The Nordlicht wind farm area is located 85km north of the island of Borkum in the German North Sea, with a total installed capacity of 1.6GW, without involving any state subsidies.

It is said to be Vattenfall’s largest offshore wind farm project and comprises two separate sites, Nordlicht 1 with around 980MW capacity and Nordlicht 2 with around 630MW.

Vattenfall will develop and construct the Nordlicht sites and plans to use its share of future electricity generation to supply customers in Germany with green electricity.

BASF will use its 49% share of green electricity to power its chemical production sites in Europe, especially in Ludwigshafen.

BASF board of executive directors chairman Martin Brudermüller said: “With the investment in Nordlicht 1 and 2, we will now have the necessary amounts of renewable energy to implement the next steps of the transformation in Europe, especially at our largest site in Ludwigshafen.

“Together with our long-standing partner Vattenfall, we are creating the conditions for achieving our 2030 target of reducing our scope 1 and 2 emissions by 25% compared to 2018.”

Nordlicht is Vattenfall’s second major offshore wind project in which BASF is a partner.

In 2021, BASF acquired almost half of the shares in the Hollandse Kust Zuid offshore wind farm in the Dutch North Sea.

Once fully operational, produce is expected to total around 6TWh per annum of clean electricity, which is equivalent to the electricity consumption of 1.6 million German households.

The construction of Nordlicht 1 and 2 is expected to begin in 2026 and will be fully operational in 2028, subject to the final investment decision, which is expected in 2025.

Vattenfall president and CEO Anna Borg said: “Offshore wind energy is an essential contributor to the energy transition in Europe and is expected to replace fossil fuels on a large scale.

“Partnerships play a crucial role in transforming European industries, while strengthening competitiveness.

“We are pleased to deepen our relationship with BASF for yet another important offshore wind project – and in this way accelerate the journey to fossil freedom together.”

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The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the proposed transaction.

Aramco said that the MoU aligns with its plans to expand its downstream presence, advance its liquids-to-chemicals program, and secure long-term crude oil supply agreements.

Hengli Petrochemical, a controlled subsidiary of Hengli Group, owns and operates a 400,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery and integrated chemicals complex in Liaoning Province, China.

The company also operates several plants and production facilities in Jiangsu and Guangdong Provinces.

Aramco downstream president Mohammed Al Qahtani said: “This MoU supports our efforts to grow our global downstream footprint. We continue to explore new opportunities in important markets, as we seek to progress in our liquids-to-chemicals strategy.

“We look forward to forging new partnerships and are excited by the prospect of expanding our presence in the important Chinese market.”

Earlier this year, Aramco signed 40 corporate procurement agreements worth $6bn with suppliers in Saudi Arabia in a move to advance its strategic localisation programme.

The new corporate procurement agreements are expected to contribute towards the company’s resilience, reliability and ability to meet the changing requirements of its customers.

Through the deals, the company intends to its domestic supply chain ecosystem.

They will cover the supply of a range of products, including strategic commodities, instrumentation, electrical and drilling equipment.

Furthermore, the deals will also provide suppliers with long-term visibility of demand, allowing them to capture future growth as well as advance localisation initiatives.

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The senior secured loan and royalty financing arrangement of around $115m from Appian comprises $70m to help CLP achieve its base case nameplate capacity.

It also includes a $22.2m over-run facility and a $22.2m for expansion beyond base case capacity.

Mayur previously announced an equity funding of $40m from Vision Blue, a clean energy battery metals transition investment vehicle, in exchange for a 49% equity stake in the CLP.

The financing, together with Vision Blue Resources’ $40m equity investment, would help the Central Lime Project (CLP) be fully funded.

Mayur would use the funding to cover the construction costs to achieve the nameplate production capacity of 400,000 tonnes, along with an allocation for expected further expansion.

The first quicklime production is expected to begin 18 months after the financial close.

Mayur managing director Paul Mulder said: “Today marks the key funding milestone in delivering the CLP, which will be a transformative development for Papua New Guinea’s landowners, central province, and the broader manufacturing sector.

“Hundreds of new jobs, support service businesses, electricity, roads, education/health facilities are all part of the benefits that will be created for landowners, whom to date, have lacked such basic services and have been negatively impacted by isolation.

“As the nation’s inaugural industrial downstream manufacturing processing hub, the clp will also materially contribute to the clean energy transition by providing a key input to the processing of energy transition metals in the region.”

Mayur started the construction of the CLP in mid-2023 with primary activities to date being the wharf infrastructure.

With the wharf infrastructure started early, Mayur is allowed to optimise construction logistics and shorten the project’s development schedule.

In addition, the company is anticipated to generate early revenues through the sale of raw limestone aggregate from this wharf during the construction of the kilns.

Appian Capital Advisory CEO and founder Michael Scherb said: “Appian is excited to partner with Mayur and Vision Blue on the Central Lime Project in Papua New Guinea.

“CLP is a leading asset, set to produce low-cost lime products for metal processing, strategically located close to end markets in Australia and Asia.

“The project will also play a pivotal role in highlighting foreign direct investment in png, supporting the country’s growing industrial sector.

“This collaboration showcases the ongoing success of Appian’s dedicated credit and royalties offering, highlighting the significant value our team brings to the delivery of mining assets globally.”

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The FID reaffirms the long-term partnership between TotalEnergies and the Sultanate.

It was announced when TotalEnergies chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné met Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said and Minister of Energy and Minerals Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi.

TotalEnergies has signed an agreement with Oman LNG to offtake 0.8Mtpa of LNG for ten years from 2025, becoming one of the main offtakers of Oman LNG’s production.

In addition, TotalEnergies and OQ Alternative Energy are in deep talks to jointly develop a portfolio of up to 800MW, including the 300MWp solar project that will supply Marsa LNG.

The joint company, dubbed Marsa Liquefied Natural Gas, will launch the integrated Marsa LNG project, in which TotalEnergies will own 80% stake and OQ the remaining 20%.

TotalEnergies chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné said: “We are proud to open a new chapter in our history in the Sultanate of Oman with the launch of the Marsa LNG project, together with our partner OQ, demonstrating our long-term commitment to the country.

“We are especially pleased to deploy the two pillars of our transition strategy, LNG and renewables, and thus support the Sultanate on a new scale in the sustainable development of its energy resources.

“This very innovative project illustrates our pioneer spirit and showcases the relevance of our integrated multi-energy strategy, with the ambition of being a responsible player in the energy transition. By paving the way for the next generation of very low emission LNG plants, Marsa LNG is contributing to making gas a long-term transition energy.”

The LNG project combines 150 Mcf/d of natural gas, coming from the 33.19% interest held by Marsa in the Mabrouk North-East field on the onshore Block 10, to feed the LNG plant.

It includes the construction of a 1Mt/y capacity LNG liquefaction plant in the port of Sohar, which is expected to begin LNG production by the first quarter of 2028.

The LNG plant will primarily serve the marine fuel market (LNG bunkering) in the Gulf, and the LNG quantities not sold as bunker fuel will be off-taken by TotalEnergies and OQ.

Marsa LNG project will use 100% electricity supplied with solar power, where a 300MWp PV solar plant will be dedicated to power the LNG plant, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The solar power will position the site as one of the lowest GHG emissions intensity LNG plants ever built worldwide, with a GHG intensity below 3kg CO2e/boe.

Technip Energies has been awarded the major Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts for the LNG plant and CB&I for the 165,000m³ LNG tank.

Marsa LNG project is expected to generate long-term employment opportunities and significant socio-economic benefits for the city of Sohar and the region, said the French oil and gas firm.

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The study contract has been awarded by partners of Sunrise Joint Venture (SJV), after a global contract procurement process.

SJV is owned by TIMOR GAP with a 56.56% interest, Woodside Energy with a 33.44% stake, which is also the operator, and Osaka Gas Australia with the remaining 10.00% interest.

Wood will lead the study with a subcontracting team comprising specialist consulting partners.

The study will consider the key issues for developing, processing, and marketing gas focusing on the delivery of gas to Timor-Leste for processing, LNG sales and delivery of gas to Australia.

It includes a range of disciplines including engineering, financial assessment, financing, local content, strategy and security, health safety and environment, and socioeconomic analysis.

The study, which is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of this year, will evaluate the most beneficial options for the people of Timor-Leste.

In addition, the SJV and the governments will sign a new Production Sharing Contract, Petroleum Mining Code and fiscal regimes, which will enable fiscal and regulatory certainty.

The Greater Sunrise fields are located around 450km northwest of Darwin and 150km south of Timor Leste, hosting the Sunrise and Troubadour gas and condensate fields.

In February last year, SJV announced its commitment to undertake a concept-select program for the development of the Greater Sunrise fields.

TIMOR GAP president and CEO Antonio de Sousa then said: “TIMOR GAP’s efforts have substantially contributed towards realising the long-awaited goal of developing Greater Sunrise.

“This path forward is a significant commitment to our stakeholders, to the aspirations of those who made sacrifices to achieve independence for the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, and to the future of our people and Timor-Leste.”

Woodside Energy CEO Meg O’Neill said: The development of new technologies and growing demand for safe and reliable LNG meant it was the right time to bring forward the concept select program.

“It is important we continue to look at ways to develop the Greater Sunrise fields using the latest technologies by evaluating, for example, modular LNG, that did not exist in the past.”

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In 2022, the Finnish company received a contract from LCRA for ten Wärtsilä engines with 190MW capacity, for the new Timmerman Power Plant, located near Maxwell, Texas.

The current order is for ten additional Wärtsilä 50SG engines that will double the Texas power plant’s earlier output, bringing the total capacity to 380MW.

The new Timmerman power plant will supply the additional capacity required to support LCRA’s customers, the Texas power grid and the Texas electrical grid operator ERCOT.

Also, the additional capacity will help address the supply challenges created by load growth and the retirement of ageing plants in Texas.

LCRA Wholesale Power executive vice president and chief operating officer Randa Stephenson said: “We appreciate Wärtsilä’s track record in supplying efficient and reliable engines.

“The flexibility of the Wärtsilä engines is particularly important in providing the rapid ramp-up of power needed for our new peaker plant, which will be called upon to quickly come online when the other generation is not available to meet the power demand in our growing state.”

LCRA’s new plant will have two units, each powered by 10 Wärtsilä’ engines that run on natural gas, and ramp up and shut down within minutes.

The first unit is currently under construction, which is expected to begin operations in 2025, and the second unit is scheduled to be completed in 2026.

Together, the units will be able to provide power for about 100,000 homes during peak demand.

Wärtsilä said that its fast-starting 50SG engines consume little to no water, and provide dispatchable power to balance the increasing amount of intermittent renewables introduced.

Wärtsilä Energy Americas vice president Risto Paldanius said: “We are extremely pleased to have been awarded this valuable follow-up order.

“It emphasises the added value that our engine technology offers as the energy sector transitions to greater efficiency and increased sustainability.

“We appreciate LCRA for selecting flexible solutions as Texas experiences increased power demand that cannot be adequately served by an ageing fleet of inflexible power plants.”

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According to multiple news reports, the Biden administration is expected to deny permission for a 211-mile (340km) industrial road that leads to a large copper deposit.

The industrial road project runs through the Arctic National Park and Preserve, a major piece of protected land in the northern half of the state.

The proposed move is anticipated to end a long-term conflict between local tribes, opposing the project due to its impact on subsistence hunting, a part of some tribal lifestyles across the state.

The project was also a centre for controversy as it was approved a few days before Donald Trump left the US presidential office.

It was approved by the head of the Department of Interior who was found to have covered up environmental and tribal impacts studied as part of the planning process, reported Politico.

With the refusal of the permit for the construction of a road, large copper and zinc deposits in northwest Alaska, dubbed Ambler Mining District, will lack road access and supply chain.

Ambler Mining District is anticipated to produce minerals that are key components in the production of batteries and engines for electric vehicles.

The Tanana Chiefs Conference, a group representing several tribal villages, had fought against the project and warned that the road and related mines would pose impacts on the ecosystem.

The project would impact the fish in-migration and out-migration, spawning and rearing habitat, and will compromise species at risk like Chinook.

Conference said: “The Ambler Road will pierce the heart of the hunting and fishing lands that our people have depended on for thousands of years.

“The road alone would cause harmful impacts along 125 miles and 200,000 acres of public lands managed by the State in trust for its people. The Ambler Road project would be one of the biggest and most destructive in the State’s history.”

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Ken Brinsden, President and CEO of Patriot commented: “The guidelines for the Corvette project outline MELCCFP’s requirements for the Project’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and provide the Company with the roadmap to completing the ESIA. We are eager to continue our baseline data collection which started in 2022 as we advance the permitting and study phases of Corvette.”

Alix Drapack, Vice President of ESG, Patriot, commented: “The guidelines from COMEV were clear and consistent with other proposed mining projects of this scale and nature in Eeyou Istchee and were as expected. We are looking forward to continuing our discussions on the Project with the tallyman and his family and the Cree community of Chisasibi.

The Company is currently evaluating the Corvette Project as a potential hard rock spodumene mining operation.  The Company is well-funded and is carrying out an intensive in-fill drilling on CV-5 this winter and a regional exploration campaign on the Corvette area during the summer and fall season.  An updated NI 43-101 resource estimate on the Corvette project is planned for release in CYQ3 2024.  The Company commenced collection of environmental baseline data at the Project in 2022 and will continue to collect data in accordance with the newly received guidelines.  The Company will provide regular updates on the progress of the work programs associated with the completion of the ESIA and submission of the ESIA is anticipated in late 2025.

The Corvette Project is highlighted by the CV5 Spodumene Pegmatite which hosts a maiden mineral resource estimate of 109.2 Mt at 1.42% Li2O inferred1 and ranks as the largest lithium pegmatite resource in the Americas based on contained lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), and one of the top 10 largest lithium pegmatite resources in the world. The CV5 Spodumene Pegmatite is located approximately 13.5 km south of the regional and all‑weather Trans-Taiga Road and powerline infrastructure, and approximately 50 km from the La-Grande 4 hydroelectric power station in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec (Figure ).

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Near-Mine Exploration Highlights (not true widths):

Drill hole BLP-2024-101 (at Bonza Sur) intersected 32.31 grams per tonne (“g/t”) of gold (“Au”) over 14.50m from 74.0 m, including:442.16 g/t Au over 1.0 m
Drill hole UGE-DD-24-089 (at FDN Depth) intersected 8.62 g/t Au over 19.9 m from 97.7 m and 12.04 g/t Au over 11.8 m from 264.90 m including:21.4 g/t Au over 5.9 m
Drill hole UGE-E-24-094 (at FDN East) intersected 76.95 g/t Au over 5.0 m from 156.1 m, including:349 g/t Au over 1.1 m
Drill hole FDNE-2023-064 (at FDN East) intersected 12.35 g/t Au over 6.4 m from 823.0 m, including:29.37 g/t Au over 2.6. m
Conversion Drilling Highlights (not true widths):

Drill hole FDN-C24-084 intersected 14.61 g/t Au over 63.6 m from 103.4 m, including:28.48 g/t Au over 29.9 m
Drill hole FDN-C24-083 intersected 10.04 g/t Au over 61.8 m from 14.9 m, including:16.72 g/t Au over 24.8 m
Drill hole FDN-C24-086 intersected 14.84 g/t Au over 28.6 m from 160.6 m, including:30.97 g/t Au over 6.0 m
Ron Hochstein, President and CEO, commented, “I am pleased to announce initial results from Lundin Gold’s 2024 near-mine exploration and conversion drilling programs. The intercepts continue to enhance our confidence in the exploration potential of the district with a growing pipeline of discoveries around FDN supporting our ability for future resource growth. Our conversion program has also successfully defined zones of high-grade mineralization within the FDN deposit that we expect will lead to continued conversion of Mineral Resources to Reserves. Ten rigs, three underground and seven on surface, are currently turning on our conversion and exploration programs and a minimum of 65,000 metres of drilling are planned in 2024 representing the largest drilling program ever conducted on the land package that hosts FDN”.

NEAR-MINE PROGRAM

The 2024 near-mine drilling program will focus on three main objectives: extending the FDN deposit at depth and to the south, advancing the delineation of Bonza Sur and exploring for new near-mine discoveries, including at FDN East (see Figures 1, 2 and 3). During the first quarter of 2024 surface drilling was focussed on Bonza Sur and the new FDN East discovery. Drilling at FDN South and other targets will be completed later in the year.

Initial drill results continue to confirm the potential for possible future resource upside. A total of 12,313 metres across twenty-six holes, from surface and underground, have been completed in 2024. Assay results are presented in Tables 1 and 3 at the end of this release. Results are still pending for some drill holes.

The post LUNDIN GOLD REPORTS DISCOVERY OF A NEW HIGH-GRADE ZONE AT FDN EAST appeared first on NS Energy.

The Export Finance Australia (EFA) confirmed that the approved loan facility will be used to advance the upstream portion of the Siviour Graphite Concentrate operation (BAM Project).

The provision of the loan facility follows in-principle finance support from EFA in March 2020, and conditional approval in February 2022.

The Loan Facility comprises an A$150m term facility and an A$35m cost overrun facility to support any unforeseen increase in capital cost through construction.

Renascor managing director David Christensen said: “We are delighted to have received confirmation that the A$185m conditionally approved loan from the Critical Mineral Facility is approved to support our strategy of fast-tracking the construction of the upstream portion of the BAM Project.

“Our phased development strategy provides us with an early-mover advantage by entering the market with reliable supply of natural graphite concentrates from Australia, an IRA-aligned jurisdiction.

“The strategy allows us to generate early cashflows, accelerate production of graphite concentrates, continue to build valuable offtake relationships with leading anode suppliers, operate and optimise the PSG Pilot Plant and PSG product qualification, and de-risk the subsequent development of the downstream PSG processing facility.”

Drawdown of the Loan Facility will be subject to several customary conditions, required under the Critical Minerals Facility, including completion of all due diligence to the satisfaction of EFA.

EFA has been progressing with its due diligence on the upstream Graphite Concentrate operation, with aspects of due diligence completed including technical, and no fatal flaws identified.

Renascor and EFA will continue to complete the due diligence and full form documentation, and satisfaction of all conditions precedents.

BurnVoir Corporate Finance served as financial adviser and arranger of the loan facility.

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