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Attawapiskat First Nation seeks court injunction against Ring of Fire exploration – by Erik White (CBC News Sudbury – October 5, 2021)

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

A court hearing this week sparked by Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario could have big implications for the development of the Ring of Fire.

The First Nation says it wasn’t properly consulted about exploration by mining company Juno in its traditional territory and is seeking an injunction. “The conflicting forces at work loom large over the fate of climate change, the environment, the economy, Attawapiskat, its rights and its culture,” the First Nation’s lawyer, Kate Kempton, told the court Tuesday.

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‘Very tight’ copper belies market turmoil, industry leader says – by James Attwood (Bloomberg News – September 29, 2021)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

As investors weigh swirling macro-economic factors, market fundamentals for copper — a key metal in global construction and transportation — remain solid, according to an industry veteran.

Prices for the bellwether commodity this year will average more than $4 a pound, Diego Hernandez, head of Chilean mining society Sonami, said in an interview Tuesday. That would be a record annual average.

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Energy Transition Faces Metal Supply Deficit, Canada Miners Say – by Yvonne Yue Li (Bloomberg News – September 29, 2021)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The world needs more mines to meet demand for copper and other battery metals required to shift to less polluting energy sources — even if such moves are seen as environmentally unappealing, according to Hudbay Minerals Inc. financial chief.

Any credible prognosis shows that copper faces a structural deficit of five to seven million tons starting in the next three or four years, Hudbay Chief Financial Officer Steve Douglas said Wednesday at Bloomberg’s Canadian Fixed Income Conference. And yet, any energy transition can’t happen without copper, he said.

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Top copper miners show some love for Peru’s leftist leader – by James Attwood (Bloomberg News – September 23, 2021)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Some of the world’s biggest miners say they like what they’re hearing from Peru’s new leftist government of late, further easing fears that drastic policy changes could stall future output in the No. 2 copper nation.

Freeport-McMoRan boss Richard Adkerson said at an industry event last week he was left “encouraged” from a recent meeting with President Pedro Castillo, a former rural union activist from a Marxist party. At the same conference two days earlier, BHP Group’s president for minerals in the Americas, Ragnar Udd, complimented the government’s “strategic” approach.

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Pierre Lassonde: A “renaissance” is coming for this asset, demand will triple (Kitco News – September 27, 2021)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – A very clear trend is emerging for investors, one that is intricately tied with the electrification of the world. With this trend, one commodity has proven to be indispensable, according to Pierre Lassonde, chairman emeritus of Franco-Nevada.

“The greening of the world is going to be a renaissance of copper mining, and I don’t think it has clued in with the governments and the environmental groups, but the intensity of copper use going forward will essentially triple.

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Mining the Northwest: Is there a zinc and copper mine in Schreiber’s future? – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – September 23, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Metallum Resources posts feasibility study showing almost nine-year mine life near Lake Superior’s north shore

A Vancouver zinc exploration company wants to revive mining on the north shore of Lake Superior, 20 kilometres north of Schreiber.

Metallum Resources said there’s enough high-grade zinc and copper in the ground at its Superior Lake Zinc Project to mine for a minimum of 8.5 years as the company probes for more resources this fall around a former mine site, 150 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.

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Copper deal makes Sandfire the miner of Seville – by Peter Ker (Australian Financial Review – September 23, 2021)

https://www.afr.com/

Australian miner Sandfire Resources will spend more than twice its market capitalisation to solve its growth problems, unveiling a $2.57 billion Spanish mine acquisition that investors described as “transformational” and “a game changer”.

Sandfire will take on new debt and ask investors to buy $1.2 billion of new shares to fund the $US1.86 billion ($2.57 billion) acquisition of Spain’s Minas D’Aguas Tenidas (MATSA) mine, which is located north-west of Seville.

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Mining stocks carnage as iron ore, copper prices fall – by Staff (Mining.com – September 20, 2021)

https://www.mining.com/

Iron ore extended its slump below $100 a tonne and copper prices dropped in New York on Monday as China stepped up restrictions on industrial activity and fears about the collapse of the country’s largest property developer intensified.

According to Fastmarkets MB, benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into Northern China were changing hands for $92.98 a tonne, down 8.7% from Friday’s closing. Prices have collapsed about 60% since hitting a record in May, and are below three figures for the first time in more than a year.

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How Africa’s newest President plans to dig a copper powerhouse out of a mountain of debt – by David Meyer (Yahoo Finance/Fortune – September 13, 2021)

https://finance.yahoo.com/

Africa’s second-biggest copper producer, Zambia, is buckling under billions of dollars in debt, and its new President has a plan to get out from underneath it: stop borrowing so much, and mine harder.

Hakainde Hichilema was elected last month—a triumph that followed five failed attempts at the presidency, and a 2017 spell behind bars for “treason” after the tycoon failed to give way to the motorcade of now–former President Edgar Lungu.

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Feds deal another setback to Arizona copper mine by upholding jaguar habitat – by KIMBERLY SILVERIO-BAUTISTA (KTAR News – September 6, 2021)

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WASHINGTON – Federal regulators on Friday rejected a mining company’s request to reduce critical habitat for endangered jaguars in the Santa Rita Mountains on land that overlaps the footprint of the proposed Rosemont Copper Mine.

The decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the latest setback for Hudbay Minerals Inc., which has been working for more than a decade to get permission to open the mine that it says could create thousands of jobs and bring billions in economic development to the region.

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Congo reviews Chinese mine contracts after President Felix Tshisekedi pushes back against deals favouring foreign firms – by Jevans Nyabiage (South China Morning Post – August 29, 2021)

https://www.scmp.com/

The world depends on the Democratic Republic of Congo for its cobalt to electrify vehicles. But the DRC, which supplies more than 60 per cent of the world’s reserves of cobalt ore, believes it may be getting short-changed by foreign mining companies – and is investigating whether unfair foreign mining contracts were signed during the previous administration.

The Congolese government early this week formed a commission to inevestigate the reserves at the Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) copper and cobalt project, which is majority-owned by China Molybdenum Co.

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NEWS RELEASE: Wyloo Submits Arrangement Agreement to Noront (Source: Wyloo Metals – September 6, 2021)

PERTH, Australia, Sept. 06, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd (“Wyloo Metals”) confirms it submitted an Arrangement Agreement to the Board of Noront Resources Ltd (TSXV:NOT) (“Noront”) for consideration on September 3, 2021. In submitting the agreement, Wyloo Metals calls upon the Noront Board to act in the best interest of shareholders and progress the formalization of Wyloo Metals’ superior proposal in line with its fiduciary obligations.

Wyloo Metals restricted on due diligence

Wyloo Metals received a revised confidentiality agreement from the Noront Board on August 31, 2021. Wyloo Metals was surprised to learn that the removal of the standstill provision required the consent of BHP Western Mining Resources International Pty Ltd. (“BHP”).

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Noront stands its ground against Wyloo over Ring of Fire assets – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – September 3, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Eagle’s Nest nickel, copper project is the prize in looming bidding war between two Australian mining heavyweights

Alan Coutts is ignoring the posturing from Wyloo Metals. The president-CEO of Noront Resources said he’s more keenly interested in receiving legitimate bids to secure the best deal for shareholders.

“It’s one thing to put out a press release, it’s another to table a formal binding offer.”

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Wyloo hikes bid for Ring of Fire explorer Noront Resources, trumps BHP offer – by Naill McGee (Globe and Mail – August 31, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd. has bumped up its offer for Noront Resources Ltd., trumping BHP Group Ltd.’s bid, and in a highly unusual move is proposing to keep the struggling Ring of Fire exploration company as a publicly traded entity.

Since May, Toronto-based Noront has been the subject of a takeover tussle between Australian private equity firm Wyloo and BHP, the world’s biggest mining company, which is also based in Australia.

Both are extremely well funded. BHP’s market valuation is US$165-billion. Wyloo is backed by Andrew Forrest, founder and chair of Fortescue Metals Group, and one of the richest individuals in Australia.

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Wyloo Metals wants to sweep the board clean at Noront Resources – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 30, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Australian miner boosts offer to Noront shareholders as take-over battle with BHP continues

The Ring of Fire is now a hands-on project for Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest. Wyloo Metals, a subsidiary company of Forrest’s Tattrarang private investment outfit, is promising new leadership to bring the promise of the James Bay mineral belt to reality as part of its takeover bid of Noront Resources.

In its latest pitch to Noront investors, Perth-headquartered Wyloo wants to clean house at Noront and appoint Forrest as chair of a new board of directors.

While in the early stages of a bidding war with rival BHP, Wyloo issued a new acquisition offer to Noront shareholders on Aug. 30 to acquire the Toronto junior miner’s assets in the remote mineral belt 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.

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