According to a new report by S&P Global, the United States has the second-longest lead times in the world for developing a new mine.
Mines in the US go from discovery to production in an average of 29 years, longer than in any other country except Zambia (34 years), the consultancy says.
(Bloomberg) — Anglo American Plc is looking at more diamond production cuts as the industry continues to struggle, complicating its plan to sell the De Beers unit as part of a radical overhaul of its business.
Anglo announced the restructuring earlier this year as part of a successful rebuttal of a US$49 billion approach from BHP Group, the world’s the biggest miner. That plan centered around exiting diamond mining by spinning off or selling its De Beers unit, separating platinum and selling its coal mines.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Australia’s Paladin Energy Ltd.is confident its proposed acquisition of Canada’s Fission Uranium Corp. will clear a national security probe, as Ottawa makes enquiries about CGN Mining Co. Ltd., a China-based state-owned deal stakeholder.
Perth-based Paladin last month said it had reached a friendly agreement to buy Kelowna, B.C.-based Fission in an all-stock transaction worth $1.14-billion. Fission is developing the Patterson Lake South (PLS) uranium project in the Athabasca Basin region of Saskatchewan and hopes it will be in production by the end of the decade.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/
Vale has partnered with First Nations, Steelworkers and an operator to start an open-pit mine at old site
What’s old is new. Vale Base Metals announced Wednesday it will start operations at an open-pit mine at the site of the old Stobie Mine in Greater Sudbury.
The $205 million project will be a partnership between Vale, Thiess Mining, United Steel Workers and local First Nations. It’s expected to produce 300,000 tonnes of ore, primarily nickel and copper, by the end of 2024. The previous Stobie Mine operated underground from 1914 to 2017, though it also began as an open pit mine in 1890.
Gold steadied after setting another record on Wednesday as traders upped their bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts while weighing the uncertain political outlook in the US. Spot gold climbed to an all-time high of $2,483.73 an ounce before paring gains. By 12:45 p.m. ET, it had retreated to $2,455.71 an ounce. US gold futures are also down slightly at $2,460.70 per ounce.
Gold rallied as much as 1.9% on Tuesday to surpass a record high set in May as traders piled into bets for more aggressive rate cuts from the Fed amid increasing signs that inflation is cooling toward the central bank’s target.
(Bloomberg) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz plans to visit Serbia this week to secure supplies of lithium that are critical for the nation’s energy transition and auto industry, according to people familiar with the matter.
Scholz probably will be in Belgrade on Friday to sign an agreement with Serbia President Aleksandar Vucic and cabinet ministers, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details aren’t final.
“We don’t want to have a gigantic open pit mine in the middle of all those lakes and all those people living around them.”
Five Quebec municipalities located by a proposed site for a graphite mine with ties to the Pentagon have created an alliance to accelerate public consultations on the project and pressure the provincial government to listen to what locals have to say.
When Lomiko Metals Inc., a mining company based in Surrey, B.C., announced plans for a mine in the Laurentians to produce graphite — one of the world’s most sought after critical minerals needed for manufacturing electric vehicle batteries — some residents living nearby began protesting against the project, fearing the potential harm to the environment.
https://www.northernminer.com/
A landslide that’s stopped production at Victoria Gold’s (TSXV: VGCX) Eagle mine in the Yukon may have been inevitable due to the company’s weak approach to safety protocols, current and former employees say.
Individuals who approached The Northern Miner to share their experiences of working at Eagle, told of neglected incidents and repairs, attempts to subvert injury reports and widespread drug and alcohol use in a supposedly dry camp. They asked not to be named to avoid career repercussions.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s proposed acquisition of Stelco Holdings Inc. is likely to get the nod from Ottawa, industry experts say. The Cleveland-based steel company on Monday announced it had reached a friendly deal to acquire Canadian steel maker Stelco for $3.85-billion.
Originally called the Steel Company of Canada, Stelco is the biggest steel maker in the country. Founded in 1910, it operates the Lake Erie Works steel plant and Hamilton Works, both in Ontario. Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne will scrutinize the deal to make sure there are no national security concerns and that it makes economic sense for Canada under a net benefit test.
(Bloomberg) — Turkey’s foreign, defense and energy ministers visited Niger on Wednesday to secure access to the West African nation’s rich uranium deposits.
The delegation, which is led by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and includes top spy chief Ibrahim Kalin, wants to tap Nigerien supplies of the fissile mineral to fuel Turkey’s nascent nuclear-power industry, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified as they’re not authorized to speak to the media.
Victoria Gold recently indicated it’s facing financial uncertainty
Some environmental advocacy groups are speculating the company behind the Eagle Gold Mine – site of a cyanide spill in Yukon last month – may soon go bankrupt. Mine owner Victoria Gold released a statement on July 12 indicating it is facing uncertainty regarding the future of the mine.
“There can be no assurance that the Company will receive authorizations necessary to restart production,” it said, “or that the Company will have the financial resources necessary to repair damage to equipment and facilities or remediate impacts caused by the incident or restart production.”
With tough protectionist trade talk coming from U.S. presidential candidates, Premier Doug Ford says it’s time to change the message to “buy North America.”
HALIFAX — With tough protectionist trade talk coming from U.S. presidential candidates, Premier Doug Ford says it’s time to change the message to “buy North America.”
“We are facing a lot of challenges in the country, as a new president will be elected (this November) — that was a big conversation,” Ford said on Tuesday after emerging from a day of discussions among all 13 provincial and territorial leaders at the annual Council of the Federation meeting.
An influx of cheap nickel supply from Indonesia has all but killed off Western Australia’s long-running nickel sector. Nickel prices halved in 2023, dipping below $16,000 per tonne in December as surpluses widened. According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, Indonesia accounted for 49% of nickel production in 2023, up from less than 5% just eight years ago.
Nickel sector decimated
The impact on Australia’s nickel industry has been dramatic. ASX 200 producer IGO paid A$1.1 billion ($744 million) for nickel miner Western Areas in mid-2022. Just 18 months later, the entire value of the acquisition had been written off and the Cosmos development project was suspended, resulting in the loss of 400 jobs.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. chief executive officer Lourenco Goncalves signalled he is confident of obtaining Canadian government approval to buy Canadian steel maker Stelco Holdings Inc. a little more than a week after Ottawa tightened its foreign takeover rules.
The Cleveland-based steel giant announced its intentions on Monday to buy Hamilton-based Stelco. Cleveland-Cliffs is offering $60 a share and 0.454 of its stock for each Stelco share. The buyout is worth $70 a share, an 89-per-cent premium on Stelco’s $36.97 close on Friday and puts an enterprise value on the company of $3.4-billion.
About half of the ore mined by the Canadian nuclear fuel giant is now extracted using automation and AI
Many countries around the world are looking to build out their capacity for nuclear power as they try to reduce their carbon emissions, which has created an increased demand for uranium. But the market for uranium has also been undergoing some major changes due to sanctions on Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine. There have been quite a few changes on the operations front, too.
For example, Saskatoon-based uranium miner Cameco Corp. is undergoing a major evolution in the way it extracts the heavy metal. Lloyd Rowson, vice-president of technical services, said the best example of this change can be seen at the Cigar Lake mine, which began operating in 2014.
