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Canadian Media Resource Articles

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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Canada hits surprise trade surplus on energy, gold exports – by Laura Dhillon Kane (Bloomberg News – August 6, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Canada unexpectedly recorded a $638 million trade surplus in June as an expanded crude oil pipeline and surging global demand for gold drove exports higher.

Economists in a Bloomberg survey had expected the country to record a trade deficit for the fourth month in a row, with a median estimate of $2.04 billion. Statistics Canada noted in Tuesday’s release the size of the surplus was “close to the typical bounds of monthly revisions,” having revised the previous month’s trade balance upward by about $320 million.

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Gold’s safe-haven appeal at its highest since 1971 as economic storm brews – by Jordan Finneseth (Kitco News – August 6, 2024)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Gold has a long and storied history as a reliable store of wealth during times of economic strife, and according to an analysis of the yellow metal’s largest price runs over the past 50 years, “The market now finds itself in a longer-lasting gold run than any since the U.S. fully abandoned the gold standard in August 1971.”

“Gold possesses several critical qualities that have solidified its reputation as a wise hedge against instability,” said Brad Chastain, director of education at U.S. Money Reserve. “Gold’s conductivity, corrosion resistance, and malleability give it intrinsic value, particularly in electronics.

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Glencore scraps plans to ditch coal on investors pressure – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – August 7, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Glencore (LON: GLEN) scrapped on Wednesday plans to separate its coal division, which it had announced following its acquisition of assets from Teck Resources last year (TSX: TECK.A, TECK.B)(NYSE: TECK), as shareholders opposed the move.

The Swiss miner and commodities trader said in November it would merge Teck’s steelmaking coal business with its own coal assets, after which it would demerge the combined unit.

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Confusion and consternation on critical minerals – by Alisha Hiyate (Northern Miner – August 5, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

What started out as optimism two years ago when the federal government turned its eye to critical minerals, introducing a strategy, incentives and funding, and pledging faster permitting for mines, has turned into confusion and consternation.

In a classic case of ‘be careful what you wish for,’ the industry fears the government’s new attentions could actually end up hurting the sector.

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Soaring Prices Have Australian Gold Bugs Expecting M&A Splurge – by Sybilla Gross (Bloomberg News – Ausgust 6, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Australia’s gold industry — buoyed by the precious metal’s record—setting run this year — is anticipating a wave of deal-making, with smaller miners being targeted as exploration lags.

The potential for a flurry of mergers and acquisitions in the world’s biggest gold producer after China and Russia has been one of the major talking points at the three-day Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum in the dusty Western Australian mining town of Kalgoorlie.

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‘We’re not out of the woods yet’: Victoria Gold CEO speaks publicly for 1st time since heap leach failure (CBC News North – July 30, 2024)

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

Company has no intention of leaving the site, says John McConnell

The president and CEO of Victoria Gold says there’s still a lot of work to do before the heap leach failure at the company’s Eagle mine site near Mayo, Yukon, is contained — but the company has no intention of leaving the site.

Speaking publicly Tuesday — the first time he has done so since the heap leach pad went down on June 24 — John McConnell said he believes there is no longer the potential for major environmental impacts from the failure, which is believed to have released up to 300,000 cubic metres of toxic sodium cyanide solution.

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Gold, silver down on recession fears, but well off daily lows – by Jim Wyckoff (August 5, 2024)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Gold and silver prices are solidly lower in midday U.S. trading Monday, but up from their session lows on some bargain hunting and safe-haven demand. Gold hit a two-week low overnight and silver a three-month low.

Some recent downbeat U.S. economic data has prompted worries about a U.S. and/or global recession and has the world marketplace on a knife’s edge. December gold was last down $21.60 at $2,448.30. September silver was down $0.972 at $27.42.

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Gold price to surpass $2,500, silver to outperform in second quarter 2025 – WisdomTree – by Heils Chritensen (Kitco News – August 1, 2024)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Gold prices continue to establish new all-time highs, pushing above $2,500 an ounce late Wednesday, but some analysts say the metal is fully priced in over the medium term.

Growing expectations that the Federal Reserve is preparing to cut interest rates in September have provided the precious metal with new momentum. While prices remain in an upward trend, one investment firm is warning investors that markets will be volatile.

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BHP, Lundin grab Filo in $3bn South American copper deal – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 30, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Mining giant BHP (ASX, NYSE: BHP) and Canada’s Lundin Mining (TSX: LUN) have teamed up to acquire South America-focused Filo Corp. (TSX: FIL), in a $3 billion (C$4.1bn) deal that hands them key copper assets in Chile and Argentina.

BHP and Lundin are forming a 50/50 joint venture that will have full ownership of the Filo del Sol prospect, which is located near the copper-rich Atacama Desert, straddling the border between Argentina and Chile. The partners will also own the large-scale Josemaría copper-gold-silver project, in the San Juan Province of Argentina, about 9 km east of the border with Chile.

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The Future of Deep Sea Mining Hinges on a Contentious Election – by Todd Woody (Bloomberg News – July 29, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The Pacific island nation of Kiribati is tiny, with just 120,000 residents scattered across 32 tropical atolls, but it’s playing an outsize role in an election that will determine whether companies can begin strip-mining the world’s oceans for critical metals.

Leticia Carvalho, a Brazilian ocean scientist, says Kiribati’s ambassador tried to bribe her to drop out of the race to run the International Seabed Authority that’s responsible for both the exploitation and conservation of more than half the ocean floor.

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Canadian miner moves to UAE as Ottawa raises bar for foreign investment – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – July 30, 2024)

https://financialpost.com/

‘The equity markets in Canada are tough at the moment,’ says CEO of Falcon Energy Materials

A Canadian graphite miner has moved its headquarters outside the country to attract new investment as the federal government raises the bar for certain foreign companies to buy into Canada’s critical minerals sector.

Falcon Energy Materials PLC — formerly known as SRG Mining Inc. — completed its move to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in early July, but it will continue to be listed on the TSX Venture Exchange.

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Glencore’s coal takeover draws ire of MPs – by Natasha Bulowski (National Observer – July 29, 2024)

https://www.nationalobserver.com/

A Swiss-based mining company with a sketchy foreign business record that won approval to take over Teck Resources’ B.C. coal mines has MPs from multiple parties and environmental groups up in arms.

François-Philippe Champagne, federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, approved mining giant Glencore’s $12.3-billion takeover of Teck Resources’ coal mines — called Elk Valley Resources — on July 4.

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Crown made a ‘mockery’ of 2 treaties with First Nations for 150 years, Supreme Court rules – by Peter Zimonjic (CBC News Politics Ontario – July 26, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/

Unanimous decision says Crown violated revenue-sharing agreements, but does not award settlement

For the past 150 years, the governments of Ontario and Canada have made a “mockery” of their treaty obligations to the Anishinaabe of the upper Great Lakes, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday.

In a unanimous decision, the top court said the ongoing failure to increase the annual per-head resource extraction revenues since 1875 for the residents of two First Nations groups has undermined the honour of the Crown.

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