Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals – Page 32

Canada-China trade not expected to change much amid critical mineral protectionism – by Nelson Bennett (Business In Vancouver – March 31, 2023)

April 3, 2023

China is a trade partner and export market that is simply too big to lose – including when it comes to Canadian copper

The federal government’s decision last November to order Chinese companies to divest from three Canadian lithium junior exploration ventures may have sent a chill up the Canadian resource sector’s spine.

“What’s next?” mining and energy companies might well ask. “Will Chinese investors in Canadian uranium, potash or copper miners also be told to pack their bags and take their billions with them?”

First Nations lay claim to all critical minerals and rare earth elements in Saskatchewan – by Will McLernon (CBC News Saskatchewan – March 30, 2023)

April 3, 2023

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

Province’s new critical mineral strategy infringes on Inherent and Treaty rights: FSIN

First Nations are laying claim to all critical minerals and rare earth elements in Saskatchewan in light of the province announcing its new critical mineral strategy on Monday.

Saskatchewan has 23 of 31 critical minerals on the Canadian Critical Minerals List. The government’s strategy aims to increase Saskatchewan’s share of Canadian mineral exploration spending to 15 per cent and double critical minerals being produced by 2030. It also intends to grow Saskatchewan’s production of potash, uranium and helium in addition to establishing the province as a rare earth mineral hub.

Canadian budget contains over $15 billion for clean technologies and critical minerals – by Colin McClelland (Mining.com – March 28, 2023)

March 29, 2023

https://www.mining.com/

Ottawa plans to spend C$21 billion ($15.4bn) over five years on clean technology in one of the main platforms affecting the mining industry contained in Tuesday’s annual federal budget.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the amount, including a 30% investment tax credit to boost clean-tech manufacturing, especially in the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain, could expand to C$80 billion ($59bn) by 2034.

Saskatchewan government releases new strategy on critical minerals – by Rob O’Flanagan (Saskatoon Star Phoenix – March 27, 2023)

March 29, 2023

https://thestarphoenix.com/

The province is expanding the Saskatchewan Mineral Exploration Tax Credit from 10 per cent to 30 per cent.

The provincial government has launched a plan to double Saskatchewan’s stake in Canada’s critical minerals exploration sector, while establishing the province as a global hub for rare earth elements.

Trade and Export Development Minister Jeremy Harrison and Energy and Resources Minister Jim Reiter gave details of the new strategy at a news conference hosted by NexGen Energy in Saskatoon. The goal is to nearly double Saskatchewan’s stake in Canada’s critical minerals sector to 15 per cent from 8.5 per cent by 2030.

Tuesday’s federal budget to offer cleantech credit worth more than $3-billion – by Bill Curry, Marieke Walsh and Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – March 28, 2023)

March 29, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Tuesday’s federal budget will announce a clean-tech manufacturing tax credit aimed at encouraging the mining of critical minerals in Canada, a credit that will be worth more than $3-billion over five years, according to a senior government official.

The 30-per-cent clean-tech manufacturing tax credit can be used to offset the cost of equipment used for mining and processing critical minerals, which are key to the green transition because they are the building blocks of clean-energy technology such as batteries.

US, Japan Strike Deal on Supply of Minerals for EV Batteries – by Shoko Oda and Eric Martin (Bloomberg News – Mar 27, 2023)

March 29, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The US agreed to boost cooperation with Japan on critical mineral supply chains and to expand access to tax breaks as President Joe Biden aims to counter China’s dominance of the electric vehicle battery sector.

Following the pact, EVs that use materials that have been collected or processed in Japan will be eligible for incentives under the US Inflation Reduction Act, Japanese Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said Tuesday in Tokyo.

U.S. offers cash to Canadian critical minerals projects during Biden’s visit – by Alexander Panetta (CBC News Politics – March 24, 2023)

March 27, 2023

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/

The president seemed to suggest at one point that the value-added jobs would go to the U.S.

There was a pot of gold at the end of President Joe Biden’s jaunt to Canada. It’s going to Canada’s mining sector. The U.S. military will deliver funds this spring to critical minerals projects in both the U.S. and Canada. The goal is to accelerate the development of a critical minerals industry on this continent.

The context is the United States’ intensifying rivalry with China. The U.S. is desperate to reduce its reliance on its adversary for materials needed to power electric vehicles, electronics and many other products, and has set aside hundreds of millions of dollars under a program called the Defence Production Act.

Budget 2023: Offhanded comment by Biden shows Ottawa can’t take mining boom for granted – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – March 27, 2023)

March 27, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Apparent difference of opinion on critical minerals during U.S. president’s visit

When Justin Trudeau’s government announced plans to invest $3.8 billion to develop its critical minerals sector in the last budget, many in Canada’s mining sector believed the industry was finally going to get the attention it deserves amidst rising global demand for the minerals used to power electric vehicles.

Some had called the allocation by the federal government a “game changer,” while others described it as an “exceptionally positive” move for the industry.

Industrial policy is back in vogue in push for Canada to win on green economy – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – March 23, 2023)

March 27, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Freeland being urged to create framework to guide billions promised to companies to accelerate shift to greener economy

Toronto – An economic idea that fell out of fashion with stonwashed denim in the 1980s appears to me making a comeback: industrial policy, or the idea that the free market alone won’t save the economy.

Earlier this month, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland hosted a hybrid meeting in Toronto with leaders from several environmental non-profits and think tanks, including Clean Prosperity, the Transition Accelerator, Clean Energy Canada, the Pembina Institute and the Canadian Climate Institute, to discuss how Canada can compete with the United States, as its government pours hundreds of billions of dollars into the energy transition.

DRC says Rwandan mineral smuggling costs it almost $1bn a year – by Tom Wilson and Andres Schipani (Financial Times – March 21, 2023)

March 27, 2023

https://www.ft.com/

Kinshasa has long accused Kigali of plundering its resources by supporting insurgent M23 group

The Democratic Republic of Congo said it was losing almost $1bn a year in minerals that were being illegally smuggled into Rwanda, as it restated its call for international sanctions to be placed on the Kigali government.

Nicolas Kazadi, the DRC’s finance minister, said that Rwanda last year exported close to $1bn in gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten, even though the country has few mineral deposits of its own. “It’s all coming from DRC — that’s obvious,” he told the FT’s Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne. “It’s not only allegations, it’s evidence.”

EU’s new critical raw materials act could be a recipe for conflict – by Larisa Stanciu and Lotte Hoex (EU Observer – March 24, 2023)

March 27, 2023March 27, 2023

https://euobserver.com/

Last week, the European Commission unveiled the Critical Raw Materials Act to reduce its dependence on third countries for key raw materials deemed indispensable for the green and digital transitions.

The proposed legislation seems to be a first step in trying to decouple the EU from its dependencies on third countries for critical and strategic raw materials. However, the continent will never be fully autonomous because of its limited reserves.

Mining lobby warns Ottawa against taking miners for granted in push for more aid – by Naimul Karim (National Post – March 21, 2023)

March 22, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Missing link in government strategy is the millions needed to build the mines

The head of Canada’s top mining association said Ottawa’s strategy to build an electric vehicle industry could fail if it doesn’t encourage miners through tax credits and other incentives to construct the mines needed to produce critical minerals that power EVs, such as nickel and lithium.

Existing policies have encouraged the hunt for new mineral deposits in Canada, and have brought investment from big automakers and battery companies such as Volkswagen Group and LG Energy Solutions in the past year, said Pierre Gratton, head of the Mining Association of Canada.

Glencore Set to Lose Crown as Top Cobalt Miner to China’s CMOC – by Mark Burton (Bloomberg News – March 21, 2023)

March 22, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — A Chinese miner is set to overtake Glencore Plc as the world’s top cobalt producer this year, as the rush for critical green-energy metals intensifies.

The challenger to Glencore’s dominant position is CMOC Group, which first became a major player in the cobalt market when it acquired the Tenke Fungurume mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2016. The company aims to double production this year, as it brings another massive Congolese mine online in the second quarter. That will propel it past Glencore, company filings show.

Mineral-rich North energized by news of VW battery plant – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – March 15,2023)

March 16, 2023

https://www.timminspress.com/

‘It’s all about connecting our critical mineral producers in the North’ with manufacturers in the South – Pirie

ST. THOMAS — Volkswagen’s announced plans to establish a battery cell plant in Southern Ontario is good news for Northern Ontario, says Mines Minister and Timmins MPP George Pirie. “If we’re going to secure our supply chain (for the electric vehicle industry) we have to get the minerals out of the ground in Northern Ontario,” Pirie told The Daily Press.

“Nickel is a critical mineral, copper, niobium, rare earths, lithium – we’ve got them all. There are four huge low-grade deposits in the Timmins vicinity including Canada Nickel … It’s a hugely exciting time.

Ottawa’s own policies defeat its critical minerals push – by Ian Madsen (Troy Media – March 13, 2023)

March 15, 2023

https://troymedia.com/

Ian Madsen is the Senior Policy Analyst at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently visited the Saskatchewan Research Council’s experimental rare earth refining facility in Saskatoon to tout his government’s efforts to promote rare earth discovery, development, and extraction, along with the refining advances SRC has achieved.

He and his ministers have been ‘talking up’ this critical mineral drive for quite a while, but their efforts have shown little success thus far – for reasons they would rather not discuss.