The global diamond industry is undergoing a rapid and unprecedented collapse, according to tech entrepreneur and academic Leanne Kemp, though some industry analysts argue that while the downturn is severe, it is not terminal.
Plunging revenues, halted operations and growing doubts about diamonds’ cultural and economic relevance are just some of the symptoms cited by Kemp, who insists the industry isn’t just slumping. She said it’s “disassembling”.
We already know people who live on traditional lands in the north are unlikely to welcome mining. They shouldn’t be able to veto it
Ontario Premier Doug Ford wants to break up the status quo of process, endless consultation and delay that has bogged down major infrastructure project approvals in the province. It’s about time. Ford’s Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, aims to speed things up by creating “special economic zones” that would exempt big projects from many municipal and provincial rules.
The bill would allow cabinet to designate those zones and decide what rules apply. It can take a big club to break up the status quo. Bill 5 is certainly such a club, and no one swings one quite like Ford. This is his “Get It Done” mantra in action.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Transaction with Canada Nickel lauded as the largest Indigenous investment in a Canadian critical minerals project
Canada Nickel has banked a $20-million investment by Taykwa Tagamou Nation that’s earmarked for the development of the Crawford nickel mine project, outside Timmins.
The Toronto nickel mine developer announced May 27 that it’s closed the transaction originally announced before Christmas. The investment comes in the form of a convertible note that can be converted into 16.67 million of Canada Nickel common shares.
Trump wants to keep the US in, China out, and everyone else down.
The clean energy transition that the Biden administration touted as the focus of its industrial policy required large amounts of mineral inputs. Batteries for electric vehicles depend on lithium, solar panels contain gallium and molybdenum, and powerful magnets in wind turbines can’t be built without rare earth elements.
Biden’s landmark legislation, such as the 2022 Inflation Adjustment Act, effectively resurrected industrial policy in the United States but this time on the basis of a shift away from fossil fuels. Donald Trump, since taking office in early 2025, has swung U.S. policy back again toward oil, gas, and coal. But the Trump administration is no less interested in securing access to minerals.
The status of one of the world’s most important copper mines remains clouded in uncertainty, more than a week after seismic activity caused widespread flooding deep below ground.
(Bloomberg) — The status of one of the world’s most important copper mines remains clouded in uncertainty, more than a week after seismic activity caused widespread flooding deep below ground. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.’s Kamoa-Kakula complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the world’s top sources of copper and was on course to become the third-biggest supplier of the key energy-transition metal this year.
Yet its current condition is a mystery, with contrasting messages from its biggest shareholders. Some information has been disclosed: water levels have risen after pumping and electrical infrastructure in the Kakula underground mine was damaged.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Nutrien is planning to build a major terminal at a Pacific Northwest port and is eyeing sites in the U.S. and Canada, according to chief executive officer Ken Seitz. The Saskatchewan-based fertilizer giant is searching for a deep-water port with rail infrastructure that can handle bulk potash exports for fast-growing markets in the Indo-Pacific, including China, India and Japan, Mr. Seitz said in an interview.
Regulations, taxes and approval timelines will influence the company’s decision about whether to choose the U.S. or Canada. “I just want to make sure the downstream infrastructure and the associated regulatory environment continues to be one conducive to us,” he said.
https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/
TORONTO – Last-minute changes to a controversial Ontario mining bill are not good enough and ignore a central plea to work together on drafting legislation, First Nations said Thursday.
Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which represents 49 First Nations in northern Ontario, said the province should scrap Bill 5 and write a new law alongside Indigenous leaders that would allow for shared prosperity.
https://northdakotamonitor.com/
Project contingent on approval from regulatory agencies
BEULAH, N.D. – A former coal mine in western North Dakota that will be converted into a processing site for nickel mined in Minnesota was touted Wednesday as a way for the U.S. to reduce its reliance on China and other countries for critical minerals needed for electronics and electric vehicles.
The processing plant operated by Talon Metals will bring 150 jobs to Beulah, with processing expected to begin in 2028. Electric vehicle maker Tesla has contracted to buy about half the nickel processed in Beulah. Mike Kicis, president of Talon Metals, said the Department of Defense is another likely user of the nickel and other minerals.
https://www.northernminer.com/
Frontier Lithium said a definitive feasibility study for the $943-million capex PAK project in northern Ontario boosted reserves by 37%.
The study, which calculates a net present value of $932 million based on a discount rate of 8%, provides a “robust basis” for Frontier to target a final investment decision within two years, according to a statement issued Thursday.
Frontier is making progress on project financing and has started the permitting process, which should also be completed by mid-2027.
Glencore has shifted more than $30 billion in foreign assets into an Australian subsidiary in a huge restructure designed to make it easier to strike a future mega-merger with a rival commodities giant.
Coal mines in Canada, South Africa and Colombia, a copper resource in Argentina and a South African manganese, chrome and vanadium business are among the assets shifted into the local Glencore Investment Pty Ltd. The restructure comes less than a year after Glencore publicly debated the merits of demerging its flagship coal division, and eight months after it tried to engage Rio Tinto in merger talks for the second time in a decade.
Companies are pausing investments, not because of tariffs but because demand isn’t growing nearly as fast as hoped
The vision of an all-electric transportation sector, shared by so many policy-makers across Canada, is fading fast. The latest failure to charge is Honda’s recent announcement, citing lack of demand, that it will postpone a $15-billion electric vehicle (EV) project in Ontario for two years.
Compounding the hurt, it will move some of its EV production to the United States, partly in response to the Trump tariff wars. The focus on tariffs may be misdirection, however, concealing failures in the electrification agenda that have been evident for years, certainly well before Trump’s tariffs.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Ontario Premier Doug Ford – facing opposition from First Nations over a bill allowing “special economic zones” where mines or other projects could be exempt from any provincial law – is pledging to include provisions for similar Indigenous-led zones but still vowing to pass his controversial legislation.
Bill 5, which has sparked warnings of protests from First Nations leaders who say they have not been consulted, is aimed at accelerating Ontario’s sluggish mine approval process, particularly in the remote northern Ring of Fire region. The government says critical mineral reserves there are key to Ontario’s future economic resilience in the face of U.S. tariffs.
The US Supreme Court declined on Tuesday to hear an appeal by the Apache Stronghold seeking to block the development of the Resolution Copper mine in Arizona. The mine is a joint venture between Rio Tinto and BHP.
The advocacy group comprising members of Arizona’s San Carlos Apache Tribe and conservationists challenged a lower court decision that permitted a federal land swap, allowing the mining companies to acquire sacred Apache land for the project.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Barrick Mining Corp. ABX-T is asking Mali to resume talks to end a bitter dispute that threatens to wrest away control of its massive gold mining operations in the country. The Canadian miner was forced to shut down its Loulo-Gounkoto complex in January amid an escalating fracas with Mali over dividing the economic benefits.
On June 2, a Mali court is expected to rule on whether to grant the government the authority to take over the mine after hearing submissions last week from Barrick. “Barrick believes there is no basis – either in law or in practice – for the day-to-day operations at Loulo-Gounkoto to be handed over to a court-appointed interim administrator,” the company said in a release on Monday.
(Kitco News) – The current correction in precious metals prices is the result of lowered near-term geopolitical instability, but gold and silver will both post further gains in the second half of 2025, according to Francisco Blanch, head of global commodity and derivatives research at Bank of America Securities.
“We’ve been calling for $3,500 gold for the first half of this year,” Blanch said in an interview with CNBC. “We got there, and we feel the market’s going through a correction right now that could last a few months. We’re still bullish longer term. We think longer term, maybe into the second half or into 2026, we’ll breach $4,000 per ounce, but we’re going through a correction because some of the extreme uncertainty that we’ve witnessed in recent months seems to be fading.”
