Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals – Page 26

CMS: Friedland mocks lithium but touts battery tech – by Colin McCelland (Northern Miner – October 13, 2023)

October 17, 2023

https://www.northernminer.com/

Robert Friedland, billionaire founder and executive co-chair of Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN), criticized lithium mining at a London conference, ridiculed the West’s green energy transition and urged prayer to end the Israel-Hamas war.

Researchers at Ivanhoe start-up Pure Lithium in Boston are going from lithium brine to lithium metal in a step that could radically transform the electric vehicle battery market valued at around US$50 billion a year, Friedland told The Northern Miner’s Canadian Mining Symposium on Friday.

The Age of Big Shovels – by Daniel Yergin (Project Syndicate.org – September 11, 2023)

October 17, 2023

https://www.project-syndicate.org/

The IMF recently warned that the pursuit of net-zero emissions by 2050 will “spur unprecedented demand for some of the most crucial minerals,” leading to “soaring costs” that could “derail or delay the energy transition.” The rising crescendo of alarm is justified: “crucial minerals” loom as the main bottleneck to decarbonization.

WASHINGTON, DC – Will a shortage of minerals short-circuit the clean-energy transition? National governments – including the United States, Japan, Britain, and Canada – the European Union, and international organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the International Energy Agency are raising the alarm.

As the IMF puts it, the pursuit of net-zero emissions by 2050 will “spur unprecedented demand for some of the most crucial metals,” leading to “soaring costs” that could “derail or delay the energy transition itself.”

Canada wants to be a global leader in critical minerals. Why is Australia eating our lunch? – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – October 13, 2023)

October 13, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

While domestic companies flounder, foreign behemoths have built a dominant position in the Canadian critical minerals sector – and few have benefited more than Australia

At the world’s biggest mining conference in Toronto earlier this year, two federal cabinet ministers engaged in a public discussion about Canada’s critical minerals industry. Conspicuously absent from the conversation was any Canadian mining company.

Instead, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson chatted amiably with Jakob Stausholm, chief executive officer of Rio Tinto PLC, a giant British-Australian multinational. Mr. Stausholm played up Rio’s Canadian credentials and trumpeted that it is the biggest mining company in Canada.

US Steps Up Efforts to Access Africa’s Critical Minerals – by Paul Burkhardt (Bloomberg News – October 12, 2023)

October 12, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The US is stepping up efforts to boost ties with African nations rich in critical minerals to help secure supply, according to a government official.

Workshops recently held in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, and Kinshasa in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo brought in US experts with the ultimate goal of setting up local battery manufacturing operations, Kimberly Harrington, deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Energy Resources, said at a conference in Cape Town on Thursday.

BHP calls for global collaboration on critical minerals – by Esmarie Iannucci (Mining Weekly – October 2, 2023)

October 3, 2023

https://www.miningweekly.com/

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining giant BHP has noted that global collaboration and a significant quantum of capital will be required in order to source the critical minerals needed to drive decarbonisation.

Speaking at the IEA Critical Minerals and Clean Energy Summit, BHP CEO Mike Henry said there was global recognition of the worked needed to significantly scale up the supply of certain metals, but that the hunt for these metals was encountering some significant challenges.

Are Green Resource Wars Looming? – by Priti Gulati Cox and Stan Cox (Earth Island – October 14, 2022)

October 3, 2023October 3, 2023

https://www.earthisland.org/

The burden of massive EV batteries will be borne by people and ecosystems.

Much of the excitement over the Inflation Reduction Act, which became law this summer, focused on the boost it should give to the sales of electric vehicles. Sadly, though, manufacturing and driving tens of millions of individual electric passenger cars won’t get us far enough down the road to ending greenhouse-gas emissions and stanching the overheating of this planet.

Worse yet, the coming global race to electrify the personal vehicle is likely to exacerbate ecological degradation, geopolitical tensions, and military conflict.

Questions linger a year after Canada placed curbs on foreign companies to protect critical minerals – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – September 24, 2023)

September 28, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Industry uncertainty remains with Ottawa’s divestment orders dominating discussions in the mining world over the past year

Canada shocked its mining sector a year ago with a policy that changed the way the industry viewed investment opportunities from foreign businesses. The policy, released in October, made it more difficult for foreign businesses, either owned or influenced by “non-like-minded” nations, to own or take a stake in Canada’s critical minerals sector, saying that such a situation could be considered “injurious to national security” under the Investment Canada Act (ICA) and, therefore, trigger an extended government review.

Canada considers 31 minerals, including lithium and copper, as critical due to the key roles they are expected to play in the gradual transition away from energy produced from fossil fuels.

Climate targets threatened by lack of mining investment: McKinsey – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – September 27, 2023)

September 27, 2023

https://www.mining.com/

Soaring demand for metals and minerals needed to achieve a reduction in global emissions, paired with low commodity prices driving investors and mining firms to cut spending are set to cause major shortages of key elements for the world’s energy transition, a new report shows.

According to consultancy McKinsey & Company, looming supply gaps for rare earths, lithium, nickel, graphite, cobalt, boron and copper could lead to higher prices and market volatility, hindering emissions goals.

A recent report on DRC’s Kolwezi shows the cobalt capital’s dark side – by Chinedu Okafor (Business Insider Africa – September 26, 2023)

September 27, 2023

https://africa.businessinsider.com/

The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Kolwezi town earned the moniker “cobalt capital of the world” due to its abundance of the material. One of the reasons the DRC contains over half of the world’s cobalt deposits and is responsible for 70% of worldwide production is the town in the country’s southern Lualaba Province.

In terms of copper deposits, the DRC ranks seventh in the world. According to the IEA, cobalt is a crucial mineral in most lithium-ion batteries, a key component in the energy transitions the world is moving toward, while copper is the mineral most frequently utilized in “clean energy” technologies.

Canada sees China as less ‘dependable’ partner on critical minerals, minister says (Reuters – September 26, 2023)

September 27, 2023

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Sept 26 (Reuters) – Canada wants to reach deals with countries that are more “dependable” trading partners than China for the supply and processing of the critical materials needed to power the energy transition, a Canadian minister said on Tuesday.

“Much of the critical mineral resources around the world is controlled by China … We are in a geopolitical universe where China is a trading partner that is probably not as dependable as the countries with whom we share values,” Canada’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said at a Canada-UK critical minerals investment forum in London.

Mandating EVs while discouraging mining is a recipe for disaster – by Joel Kotkin (National Post – September 12, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://nationalpost.com/

The current policy is devastating our economy, enriching our enemies and making middle-class life less affordable

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,” wrote the American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. This may prove no problem to the West’s climate-obsessed elites, who rail about the coming apocalypse, even while undermining the production of the very resources that would be essential if they are to have any chance to reach their cherished “net zero” utopia.

Although North America, and most particularly Canada, possesses many of the critical resources — lithium, copper, graphite, nickel, cobalt and rare earths — necessary to build solar panels and electric vehicle (EV) batteries, green lobbyists are fighting even modest plans for new mines.

British mining is now about a green future not its story-filled past – by Francesca Washtell (This Is Money – September 17, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/

Just a stone’s throw from picturesque hiking trails in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park lies Scotland’s only commercial gold mine. The Cononish project was embraced by the local community and championed by politicians – as well as investors who bought shares in its London-listed owner Scotgold Resources.

But hopes that for decades to come it could produce gold to be exported or crafted into fine jewellery have been thrown into question after Scotgold last week warned it could crash into administration. The warning was not the only news to rock the mining industry last week.

Congo communities forcibly uprooted to make way for mines critical to EVs, Amnesty report says – by Taiwo Adebayo (Associated Press – September 12, 2023)

September 18, 2023

https://apnews.com/

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The mining of minerals critical to electric vehicle batteries and other green technologies in Congo has led to human rights abuses, including forced evictions and physical assault, according to a new report from Amnesty International and another rights group.

Congo is by far the world’s largest producer of cobalt, a mineral used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and other products, and it is also Africa’s top producer of copper, which is used in EVs, renewable energy systems and more.

OPINION: Pennsylvania can help our country meet the growing demand for rare-earth minerals – by Mike Armanini (Penn Live Patriot News – September 2023)

September 13, 2023

https://www.pennlive.com/

Historically known as a hub of industrial innovation, Pennsylvania is now poised to enter a new era of economic prosperity through the mining and refinement of rare-earth minerals. As global demand for these critical elements skyrockets, the Commonwealth has a unique opportunity to leverage its rich geological endowment to not only boost its economy but also contribute significantly to technological advancements and our nation’s security.

Rare-earth minerals, a group of 17 elements, play a pivotal role in modern technology. They are crucial to manufacturing consumer electronics, renewable energy systems, and advanced defense technologies.

Japan and U.K. launch economic security dialogue – by Anna Nishino Nikkei Asia – September 7, 2023)

September 7, 2023

https://asia.nikkei.com/

Ministers confirm cooperation on critical minerals for supply chain resilience

LONDON — Japan and the U.K. agreed Wednesday to establish a new ministerial dialogue on economic policy and trade, and affirmed plans for joint investment to secure rights to critical minerals in regions such as Africa.

Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and British counterpart Kemi Badenoch issued a joint statement on the framework after their meeting here. The dialogue will be the first between Tokyo and London to cover economic security topics such as supply chain resilience.