Greetings Contrarian,

This is The Next Big Rush, your daily drop of mining/energy investing news. Where we come together and brace for another Thursday of intensity.

Here are the strong points:

🧨 Oil Cos Sue Brazil Over Surprise Tax

🧨 UK Says Yes to Green Nuclear

🧨  Roscan Gets Permit

🧨  Drums of Yellowcake Found in Libya

🛢️ Oil Cos Sue Brazil Over Surprise Tax

$20 billion in investments in Brazil's oil industry are at risk following the introduction of a surprise export tax on oil by the country's new leftist leadership.

Shell and other foreign oil companies have filed an injunction against the tax, which could damage Brazil's reputation as a nation that welcomes foreign oil producers and respects contracts with them.

The tax, combined with the halting of planned sales of oil field rights and fuel refineries, may cause drillers to rethink deploying billions of dollars in Brazil, one of the world's top oil producers.

This may affect deep-water fields such as Shell's Gato do Mato and Equinor's Pão de Açúcar.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's recent moves mark a departure from his previous accommodating stance towards investors, and may discourage explorers from drilling deep-water exploration wells, which can cost over $100 million each.

Face. Palm.

We have exercised 100% of our willpower to not write what we really think of this 💩 show.

☘️ UK Says Yes to Green Nuclear

The UK government has announced that it plans to classify nuclear power as environmentally sustainable in its green taxonomy, subject to consultation.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt made the announcement during his address to the House of Commons on the country's tax and spending plans.

Hunt also launched a competition, to be completed by the end of the year, which could lead to co-funding for small modular reactors (SMRs).

He has set a goal for nuclear to reach 25% of nuclear energy in the British energy mix until 2050.

The move is part of the government's efforts to increase nuclear capacity in order to meet its net-zero obligations.

The UK joins the European Union in including nuclear energy in its green taxonomy.

 📑 Roscan Gets Permit

Roscan Gold Corporation (TSX-V:ROS) (FSE:2OJ) (OTCQB:RCGCF) has received an environmental permit from the Republic of Mali for a mining operation at its Kandiole Gold Project in West Africa.

This permit is a significant milestone for the project and the penultimate step before the final mining license, which Roscan is expecting to receive in the near future.

Here it is, for all its troubles, Africa moves faster than the West when it comes to permitting.

 ☢️ Drums of Yellowcake Found in Libya

The armed forces in eastern Libya claim to have located roughly two and a half tons of uranium ore that was reported missing by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

According to the head of the forces' media unit, ten drums containing the ore were found near the Chad border.

The IAEA is "actively working to verify" media reports after sounding the alarm following a recent visit by its inspectors to an undisclosed site.

The area is not under government control as Libya has been divided into competing political and military factions since Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's ousting in 2011.

The self-styled Libyan National Army, which supports the eastern Libyan administration, issued a statement on Thursday confirming the discovery. The uranium is not radioactive in its current state, and the IAEA reports that the site has been difficult to reach lately.

There you have it, there really were drums of uranium hidden in the dessert somewhere. Bull market cancelled. #sarcasm

Happy Speculating!

The Editor

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.