Vancouver’s Rusoro Mining wins US$1.2-billion lawsuit

The gold mine formerly owned by Rusoro Mining in Bolivar State, Venezuela

A weekly roundup of news and views on energy, mining, forestry and more

Rusoro Mining Ltd. has won US$1.2 billion in a suit against the Venezuelan government, which appropriated its assets in the country in 2011 as part of a nationalization of the gold industry. The Vancouver-based company attempted for several months to negotiate compensation without success before it filed a US$303-billion claim against Venezuela at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in 2012. Rusoro said Tuesday the money is due immediately. (Financial Post)

Speak up now, says Kim Baird, one of three members of the federal ministerial panel currently gathering input at meetings across Alberta and B.C. on the proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. Here, the former Tsawwassen First Nation chief summarizes the recurrent themes the panel has heard from more than 450 presenters at nine meetings. The panel has also gathered 16,000 online responses, but she says that’s not enough. “I encourage all Canadians, and particularly those along the proposed pipeline and shipping route, to express their views to the ministerial panel.” (The Globe and Mail)

North America’s first ocean-based wind farm is almost ready to start spinning energy off the coast of Rhode Island. Almost a decade in the making, it is expected to be completed this fall. The five-turbine, 30-megawatt project is actually tiny compared to European offshore wind farms which frequently boast more than 100 turbines. (Fast Company)

The surprising rebound in gold prices this year has a lot of people rummaging through their jewellery boxes. With prices for the metal headed towards the biggest annual gain since 2010, more people are unloading jewellery outdated in style or sentiment, and the scrap recycling industry is booming. Gold prices have jumped 26 per cent in 2016, touching a two-year high of US$1,375.34 an ounce in July. (Bloomberg)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants to create house roofs made entirely of solar panels. Tesla has finalized a $2.6-billion deal to buy solar power company SolarCity to produce solar shingles—photovoltaic material that would be fashioned into the shape of a house roof. Musk, an entrepreneur who has advocated for a global carbon tax in a bid to lower greenhouse gas emissions, hopes the SolarCity venture will allow Tesla to offer a one-stop shop in clean energy, alongside its batteries and electric cars. (The Guardian)