Europe

The 322 million euros contract will see TAS take the reins of Esa’s “dark explorer”, Euclid.

Euclid will launch in 2020 and look deep into the cosmos for clues to the nature of dark energy and dark matter. The TAS contract, which will be signed in the coming weeks, completes the sourcing of the two major elements that make up Euclid. A contract to build the payload module, which will hold the 1.2 million telescope and two instruments, has already been awarded to Europe's other big space company, Astrium.

Tanbreez, though this does need explaining to the uninitiated, does just what it says on the tin. The name is a contraction of two close associates on the periodic table Tantalum (TA) and Niobium (Nb), their cousins the rare earth elements (REE), while the final Z stands for their elusive though incorruptible uncle Zirconium. All of these are sought after as new uses are found for them in, among other things, electronics, alloys, mobile devices, car exhausts and green power generation applications.

For many years South Africa has been the repository of the world’s platinum group metals (PGM’s), with some 80 percent of the globe’s total production of metals such as platinum, palladium, osmium, iridium, rhodium, and ruthenium originating from within the Bushveld intrusion, a large layered igneous intrusion within the Earth’s crust.

NunaMinerals is at the forefront of gold exploration in Greenland – and it is a company with a proven record of success. Its CEO, Greenlandic geologist Ole Christiansen was responsible for the discovery and initial development of what remain today the country's only producing mine, the Nalunaq Goldmine in South Greenland, as well as the Seqi olivine mine near Maniitsoq in West Greenland, currently on ‘care and maintenance’. NunaMinerals is currently working hard to develop the next generation of gold mining prospects.

Based purely on its geological structure alone, Greenland has what the vast majority of industry experts consider to be highly favourable conditions for the development of its own mining sector. Indeed its geographical location between Europe and the United States, combined with the high prices attainable for most of the raw materials that are present there, partially offset its absence of infrastructure and of sources of energy, and the harsh climatic conditions of the country.

The Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum is a Greenlandic government agency, working under the Ministry for Industry and Minerals and responsible for overseeing the growth of the nation’s resources. This is a burning issue in this volatile nation, which has just appointed its first female Prime Minister who is clearly keen to encourage the country’s emergent mining industry and has taken the initiative to lift the existing ban on the extraction of uranium.

“There are a number of motivations for our company to be here in Greenland,” explains Nicholas Rose, Chief Executive Officer of Avannaa Resources, “the primary one being the geological map of the country that shows a large variety of geotectonic environments that have high potential for hosting giant ore deposits.”

It was in 2009 that two senior geologists with the Greenlandic exploration company NunaMinerals decided that there was no question that Greenland was on the verge of transforming from a fisheries-based economy to a major player in key minerals. An exploration company, they reasoned, that really understood the regional geology as well as the most advanced technologies available would be urgently needed.

While Neil Armstrong’s and Edwin Aldrin’s first footsteps on the moon in July, 1969, to this day remains one of the most iconic moments in human history, mankind’s fascination with space dates back to centuries beforehand.

For centuries Gibraltar, with its strategic location at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, was used as a naval fortress. Today the Rock, located at a crossroads of Mediterranean and Atlantic shipping lanes, is recognised for its ability to provide a wide range of services to vessels of all sizes and types, and for being a Maritime Centre of Excellence.