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Canadian Media Resource Articles

Unable to effectively operate its lone existing nuclear reactor, New Brunswick is betting on advanced options – by Matthew McClearn (Globe and Mail – July 2, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Mike Holland was among Canada’s leading evangelists for small modular nuclear reactors. During his tenure as New Brunswick’s energy minister, from 2018 to when he stepped down on June 20, he vigorously supported plans by the province’s Crown utility, NB Power, to construct two different small reactor designs from startup companies: U.S.-based ARC Clean Technology and Britain’s Moltex Energy.

This represents Canada’s most ambitious – and perhaps riskiest – foray into bleeding-edge nuclear technology. In an interview shortly before he resigned to pursue an opportunity in the private sector, Mr. Holland recalled how SMRs arrived on his agenda soon after he assumed office.

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Copper’s unicorns – by Frik Els (Mining.com – July 1, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Tech venture capitalists invest in startups and get to call them unicorns. Startups like Juicero, famous for $700 a pop “smart” chopped fruit squeezers and being one of Silicon Valley’s dumbest moments, Wag! (oh? you have a dog walking app that sends updates on the frequency and consistency of pet number 2s? – here’s $300 million) and In-Real-Life or IRL, a chat app made for bot to bot communication.

The official definition of a unicorn is a startup with a $1 billion valuation while still a private company. There are more than 1,500 unicorns globally and a variety of investment products that track them. Your humble correspondent felt that the mining industry deserves a similar category of company.

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Argentina Is About to Unleash a Wave of Lithium in a Global Glut – by Jonathan Gilbert and James Attwood (Bloomberg News – June 28, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — For all the money that’s poured into Argentina’s giant lithium deposits, the country has seen just one new mine come on stream in almost a decade. That’s about to change.

Four new projects will finally begin to churn out lithium in the weeks and months ahead, according to a yet-to-be released federal government time-line seen by Bloomberg News. That will almost double production capacity in Argentina, whose growth potential has long lured the attention of battery makers around the world.

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Canada failing to protect human rights activists from mining companies operating overseas: UN watchdog – by Tavia Grant (Globe and Mail – July 2, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The federal government’s failure to protect human-rights advocates who raise concerns over the activity of Canadian corporations abroad is tarnishing the country’s global reputation, a United Nations official said in an interview.

Mary Lawlor, the UN special rapporteur on human-rights defenders, said Canada should strengthen legislation and bolster oversight of extractive firms operating abroad, some of which she says are causing harms to the environment and human rights advocates. (As a special rapporteur, Ms. Lawlor writes formal letters to governments, and companies, in which she raises concerns about situations where advocates are at risk).

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Get ready for more disputes about what’s ‘mine’ and theirs – by Alisha Hiyate (Northern Miner – July 1, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Eleven years ago, The Northern Miner ran a story titled “How Mexico reclaimed its mantle as a top mining nation.” The piece recounted how the nation opened up investment and in 2012, became the No. 1 jurisdiction in Latin America for spending on mineral exploration.

Last year, Mexico was the top jurisdiction in another category: the target of most new requests for arbitrations at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The 10 new claims registered against it in 2023 edged out El Salvador’s nine.

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Anglo Suspends Production at Australian Steelmaking Coal Mine – by Paul-Alain Hunt and Victoria Cavaliere (Bloomberg News – June 30, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — A fire at Anglo American Plc’s biggest metallurgical coal project in Australia halted production, with the miner saying it may take months for it to be extinguished. Anglo, which is seeking to sell the mine as part of a turnaround plan, fell as much as 4%.

A methane explosion on Saturday caused the fire at the Grosvenor underground mine, which accounts for about 30% of the company’s annual production of coking coal in Queensland state, Anglo said in an emailed statement Monday. No one was injured.

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Don’t let politicians misinform you. Learn about Canada’s true history for yourself – by Jonathan Kay (National Post – July 1, 2024)

https://nationalpost.com/

Our nation’s history is not only fascinating — it’s key to reconciliation

The surest way to make me treasure something is to take it away. So it was with Canada Day, whose annual appearance I’d once greeted with scarcely more excitement than the Ontario Civic Holiday and Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week.

Then came 2021, when the high priests of social justice demanded that we cancel Canada’s birthday celebrations, so that we might spend July 1 in morbid contemplation of our original sin. Not being one for rituals of confession and penitence, I instead began to think harder about why I love this country, despite its flaws — even if expressing such sentiments in public was now viewed as hate speech.

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First Nation concerned Victoria Gold, Yukon government playing down impact of Eagle mine rockslide – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – June 29, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Dawna Hope, chief of the Na-Cho Nyak Dun First Nation, is particularly worried about possible contamination of drinking water

The First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun is concerned that Victoria Gold Corp. and the Yukon government are soft-pedalling the impact of a suspected large-scale cyanide spill this week at a gold mine in the territory.

Giant piles of cyanide-laced rocks collapsed on Monday at an outdoors heap leach gold processing facility at the Eagle gold mine in central Yukon, triggering a landslide that likely released the toxic chemical into the environment.

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Gahcho Kué diamond mine surpasses $2 billion spent with NWT and Indigenous businesses – by Marilyn Scales (Canadian Mining Journal – June 26, 2024)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

De Beers Group and Mountain Province Diamonds announced that their joint venture Gahcho Kué diamond mine has surpassed the $2-billion spending threshold with Northwest Territories and Indigenous business.

The milestone represents 61% of the total $3.2 billion spent on the project since 2015 when construction began. Local businesses supply welding, transportation logistics, trucking, passenger and cargo flights, labour, and camp catering.

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‘Cold War 2.0’ just one reason why gold will outperform silver, base metals in H2 2024 – Bloomberg’s McGlone – by Ernest Hoffman (Kitco News – June 25, 2024)

https://kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – The ramping up of “Cold War 2.0” between China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea against the United States and its allies is a big reason why gold will likely outperform the broader metals complex in the second half of 2024, but there are plenty of other indicators which also support this view, according to Mike McGlone, Senior Commodity Strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence.

“That copper made a new high in 1H and crude oil didn’t may show the tilt of the metal outperforming the fossil fuel in the longer term,” McGlone wrote in his Midyear Metals Outlook on Tuesday. “Yet gold appears to have the upper hand vs. most commodities in 2H.

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Reclaiming the future: Innovative paths for post-mining prosperity – by Chih-Ting Lo (Canadian Mining Journal – June 26, 2024)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

The mining and metals sector ranked lowest in the 2021 Globe-Scan report of attitudes toward all major sectors in 31 countries. Some U.K. universities have banned mining companies from recruiting on campus, and the number of geology and mining engineering graduates continues to slide.

Much of the issue stems from some newsworthy poor historical performance, including the sector’s impact on land, air, water, and biodiversity, as well as a perceived inability to prepare communities to thrive after operations close.

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Japan finds over 200 million tonnes of battery metals in seabed – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – June 25, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Japanese researchers have found more than 200 million tonnes of manganese nodules rich in battery metals in the Pacific Ocean, within the country’s exclusive economic zone. The team of experts from the University of Tokyo and the Nippon Foundation said the fist-sized nodules cover an extensive area of the seabed near Minamitorishima, a remote Tokyo Island.

These metals-rich rocks are located at depths of about 5,500 metres and are thought to be very similar to the polymetallic nodules found in the Clarion-Clipperton zone in the Pacific, as they hold cobalt, nickel and copper in addition to manganese.

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Failure of Victoria Gold processing plant in Yukon spurred by rock collapse inside gold mine – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – June 27, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

An internal rock collapse at a gold mine in the Yukon was a major factor in the collapse of a gold processing plant operated by Victoria Gold Corp., The Globe and Mail has learned.

Whitehorse-based Victoria Gold on Monday said that its heap leach pad had failed at its Eagle gold mine, and that part of the infrastructure had breached the containment region, raising the possibility of environmental damage from cyanide leaking into the environment.

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The Prospector turns 100: how this workhorse of a canoe helped build Canada – by Joe O’Connor (Financial Post – June 26, 2024)

https://financialpost.com/

A century ago this sturdy, quintessentially Canadian vessel was built to take geologists into the remote north. Today, its descendants are still being paddled by modern-day prospectors in search of that lucky strike

There were clues around the brick bungalow in north Toronto where Deb Scott grew up that hinted at her parents’ adventurous past. Photo albums full of black-and-white images of big lakes, dense northern forests, rocky hills and rushing waters; an old Coleman camping stove tucked away in a basement corner; a pair of heavy, eider-down sleeping bags; wooden crates full of rock samples; and a red, 16-foot Prospector canoe kept in the rafters of the two-car garage.

A heavy, and yet nimble, beast of a canoe, the Prospector — and there is some debate among the experts on this — was introduced to consumers by New Brunswick-based Chestnut Canoe Co. circa 1924, and was so named for its early association with the rock-hunting endeavours of the Geological Survey of Canada.

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Friedland, McEwen back Power Nickel’s “oversubscribed” $15m funding – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – June 24, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Canadian explorer Power Nickel (TSX-V: PNPN) has closed its recent C$20 million ($15m) “oversubscribed” financing round, backed by well-known personalities including billionaire investor Robert Friedland and mining veteran Rob McEwen.

The Toronto-based junior said the funds will be use to expand exploration on its 80%-owned NISK property in Quebec, adding it hopes to take advantage of Canada’s federal tax credit for critical mineral exploration.

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