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Canadian Media Resource Articles

Is Canada’s critical-minerals strategy a green shift or greenwashing? – by Thierry Rodon and Sophie Thériault (Policy Option – August 14, 2024)

Policy Options – Institute for Research on Public Policy

Indigenous and remote communities will bear the long-lasting ecological, social and cultural impacts of mining. This cannot be ignored.

Canada has followed the lead of many countries recently by adopting policies and measures to promote rapid development of its value chain for domestic critical minerals essential in clean energy technology.

Climate change, geopolitical and economic turmoil are leading governments to emphasize the need to secure a supply of critical minerals, such as lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements, to help decarbonize the economy through, for example, solar panels, wind turbines and electric-vehicle batteries.

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Alberta government feeds $5 million to Calgary-based lithium company preparing to build $2.4B facility – by Matt Scace (Calgary Herald – August 15, 2024)

https://calgaryherald.com/

A Calgary-based company that extracts lithium from old oilfields has received new funding from the Alberta government that it says will help the company bring its multibillion-dollar project to market. E3 Lithium Ltd. announced Thursday it has received $5 million from the provincial government — yet another round of government funding for the company that turns wastewater from oil and gas into lithium.

Countries across the globe, including Canada, have become increasingly focused on lithium extraction, a resource needed to facilitate greater adoption of electric vehicles and other technologies.

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Victoria Gold CEO regrets silence during crisis, suspects cyanide spill caused by fluid buildup – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – August 16, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Victoria Gold Corp. chief executive officer John McConnell says he regrets staying silent while the company was in crisis, and suspects June’s catastrophic cyanide spill at its Yukon mine was caused by an uncontrolled buildup of fluid.

Four million tonnes of cyanide-laced rocks collapsed at the outdoor heap-leaching facility on June 24 and half of that spilled into the local environment beyond the company’s containment zone. The scale of the environmental damage is unknown, but the local First Nation fears the spill could devastate salmon fisheries, hunting grounds and groundwater. Dozens of dead fish were recently found in a creek near the mine and groundwater in the vicinity of the mine will have to be monitored for toxic cyanide for years to come.

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Giant Metal Stockpile in Singapore Sparks Rare Warehouse Battle – by Alfred Cang (Bloomberg News – August 15, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Metal stockpiles are surging in Singapore, and slowing global demand is only part of the reason. Refined zinc and lead have been pouring into Singapore since the middle of last year, making one of the smallest countries in the world a critical vault for companies including Trafigura Group and Glencore Plc.

The combined inventories of the two base metals in the London Metal Exchange’s Singapore-registered warehouses have grown more than tenfold since May 2023 to a record of almost 430,000 tons in recent weeks, according to bourse data.

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Chinalco Is Said to Eye Stake in Biggest Philippine Copper Mine – by Pei Li, Cliff Venzon and Elffie Chew (Bloomberg News – August 16, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Aluminum Corp. of China is considering investing in what is set to be the Philippines’ largest gold and copper mine as part of its efforts to boost its global footprint, according to people familiar with the matter.

The state-run Chinese company known as Chinalco may acquire a stake worth around $2 billion in Indophil Resources Phils. Inc., which owns Sagittarius Mines Inc., the people said, asking not to be identified because discussions are private.

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Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow hints at retirement in 2026 – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – August 13, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. chief executive officer Mark Bristow is raising the possibility that he may retire in 2026. Mr. Bristow took over as CEO in 2019 after Toronto-based Barrick acquired Randgold Resources Ltd., the Africa-focused mining company he founded and ran for about two decades.

Hard-nosed, detail-oriented and outspoken, the South African is one of the most driven executives in the mining industry. At Barrick, he has stickhandled multiple difficult situations, including patching up multiyear mining contract spats with the governments of Tanzania and Papua New Guinea.

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BHP launches Indigenous partnership plan in Canada – by Staff (Mining.com – August 11, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

BHP is taking another step in its commitment to build strong, respectful and mutually beneficial relationships with Indigenous communities with the launch of the Canada Indigenous Partnership Plan (CIPP).

This approach has been central in BHP’s development of the Jansen potash mine in Saskatchewan, where it started building relationships with local Indigenous groups surrounding the site almost a decade before construction began. First production is expected in 2026.

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Chinese mining firm subsidiary disputes Ottawa’s review of Peruvian gold mine deal – by (CP24.com/Canadian Press – August 11, 2024)

https://www.cp24.com/

A subsidiary of a Chinese state-owned mining firm says Canada is wrongly considering a national security review in its agreement to purchase a gold and copper mine in Peru.

In May, Vancouver-based Pan American Silver Corp. announced an agreement worth almost US$300 million to sell its stake in Peru’s La Arena gold mine to Jinteng (Singapore) Mining, a subsidiary of China’s Zijin Mining Group. Pan American said then that the agreement was “subject to customary conditions and receipt of regulatory approvals.”

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Ottawa’s restrictions on foreign investment put Canada’s mining sector at risk – by Loui Anastasopoulos (Globe and Mail – August 8, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Loui Anastasopoulos is chief executive of the Toronto Stock Exchange and global head of capital formation of TMX Group.

It’s an unfortunate truth: Canada is facing economic challenges, including weak growth and productivity, stemming from declining investment in our key industries. The investment shortfall is particularly acute in the mining sector, where Canada’s proud and prominent legacy of global leadership is under serious threat.

In addition to stifling macroeconomic factors and high interest rates, sudden shifts in government policy have created uncertainty around capital raising for mining companies. And the most recent federal policy directive on foreign investment into Canada’s critical mineral companies has the potential to be the most harmful yet.

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It’s past time for the Trudeau government to follow through on its promise to stop exporting this polluting energy source – by Jennifer Cole (Toronto Star – August 10, 2024)

https://www.thestar.com/

Every summer wildfires devastate communities. Last summer it was Kelowna, B.C., this year it’s Jasper., Alta. And yet, Canada still exports coal, a fossil fuel contributing to climate change and wildfires.

According to researchers, the ferocity and frequency of wildfires are exacerbated by the effects of human-caused climate change and the burning of the above-mentioned fossil fuels.

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Time for the climate insanity to stop – by Conrad Black (National Post – August 10, 2024)

https://nationalpost.com/

We have been racing to destroy our standard of living to avert a crisis that never materialized

We must by now be getting reasonably close the point where there is a consensus for re-examining the issue of climate change and related subjects.

For decades, those of us who had our doubts were effectively shut down by the endless deafening repetition, as if from the massed choir of an operatic catechism school, of the alleged truism: “98 per cent of scientists agree …” (that the world is coming to an end in a few years if we don’t abolish the combustion engine).

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China Drives African Lithium Surge to Lock in Key Battery Metal – by William Clowes (Bloomberg News – August 12, 2024

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Chinese miners and refiners are driving a surge in African lithium output, shrugging off concerns over a glut to lock in future supplies of the critical battery metal.

The continent is projected to account for almost 11% of global supply this year, compared with close to zero at the start of the decade, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights. That’s projected to increase to more than 14% by 2028.

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Paladin excited to enter the ‘Pilbara of uranium’ – by Mariaan Webb (MiningWeekly – August 7, 2024)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Australia-headquartered uranium miner Paladin Energy is set on transforming itself from a single-asset entity into a “serious global producer with scale and upside potential”, said COO Paul Hemburrow.

Speaking at the Diggers and Dealers forum, in Kalgoorlie, this week, he expressed enthusiasm about the proposed acquisition of Fission Uranium, a deal valued at C$1.14-billion.

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A commodity rout is brewing, and Canada will be at the centre of any fallout – by Tim Kiladze (Globe and Mail – August 8, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A broad basket of commodity prices has been tumbling for months, fuelled by concerns about slower growth in the world’s two largest economies, though so far, the pain has been overshadowed by fears about the equity sector sell-off.

Should the commodity rout drag on, Canadians will have to pay attention, because the country’s resource-heavy stock market and economy will be at the centre of any fallout. Slumping commodity prices will also dampen the prospects for merger activity, which only recently came back to life.

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Status of the critical strategic minerals industry in Alberta – by Diane L.M. Cook (Canadian Mining Journal – August 6, 2024)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Critical strategic minerals are the building blocks for a green and digital economy. The six critical minerals that hold the most significant potential for Canadian economic growth are lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper, and rare earth elements. These minerals are used in the production of many products including electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines.

The Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy (CCMS) aims to help Canada in the global energy transformation by making Canada a clean energy and technology supplier of choice in a net-zero world. The CCMS is backed by $3.8 billion of funding announced in the federal government’s Budget 2022 and includes a 30% critical mineral exploration tax credit for targeted critical minerals.

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