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Canadian Media Resource Articles

Chile Copper Firms Begin Talks on Combining Smelter Efforts – by James Attwood (Bloomberg News – December 11, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Codelco and Enami, Chile’s two state copper companies, are discussing the possibility of combining their respective efforts to expand smelting capacity into a single project, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

A new working group is looking into collaboration between a project to overhaul a shuttered Enami smelter and a separate proposal to build a new plant being organized by Codelco, said the people, who asked not to be identified given the talks are private and at an early stage.

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Silver could outperform gold again next year, spot price forecast to hit $40/oz in 2025 – Heraeus – by Ernest Hoffman (Kitco News – December 11, 2024)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – While a likely U.S. recession in Q2 would impact industrial demand for silver, most of the gray metal’s recent strengths are expected to carry over into the new year, and the price of silver is projected to outperform gold in 2025, according to analysts at Heraeus Precious Metals.

In their Precious Forecast 2025, the analysts said that if market conditions unfold as expected, they believe silver will outgain gold once again in 2025. “This year, the silver price has seen the largest percentage gains across the precious metals (+26.82% to the end of November),” they noted.

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Vale lays off staff as mining operations worldwide reckon with low nickel prices (CBC News Sudbury – December 11, 2024)

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

The company says it’s letting ‘non-operational’ staff go as it moves to a ‘decentralized structure’

Vale is cutting jobs throughout its global operations to remain competitive as the price of nickel continues to slump. The company is refusing to say how many of its Sudbury employees are included in this round of layoffs.

In a statement it says “people in non-operating roles” will be leaving as the mining giant moves towards a “new decentralized structure.”

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London Symposium: ‘Mining must move at the pace of business, not bureaucracy,’ Ontario’s Pirie says – by Colin McClelland and Henry Lazenby (Canadian Mining Journal – December 11, 2024)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Ontario’s bid to lead in the critical minerals boom in Canada is fuelled with funding increases and deregulation goals in a new mining code. Yet the province must still widen education and mining’s appeal, industry leaders said last week in London.

This year saw Iamgold start the $3 billion-capex Côté mine followed by Equinox Gold’s 400,000-oz.-a-year Greenstone gold mine as Queens Park counted around $44 billion promised by car makers such as Toyota and Stellantis for new battery plants and assembly lines. The developments coincided with efforts to quicken permitting and feed northern minerals to southern factories.

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Lundin sells European mines for up to US$1.52-billion to fund South American copper ambitions – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – December 10, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Lundin Mining Corp. is selling two aging European mines for up to US$1.52-billion to Swedish mining company Boliden AB as it improves its balance sheet and raises cash to fund its South American copper growth strategy.

Vancouver-based Lundin is set to receive US$1.37-billion in cash when the deal closes, with an additional US$150-million to come if copper and zinc prices trade above certain levels over the next couple of years.

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Mining company charged 10 years after spilling toxic waste into B.C. waters – by Andrew Kurjata (CBC News British Columbia – December 10, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/

Collapse of Mount Polley tailings dam considered one of the worst environmental disasters in Canadian history

More than a decade after spilling millions of litres of toxic wastewater into rivers in the B.C. Interior, Imperial Metals Corp. has been charged with 15 violations of the federal Fisheries Act.

The charges were announced Tuesday by the B.C. Conservation Officer Service, which said it worked with the Department of Fisheries and Environment and Climate Change Canada to build the case for taking the company to court.

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Coalspur Vista Coal mine expansion at odds with federal coal commitment: environmental advocate – by Natasha Bulowski (CTV News Edmonton – December 11, 2024)

https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s decision not to assess the impact of a massive thermal coal mine expansion is “cowardly” and “colossal backtracking” on Canada’s commitments to stop exporting this dirty fossil fuel, says an environmental advocate. On Dec. 6, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) decided Coalspur’s Vista Coal mine expansion in west-central Alberta will not be subject to a federal impact assessment.

“Over the last two years, we’ve seen zero progress on the thermal coal export ban, and now we’re seeing Canada move in the opposite direction by refusing to even assess the impacts of a major expansion of Canada’s largest thermal coal mine,” Julia Levin of Environmental Defence told Canada’s National Observer in a phone interview.

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Vale to trim management staff in Sudbury and around the world – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – December 6, 2024)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Union says its members won’t be affected by the cuts

Vale Base Metals will be shedding some staff in Sudbury but as of now the downsizing seems isolated to management and will not impact the rank and file.

“We have been informed there is an internal, managerial reorganization, that is obviously resulting in job losses, as has been reported already,” said USW 6500 vice-president Ray Hammond. “But we have not been informed of who or how many people that affects.”

Hammond said the union has been given no indication that any of its workers are slated to lose their jobs. “We have not been informed of it affecting our membership in any way,” he said. “They’re still hiring, for us, and we still have new members going through training as we speak.”

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Gold consolidating outsized 2024 gains into December – by David Erfle (Kitco News – December 6, 2024)

https://www.kitco.com/

At present, gold is caught in a medium-term corrective cycle, while long-term price charts and macro fundamentals still firmly favor the safe-haven metal going higher once a now 6-week correction has run its course.

As mentioned in this column heading into the U.S. presidential election, gold had been long overdue for a 5-10% correction. The 54% 12-month surge in bullion into the end of October had yet to experience as much as a 5% correction heading into a chaotic U.S. election, with the overwhelming result having led to some healthy profit taking from an extreme overbought situation.

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SSR to be 3rd-biggest US gold miner with Cripple Creek & Victor acquisition – by Staff (Mining.com – December 6, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

SSR Mining (NASDAQ, TSX: SSRM; ASX: SSR) announced on Friday it has acquired the Cripple Creek & Victor (CC&V) gold mine in Colorado from Newmont (NYSE: NEM, TSX: NGT). With this acquisition, SSR is expected to become the third-largest gold miner in the United States. The transaction includes a $100 million upfront cash payment and up to $175 million in milestone-based payments, for a total of $275 million.

Of the milestone payments, $87.5 million will be paid upon the approval of an amended permit for the CC&V Cresson mine filed by Newmont earlier this year to extend its life by adding leach pad capacity and making operational adjustments.

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Taiwanese firm halts plan to build $1B battery plant in B.C. with federal support (CBC News British Columbia – December 04, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/

E-One Moli says it is focusing on Taiwanese production before expansion abroad

A $1-billion lithium-ion battery cell production plant that was planned for Maple Ridge, B.C., has been shelved. The parent company, Taiwan Cement Corp., announced the construction of the Canadian plant with much fanfare last year, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier David Eby attending and promising a combined $284.5 million in government funding.

Taiwan Cement Corp. company chairman Nelson Chang is quoted in a statement saying that the plant construction has stopped in order to focus on Taiwanese production, in step with other battery makers suspending similar projects across North America.

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Rio’s Abandoned Panguna Copper Mine Still a Threat, Report Says – by Paul-Alain Hunt (Bloomberg News – December 05, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Rio Tinto Group contributed to widespread damage due to waste left at an abandoned copper mine in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, and risks to local communities are ongoing, a report has found.

Panguna, which was operated by Rio subsidiary Bougainville Copper, was once one of the world’s largest copper mines. It was shut in 1989 after local protests over the disbursement of revenue from the mine degenerated into a civil war that killed as many as 20,000 people.

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Science North celebrates premiere of Planting Hope: A Regreening Story – by Staff (Sudbury Star – November 30, 2024)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

The film brings to life Sudbury’s journey from a desolate landscape scarred by pollution to the vibrant, thriving region it is today

Science North has premiered its latest production, Planting Hope: A Regreening Story, a powerful documentary that celebrates the transformation and resilience of Greater Sudbury. The premiere at Dynamic Earth captivated audiences with the remarkable tale of one of the largest and most successful environmental reclamation projects in the world.

Through powerful imagery and inspiring stories, the documentary reveals how collaborative efforts, innovative regreening techniques and a shared commitment to the land have revitalized Greater Sudbury.

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China has ‘weaponized’ global critical mineral supply chain, US miners group says – by Henry Lazenby (Northern Miner – December 4, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

China’s ban on U.S.-bound critical mineral exports is “mineral extortion,” Washington D.C.-based National Mining Association (NMA) president Rich Nolan said on Wednesday. The export ban announced a day earlier targets gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite. These minerals are needed for semiconductors, 5G phone tech, defence systems and electric vehicle batteries. Antimony is found in bullets. Nolan described the export ban as a calculated bid for geopolitical leverage.

“China has weaponized the world’s mineral supply chains,” he said in an emailed statement. “We must confront Chinese mineral extortion and recognize that U.S. mining policy is the foundation of our nation’s economic, energy and national security.”

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Mali issues arrest warrant for Barrick CEO, reports say – by Geoffrey York and Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – December 6, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Authorities in Mali have issued an arrest warrant for Barrick Gold Corp. chief executive officer Mark Bristow in a fresh escalation of a tax dispute in the West African country, Malian journalists have reported.

Copies of the arrest warrant, posted by one of the journalists on social media Thursday, show that Mr. Bristow is being charged with money laundering and violating Mali’s financial regulations during the period from 2019 to 2023.

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