids, as well as minerals and water on the moon, per the Guardian. The European Space Agency is planning a village on the moon. Deciding which areas to protect is difficult, Elvis and Milligan write in Acta Astronautica, which is among the practical and ethical issues that they point out would have to be settled. Mining missions could begin within 10 years, Elvis says. “Once it starts and somebody makes an enormous profit, there will be the equivalent of a gold rush,” he says. “We need to take it seriously.”

There has been interests shown in mining in space in one form or another…..https://lobotero.com/2013/02/02/mining-a-new-frontier/

The World Economic Forum sees a problem with a space “gold rush”……

The US president, Donald Trump, has stuck to his plan to send humans back to the moon in the next five years, recently giving the project a US$1.6 billion shot in the arm. Whether he succeeds or not, the first successful landing on the lunar far side by China, the European Space Agency’s recent “lunar village” concept and a myriad of private companies all gearing up for commercial human spaceflight indicate that a human return to the moon may be about to begin in earnest.

But is it a good idea? A new study suggests that, to avoid material exhaustion of the solar system, humans ought to limit ourselves to developing just one-eighth of the available resources. As we may be witnessing the start of a new lunar gold rush of sorts, this new proposal may be put to the test sooner than we think – and the moon will serve as an early test bed.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/lunar-gold-rush-is-about-to-start-and-we-could-exhaust-the-solar-system-in-fewer-than-500-years/

How about the mining of water from the Moon?

https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/06/23/space-investors-rejoice-worth-mining-moon.aspx

There is a treaty for space…it may be little known but it is still in place….let me help you grasp this…..

The Outer Space Treaty was considered by the Legal Subcommittee in 1966 and agreement was reached in the General Assembly in the same year ( resolution 2222 (XXI)). The Treaty was largely based on the Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, which had been adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 1962 (XVIII) in 1963, but added a few new provisions. The Treaty was opened for signature by the three depository Governments (the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America) in January 1967, and it entered into force in October 1967. The Outer Space Treaty provides the basic framework on international space law, including the following principles:

  • the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind;
  • outer space shall be free for exploration and use by all States;
  • outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means;
  • States shall not place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or on celestial bodies or station them in outer space in any other manner;
  • the Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes;
  • astronauts shall be regarded as the envoys of mankind;
  • States shall be responsible for national space activities whether carried out by governmental or non-governmental entities;
  • States shall be liable for damage caused by their space objects; and
  • States shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies.

But this could be a moot point sense Trump has backed out of every treaty the US has signed (an overstatement but you get the point)

Space is NOT a domain exclusively for the US and his new Space Force.  Time for this treaty to see the light of day yet again…..or for the world to design and sign a new one.

The “Rare Earth”

You would think that on this first Saturday of Summer I would be writing something literary…..wrong…..it is something geopolitical  (as usual)……

Rare earth minerals are the cornerstone of the electronic age…….I have tried to educate my readers in the past…..https://lobotero.com/2019/06/04/it-is-about-rare-earth/

As the sector grows and more and more electronics are needed to power a society it is only a matter of time before a rare earth trade war erupts into a major conflict…..

Rare earth minerals have emerged as the latest front in the escalating US-China trade war. Nearly a decade after the Chinese government controversially suspended rare earth exports to Japan during the 2010 Senkaku dispute, similar threats are now being made if the bilateral trade dispute with the US deepens.

How prepared is the global economy for another deployment of the so-called “rare earths weapon”?

Rare earths are an ideal instrument for economic coercion. They are an essential input into a wide range of high-technology products, across the electronics, petrochemical, renewable energy and defence sectors. As there are few economically-feasible substitutes for their use, any suspension to rare earth value chains would have a disastrous impact on an economy’s technological ecosystem.

This article below is what made me start this post……the rise of electric cars will mean much more destructive mining…..

Climate warriors like to imagine a future where electric cars put oil companies out of business. Firms would stop injecting known carcinogens into the ground to break up the layer of hard, shale rock hiding stores of fuel, and they would no longer plumb the ocean depths for oil, letting sticky black goo leak into the sea.

To get to that future — a future where we don’t need to dig oil out of the ground— companies will need to dig a whole lot of metal out of the ground, and that’s potentially bad news for people who work in mines or live nearby.

Like solar panels and wind turbines, electric car batteries are made from some of the most hard-to-get metals on Earth— dysprosium, neodymium, manganese, cobalt and lithium — the list of materials reads like Tony Stark’s shopping list. Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers are going to need a lot more of these metals if we are to build enough electric cars to keep warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the stated goal of the Paris Climate Agreement.

More electric cars means more destructive mining

As with everything….one step forward, two steps backwards.

Enjoy the the first days of Summer.

It Is About “Rare Earth”……

Not the rock group from the 70s (Get Ready and Celebrate)….I am referring to those minerals that are a major component in some electronics….and guess who has control of much of these elements?   Wait for it……..China!

Rare Earth Minerals?  What the Hell is that all about?

Many applications of REE are characterized by high specificity and high unit value. For example, color cathode-ray tubes and liquid-crystal displays used in computer monitors and televisions employ europium as the red phosphor; no substitute is known. Owing to relatively low abundance and high demand, Eu is quite valuable—$250 to $1,700/kg (for Eu2O3) over the past decade.

Fiber-optic telecommunication cables provide much greater bandwidth than the copper wires and cables they have largely replaced. Fiber-optic cables can transmit signals over long distances because they incorporate periodically spaced lengths of erbium-doped fiber that function as laser amplifiers. Er is used in these laser repeaters, despite its high cost (~$700/kg), because it alone possesses the required optical properties.

Specificity is not limited to the more exotic REE, such as Eu or Er. Cerium, the most abundant and least expensive REE, has dozens of applications, some highly specific. For example, Ce oxide is uniquely suited as a polishing agent for glass. The polishing action of CeO2 depends on both its physical and chemical properties, including the two accessible oxidation states of cerium, Ce,3+ and Ce4+, in aqueous solution. Virtually all polished glass products, from ordinary mirrors and eyeglasses to precision lenses, are finished with CeO2.

https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2002/fs087-02/

Plus the Rare Earth Minerals are used in our military……

A lack of these minerals could force a national security risk……and that would increase the use of the military (cause and effect)…….

I would say the possibility of a war with China is more so than with Iran.

Thoughts?

And now they, China,  have issued a threat over the Trump tariffs……

Facing new trade sanctions and a US clampdown on its top telecommunications company, China issued a pointed reminder Wednesday that it has yet to unleash all its weapons in its trade war with the Trump administration. Chinese state media warned that Beijing could cut America off from exotic minerals that are widely used in electric cars and mobile phones. The threat to use China’s rich supply of so-called rare earths as leverage in the conflict has contributed to sharp losses in US stocks and sliding long-term bond yields, the AP reports. The nationalistic Chinese newspaper Global Times warned that China has plenty of ways to retaliate against the United States, including the threat of cutting off supplies of rare earth minerals. China last year produced 78% of the world’s rare earths, according to researchers at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

If the US fails to exercise restraint, it will see that “China is far from running out of cards, and we have the will and determination to fight the US to the end,” the paper’s editorial said. China has used rare earths as a cudgel before. Five years ago, the World Trade Organization slapped down China’s attempt to restrict the export of rare earths during a dispute with Japan, rejecting its claim that it just wanted to conserve supplies. Scott Kennedy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, however, says the threat has lost much of its power. First, users of rare earths have stockpiled the minerals for a “rainy day,” he says. Second, they also have figured out how to “use less rare earth to achieve the same results” in products like lasers and magnets. And third, different minerals and chemicals are increasingly being used as rare earth substitutes.

Not to worry……we have troops in a country that is sitting on about $1 trillion (that is trillion with a “T”) worth of rare earth minerals……

Afghanistan, a country nearly the size of Texas, is loaded with minerals deposited by the violent collision of the Indian subcontinent with Asia. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began inspecting what mineral resources Afghanistan had after U.S.-led forces drove the Taliban from power in the country in 2004. As it turns out, the Afghanistan Geological Survey staff had kept Soviet geological maps and reports up to 50 years old or more that hinted at a geological gold mine.

https://www.livescience.com/47682-rare-earth-minerals-found-under-afghanistan.html

That is right…out longest war EVER is in a country that is loaded with rare earth minerals……could that explain why we are hanging on in the spot?

It is not like we have never fought a war for a resource……think OIL……

When Mars Attacks?

I got to thinking after a post from last weekend about “alien life”…….what if Mars attacks?

I could go into a review of The Expanse: Season 3….but that would be cheating…..I am offering up what could happen if we have an “alien contact”….no not those “aliens”…..real life ones from a galaxy far far away.

This could be a reality for after all we have spent 50+ years sending messages to space for others to call us or to stop by for a chat……(personally, I do not think those are good ideas)

The Chinese government has promised to investigate the unidentified flying object that forced Xiaoshan Airport to delay 18 flights last week. Tabloids rushed to cover the incident, with the U.K. Sun making a gratuitous “alien craft” reference, and video footage on YouTube led to numerous comments regarding the existence of extraterrestrial life. What if aliens were to make contact—do we have an E.T. contingency plan?

Sort of. The U.S. government is not particularly interested in alien planning. Starting in 1947, the Air Force made a formal study of UFOs but stopped investigations in 1969 after having failed to uncover any evidence of extraterrestrial vehicles or of a threat to national security. In 1992, the government paid for a SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project through NASA—the Microwave Observing Program’s mission was to conduct targeted analyses of nearby stars—but deemed it unworthy of funding one year later. There is, however, a nongovernmental organization established by the International Academy of Astronautics to “prepare, reflect on, manage, advise, and consult in preparation for … a putative signal of extraterrestrial intelligent (ETI) origin.” That organization, the SETI: Post-Detection Taskgroup helmed by the theoretical physicist Paul Davies, has a set of recommendations in place.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2010/07/do-we-have-an-alien-contact-contingency-plan.html

Really! Do we have a plan when ET comes for a visit?

The science fiction movie “Arrival,” which opened in theaters last weekend, poses tantalizing questions about how humans might make contact — and eventually communicate — with intelligent aliens. The much-hyped film has renewed people’s interest in the search for intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. But what would happen if humans really did make contact with an intelligent alien civilization? If E.T. calls, is there a plan?

The answer is yes, and no, said astronomer Seth Shostak, who leads efforts to detect radio signals from extraterrestrial civilizations at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California.

“There are some protocols, but I think that’s an unfortunate name, and it makes them sound more important than they are,” Shostak told Live Science. [Greetings, Earthlings! 8 Ways Aliens Could Contact Us]

https://www.livescience.com/56886-arrival-movie-alien-contact-protocol.html

To answer my question ….then yes we have a plan….the UN has put together protocols for a future meeting……

The United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) has announced that it will consider drafting protocols for what to do when we finally make contact with extra-terrestrial civilizations in space. What’s prompting the UN to consider this possibility is the fact that astronomers are expected to announce, perhaps later this year or next year, that our satellites (such as Kepler and Corot) have identified earth-like planets in space. So far, almost 500 large Jupiter-sized planets have been discovered, but earth-like planets are much more difficult to identify.

https://bigthink.com/dr-kakus-universe/un-to-establish-protocols-for-when-we-make-contact-with-aliens

Want more info on UNOOSA……http://www.unoosa.org/

It is always good to have a plan beforehand……never get caught flat footed as they say.

Afghanistan–Ever Asked Why?

For almost 17 tears the US and its allies have been fighting and dying in Afghanistan.  In all that time has anyone actually asked the question……why?

In the beginning it was nothing but retaliation for the 9/11 attacks…..and then we slowly wound down into a “trench warfare” mindset….that is just do not lose this fight…..no matter how long it takes.

In 2010 a report about the mineral wealth of Afghanistan came out….

Untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan may be worth more than $1 trillion, a finding that could reshape the country’s economy and help U.S. efforts to bolster the war-battered government, Pentagon officials said on Monday.

Afghanistan has significant deposits of copper, iron ore, niobium, cobalt, gold, molybdenum, silver and aluminum as well as sources of fluorspar, beryllium and lithium, among others, a task force studying the country’s resources found

Source: Afghan mineral wealth could top $1 trillion: Pentagon

Some estimates have the figure at $3 trillion……

Once I read that report I then predicted here on IST that this war would never end until the last drop of wealth was pulled out of Afghanistan….

Source: Good News For Afghanistan? – In Saner Thought

A couple of days ago the prez made his now not so famous speech on what to do in Afghanistan and guess what came up in his deliberation?

Trump has his eye on valuable minerals under the Afghan soil, perhaps as much as $1 trillion worth of copper, iron, and other metals, reports Foreign Policy. He recently met personally with Michael Silver, CEO of American Elements, and heard the mining pitch. “Trump wants to be repaid,” says one source, referring to the billions that the US has spent in the nation. “He’s trying to see where the business deal is.”

And there is the real reason we remain….$$$$$$$$$

It’s Clean Coal–Again

Mr. Trump has signed yet another Executive Order (EO)….this time it effects the EPA regulations and as usual he uses an old stand by slogan…it will create jobs.

Once again we are told about the idea of “Clean Coal”……(if one believes this lie then one is a member of the “Ignorati”….clean coal…… it is a LIE!)

President Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to unwind many of the environmental rules put in place by President Obama. The big change is that he ordered a review of the Clean Power Plan, which was designed to curb emissions at coal-fired power plants. The president celebrated “the start of a new era” in energy production, while environmentalists called it both “dangerous” and “embarrassing.” A look at coverage:

  • Trump signed the “Energy Independence” executive order at the EPA while surrounded by coal miners. “Today I’m putting an end to the war on coal,” he declared. See coverage of the event at the Guardian.
  • The Clean Power Plan hadn’t actually taken effect yet because it had been held up in the courts, explains the New York Times in a primer.
  • Despite the move to ease up on coal regulations, the utility industry is expected to continue its shift toward natural gas, wind, and solar, reports the Wall Street Journal. It points out that US utilities generated more electricity last year from natural gas than coal, and that trend is expected to continue.
  • The AP takes a look at the effect on the coal industry and doesn’t see a quick turnaround in the cards. In terms of jobs, it notes that more efficient ways of extracting coal have reduced the need for miners.
  • Amplifying the point is a quote from Robert Murray, chief executive of coal giant Murray Energy. “These actions are vital to the American coal industry, to our survival, and to getting some of our coal families back to work,” he said of Trump’s action. But he added: “I really don’t know how far the coal industry can be brought back.” See the New York Times.
  • Trump’s move does not pull the US out of the 2015 Paris climate accord, but it seriously undermines the promises made at the forum by President Obama. An NPR interview explains.
  • Not far enough? Conservative critics are unhappy Trump did not order the EPA to re-evaluate a 2009 “endangerment finding” that greenhouse gas threatens human welfare, notes Politico. A writer at Breitbart makes the case that EPA chief Scott Pruitt should resign over this.
  • A takeaway from a Washington Post analysis: “While Trump can unwind Obama’s climate legacy to some extent, the economic and political forces that have spurred those underlying shifts are largely beyond his control.”
  • Now comes the hard part, warns CNBC: Tuesday’s move provides a framework, but the White House must still come up with a detailed replacement for the Clean Power Plan.
  • One of the Obama orders being repealed directed federal agencies to coordinate and prepare for extreme weather, reports Bloomberg, which looks at the ramifications.

Back in 2009 this same argument was made and thanx to archives I found my post from those days……sadly the post was not that popular in ’09 maybe people are better awake these days……

We are hearing a lot in the media about the use of “clean coal”; even the president is pushing this concept…but people…that is all that it is…a concept…..and above all it is a lie…there is NO such thing as “clean coal”.

Source: The Lie Of “Clean Coal” – In Saner Thought

Some lies never change!  What was once old is new again.

This was a wasted use of mental energy…..and jobs?  This industry is embracing automation rapidly and to make it simple for my conserv friends…automation means less jobs……an easy equation even for a republican.

Where No Miner Has Gone Before

That is Miner not Minor……quote from Galaxy Quest…..

A lazy Sunday…too damn hot to be outside for long….so I will sit in the a/c and do what I do best….NOTHING!

I am always looking for a far thinking investment that could prove to be very lucrative…..I have gone with nano technology and quantum computing and now…….I’m think asteroid mining…..

It’s one small step for man, one giant leap for asteroid prospectors.

On September 8, NASA is embarking on a new mission to investigate the origins of the universe. Launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, a small spacecraft, the OSIRIS-REx, will journey 509 million miles to an asteroid called Bennu. Named for an Egyptian deity linked to the sun and creation, Bennu has likely gone untouched for the past four billion years, offering us a valuable glimpse into the early days of our solar system.

The spacecraft will orbit the asteroid for approximately 19 months. Once it has mapped Bennu’s surface, the Osiris-rex will inch closer to the asteroid. Then its eleven-foot robotic arm will reach out and collect a two-ounce sample to bring back to Earth in 2023.

A seven-year journey to fetch a candy bar–sized sample of rock hasn’t sparked the kind of global excitement reserved for, say, the prospect of blasting Sir Richard Branson off the planet and into deep space. But there’s a bigger game at play here: The precious minerals and metals in asteroids may be worth billions of dollars to galactic prospectors, and NASA’s mission is paving the way for an outer-space gold rush.

Source: Where No Miner Has Gone Before | New Republic

I may be old…but I am not stupid…..industries of tomorrow will be the thing of the future…..

Disclaimer:  This is NOT financial advice on my part…..check it out at your own RISK!

Me?  I am gonna have more coffee and a scone…..tah tah……

Miners Not Minors

Another Sunday and another day to just kick back and enjoy the people around me….unless the world ends I will not be posting anything like the stuff I do during the week….take some time off and enjoy life…..and argue with my daughter and granddaughter…..cannot think of a better way to spend my day……

I have heard the next “Last Frontier” will be space and especially the minerals and stuff that is found there…..the first out there will make a fortune and become the stuff of SciFi novels and movies……(think the “Expanse”)…….

News this past week makes the idea of space mining just a little more like reality….

A prospective asteroid mining company has taken a major step towards beginning operations in the next 10 years. Deep Space Industries (DSI) has announced plans to launch a demonstration spacecraft to test some of the technologies that will be needed to find and utilize asteroid material.

Now, asteroid mining is probably something that still feels like it’s far off in the future at the moment. But last week, DSI said that it will partner with Luxembourg (via their Space Resources initiative) to develop the various technologies needed to start asteroid mining. The first result of this partnership is a spacecraft called Prospector-X, which is a small vehicle that will be launched into low Earth orbit within a year.

Source: Asteroid Mining Just Moved A Step Closer To Being A Reality | IFLScience

If successful we just need to sit back and see who does what and why….will it be for the good of the planet or just another exercise in greed?

Any ideas?

Good News For Afghanistan?

Inkwell Institute

International Studies Group

Central Asia Desk

It seems that the country of Afghanistan and its bloody little armed conflict is making its way into the news more and more…..recently we  in the US have passed a milestone, that is 1000 troops have been killed in this war.

Further back there has been a back and forth between Washington and Kabul on who is in charge and there was the humor that was the latest Afghan elections….corruption is rampant and that is just the most obvious of conditions in the war torn country.

Now the US has planned the all important push around Kandahar….looking for the hearts and minds of the locals in their attempt to isolate the Taliban….but this operation is NOT looking as good as it once did…..

The offensive had been slated to begin this month, but, as McChrystal admitted, the US has been unable to win the support either of tribal leaders and power brokers or of the populace in and around Afghanistan’s second largest city. The town of 450,000 in the heart of the Pashtun-dominated south is the birthplace of the Taliban and remains a key stronghold of the anti-occupation insurgency.

One result of the US offensive in Helmand province has been increased Taliban activity in Nimroz, the province to the west of Helmand that borders on Iran and Pakistan. The Army Times reported June 11 that Taliban fighters forced out of Helmand have shifted operations to Nimroz, previously considered the most stable part of southern Afghanistan.

There is the real story……the NATO troops move in…Taliban moves out and starts up again…this game of cat and mouse is NOT going to win any long term success for the occupation.

And now the worse news that can be had….

The previously unknown deposits of iron, copper, cobalt and gold are so huge that it could transform the impoverished nation into one of the world’s important mining centers, the report on the newspaper’s website said. (here)

The mineral wealth, discovered by a team of Pentagon officials and U.S. geologists, is scattered throughout the country including in the south and east along the border with Pakistan, where the Taliban-led insurgency is the most intense.

It is said to be worth about a trillion dollars……yes I said the WORSE news!

Why?

What chance does a country that is still living in the 2nd century have at controlling their new found assets?  What are their chances of avoiding the exploitation that is coming?  What are the chances that the US will stay to help protect US business interests?  What are the chances that any cash will be used to further the fundamentalism?

If you listen closely you can hear the Afghan politicians jerking off in the corner…they are drooling and smiling uncontrollably……if you want proof of my thoughts look at other resource rich countries like Nigeria and Bolivia…the corruption will only get larger and the people well get hungrier…….

My question is why now?

The Russians knew about the mineral deposits in 1985 and the US Pentagon has a report about them from 2003…so why is it reported now?  Personal opinion….it will give the US an excuse for NOT pulling out of Afghanistan totally……we cannot let China or Russia get their hands on all that copper or iron or whatever….and if an American company gets the mining nod then someone has got to protect their interests….Right?

Nothing about this announcement smells kosher!