Latest news with #CesarPerez
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
Chile lithium deal deepens Rio Tinto's push into 'white gold' EV metal
Chile's Codelco will partner with global mining giant Rio Tinto for its new Maricunga lithium project, the state miner said on Monday, bringing a major new player into the sector in the world's second-largest producer of the EV battery metal. The partnership means Rio Tinto will break into a sector dominated for years in Chile by local miner SQM and U.S. rival Albemarle Corp, as it seeks to deepen its still-young push into the coveted "white gold" metal. International miners, car makers and battery firms are eager to secure supply of lithium, an ultra-light metal needed to power the shift toward electric vehicles . South America's " lithium triangle " - in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia - has the world's largest trove of the metal. Rio Tinto will contribute up to $900 million in the deal to extract lithium from the Maricunga project in northern Chile, which has yet to be mined but is home to one of the world's highest concentrations of lithium in brine. Rio will take a 49.99per cent share in the venture. Codelco - the world's top copper producer, which Chile's government has tasked with spearheading the state's push into lithium - will control the rest. Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm said the company aims to "bring significant investment" to the region. He signaled opportunities to share infrastructure and minimize water use in tandem with the Nuevo Cobre copper exploration project in northern Chile that Rio already shares with Codelco. The state's partnership with one of the world's biggest miners gives heft to Chile's vision of expanding its lithium industry, analysts said. "This joint venture accelerates the country's strategic objective to reclaim leadership as the world's top lithium producer, while allowing Codelco to diversify its portfolio," said BTG Pactual analyst Cesar Perez. The South American country was the world's top producer until 2017, when Australia moved into first place. Executives and analysts have criticized efforts to open the industry to further investment as slow and hampered by red tape. RIO TINTO'S LITHIUM AMBITIONS The deal will see Rio contribute $350 million when the deal closes - expected to be in the first quarter next year - $500 million when a final investment decision is made, and $50 million if commercial production is reached by the end of 2030. "Rio has sought to accelerate building a South American lithium business from a starting position as a non-producer," J.P. Morgan said in a note, citing a $825 million deal for the Rincon lithium project in No. 4 producer Argentina in 2021. Rio Tinto last year tacked on a $6.7 billion acquisition of U.S. company Arcadium, which has several Argentina projects. "Rio's partnership with Codelco will expand its lithium footprint into Chile," said the J.P. Morgan note. Daniel Jimenez, a lithium consultant at iLiMarkets in Chile, said Rio Tinto can provide both capital and know-how from the Argentina sites. For Rio, it cements a wider regional strategy. "Through this partnership, Rio Tinto secures a competitive long-term position," Jimenez said. NEW TECHNOLOGY Codelco is also taking a stake in SQM's operations in the Atacama salt flat, which holds the world's highest concentration of lithium in brine. Just to the south, Maricunga ranks second. Remaining questions include how soon the firms can ramp up direct lithium extraction (DLE), which is intended to be quicker and more environmentally friendly than traditional methods that rely on evaporation to separate lithium from the salty brine liquid. Companies globally have struggled to pull off DLE at commercial scale, given technical complexities and the unique composition of each salt flat. In an earlier document announcing the project to potential bidders, Codelco said it was evaluating DLE use as of 2033. Codelco said the project attracted four binding offers, but did not name the other candidates.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Construction Workers Were Building a Solar Plant—and Uncovered a 5,000-Year-Old Fortress
Ever since a large-scale Spanish solar plant project resulted in the discovery of Copper Age settlements in 2021, archaeologists have continued to mine the site for new discoveries. The latest major find at the site: details of a hilltop fortress once protected by three concentric walls. There's also a mysterious death, with the skeletal remains of a former soldier found face down amidst suspicious surroundings. A solar plant project that began in 2021 in Almendralejo, Spain, took an unexpected turn when workers discovered settlements from the Copper Age in the area. Since then, archaeologists have been reaping the rewards. Construction on the plant started in November of 2021 and quickly uncovered a set of settlements from the Chalcolithic era. The energy giant behind the plant, Acciona Energia, called in archaeologists who have since uncovered details of a 140,000-square-foot fortress on a hill—which included stone and adobe walls, three ditches over six feet deep, and a 27-inch wide entrance. The hilltop fortress, known as Cortijo Lobato, was only in use for 400 years, according to the study of the site as reported in El Pais. Archaeologists believe that, despite the highly fortified location that featured three concentric walls and 25 towers, enemies eventually managed to attack and destroy the pentagon-shaped fortress. At some point, the site also sustained a debilitating fire. 'One of the strongest indications that this was an intentional act is the burning of wooden doors embedded in the adobe walls,' said Cesar Perez, lead archaeologist, according to El Pais. 'These doors were far from other flammable materials, which suggests that the fire was not accidental, but rather the result of an assault on the fortification—a scene of violence and destruction in which the settlement was attacked, its defenses breached, and the structure ultimately set ablaze.' The fort, though, was once part of a larger community. 'These fortifications usually delimit a settlement or an area to monitor the surroundings,' Alicia Lizarraga, Acciona Energia's environment manager, said in a statement. 'Their purpose could be defensive, to protect the community and its resources from wild animals and from conflicts with other peoples.' Perez agreed. 'The sophistication of the defensive design and the need for a large workforce reinforce the idea of a structured and well-organized community,' Perez said, according to The Times. 'It had a violent end. We are seeing more and more in this type of site that the level of conflict in the Chalcolithic period was higher than previously thought.' The combination of both a moat and a wall was rare in the period, and the size was also impressive—twice as large as the only other similar site throughout Spain, according to Victoria Bazaga, the region's culture minister. Carbon dating of animal remains mixed into the fire's ashes put the fort's final demise around 2450 B.C.—well ahead of the next human interaction with the location, which came about 2,700 years later during the Late Roman Empire. In all, archaeologists located 11 sites: six ranging from the last centuries of the fourth millennium B.C. to the early centuries of the third millennium B.C., and another five spanning from the Bronze and Iron age to the Lower Roman Empire period. In the area where they found evidence of Roman-era habitation, crews also discovered a grave near a ditch—just one shallow burial of a man believed to be between 25 and 35 years old at the time of death. He was positioned face down, had his feet cut off and a sheathed dagger—known as a pugio— placed on his back. 'This suggests the individual may have had a military role, as the pugio was the standard dagger used by Roman legionnaires,' Perez said, adding that the act was likely hasty due to the shallowness of the grave. The obvious deliberateness of placing the dagger on his back 'is a way of indicating he was a member of the army and was given a dishonorable burial.' Perez said that only one Roman legion was stationed in Spain at the time: Legio VII Gemina. Established in 74 A.D., the legion was headquartered in modern-day Leon, and known to specialize in road surveillance and security. And, maybe, cutting off feet. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
