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OPINION: Ontario should be thanking Ford for pivoting away from electric vehicles – by Gus Carlson (Globe and Mail – July 27, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Gus Carlson is a U.S.-based columnist for The Globe and Mail.

Ford Motor Co.’s decision to produce gas-powered trucks at its Oakville, Ont., assembly plant and push off its electric-vehicle plans is yet another reminder that free-market realities rooted in customer demand win over ideology and government mandates every time.

Ford’s move, announced last week, reflects continued hesitance among car buyers about a wholesale shift to an all-electric future that has slowed EV sales globally and put automakers’ investments in the emerging technology at risk. Ford, for example, has said it lost US$4.7-billion on EVs in 2023, and expects to lose US$5.5-billion this year.

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Teck draws M&A attention from big miners in rush for copper – by Jacob Lorinc, Mariana Durao, Dinesh Nair and Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – July 26, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The world’s biggest miners are back in serious dealmaking mode and Teck Resources Ltd. is taking center stage.

The Canadian miner, which has exited its coal business with a sale this month to Glencore Plc, is drawing attention from across the industry because of its attractive copper assets, as the biggest names position for the next wave of activity in the wake of BHP Group’s failed bid for Anglo American Plc.

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Yukon partially takes over Victoria Gold mine cyanide spill cleanup after company fails to meet orders – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – July 28, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Yukon government has taken over some of the environmental-mitigation efforts stemming from a major gold-processing plant failure in the territory because operator Victoria Gold Corp. failed to meet a key government directive.

Four million tonnes of cyanide-laced rocks collapsed on June 24 at an outdoor heap-leach facility at the Eagle gold mine in central Yukon operated by Victoria Gold. Two million tonnes of material breached the company’s containment zone and elevated levels of cyanide were later found in a water body adjacent to the mine.

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Deep-sea miner TMC plans to be ready to apply for licence – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 24, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Canada’s The Metals Company (NASDAQ: TMC) plans to be ready to apply for a licence to start mining the seabed before the end of this year, with production expected to start at the end of the first quarter of 2026.

TMC, a deep-sea mining pioneer, has long said it would submit its application after the United Nations’ International Seabed Authority (ISA) current meeting, which ends on July 26. Gathered in Kingston, Jamaica, the 36-member ISA council is negotiating the latest draft of the anticipated seabed mining rules.

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First Quantum reaches agreement with major Chinese shareholder Jiangxi Copper to curb its power – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – July 24, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada’s First Quantum Minerals Ltd. has reached an agreement with Jiangxi Copper Co. Ltd. that significantly curbs the power of its major China-based investor and makes Jiangxi Copper far less likely to act as a mergers and acquisitions kingmaker.

The company has an 18.5-per-cent stake in First Quantum. Its investment predates restrictions introduced by Canada’s federal government that severely limit investment into Canadian critical minerals companies by entities tied to the Chinese state. Jiangxi Copper is the largest copper smelting company in the world and is part-owned by China’s Jiangxi province.

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From moonscapes to Edens: What to do with your hole in the ground when the mining’s done – by Amanda Stutt (Northern Miner – July 22, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Telling the stories of reinvented coal mining regions, regenerated communities and rebuilt ecosystems, a new book published this month – 102 Things to Do with a Hole in the Ground – showcases remarkable post-mining reclamation projects around the world.

The book is a sequel to the original 101 Things to Do with a Hole in the Ground, published in 2009 by the Eden Project — a UK-based example of successful mine site transformation. The Eden Project successfully turned the site of former clay mines in Cornwall, UK, into a thriving botanical garden housed by geodesic domes designed by Grimshaw Architects.

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Documents show ‘disastrous’ cyanide leaks continue at Eagle mine in Yukon – by Caitrin Pilkington (CBC News North – July 24, 2024)

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

Victoria Gold excavated a pit to hold contaminated solution — but failed to line it

Yukon government inspection reports released to the public this week reveal the scale of what transpired at the Eagle mine site near Mayo — and what’s being done by Victoria Gold to address it. An inspection report dated July 20 describes a series of failures by Victoria Gold to adequately address cyanide solution leaks.

The company’s post-failure water treatment plan “does not sufficiently describe” plans to store and treat daily leaks of 15,000 to 20,000 cubic metres of toxic solution — enough liquid to fill up to eight Olympic swimming pools.

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High Returns Lure Wealthy Investors to Fund Coal as Banks Exit – by Sharon Klyne (Bloomberg News – July 21, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Wealthy Australians, in search of attractive investment returns, are emerging as an important pool of capital for financing coal projects shunned by banks due to environmental, social and governance concerns.

Income Asset Management Group Ltd. is one fund manager targeting the well-off in Australia to provide private loans to coal and other mining companies, offering investment returns of about of 12% to 13% per year.

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Canadian government intervention is harming the mining sector – by Kenneth Kaczkowski and Marc Levy (Globe and Mail – July 23, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Kenneth Kaczkowski is a mergers-and-acquisitions (M&A) professional based in Munich, Germany. He has worked on global transactions in excess of $20-billion. Marc Levy has founded and sold several resource sector companies, with more than $950-million of public company exits; notably he sold Norsemont Mining to Hudbay Minerals Inc. for $520-million in 2011.

Commodity markets have been heating up over the past 12 months, prompting major mining companies to consider turning on their M&A engines. The market has seen some mega-deal announcements including BHP’s unsuccessful offer to take over Anglo-American, Newmont taking over Newcrest and Glencore acquiring Teck’s coal assets, which just gained approval from the Canadian government.

But the tail winds of the Glencore takeover of Teck’s coal assets have left a bitter taste in the market, owing to the Canadian government’s applying new rules limiting foreign takeovers of mining companies.

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Sale of B.C. coal mines to Glencore was bad deal for Canada: report – by Nelson Bennett (Business In Vancouver – July 22, 2024)

https://www.biv.com/

MiningWatch report question’s Swiss mining giant’s track record

Canadian and British mining watchdogs are criticizing the Trudeau government’s approval of the sale of B.C. steel-making coal mines to Glencore Plc, saying it’s a bad deal for Canada.

On July 4, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, François-Philippe Champagne, approved the sale of 77 per cent of the B.C. metallurgical coal mines (Elk Valley Resources) owned by Teck Resources in the southeastern Kootenays to Glencore plc for $9.5 billion. The sale closed July 11.

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Wall Street is balanced and cautious on gold next week, Main Street remains optimistic about price gains – by Ernest Hoffman (Kitco News – July 19, 2024)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Precious metals traders rode a roller coaster of optimism and greed higher this week, as markets cemented expectations for a rate cut from the Federal Reserve at their September meeting. But gold prices may have pushed too high too quickly, with the ensuing pullback dragging the yellow metal right back to where it started.

Spot gold opened the week trading at $2,411.65 before moving down to test support near $2,400 per ounce shortly after 3:00 am early Monday morning. This level of support held, and it started the precious metal’s upward climb.

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Boyd, Roosen, Quartermain: It takes grit, invention, luck to make the big time – by Henry Lazenby (Northern Miner – July 17, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Perseverance, a focus on geology and financial discipline and some good breaks are what’s needed to make a mining titan, some of the industry’s leaders told a conference put on by former Sprott CEO Rick Rule.

Industry legends including Canadian mining luminary Robert Quartermain, Agnico Eagle Mines  chair Sean Boyd, Osisko Development  chair and CEO Sean Roosen, and Vizsla Copper CEO Craig Parry discussed the backstories behind their multibillion-dollar successes.

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Chile copper, lithium mines rattled by 7.4-magnitude quake – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 19, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit northern Chile on Thursday night, 45 km outside San Pedro de Atacama, where the majority of the country’s vast copper and lithium mines are located.

The main quake hit at 9:50 p.m. local time, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and has been followed by at least five aftershocks ranging from 4.2 to 5 magnitude. The seismic activity shook homes and led to power outages, but there have been no immediate reports of injuries or major damage.

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Yukon contemplating seizing control of Eagle mine site as Victoria Gold runs low on storage for contaminated water – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – July 19, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Yukon government is contemplating seizing control of Victoria Gold Corp.’s Eagle mine site, as doubts grow about the company’s ability to prevent further environmental damage after a catastrophic heap-leach failure last month.

Four million tonnes of cyanide-laced rocks collapsed June 24 at an outdoor heap-leach processing facility at the gold mine in central Yukon. Two million tonnes of material breached the company’s containment zone and elevated levels of cyanide were later found in a water body adjacent to the mine.

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New top soldier warns Canada needs to be ready for ‘the threats that are coming’ (Toronto Star – July 19, 2024)

https://www.thestar.com/

Gen. Jennie Carignan said the military must be ready to face potential threats to Canadian territory within the next five years.

OTTAWA—The shadow of potential war — and the need to avoid it — was invoked early and often at Thursday’s change-of-command ceremony, where Gen. Jennie Carignan became the first woman to take command of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Addressing reporters at the Canadian War Museum, in a large display room packed with forest-green tanks and other war machines, Carignan said the military must be ready to face potential threats to Canadian territory within the next five years.

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