Archive | Canadian Media Resource Articles

Natural gas firms, Nisga’a Nation unite on $55-billion venture in B.C. – by Brent Jang (Globe and Mail – July 19, 2021)

July 20, 2021 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Oil and Gas Sector-Politics and Image

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Seven natural gas producers have teamed up with the Nisga’a Nation to submit a plan to regulators for approval to build a $55-billion energy megaproject in British Columbia, saying they have learned valuable lessons from other initiatives that have failed to materialize over the past decade.

Calgary-based Birchcliff Energy Ltd. is leading the group of producers known as Rockies LNG, which has enlisted Houston-based Western LNG LLC to help carry out plans to construct the B.C. project to export liquefied natural gas to Asia. Their Ksi Lisims LNG project is named after the Nass River in the Nisga’a language.

Ksi Lisims LNG’s filing to regulators doesn’t provide a detailed breakdown of the costs, but the total price tag includes a wide range of items, including floating modules to supercool natural gas into liquid form. Continue Reading →

Dawn of a mining supercycle. Are you taking the fizz? – by Frik Els (Mining.com – July 16, 2021)

July 17, 2021 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Commodity Super-Cycle and Decline

https://www.mining.com/

Published on Thursday, a new Wood Mackenzie forecast for the green energy transition, or GET™ (a new MINING.COM trademark we’re making freely available) is, for good reason, already in wide circulation.

Written by global metals expert Simon Morris, VP for Research, Metals & Mining Global Metals, at the Scotland-based analytics firm, the whitepaper is titled: Champagne supercycle: Taking the fizz out of the commodities price boom

Scots may be known for their frugality, but at this website we don’t believe in taking the fizz out of anything so we decided to get on the wagon and take another look at Woodmac’s GET and planet decarbonisation predictions. Continue Reading →

Interview – CEMI CEO Doug Morrison: “The delay in getting approval for mining projects is almost all related to environmental impact” (Global Business Report/Mining.com – April 28, 2021)

July 16, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines, Mining Research

https://www.mining.com/

The industry response to the Brumadinho dam disaster, including the Global Tailings Standard, will hopefully prevent such tragic events in the future. However, it is important to examine how a catastrophe of this scale, at a facility owned by one of the five biggest mining companies in the world, could reoccur after a similar failure — Samarco, in 2015.

Doug Morrison, CEO of the Centre of Excellence for Mining Innovation (CEMI), said the industry must recognize that the increasing delay in getting approval for mining projects is almost all related to environmental impact.

Moreover, the failings at Brumadinho and Samarco were the result of a flawed approach to tailings management, Morrision said in an interview with the Global Business Reports: Continue Reading →

Copper mining is Opec on crack, so why is the price falling? – by Frik Els (Mining.com – July 13, 2021)

July 15, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Copper, Latin America Mining

https://www.mining.com/

Much like the reference in this piece’s headline, it’s a cliché to call a country the Saudia Arabia of something.

The top search suggestion at the moment is the Saudi Arabia of wind. That’s Boris Johnson’s dream for the UK and from a leader with an affinity for hot air, perhaps not unexpected.

The Saudi Arabia of lithium query takes you to a story about Chile, which is wrong. Neither is it Afghanistan as this article in the NYT would have it. It’s Nevada; Elon Musk confirmed it last year. Continue Reading →

Can Reddit’s silver ‘apes’ beat the market? – by Peter Hobson (Globe and Mail – July 14, 2021)

July 15, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Kerry Kraker, 56, has worked in kitchens all his life. Since March he’s spent around US$100 a week – half his spare cash – on silver coins. He’s part of a growing social-media movement who say they are buying bars and coins for protection from a coming age of inflation.

Thanks to a community of like-minded silver “stackers” gathering on social-media platform Reddit Inc., Seattle-based Mr. Kraker says he also feels empowered.

“They are so encouraging and so convinced in the changes they can cause,” Mr. Kraker, who lost his home in the financial crisis, told Reuters. Continue Reading →

Doubting the commodity supercycle? It’s now a cheaper bet – by David Berman (Globe and Mail – July 14, 2021)

July 14, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Commodity Super-Cycle and Decline, Copper

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Commodity prices have been struggling in recent weeks, pausing this year’s remarkable run on materials stocks and raising the question of whether the opportunity for investors has ended.

But some observers remain convinced that a commodities “supercycle” – an extended period of strong demand for raw materials – is continuing, offering a buying opportunity for anyone who missed the first stage of the rally.

“Although most of the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, rapidly increasing vaccination rates combined with revved-up economic stimulus has significantly improved the outlook (and sentiment) for commodities,” Orest Wowkodaw, an analyst at Bank of Nova Scotia, said in a report this week. Continue Reading →

‘A race against time’: First Nations, towns in northwestern Ontario prepare to evacuate as wildfires approach – by Logan Turner (CBC News Thunder Bay – July 14, 2021)

July 14, 2021 in Aboriginal and Inuit Non-Mining Issues, Canadian Media Resource Articles

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

First Nations and towns in northwestern Ontario are monitoring the weather forecast and making urgent plans for evacuations as firefighting crews race to bring wildfires across the region under control.

“Our community is in a race against time,” said Pikangikum First Nation Chief Dean Owen in a written statement. “With so many communities being evacuated due to the fires, we are all competing for limited resources and space.”

The First Nation, which is about 100 kilometres northwest of Red Lake, Ont., and has an on-reserve population of more than 3,000, declared a state of emergency on Monday night, and requested that about 500 to 800 “vulnerable people” be evacuated from Pikangikum. It marks the third time in three years community members have been forced to flee due to forest fire and smoke threats. Continue Reading →

Who should pay when projects fail after Indigenous rights claims? – by Shiri Pasternak (Globe and Mail – July 14, 2021)

July 14, 2021 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Mining Conflict and Opposition, Ontario Mining

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Shiri Pasternak is a professor of criminology at Toronto’s X University. She has changed this affiliation in solidarity with Indigenous faculty because of the legacy of the institution’s namesake in the residential school system.

In early July, Foxgate Developments Inc. announced that it was shutting down construction at the 1492 Land Back Lane camp on reclaimed Six Nations land in Ontario. The site of the proposed housing subdivision called McKenzie Meadows had been permanently occupied by community members since last summer.

But unfinished business remains. Foxgate wants someone to pay for their losses – specifically, $200-million in damages from the Ontario and federal governments, the Ontario Provincial Police, and others for neglecting to remove the occupation.

They also want governments to affirm that title to the lands is legally held by Foxgate and not subject to a land claim by the Six Nations. Continue Reading →

Top-10 Canadian base metal and uranium explorers and developers (Mining.com – July 13, 2021)

July 14, 2021 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Uranium and Nuclear Power Industry

https://www.mining.com/

Demand for greener energy has put companies with uranium and base metal projects under the spotlight. Here’s a list of the top ten Canadian-headquartered base metal and uranium juniors with no production. The ranking is based on the companies’ market capitalization as of June 3, and compiled by MiningIntelligence.

NexGen Energy – Market capitalization: C$2.7 billion ($2.3 billion)

NexGen Energy’s (TSX: NXE; NYSE: NXE) market cap has increased fivefold from last year, pushing it from third to first place in this year’s top ten ranking.

The exploration and development company’s valuation has been boosted as the spot price for uranium edged higher in May to pass $32 per lb., and comes after several years in which uranium was trading in the $25-30 per lb. price range. Continue Reading →

Mining sector accelerator is latest beneficiary of Federal Liberals ‘net zero’ fund – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – July 13, 2021)

July 13, 2021 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://financialpost.com/

The project is intended to accelerate the mining sector’s development of innovative and clean technology, according to a government source

Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne is expected on Tuesday to announce a $40-million contribution from the federal government for a new Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator Network, the Financial Post has learned.

The project is intended to accelerate the mining sector’s development of innovative and clean technology, according to a government source, who requested anonymity because the news was not yet public.

The project, to be administered through the Sudbury, Ont.-based Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation, would be the latest in the past few weeks to receive funding from the federal government’s ‘net zero’ Strategic Innovation Fund, an $8-billion fund meant to help industry decarbonize over the next several years. Continue Reading →

Manitoba needs to up its mining game – by Joseph Quesnel (Winnipeg Sun – July 9, 2021)

July 13, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Manitoba Mining, Nickel, Thompson, Vale

https://winnipegsun.com/

Joseph Quesnel is a senior research associate with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

There is some good news for mining in Manitoba, but the province needs to reform its mining policies for the sector to thrive. Despite some progress over the years, this province still has a hostile climate for investment and this needs to change.

Vale recently announced it is making a $150 million investment to extend current nickel mining activities in Thompson, Man., by a decade. At the same time, the company will be engaging in some aggressive exploration drilling of known ore bodies to extend the life of the mine even further.

This is good news because a few years ago, the mining operation in Northern Manitoba was set to shut down. This announcement provides a welcome injection of new capital into northern Manitoba. Continue Reading →

Bigger than Voisey’s: Canada Nickel files PEA for Crawford mine in Ontario – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 12, 2021)

July 13, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Junior Exploration Sector, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Timmins

https://www.mining.com/

Canada Nickel Company (TSX-V: CNC) announced on Monday it had filed a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the Crawford nickel sulphide project in Ontario, almost a year after exploration drilling began at the asset.

The PEA envisions a conventional open pit mine and mill that will produce both nickel and magnetite concentrates over a mine life of 25 years.

The operation is set to generate 2.05 tonnes of carbon dioxide per tonne of nickel-equivalent production in the period — 93% lower than the industry average of 29 tonnes of CO2. Continue Reading →

How Canada can get back some of its former glory as a maker of things the world wants to buy – by Kevin Carmichael (Financial Post – July 13, 2021)

July 13, 2021 in Aluminium/Bauxite, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Metals and Manufacturing

https://financialpost.com/

Anthony Caputo’s order book at Can Art Aluminum Extrusion LP is a directory of the world’s most important automobile companies, all of them investing in EVs.

Automotive supply chains are being overhauled to build electric vehicles, and his Brampton, Ont.-based company will be an important node when they solidify since it has emerged as a leading supplier of one of the most important parts: the aluminum cases that protect the batteries, a tricky bit of engineering.

The cases must be both lightweight to help maximize the distance vehicles can travel between charges, and durable enough to keep the battery from exploding in a collision. Continue Reading →

Fund managers give copper a wide berth as China cools – by Andy Home (Kitco News – July 13, 2021)

July 13, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Copper

https://www.kitco.com/

LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) – Fund managers have been reducing their exposure to copper as the market heads into what is normally a seasonally weak spot for demand.

Supercycle bulls will argue that this is just a temporary soft spot before green infrastructure stimulus starts building momentum in Europe and the United States.

Supercycle sceptics counter that copper and other industrial metals haven’t yet escaped the old China cycle, which is currently cooling fast. Continue Reading →

OPINION: Will accountability ever come in the Catholic Church and the Canadian government? – by Tanya Talaga (Globe and Mail – July 9, 2021)

July 13, 2021 in Aboriginal and Inuit Non-Mining Issues, Canadian Media Resource Articles

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

It must feel as though the fury of hell has come to southern British Columbia, where scorching temperatures have broken records and giant fires have engulfed First Nations communities and cities already dealing with the devastating discovery of the remains of ancestors of those in the Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc First Nation.

The open mourning, the coming together and the steps toward healing among the Tk’emlúpsemc – “the people of the confluence” of the North and South Thompson Rivers – is happening as smoke from the smouldering First Nations community of Lytton, just hours down the highway, blows into Kamloops.

And all this comes as the burning of Catholic churches continues, and statues of Sir John A. Macdonald, Egerton Ryerson and Queen Victoria fall across the country like dominoes. Continue Reading →