Canadian Media Resource Articles

Rate hike is nail in the coffin that will bury Canada’s debt-heavy economy – by David Rosenberg (Financial Post – June 8, 2023)

June 8, 2023

The Bank of Canada did exercise patience, but not enough

The Bank of Canada pulled an RBA and hiked rates on June 7 with the market mostly (call it 60-40) priced for no move and more than 80 per cent of Bay Street economists believing the central bank would hold its fire. This is the same Bank of Canada that surprised the markets at half the meetings in 2022, so it really is back to governor Tiff Macklem’s modus operandi.

The tone was hawkish as the press statement left the potential for another move at the July meeting wide open: the futures market is now priced 70 per cent of the way for another 25 beeper. This even had an impact on United States Federal Reserve pricing:

How Vic Fedeli is trying to sell Ontario to the world – by Steve Paikin (TVO Today – June 5, 2023)

June 8, 2023

https://www.tvo.org/

The Nipissing MPP got off to a very rough start in government, but he’s found his calling as economic-development minister

Five years ago, Vic Fedeli was sure he’d got as high up the mountain of Ontario politics as he could. Yes, he’d run for leader of the Progressive Conservative party in 2015, but he didn’t make it to the finish line. And when leader Patrick Brown was turfed by his caucus in early 2018, MPPs picked Fedeli to hold the fort as interim leader.

But that was all temporary crisis management until party members chose a permanent leader in Doug Ford. After seven years in opposition, Fedeli figured he’d finally landed where he could have the most impact when the newly elected premier installed him as the first Tory finance minister in 15 years, back in June 2018.

BHP’s Xplor looking for more copper, nickel exploration projects – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – June 8, 2023)

June 8, 2023

https://www.mining.com/

BHP Xplor, an accelerator program introduced by the world’s biggest miner in August 2022 to help grow its portfolio of what it calls forward facing commodities, will launch a second round in September, which will focus on copper and nickel-related projects exclusively, the head of the initiative said.

Sonia Scarselli, BHP Xplor’s VP, said the first cohort will be gathering in Brisbane, Australia, during the last week of June for an external showcase. The event signifies the end of the six-month program that helped them to take their ideas from concept to a more defined project.

Wildfires force miners to suspend operations in Eastern Canada – by Mathieu Dion (Bloomberg News – June 6, 2023)

June 8, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Several mining companies have temporarily halted operations and exploration activities in eastern Canada as unprecedented wildfires rage. Iron Ore Co. of Canada, which is majority owned by Rio Tinto Group, is in the process of idling operations at the mine, concentrator and pellet plant in Labrador City, Newfoundland, because it can’t ship products out.

Its 418-kilometer (260-mile) Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway is suspended until at least Friday “due to fire and smoke hazards, as well as damage to our telecommunications infrastructure and power line along the track,” a company spokesperson said in an email.

Winsome Resources inks deal to expand Adina lithium project footprint by half – by Blair McBride (Northern Miner – June 8, 2023)

June 8, 2023

https://www.northernminer.com/

Lithium explorer and developer Winsome Resources (ASX: WR1) announced Thursday the signing of an option agreement to expand its Adina lithium project in Quebec to 44 sq. km, a 50% increase, as it prepares for an initial resource this year.

The agreement would allow Winsome to acquire the 29 claims in the bordering Jackpot property and expand its total tenure in the James Bay area to more than 871.5 sq. km, the Perth-headquartered firm said in a release.

MAC report urges government to invest in infrastructure, mineral processing – by Alice Martin (CIM Magazine – June 08, 2023)

June 8, 2023

https://magazine.cim.org/en/

Canada must increase mining investment to avoid lagging behind in critical minerals production, MAC report says

While the mining industry in Canada has recovered from the pandemic, more investment is needed from the federal government to increase the production of critical minerals, according to a report released in May by the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) titled “The Canadian Mining Story: Economic Impacts and Drivers for the Global Energy Transition.”

The report detailed how the mining industry contributed five per cent—or $125 billion—to Canada’s gross domestic product in 2021. It also noted that Canada, which produces 60 minerals and metals, is among the top 10 producers in the world for 26 of them, notably potash, gemstones and niobium, but that production has declined since 2005 for nickel, zinc and copper.

Teck fielding expressions of interest for coal business, as Canadian miner considers new restructuring plan – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – June 6, 2023)

June 8, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Teck Resources Ltd. TECK-B-T is fielding expressions of interest from parties potentially interested in mergers-and-acquisitions transactions concerning its metallurgical coal business, as Canada’s biggest diversified mining company weighs the best path forward after a botched restructuring plan earlier this year.

In April, Vancouver-based Teck did not move forward on a planned split of the business that would have seen it spin off its coal division from its metals mines, after it failed to win sufficient support from shareholders.

Wildfires force miners in Quebec and Labrador to halt operations – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – June 6, 2023)

June 6, 2023

https://www.mining.com/

Mining companies operating in Canada’s Quebec continue on Tuesday to evacuate employees and halt exploration work as at least 164 forest fires tear through the province and Labrador West, including 114 considered out of control.

About 200 military personnel were on the ground on Tuesday morning, while the provincial government said an emergency order banning access to wooden areas remains in place. Patriot Battery Metals (TSX-V: PMET) (ASX: PMT) said it halted drilling and surface exploration field activities until the fire situation near its Corvette lithium project in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region improves.

Teck Receives Interest in Coal Business as Glencore Circles – by Jacob Lorinc (Yahoo/Bloomberg – June 6, 2023)

June 6, 2023

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — Teck Resources Ltd. received several proposals for deals involving its coal operations, as the Canadian miner works to draw up a new plan for splitting off the business while rejecting a bid from Glencore Plc.

Teck’s plans to exit coal and create a standalone base-metals company suffered a blow in April when it failed to win enough shareholder support for a complicated spinoff proposal. It maintains that separating from its coal assets will create the most value for shareholders, and is now under pressure to develop a plan more appealing than Glencore’s $23 billion offer for the entire company, especially with the prospect of a sweetened bid on the way.

Chinese mining company Sinomine planning Manitoba lithium refinery, eyeing Korea’s LG as joint venture partner – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – June 6, 2023)

June 6, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Chinese mining company Sinomine Resource Group Co. Ltd. is considering building a lithium refinery in Manitoba, and is looking at teaming up with Korea’s LG Energy Solution Ltd. in an attempt to assuage any national-security concerns on the part of the federal government.

Last year, Beijing-based Sinomine put its Tanco lithium mine into production in Manitoba. It currently ships unrefined lithium concentrate from the site to China for use in the country’s electric-vehicle industry. China dominates the processing of lithium, with roughly a 60-per-cent share of the global market.

China’s EV Battery Sector Is Preparing a New Breakthrough – by Annie Lee (Bloomberg News – June 5, 2023)

June 6, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — One of China’s top battery-makers reckons it has cracked a technology to provide even cheaper and more powerful packs for electric vehicles. Gotion High-Tech Co. recently unveiled a lithium-iron-manganese-phosphate battery — LMFP for short — which it says will power an EV for 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) on each charge. Until now, it’s largely the more expensive nickel-cobalt batteries have provided that kind of range.

“It’s an upgrade, it’s a leap for energy density,” Cheng Qian, executive president of Gotion’s international business unit, said in a phone interview from Tokyo.

Top Ten Australian juniors exploring in Canada – by Sarah Hahn (Northern Miner – June 5, 2023)

June 6, 2023

https://www.northernminer.com/

1 Winsome Resources – Market Cap: $257.6 million

Lithium explorer and developer Winsome Resources (ASX: WR1) is focused on advancing its flagship Cancet project, located in the James Bay region of Quebec, 155 km east of the town of Radisson.

To date, 5,216 metres have been drilled across 59 holes on the 200-sq.-km project. After conducting metallurgical test work, the company believes it can produce low-cost, low-impact concentrate at Cancet. Winsome plans to increase the project’s lithium tonnage by exploring additional targets identified to the east and west.

The company’s portfolio includes four other projects in Quebec: Adina and Sirmac-Clappier in the James Bay region, and Decelles and Mazarac near Val-d’Or.

OPINION: End game nears in the battle for Canada’s last diversified mining giant, and the odds do not look good for the pursuer – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – June 2, 2023)

June 6, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Phoney War was the period early in the Second World War, when there were few battles on the Western Front. The relative calm ended when Germany invaded France in the spring of 1940.

The battle for Teck Resources, Canada’s biggest diversified mining company, is definitely in the phoney war stage. After a raucous start, a whole lot of nothing has happened for weeks in the campaign that will ultimately determine the shape of Canada’s base metals industry. There are signs that a renewed assault on Teck could start soon, one that will make or break the effort by Switzerland’s Glencore to make Teck its own as it strives to become one of the world’s top producers of the metals needed to propel the green energy revolution.

Future of battery electric vehicles the focus at Sudbury conference – by Amanda Hicks (CTV News Northern Ontario – June 1, 2023)

June 2, 2023

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

The second annual battery electric vehicle (BEV) conference is under way at Cambrian College in Sudbury. Day 1 of the two-day Mines to Mobility Conference began Wednesday, drawing out leaders in mining, automotive and supply.

Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre said the conference is huge for the city. “It not only showcases what we do in Sudbury, but all the resources we have here. But having the world come here and have that discussion about battery electric vehicles and the future of it,” Lefebvre said. Devin Arthur, president of the EV Society of Greater Sudbury, said some of the challenges in the EV industry is a lack of supply.

Site visit: How big can MPD get? Kodiak Copper drills to expand mineral footprint – by Henry Lazenby (Northern Miner – May 31, 2023)

June 2, 2023

https://www.northernminer.com/

When mineral mastermind Chris Taylor gets behind a grassroots exploration project it behooves investors to sit up and pay attention – he did after all sell an Ontario pre-resource stage gold project for $1.8 billion in hard cash and is looking to repeat that success with brainchild Kodiak Copper (TSXV: KDK; US-OTCQB: KDKCF).

Kodiak’s most advanced asset is its MPD copper-gold porphyry project in the Quesnel Trough in south-central British Columbia – a multi-centered porphyry system that is slowly giving up its secrets. The explorer’s share price gathered momentum since 2020 after discovering the Gate Zone, which has high-grade mineralization within a wide mineralized envelope.