Andrés Manuel López Obrador. (Image courtesy of Mexican President’s Office.)

The bill elevates lithium to the category of “strategic mineral”, declaring the exploration, exploitation, and use of lithium to be the exclusive right of the state. It also includes a clause allowing the state to take charge of “other minerals declared strategic” by Mexico.

The executive has now 90 days to create a new, decentralized body to deal with all lithium-related matters.

Since taking power in 2018, López Obrador has fought to reverse resource reforms under previous governments, which opened up the oil and electricity sectors to private investment. He has pushed a resource exploitation model that gives priority to state-controlled companies.

The President said his administration will review all lithium contracts, which casts a shadow of doubt over projects already being developed in the country, including the one held by Bacanora Lithium (LON: BCN) in the country’s northwest. The company, owned by China’s Genfeng Lithium, owns the giant Sonora project, which is slated to produce 35,000 tonnes of the metal per year starting in 2023.

The law would likely bring trade tensions with the country’s northern neighbours as it is said to violate the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Kenneth Smith Ramos, who headed technical negotiations for the now defunct North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), told local media that declaring lithium a strategic mineral is an issue as lithium was not designated as such when the three nations signed the accord.

The Mexican Association of Mining Engineers, Metallurgists and Geologists said in a statement that “clays containing lithium have been located” in the country. “To the best of our knowledge, no country has produced and commercialized lithium from clays,” it added.

Most of the world’s current lithium output is locked away in long term deals as downstream chemicals producers, battery makers and electric vehicles makers are frantically trying to secure future supply.

Mexico’s reserves of the sought-after metal positions it in the 10^th place among the world’s top producers, data from the US Geological Survey shows.

Copied from Mexico nationalizes lithium mining – MINING.COM

The geothermal startup Quaise Energy has raised $63 million in funding to tap Earth’s deep subterranean power.

ABSTRACT breaks down mind-bending scientific research, future tech, new discoveries, and major breakthroughs. See More →

A company that plans to drill deeper into Earth than ever before, creating holes that would extend a record-shattering 12 miles under our planet’s surface, has raised a total of $63 million since its launch in 2020. 

Most recently, Quaise Energy, a startup that aims to revolutionize the geothermal energy market, secured $40 million in series A funding in February, reports Axios. The goal of these super-deep holes is to access a limitless amount of renewable energy from the heat deep inside Earth.

“This funding round brings us closer to providing clean, renewable baseload energy,” said Carlos Araque, CEO and co-founder of Quaise Energy, according to BusinessWire. “Our technology allows us to access energy anywhere in the world, at a scale far greater than wind and solar, enabling future generations to thrive in a world powered with abundant clean energy.”

Geothermal energy has a low profile compared to other renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydro, but Quaise believes it is “at the core of an energy-independent world,” according to the company’s website. This form of energy is among the oldest power sources harnessed by humans, but it only accounts for about 0.4 percent of net energy production in the United States, which is the world’s biggest geothermal producer.

Current geothermal plants are typically built in areas where hot rock is located close to Earth’s surface, such as tectonically active fault lines, which makes it easier to tap our planet’s natural heat and convert into steam-powered electricity. But geothermal energy could play a much bigger role in meeting the world’s energy needs if plants could access the hot rock that is globally available several miles under the planet’s surface.

Quaise, which is a spinoff from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), intends to pioneer this technology using vacuum tubes known as gyrotrons that shoot millimeter-wave light beams, powered by electrons in a strong magnetic field. Using these devices, the company plans to burn almost twice as far into Earth as the deepest holes ever made, such as Russia’s Kola Superdeep Borehole or Qatar’s Al Shaheen oil well, both of which extend for about 7.5 miles. 

Gyrotrons are powerful enough to heat plasma in nuclear fusion experiments, making them an ideal tool to probe unprecedented depths of some 12 miles, where subterranean rocks roil at temperatures of about 500°C (930°F). Water pumped into this searing environment would instantly vaporize as steam that could be efficiently converted to electricity. 

Araque and his team at Quaise plan to funnel their seed money into prototype technologies within the next few years. By 2028, the company aspires to retrofit coal-fueled power plants into geothermal energy hotspots, reports ScienceAlert. The process of drilling out these super-deep holes would take a few months, but once the setup is complete, they could provide limitless energy to a region for up to a century, according to Araque.

This untapped source of deep-Earth power could wind up as part of a multi-pronged approach to ending our civilization’s reliance on fossil fuels, which are the main cause of human-driven climate change. Geothermal energy may emerge as a clean power source alongside solar, wind, hydro, and—if the stars align—nuclear fusion, though the latter form of energy is likely many decades away, assuming it is ever achieved at all. 

And while it may seem slightly unsettling to plumb the depths of our planet in this way, Araque is confident the technique will not disturb any Kaiju or lizard people in underground layers or condemn Earth to the same fate as Superman’s planet Krypton, according to an interview in New Atlas. Notably, though, he did not address the Lovecraftian risk of awakening Cthulhu and the Ancient Ones.

Original post by Becky Ferreira

Good morning, fellow geoscientists of our noble Institution. Today marks the beginning of a new era with the inauguration of a new team to administer the affairs of the Ghana Institution of Geoscientists for the next two years. Let me take this opportunity firstly, to thank the Almighty God who has given us life to see this day, secondly, to thank the immediate past leadership of our Institution for the work they did to bring us where we are today, and thirdly, to thank every one of you who have taken time off your busy schedule to witness this inauguration in person and via zoom.

Even though most of the new leadership was part of the old era, we begin a new era with a new direction and renewed strength and enthusiasm to move our noble Institution to greater heights. Colleagues, we have the most diverse of professionals in one Institution with a common motto, “To the Earth for its Wealth and Preservation.” Whether we seek for its minerals, oil, gas, water, or rock aggregates, we are united and resolved to extract these natural resources in the most environmentally friendly ways to develop our nation. This is why we as an Institution have to make the loudest noise against the destruction of our environment by exploitation of our precious minerals by illegal and sometimes legal miners.

The Ghana Institution of Geoscientists (GhIG) has evolved over the years but in spite of the successes chalked in the past, the Institution still lacks the recognition that it merits in the country. Most of the state institutions that depend on the services of geoscientists do not give the GhIG its due recognition whiles the bulk of the geoscientists themselves do not see the need to be part of the foremost geoscience Institution in the country. In order to change this narrative; there is the need to have the legal backing for the Institution to regulate the practice of geoscience and geoscientists in the country. The process began with the last two administrations and it is the desire of this new administration to vigorously pursue and complete this process in the shortest possible time.

Currently, the Ghana Geological Survey Authority (GGSA) Act 2016 (Act 928) contains the laws that constitute the principal and subordinate legislation regulating the mining of both industrial and precious minerals in Ghana among others. Whiles the GhIG seeks its own legislation as a Professional Body to regulate the practice of geoscience and geoscientists in Ghana; GhIG is in talks with GGSA to develop common platform to work together on how to operationalize the Act 928 to create more jobs especially for the new graduates and to protect geoscientists, their respective practices and welfare as well as their professional development.

To enhance the visibility of our Institution, the new leadership will improve our periodic seminars and workshops in addition to our annual conferences to constantly engage members to discuss new and emerging trends in the various geoscience industries. These meetings are to be held by both physical and zoom attendance in order to encourage participation by members outside Accra. We are also going to constantly engage our Regional Representatives to create new and innovative ways to keep members active in the regions.

We will improve and sustain our outreach to geoscience students at Public Universities to encourage the formation of Student Chapters. We will take initiatives to assist these students firstly, with their academic programs and secondly, with mentorship and training programs that will provide them with competence and confidence in their chosen geoscience careers. We will by this means recruit more student members and professional members once they are out of school.

In order to achieve the desired success with a student membership; we will initiate the discussion on student membership subscription, its growth and sustainability.

Professional development and continuous improvement is key to any credible Institution and as geoscientists, we will constantly engage our members in development opportunities through seminars, symposia, workshops, conferences, quick field visits on topical issues and cases,  other field activities where we will bring our experienced professionals to interact with young geoscientists to equip them with the needed skills for the promotion of the geoscience profession and the development of Ghana.

In order to achieve the above set objectives; there is the need for all of us to work together. We have the numbers to push our agenda and the need to foster all-inclusive membership cooperation cannot be over emphasized. As leaders, we don’t claim to have all the answers and initiatives so we invite all members both active and inactive with innovative ideas to engage leadership to find solutions to our challenges instead of sitting on the fence only to find faults for criticism. We are calling for all-inclusiveness, to unite and fight a common course for we win together with our noble Institution. I will take this opportunity to encourage our corporate and individual members to honour their annual dues regularly and timeously.

Finally, I will want to pay tribute to our forbearers who set out this journey many years ago and sacrificed their time and resources to sustain this noble Institution and all who have carried the banner over the years until now. Some of these gallant men and women are still alive today while others have been called to glory. (we take a moment of silence in their remembrance). We salute you all for your sacrifices over the years. May the good Lord guide and strengthen us and give us wisdom along this noble journey we begin today.

Long live the Ghana Institution of Geoscientists! Long live Ghana!

Thank you and God bless us all!!!

ANTHONY A. DUAH(PhD)

16^th December 2021

Prepared by Prof. Daniel Kwadwo Asiedu (GhIG President 2019- 21).

Mr. Chairman, GhIG Council members, Newly Elected Officers of the GhIG, General Membership of GhIG, Ladies and Gentlemen.

It gives me great pleasure, to be standing in front of you on this day, 16^th of December 2021, exiting my position as the President of GhIG for the past two years. Thank you for the privilege and opportunity you gave me to serve the Institution as President from 2019 till today. In the same breath, I congratulate Dr Anthony Duah who is succeeding me as President of the Institution and wish him well in his new role. I also wish him and all other elected officers of the Institution well in all their future endeavours. 

I would like to thank the Council members of GhIG for their selfless dedication to the affairs of the Institution. They served at a high level of commitment. They sacrificed their time and resources to work for the good of the institution at no financial cost to the Institution. Many times, they had to go through heavy traffic to attend Council meetings at the GhIG Secretariat located at the Geological Survey Department Head office. I will also want to thank the general membership of the Institution, particularly those who served on various committees of Council and those who participated in other activities of the Institution, including seminars and workshops.

Mr. Isaac Adjovu and the staff at the GhIG Secretariat, keep up the good work. Your work demands a high level of integrity and competence and you are so far doing a great job. Keep it up! 

As Council for the year 2019 to 2021, I would like to touch on some of our achievements, challenges, and some advice in the form of recommendations to our incoming Council. 

Mr Chairman, over the past two year amongst the achievements, are;

1. In August 2019, we successfully organized the Annual GhIG Conference (GHICON) at the University of Mines and Technology. The theme of the conference was: geoscience, environmental stewardship and society
2. In September 2019, we completed the review of the GhIG constitution and byelaws. Hardcopies were printed for members.
3. In October 2019, we successfully celebrated the International Earth Science Week. The theme for Earth Science Week was Geoscience Is for Everyone.
4. In October 2019, we created regional branches of the institution and elected Chairpersons for each of these regional branches
5. In December 2019. The Council established three (3) publication outlets: Journal of the Ghana Institution of Geoscientists, Bulletin of the Ghana Institution of Geoscientists, and Ghana Institution of Geoscientists Newsletter
6. In January 2020 editor-in-chief and publication managers were appointed for each of the 3 publication outlets. These officers are expected to form the Editorial Board, associate editors and establish the journal/bulletin/newsletter
7. In March 2020, A committee was formed to develop a document for the regulation of geoscience professional practice.
8. In July 2020 a series of webinars were organized to educate members and the general public on earthquakes and seismology.
9. November 2020. A virtual conference young geoscientists was organized. The theme of the conference was: Building the competencies of young geoscientists for academia and industry.
10. March 2021. Submitted documents to the Registrar General for the legislation of the Institution as a Professional Body
11. March 2021. A proposal has been sent to the Department of Earth Science, University of Ghana for partnership to run short professional development courses for our members and the Geoscience community.  

Mr. Chairman, the Council faced challenges in three main areas:

1. Covid-19 pandemic: Activities came to a halt by the end of the first quarter of the year due to the covid-19 pandemic. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated lockdowns and ban on meetings and gatherings, GHIGCON-2020 and GHIGCON-2021 could not come on. The covid also affected some of our Action plan for 2021 and 2021 which included awards nights, end-of-year get-together, engagement with industry, and frequency in the organisation of workshops, public lectures and symposia.
2. Finances: Even though our membership increased has increased significantly for the past two years this has not led to corresponding increase in the payment of dues. Also, inflation and the general the cost of living in the country increases every year. However, the levels of our dues payment has remained constant for more than the last 5 years. Finally, most of the funds we use to run the institution and pay for the salaries of the staff at the secretariat have been derived from sponsorship we obtain for our annual conferences. Since we have been unable to organise CHIGCON for 2021 and 2022, this has significantly affected our finances
3. Delivery of targets for the period (2019-21):  The work of the institution is sacrificial and members who are assigned work are not enumerated in anyway, therefore the they have to use their time and resources for free. This has affected the timeous delivery of targets. Of course, the covid-19 pandemic has also contributed to this situation.

Mr. Chairman, I end my speech by making the following 10 recommendations to the incoming Council:

1. Fuel public awareness and enthusiasm for Geoscience, through public lectures and other engagement initiatives, and provide information on the Geoscience relevant to people’s lives.
2. Institute training programmes for Geoscience graduates and equipping them with the skills needed for the job market.
3. Institute a mentorship programme for early career Geoscience professional GhIG members.
4. Institutionalize the celebration of the International Earth Science Week, to educate the general public on the importance of geoscience to their everyday living
5. Increase the financial base of the Institution through the establishment of GhIG Foundation 
6. Oversee the establishment of the Chartered Professional Geoscientists scheme for professional practitioners in the field of Geoscience, and promote their value across all Geoscience sectors.
7. Regulate the professional works of Geoscience practitioners in the country through the establishment of a Geoscience Council.
8. Establish a functional and effective sub-discipline branches such as Hydrogeology, Petroleum Geoscience, Environmental Geoscience, Mineral Geoscience, and Engineering Geoscience.
9. Partner with industry to engage in activities for our mutual benefit. 
10. Develop a 5-year strategic plan for the Institution.

I like to congratulate all the elected officers who have availed themselves to serve in the Ghana Institution of Geoscientists for the term 2021- 2023. I pledge my support to you and wish you all the best. 

To the incoming President Dr Anthony Duah, it is not going to be easy to lead GhIG as it has grown bigger and complex for the past four years. But with the support of the incoming executives, the Council, GhIG Secretariat, the general membership, and last but not least, your family, you should be able to sail through and effectively deliver on your mandate. Above all, ensure that you thoroughly enjoy your term as President of GhIG.

I thank you all, for your attention. May the Good Lord bless us all!