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Canada Mining

Donkin coal mine will likely restart production when world prices rise, says U.S. analyst – by Tom Ayers (CBC News Nova Scotia – January 31, 2025)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/

Industry observer says mine owners have invested hundreds of millions and will want to make that back

A U.S.-based analyst says he believes the undersea coal mine in Donkin, N.S., will reopen someday. Joe Aldina, who writes for thecoaltrader.com, said the Cline Group, whose company Kameron Coal owns the Donkin mine, has made significant investments there that it will likely want to recover.

“They’ve invested a few hundred million dollars US in [capital expenditures] in that mine and that was the last project that Chris Cline, the founder of the company, really put himself into, so I don’t see them walking away from that,” he said.

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Canadian Tariffs Will Undermine U.S. Minerals Security – by Gracelin Baskaran (Centre for Strategic and International Studies – Janaury 29, 2025)

https://www.csis.org/

Gracelin Baskaran is the Director, Critical Minerals Security Program.

As the United States races to reduce its reliance on China for minerals vital for national, economic, and energy security, tariffs with Canada may drastically undermine these efforts. Canada is the biggest source of the United States mineral imports, providing key sources of uranium, aluminum, nickel, steel copper, and niobium. To put it into perspective, in 2023, Canada accounted for $47 billion of United States mineral imports.

China followed with $28.3 billion. The consequences of tariffs would be particularly profound for the defense industry, nuclear energy, and heavy manufacturing. A 25 percent tariff on Canadian mineral imports could cost U.S. off-takers an additional $11.75 billion—a figure that would increase as base metal and uranium prices recover.

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Water for Food voices concerns over coal mining’s impact on ag sector – by Alexandra Noad (Lethbridge Herald – January 30, 2025)

https://lethbridgeherald.com/

Southern Alberta is known for its vast farmland, which contributes billions of dollars to the economy and Chris Spearman fears the proposed Grassy Mountain Coal Mine will negatively impact the agri-food sector and southern Alberta.

Spearman, former Lethbridge mayor and a spokesman for the group Water For Food, says he was alarmed at the Dec. 20 announcement and is wondering why the Albertan government would jeopardize the economy for a project that has a limited life span.

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‘It’s a catastrophe’: Southern Alberta’s ag industry concerned over potential coal mining pollution – by Karsen Marczuk (CTV News Calgary – January 23, 2025)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/

Pushback continues to mount over possible coal mining on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, with the latest being a letter penned to the provincial government over the impact coal mining could have on the agriculture industry.

“We are very concerned with the impact on integrated agriculture in southwestern Alberta,” said Chris Spearman with the Water for Food Group. “We don’t understand — our question to the Alberta government is basically – ‘are they prepared to sacrifice a multi-billion-dollar food industry for a coal mine?’”

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Wiring, energy, geopolitics drive 2025 metals: Sprott – by Staff (Northern Miner – Janaury 22, 2025)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Critical metals, uranium and gold will shine this year driven by accelerating deglobalization and energy security demands, Sprott said in a special report Monday.

Broader trade conflicts affecting allies and adversaries alike could reduce business investment and global GDP, while decoupling due to rising protectionism and trade tensions will likely accelerate in sectors that are strategic like AI, advanced technology, finance and defence, the asset management company stated.

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Alberta ignoring advice it sought from citizens on Rocky Mountain coal policy, former committee member says – by Emma Graney (Globe and Mail – January 22, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A member of Alberta’s coal policy committee says the provincial government is ignoring the will of tens of thousands of Albertans as it develops new rules around mining and is instead leaning on industry to guide its hand.

Bill Trafford was appointed to the coal policy engagement committee when it was established by then-Energy Minister Sonya Savage in 2021. Mr. Trafford is also the president of the Livingstone Landowners Group and worked alongside the four other committee members to gather feedback from across the province to help in the development of a modern coal policy.

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Trudeau, Canada’s Premiers Spar Over Using Resources as Trade Weapon – by Brian Platt and Laura Dhillon Kane (Bloomberg News/Financial Post – January 15, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the premiers of Canada’s provinces are in high-stakes talks over how far to go in using oil and other commodities as a weapon if the US starts a regional trade war.

(Bloomberg) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the premiers of Canada’s provinces are in high-stakes talks over how far to go in using oil and other commodities as a weapon if the US starts a regional trade war.

Trudeau is meeting with the leaders of Canada’s 13 provinces and territories in Ottawa on Wednesday, trying to get on the same page over how to respond if US President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his vow to impose 25% tariffs on all goods the US imports from Canada.

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In Namibia, a Canadian copper company leaves a legacy of toxic waste – by Geoffrey York and Samuel Schlaefli (Globe and Mail – January 15, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Sickness has been common for years in Tsumeb, where Dundee Precious Metals was the biggest employer for more than a decade. Tests have now found the soil is contaminated with arsenic and other heavy metals

In the citrus orchards above the Namibian town, workers often fall sick. They say they feel a burning sensation in their eyes and throats and a metallic taste in their mouths as the wind blows across from the copper smelter a few kilometres away.

“When the gas is coming from that side, we get headaches and dizziness, and sometimes you feel like you want to throw up,” says Festus Gawab, who has worked for three years on a citrus farm near Tsumeb, watering the orange and lemon trees.

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Mali starts seizing gold stocks at Barrick site, company memo says – by Fadimata Kontao and Portia Crowe (Reuters – January 13, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

BAMAKO/DAKAR Jan 13 (Reuters) – Mali’s government has begun enforcing a provisional order to seize gold stock at Barrick Gold’s Loulo-Gounkoto site, the Canadian miner said in a note to Malian staff, warning again that it may have to suspend operations at the complex.

The move suggests that Mali’s military-led authorities are not ready to back down in a standoff over a contract based on new mining rules as they push for a greater share of revenues from Western miners. “A provisional order to seize our existing gold stock was issued last week and the Malian government began its enforcement on Jan. 11,” Barrick said in the staff memo.

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Trudeau ‘wish list’ fell short for miners in green energy transition – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – January 7, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

Cabinet ministers implemented few policies that addressed the challenges, miners say

Speaking to a group of mining industry professionals at a conference in early 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear what role he saw for their sector in the future. “The mining industry cannot only drive the clean (energy) transition, but profit from it,” he said.

Now, as Trudeau plans to exit as the federal Liberals’ leader after 12 years, many inside the mining sector are hopeful that their industry is already in the early stages of a revitalization, driven by exactly what Trudeau described years ago: cutting global carbon emissions will significantly increase demand for metals, which will lead to new investment in mining companies and greater government support.

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Canada aims to become world’s biggest uranium producer as demand soars – by Ilya Gridneff, Jamie Smyth and Camilla Hodgson (Financial Times – January 4, 2025)

https://www.ft.com/

Demand for emissions-free power and energy security mark a turnaround for the resource-rich

Canada is racing to become the world’s biggest uranium producer as prices for the radioactive metal surge in response to soaring demand for emissions-free nuclear power and geopolitical tensions threaten supplies.

Cameco, the country’s largest producer, said that production of uranium would jump by almost a third in 2024 to 37mn pounds at its two mines in the heartland of the country’s uranium industry in northern Saskatchewan.

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Barrick mine in Mali could be forced to close within a week, company says – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – January 6, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. says it will be forced to shut down its operations in Mali within a week if the military junta continues to restrict its gold exports from the West African country.

The Toronto-based company disclosed on Monday that the regime had imposed yet another restriction on the company’s operations by issuing an interim attachment order on its existing gold stock at its Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex.

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Uh Oh Canada – by Diane Francis (Substack – December 19, 2024)

https://dianefrancis.substack.com/

Canada has just joined a growing list of rich democracies that cannot get their political or economic act together. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on his way out. The electorate is fed up with financial problems, high taxation, and unscreened immigration. Similar political battles plague two other G7 nations, France and Germany.

All three governments sag because they prioritized social engineering and political correctness over enterprise and economic development. Their electorates are divided. Worse, the Europeans live in a dangerous region and wrestle with re-arming, a flood of Ukrainian refugees, and fending off Russian cyberattacks, sabotage, espionage, and political interference.

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Miners navigate high risks, ransoms in West Africa – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – December 16, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Mali’s military government is trying to arrest the CEO of the world’s second-largest gold company while the junta in Niger has tightened its stranglehold on a French state-owned uranium mine. African dictators are ratcheting up the risk for Western miners.

A combination of resource nationalism, coups and jihadist-linked terror is making West Africa an increasingly difficult region to navigate for Western mining companies. On Monday, Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) warned that it will suspend operations at its Loulo-Gounkoto mine in Mali if shipments of gold remain blocked.

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Nova Scotia quietly advancing pursuit of critical mineral development – by Taryn Grant (CBC News Nova Scotia – December 12, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/

The deals come on heels of critical mineral strategies released last year from both N.S. and Ottawa

Nova Scotia has struck a deal with Ottawa to help with the pursuit of growing the critical minerals industry, which some say is essential for supporting clean energy goals. Shortly before calling a snap election this fall, Premier Tim Houston’s cabinet signed an order-in-council that refers to funding from Ottawa “for the development of critical mineral potential in Nova Scotia.”

The province did not answer questions about the deal during the campaign. Following the Progressive Conservative win last month, a spokesperson for the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables said the province has signed two agreements with Natural Resources Canada.

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