Archive | Canadian Media Resource Articles

Kabanga, Tanzania to develop world’s largest nickel deposit – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – January 19, 2021)

January 19, 2021 in Africa Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Nickel

https://www.mining.com/

British miner Kabanga Nickel, formerly known as LZ Nickel, has inked a framework agreement with the government of Tanzania to develop the world’s largest battery-grade nickel sulphide deposit, in the country’s northwestern.

As part of the deal, the parties have created a joint company called Tembo Nickel Corp., which will mine, process and refine class 1 nickel with cobalt and copper co-products.

Kabanga Nickel is the new entity’s majority owner with an 84% stake. Tanzania owns the remaining 16%, which is the government’s usual stake in all of the country’s mining projects. Continue Reading →

First Nations Seek To Intervene In Court Challenge Of Coal Policy Removal – by Jeremy Appel (Toronto Star/Alberta Native News – January 18, 2021)

January 19, 2021 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Coal

https://www.thestar.com/

(ANNews) – The Bearspaw, Ermineskin and Whitefish First Nations are among those looking to intervene in a court challenge to the United Conservative government’s rescinding of a policy that placed restrictions on coal mining in Alberta.

The removal of the 1976 coal policy, which expressly forbids open-pit mining over a large area, was done quietly and without consultation in early 2020.

It’s come to attention as a result of Australian company Riversdale Resources’ planned open-pit coal mine in Crowsnest Pass’s Grassy Mountain on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Continue Reading →

Canadian firms operate in China’s Xinjiang region – by David Green and Nathan Vanderklippe (Globe and Mail – January 18, 2021)

January 19, 2021 in Asia Mining, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

At least three publicly traded Canadian resource companies have active projects and plans in China’s western Xinjiang region, where authorities have locked up large numbers of Muslims in centres for skills training and political indoctrination.

Canadian companies have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the region in the past two decades, according to a foreign government analysis obtained by The Globe and Mail.

The government is a member of the Five Eyes security alliance, which includes Australia, Canada, Britain, the United States and New Zealand. The document came from a source whom The Globe agreed not to identify because they were not authorized to release the analysis publicly. Continue Reading →

Robert Friedland opens Remote Roundup: ‘In our world, the geologists are the gods’ – by Alisha Hiyate (Canadian Mining Journal – January 18, 2021)

January 19, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Commodity Super-Cycle and Decline

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

The Association for Mineral Exploration opened up its Remote Roundup – its first virtual conference in the event’s 38-year history – with special guest speakers that included a keynote talk from Robert Friedland, founder and executive co-chairman of Ivanhoe Mines.

Speaking from Singapore, where the mining entrepreneur (and previously frequent traveller) noted he has been “stuck” for the past 10 months, Friedland’s address touched on a number of hot topics, including ESG, increasing demand for battery minerals for the green economy, and the importance of junior mining companies.

Starting with the current state of affairs for miners, Friedland noted that investors have largely abandoned mining and flocked to the tech space, notably investments in broadband internet, the cloud, and other disruptive technologies over the the past 20 years. Continue Reading →

How Canada should respond to Joe Biden’s Keystone XL decision – by Adam Radwanski (Globe and Mail – January 19, 2021)

January 19, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Oil and Gas Sector-Politics and Image

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Joe Biden is poised to begin his presidency with a wake-up call for Canadians who expect him to compromise his climate agenda in the name of diplomacy.

The president-elect’s apparent plan to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline expansion as one of his first actions after Wednesday’s inauguration, laid out in leaked transition documents, shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

It’s what he promised during last year’s U.S. campaign, it’s easy to act on and failing to do so swiftly would have sounded alarms within the Democratic Party’s base. Continue Reading →

Vale confirms multiple seismic events at Creighton Mine – by Jay Baxter and Marina Moore (CTV Northern Ontario – January 16, 2021)

January 18, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Vale

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

SUDBURY — Earthquakes Canada has confirmed least two earthquakes in the Sudbury-area overnight originated from Creighton Mine.

Greater Sudbury lit-up social media Friday night to affirm the earthquakes that were felt by residents in the city’s south-end, Copper Cliff, Chelmsford, Valley, Flour Mill and New Sudbury areas.

In a media statement issued late Saturday morning, Vale confirmed multiple seismic events took place at the mine in the late evening hours of Jan. 15. Continue Reading →

Alberta monolith comes with message to save Rocky Mountains from open-pit coal mining – by Colette Derworiz (CBC News Calagary/Canadian Press – January 15, 2021)

January 18, 2021 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Coal, Mining Conflict and Opposition

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/

A towering stainless steel monolith set up along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta comes with a message.

The three-metre-tall structure, which reflects its surroundings, is one of many that have been found around the world in recent months. Monoliths have been discovered on a California trail, a Utah desert and at sites across Canada.

Many have popped up without explanation, but the woman who built the one in southern Alberta says she wanted to draw attention to the threats the area is facing as the province moves to open a vast stretch of the mountains to open-pit coal mining. Continue Reading →

What China’s increasing control over cobalt resources in the DRC means for the West – report – by Staff (Mining.com – January 17, 2021)

January 18, 2021 in Africa Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals

https://www.mining.com/

Market analyst Roskill published a report where it states that China’s increasing control over copper and cobalt resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could pose a threat to western market participants.

The threats are related to the security of supply, as increasingly close ties between the two countries could pose problems to those in the West looking to build up self-contained localized battery supply chains.

Back in early January, China announced that it would cancel an estimated $28 million of loans to the DRC, repayment of which were due by the end of 2020, and would provide $17 million in other financial support to help the country overcome the sanitary crisis caused by the covid-19 pandemic. Continue Reading →

Joe Biden plans to block Keystone XL pipeline as one of first acts in White House – by Janice Dickson and Adrian Morrow (Globe and Mail – January 18, 2021)

January 18, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Oil and Gas Sector-Politics and Image

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

U.S. president-elect Joe Biden plans to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline expansion as one of his first acts in office, transition documents suggest, dealing a blow to Canadian efforts to get the project built and jeopardizing the prospect of thousands of jobs in Alberta.

Rescinding the Keystone XL pipeline is included as an executive order on a to-do list, according to The Canadian Press, which has viewed the documents. Outgoing President Donald Trump in 2017 signed the construction permit, which will now likely be terminated.

“Roll back Trump enviro actions via EO (including rescind Keystone XL pipeline permit),” the document reads. Continue Reading →

GM Canada announces tentative deal for $1 billion electric vehicle plant in Ontario – by Canadian Press (CTV News – January 15, 2021)

January 18, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Metals and Manufacturing, Ontario Economy

https://www.ctvnews.ca/

INGERSOLL, ONT. — GM Canada says it has reached a tentative deal with Unifor that if ratified will see it invest $1 billion to transform its CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ont., to make commercial electric vehicles.

Unifor National President Jerry Dias says along with the significant investment the agreement will mean new products, new jobs and job security for workers.

Dias says in a statement that more details of the tentative deal will be presented to Unifor Local 88 members at an online ratification meeting scheduled for Sunday. Continue Reading →

‘I’m kind of pissed off’: Country star Corb Lund criticizes UCP for Alberta coal mining plan – by Sean Amato (CTV News Edmonton – Janaury 13, 2021)

January 15, 2021 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Coal, Mining Conflict and Opposition

https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/

EDMONTON — Country star Corb Lund has released a new video, but this one isn’t a guitar song. It’s him criticizing a UCP government plan to allow “mountaintop removal” for coal exploration in western Alberta.

“We’ve all seen the foothills, it’s beautiful country. So I don’t really like this,” Lund said in a video posted to social media Tuesday. Lund said he’s been researching the issue since people started telling him about it in December.

He said he’s met with a number of people including provincial ministers, members of parliament, First Nations representatives and people who live and harvest food in the area. Continue Reading →

Rio Tinto looming talks with Mongolia to decide Oyu Tolgoi’s fate – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – January 15, 2021)

January 15, 2021 in Asia Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Copper, Gold and Silver, Rio Tinto

https://www.mining.com/

The next three to six month will be crucial to the future of the vast Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia, as the companies behind the operation engage in talks to find a way to improve the government’s financial benefits from an ongoing underground expansion.

Based on a definitive estimate for the development of the new mine level, announced by Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) last month, the underground section of Oyu Tolgoi will begin production in October 2022. The project will cost $6.75 billion, about $1.4 billion higher than its original estimate, as established in the 2015 agreement.

That deal is commonly known in Mongolia as the “Dubai agreement”, because the nation’s then Prime Minister Chimediin Saikhanbileg struck it with former Rio Tinto’s boss Jean-Sebastien Jacques in a Dubai hotel, ending an impasse that had lasted close to three years. Continue Reading →

Rio Tinto, Quebec bet on critical mineral scandium with new plant – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – January 15, 2021)

January 15, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals, Quebec Mining, Rio Tinto

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Rio Tinto Group, with aid from the Quebec government, is investing a combined US$6-million to bring a new environmentally friendly scandium project into production, which will be the first steady North American source of the extremely pricey rare earth mineral.

Currently produced as a byproduct of mining other elements such as uranium and titanium, scandium is in tight supply worldwide. China and Russia dominate the market, leaving North American companies at the whim of unreliable and potentially hostile suppliers.

The silvery white metal is used as an alloy to strengthen and lighten aluminum, and in fuel cells as a backup power source. Continue Reading →

Canada Nickel signs deal to process at Kidd Met site – by Andrew Autio (Toronto Star – January 11, 2021)

January 13, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Timmins

https://www.thestar.com/

Upstart mining firm Canada Nickel Company said it is very excited about a new MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) they have entered into with Glencore Canada Operation to potentially use the Kidd concentrator and metallurgical site for its exciting new nickel project north of Timmins.

The non-binding agreement was officially announced on Monday. “We’ve been in discussions over the last couple of months,” Canada Nickel Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark Selby told The Daily Press.

Canada Nickel Company has a 100 per cent ownership in the Crawford Project located approximately 40 kilometres north of the city. Continue Reading →

Quebec crafts plan to advance critical and strategic minerals sector – by Erik Richer La Flèche (Canadian Mining Journal – January 6, 2021)

January 13, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals, Quebec Mining

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Quebec has a modern, diversified, and somewhat dirigiste economy, where the Quebec government is not afraid to assume a central role. For decades now, the provincial government has attempted to identify economic sectors that – in its opinion – have a promising future.

On Oct. 29, 2020, the government added the exploration and mining of minerals to the list when it released the Quebec Plan for the Development of Critical and Strategic Minerals (2020-2025).

The critical and strategic minerals sector now joins several others that the government has recently recognized as growth opportunities, including food production and transformation, electricity exports, green hydrogen, the electrification of transportation and batteries. Continue Reading →