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Canadian Media Resource Articles

The War in Congo That’s Uprooted 7 Million People: QuickTake – by Michael J. Kavanagh and Simon Marks (Bloomberg News – August 05, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — More than 7 million people have been displaced by violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, one of Africa’s most volatile regions, and fears have been simmering of a heightened conflict. President Felix Tshisekedi has accused his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame of supporting a rebel group known as M23.

Kagame denied the allegation and countered that Tshisekedi’s inability to control events in his own country poses a security risk to Rwanda. The acrimony escalated in early 2024, with the rebels expanding their territory around the trading hub of Goma and seizing control of key routes including those used to export tantalum, a key mineral in portable electronics.

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Gold still has plenty of room to run as hedge funds’ bullish bets hit 4-year high – Neils Christensen (Kitco News – August 26, 2024)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Hedge funds are starting to recognize the value of holding some gold and silver as money managers increase their bullish bets, according to the latest trade data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The CFTC’s disaggregated Commitments of Traders report for the week ending August 20 showed that money managers decreased their speculative gross long positions in Comex gold futures by 18,298 contracts to 222,142. At the same time, short positions rose by 2,908 contracts to 28,837.

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Ottawa to impose 100-per-cent tariff on Chinese-made EVs – by Pippa Norman and Marieke Walsh (Globe and Mail – August 27, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada said it will impose major tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles and steel and aluminum products to protect a fast-growing domestic EV industry while joining forces with the United States and Europe against what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called China’s “unfair” trade approach.

On Monday, the federal government announced a 100-per-cent tariff on Chinese-made EVs, as well as a 25-per-cent tariff on steel and aluminum products from China – both of which will come into effect in early October. The EV tariff applies to some hybrid passenger cars, trucks, buses and delivery vans, and is in addition to a pre-existing import tariff of 6.1 per cent that already applies to Chinese-made EVs coming into Canada.

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[Yukon’s Eagle gold mine disaster] Troubled water – by Julien Greene (CBC News – August 24, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/

In June, Yukon’s Eagle gold mine saw what the territory’s mines minister is calling a “catastrophic failure”: the release of hundreds of millions of litres of toxic cyanide solution into the environment. For many local residents, it’s a wake-up call about the risks and costs of large-scale mining in the territory.

Steve Buyck walks a forest path framed by highbush cranberries, rosehips and Siberian Aster. Slung over his shoulder, a rifle. The bullet in the chamber is large enough to down a moose.

These days, however, hunting the animal doesn’t come so easily for him. Not far away from Buyck’s home, along the banks of the Stewart River in central Yukon, is the Eagle mine, the site of a “catastrophic” heap leach pad failure and cyanide spill in late June.

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EVs sales and production clash with market realities – by Derek Burney (National Post – August 27, 2024)

https://nationalpost.com/

High costs and low performance undermines green agenda

EV sales in North America face new market realities and automakers are shifting their production to meet actual, rather than anticipated demand. After being encouraged by government policy to invest tens of billions of dollars to transition to electric vehicles, companies are rapidly changing gears.

As Sam Fiorani, Vice President of AutoForecast Solutions observed in March, “Getting the first 10 per cent of the electric vehicle market is relatively easy with a good product and a market that wants that product. The next 90 per cent will be much harder to convert.”

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Gold bulls celebrate as Jackson Hole reinforces bets on rally – by Sybilla Gross and Yvonne Yue Li (Bloomberg News – August 26, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Gold’s record-setting rally above US$2,500 an ounce looks to have further to run as the U.S. Federal Reserve prepares to chop rates, traditional drivers such as lower yields return, and Western investors pile back in.

“Everybody thought the Fed was going to be the last to cut, but now they’re getting in line,” said Jay Hatfield, chief executive officer of Infrastructure Capital Advisors, who recently went long on gold options for the first time in years. Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech — which promised rate cuts — was a watershed moment for bullion, according to Hatfield.

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Yukon government curbs expectations of sale of contaminated Eagle gold mine – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – August 24, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Yukon government is curbing expectations about a sale of the contaminated Eagle mine, saying that environmental remediation of the site is the main priority.

The open pit gold mine in central Yukon was placed into receivership earlier this month after an Ontario judge ruled that operator Victoria Gold Corp. wasn’t moving with enough urgency and lacked funding to remediate a major cyanide spill.

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‘Long tail’: Rail shutdown ends, but aftershocks ripple amid drawn-out ramp-up – by Christopher Reynolds (Canadian Press – August 25, 2024)

https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/

Rail shutdown ends, but aftershocks persist

MONTREAL – The end of the shutdown at Canada’s two major railways came too late for the workers at Conifex Timber. Some 250 employees felt the impact when the company cut the operating schedule in half at its sawmill in Mackenzie, B.C., starting Monday — the day the work stoppage on the tracks wraps up.

Despite the relatively short rail standstill, Conifex’s reduction to one shift per day from two will last “for the foreseeable future,” said chief operating officer Andrew McLellan last week.

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Scramble for Critical Minerals Spurs an African Rail Revival – by Matthew Hill (Bloomberg News – August 24, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Southern Africa’s railways are suddenly getting global attention and attracting billions of dollars in investment, with a race to secure copper supplies needed for the energy transition at its center.

From Angola on the continent’s west coast to Tanzanian on the east, governments and investors are readying to revive decades-old rail lines that have fallen into disrepair and build new ones. Much of the new demand for freight comes from the central African copperbelt that Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo share.

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Sudbury’s mining operations impress US Consul General – by Hugh Kruzel (Sudbury Star – August 23, 2024)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

‘There is a lot of interest from US companies here,’ Baxter Hunt says

Visiting dignitaries are always asked why they are in Sudbury. This week, The Sudbury Star met with Baxter Hunt, US Consul General, during his multi-day tour of the area. Hunt had met Greater Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre at PDAC in Toronto earlier this year. Lefebvre invited him to visit.

“I promised him I was going to get up here soon,” said Hunt, who started in this role in the fall of 2023. It is a three-year assignment. Back in July, the Hunt family drove up to Lake Temagami. He called the area “spectacular” and since he has heard of Killarney, he seems keen to experience more of the north.

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First Nation in northwestern Ont. moves ahead with permanent bridge, all-season road – by Darren MacDonald (CTV Northern Ontario – August 23, 2024)

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

The Ontario government is partnering with the Whitefeather Forest Community Resource Management Authority and the federal government to build a permanent bridge across the Berens River and an all-season road to Pikangikum First Nation.

The project will “unleash new economic opportunities, create safer travelling conditions, and improve the safety and quality of life for seven First Nation communities north of Red Lake,” the province said in a news release this week.

The Ontario government is partnering with the Whitefeather Forest Community Resource Management Authority and the federal government to build a permanent bridge across the Berens River and an all-season road to Pikangikum First Nation.

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Gold price back above $2,500 as Fed hints at September rate cuts – by Staff (Mining.com – August 23, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Gold rebounded above $2,500 an ounce on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled that time has come for interest rate cuts starting this September.

Spot gold gained 0.9% at $2,508.16 per ounce by 12:30 p.m. ET Friday, having fallen below the $2,500 level the day before. US gold futures were up 1.0% at $2,542.70 an ounce in New York. In a much-anticipated speech, Powell affirmed expectations that officials will begin lowering borrowing costs next month and made clear his intention to prevent further cooling in the US labor market.

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Feds end Canada’s rail strike – by Blair McBride and Henry Lazenby (Northern Miner – August 22, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Ottawa has stepped in to end a rare strike halting both of Canada’s major railways less than a day after it began. Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon on Thursday afternoon ordered Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway, Canadian National Railway and the labour union, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, into final arbitration.

The companies had locked out about 10,000 employees after the parties failed to reach an agreement. Mining leaders were among scores of industries concerned the stoppage would affect supply lines across the country and over the border with the United States.

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Silver set to soar on Samsung’s solid-state battery breakthrough – analysts – by Jordan Finneseth (Kitco News – August 19, 2024)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Gold has had a breakout year as the yellow metal surged to new heights above $2,500 while its grey counterpart, silver, has struggled to keep pace, but that could soon change, according to one analyst, as silver demand is expected to increase thanks to one new technological development from Samsung.

According to retired investment professional Kevin Bambrough, Samsung has developed a new solid-state (SS) battery. The inclusion of silver as a key component, combined with the increasing demand for electric vehicles, means that demand for the grey metal will soon increase.

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Lucara finds world’s 2nd largest diamond ever mined – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – August 22, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Canada’s Lucara Diamond (TSX: LUC), has dug up a 2,492 carat diamond from its prolific Karowe mine in Botswana, the world’s second-largest stone ever mined in terms of size.

The “epic” diamond, as Lucara put it, was detected and recovered by the company’s Mega Diamond Recovery (MDR) X-ray Transmission (XRT) technology, installed in 2017 to identify and preserve large, high-value stones.

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