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World and Press November 2 2022

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10 Business

10 Business November 2 2022 | World and Press US tech barons racing China for rare Arctic metals MINERALS Nickel and cobalt are important ingredients in the batteries for storing green energy and powering electric cars. By Oliver Moody 1 AN AMERICANcompany funded by some of the world’s wealthiest technology barons has begun prospecting for potentially vast amounts of strategic metals in Greenland as China loses ground in the race for the mineral resources of the Arctic. Backed by investors including Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Sir Richard Branson, KoBold Metals believes it may have identified nickel reserves that rival the largest known concentration of deposits on Earth, currently found at the Norilsk mine in Siberia. There is also thought to be an abundance of cobalt, as well as copper and rarer metals from the platinum group. 2 As the global economy shifts towards electrification, renewable energy, and ever more advanced computers, competition for the metals that underpin these technologies is becoming intense, and Western states are trying to break Beijing’s chokehold on the market. The nickel and cobalt in the Greenland deposits are important ingredients in the batteries for storing green energy and powering electric cars. 3 Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark, is also rich in other metals such as zinc, iron, and the rare earth elements found in every smartphone or modern wind turbine. This has made it a prized alternative to supply chains that are frequently dominated by China, which accounts for 80 per cent of global cobalt refining output. 4 Dwayne Ryan Menezes, founder of the Polar Research and Policy Initiative (PRPI), a London-based think tank, described the Greenland exploration as a “project of real global 0 – 1 BARON “"bœr´n‘ Magnat — to prospect for “"prÅspekt‘ suchen nach; s.w.u. prospecting season Abbauzeit; s.w.u. prospector Explorationsunternehmen — to lose ground (fig) an Boden verlieren — mineral resources Bodenschätze — reserves; s.w.u. deposits “dI"pÅzIts‘ Vorkommen — to rival s.th. “"raIv´l‘ etw. gleichkommen — abundance of “´"bønd´ns‘ Fülle an — platinum group “"plœtIn´m‘ Platinmetalle 2 – 3 to shift towards s. umstellen auf — electrification Elektrifizierung — to underpin stützen — chokehold (fig) Würgegriff — rare earth element Element der Seltenen Erden — prized geschätzt — supply chain Lieferkette — to account for ausmachen — refining Raffination — output Produktionsmenge 4 – 5 founder Gründer(in); s.w.u. to found — to wake up to the fact (fig) s. bewusst werden — epicentre “"epIsent´‘ Mittelpunkt — geoeconomics “ÆdZi…´UÆi… k´"nÅmIks‘ Geoökonomie — tug of war (fig) Tauziehen Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and KoBold Metals investor, seen in 2017. | Photo: Getty Images/ Drew Angerer significance”. “The rest of the world is waking up to the fact that the Arctic is emerging as an epicentre of geoeconomics and geopolitics, and Greenland is the epicentre of that epicentre,” he said. “It’s the centre of a strategic tug of war between the US and China.” 5 Until a decade ago, Greenland’s considerable wealth of minerals had attracted relatively little interest from the outside world because its harsh climate curtails the prospecting seasons, and many of the promising deposits are poorly served by infrastructure. Since the island achieved self-rule in 2009 and control of metal supply chains became a serious geopolitical concern, however, miners and exploration firms have been piling in – with the former US president Donald Trump even offering to buy the entire territory from Denmark in 2019. 6 China’s ambitions on the island have suffered a series of setbacks over the past two years, and it has been left with only a single practicable mining scheme in the whole territory, a zinc deposit on the Citronen Fjord. 7 As China’s presence has receded, America’s has expanded. KoBold Metals, founded only four years ago, has already raised more than 0 million in funding, including from Breakthrough Energy, a green technology investment vehicle founded by Gates and backed by investors such as Jack Ma, the Chinese tech entrepreneur, and George Soros, the Hungarian-American philanthropist. 8 The start-up has bought its way into a joint venture with Bluejay Mining, a London-listed exploration company, to prospect on an area roughly the size of Luxembourg across the Disko Island and Nuussuaq Peninsula in southwestern Greenland. The prospectors may begin drilling as soon as next year. 9 Minik Thorleif Rosing, a Greenland-born professor of geobiology at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, said that under the island were several ancient magma chambers that might well have rich deposits of cobalt and nickel at the bottom, as early analysis of boulders at the surface has suggested. However, Rosing said success was far from assured. “It’s a long stretch from knowing that the potential is there to documenting the resources on that scale and extracting them,” he said. “Prospecting companies don’t produce metals; they produce dreams that they can sell to somebody else.” © The Times, London/News Licensing This article originally appeared in The Times, London. — harsh rau — to curtail “k´"teIl‘ verkürzen — promising vielversprechend — poorly served by infrastructure “"Infr´ÆstrøktS´‘ schlecht erschlossen — self-rule Selbstverwaltung — miner Bergbauunternehmen — exploration firm Explorationsunternehmen — to pile in heranströmen 6 – 8 setback Rückschlag — practicable “"prœktIk´b´l‘ durchführbar — mining scheme “ski…m‘ Abbauvorhaben — to recede zurückgehen — investment vehicle “"vI´k´l‘ Anlageinstrument — entrepreneur “ÆÅntr´pr´"n‰…‘ Unternehmer(in) — London-listed an der Londoner Börse notiert — peninsula “p´"nInsj´l´‘ Halbinsel — to drill bohren 9 magma chamber “"tSeImb´‘ Magmakammer — boulder Felsbrocken — far from assured “´"SO…d‘ keineswegs sicher — a long stretch (fig) ein weiter Weg — to extract gewinnen A Banksy on the wall pushes building price to million ART Übungen| Sprechen Keiran Southern 1 A HISTORICLos Angeles building adorned with a Banksy artwork is being sold, with its owners hoping the painting will push the price above million. The painting, widely known as ‘Swing Girl’, is on the side of an Art Deco mid-rise in the Fashion District. It features a young girl on a swing beneath the word “parking” in red letters. 2 Banksy painted the mural in 2010 while in Los Angeles for the premiere of his documentary ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’. Tarina Tarantino and Alfonso Campos bought the seven-storey building in 2007 for million and said that over the next decade they spent about .8 million on renovations. 3 The couple told ‘The New York Times’ that tenants had pulled out of leases during the pandemic, and they were forced to file for bankruptcy protection. As a result, the building will be sold to the highest bidder next Banksy’s “Swing Girl” on the side of a Los Angeles building. | Photo: Getty Images/ Ted Soqui month. On its own, Tarantino and Campos believe the mid-rise would be worth million, but say the addition of the Banksy has pushed up the price. 4 Potential buyers have been warned against buying the building simply so they can remove the Banksy and sell it. Jeffrey Deitch, an American art dealer and curator, told ‘The New York Times’: “This is free public art. It is not meant to have a commercial value and be resold. That’s not the intention of the artist.” Such a move would not be unprecedented. A landlord in Suffolk allegedly ripped a Banksy from the wall of an old electric shop last year and privately sold it for £2 million. 5 Built in 1914, the Los Angeles building was home to the LL Burns Western Costume Company and featured in one of the silent film era’s most famous scenes. The actor Harold Lloyd dangled from the arms of a clock on its exterior in the 1923 movie ‘Safety Last!’. © The Times, London/News Licensing This article originally appeared in The Times, London. 0 – 2 TO ADORN“´"dO…n‘ schmücken — swing Schaukel — mid-rise mittelhohes Gebäude (fünf bis zehn Stockwerke) — Fashion District Zentrum der Bekleidungsindustrie an der US-Westküste — mural “"mjU´r´l‘ Wandgemälde — seven-storey siebenstöckig — renovations Renovierungsarbeiten 3 – 4 tenant “"ten´nt‘ Mieter(in) — to pull out of a lease seinen Mietvertrag kündigen — to file for bankruptcy protection “"bœNkr´ptsi‘ Gläubigerschutz beantragen — highest bidder Meistbietende(r) — art dealer Kunsthändler(in) — not unprecedented “øn"presIdentId‘ nicht neu — landlord Hausbesitzer — Suffolk “"søf´k‘ — allegedly “´"ledZIdli‘ angeblich — electric shop Elektrogeschäft 5 silent film Stummfilm — to dangle hängen — arm Zeiger — exterior “Ik"stI´ri´‘ Fassade — Safety Last! dt. Titel: Ausgerechnet Wolkenkratzer!

World and Press | November 2 2022 Britain’s pubs are threatened by ‘alarming’ rise in energy bills ENERGY CRISIS Businesses have fewer protections than residential users against higher electricity and gas costs. Business 11 By Eshe Nelson A man drinks at a BrewDog pub in Edinburgh, Scotland. | Photo: Getty Images 1 WITH EVERYday that passes, Lindsey Armstrong’s dilemma gets worse as Britain’s energy crisis closes in on her pub. By the beginning of October, she must renew her electricity contract, but the only price she can get is £118,000 a year – up from at most £27,000, an unaffordable jump. “The price goes up daily,” said Armstrong, who owns a Champs Sports Bar and Grill in Washington, a small town in northeast England. 2 She has admittedly given herself little time but says she never anticipated prices rising so much. And the shortest contract she has been offered is for three years. She’s reluctant to sign a fixedterm contract at current prices. “The longer I wait, the harder it gets to make a decision, but I can’t actually sign myself into a contract of that length,” she said, “because I know I can’t afford that.” Armstrong is taking the risk of waiting with the hope that by the time a new contract must be signed, a new government will have intervened. 3 Across Britain, there is rising panic about the cost of energy. Households face an 80% increase in the price cap on their energy bills starting next month. There has been some government help with residential gas and electric bills, and there is expected to be more, though what form it will take is unknown as the country waits for a new prime minister to be formally appointed Tuesday. 4 Businesses have fewer protections. Industry groups are warning that there could be a tsunami of closings over the winter if small but energy-intensive companies, especially pubs and restaurants, don’t get help with skyrocketing bills. 5 BrewDog, a prominent brewery and pub chain, said it was closing six locations around the country – just two weeks after opening its largest-ever bar in London – because of “spiraling” energy bills and other rising costs. “Reality in the hospitality space is starting to bite and bite hard,” James Watt, a BrewDog co-founder, wrote in a LinkedIn post Thursday announcing the closures. The chain will still have about 70 locations in Britain. 6 Last week, CEOs of six large pub chains and breweries and the head of the British Beer and Pub Association called on the government to provide “swift and substantial” intervention. Without it, “there is no doubt we will witness a huge number of pubs close their doors for good, leaving individuals without jobs during a cost-ofliving crisis,” they wrote. 7 While alarms are ringing for pubs, the energy crisis is sweeping through the economy. The Federation of Small Businesses has warned of the impact on everything from fish-and-chip shops to launderettes. The group estimated that electricity bills for small businesses had risen nearly 350% since February 2021, and gas bills more than 400%. 8 Some businesses have already closed, including a small radio station, cafes, and shops. Others, including a food bank and hospices, have expressed grave concern about how they will afford rising bills. 9 There is no way for many of these businesses to fully absorb the costs or increase their prices to cover them. The Bank of England predicts that the British economy will enter a long recession this | Infographic: Statista year as household incomes experience their worst squeeze in generations. Inflation is rising at the fastest pace in 40 years, climbing 10.1% in July from a year earlier, and wage growth isn’t keeping up. The situation has prompted dozens of strikes across the country. … 10 In Washington, Champs is a franchised business modeled on American sports bars, with burgers and wings on the menu and TVs adorning the walls. Armstrong said that she could set her own prices, but that covering the extra energy costs would require “astronomical” increases, doubling the prices of most menu items. Each week, the pub would need to make £6,000 more than it’s currently taking in. 11 Among businesses seeking relief, the most popular idea is a cap on their energy bills, as residential customers have. Another für nur € 5,95 Jetzt im Einzelverkauf Zusatzmaterial zu dieser Ausgabe. Im Abo PREMIUM sehr viel günstiger! www.sprachzeitungen.de proposal is to reduce the valueadded tax, a type of sales tax, which is reportedly being considered by Liz Truss, the foreign secretary. Truss is also expected to be the next prime minister, as she was well ahead of her opponent, former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, in polling of Conservative Party members. 12 Armstrong said she didn’t expect to be able to pass those VAT savings along to customers because the money would be needed to pay the bar’s energy bills. At the moment, Armstrong is considering reducing her open hours, limiting food service times, closing off parts of the pub, and cutting back staff hours. But she’s reluctant to reduce working hours because her employees, too, face rapidly rising prices at home, and some of them are new parents. 13 But even all of these changes wouldn’t cover her expected increase in energy bills, Armstrong said. Since the pandemic lockdowns, “we’ve opened up, we’ve had a really good year, and then to have this, it’s just soul-destroying,” she said. “It’s absolutely soul-destroying.” © 2022 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times. 0 – 2 TO THREATEN“"Tret´n‘ bedrohen — residential users “ÆrezI"denS´l‘ h.: Privathaushalte (r. Wohn-) — to close in on s.th. etw. immer näher kommen — unaffordable “Æøn´"fO…d´b´l‘ unbezahlbar — admittedly zugegebenermaßen — to anticipate s.th. “œn"tIsIpeIt‘ mit etw. rechnen — to be reluctant “rI"løkt´nt‘ ungern tun — fixed-term mit fester Laufzeit — to intervene “ÆInt´"vi…n‘ eingreifen 3 – 5 price cap Preisobergrenze — to appoint “´"pOInt‘ ernennen — industry group Branchenverband — to skyrocket in die Höhe schnellen — to spiral h.: ständig steigen — reality is starting to bite (coll, fig) wir werden mit schmerzhaften Tatsachen konfrontiert — hospitality space “ÆhÅspI"tœl´ti‘ Gastgewerbe — cofounder Mitgründer(in) 6 – 8 CEO = chief executive officer Firmenchef(in) — brewery “"brU´ri‘ Brauerei — to call on s.o. jdn. auffordern — swift schnell — substantial “s´b"stœnS´l‘ erheblich — to witness erleben — for good endgültig — to sweep through s.th. etw. in großem Umfang erfassen — federation Verband — launderette “ÆlO…n"dret‘ Waschsalon — food bank Tafel — hospice “"hÅspIs‘ Hospiz 9 – 10 to absorb h.: auffangen — squeeze h.: Verringerung — franchised business Franchise-Unternehmen — modeled on nach dem Vorbild von — to adorn “´"dO…n‘ zieren — to take in einnehmen 11 to seek s.th. s. um etw. bemühen — relief “rI"li…f‘ Erleichterung; h.: Hilfe — value-added tax (VAT) Mehrwertsteuer — sales tax Umsatzsteuer — reportedly angeblich — foreign secretary Außenminister(in) — Chancellor (of the Exchequer) “"tSA…ns´l´; eks"tSek´‘ brit. Finanzminister(in) — polling “"p´UlIN‘ Umfragen 12 – 13 to pass along weitergeben — savings Einsparungen — to cut back reduzieren — soul-destroying niederschmetternd

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