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Canadian Media Resource Articles

China-Backed $3 Billion Indonesia Nickel Smelter Risks Shutdown – by Eddie Spence and Alfred Cang (Bloomberg News/Financial Post – February 20, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

One of the biggest nickel smelters in Indonesia has slashed production and is close to shutting down completely, just months after the collapse of its Chinese parent company.

(Bloomberg) — One of the biggest nickel smelters in Indonesia has slashed production and is close to shutting down completely, just months after the collapse of its Chinese parent company.

PT Gunbuster Nickel Industry, which is affiliated with bankrupted stainless steel giant Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry Co., is delaying payments to local energy suppliers and is unable to procure nickel ore, according to people familiar with the situation.

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Buried treasure: Ontario’s new regulation aims to facilitate the recovery of minerals from mine waste, but many hurdles remain, experts say – by Kelsey Rolfe (CIM Magazine – February 20, 2025)

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

Ontario is becoming the first jurisdiction in Canada to have a dedicated regulatory pathway for projects aimed at recovering residual metals and minerals from mine waste. Experts said the move is a promising step, but technical and economic hurdles still stand in the way of wide-scale waste re-mining efforts.

The province announced a regulatory change to the Mining Act in late November 2024 to create a permit process specifically for recovering metals and minerals from tailings and mine waste at open, closed or abandoned mine sites in the province.

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Elon Musk casts doubt on $425 billion U.S. gold reserve at Fort Knox ahead of personal DOGE audit – by Ernest Hoffman (kitco News – February 18, 2025)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Fresh off his recent forays into the Treasury Department’s payment systems, tech billionaire Elon Musk is now gearing up to conduct an in-person audit of the United States’ gold reserves at Fort Knox on behalf of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Musk announced his intentions on Monday afternoon through a pair of posts on his X platform, implying that he doubts whether the $425 billion in bullion is really there. Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the state where Fort Knox is located, said in an interview with Fox News on Monday that he invited Musk to review the gold reserve after failing to gain access to the facility for a decade.

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GRAPH: The critical minerals to watch in the US – by Frik Els (Mining.com – February 17, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

Statements that Trump’s plans to make Canada the 51st state is all about metals and minerals, a deal for Ukraine’s rare earths (now rejected) being included in peace talks, and the current US administration reiterating its desire to buy Greenland, have thrust critical minerals into the public view like never before.

Amid all this talk it’s easy to forget that anything to do with metals and minerals – whether deemed critical or not – is really about one country. China.

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Miners not ‘losing sleep’ over Trump’s tariff threat, but hope it can resolve permit delays – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – Febuary 18, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

Ottawa needs to remind Trump that Canada’s critical minerals are more accessible to the U.S., miners say

Some Canadian miners say they won’t be “losing sleep” over the possibility of tariffs being levied by the United States on critical minerals due to the immense demand for them from Europe and other regions, but they do want Ottawa to use these “tense times” to quickly resolve the sector’s permitting troubles.

It takes about 10 to 15 years to build a mine in Canada today, given the time it takes to explore deposits, get the required permits, look for investments, build infrastructure in rural areas and figure out a profitable way to extract the minerals.

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The country that helped build Quebec’s aluminum industry now threatens its survival – by Frédérik-Xavier D. Plante (Globe and Mail – February 18, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Arvida aluminum bridge, completed in 1950 as the first of its kind anywhere, stands as a tribute to a symbiotic relationship. Crossing a branch of the Saguenay River, its elegant arch faces the Shipshaw II Power Station.

This is no coincidence, says Lucie Morisset, Canada Research Chair in Urban Heritage, given the link between the aluminum industry and the abundant hydroelectric power in Quebec. “It’s not the labour that determines the production costs of aluminum, it’s not even the bauxite,” she said, referring to the material from which aluminum is extracted. “It’s the energy costs to produce it.”

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New claim-staking process an ‘existential’ threat to mining in B.C., lobby group warns – by Vaughn Palmer (Vancouver Sun – February 14, 2025)

https://vancouversun.com/

Government process adds months of consultation to process after 2023 court decision

VICTORIA — The NDP government’s new policy of consulting First Nations before registering mineral claims threatens the survival of the mining industry, says the Association for Mineral Exploration. The association issued the warning in a letter to Mines Minister Jagrup Brar as the province prepares to implement the new court-ordered consultation framework on March 26.

“The association and its board do not endorse the current mineral claims consultation framework,” association chair Trish Jacques wrote last week. “This is an existential crisis for our industry and has the potential to materially harm our members.

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DeepDive: How mining became Canada’s surprising new engine of economic growth – by Philip Cross (The Hub – February 17, 2025)

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Mining is an increasingly rare success story in Canada’s economy. While most public commentary focuses on the economic threat from Donald Trump, Canada’s chronic slow economic growth, and stagnant exports, mining’s buoyancy is a reminder that Canada still can be a beacon for investment and successfully compete in global markets as well as a strategic industry in an era of economic and geopolitical competition.

This DeepDive essay provides an overview of recent developments in Canada’s mining industry. It documents mining’s expanding output, incomes, and jobs, fuelled by the recent surge of investments and export demand for most metals and minerals.

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China slows rather than halts copper smelting’s breakneck growth (Bloomberg News – February 16, 2025)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The Chinese government is getting serious about constraining the blind expansion of copper smelters, although its new policy is likely to pause rather than stop development. Eleven ministries signed an order last week to limit capacity in the world’s biggest copper industry, by tying expansions to whether companies also control enough ore supply to feed their smelters.

As China imports most of its feedstock, and ore has gotten scarcer anyway, it’s a condition that’s unlikely to be met by the vast majority of firms. But there could be wiggle room in how the policy is implemented.

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How Canada supplied uranium for the Manhattan Project – by Peter C. van Wyck (CBC Documentaries – January 10, 2025)

https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/

Ore mined in the Northwest Territories was transported to Port Hope, Ont., then used to develop the bombs that

In the past couple of years, the public imagination has been taken up with all things nuclear — the bomb, energy and waste. The film Oppenheimer recasts the story of the bomb as a Promethean and largely American narrative, while the series Fallout depicts a post-nuclear world. Russia has repeatedly emphasized its readiness for nuclear conflict. Nuclear energy has been regaining popularity as a hedge against climate change.

And yet, the story of Canada’s nuclear legacy — and our connection to the bombs that the U.S. military dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing tens of thousands in an instant — is rarely told.

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[BHP and Canada] Up and Down Under – by Trevor Cole (Globe and Mail/Report on Business Magazine – February 18, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Why Mike Henry, the Canadian CEO of the world’s biggest mining company, is investing big in Canada

No one should have been surprised, five years ago, when Mike Henry rose to the top of the Australian mining giant BHP. When it comes to mining, Canadians have some game, and the University of British Columbia alum had built a 30-year career touching every aspect of the industry, from marketing to technology to operations.

What might have opened some eyes is how decisively the understated Henry, who’d been at BHP since 2003, moved to change things up. He eliminated BHP’s complicated dual listing on the London and Sydney exchanges, boosting the company’s ability to make acquisitions.

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Rio Tinto clears final hurdles for $6.7B Arcadium Lithium buy – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – February 14, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

Rio Tinto has secured all regulatory approvals to proceed with its $6.7 billion acquisition of Arcadium Lithium, with the transaction set to close in early March.

The US-based lithium producer confirmed on Friday that Australia, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and the United States have approved the deal under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.

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Labrador stuck in ‘wait-and-see’ approach over looming impact of U.S. steel tariffs – by Elizabeth Whitten (CBC News Newfoundland-Labrador – February 14, 2025)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/

Labrador mines produce components used in steel manufacturing

In the wake of newly announced U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, one Labrador mayor says businesses in the mine-heavy region will have to wait and see how their bottom lines are impacted.

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 30-day reprieve for tariffs on Canadian goods, only to announce he was slapping a 25 per cent tariff on all of the country’s steel and aluminum imports, scheduled to come into effect on March 12.

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Barrick considering redomiciling to the U.S. and Trump could make it happen faster, says CEO Mark Bristow – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – February 14, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. is considering redomiciling to the United States from Canada, and under a Donald Trump administration that could happen sooner rather than later, Barrick chief executive Mark Bristow told The Globe and Mail’s editorial board.

On Thursday, he mapped out several reasons why a move to the U.S. makes sense, including access to a more efficient marketplace, and the ability to attract a bigger pool of shareholders. Redomiciling to the U.S. could put Barrick in the S&P 500 index, which would attract automatic buying from scores of mutual funds and exchange traded funds that track indexes.

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Ecuador’s mining future uncertain as socialist party gains traction – by Staff (Mining.com – February 11, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

Ecuador’s mining industry is bracing for potential changes as the nation’s main socialist party gains momentum in the presidential race.

Luisa González, a protégé of former President Rafael Correa, is leading a strong push fuelled by public discontent over a struggling economy, gang violence, and widespread blackouts. Her platform, which reflects the policies of the influential Citizen Revolution movement, could significantly reshape mining policies if she wins the runoff on April 13.

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