(Reuters) - North Carolina regulators have approved a state mining permit for Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab supplier Piedmont Lithium (PLL.O), opens new tab to develop one of the largest U.S. sources of the key electric vehicle battery metal, although key financing and local regulatory challenges remain.
(ARS USDA) - Higher temperatures caused by climate change threaten crop yields and ranch animal health, but a team of researchers from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) has a plan that will not only save crops and livestock but help power farms and the nation as well.
(AG Web) - Government incentives aimed at mitigating climate change are almost sure to motivate you, and your landlords, to move toward no-till and cover crops. That’s the reason for our series of stories aimed at helping you convert to vertical farming systems, where those practices perform best.
(Reuters Breakingviews) - Exchanges between China and Arab states stretch back centuries along the ancient Silk Road. More recently, Saudi Aramco (2222.SE), opens new tab is doubling down in the People’s Republic, making energy investments in the world's second largest economy. The two sides can help each other quite a lot.
(Mining) - Against the arid, red dirt of the Australian Outback, the Mount Holland lithium mine emerges to approaching visitors as a colossal grey-tinged crater, with trucks the size of houses edging along its steep inclines.
(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to grant California a waiver to set its own tailpipe emissions limits and electric-vehicle requirements.
(BrownField) - An agronomist says they’re seeing more cases of sulfur deficiency in soybeans.
(The Hill) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is edging toward greenlighting California regulators’ plan to set net-zero emissions standards for locomotives operating in the Golden State. This scheme that could quickly spread to other states, threatening reliable rail transport of goods throughout the country.
(Reuters) - Canadian National Railway said on Friday it has proposed an offer that included higher hourly wages, improved vacation leave and more consistent work schedules as part of negotiations with a union representing its employees.
(Fast Company) - Humans have been farming since the Neolithic era, long enough for their tools and practices to need a little TLC. That, of course, has become the near-singular focus in recent years of a growing crop of industry upstarts—some through technology, others by importing ingenious ideas outside of agriculture, still others by returning to fundamentals they believe got lost along the way. What makes the 2024 list of most innovative agriculture companies so impressive is that their products and services barely overlap, yet many could complement or even enhance the others.
(Utility Dive) - The funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law will go toward new, retrofitted and expanded battery and critical mineral production sites.
(SFN Today) - We know there are essential elements for plant growth. Sulfur is one of them, but there are two forms of sulfur. Taylor Purucker, crop nutrition lead for the Mosaic Company, talks about the two types of sulfur.
(Freight Waves) - The Surface Transportation Board recently closed the comment period for rail stakeholders to file their thoughts on whether reciprocal switching should be considered as an option to address subpar rail service in the U.S.
(The Wall Street Journal) - A prolonged slide in copper prices is challenging the world’s shift to renewable energy sources. Mining firms will need to dig up gigantic amounts of new copper over the next several years to supply the transition to renewables.
(The Wall Street Journal) - The energy transition is getting a dose of reality.Offshore wind projects are being scrapped, and renewable- energy companies' share prices are tanking. In the U.S., automakers are reining in electric-vehicle plans as demand falters.
(EOS) - Scientists advocate for a more significant consideration of sulfur from a multidisciplinary perspective as a necessary step towards sustainable crop management.
(Freight Waves) - Canadian railway CN is prepared to handle low temperatures and heavy snowfall this winter, but it warns that new regulations could test its ability to meet customer demand and keep the supply chain flowing, according to the 2023-2024 winter plan that it recently submitted to the Canadian government.
(Railway Age) - The state of Kansas on Nov. 3 will put into effect an administrative rule requiring two-person freight railroad crews.
(Space) - Sulfur in soils near the moon's poles might help astronauts live off the land one day, making these measurements an example of science that enables exploration.
(Mining Weekly) – The federal government on Friday approved nearly A$50-million in grants to accelerate the development of the critical minerals industry in the country, as part of efforts to reach net zero.
The project will also produce 300,000 t/y of elemental sulphur, which will reduce Australia’s dependence on imports for fertiliser production.
(MSN) - Exxon Mobil aims to become a leading producer of lithium for electric vehicle batteries through a drilling operation the oil giant is launching in Arkansas, the company announced Monday.
(The Wall Street Journal) - Exxon Mobil struck a nearly $60 billion agreement Wednesday to buy Pioneer Natural Resources in the largest oil-and-gas deal in two decades, tying the energy giant's future to fossil fuels.
Tessenderlo Kerley, Inc. held a celebratory groundbreaking to mark the commencement of construction on a new liquid fertilizer facility in Defiance, Ohio. The new 50,000-square-foot production facility will occupy 50 acres and is set to become operational in 2024. The facility will service the Eastern Great Lakes Region through its distribution partners and will include terminal loadouts for rail cars and tanker trucks.
(Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) said on Thursday it will buy lithium from ioneer Ltd's (INR.AX) Rhyolite Ridge mining project in Nevada and use the metal to build electric vehicle batteries in the United States.
(The Daily Scoop) - "The closing of this acquisition marks Koch's first substantial investment on the African continent," said Brad Razook, Executive VP of Koch Industries and CEO, Resources. "We are excited to add another nutrient to the KAES portfolio in collaboration with a world-class partner."
(The Wall Street Journal) - Political uncertainty is clouding prospects for new drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, but Shell PLC—the Gulf’s biggest producer—is still investing billions of dollars in its waters to pump oil for years to come.
(Elko Daily) - Alot has been happening with the Rhyolite Ridge lithium/boron project in recent months.
“On March 31, U.S. President Joe Biden announced plans to invoke the Defense Production Act to provide hundreds of millions in new subsidies for the mining of minerals critical for the wind, solar and electric vehicles industries.
(MSN) - Penflex Corporation recently became the newest member of The Sulphur Institute (TSI), an international, non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for the safe use of sulfur.
(Agri Business Global) - Koch Ag & Energy Solutions (Koch) and OCP have signed an agreement under which a Koch affiliate will acquire a 50% interest in Jorf Fertilizers Company III (JFC III) from OCP, the world's largest phosphate mining and leading global fertilizer group. When closed, the transaction will establish a 50/50 joint venture.
(Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter profit of $8.87 billion, its largest in seven years, as the top U.S. oil producer benefited from strong energy prices.