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Canadian Media Resource Articles

[Saskatchewan Potash] Pink Gold – by Kate Helmore (Globe and Mail – March 1, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Trump said Canada has nothing the U.S. needs. When it comes to potash, the president couldn’t be more wrong

In Saskatchewan, 1,000 metres below the surface of the earth, in a cavern heated to a sweltering 27 C by geothermal energy, a machine is boring into the ground, searching for a compound that is critical to worldwide food production and crucial in Canada’s current trade battle with the United States. Launched just a few weeks ago, this boring machine is hooked up to a fibre-optic connection, and operated from a climate-controlled office on the surface.

This single tunnel, called a face, was sunk at a cost of $30-million. And it is just one in a network spread across six mines owned and operated by Nutrien Ltd. , Canada’s largest mining company and a major supplier of agricultural inputs worldwide. However, the company jewel – and a source of US$3-billion in net sales last year – was a single nutrient: potash.

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Congo offers US, Europe minerals in exchange for peace – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – February 24, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

In a bold diplomatic move, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi has reportedly proposed granting the United States and Europe access to the country’s vast mineral resources — on the condition that they intervene to end the ongoing conflict ravaging the nation.

Speaking on Sunday, Presidential Spokesperson Tina Salama urged the US to “directly buy critical minerals” from Kinshasa rather than sourcing “looted” and “smuggled” resources through Rwanda. She extended the same appeal to Europe and other buyers, emphasizing that the DRC is the “true owner” of these valuable commodities.

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Mining and the idea of Canada – by John Sandlos (Canadian Mining Journal – February 24, 2025)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

For me, every January begins with another trip through the key events of Canadian history since 1867, courtesy of a course I have taught for nearly 20 years at Memorial University of Newfoundland. As I write, I just stepped out of a class on Confederation, where we examine all the reasons that four tenuously related colonies decided to become the nation we call Canada.

As most teachers do, I covered off some key factors that produced a new political union: political gridlock and instability in the two Canadas (present-day Ontario and Quebec), fears of an attack from the U.S., dreams of a transcontinental nation, and the mania for railroads that might knit British North America together as a powerful, integrated industrial economy.

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First Nation says McEwen Mining breached agreement, owes almost $1M in unpaid shares – by Aya Dufour (CBC News Sudbury – February 24, 2025)

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

Apitipi Anicinapek Nation is taking the matter before an Ontario court

The Apitipi Anicinapek Nation (AAN) has launched a lawsuit against McEwen Mining Inc., alleging breach of contract and environmental damage.The lawsuit centres around an Impact Benefit Agreement (IBA) signed in 2011 between AAN and Brigus, the then-owner of the Black Fox Mining Complex near Matheson, Ont.

IBAs are agreements between resource extraction companies and Indigenous communities intended to mitigate the impacts of development on traditional territories and ways of life. In this case, the IBA promised AAN financial compensation in the tune of 25,000 shares of the mining company annually.

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Equinox Gold to buy Calibre for $2.56B – by Staff (Northern Miner – February 24, 2025)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Equinox Gold  agreed to buy Calibre Mining  for about $2.56 billion in stock to become Canada’s second-largest gold producer. Calibre shareholders will receive 0.31 Equinox common share for each Calibre common share held immediately before the transaction, according to a joint statement issued Sunday. At closing, existing Equinox shareholders would own about 65% of the combined company’s outstanding shares, compared with 35% for their Calibre counterparts.

The deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, sets the stage for the creation of a Canadian mining powerhouse with two low-cost assets under the same roof – Equinox’s Greenstone property in Ontario, which achieved commercial production in November and is one of the country’s largest open-pit mines; and Calibre’s Valentine mine, which is nearing construction completion.

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Ontario PCs pledge $500-million for critical minerals processing but spending questions loom – by Darius Snieckus (Hamilton Spectator – February 25, 2025)

https://www.thespec.com/

Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives have pledged to set up a $500-million critical mineral processing fund to invest in “strategically located” facilities to develop the province’s vast resources of lithium, graphite, zinc, cobalt and other key minerals and metals.

The fund, a central economic plank in the party’s re-election platform released on Monday, is the biggest government pledge so far to build a network of refining facilities mining experts say are needed to ensure Canada reaps the benefits of producing minerals and metals important for the global energy transition.

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As tensions rise, Canada to lean on U.S. for uranium enrichment – by Matthew McClearn (Globe and Mail – February 24, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Even as U.S. President Donald Trump talks of waging a campaign of “economic force” to persuade Canada to join a political union with the United States, Ontario Power Generation is preparing to construct an American reactor at its Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. The reactor’s uranium fuel would be enriched at a facility in New Mexico, a new vulnerability U.S. administrations could exploit.

Canada’s 17 operating reactors are of the homegrown Candu design, which consume natural uranium. Canada possesses uranium in abundance and has long made its own fuel. But nearly all the reactors promoted for construction now require enriched uranium, which Canada can’t produce.

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Ontario election: Make Laurentian University Ontario’s mining champion – by David Robinson (Sudbury Star – February 24, 2025)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

It’s one of David Robinson’s four pillars as the Green Party candidate for the Sudbury riding

My job as Sudbury’s Green candidate is to get climate change on your agenda and convince you it is part of a real economic development strategy for our city.

My job as your MPP would be to bring together political factions and leading institutions in the city in a unified campaign to get what Sudbury needs. No other candidate has the knowledge, experience or the proven record of working for Sudbury. No other candidate has the contacts and the respect in every corner of the city.

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Mining industry, business groups in NWO call for better support for mining from next Ontario government – by Kris Ketonen (CBC News Thunder Bay – February 24, 2025)

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

More power generation, meaningful consultations with First Nations needed if projects are to move forward

Whichever party is elected as the next provincial government needs to show better support for northwestern Ontario’s mining industry if some of the region’s major developments are to move forward, industry and First Nations groups say.

“We need Queen’s Park to actually recognize us more,” said Garry Clark, executive director of the Ontario Prospectors Association. “We need more money put into exploration to move things forward.”

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OPINION: Arctic security must be a top priority for Canada – not an afterthought – by Ranj Pillai and Ken Coates (Globe and Mail – February 24, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ranj Pillai is the Premier of Yukon. Ken Coates is the director of Indigenous affairs at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

Canada’s Arctic policy has long been founded on delayed and partial responses to American challenges. It started with the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897-98, when the arrival of tens of thousands of American stampeders threatened Canada’s tenuous hold on the Far Northwest.

It hit again in 1942, when the United States launched the construction of the Alaska Highway and other Northwest defence projects in a region almost devoid of effective Canadian governance. The pattern continued after the Second World War, as Canada joined in developing radar defence systems during the Cold War and responded, again half-heartedly, after the American oil tanker SS Manhattan navigated the Northwest Passage in 1969 to test using the seaway to take Alaskan oil eastward.

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The complex legacy of Viola MacMillan – by Ashley Fish-Robertson (CIM Magazine – February 19, 2025)

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

A new book explores the life and scandal of a controversial pioneer in Canada’s mining industry

Viola MacMillan’s life, shaped by remarkable accomplishments and the gripping Windfall scandal that took place in the 1960s, forms the heart of Toronto-based author Tim Falconer’s latest book, Windfall: Viola MacMillan and Her Notorious Mining Scandal.

Born in 1903 in Dee Bank, Ontario, MacMillan left school at the age of 12 to support her impoverished family, working as a cleaner with her mother. After the First World War, MacMillan returned to school and later moved to Windsor, Ontario, where she saved up money for business college by working as a telephone operator and live-in maid. After graduating, she was hired as a stenographer.

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Anglo American and Codelco strike $5B copper deal – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – February 20, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

Anglo American (LON: AAL) and Chile’s state-owned Codelco have signed an agreement to jointly develop their neighbouring Los Bronces and Andina operations, a move that will see the partners produce 2.7 million tonnes of additional copper over 21 years from 2030.

The joint mine plan is projected to generate a net present value pre-tax boost of at least $5 billion, which will be shared equally between the two companies. Despite the collaboration, both Anglo American and Codelco will retain full ownership rights over their respective assets, including mining concessions, plants, and ancillary operations, and will continue to extract resources separately.

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American farmers will bear cost of Trump’s tariffs on potash, says Nutrien CEO – by Michael Joel-Hansen (Financial Post – February 21, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

Company hikes dividend, though earnings fall 33% on lower prices

Farmers in the United States will be the ones absorbing any additional expenses if Donald Trump’s planned tariffs take effect next month, says Nutrien Ltd. chief executive Ken Seitz.

“The costs of this would be borne by the U.S. farmer; the tariff cost and tariff impact will be passed onto the U.S. farmer,” he said on a fourth-quarter earnings call with analysts, adding that American farmers are very dependent on Canadian potash. “Canadians supply over 80 per cent of that market.”

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Teck signals it’s open to deal with Glencore around combining QB2 and Collahuasi copper mines – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – February 21, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Teck Resources Ltd. chief executive Jonathan Price indicated he is open to a tie-up with former foe Glencore PLC that would combine its giant QB2 copper mine in Chile with Glencore’s neighbouring Collahuasi operation.

QB2 is the mine that underpinned Teck’s revamp to become a fully focused critical-minerals company after it sold its legacy coal business to Glencore. Glencore co-owns another giant copper mine near QB2 called Collahuasi. Billions in cost savings are potentially on the table if QB2 and Collahuasi can be brought under the same ownership and operated as one gigantic facility.

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After Chinese company divested from Calgary lithium firm, mystery firm stepped in – by Darryl Greer (Canadian Press/CBC News Calgary – February 20, 2025)

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

Application filed for order directing Gator Capital Ltd. to dispose of shares in Lithium Chile

The federal government is going to court to force a Toronto company to sell a $34-million stake in a Calgary-based lithium firm that it bought off a Chinese company.

The government had already deemed the previous Chinese owner’s investment in Lithium Chile Inc. to be harmful to national security, and it says in a Federal Court application that the new buyer has failed to co-operate with efforts to prove it isn’t owned or influenced by China’s government either.

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