Landscapes: Volume 3

Landscapes: Volume 4K (UHD)

Milky Way Galaxy Formation - 2011 Simulation

Canada’s Barrick Gold

Canada’s Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX)(TSX:ABX) said Thursday it will suspend operations at its Lumwana copper mine in Zambia, after the country increased this week mining royalties from 6% to 20%.

The world’s largest gold producer said the new tax regime, expected to go into effect on Jan.1, left the company “no choice” but to initiate the process of halting operations at its open pit mine.

“Despite the progress we have made to reduce costs and improve efficiency at the mine, the economics of an operation such as Lumwana cannot support a 20% gross royalty, particularly in the current copper price environment," said Barrick’s co-President Kelvin Dushnisky.

Major job cuts at the mine, which employs about 4,000 people directly, are planned to begin in March

Major job cuts at the mine, which employs about 4,000 people directly, are planned to begin in March, following the legally required notice period for putting the mine in care and maintenance, Barrick said.

The Toronto-based company also revealed it expects to record an impairment charge related to Lumwana, acquired when it bought Equinox Minerals Ltd. in 2011, in the fourth quarter of this year.

All operations at Lumwana, located in Zambia's Northwestern Province, should be fully cancelled by the second quarter of 2015, Barrick added.

The Southern Africa nation is one of the world's key copper producers and Barrick's decision to shut Lumwana makes the miner the first to react to Zambia’s new royalty rates.

In the first nine months of this year, the mine produced 138 million pounds of copper at C3 fully allocated costs of $2.98 per pound. The mine had 6.6 billion pounds of copper in reserves as of December 31, 2013.

Barrick had warned in October that it would consider suspending the mine if the Zambian government didn’t change the proposed new tax system, as it would threaten the operation’s viability.

Lucapa Diamond

Shares of Australia-based Lucapa Diamond (ASX:LOM) gained almost 4% Thursday after the miner announced Thursday it will begin mining at its Lulo alluvial concession in Angola in January.

In a first phase the miner plans to target high-grade diamond ore bodies, meeting a target of 14,000 bank cubic metres (bcm) per month before the end of June.

In the second half of the year Lucapa will bring in additional earth moving machinery to ramp up production to about 40,000 bcm per month.

In the second half of the year Lucapa will bring in additional earth moving machinery to ramp up production to about 40,000 bcm per month.

The company’s new chief executive officer Stephen Wetherall noted that mining in Stage 1 would focus on select areas within the licence area, which produced higher grades during the bulk sampling programs.

Lulo, about 700 kilometers (435 miles) east of Angola’s capital Luanda, could be even more valuable than the country’s biggest gem producer, Catoca, which is also the world’s fourth-largest kimberlite mine, Lucapa managing director Miles Kennedy has said.

World's rarest gems

The project, a joint venture between the company and the Angolan government, hosts type-2a diamonds, which the company qualifies as "the world's rarest and most valuable gems". These kinds of precious rock account for less than 1% of global supply and, according to Lucapa, the world's most famous large, white, flawless diamonds belong to this category.

Angola is the world’s No.4 diamond producer by value and No.6 by volume. Its industry, which began a century ago under Portuguese colonial rule, is successfully emerging from a long period of difficulty as a result of a civil war that ended in 2002.

The government has recently reduced taxes and cut state ownership requirements as it seeks to rekindle the industry after the global financial crisis forced mines to close.

Earth is closest to the sun every year in early January

Tonight – that is, before dawn tomorrow from our North American longitudes – our planet Earth will reach perihelion, its closest point to the sun for the year. This annual event will take place on January 4, 2015 at 6:36 UTC (01:36 a.m. EST). The word perihelion is from Greek roots peri meaning near, and helios meaning sun.

Earth is closest to the sun every year in early January, when it’s winter for the Northern Hemisphere. We’re farthest away from the sun in early July, during our Northern Hemisphere summer.

Earth is about 5 million kilometers – or 3 million miles – closer to the sun in early January than it will be in early July. That’s not a huge change in distance. It’s not enough of a change to cause the seasons on Earth.

Despite what many may think, Earth’s distance from the sun isn’t what causes the seasons. On Earth, because our orbit is so close to being circular, it’s mostly the tilt of our world’s axis that creates winter and summer. In winter, your part of Earth is tilted away from the sun. In summer, your part of Earth is tilted toward the sun. The day of maximum tilt toward or away from the sun is the December or June solstice.

Increasing greenhouse

Increasing greenhouse gases linked to rains over Africa thousands of years ago