Canada: ScoZinc says that it has increased the gypsum resources at its Scotia mine project in Nova Scotia following a mineral resource estimate. The site has total measured and indicated gypsum mineral resources of 5.18Mt at a grade of 91.8%. Further inferred gypsum resources of 0.79Mt have been recorded at a grade of 91%. The company says that the project has a mining recovery rate of 95% and a cost of US$2/t for gypsum.

US: Saint-Gobain in the US has entered into a 12-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Invenergy, a leading privately held global developer and operator of sustainable energy solutions, for 120MW of the 250MW Blooming Grove Wind Farm capacity in McLean County, Illinois, which recently began operations.

This agreement is the largest renewable energy deal to date for Saint-Gobain and is a key milestone in supporting the group's target to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The associated Renewable Energy Certificate System (RECS) represents 40% of the Group's CO2 emissions from electricity in the US, resulting in a 21% reduction of Saint-Gobain's overall carbon footprint (scope 1 and 2) in the US.

With this agreement and other ongoing projects, the share of renewable electricity within Saint- Gobain's worldwide electricity consumption, will double in 2021, from 18.9% in 2020.

UK: Associated British Ports (ABP) has celebrated the commencement of a project to build a new plasterboard factory at the Port of Newport, Wales which will create around 60 new full-time jobs in the area.

The new facility will be used to store gypsum, which will be delivered by ship before being used for the manufacture of wallboard. This will eliminate the need to transport raw materials from the port to an in-land factory by road, which will help reduce CO2 emissions. Furthermore, the factory will benefit from green power generated by ABP's on-site renewable generation units, including wind and solar sources.

As part of the project, ABP, together with a number of European-based inward investors, has invested around Euro27m to create the new manufacturing facility in Newport. The Welsh Government has also contributed Euro870,000 in support of the project.

US: CertainTeed soil conditioner and soil amendment subsidiary Western Mining and Minerals has taken over management of the former CertainTeed gypsum wallboard plant site in Cody, Wyoming. The Cody Enterprise newspaper has reported that the plant will produce gypsum for agricultural purposes. The producer decommissioned the former wallboard plant in December 2020 after it ceased production in January 2020.

US mining operations manager Roberto Margutti said, “With the agri-gypsum business (and other business opportunities generated with the mine operation), we expect to grow the team from 30% to 50% in the next three to five years.” He added, “We are pleased to be building our new operation with support from many of the same employees who have worked in our drywall plant previously, who will now help operate and manage the agricultural gypsum business.”

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