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Canadian Media Resource Articles

A Must-Do Hike With Bird’s-Eye Views Of the Alberta Town That Was Buried Under Rock – by Britanny Burr (Lethbridge Herald – July 15, 2024)

https://lethbridgeherald.com/

Along the scenic Crowsnest Pass Highway, as you drive through the remnants of what once was Turtle Mountain and the town of Frank, be sure to pull over. Here lies the historic site of Canada’s deadliest rockslide, which tragically buried the town in 1903. Follow along as we take a stroll through history and discover why Turtle Mountain is a hike worthy of your bucket list.

Frank Slide is one of those places where nature’s power and human history intersect phenomenally. Back in 1903, in the wee hours of the morning on April 29th, a massive rockslide roared down Turtle Mountain, burying the town of Frank in the Crowsnest Pass. Imagine over 82 million tonnes of limestone crashing down in just 90 seconds, obliterating everything in its path. It remains one of Canada’s deadliest natural disasters.

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Yukon gov’t orders Victoria Gold to provide plans aimed at treating, monitoring contaminated water – by Julien Greene (CBC News North – July 10, 2024)

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

Government spokesperson says company submitted plans, which aren’t public

The Yukon government has given Victoria Gold marching orders to deal with toxic chemicals in and around its Eagle mine, following last month’s major failure of a heap leach pad at the site.

A new report written by a government inspector states there’s “reasonable grounds” to believe the company has violated laws that govern water use.

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First Nation court action against Ontario could invalidate all mining claims in the province – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – July 12, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A court action launched by Grassy Narrows First Nation against Ontario could invalidate all mining claims in the province, a lawyer representing the Indigenous group said – a scenario that could cause havoc for the industry.

Grassy Narrows on Friday served Ontario with a notice of application asking the Ontario Superior Court to mandate individuals and companies to consult with the First Nation before seeking mining claims. The Globe and Mail earlier in the week reported that the legal action was pending.

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Would Canada allow Rio Tinto to buy Teck? Miners aren’t so sure – by Alisha Hiyate (Northern Miner – July 12, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

The federal government’s attempt to clarify its rules for foreign investment in mining is instead causing more confusion as the industry grapples with changing rules under the Investment Canada Act. But Rio Tinto’s interest in buying Teck Resources, as reported by Sky News, could serve as a test for what the feds will allow as it tries to keep critical minerals available for Canada.

Last week, the federal government formally approved Glencore’s purchase of a 77% stake in Teck’s coal business. At the same time, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne issued a statement saying the government would only greenlight future foreign takeovers of “important Canadian mining companies engaged in significant critical minerals operations… in the most exceptional of circumstances.”

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BHP to Shut Australia Nickel Business as Glut Upends Market – by Paul-Alain Hunt, Thomas Biesheuvel, and Mark Burton (BloombergBNN News – July 11, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — BHP Group Ltd. will close its loss-making nickel business in Australia until at least early 2027, after a global glut of the metal spread havoc through the market.

The company will place its Nickel West business on “care and maintenance” from October due to low prices of the metal used in electric-vehicle batteries, it said in a statement Thursday. It will also halt the development of its West Musgrave nickel mine.

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Rio Tinto mulls potential bid for Teck — report – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 12, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) is said to be studying potential takeover bids for smaller rivals, including Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.A, TECK.B) (NYSE: TECK), Canada’s largest diversified miner, which successfully fended off Glencore’s (LON: GLEN) $23 billion attempt to buy the company last year.

The world’s second largest mining company has held talks with bankers over a potential offer for the Canadian target, but is not immediately planning to launch a bid, Sky News reports citing unnamed sources.

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Can Frank Callaghan strike gold twice in B.C.’s Cariboo? – by Nelson Bennett (Business In Vancouver – July 8, 2024)

https://www.biv.com/

The Barkerville prospector-promoter is again staking a claim in a region he helped develop

Frank Callaghan, the colourful and effusive prospector-promoter who assembled B.C.’s Barkerville Gold mine district, is back.

Several years after his company, Barkerville Gold, was acquired by Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. (TSX,NYSE:OR) for $338 million, Callaghan has come out of retirement to promote a new gold project 70 kilometres north of Osisko’s Cariboo Gold mine.

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World would need 55 per cent more copper mines to meet EV transition goals: study – by Theresa Balocating (National Post – July 12, 2024)

https://nationalpost.com/

‘I think there’s a disconnect between, what the intentions are to meet the global warming challenges and the reality of the materials that are going to be required’

The transition to greener, more sustainable transportation is impracticable as copper mine production cannot keep up with the rising global demand for electric vehicles, according to a new study.

“I think there’s a disconnect between, what the intentions are to meet the global warming challenges and the reality of the materials that are going to be required,” said Dr. Lawrence Cathles, an earth and atmospheric sciences professor at Cornell University.

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OPINION: To stop the violence in Congo, we need to end the black market for the minerals in our phones – by Robert Rotberg (Globe and Mail – July 12, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Robert Rotberg is the founding director of the Harvard Kennedy School’s program on intrastate conflict, a former senior fellow at CIGI and president emeritus of the World Peace Foundation.

Africa has more than its fair share of horrendous humanitarian emergencies. Today, half of Sudan’s 47 million people are experiencing severe hunger; 755,000 face starvation. Somalis and northern Ethiopians are also food-short, as are many millions of Malawians, Zambians and Zimbabweans. However, after Sudan, the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the neediest region. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), a staggering 23.4 million Congolese suffer from severe hunger.

The peoples of the three eastern Congolese provinces of South Kivu, North Kivu and Ituri are especially endangered. In North Kivu alone, the WFP says that 720,000 people have lost their homes and livelihoods due to regional violence. It estimates that nearly 3 million children in the region are acutely malnourished. Cholera is rife, too, and epidemics of Ebola recur.

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No one in Washington believes Trudeau’s empty NATO promises anymore – by John Ivison (National Post – July 12, 2024)

https://nationalpost.com/

Trudeau has lost his power to seduce and Canada’s standing has been lost, as allies far poorer than this country live up to their promises

Justin Trudeau is so schooled in the art of denial that he now tries to deflect inescapable truths. In Washington Thursday, at the conclusion of the NATO summit there, the prime minister unveiled what his defence minister, Bill Blair, called a “credible, verifiable path to two per cent” spending of gross domestic product on defence by 2032.

Let’s leave aside the fact that the plan is neither credible nor verifiable. Trudeau was asked if he was worried that the political problems that have dogged him this week will now hang over this country for the next eight years.

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Yukon minister says cyanide found in creek near mine spill, after firm issues denial – by Ashley Joannou, (Bloomberg/Canadian Press – July 5, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Elevated levels of cyanide have been detected in a waterway after an equipment failure and slide of ore at Victoria Gold’s Eagle Mine last week, the Yukon’s minister of energy, mines and resources said.

A government expert said at the same briefing on Thursday that 300 million litres of cyanide solution had escaped containment in the June 24 incident and there was “significant” risk of a further slide at the mine.

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High suicide rate exists among miners, research indicates – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – July 8, 2024)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Local study revealed one in 10 had considered taking their own lives, and a similar percentage had PTSD

A recent report from the U.S. that points to a high suicide rate among miners comes as sobering but not surprising news to folks locally who have done some of their own research on mental-health issues within the industry.

“It’s not a shock but it continues to sadden me that we are seeing those kind of numbers,” said Michel Lariviere, a Laurentian Unversity professor who co-authored a study through the Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health on levels of stress, depression and suicidal tendency among workers in this field. “And in a community that is still very much a mining community, it reflects on collective wellbeing for an entire city.”

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Under pressure, Justin Trudeau announces when Canada expects to hit military spending commitments to NATO – by Alex Ballingall (Toronto Star – July 12, 2024)

https://www.thestar.com/

“Mike Johnson, the Republican Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said this week that it is “shameful” for Canada to keep riding his country’s military coattails.”

WASHINGTON — After enduring criticism over Canada’s level of defence spending during this week’s NATO summit, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dismissed the alliance’s key metric for military contributions — which several allies have touted as a vital reflection of each country’s agreed fair share — as little more than a “crass mathematical calculation.”

In a heated justification of Canada’s defence policies, Trudeau pushed back against the suggestion that the amount spent on military expenses by his government has been a “political problem” at the summit. He said Canada has “stepped up massively” and committed more than $175 billion to defence — much of it over the next two decades — since he took office in 2015, and expressed skepticism in the relevance of the NATO benchmark that asks all members to spend at least two per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defence.

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Canada’s gold exports to China rise, shining through the trade tensions – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – July 9, 2024)

https://financialpost.com/

Precious metals now represent Ontario’s largest export to the country

China’s demand for gold has risen in the past few years, helping to usher in record-breaking prices and a growing trade relationship with Canada for the shiny metal.

In the past, interest rates in the United States and flows into or out of gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were used by many analysts as a quick way to predict the direction of the gold price. In recent years, though, U.S. interest rates rose and gold-backed ETF holdings contracted, which should have softened gold prices, but the price of bullion reached all-time highs, currently at US$2,371 per ounce.

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Canadian critical mineral shares fall after tighter M&A criteria – by Divya Rajagopal (Reuters – July 8, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

TORONTO, July 8 (Reuters) – Shares of Canadian companies that mine critical minerals such as copper and uranium fell on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX)on Monday as investors assessed the potential impact of Canada’s announcement last week that it would restrict large mergers and acquisitions in the sector.

Last Thursday, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne cleared London-listed Glencore’s takeover of the coal unit of Teck Resources under strict conditions after taking into account the “net benefit” that the deal would carry for Canadians.

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