If you’re not familiar with the term, 3TG refers to four minerals that are commonly used in various industries, including the electronics, jewelry, and automotive sectors. These minerals are often collectively referred to as “conflict minerals” because their mining and trading have been linked to human rights abuses and armed conflict in certain regions of the world.
Tantalum (T): Tantalum is used in electronic components such as capacitors and resistors. It is also used in the aerospace industry and for making high-temperature alloys.
Tin (Sn): Tin is used in various industries, including electronics for soldering, as well as in the production of automobiles, food packaging, construction materials, and more.
Tungsten (W): Tungsten is used in various applications, including manufacturing tools, electronics, and even some types of jewelry due to its hardness and durability.
Gold (Au):Gold is not only an investment or jewelry, but it is also used in electronics, dentistry, and certain industrial applications due to its excellent conductivity and resistance to corrosion.
The term “3TG” is derived from government regulatory agencies as a way for companies to develop responsible and ethical best practices related to sourcing and supply chain management.
Companies that use these minerals often engage in due diligence to ensure that the minerals are sourced from conflict-free areas and do not contribute to human rights abuses. This practice aims to promote ethical and sustainable sourcing of these minerals.
3TGs minerals are inside everything we use, including smartphones, both electric and combustion vehicles, medical devices and more. It’s difficult to find a modern electrical device that does not include 3TG minerals a component.
The pandemic lockdown of mines, factories and transportation caused a huge plunge in industrial demand in early 2021.
The lockdown also led investors to buy silver bullion coins in record amounts. The last two years have set new sales records for silver and gold bullion coins at both the Royal Mint and Perth Mint.
The use of silver in the manufacturing of consumer electronics, electric vehicles and solar panels has hit record highs.
The solar and electric vehicle industries are largely driven by billions of dollars of government funding and incentives. Even with the economy is a downward spiral it’s likely that subsidies and other funding for solar and green energy projects will continue. Green energy initiatives will continue to drive demand for silver for at least the next decade.
The President’s climate agenda has a goal that 50% of all new car sales by 2030 should electric vehicles.
Conservative estimates place 18 to 26 million new electric vehicles on the roads over the next seven years. With each having slightly more than one troy ounce of silver, that adds up to 20 to 30 million troy ounces or roughly 900 tons of silver needed.
Typical cell phone only small amounts of precious metals, roughly 1/35 gram of gold and a 0.34 gram of silver. Sales of smartphones are projected to reach 1.49 billion units by 2026, which will consume 50.155 tons of pure gold and a whopping 500 tons of silver.
The majority of silver that is pulled from the ground results as a byproduct from mining other metals. As domestic mining of related metals has remained steady over the last decade, domestic silver production typically averages roughly 1,082 tons per year.
Major automakers including Tesla and General Motors have announced large cash investments in mining.
Industry analysts from both industries are speculating this to be a huge strategic advantage given the push to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
Technology from the Boring Company already exists that could easily be applied to upend operations in the mining industry.
Their latest tunnel boring machine, named PrufRock, is capable of digging a one mile long, 12 foot diameter tunnel about a week.
Applying this to existing mining operations and adopting new methods of mining precious metals could lead to drastically improved operating margins and reduction in fuel consumption in addition to significantly reducing the environmental damage and long term effects caused by the stripping overburden to reach paydirt.
Producing rare earth metals and minerals to meet the needs for EV batteries would be an excellent application of Boring Machine technology to the mining industry. Adapting the machines to dig and sort through deposits is also a way to help eliminate the harsh conditions faced by workers in cobalt mines throughout the world.
Despite record high inflation spot prices have stayed relatively low but volatile.
An energy crisis has led to recurring power outages throughout South Africa as Eskom, the government owned electricity provider, continues to intentionally cut power to customers resulting from breakdowns of multiple power generating plants.
The ongoing rolling blackouts are some of the worst the country has experienced in many years causing factories, refineries, mines and other businesses to remain closed. The country’s president declared a state of disaster earlier this month.
The blackouts are effecting everything from traffic lights, water purification, internet connectivity and food availability.
Government officials are concerned that additional failures of the power grid could lead to widespread rioting and outbreaks of violence which could lead to a civil war.
Residents are concerned for their safety even at home as thieves and looters target homes without power.
The US Embassy in Pretoria has issued an advisory for Americans living in South Africa to “maintain 72 hours’ worth of supplies at home by stockpiling non-perishable food, three litres of drinking water per person per day, and medicines and first aid supplies”.
The ongoing blackouts have been ongoing for weeks and have created a SHTF scenario for many people even though the country is very rich in natural resources.
The largest exports are precious metals, particularly gold and platinum and other PGMs, which account for upwards of $25 billion. Reports from Reuters suggest that Platinum Group Metal exports, which includes rhodium and palladium, could be down as much as 15% or more this year.
South Africa is the largest producer of platinum group metals to the world, followed closely by Russia. The reduction in output will impact global supplies and markets as demand for these metals remains high.
A recent report issued by Deloitte titled “Tracking the Trends 2023, the Indispensable Role of Mining and Metals” is filled with ideas on how the mining industry can align with DEI ideology and embrace the cult of climate change.
The transition to a “green energy” future requires an abundance of minerals, rare earth metals and precious metals.
International Energy Agency estimates that demand for critical metals is expected to increase ten fold by 2040 as battery and electric vehicles manufacturing increases.
The mining industry will play a critical role as the supply chain ramps up to support domestic manufacturing of batteries, electric vehicles, solar panels and other advanced energy products.
The industry faces challenges with regulators, environmental protestors and the ESG and decarbonization movements continue to force companies to adopt policies to meet diversity and inclusion quotas.
Industry leaders report that companies across the mining industry already face serious labor shortages. Activist investors and companies continue to put an emphasis on the need for diversity and inclusiveness policies that are a hamper to business efforts and growth. Many of these policies are seen as nonsensical and impractical.
A bigger threat for the industry, particularly in North America, is that many of the existing workers in the mining industry are aging. Today, the average age for a worker in the mining industry is 46 years old. With nearly 50% of the skilled engineers expected to retire within the next 10 years.
The mining industry in Canada faces risks to keep up with industrial and consumer demand. The Deloitte report suggests that Canadian miners need to hire 80,000 to 120,000 people between now and 2030 in order to keep up with demand.
In the United States, employment in the mining sector has fallen over 20% in the last decade due mine shutdowns resulting from the decline in global demand for coal as the ESG movement lobbied for energy policy changes to support green energy solutions and less reliance on fossil fuels.
Last year, the United States produced 170 million tons of gold. Silver production topped 1,100 tons.
Industrial demand for silver is expected to continue to surge as as companies invest in the domestic manufacturing of EV batteries, solar panels and other components of the green energy movement.
While SpaceX is currently the leading company in commoditizing space travel, a new startup is preparing to launch a prototype demonstration outer space refinery.
Space mining startup AstroForge raised $13 million in seed funding last year. The company is poised to launch their first of two launches aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.
Their goal is to test their orbital refinery and scout an asteroid for mineable resources.
AstroForge also intends to explore asteroids for platinum-group metals. In addition to platinum itself, the metals in the group include palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium. All of these metals have many industrial uses.
Gold Prices continue a bull run for the sixth consecutive week.
Gold continues week-over-week gains. The market is keeping a close eye on this week’s Fed meeting and anticipating remarks from Chairman Powell at the end.
Inflation, interest rates, the looming debt crisis and the NATO activation of tanks and other artillery support in Ukraine weighing on traders.
Other key economic data points are likely to impact markets.
Though recent data shows that inflation bay be easing, analysts from the Wall Street Journal and others share concerns from Fed regulators that tightening of the labor market in recent years may cause prices to spike.
Uprisings in Peru Impacting Copper and Silver Output
Peru is one of largest producers of copper and silver. Ongoing protests, uprisings and riots against the current government has led to the shut down of at least one mine.
Industry analysts at mining.com report the shutdown may impact up to 30% of the countries copper (Cu) production. Silver is typically found along with copper in large deposits and is mined as a byproduct.
garimpo – a small-scale, informal gold, diamond, and tin placer mining camp Wildcat gold mining continues to be a problem. It’s estimated that there are as many as 5,000 illegal small-scale gold mining camps scattered throughout the Brazilian Amazon. The wildcat miners that operate small-scale gold mining camps in the Brazilian Amazon are known as garimpeiros. Across the centuries, garimpeiros have scoured the most remote reaches of the Amazon rainforest in search of gold.
The Yanomami indigenous reserve is deep in the northern reaches of the Brazilian Amazon. The reserve is comprised of 37,320 square miles (96,650 square km) of rainforest near the border with Venezuela in the states of Roraima and Amazonas.
This area has long been the subject of environmental and indigenous exploitation for decades. One fifth, or 20% of the indigenous population of Yanomami died from diseases after 40,000 garimpeiros flooded the reserve in the 1980s. The miners were eventually expelled and the area declared a reserve in 1992.
Gold mining is responsible for an estimated 10% Amazonian deforestation. Additionally, the mercury contamination leaches into the soil and spilled off in sedimentation into vital rivers effecting all living things.
The illegal mining creates large stagnant pools of water ideal for the breeding of insects. Malaria is increasing and is spread by the mosquitos.
In international news reports, garimpeiros are presented as violent and immoral villains pillaging the forest beyond the reach of the law. Since taking office in 2019, President Jair Bolsonsaro has sent mixed messages regarding his intention to open up parts of the reserve to mining exploration.
The president has said the reserve is too big for its population of around 26,000 indigenous people, and its mineral riches should be exploited.
The mining causes deforestation as well as changes to water quality and river structure, say scientists.
Indigenous leaders argue that the garimpeiros bring many problems to the reserve including significant environmental damage and endangering local indigenous communities.
Toxic minerals like mercury are used by the miners to separate gold particles from mud and other minerals. The toxic mud and silt are dumped into the rivers and pollute the food chain. Garimpeiros also bring other problems such as prostitution, violence and diseases like malaria.
Academic research on the impacts of garimpo on biodiversity backs up these complaints. Researchers from the World Wildlife Fund have found high mercury levels in fish as far as 90 miles (150km) from garimpo sites in the Amazon. The researchers found mercury in Amazon river dolphins.
Nearly half of those studied had dangerously high levels. Other researchers found record mercury levels in jaguar fur near garimpo sites in the Brazilian Pantana.
The mercury that miners use to separate gold particles from mud and silt is dumped into rivers and burned off into the air. Mercury spreads into the aquatic ecosystem via a process called biomagnification and concentrates rapidly as it passes up the food chain. Birds and larger mammals are sensitive to changes in forest cover and vegetation and flee garimpo areas.
For the Yanomami, nature and spirituality are intrinsically linked: every rock, every waterfall, every bird, every monkey has a spirit.As investors in bullion we have an obligation to ensure that the mines are operated in a responsible, humane and environmentally conscious way.
