EuroWire July 2020

Transatlantic cable

is 8 per cent copper. Those types of grade are pretty rare.” Worldwide, the average grade of mined copper is around 0.5 per cent. In January 2017, Strongbow entered into an agreement with Cornish Lithium, whereby Cornish Lithium was given the right to explore for lithium in underground salt water, while Strongbow retained the rights to any discoveries in hard rock. Owen Mihalop, Strongbow’s chief operating officer, said, “The intention is to demonstrate that there is potential to discover a lot more ... [but] the COVID-19 crisis has delayed that.” A spokesperson for Cornish Lithium said the company “is encouraged by the results [of our] drilling programme for lithium ... at this site, and [is] continuing to evaluate the opportunity to extract lithium in this area and elsewhere in Cornwall.” In early May, with much of the air industry on hold, a dispute over aircraft subsidies rumbled on In 2019, the World Trade Organization (WTO) allowed the United States to levy tariffs on $7.5bn worth of European goods, ranging from aircraft to foodstuffs, due to Airbus subsidies that it had deemed illegal. Now, the WTO is considering whether to grant similar rights to the EU in a parallel case involving illegal support for Boeing. Aerospace

Hannah McKinnon, director of the energy transitions and futures programme at Oil Change International, a research and advocacy group that has previously been critical of the IEA’s energy modelling, said, “The IEA now has an opportunity – and a responsibility – to close its own climate credibility gap and set out an ambitious, just and green pathway for the future.”

Rawmaterials

New copper find has raised hopes of reviving the Cornish mining industry The discovery of copper has raised the possibility of a revival for a historic UK industry. Engineers from Cornish Lithium were exploring hot underground springs at Cornwall’s United Downs site for lithium, but instead found high-grade copper. “It’s a very exciting new discovery,” said Richard Williams, chief executive of Strongbow Exploration, the company that owns the mineral rights for the site. “It tells us there are areas of mineralisation that are relatively close to the surface and are potentially mineable. The plan is to get back in there and do some additional drilling to find out how big the zone is.” The copper, in an area that was never previously mined, was found 100m below the surface, but as surrounding mines were worked to a depth of 500m, Mr Williams said that “the hope is that this zone continues to that depth and continues laterally east and west.” He added, “We’ve found, in this zone, the average

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July 2020