Canadian Media Resource Articles – Page 19

Uranium Fever Collides With Industry’s Dark Past in Navajo Country – by Jacob Lorinc (Financial Post/Bloomberg – January 14, 2025)

January 14, 2025

The world’s re-embrace of nuclear power creates tensions in the US Southwest

(Bloomberg) — A few miles south of the Grand Canyon, thousands of tons of uranium ore, reddish-gray, blue and radioactive, are piled up high in a clearing in the forest. They’ve been there for months, stranded by a standoff between the mining company that dug them deep out of the ground, Energy Fuels Inc., and the leader of the Navajo Nation, Buu Nygren.

Back in the summer, Energy Fuels had triggered an uproar when it loaded some of the ore onto a truck, slapped a “radioactive” sign over the taillights and drove it through the heart of Navajo territory.

Snow Lake Energy makes gallium discovery in Ontario – by Staff (Mining.com – January 13, 2025)

January 13, 2025

https://www.mining.com/

Snow Lake Energy (NASDAQ: LITM) said on Monday it has made a new gallium discovery at the Mound Lake property in Ontario to complement its existing portfolio of lithium and uranium assets, sending its shares higher.

An analysis of sampling conducted by Free Battery Metal (CSE: FREE), its partner on the project, unveiled that 70% of samples from Mound Lake had gallium values above the average crustal abundance (19 parts per million). Twelve samples returned gallium values over 50 ppm, with the highest measuring 110.5 ppm.

Powerfully promising: Harnessing the Churchill River’s hydroelectric potential needed to develop the mining sector – by Gary Kean (Salt Wire/The Telegram – January 13, 2025)

January 13, 2025

https://www.saltwire.com/

Access to not only more, but clean, power in Labrador essential to luring investment, says mining industry

In the early 2000s, the idea of building an aluminum smelter in Labrador was shelved, and Yvonne Jones often wondered what else could have been if the region’s resources had been tapped into at the time. With Newfoundland and Labrador now planning to develop more hydroelectric power on the mighty Churchill River, the Liberal MP for Labrador hopes the next industrial vision to come along can be realized.

The smelter project would have been a joint venture between aluminum titan Alcoa and the provincial government, but the province walked away from the deal after a feasibility study was done. The company wanted the government to foot too much of the energy costs associated with the development.

Why Teck’s Trail smelter may hold leverage against Donald Trump’s tariff threat – by Derrick Penner (Vancouver Sun – January 12, 2025)

January 13, 2025

https://vancouversun.com/

Canada can help its case countering incoming U.S. President Donald Trump’s punishing tariffs with germanium produced by Teck in Trail.

With a population of just over 8,000, the smelting and mining city of Trail may hold some leverage in helping Ottawa counter U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s threats to impose steep tariffs on Canadian imports.

Trump this week doubled-down on his expansionist rhetoric, threatening to use “economic force” to annex Canada, and suggesting his administration would use military force to take over Greenland and the Panama Canal. “We don’t need anything they have,” Trump said Wednesday, referring to Canada during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Opinion: Instead of joining the U.S., Greenland should join Canada in an economic union – by Bart Edes (Globe and Mail – Janaury 13, 2025)

January 13, 2025

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Bart Édes is a professor of practice at the Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University, and a distinguished fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. He is the author of Learning from Tomorrow: Using Strategic Foresight to Prepare for the Next Big Disruption.

U.S. president-elect Donald Trump is apparently in an expansionist mood. Coercing Canada to become part of the United States through “economic force” is not the only such threat he has made. Mr. Trump has also revived his idea of taking over the self-governing Danish territory of Greenland, which during his first term he had mused about buying. On Jan. 7, Donald Trump Jr. travelled to Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, to bring attention to his father’s expressed wish to take over the world’s largest island.

New research explores impact of Ring of Fire mining on First Nations in northern Ontario – by Sarah Law (CBC News Thunder Bay – January 11, 2025)

January 13, 2025

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/

Focus is on embedding reconciliation into corporate polices

A new research project is exploring the human rights impacts of mining operations on First Nations in the Ring of Fire — a vast mineral-rich area in northern Ontario. The partnership, announced Wednesday, is between the Anishnawbe Business Professional Association (ABPA) and University of Toronto Faculty of Law’s international human rights program.

The research has already begun and is examining how mining companies are engaging with First Nations, with the goal of strengthening their policies on Indigenous relations and sustainability. Jason Rasevych is a member of Ginoogaming First Nation and president of the ABPA.

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

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.

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

January 8, 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.

Are lab-grown diamonds too bling for their own good? – by Staff (Northern Miner – January 7, 2025)

January 8, 2025

Global mining news

Diamonds grown in the lab are shining brighter than natural stones by grabbing market share, but their kryptonite could be the low prices and large carats indicating they really are in a different category, analysts and companies surveyed by The Wall Street. Journal say.

Post-pandemic demand for diamonds surged in 2021-2022, but then prices dropped by 8% compared with the first quarter of 2020 and lab-grown diamond (LGD) prices plunged by three quarters, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing industry analyst Paul Zimnisky.

Stubbornly resilient lithium supply remains hurdle to recovery – by Annie Lee (Bloomberg News – January 7, 2025)

January 8, 2025

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

A persistent lithium glut and the prospect that some mines could be restarted if prices rise means the battery metal is unlikely to mount a significant recovery this year.

Lithium prices have plunged since late 2022 on oversupply and slower-than-expected growth in electric vehicle demand. The rout has resulted in some mining capacity being suspended, but most analysts still see a surplus this year, although they forecast it will be smaller than in 2024.

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

January 8, 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.

Australian uranium company given go-ahead to absorb Canadian counterpart – by Michael Joel-Hansen (Saskatoon Star Phoenix – December 30, 2024)

January 8, 2025

https://thestarphoenix.com/

Paladin Energy gets green light from federal government to take over Fission Uranium

A major acquisition in Canada’s uranium sector is going forward after getting approval from the federal government.

Paladin Energy Ltd., which is headquartered in Perth, Australia, has been given the green light to take over Kelowna, B.C.-based Fission Uranium Corp., which has been developing its Patterson Lake South Project (PLS) in northern Saskatchewan’s Athabasca basin. The mine there is set to begin production in 2029.

Cameco ‘disappointed and surprised’ by sudden suspension of its Kazakhstan mine – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – January 03, 2025)

January 8, 2025

https://financialpost.com/

The mine was expected to contribute 4% of global uranium production this year

Cameco Corp. kicked off the new year with a surprise for its investors: Its joint-venture mine in Kazakhstan suspended production without warning. “We are disappointed and surprised by this unexpected suspension and we will be seeking further clarification on how this transpired,” Cameco said in a press release on Thursday.

The Saskatoon-based company owns 40 per cent of the mine through Inkai LLP; Kazatomprom JSC, the national atomic company of Kazakhstan, owns the other 60 per cent.

Codelco eyes $800M extension to keep Gabriela Mistral open until 2055 – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – December 23, 2024)

December 23, 2024

https://www.mining.com/

Chile’s state-owned copper producer Codelco said on Monday it has applied for an environmental permit to extend the life of its Gabriela Mistral mine by over 25 years, pushing the current closure date from 2028 to at least 2055.

The $800 million proposal aims to sustain production at the open-pit mine in Chile’s Antofagasta region, which has been operational since 2008. A key component of the plan is the transition away from using domestic land-based water by 2035. Instead, the mine will rely on third-party water sources that comply with environmental standards. In exchange, Codelco has pledged to supply an equivalent amount of water to the local community.

Tiny But Vital Metal Markets Rush to Adjust to Chinese Clampdown (Bloomberg News – December 21, 2024)

December 23, 2024

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Chinese curbs on exports of three niche metals to the US have already rattled the market. Now, a bigger clampdown looks set to have far-reaching ramifications for supply chains feeding American defense and chip-making industries.

Beijing this month slapped a ban on US-bound exports of gallium, germanium and antimony in a tit-for-tat move in a technology trade war. The metals are important because they have crucial uses in many Western industries from military tech to semiconductors to satellites.