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Canadian Media Resource Articles

Canada’s nuclear watchdog green-lights operation of aging Pickering reactors to 2026 – by Matthew McClearn (Globe and Mail – October 11, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada’s nuclear safety regulator again extended a crucial permit for the country’s oldest nuclear power plant on Friday, allowing it to continue operating beyond its original design life.

On Friday the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission authorized its owner, Ontario Power Generation, to operate the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station for an additional two years, to Dec. 31, 2026. The extended permit applies only to its newest four reactors, Units 5 through 8, which are collectively known as Pickering B. Those reactors entered service between 1983 and 1986.

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Teck CEO Says Canada Must Spend More to Erode China’s Critical Minerals Dominance – by Erik Hertzberg (Bloomberg News – October 10, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Teck Resources Ltd.’s chief executive officer warned the Canadian government that it isn’t doing enough to foster development in the critical minerals sector.

Speaking Thursday at an event in Ottawa, Jonathan Price said that while both the US and Canada have focused on developing the electric-vehicle and battery manufacturing sectors on the continent, support for mines and mineral processing continues to lag.

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Ottawa announces nearly $25M in federal investments for critical mineral projects in northern Ontario – by Jonathan Migneault (CBC News Sudbury – October 10, 2024)

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

Around $8.4M in conditional funding to be available to projects in the northeast

Ottawa continues to invest heavily in the critical minerals sector in northern Ontario. Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson announced nearly $25 million in federal funding for critical mineral projects during visits in Thunder Bay and Sudbury this week.

“There are enormous opportunities in Ontario for critical minerals,” Wilkinson told CBC News. In the northeast, those investments included $8.4 million in conditionally approved funding provided through the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund (CMIF) for several companies.

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Project 2025 wants gold to rule again — But is it fool’s gold? – by Ernest Hoffman (Kitco News – October 10, 2024)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – The Project 2025 conservative policy blueprint has been making waves in recent months as journalists, lawmakers, and academics pore over its recommendations. And while much of the attention has centered on its ideas around social policy and executive authority, one economic proposal will quicken the pulse of precious metals investors regardless of their political affiliation: Reestablishing the gold standard.

The 900-plus page document from the Heritage Foundation is aimed at shaping the policy agenda for the United States government with a focus on conservative principles. Launched in 2023, the Project is geared toward preparing for a potential Republican administration in 2025, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive plan to restore what its proponents view as core American values and governance principles.

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Opinion: Breaking barriers: A vision for Canada-U.S. co-operation in a changing world – by Mark David Wiseman (Globe and Mail – October 10, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Mark Wiseman is a Canadian investment manager and business executive who serves as a senior adviser for Boston Consulting Group and a board member for NOVA Chemicals.

A year ago in these pages, I argued that there is no place like home for investors, who should bank on a
North America, where Canada and the U.S. leverage their natural, economic and geographic advantages to create an unmatched regional bloc.

Since then, the case for Canada to embrace this approach has only grown stronger. The world is headed in a more protectionist, competitive direction. Reports show that the annual number of new global trade restrictions has steadily increased to more than 3,000 in 2023 from about 650 in 2017.

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China’s critical minerals dominance ‘material risk’ to national security, Teck Resources CEO warns – by Jordan Gowling (Financial Post – October 11, 2024)

https://financialpost.com/

Stronger private investment crucial, says U.S. Ambassador to Canada

Teck Resources Ltd. chief executive Jonathan Price is sounding the alarm over China’s control of the critical minerals sector, warning that North America needs to invest more to catch up.

“China controls in the range of 40 to over 90 per cent of global processing capacity for many critical minerals, from copper to cobalt,” Price said during an event hosted by the Business Council of Canada and the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada in Ottawa Thursday. “With the increasing necessity of metals, it is clear that diversifying supply chains is now critical to both our economy and national security.”

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Rio Tinto buying Arcadium in US$6.7-billion bet on lithium – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – October 10, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Rio Tinto PLC is buying lithium producer Arcadium Lithium PLC in a big bet on the electric-vehicle battery metal in the midst of a vicious bear market.

The Anglo-Australian major is paying US$5.85 a share for U.S.-based Arcadium, a premium of 90 per cent to Friday’s close, in an all-cash transaction worth US$6.7-billion. The boards of both companies are in favour of the deal. Lithium prices have crashed in recent years owing to China flooding the market and a slowdown in electric-vehicle sales.

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Rio Tinto to be among top three lithium miners with Arcadium acquisition – by Staff (Canadian Mining Journal – October 7, 2024)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Rio Tinto has made an approach for Arcadium Lithium, the two sides confirmed on Monday, following market speculation over the weekend, and as the sector begins turning its attention back to growth.

The move would position Rio as one of the world’s largest lithium miners, behind only US-based Albemarle and Chile’s. This would happen because the acquisition would hand Rio Tinto lithium mines in Argentina and Australia, as well as processing facilities in the US, China, Japan and the UK.

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Mali seeks $500 million in outstanding taxes and dividends from Barrick – report – by Staff (Mining.com – October 8, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Mali’s military government is seeking at least 300 billion CFA ($512 million) in outstanding taxes and dividends from Barrick Gold, according to a Reuters report.

Authorities in Mali briefly detained four Malian staff members working for Barrick last month.On Sept. 30, Barrick stated it had agreed with the government to resolve existing claims and disputes.

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N.W.T. gov’t to review impact benefit agreements between mines and Indigenous groups – by Nadeer Hashmi (CBC News North – October 08, 2024)

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

Indigenous groups will have say over whether agreements should be renegotiated

The N.W.T. government says it’s aware some mining companies are not happy with uncertainty brought by changes to mining legislation — particularly when it comes to their impact benefit agreements with Indigenous governments and stakeholders.

The forthcoming Mineral Resources Act may require these companies to pay more to communities and Indigenous groups affected by mining operations.While the act was passed back in 2019, the government is still working on developing regulations. An initial draft is expected to be released by the end of the year or in early 2025.

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Potash mining is good business now, but it wasn’t always that way – by Michael Joel-Hansen (Saskatoon Star Phoenix – October 4, 2024)

https://thestarphoenix.com/

It has been 65 years since potash mining began in Saskatchewan and Nutrien invited media to tour one their mines. Find out more.

ALLAN, SASK. — Since the mining of potash began on the prairies 65 years ago, the mineral has grown more important as countries around the world try to feed their growing populations, but the industry wasn’t always so consistent.

“In my first 15 years, it was four years of layoffs off and on, not constant and never a complete out-the-door shutdown, but downsizing and cutting back,” said Bob Boehm, who has been working at Nutrien Ltd.‘s Allan mine, southeast of Saskatoon, for more than 40 years.

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Canadian miner Hudbay settles long-standing lawsuits alleging human rights abuses in Guatemala – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – September 8, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Hudbay Minerals Inc. HBM-T has settled a long-standing series of lawsuits in an Ontario court that centred around alleged human-rights abuses at a Guatemalan nickel mine more than a decade ago.

The allegations heard in the Ontario Superior Court are based on clashes between Indigenous Mayan protesters and security personnel at the Fenix nickel mine in eastern Guatemala in 2007 and 2009.

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Short-seller report aims to poke holes in story told by fledgling gold company – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – September 26, 2024)

https://financialpost.com/

Raises questions about New Found Gold deposit near Gander

Vancouver-based New Found Gold Corp. has been the toast of Canada’s exploration sector for reportedly striking bonanza-grade intercepts, but a short-seller report is trying to poke holes in the company’s story.

The report, released earlier this month by Iceberg Research, raises questions about the deposit’s “lack of continuity,” saying the best drill holes may be too narrow and spread too far away from one another to be economically mined.

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Investors With $15 Trillion Signal New Approach to Miners – by Alastair Marsh (Bloomberg News – October 07, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Investors need to adopt a new approach to the mining sector if the industry is to meet the growing demand for minerals and metals needed for the green transition.

That’s the central message in a report published Tuesday by a coalition of some of the world’s biggest investors, including California State Teachers’ Retirement System and Allianz Investment Management.

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China’s Fast-Growing Copper Champion Is Reshaping Global Metal Supply (Bloomberg News – October 2, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Chen Jinghe was not long out of university when a government official handed him the assignment that would change his life. Go to Zijin mountain, he was told, and find gold.

It was 1982, and the geology graduate found himself on forested slopes in the remote, humid highlands of southeastern China. The bet paid off. The deposit his team eventually discovered became the nation’s biggest gold mine — and the foundation for a $67 billion state-owned behemoth that is today driving copper supply growth and gaining ground on some of the most established names in the global resources industry.

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