Webinars

Webinars

MMSA offers webinars to the public free of charge. Past webinars are available to watch at your convenience. If you are interested in being added to our mailing list for future webinars, please contact us.

Critical Minerals and Supply Chain Webinar Series

Mineral and metal supply chains are critical to moving to a “green economy.”  The availability and supply stability of numerous critical minerals will dictate not only the economics and efficiency in meeting the materials requirements of this new economic structure, but also national security.  MMSA has hosted several webinars on this important topic ranging from supply chain evaluation to the effect of permitting delays.

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The End of the Beginning - An Update on Global Competition for Dominance of Battery Metals Supply Chains

Speaker: Chris Berry

March 15, 2024 –  1pm MT

Presented by: MMSA QP ENHANCEMENT COMMITTEE

The MMSA QP Enhancement Committee offers a series of webinars about a wide range of topics designed for the professionals working for mining companies and those involved in the preparation of studies and disclosure documents. The Webinars are also of interest to the legal, financial, management and academic sectors of the industry. The Webinars qualify for Continuing Professional Development credits for MMSA QPs.

Title: “The End of the Beginning – An Update on Global Competition for Dominance of Battery Metals Supply Chains”

Description:

Chris Berry continues the discussion about minerals supply with a focus on Battery metals. The webinar is an update to the Webinar Chris presented in January 2021: The Size of the Prize – Building a Domestic Battery Metals Supply Chain.

https://mmsa.net/resources/webinars/the-size-of-the-prize-building-a-domestic-battery-metals-supply-chain/

Chris Berry BIO:

Based in Washington DC, Chris Berry has been an independent analyst for the past fourteen years with a focus on battery metals supply chains including lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, copper, vanadium, and rare earths. His work supports a roster of global clients including investors, mining companies, oil and gas companies, and EV manufacturers across six continents.

His advisory work has a specific focus on how battery metals supply chains are evolving to create opportunities and threats during the energy transition in the coming decades. Aside from traditional supply, demand and pricing analysis, his recent work has focused on battery recycling, alternative extraction technologies, and how battery metals will play an increasingly strategic role in geopolitical and supply chain realignment.

Before shifting focus to analysis of these trends, Chris gained twelve years of capital markets experience on both the buy side and sell side. He has visited and performed economic analysis of metals deposits on six continents and has been featured in multiple media outlets including the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, NPR, the South China Morning Post, Al Jazeera and CNN International.

Chris holds a Master of Business Administration in finance with an international focus from Fordham University, and a Bachelor of Arts in international studies from The Virginia Military Institute.

The Webinar has been recorded and posted on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FUqR_QZq9TM

Questions and Comments

The following comments and questions were answered after the presentation was completed.

Alister Horn: Why is China so dominant in refining?

James Sorensen: I believe it’s partly due to its vast size which in turns yields large land and mineral resources. Another factor is they’ve been ahead of the game, have much cheaper labor, and less environmental regulations.

Garrett Bell: Is manganese effected similarly to the other “main” battery metals you have identified?

Liz Lappin: Curious about price volatility related to flooding the market with supply (and any ability for countries and/or companies to protect against that — stockpiling, offtake terms?)

Alister Horn: Is price volatility not a disincentive to long-term investment in battery metals, infrastructure, etc?

Anthony Staley: Comment: you noted that a weak point of the IRA was that it did not address mine permitting.  I would add another weakness: as it pertains to recycling, it does not address regulation reform for the Lithium Battery management and in the intermediate recycling product, Black Mass.

Greg Gillian: Reacted to “Comment: you noted t…” with 👍

Liz Lappin: Thank you Chris, great presentation!

Alister Horn: Great presentation, thanks Chris!

Chris Berry: Reacted to “Great presentation, …” with 👍

Greg Gillian: Thank you for your presentation and time, Chris. Very informative.

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Nickel and the Energy Transition; current nickel resources, reserves, supply and demand and implications for the future of the nickel sector

January 19, 2024

Presented by: MMSA QP ENHANCEMENT COMMITTEE
The MMSA QP Enhancement Committee offers a series of webinars about a wide range of topics designed for the professionals working for mining companies and those involved in the preparation of studies and disclosure documents. The Webinars are also of interest to the legal, financial, management and academic sectors of the industry. The Webinars qualify for Continuing Professional Development credits for MMSA QPs.

Description:

How much nickel is consumed today? Where is it used and where does it come from? Looking ahead, what are the expected future uses of nickel and is there enough supply to meet demand?

The importance of Nickel to modern life and society and is crucial for the production of stainless steel, specialty alloys, electroplating, battery production, and other uses. The importance of nickel to modern standards of living is demonstrated by the fact that per capita consumption of nickel was 8.8 times higher in 2018 than was the case in 1956 and is higher now; in other words, every human on Earth uses ~10 times more nickel in 2023 than they did ~60 years ago. This increase is larger than the case for other infrastructure metals like copper, indicating the continuing and increasing importance of nickel for modern standards of living and the energy transition. Global nickel demand is also accelerating beyond these underlying trends as the world transitions to a low- to zero-CO2 and carbon neutral energy and transport future that necessarily involves the greater use of batteries for energy storage associated with renewable energy systems. This means that understanding the current nickel market and current and likely future sources of this metal are key to enabling the energy transition and associated climate change mitigation. This presentation will provide an overview of current and likely sources of nickel, present reserves and resources, likely changes in supply and demand, and energy transition-related challenges and opportunities for the nickel sector.

Bio: Simon Jowitt is currently the tenured Director of the Ralph J. Roberts Center for Research in Economic Geology and the Arthur Brant Chair of Exploration Geology at the University of Nevada Reno, Nevada, USA. He has a BSc (Hons) degree in Geology from the University of Edinburgh, an MSc in Mining Geology from the Camborne School of Mines, and a PhD from the University of Leicester, all in the UK. Simon spent eight years at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia before moving to spend seven years as an Assistant and then tenured Associate Professor of Economic Geology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His research focuses on the use of geochemistry to unravel geological processes in a variety of settings with direct application to understanding not only mineralizing systems but also igneous petrology, mineral exploration, global tectonics and the links between magmatism and metallogeny. He has also undertaken extensive research on mineral economics, global metal resources and the security of supply of the critical elements, and the “economic” side of economic geology, as demonstrated by a number of recent publications on global base, precious, and critical metal and mineral resources and the impact of the energy transition and COVID-19 on the global minerals industry. Simon also studies the environmental impact of mining and the potential uses of mining and other wastes for metal production and CO2 sequestration. He has published more than 110 scientific papers and peer-reviewed book chapters since 2010, is currently the Vice-President for Student Affairs for the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG) and was awarded the SEG’s Waldemar Lindgren Award in 2014.

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Long-term Supply of Critical Minerals Affected by Permitting Delays.

May 6, 2022

MMSA has presented several Webinars related to critical minerals and the supply chain. This Webinar summarizes sources of critical mineral deposits, uncertainties about how the demand will be met, and effects of regulation on domestic production.

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Critical Minerals (..er Penalty Elements) from Mine to Metal in the Copper Supply Chain

In 2018, the United States identified thirty-five critical minerals due to concerns regarding supply risk and their importance to the nation’s economy and defense. This presentation will examine the deportment and production potential of five “critical minerals” (selenium, tellurium, arsenic, antimony and bismuth) in the copper pyrometallurgical supply chain from mine to metal. Potential areas for future investigation and investment will be discussed to increase the recovery of these critical minerals from the existing copper supply chain.

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THE SIZE OF THE PRIZE – BUILDING A DOMESTIC BATTERY METALS SUPPLY CHAIN.

Chris Berry • Why rebuild domestic supply chains? Jobs and industrial self-sufficiency are key factors here? • Availability of US reserves to critical metals/import dependence. • Discussion of how much lithium/cobalt/copper/nickel will be needed for certain Electric…

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Critical Minerals as By-Products of Production and Criticality in Intellectual Capital

This issue of material criticality has been receiving much attention recently from governments all over the world. Net import reliance can hint at the supply-based risk for materials. Current efforts to increase supply stability of critical materials through by-product or co-product production alongside more common elements is summarized. A metal can be defined as a by-product if the revenue gained from the sale of that metal is not enough to cover the full cost of the mine. On the other hand, if the full costs of the mine can be covered solely by the sale of the minor metal, then it is considered a co-product.

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Evaluating Critical Mineral Commodity Supply Chains

To help inform the public policy dialogue about the Nation’s reliance on imports of the critical minerals needed for the domestic manufacturing and technology sectors and to develop conventional and renewable energy infrastructure, the MMSA Government Committee has scheduled a Webinar for August 19, 2020, featuring Nedal Nassar of the U. S. Geological Survey. He is the principal author of the report: Evaluating the mineral commodity supply risk of the U.S. manufacturing sector; published in Science Advances, February 2020. Mr. Nassar will discuss the findings of the paper with a slide presentation, followed by an audience Q & A.

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Environment

The mining industry uses best practices for environmental management. When a mine is being planned, environmental baseline studies are required for different stages of mine development. Studies include operational requirements for characterizing and managing waste rock, tailing and water at mining projects. During operation, mine sites are continually monitored for environmental compliance and the effectiveness of ongoing and final reclamation. These webinars highlight actions taken by mining companies to protect the environment and still achieve production of valuable minerals.

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Water and Mining: Protecting and Sharing Water Resources

Friday, May 19 – 1 pm MT

Water stewardship and management in mining is increasingly becoming a key component of mine development and operation. Water related issues (water resources and water quality) have the potential to create short and long term operational, environmental, reputational and financial risks. Water related costs and risks are also the most difficult to quantify, as they are closely tied to the social license of a project and have the potential to generate decades of post closure management costs. This webinar provides an overview of water related issues and risks for mining projects, and the tools for water stewardship and management.

Presenter: Patrick Williamson, Principal Hydrogeochemist, INTERA

Bio: Patrick Williamson has over three decades of experience in managing geochemical and hydrogeologic investigations for mining projects, including water balances, water resource evaluation and development, waste rock characterization, mine dewatering, and permitting studies for due diligence, Preliminary Economic Assessments, Feasibility Studies, operations, and closure. He is an experienced project manager/principal with a technical focus on mine waste geochemistry/hydrogeology and extensive experience in the mining sector in Mexico and Latin America. Prior to joining INTERA, Patrick established and managed two hydrogeology/ environmental practices in Mexico, where he developed business offerings for mine hydrogeology, geochemistry and social license for water and mining. Patrick has spoken extensively on the topic of best practices for environmental management for mining at conferences throughout Latin America.

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ESG WEBINAR SERIES – Environment, Social, Governance as it affects mining

Through a series of webinars, MMSA has taken a look at numerous aspects of the ESG issues affecting the mining industry.  Topics have ranged from an overall view of ESG to focused panels discussing specifically social issues and environmental best practices and U.S. Indian law.

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ESG #1 – ESG EXPERTS PANEL DISCUSSION

Mining & Metallurgical Society of America 2021 ESG WEBINAR SERIES

#1 ESG Experts Panel Discussion October 1, 2021
QP ENHANCEMENT COMMITTEE

A recent survey conducted by law firm White & Case found that 45% of key industry decision-makers expected Environmental/Social/Governance (ESG) issues to represent the largest risk to the industry and nearly 79% of those surveyed said they expect investors to push the industry more aggressively on ESG. The accepted standards of environmental stewardship, social license and governance of mineral endowments are constantly changing. QPs must know the issues of importance to society and be prepared to adapt and respond to changing societal norms.

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ESG#2 – SOCIAL ISSUES – SOCIAL LICENSE TO OPERATE

The second Webinar is a Panel session and assembles experts on social issues. Over the course of 90 minutes the panel discussion will identify and introduce topics of importance that are faced by mining companies, mineral property developers and explorationists today.

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ESG#3 – A LOOK UNDER THE HOOD AT INDIAN LAW AND ESG GOVERNANCE

The third webinar will provide perspectives on U.S. Indian law – the distinct body of law that relates to the legal relationships between the federal government and Indian tribes and how these laws affect the evolving governance landscape in the mining industry.

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ESG#4 – THE E IN ESG: THERE IS NO S OR G WITHOUT THE E. EARLY, EFFECTIVE AND ENCOMPASSING ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION AND MANAGEMENT.

The 4th webinar in the series of five assembles experts in Environmental issues related to social license to operate for mines. The panel discussion will identify and introduce topics of importance faced by mining companies, mineral property developers and explorationists today.

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ESG #5 - An overview, brief history, and impact on energy-producing states.

The MMSA QP Enhancement Committee offers a series of webinars about ESG designed for professionals working for mining companies. This webinar presents information about the evolution of ESG and its impacts on economic development in traditionally energy-producing states.

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The Canadian NI 43-101 and the US S-K 1300 – Public Reporting of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves

In support of the QP membership as well as other interested parties, MMSA offers free webinars addressing relevant topics to QPs.  Recent webinars have included topics such as the Canadian National Instrument 43-101 and the U.S. SEC adoption of the SK-1300 regulations and replacement of the Industry Guide 7 for mining property disclosure requirements.

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Compliance with NI 43-101 – The Regulators Observations on Ongoing and Emerging Challenges – The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Regulatory staff at the BCSC and in other CSA jurisdictions continue to see qualified persons failing to comply with the requirements of NI 43-101 and the Technical Report Form (43‐101F1) in a number of areas. Some are long-standing observations, while others are emerging with the renewed enthusiasm in mining capital markets. The brief presentation and subsequent Q & A will be underscored by a core principle of NI 43-101, the role of the qualified person acting as a ‘gatekeeper’ on behalf of the investing public and in upholding the integrity of the mining capital markets.

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G‐7 to S-K‐1300 ‐ Past, Present, and Now What?

The SEC was one of the first governmental agencies in the world to adopt guidelines for technical disclosure by … mining companies. Form S-3 was promulgated in 1939, and updated with Form S-18 in 1981, which became Industry Guide 7 in 1992. Since 1992, countries around the world have adopted reporting codes which over time generally conform to the CRIRSCO template, promulgated by the “Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards”. On October 31, 2018, the SEC adopted amendments to modernize the property disclosure requirements for mining registrants in the US. This resulted in an amendment to 17 CFR 229.102 Subpart 229.1300. commonly called SK-1300 or the “Rule”.

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Materiality in Regulation S-K-1300 Technical Reports.

Annual reports filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) covering any fiscal year that starts on or after January 1, 2021 would have to comply the Commission’s new rules on mining property disclosures (Regulation S-K subpart 1300). S-K 1300 requires mining companies to provide certain disclosures about their material mining properties and attach a technical report summary (TRS) prepared by a qualified person as an exhibit, if they are disclosing mineral resources and reserves for the first time or material changes to their previous resource and reserve disclosure. The SEC’s rules require that the qualified person include certain information “to the extent the information is material” (17 CFR § 229.601(b)(96)(iii)(B)) and cautioned that the TRS should not contain large amounts of information.

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S-K 1300 Simplified for Consultants

Presenter: Robert Cameron
Dec 11, 2020

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has published new disclosure requirements replacing Industry Guide 7 for Registrants engaged in mining operations. These new requirements are currently referred to as S‐K 1300 which will become mandatory for Registrants as of January 1, 2021. Dealing with the new regulations is not as overwhelming for consultants as they might initially appear. This webinar will outline the content of the new Technical Report Summary and a Registrant’s annual summary reporting which an outside technical consultant might be asked to provide technical expertise and assistance.

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Due Diligence

Technical due diligence is a critical part of the investment process for both debt and equity investors in mining projects.  Continuous improvement of the technical due diligence process is a key issue for the minerals industry as a whole. With an increasingly diverse population of buyers, investors and lenders, and markets fueling demand for growth in the industry, it is critical for the mining industry to perform high quality due diligence that can support groups to make measured and informed decisions with respect to their investment or financing.  MMSA put on a webinar regarding this topic with several panelists and the participants were able to contribute through breakout groups.  Other webinars and presentations are expected in the future.

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Setting the Right Foundations to Perform High Quality Due Diligence

April 23, 2021

The mining industry has a checkered history of success in due diligence study. Since such studies are impacted by significant levels of uncertainty in the resource sector due to the nature of mineral deposits and the myriad of complex factors involved in their evaluation, due‐diligence reports are typically based on opinions and judgments developed on the basis of experience and technical analysis, often generated using less than complete information. Added to the complex technical nature of the due diligence are issues driven by basic human nature. With an increasingly diverse population of buyers, investors and lenders, and markets fueling demand for growth in the industry, it is critical for the mining industry to perform high quality due diligence that can support groups to make measured and informed decisions with respect to their investment or financing.

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Professional Ethics

High professional ethical standards are the cornerstone of the MMSA organization.  QP members are required to sign a statement of ethics and to complete ethics training as part of their Continuing Professional Development requirements.

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Topics in Professional Ethics for Discussion - Part 1

July 15, 2020

The free one-hour ethics webinar will present a variety of professional ethics topics for discussion by participants. Topics will include:

  • Who is your client?
  • Aspects of insider trading: what and when can or should you disclose something?
  • Dealing with a client who wants a more favorable report
  • Professional competence and specialized knowledge
  • Confidentiality versus protection of the public’s health, safety, and welfare
  • Whistle blowing
  • Bribes or facilitating payments? (The webinar did not get to these slides. These topics will be covered in a follow-up Webinar.)

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Anti-corruption and Bribery – Part 2

August 28, 2020

Panelists: David Abbott, Barney Guarnera, Mark Jorgensen, Michael Nees, John Fognani. The free one-hour ethics webinar follows the MMSA Ethics Webinar presented July 15. The main topic focuses on how mining companies address corruption and bribery when working internationally. Often in other countries, bribery or payments to individuals or organizations are necessary to do business. In the U.S. a company is required to follow laws against bribery, so how can a company do business when ‘bribery’ is the only way to get things done.

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HONESTY - AVOIDING THE MISUSE OF MODELS

February 8, 2019

Presentation by David M. Abbott, Jr.
AIPG Ethics Chairman Emeritus and Ethics Columnist
Consulting Geologist LLC

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