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First Quantum backs off Panama arbitration claims, opening door to reopening copper mine – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – April 2, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canadian copper miner First Quantum Minerals Ltd. has agreed to drop or suspend its arbitration claims against Panama, opening the door to a resolution that could see its giant operations in the country eventually reopen.

Vancouver-based First Quantum in late 2023 filed international arbitration proceedings against Panama around the time then-president Laurentino Cortizo ordered the shutdown of its Cobre Panama mine. Mr. Cortizo took the drastic step after Panama’s Supreme Court ruled that its mining contract was unconstitutional, and during massive public protests against the mine.

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Hudbay becomes sole owner of Copper Mountain mine in British Columbia – by Staff (Mining.com – March 27, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

Hudbay Minerals (TSX, NYSE: HBM) has consolidated ownership of the Copper Mountain mine in southern British Columbia, a move that aligns with the Canadian miner’s strategy to boost its copper production in North America.

On Thursday, Hudbay said it is acquiring Mitsubishi Materials’ 25% stake in the mine for $44.25 million in cash, of which $4.5 million is paid upfront and $21 million paid in seven equal annual installments. The remaining $18.75 million will consist of five equal payments contingent on certain operating milestones.

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Chile’s Mining Giants Remain Optimistic In The Face Of Industry Challenges – by Rebecca Johns (Latin America Reports/MSN.com – March 29, 2025)

https://www.msn.com/

Through the rugged terrain of the Choapa Valley, desalinated water travels along 38 miles of pipelines from the Los Vilos port to the El Mauro dam, which supplies the Antofagasta-owned Los Pelambres mine with the water it needs to operate.

Establishing this system proved costly, requiring a $2 billion investment. However, it was essential for ensuring continued mining operations in a region where droughts are frequent and groundwater supplies are primarily designated to serve local civilians.

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Prospect of U.S. tariffs haunting Canadian copper sector – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – March 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

Could send shockwaves through eastern part of sector and ultimately benefit China

United States President Donald Trump is laying the groundwork for tariffs on copper that could send shockwaves through the eastern part of Canada’s sector and ultimately benefit China. Canada in 2023 produced 2.2 per cent of global mined copper, less than half of what’s produced in the U.S., which accounted for five per cent.

Nonetheless, more than half the copper produced in Canada, mainly from the eastern part of the country, was shipped to the U.S., making up a large portion of the imports there.

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Copper’s uber bull predicts new record on most-profitable-ever trade – by Jack Farchy and Mark Burton (Yahoo Finance/Bloomberg – March 24, 2025)

https://finance.yahoo.com/

One of the highest-profile copper bulls is back predicting new price records, as Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs drains global stocks and creates what he sees as unprecedented opportunities for trading profit.

Kostas Bintas became one of the best-known metals traders during his years building Trafigura Group’s copper book into the world’s largest, before his departure in late 2023. Now spearheading a push into metals at energy trader Mercuria Energy Group Ltd., he is again calling for copper to surge to record highs, up by as much as a third from current levels.

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High Teck: The Canadian miner’s reinvention as a critical-metals player—via its massive copper mine in Chile’s Andean foothills— could prove its undoing as an independent company – by Eric Reguly (ROB/Globe and Mail – March 24, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Canadian plan to evolve into global critical-metals player by opening one of the biggest copper mines in South America got off to an unlucky start. On Sept. 25, 1996, Frank Pickard, the Sudbury, Ont., native who was the CEO of Falconbridge, then one of Canada’s top two diversified mining companies (the other was Inco), boarded a small aircraft on the Chilean coast and flew to the Collahuasi mine in the Atacama Desert, in the far north of the country, in the Andean foothills near the Bolivian border.

Within minutes of stepping out at 4,400 metres (14,400 feet)—half the height of Everest—he was felled by a heart attack and died. He was 63. A retired mining engineer and consultant friend of mine, Jeffrey Franzen, who worked for a subsidiary of Falconbridge at the time, told me that based on the story he’d heard, Pickard’s failure to acclimatize before reaching the Andean heavens, where effective oxygen levels are far lower than those at sea level, probably triggered his death. (Legend says he was buried in a coffin made of nickel, Falconbridge’s main product, as was his wish.)

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Conservative leader vows action on Ring of Fire within six months – by Darren MacDonald (CTV News Northern Ontario – March 19, 2025)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/northern-ontario/

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced Wednesday that within six months of taking power, he would green-light all federal permits for the Ring of Fire and commit $1 billion to build new roads.

Poilievre, who is holding a rally in Greater Sudbury on Wednesday evening, said progress on the Ring of Fire is key to “unlocking billions of dollars in resources and taking back control of our economy from the Americans.” The long-delayed mineral project 500 kilometres east of Thunder Bay in northwestern Ontario includes large deposits of high-grade chromite, cobalt, nickel, copper and platinum.

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‘At Sudbury, we are nowhere near having found it all’ – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – March 18, 2025)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Magna Mining’s critical mineral transformation in the Sudbury Basin to create new wealth, jobs

From American President Donald Trump’s desire to take over Greenland and perhaps Canada, and his recent confrontation with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as Premier Doug Ford’s determination to get Ring of Fire infrastructure built, the general public is now acutely aware of the strategic and geopolitical importance of critical minerals.

And yet, Canada’s largest critical mineral mining camp – the legendary Sudbury Basin, which has been in operation for slightly over 140 years and controlled by two of the world’s largest miners, Brazilian-based Vale and Swiss-owned Glencore – seems to have been largely ignored by the mainstream media.

Since both Vale and Glencore have historically controlled much of the land package in the region, few juniors have thrived.

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Glencore overhauls embattled Canadian smelters as margins plunge – by Julian Luk and Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – March 14, 2025)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Glencore Plc is doubling down on a cost-cutting drive at its Canadian copper and zinc plants following job cuts last year, in a further overhaul of its global smelting business following a collapse in processing margins.

The company’s copper plants in Quebec — as well as several recycling sites in the US — will be absorbed into the miner’s global zinc smelting division, with the aim of increasing business synergies and operational efficiency, according to internal memos seen by Bloomberg.

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Tariffs, uncertainty, driving nations to tighten grip on critical minerals – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – March 14, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

Tariffs and markets swings are pushing developing countries rich in critical minerals such as cobalt, copper, gold, and lithium, to tighten their grip on their resources more than ever before, a new analysis from risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft shows.

This trend, which has accelerated over the past five years, poses major challenges for mining companies and coincides with intensifying geopolitical competition for raw materials essential to global industries.

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Forget about rare earth minerals. We need more copper – by Scott Neuman (National Public Radio.org – March 16, 2025)

https://www.npr.org/

In recent weeks, you’ve likely heard a lot about rare-earth substances, thanks to President Trump’s stalled efforts to secure a minerals deal with Ukraine and his talk of annexing Greenland. These vital substances fuel the growing renewables and electric-vehicle industries. However, many experts warn that the shortage of another crucial metal, used in electronics, wiring and even plumbing could be just as concerning.

Copper may be even more crucial to the nation’s shift toward a greener, more efficient economy than rare elements like neodymium or praseodymium. While copper has been mined for thousands of years, the demand for it has surged in the past two decades, driving its price up nearly 75% since 2020.

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With key permits in hand, Gen Mining ‘closer than ever’ to Marathon construction decision -by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – March 13, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

One provincial permit to go before north shore copper-palladium mine developer can move on $1-billion pit project

Generation Mining is itching closer toward making a final construction decision on its Marathon copper-palladium mine project near the north shore of Lake Superior.

The Toronto mine developer said March 11 it’s finally pocketed three important provincial permits from the natural resources ministry that are key to moving ahead with its proposed open-pit mine, valued at $1.16 billion.

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Dig, baby, dig: the global resources groups betting on a Trump mining revival – by Leslie Hook (Financial Times – March 12, 2025)

https://www.ft.com/

It takes 29 years to get approval for a new mine in the US but the industry is hoping that will change

Deep below the rolling hills near Superior in Arizona, a giant copper deposit lies more than a mile underground. It could be one of the first major mining projects to get the go-ahead as the Trump administration seeks to boost US domestic mineral output.

Since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has focused on securing access to critical minerals around the world — from Greenland to Ukraine to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Panama’s US$10 billion copper mine faces tough road to restart – by Michael McDonald (Bloomberg News – March 03, 2025)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino flew over the nation’s flagship copper mine this week, getting a good look at the idled project — and raising investor hopes for a restart of the US$10 billion operation.

It was a “truly impressive” sight, Mulino told reporters in Panama City on Thursday as he vowed to explore “novel ideas” for the mine ordered shut in late-2023 after an eruption of environmental protests and political turmoil.

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Trump makes US copper mining a focus of his domestic minerals policy – by Mead Gruver (Associated Press/MSN.com – March 1, 2025)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — President Donald Trump is taking a step toward granting the U.S. mining industry’s biggest wishes by singling out one metal as a focus of his domestic minerals policy: copper.

From talk of acquiring Greenland and its vast mineral wealth to prodding Ukraine for minerals in exchange for help fending off Russia’s invasion, Trump has made the raw materials of modern life a pillar of his foreign policy.

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