Saskatchewan has granted initial approval for the province’s first lithium brine project. The project will be run by Arizona Lithium in Saskatchewan’s southeast. Known as the Prairie Lithium Brine Project, the company says a “vast untapped lithium brine resource” is located in the Duperow Formation of Saskatchewan’s Williston Basin.
According to the company, the project will utilize conventional oil and gas drilling methods to access lithium-rich brine more than two kilometres underground.
This article caught my attention last week: ‘Trump to approve land swap for Rio Tinto copper mine opposed by Native Americans.’
The brief: The Trump administration has said it would approve a land swap needed for Rio Tinto and BHP to build one of the world’s largest copper mines, despite concerns from Native Americans that it would destroy a site of religious value.
I get it, who wants a mine in their backyard? This was a key reason Biden stalled the development during his term in office. You can read the whole piece here.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
The Alberta Energy Regulator this week approved applications for coal exploration, drilling and water diversion at a site called Grassy Mountain in the south of the province – a decision some opponents vow to fight.
Thursday’s ruling by the AER is the latest development in a long-running battle over reviving the defunct metallurgical coal mining industry in the Crowsnest Pass, which has pitted neighbours and communities against one another. While approval to reopen an old mine on the site remains a long way off, this decision brings it one step closer.
Beware net-zero activists claiming demand is about to drop
The first notable act of our newly-minted culture minister, Steven Guilbeault, was to recite to media scribes the myth of peak oil. Asked whether pipelines would continue to be a disruptor to Alberta-Ottawa relations, he replied:
“The Canadian energy regulator, as well as the International Energy Agency, are telling us that probably by 2028, 2029, demand for oil will peak globally and it will also peak in Canada.” “So… before we start talking about building an entirely new pipeline, maybe we should maximize the use of existing infrastructure.”
Trump’s EO on undersea minerals has encouraged mining companies, but critics say it will damage the environment
In a vast storage room at a nickel plant in Hachinohe, northern Japan, a group of men in suits and hard hats are squatting on the floor admiring a row of trays. One contains a jet-black, rubble-like ore, which crumbles to dust when handled. In another, there are bright cubes of metal, which they are examining enthusiastically.
These men, traders from commodities powerhouses Mitsubishi Corporation and Glencore PLC, as well as managers from Chinese and Korean metals groups and the Japanese battery producer Panasonic Energy, have been assembled by the Canadian mining group The Metals Company (TMC).
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/
Leaders say they need more information and education about the issue
Some municipal leaders are feeling unprepared and uninformed after learning their regions could become home to the first uranium exploration in Nova Scotia in almost 45 years.
On Wednesday, the Nova Scotia government issued a request for exploration proposals at three sites it believes have uranium deposits. The three sites include areas near Louisville in Pictou County, East Dalhousie in Annapolis County and Millet Brook in Hants County. “It’s a total surprise to us,” said Robert Parker, warden of Pictou County.
Premier Doug Ford has said Bill 5 is needed to speed up much-needed investments and projects especially as the province tries to weather ongoing economic threats from the U.S. Endangered species will be at further risk under a new bill environmental groups also say gives the government too much power to fast-track mining and infrastructure projects anywhere it wants.
Premier Doug Ford has said Bill 5 is needed to speed up much-needed investments and projects — like the Ring of Fire mineral site in the north, or even a plan to potentially tunnel under Highway 401 to ease traffic congestion in Toronto — especially as the province tries to weather ongoing economic threats from the U.S.
Distant from roads or rail lines, the copper mine in northwestern British Columbia was accessible only by ship. Established in the early 1900s, the mining town of Anyox was a thriving hub of production and home comforts until the collapse of the copper market during the Great Depression. The company had no choice. The Anyox camp was abandoned in 1935.
Demand for copper flourished in the mid-1800s, and industry responded with surveys and new mines. In 1889, explorations in the Boundary Range of the Coastal Mountains and the temperate rainforest revealed copper at a remote location off Portland Canal, near Observatory Inlet.
“Our job is to be bold,” Lecce said. “We’re not just exporting minerals. We’re exporting a model for how a modern, secure, and sovereign economy can look in the 21st century.”
In an interview marking mining week, Minister of Energy and Mines Stephen Lecce says Ontario is poised to become a global “clean energy superpower,” and he’s betting big on critical minerals, faster permitting timelines, and more domestic processing to get there.
Lecce outlined his vision for the province’s resource sector, which he described as essential not only to creating tens of thousands of jobs, but also to defending Canada’s economic sovereignty.
Speedy development of resource projects could be crucial for Canada’s uranium industry
The chief executive of the world’s largest uranium miner believes Prime Minister Mark Carney will be supportive of Canada’s nuclear industry as it looks ahead to meet growing demand. Saskatoon-based Cameco Corp. chief executive Tim Gitzel said the federal government needs to be interested in growing nuclear energy and hopes that will happen under Carney’s leadership, based on past dealings with the prime minister.
Carney and Gitzel met previously amid a joint deal between Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. to buy Westinghouse Electric Co. in 2023. At the time, Carney was chair and head of Transition Investing at Brookfield.
MABC projects $90B in short-term economic activity from mines under construction
B.C. must accelerate mining permitting to remain competitive and retain investment amid a tense political landscape. That was one of the key messages Michael Goehring delivered at the Mining Association of BC’s (MABC) annual Greater Vancouver Board of Trade address last week.
The CEO of MABC said he was pleased to see the creation of the Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals last November, and the introduction of legislation earlier this month aimed at speeding up approvals for major projects. These are important steps, he said, and perhaps indications that the current government is choosing to focus more on economic growth.
European tungsten prices have surged to their highest level since 2013, driven by China’s tightening grip on critical mineral exports.
The price of ammonium paratungstate (APT)—a key intermediate used in tungsten metal production—has climbed to $400 per metric ton unit (mtu) on the European spot market, marking an 18% jump since February, according to Reuters.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/
Potential exploration sites are in Pictou County, Annapolis County and Hants County
The Nova Scotia government added uranium to its list of priority critical minerals on Wednesday and issued a request for exploration proposals at three sites the province says have known deposits of the heavy metal.
Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton says the government hopes to reap economic benefits from the exploration in the future, although a department official said any potential mining project could be “decades” away.
Indigenous peoples are navigating the slow collapse of winter roads — and an even slower pace of help.
It was the last night of February and a 4×4 truck vaulted down the 103-mile winter road to Cat Lake First Nation in northern Ontario, a road made entirely of ice and snow. Only the light of the stars and the red and white truck lights illuminated the dense, snow-dusted spruce trees on either side of the road. From the passenger seat, Rachel Wesley, a member of the Ojibway community and its economic development officer, told the driver to stop.
The truck halted on a snow bridge over a wide creek — 1 of 5 made of snow along this road. It was wide enough for only one truck to cross at a time; its snowy surface barely 2 feet above the creek. Wesley zipped up her thick jacket and jumped out into the frigid night air. She looked at the creek and pointed at its open, flowing water. “That’s not normal,” she said, placing a cigarette between her lips.
Canada could add as much as C$1.1-trillion to its economy by 2035 if it accelerates investment decisions on more than 500 energy, mining and infrastructure projects, according to a new report by the Public Policy Forum.
The ‘Build Big Things’ report, released on Thursday, offers a policy playbook aimed at boosting Canada’s sluggish productivity and countering global competition in critical minerals and energy. It calls for regulatory reform, streamlined permitting, expanded Indigenous participation and a national strategy to accelerate project approvals.
