Last year, copper mining industry watchers were kept entertained by the prospects of a tie-up between BHP and Anglo American after the world’s top miner in May launched an unsolicited bid for the 108-year old company.
The FT reported over the weekend that Melbourne-based BHP is putting a bid for Anglo on ice. Not surprising given the divergence in their share price performance and whether BHP has the pockets or the stomach for a now much more expensive acquisition has always been in doubt.
(Kitco News) – The gold market is once again within striking distance of all-time highs above $2,800 an ounce as the metal continues to attract international attention. Some analysts suggest that gold’s bullish momentum is just beginning, following its achievement of record highs against the Japanese yen overnight.
Gold rallied against the yen after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) raised interest rates to “around 0.5%,” the highest level in 17 years. At the same time, the central bank signaled the potential for further tightening.
(Bloomberg) — Chile, home to the world’s biggest lithium reserves, is confident that investors will compete for licenses to drill new deposits even amid a worsening global glut that’s squeezing the battery-metal industry.
“We’re convinced that there’s interest,” Mining Minister Aurora Williams said in an interview late Wednesday — a day before Chile warned that global oversupply is set to increase this year, despite some industry cutbacks.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/
First Nations say B.C. isn’t meeting its obligations, while prospectors worry about delays
Prospectors wanting to make a mineral claim in B.C. will soon have to consult with local First Nations under new provincial rules. But neither First Nations representatives nor prospectors are happy with them, and a mining professor says the rules could leave some community members feeling left out.
First Nations say the development of a new consultation framework — which goes into effect March 26 — was rushed, and its drafting didn’t meet the province’s obligations to consult under the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA).
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the United States will ask members of the NATO alliance, which includes Canada, to increase military spending to 5 per cent of annual economic output – levels not seen since the Cold War.
He told the World Economic Forum that the United States, which has the world’s largest military, should no longer have to shoulder so much of the responsibility for collective defence under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, whose membership is almost entirely in Europe.
Ford placed a big bet on increasing American demand for EVs, but the new president’s moves almost certainly ended that possibility
U.S. President Donald Trump hasn’t imposed any tariffs on Canada yet, but he’s already dealt a potentially devastating blow to Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s signature industrial policy.
Ford has heavily touted his plan to make the province a major player in the electric-vehicle industry, especially in the production of batteries. Ontario has promised billions of dollars in government support to make it happen. With the stroke of a pen this week, Trump undermined that plan, perhaps fatally.
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?’”
Poorly completed paperwork on stolen load of gold bars and cash means airline only needs to pay general compensation as if it was a suitcase of clothes
In the messy aftermath of the Toronto airport gold heist — that saw $24 million in gold bars and cash driven away by thieves from an Air Canada warehouse — the airline has been ordered by the Federal Court to pay Brink’s transport company just $18,600 in compensation for their huge loss because of poorly completed paperwork on the stolen shipment.
Brink’s, a U.S.-based secure transit company, sued Air Canada, the country’s largest airline, after a large crate Brink’s was moving from Switzerland to Canada was stolen from the airline’s warehouse at Pearson airport shortly after arriving on an Air Canada flight from Zurich in 2023.
Rio Tinto said on Wednesday it is very optimistic about US President Donald Trump granting it the final permits for its long-delayed Resolution copper project in Arizona.
The mining giant has faced a 12-year permitting battle to develop the Resolution mine, which has the potential to supply more than a quarter of the US domestic copper needs for decades. “I do think that we have really good chances now to progress that project,” chief executive Jakob Stausholm told the Financial Times. “We have made a lot of progress.”
Mineral Tenure Act changes a hot topic at annual Roundup conference for mineral exploration
While many business leaders in the resources sector are exercised over the threats of American tariffs on Canadian exports, a policy creating even greater angst for prospectors and junior miners in B.C. is a domestic one – revisions to the B.C. Mineral Tenure Act – a hot topic at this week’s annual Association of Mineral Exploration (AME) Roundup conference.
Revisions to the “free entry” claim staking process in B.C. are to be implemented in March, and there are fears that it will put a major chill on investment in mineral exploration in B.C.
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.
Two countries should work together to develop oil and natural gas assets as well as nuclear, hydroelectric and renewable energy
Donald Trump postponed his threatened 25 per cent tariff against Canada and other trading partners on inauguration day because of inflation fears. His scheme is designed to pay for deep tax cuts for Americans and their businesses but tariffs are always inflationary for consumers.
In 1971, President Richard Nixon discovered this after imposing a 10 per cent “import duty” on goods. It was scrapped just months later. “Imagine an American corn farmer having to pay 25 per cent more for his potash, or for fuel,” commented Gary Marr on CTV. He’s the CEO of the Canada West Foundation, a businessman, and a former politician. “That’s not what he signed up for.”
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.
https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/
The gravel highway leading east from Hay River, Northwest Territories, features a relatively uniform (some might say monotonous) landscape of flat, spruce and jack pine forest. About 40 kilometers outside of the highway’s terminus at Fort Resolution, a few rock piles near the side of the highway stand out in bold relief.
A quick left turn on an unmarked paved road, and one enters a grid of streets, sidewalks, and parking lots — but there are no buildings anywhere. Travel around the site, and it is not hard to stumble on one of the many large open pits that have filled with water, often coloured a brilliant azure blue.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/
‘To heal is to address it,’ says chief, urging governments to help build new health and treatment centre
Always smiling, always joking, always asking curious questions. This is how Jenayah Skunk’s family described her at her funeral earlier this month in Mishkeegogamang First Nation. Jenayah died by suicide late last month, according to her family and community. She was 10 years old.
The Ojibway community in northwestern Ontario has never experienced a suicide of someone so young, said Mishkeegogamang Chief Merle Loon, who is related to Jenayah. “We’re still in shock,” he said. Jenayah’s mother, Jamie Skunk, told Loon she doesn’t want any other child to experience this, which is why she consented to him speaking with CBC News about her daughter’s death.
