America and China fight for mineral monopoly

America and China fight for mineral monopoly

technology changes the way people live
and do business but the origins of its
components and materials are just as
important modern societies economies and
even weapons rely on critical minerals
to function Africa happens to be home to
30% of the world’s known critical
minerals and America wants to tap into
that
Marketplace the problem however is the
Chinese beat everyone to the punch for
over a decade Beijing has been signing
deals left and right and building the
infrastructure necessary to extract
those mineral riches today it dominates
the global extraction refining and
processing of mineral resources China is
Miles Ahead of the competition
nevertheless need inspires creativity
and the Americans have drafted a
comeback strategy to recapture a stake
in Africa’s minerals Market it has
pledged hundreds of millions of dollars
to revive a mega Railway that runs from
the Atlantic Straight Into the Heart of
Africa a passage known as the lito
corridor the area through which the
corridor goes is rich in Copper gold and
Cobalt but also conflict disease and
turmoil not exactly a stable environment
to set up shop China is Making Waves too
it is negot negotiating to take over the
operations of the Taza Railway which
runs in the opposite direction from
Africa to Asia Pacific and would thus
ship the same critical minerals to China
both America and China need to do things
differently here they cannot act
unilaterally as they do elsewhere if
treated recklessly either one of the
corridors could be the last stop before
a train wreck
[Music]
America is waking up from its Slumber it
is calling China out on its hold over
Africa the source of the friction stems
from the critical mineral resources
buried underground everything from F35
Jets to EV batteries and wind turbines
relies on these critical resources these
minerals include rare Earths oxide
chromium lithium manganese platinum and
so on stuff of which Africa has more
than plenty the southern half of the
continent is affluent in the resources
that shape Modern Life running from the
Democratic Republic of Congo to South
Africa is a dense concentration of
mining sites known as the mineral belt
it’s not just the dense that matters but
the highgrade quality and the
infrastructure that carries the
resources to the open oceans for
exporting however the jungle fills the
landscape so much so that road and rail
infrastructure is scarce even when
mining sites are connected and primed
for export they are rarely ever
connected to the federal capital for
instance between the DRC Capital
Kinshasa and the resourcer katanga
region sits nearly 1,600 km of
rainforest this terrain is largely
impassible and the two sides of the
country have little Communication in
between not surprisingly local power
Brokers are detached from the federal
government and often do their own thing
it just so happens that America is now
looking to do business in the very same
katanga region this part of the DRC has
the world’s largest Supply of cobalt
estimated to be around 70 to 80% of
Global Production meanwhile neighboring
Zambia is a major source of copper it
possesses 6% of known copper reserves
globally but more importantly it has the
highest grade deposits on record as such
the DRC and Zambia sit at the epicenter
of the Scramble for critical minerals to
tap into the congales and Zambian
resources President Biden has pledged
$360 million toward Reviving the libito
corridor this follows an earlier pledge
by a Consortium of private investors to
invest more than $450 million into the
associated infrastructure project what’s
more roughly at the same time in
November 2023 the African Development
Bank jumped on the bandwagon as well
helping to raise 1.6 billion ion in
financing while contributing about $500
million itself altogether that is a
fortune in Investments the stretch of
Railway would count more than 1,300 km
from end to end originally the railway
was built by Belgium and Portugal in
1905 but a portion of the link was
destroyed during Angola’s Civil War and
fell into disuse now America aims to
restore and renovate the railway
particularly the part going from indola
and chingola to the border crossing of
jimbe doing so would allow American
multinationals to move critical minerals
to the port of lito in Angola and from
there ship to the Atlantic Ocean the
International Energy agency estimates
that between 2020 and 2040 demand for
nickel and Cobalt will increase by 20
times for Gra graphite 25 times and for
lithium more than 40 times so the idea
is for the libito coridor to help Drive
The increased volumes of traffic onto
the railway line but the plan is bigger
than just a railway to fully exploit the
mineral belt and do so cost effectively
production needs to increase in effect
America wants to upgrade the railway
into a value chain that will not only
export critical minerals but also Foster
Business Development and Commercial
activities to stress the point further
the World Bank committed $300 million on
its own to fund an economic
diversification plan for Angola this
project approved in May
2023 will directly contribute to making
the lito corridor into a value chain in
the early phase the chain could host
refining and processing plants but as
people move in and out and as commercial
activity increases New Towns would
emerge and the chain would take on a
life of its own it could take decades to
develop but that’s how urban life
evolves by turning the libito corridor
into the libito value chain Biden hopes
to strengthen ties with African nations
at a time when foreign direct investment
in China is at its lowest in decades for
America this is a window of opportunity
to knock China off its African Throne as
part of its charm offensive vice
president Harris visited no less than
three African nations in
2023 whether it will do any good is
unknown both Washington and Beijing are
eyeing the same periphery looking for
ways to secure new corridors for
strategic raw materials China has a head
start it is Africa’s largest Trading
partner and has been for 15 consecutive
years amid the American effort to revive
the lito corridor and drive exports to
the Atlantic the Chinese are not exactly
sitting on their hands in Tanzania and
Zambia China is negotiating to take over
the operations of the Tanzania Zambia
Railway Authority or tazara for short
this Railway runs from Central Zambia to
the port of Dar Salam in Tanzania
anchored by the Indian Ocean it was
initially financed and built by China
itself in 1975 when it didn’t have the
revenue stream it does today but even
back then Chinese lawmakers recognized
the importance of critical minerals the
tazara railway is roughly the same
length as the libito line and like its
westbound twin the tazara line has also
fallen into disarray and de K in recent
times and just as America is looking to
revive the lito line China wants to do
the same with the tazara line Beijing
has been negotiating the acquisition of
the Railway for years most recently in
February 2024 it offered $1 billion to
refurbish the infrastructure and take
over its operations down the line China
may even consider linking the tazara
line to lubumbashi the capital of cobalt
Rich katanga doing so would bring
congales Cobalt to Asia Pacific and
secure China’s approach to disruptive
Technologies at the same time admittedly
$1 billion may not seem a lot when
compared to previous Chinese investments
in Africa however China is currently
going through an economic slump and
since
2023 it has moved away from massive
infrastructure rure projects in Africa
Beijing has changed it is more cautious
when spending and it no longer does
billion doll Ventures no new Mega
projects have been announced since so
China’s decision to invest a billion
dollars in the tazara railway provides
an interesting context it implies a
long-term geoeconomic blueprint looking
ahead to the next decade China may even
take a page from the American Playbook
and turn the tazara railway into a value
chain in its own right the geopolitics
of the region is quite literally a
choice between West and East considering
the facts on the ground the African
nations through which the corridors pass
may prefer to leverage American
interests against those of the Chinese
and vice versa though Beijing offers
better terms and improved capacity
Angola Zambia Tanzania and the
Democratic Republic of Congo can hedge
their positions to get the best deals
possible China’s bargaining power is
more compelling due to the memorandum of
understanding it signed with most
African nations a decade ago since then
China has rolled out on the continent
through the belt and Road initiative
accounting for the past two decades
Chinese state-owned companies have
invested roughly 170 billion dollar in
massive infrastructure projects
throughout the continent these include
ports airports Railways highways
telecommunication networks Etc these
Investments have allowed Chinese firms
to develop Regional Partnerships with
the purpose of extracting critical
minerals and shipping them to China and
while Beijing May no longer be doing
billion dooll projects in Africa its
past Investments still carry weight
furthermore neither the Americans nor
the Europeans are leaders in EV
technology almost 90% of cell component
manufacturing takes place in Asia with
China having impressive EV capabilities
in fact the largest Chinese EV
manufacturer byd has surpassed Tesla in
terms of EV production according to the
fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2023
three for Africans Beijing offers better
business terms but they may yet welcome
American investors to reduce their
exposure to China relations between
Angola and the West have steadily grown
since it joined the World Trade
Organization in
1996 the country has vast hydrocarbon
deposits and sits between the central
and southern parts of Africa more
importantly Angola is unique among among
subsaharan nations in having a navigable
river on which Goods can pass into the
Heartland so Angola is not looking to
Wed itself to China it may prefer to
have its options open the same principle
applies to Zambia it has the highest
grade copper deposits on the planet and
both the libito and The tazara Rail
lines originate from its territory if
Zambia can maintain a balance between
the East and Westbound corridors it will
eventually cultivate stronger ties with
both America and China there would be no
need to alienate one of the two largest
economies over the other meanwhile for
the Democratic Republic of Congo the
stakes are different the country has
been a failed State since 2006 with no
fix in sight a dozen insurgencies are
rampant in its remote provinces and a
widespread proxy conflict is ongoing
with its neor neighbors America is
barely involved and when it does it
focuses on stabilizing the country and
providing humanitarian Aid trade between
the DRC and the US stands at a meager
$332
million compared to America China has an
edge in Risk tolerance it has deep
running business ties in the DRC and
holds more sway over the country Ergo
the DRC will likely stay close to
China’s side in the foreseeable future
bearing all in mind the Africans may
still want to exercise caution sitting
on the fence for too long may result in
splinters today the mines in the mineral
belt sit at the epicenter of the
Scramble for critical minerals these
resources underpin the operations of
modern societies economies and weapons
but that Scramble for mines and
resources could just as easily turn into
a Scramble for territory and eventually
a Scramble for Nations it’s a story
Africa has seen before and it didn’t end
well if the mines in the mineral belt
could talk they would scream with
rage all right now that we’ve wrapped up
the video I want to tell you about
today’s sponsor West Haven Gold
Corporation they are a junior Mining and
exploration company focusing on gold you
can see their ticker symbol on the
screen just for a quick recap one of the
reasons I keep an eye on companies like
West Haven is because much of what’s
happening in the world right now be it
Chinese and Americans vying for
dominance in Africa or elsewhere much of
it revolves around natural
resources gold is a fascinating resource
because it is a Timeless storage for
Value it maintains value over time
making it a safe bet in times of
inflation or economic instability West
Haven is one of the companies that
actually pulls the gold from the ground
and with demand for gold off the chart
breaking $2,000 an ounce they are
definitely in the right business West
Haven is based in Vancouver Canada they
sit smack dab in the heart of a
relatively new and under explored gold
belt in Southwestern British Columbia
which is one of the friendliest mining
jurisdictions in North America now when
examining mining companies it’s
essential to understand a few things
their land package is first and foremost
you have to understand the land package
that’s the bread and butter of any
Mining and exploration Company West
Haven has four large properties across
Southwestern British Columbia if you’re
not familiar with where that is take a
look at this here is a map of British
Columbia and right here in yellow is its
gold belt according to the Canadian
government the region holds about 280
million ounces of gold that’s a lot of
wealth waiting to be dug up this
research paper is from the ministry of
energy and mines website by the way West
Haven sits in the center of the gold
belt just near the Fraser River they
purposely bought this land for its
prospects back in 2018 West Haven made a
big discovery on its shovelnose property
which led to its stock price to soar to
$1.35 that is what typically happens
when a mining company announces positive
drilling results it doesn’t always play
out like that but in general prices go
up when positive results are announced
and that’s when you see these big gold
companies swoop in and try to make an
acquisition or make a significant
investment in 2022 Franco Nevada
Corporation did just that by entering a
financing arrangement with West Haven
worth $10 million for added context
Franco Nevada is one of the leading gold
focused royalty and streaming companies
in the world with a large and diverse
portfolio it is currently trading at a
$23 billion market cap so that is a huge
investment from a credible and
established company in the industry
hisory if a major player saw some
potential back then there is so much
more to look forward to now recently
West Haven has received a 650 drill hole
permit at its shovelnose property the
priority drill targets for 2024 have
already been selected and now it’s just
a waiting game if West Haven makes
another big Discovery like they did in
2018 it could be a GameChanger again
mining is speculative so it’s essential
to do your due diligence on a company
you can see what happened to their stock
price after announcing positive results
it jumped up going from 25 to
$11.35 prices steadily went down
afterward and that’s what makes West
Haven particularly interesting because
now it’s back to where it was before the
2018 Discovery it’s like buying Bitcoin
in 2018 after its jump and drop only for
it to shoot To The Moon a few years
later so this is definitely a research
opportunity again here is their ticker
symbol on the screen I will also leave a
link to their website in the description
West Haven is a public company so all
the information is available make sure
to do your own due diligence I’m just
providing some of the information about
the company and the history of the area
I’ve been your host chivon from Caspian
report if you approve of what we do
please leave a comment hit the like
button and mayhaps share the video in
any case thank you for your time and S
[Music]

For more information on Westhaven gold, feel free to visit their website: https://www.westhavengold.com
They are publicly traded on the TSXV under WHN and the OTC under WTHVF

This video was sponsored by Westhaven after Caspian Report was engaged for a one-time video on April 2nd 2024.

For our full disclosure, please visit:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ztrgUeqTM5g_aiO2fChpfrJ2ixLqOjGU/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115586744579338048659&rtpof=true&sd=true

#Africa is home to 30 percent of the world’s known critical #minerals, and #America wants to tap into that marketplace. However, #China is miles ahead of the competition.

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