Sprott’s Post

Just finished the book 'The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives' and found it quite entertaining and compelling. This book explores the argument and tensions for and against additional (and expanded) mines as a solution to the green energy transition by drawing on numerous case studies. Investigating the relationship between the requirement for these mines and the ore they produce and the protections and rights afforded to ecosystems and indigenous communities. Highly recommend for anyone in the field or interested in the topic.

Bioenergy Knowledge Discovery Framework (Bioenergy KDF) is a new portal to explore the biomass resources for chemical/biochemical conversion in more than 40 countries. Among the main developers are the US Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). This is an important tool for those (including me) who do research on biomass conversion. https://lnkd.in/gBdf9-XM #BETO #DOE #ORNL #Biomassconversion #biomassresources

We are pleased to present our latest publication, titled "Wavelet Entropy and Complexity-Entropy Curves Approach for Energy Commodity Price Predictability Amid the Transition to Alternative Energy Sources," in the journal Chaos, Solitons & Fractals. In this article, by using step functions for time series modeling, we were able to precisely calculate the wavelet coefficients of the wavelet series expansion. Unlike many existing methods in the literature, this allowed us to determine the probability distribution of the energy of the reconstructed signal through its wavelet expansion and to define the Wavelet Rényi Entropy. Furthermore, thanks to this model, we have introduced for the first time in the existing literature the Wavelet Complexity-Entropy Curves to study the characterization of time series. Authors: Loretta Mastroeni, Alessandro Mazzoccoli and Pierluigi Vellucci https://lnkd.in/gjwX-ru3

Want to learn more about Lithium and other critical minerals in the subsurface of Northeast BC. 📻 Listen below full interview and find out our study here: https://lnkd.in/gnMG7gbk

#Australia is a nation not only with great #coal reserves, but with alternative #cleanenergy sources uranium and thorium – safe #nuclearenergy production material. #auspol #ausecon #auspol2024 #ausbiz #ausnews #energy #nuclearpower #news #economy #energy

On Monday the #EU announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with #Rwanda to promote the development of a “sustainable and resilient value chain” for critical raw minerals. The agreement is one of a series signed by the EU recently, with major minerals extractives countries such as the DRC, Zambia and Namibia. For the EU, the need to secure its supply chain in minerals essential to the production of electronics, particularly in the face of Chinese dominance in renewable energy-related products such as electric vehicle batteries and photovoltaic panels, will have been key in securing the MoU. For Rwanda, however, this represents a major diplomatic coup; there are significant clues in the EU’s press release announcing the MoU as to why. The reader might note that, although the press release states that Rwanda “produces tin, tungsten, gold and niobium,” it is a “major player” in the world’s #tantalum extraction. This distinction is likely key: as consultant and academic Florent Geel explained in our Q&A with last month, Rwanda has few, if any, natural reserves of tantalum; much-publicised mining operations for the mineral have quietly been shuttered before ever reaching commercial production levels. Instead, the vast majority, if not all the tantalum “provided” by Rwanda (in the words of the EU Commissioner for Internal Market,  who is quoted in the press release) is extracted from territory controlled by armed groups in Eastern DRC. In addition to being located on Congolese land, these mining operations, which are artisanal or semi-artisanal operations, have no independent oversight, including of work conditions. Another key point made in the press release is the planned opening of a tantalum refinery in Rwanda “soon”. Rwanda has the only tin smelter operational in Africa, located on the outskirts of Kigali. There have been similar moves by other African countries to vertically integrate across the minerals supply chain: Zambia is planning on opening a lithium plant by 2025. Speakers at recent Africa-focused events in London have highlighted that these plants are much cheaper to operate than plants outside of Africa, which must import bulky and heavy raw minerals. But it will also be interesting to see how effectively domestic or at least regional processing facilities can place themselves with regards to environmental (minimising the transport time of raw minerals), supply chain security (easier to deal with a processing plant located in a stable and safe country, rather than directly with the mine), and even governance and social perspectives (in that a significant part of the supply chain due diligence requirement could be placed on the processing plant operator).

Here is my publication.

Who survives in a RIN-free world? See the last segment of this blog post, under the heading "Theory and Real Life". This is Part 2 of a 4 part blog series published 9 months ago.

Good day!! Over the past week and a bit you were hopefully able to remain warm as the week sort of warmed up. While you’re inside, here are a few articles to read – power grid issues and some background information; supply squeeze for oil as fields mature and aren’t replaced; and world mining exploration realities and local push-back. Some deep thoughts, not quite Jack Handey level nor as well versed in double-speak but some thoughts to consider. And before you scroll down, a weekly(ish) reminder, PanAm Energy’s offering is available. The current project leverages technological advances in drilling removing the exploration risks as the well-logs provide the roadmap for its land acquisitions. Send me a note should you like further information. And now… this week’s reading week articles… https://lnkd.in/gcrwnDQP #BritishColumbia, #Calgary, #Canada, #Cold, #Electricity, #EnergyIndustry, #FirstNations, #Grid, #Hydrocarbon, #Lithium, #OandG, #Oil, #Power, #Technology, #Western, #Winnipeg, #Winter, #YEG, #Yukon, #YVR, #YYC Aaron Taylor Hans G Schmidt PanAm Energy Corp

Just finished Introduction to Natural Resources! Check it out: https://lnkd.in/dSCdhRdQ