Barriers to and uncertainties in understanding and quantifying global critical mineral and element supply.

The critical minerals and elements are natural substances that are essential to modern life but have insecure supply. This lack of a secure supply clashes with the increasing importance of these elements, especially given their use in technologies needed to reduce global CO2 emissions and mitigate against anthropogenic climate change. In this contribution we review the by-product nature of the critical minerals and elements and the inherant uncertainties in reported critical mineral and element annual production as well as the relationships between these commodities and main-product metals and associated concentrates. We explore the geological and geographical barriers to critical mineral and element supplies, as well as how the lack of available data and the uncertainties in the data that are available hinder our ability to estimate global resources with confidence.

Mining in Papua New Guinea: A complex story of trends, impacts and governance.

Mining is often portrayed as a contributor to sustainable development, especially so in developing countries such as Papua New Guinea (PNG). Since 1970, several large mines have been developed in PNG (e.g. Panguna, Ok Tedi, Porgera, Lihir, Ramu) but always with controversial environmental standards and social impacts often overlooked or ignored. In PNG, mine wastes are approved to be discharged to rivers or oceans on a very large scale, leading to widespread environmental and social impacts - to the point of civil war in the case of Panguna. The intimate links between indigenous communities and their environment have invariably been under-estimated or ignored, leading many to question mining's role in PNG's development. Here, we review the geology of PNG, its mineral resources, mining history, key trends for grades and resources, environmental metrics (water, energy, carbon), mine waste management, and regulatory and governance issues. The study provides a unique and comprehensive insight into the sustainable development contribution of the mining industry in PNG - especially the controversial practices of riverine and marine mine waste disposal. The history of mining is a complex story of the links between the anthroposphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and geosphere. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that the scale of environmental and social impacts and risks are clearly related to the vast scale of mine wastes - a fact which remains been poorly recognised. For PNG, the promise of mining-led development remains elusive to many communities and they are invariably left with significant social and environmental legacies which will last for decades to centuries (e.g. mine waste impacts on water resources). Most recently, the PNG government has moved to ban riverine tailings disposal for future projects and encourage greater transparency and accountability by the mining sector, including its interactions with communities. There remains hope for better outcomes in the future.

Global platinum group element resources, reserves and mining - A critical assessment.

The platinum group elements (PGEs) are used in many technologies and products in modern society, especially auto-catalysts, chemical process catalysts and specialty alloys, yet supply is dominated by South Africa. This leads PGEs to be assessed as 'critical metals', signalling concern about the likelihood and consequences of social, environmental and economic impacts from disruptions to supply. In order to better understand the global PGE situation, this paper presents a comprehensive global assessment of PGE reserves and resources and the key mining trends which can affect supply. The data shows that global PGE resources have increased from 90,733t PGEs in 2010 to 105,682t PGEs in 2015, a 16.4% increase - despite global production of 2243t PGEs over this period. This suggests that the key issues facing the PGE sector are not geological or resource depletion, but clearly social, economic and environmental in nature - as highlighted by recent social issues in South Africa and volatile global economic conditions. Concerns over PGE supply reliability and the implications of any supply disruption will therefore continue to see the PGEs labelled as critical metals - but certainly not due to resource depletion.

Primary diffuse large B-cell central nervous system lymphoma presenting as an acute space-occupying subdural mass.

Primary dural lymphomas are very rare tumors--usually low-grade B-cell lymphomas of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue type or marginal zone B-cell lymphomas. Primary dural involvement by diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is extremely rare, with only a few cases reported in the literature. The authors present an unusual case of primary dural involvement by a high-grade diffuse large B-cell lymphoma that presented as an acute subdural space-occupying mass and required emergency neurosurgical intervention.

An unusual presentation of multiple myeloma: a case report.

Multiple myeloma can occasionally manifest with joint disease. We report the case of an individual with a progressive bilateral carpal syndrome and a symmetrical severe seronegative polyarthritis and joint swelling. Investigations revealed an erosive seronegative inflammatory arthritis in association with bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, anaemia, hepatic impairment and nephrotic-range proteinuria. Synovial fluid cytology demonstrated plasmablasts and multinucleated cells with products of chondrolysis. The diagnosis of multiple myeloma (with secondary amyloidosis) was made on serum protein electrophoresis and bone marrow biopsy.The relationship between myeloma and joint disease is discussed, highlighted by the presence in this case of all three pathogenic features associated with arthritis in myeloma patients- an erosive arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome and an invasive tumoural arthritis.

Stomatocytic haemolysis and macrothrombocytopenia (Mediterranean stomatocytosis/macrothrombocytopenia) is the haematological presentation of phytosterolaemia.

Phytosterolaemia (sitosterolaemia) is a recessively inherited metabolic condition in which the absorption of both cholesterol and plant-derived cholesterol-like molecules at the gut is unselective and unrestricted. In haematology, Mediterranean stomatocytosis or Mediterranean macrothrombocytopenia is a poorly understood haematological condition that combines stomatocytic haemolysis with the presence of very large platelets. Five pedigrees showing this haematology were identified. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) showed that all of the patients with this highly specific haematology had grossly elevated levels of phytosterols in the blood, diagnostic of phytosterolaemia. All showed mutations in the ABCG5 and ABCG8 previously linked to phytosterolaemia. Three pedigrees showed five new mutations, while two pedigrees showed the common W361X mutation in ABCG8. We draw the following four conclusions: (i) that Mediterranean stomatocytosis/macrothrombocytopenia is caused by an excess of phytosterols in the blood; (ii) that phytosterolaemia, which does not respond to standard statin treatment, can be diagnosed via the distinctive haematology described here, even when the cholesterol is normal; (iii) that phytosterolaemia should be considered in the differential diagnosis of all patients with large platelets; and (iv) that the platelet size should be noted in patients with hypercholesterolaemia.

Study of telomere length reveals rapid aging of human marrow stromal cells following in vitro expansion.

Human marrow stromal cells (MSCs) can be isolated from bone marrow and differentiate into multiple tissues in vitro and in vivo. These properties make them promising tools in cell and gene therapy. The lack of a specific MSC marker and the low frequency of MSCs in bone marrow necessitate their isolation by in vitro expansion prior to clinical use. This may severely reduce MSC proliferative capacity to the point that the residual proliferative potential is insufficient to maintain long-term tissue regeneration upon reinfusion. In this study we determined the effect of in vitro expansion on the replicative capacity of MSCs by correlating their rate of telomere loss during in vitro expansion with their behavior in vivo. We report that even protocols that involve minimal expansion induce a rapid aging of MSCs, with losses equivalent to about half their total replicative lifespan.

Chuvash-type congenital polycythemia in 4 families of Asian and Western European ancestry.

The Chuvash form of polycythemia is an autosomal recessive disorder common to a large number of families in central Russia. Affected individuals have been reported to be homozygous for an Arg200Trp mutation in the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) gene. We have screened 78 patients with erythrocytosis and found 8 of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin to be homozygous for the Arg200Trp mutation and another of English descent to be heterozygous. Of these patients, 5 have elevated serum erythropoietin (Epo) levels, while the other 4 have Epo values in the normal range. The heterozygous patient does not fulfill the Chuvash criterion for homozygosity of the Arg200Trp mutation and consequently may harbor a further, as yet uncharacterized, mutation. This mutation has a wider geographic distribution than originally presumed and haplotype analysis suggests a common origin of the Arg200Trp mutation in the 4 families, but it still remains to be established if it has arisen independently of the Chuvash population.