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Indigenous groups ask Chilean court to stop community review of Codelco/SQM lithium deal
According to documents reviewed by, two indigenous groups in northern Chile asked a local judge to suspend the state-led process of community review that was required to approve a partnership between copper miner Codelco and lithium mining company SQM. Last week, the Indigenous community of Coyo and Atacameno Association of Irrigators and Farmers of San Pedro de Atacama filed separate legal challenges with the Chilean Appeal Court in the Antofagasta Region. They accused the Chilean Economic Development Agency Corfo of failing to properly conduct a consultation process for their input regarding the partnership. This is the last condition for the deal that will see state-run Codelco take over SQM's lithium mine operations on the Atacama Salt Flat. The Coyo Community and the Atacameno Association of Irrigators and Farmers (which has Indigenous members) said that they needed more time and information to give informed consent to the plan. According to a document filed in court, the Antofagasta Court accepted their challenges on Friday. The court ordered Corfo, to respond within 15 days to the allegations and asked Codelco to comment. Corfo said that the consultation process is still ongoing. The agency released a statement saying that the "Indigenous consultation process" with the Atacama Indigenous Organizations is progressing and was carried out according to the regulations. Codelco refused to comment while SQM didn't immediately respond to a comment request. The Indigenous Consultation, led by Corfo, and including a few dozen local community groups around the Atacama Salt Flat, was expected to end around late July. SQM, Codelco and other communities in the vicinity of the salt flats are holding separate talks to discuss a model that will allow Indigenous communities to oversee lithium extraction. Both the Coyo Community and the Atacameno association of Irrigators & Farmers asked the court for a suspension until a new method to review the community could be implemented and more information was provided. Both groups claimed that Corfo did not provide enough details about the proposed Codelco-SQM contract and that the timeline of the consultation between November 2024 to July 2025 is too short for a detailed analysis. The report also stated that Corfo did not always act in good faith and did not adhere to the standards of the International Labour Organization (a U.N. agency). The Coyo Community said that "this situation directly affects fundamental rights by limiting the Community's influence over decisions affecting its territory, its environmental surroundings, and its collective rights, thus violating constitutional protections," in its court filing. (Reporting and editing by Jamie Freed; Daina Beth Solon)
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Rio Tinto misses estimates for iron ore output, copper forecast upbeat
Rio Tinto reported a smaller-than-expected increase in iron ore shipment for the second quarter but forecast copper production at the upper end of the range. Rio Tinto's iron ore shipment is recovering following a series tropical cyclones that slowed operations during the first quarter of March. The miner's Pilbara operations shipped 79.9 Mt of iron ore in the three-month period ended June 30. This is a 13% increase from the previous quarter, but still below the Visible Alpha consensus estimation of 81.98Mt. Rio Tinto exported more iron ore of lower quality, SP10 grades. SP10 levels made up 29% of Pilbara exports. The company expects to achieve full-year production of copper at the upper end of its guidance range, and unit costs in the lower half. This is due to the ramp up from its Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia. The miner confirmed its forecast for iron ore shipments in the full year at the lower end, between 323 Mt and 338Mt. Rio Tinto named Simon Trott as its new CEO on Tuesday. He succeeds Jakob Stausholm who announced unexpectedly in May that he was stepping down after four and a half years. (Reporting from Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru and Shivangi lahiri; editing by Devika Syamnath).
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Two people killed in New Jersey floods by severe storms near New York City
As severe storms ravaged the New York City region on Monday and Tuesday night, flooding cars and subway stations submerged in New Jersey. Intense rainfall has caused travel disruptions across airports, highways, and railways in the region. According to Mayor Eric Adams, more than 2 inches (5cm) of rain fell in Manhattan's Central Park in just one hour, making it the second-most rainfall in 60 minutes in history. On Monday night, videos showed flooding at several subway stations. One station in Manhattan's West Side had a geyser-like water stream. The subway system, according to officials, was overwhelmed by the rain in a very short time. Rohit Aggarwala said that the antiquated sewer network can only handle about 1.75 inches (4.44cm) of rainfall per hour. This is compared to a rate exceeding 4 inches per hour during the storm. Adams stated, "I don't think I can remember seeing such a level of rainfall before." New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has declared a state-of-emergency and announced that two people have died in Plainfield after their vehicle was washed away by floodwaters. Murphy, a reporter, said that the victims were discovered in a car submerged. Murphy stated that some locations had experienced flooding for the very first time. The governor blamed climate changes for the increased frequency and intensity extreme weather events. He said, "That's a new reality." Authorities in Westchester County north of the city conducted numerous water rescues, as cars submerged under floodwaters and highways were closed due to flooding. According to the National Weather Service, Nanuet, a suburb in Rockland County near New York City, recorded over 5 inches (12.7cm) of rainfall. (Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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Blackstone and US utility PPL will build gas power stations in a JV partnership
The companies announced on Tuesday that they have formed a joint-venture to build natural gas power stations for data centers, under long-term agreements to provide energy services. Vincent Sorgi, President and CEO of PPL, said in a press release that he was excited to use the expertise PPL and Blackstone Infrastructure have to bring new dispatchable generation to Pennsylvania in order to meet new data center loads. The announcement was made at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, held in Pittsburgh. Government, technology and energy officials announced investments of approximately $90 billion to advance data centers and other aspects in the artificial intelligence boom. The U.S. president Donald Trump was expected in attendance. According to the companies, PPL and Blackstone Infrastructure, which own 51% of the joint venture, will sign long-term agreements for energy services with large data centers companies. There has not yet been any agreement of this nature. The joint venture has engaged in active engagement with landowners and natural gas pipeline companies, as well as turbine manufacturers and secured multiple land parcels for this new generation buildout, according to the announcement.
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Trump's AI and tech summit announces major US investments
On Tuesday, American companies announced a series big-ticket AI investments and energy pledges as part of President Donald Trump's push to maintain the nation's advantage in the booming tech sector. Here are the most important announcements made around the Energy and Innovation Summit, held at Carnegie Mellon University. The summit is expected to bring $90 billion of investments into and around Pennsylvania. Google, owned by Alphabet, has signed a deal worth $3 billion with Brookfield Asset Management to purchase electricity produced from two hydropower plants in Pennsylvania. Google will invest $25 billion over the next two-years in data centers throughout Pennsylvania and its neighboring states, according to a report by Semafor. Jon Gray, the president and chief operating office of Blackstone Asset Management, said at a panel discussion that it plans to invest $25 billion in data centers and energy infrastructures in Pennsylvania. Blackstone also announced a joint venture for power generation with PPL Corp. First Energy is investing $15 billion in expanding power distribution and strengthening grid infrastructure. They will also operate an enhanced grid for 56 Pennsylvania counties. This was announced by the Pennsylvania office of Senator Dave McCormick. Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta Platforms, said on Monday that his company will spend hundreds of millions of dollars building several AI data centers. One of these is a data center with a capacity of more than one gigawatt, dubbed Prometheus. It's planned to be built in Ohio. CoreWeave, a cloud infrastructure technology company, plans to invest up to $6 billion in building a new artificial-intelligence data center in Pennsylvania. The company announced this on Tuesday. Senator McCormick’s office announced that Constellation Energy would invest $2.4 billion in upgrading the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant. Energy Capital Partners has announced a plan of $5 billion to build a datacenter at the York II Energy Center. PitchBook's report on Tuesday revealed that AI-related startups have seen a rise in investment, which is a sign of the continued growth of this field, even though venture capital firms struggle to raise funds. Reporting by Raphael Satter, Editing by Chizu nomiyama and Leslie Adler
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Pentagon will continue to work with US rare-earths projects, US Defense official says
A defense official said on Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Defense will continue to work with rare earths firms to ensure a diverse American supply of these critical minerals, which are used throughout the economy. Pentagon signed multi-billion dollar deal last week to become largest shareholder of rare earths producer MP Materials. It also agreed on several financial backstop measures. Defense official stated that the move was made to "share risk" in a vital minerals project. The U.S. Mining sector questioned whether similar investments could be made by the U.S. Military. Official: The Pentagon is "looking forward to continuing to work with companies throughout the (rare earths supply chain) to ensure that DoD, and the nation, have the secure and robust supply chains necessary to protect national and economic security in the future." The official said that the MP deal structure is a "unique" approach by the government in order to "account [for] the difficulties of establishing and maintaining production of rare earth magnets within a market where China controls a large part of the supply chain." Officials said that the Pentagon's investment in MP came through a Cold War law called the Defense Production Act and its Office of Strategic Capital. (Reporting and editing by Chris Reese, Sandra Maler, and Ernest Scheyder)
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Trump expects to meet Starmer during his visit to Scotland
Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he will meet with British Premier Keir starmer in Aberdeen, Scotland later this month, to finalize a U.S. - British trade agreement. An official at the White House said that Trump will visit his golf properties on Scotland's west coast in late August, recreating his 2016 trip to Scotland during his first presidential run. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Trump planned to visit his Turnberry and Aberdeen properties during a trip scheduled to last between July 25-29. When asked by reporters about his trip, Trump replied that he was going to meet Starmer. He and Starmer Deal announced On June 16, on the sidelines the G7 Summit, in Canada, that reaffirmed the quotas for British automobiles. They also eliminated tariffs against the U.K. Aerospace sector. The issue of aluminum and steel remains unresolved. "We will have a meeting, most likely in Aberdeen." Trump said that they would do many different things and refine the deal we have made. Trump visited both courses in 2016 during his successful first term, using the occasion to praise Britain's vote for "Brexit", to leave the European Union. When he visited Turnberry, bagpipers dressed in kilts accompanied him. Turnberry, on the west coast in Scotland, has hosted the Open Championships four times. The last time was in 2009. Trump purchased it in 2014. The Republican President will be a guest of King Charles in Windsor Castle from September 17-19. In June 2019, during Trump's first term, the late Queen Elizabeth welcomed him to Buckingham Palace. He had a private dinner with her and tea with Charles. (Reporting by Steve Holland; editing by Chizu Nomiyama & Leslie Adler).
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Britain abandons its 'taxonomy plan' for green investments
The UK has canceled plans to create a "taxonomy", which would guide companies and investors in determining what constitutes a green investment. This is the latest indication that governments are delaying reporting sustainability requirements for businesses. Taxonomies define criteria for a sustainable activity to assist economies in achieving net zero targets. The taxonomies were created to encourage more investment in green projects, but critics claim they are difficult to follow and not very useful. After determining that the taxonomy was "not the most effective tool for delivering the green transition, and should not be included in our sustainable financial framework," the finance ministry stated it would instead focus on other green policy to drive investments. The decision is made as Europe overhauls its own sustainability reporting regulations for companies to reduce red tape and boost competitiveness. The government stated that its consultation revealed the taxonomy wouldn't deliver "in a reasonable way" its goals of channeling capital, and reducing greenwashing. The UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association called it "disappointing", that the government concluded that a taxonomy of green investments had no place within the UK's sustainable financial framework. Oscar Warwick Thompson, UKSIF's head of policy and regulation affairs, said: "We want to see rapid delivery of commitments regarding transition plans and sustainability reporting standards." The British government first proposed a taxonomy for the UK in 2020. However, the work was stopped in December 2022 because it was considered a complex task that involved multiple sectors in the economy. Gemma Woodward is the head of responsible investments at Quilter Cheviot. She welcomed the decision and said that the industry already had to deal with other regulations. Virginia Furness, Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Alexandra Hudson edited the story.
The US Court of Appeals temporarily suspends Argentina's 51% stake in YPF
The U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday temporarily suspended an order by a judge that Argentina hand over its 51% share in the oil and gas company YPF as partial satisfaction for a $16.1-billion judgment.
The 2nd U.S. The 2nd U.S.
The appeals court stated that Argentina had until July 22nd to respond.
The dispute arose from Argentina's 2012 acquisition of the YPF stake by Repsol, a Spanish company, without making a bid to Petersen or Eton Park. Both were minority shareholders.
Burford Capital is representing these shareholders. Burford Capital has stated that it expects to receive between 35% and 73% respectively of Petersen and Eton Park’s damages.
Argentina warned that its economy would be unstable if it sold its majority stake in YPF - the largest energy company in the country. The country was given a deadline of July 14 for the turn-over, but U.S. district judge Loretta Preska agreed to defer enforcement until Argentina could appeal the decision.
(source: Reuters)