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Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals

OPINION: Germany looks past VW and Mercedes deals to deeper Canadian partnerships – by Andrew Willis (Globe and Mail – August 24, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The folks who revolutionized the auto industry when they rolled out the Beetle are now shaking up the way they make cars, to Canada’s benefit.

On Tuesday, Volkswagen AG revealed a new approach to its supply chain as the company prepares to fill the roads with electric vehicles. The German automaker said that for the first time, it plans to take direct stakes in mining companies – with a focus on investment in Canada – to ensure a reliable supply of critical minerals.

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OPINION: Canada’s moment with Germany won’t last long unless Ottawa now does the hard work – by Adam Radwanski (Globe and Mail – August 23, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

“If we want to seize the opportunities that are associated with the energy
transition, we need  to be more nimble,” Mr. Wilkinson said. “It cannot
take us 12 years to get new mines into production. It just can’t.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has done his part to light a fire under Canada so that it becomes a major clean-energy exporter.

Now, it’s up to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his ministers and his provincial counterparts to prove they’re capable of overcoming this country’s inertia in building new industries – and fast enough to compete for the business of nations trying to secure a sustainable long-term energy supply.

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Greenland’s Rare-Earth Election – by Robinson Meyer (The Atlantic – May 3, 2021)

https://www.theatlantic.com/

A vote last month answered an important question about the world’s largest island.

Tunulliarfik Fjord has always played an outsize role in global history. One thousand years ago, the Viking Erik the Red settled there, the last outpost in the Norse expansion into North America.

When the United States established a protectorate over Greenland during World War II, it built one of its first airports in what is now Narsarsuaq, a large town on the fjord. And now Tunulliarfik is the site of a mining project that has overturned politics on Greenland.

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A Supplier of Rare Earth Metals Turns to Greenland in a Bid to Cut Reliance on Russia – by Keith Bradsher (New York Times – August 22, 2022)

https://www.nytimes.com/

HONG KONG — One of the world’s last processors of rare earth metals outside China is buying mining rights in Greenland to reduce dependence on Russian ore and stabilize prices, in the latest move by Western companies to diversify supply chains following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Rare earth metals are essential for the manufacture of a broad range of modern products, including electric car motors, offshore wind turbines and smart bombs. Demand has soared as automakers switch more of their production to electric vehicles.

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Germany, Canada to boost energy, mineral ties as they decarbonize – by Andreas Rinke and Steve Scherer (Reuters – August 22, 2022)

https://www.reuters.com/

MONTREAL, Aug 22 (Reuters) – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is bringing Canada and Germany closer together, with Canada seeking to boost energy and critical mineral exports to Germany as both countries wean themselves off fossil fuels, Canadian and German leaders said on Monday.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday morning during a three-day visit with a delegation of German company executives in tow.The two spoke to reporters afterward with the Montreal skyline behind them.

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Billionaires Like Bill Gates Are Mining for Cobalt in Greenland. Are They Heroes or Villains? – by Caroline Delbert (Popular Mechanics – August 18, 2022)

https://www.popularmechanics.com/

With sea ice receding, billionaires want to mine Greenland for rare Earth metals to power batteries. It could be part of a climate solution … or “a perfect symbol for our dystopian times.”

Earlier this month, CNN published a piece provocatively titled “Billionaires are funding a massive treasure hunt in Greenland as ice vanishes.” In the story, reporter René Marsh explains that investors including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos have helped fund an expedition to explore the mineral wealths of Greenland, a feat made easier by the ravages of climate change.

It inspired a ton of predictable responses about billionaires dancing on Earth’s grave. But the participating startup, KoBold Metals, says the materials it wants to mine—nickel and cobalt—will actually help us fight climate change more effectively. But can both takes be true at once? We spoke to a few experts to find out.

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Column: U.S. hits the EV accelerator to cut Chinese metals ties – by Andy Home Reuters – August 16, 2022)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Aug 16 (Reuters) – The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes the “largest investment ever in combating the existential crisis of climate change”, according to President Joe Biden, who will sign the bill into law later on Tuesday.

Around $369 billion of federal funds will flow into climate change and energy security, boosting domestic capacity to produce wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles. However, the green investment comes with a metallic sting in the tail. The IRA extends and expands the existing electric vehicle (EV) subsidy of up to $7,500 but conditions the tax credit on the sourcing of the mineral content of the battery.

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Canadian, German business groups call for stronger partnership on energy and minerals ahead of Scholz visit – by Claudia Scholz (Globe and Mail – August 16, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ahead of a visit to Canada next week by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, German and Canadian business groups have issued a joint statement calling for a stronger partnership between their two countries on liquefied natural gas, hydrogen and critical minerals.

Germany has been looking for ways of reducing its Russian energy imports as tensions have risen over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. But Canada’s ability to help replace that Russian supply is limited, because this country currently has no operational export terminals for LNG.

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Inflation doesn’t halt company’s hopes for its Temiskaming cobalt refinery – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 15, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Electra Battery Materials aims for spring 2023 plant startup

Inflation and supply chain issues are pumping up the price tag for Electra Battery Materials to bring a Temiskaming refinery back to life. It will delay the plant’s startup, originally scheduled for December, moving the commissioning to the spring of 2023.

Toronto-based Electra is feeling the domino effect of the industry-wide price and supply-chain pinch, especially coming out of Asia. The original capital budget of US$67 million to refurbish and expand the former Yukon refinery is now looking more in the range of US$76 million to US$80 million.

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Canada eyes cash for critical minerals in Biden’s big new climate bill – by Alexander Panetta (CBC News World – August 16, 2022)

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

Canada is keen on accessing a pot of money for critical minerals in soon-to-be-signed U.S. law

A historic climate bill just passed by the U.S. Congress could have implications in entrenching Canada’s role in the shift toward clean transportation. The legislation that passed last week established preferential tax treatment for electric vehicles assembled anywhere in North America.

That made-in-North-America approach generated some news headlines by bringing an amicable resolution to a months-long Canada-U.S. irritant. Less noticed in the bill was a pot of money containing hundreds of millions of dollars to jump-start a new domestic industry in components for electric-vehicle batteries.

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The Inflation Reduction Act delivers a mixed bag of successes and failures for EVs and the green economy – by Melissa Sanderson (Investor Intel.com – August 15, 2022)

https://investorintel.com/

Did anyone besides me hear happy hollering last week? Probably so – the Democrats in the U.S.A. unexpectedly delivered a piece of legislation which, in the current conflicted context, can reasonably be called a win for the so-called green economy.

Also known as Build Back Better’s Baby Brother in disguise, the bill does contain some important, and even some surprisingly positive provisions, such as: tax credits to encourage further deployment of wind and solar power, as well as development of geothermal (one of the surprises);

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Ukraine war crisis offers Canada an opportunity to lead with responsible mining – by Candace MacGibbon (Northern Miner – August 11, 2022)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shone a spotlight on energy security throughout Europe and the Americas. World leaders are finally paying attention to their reliance on Russia for energy and critical minerals, and they don’t like what they see.

Sanctions against Russia should continue and depending on how long and drawn out the invasion is, they may heighten. To date, Russian gold has been targeted but critical minerals have not. It’s obvious why: Russian metals are “critical,” and their supply cannot be easily replaced. The world is looking to Canada to displace this supply, but we aren’t ready.

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China has encroached on Canada’s critical minerals industry, with almost no obstruction from Ottawa – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – August 13, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

For the past two decades, China has built up a powerful position in Canada’s critical minerals and mining sector, with little oversight from Ottawa

Three years ago, Sinomine Resource Group Co., a Chinese company, quietly bought the Tanco mine in Manitoba. At the time, Tanco was one of the world’s few sources of the critical mineral cesium, a key input in atomic clocks and radiation detectors. The mine had previously produced lithium, a battery metal used in electric cars.

Even though Tanco was owned by an American chemicals company, Cabot Corp., Canada’s federal government had the authority to block the acquisition on national security grounds. But far from blocking the deal, Ottawa appears not to have given it a second glance.

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NEWS RELEASE: Announcing the Launch of the Critical Minerals Institute for Companies and Experts Focused on Electric Vehicles, Green Energy and Secure Supply Chains (August 14, 2022)

https://investorintel.com/

Toronto, August 14, 2022 – It is with great pleasure that the Critical Minerals Institute (CMI) announces its founding as an international organization for critical mineral companies and professionals designed to address relevant issues relating to the establishment of secure supply chains from mine to manufacturing in not just rare earths but all 50 vitally important critical minerals.

Focused on battery materials and electric vehicles, along with the use of critical minerals for energy and green energy production, CMI Founder Tracy Weslosky explains: “With uncertainties in Russia and China escalating concerns around secure supply chains, governments have been offering sizable incentives for everything from facilitating faster production timelines to advancing extraction technology processes.

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‘The Sacrifice Zone’: Myanmar bears cost of green energy – by Dake Kang, Victoria Milko and Lori Hinnant (Associated Press/Hawaii Tribune-Herald – August 10, 2022)

https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/

The birds no longer sing. The fish no longer swim in rivers that have turned a murky brown. The animals do not roam, and the cows are sometimes found dead. The people in this northern Myanmar forest have lost a way of life that goes back generations. But if they complain, they, too, face the threat of death.

This forest is the source of several key metallic elements known as rare earths, often called the vitamins of the modern world. Rare earths now reach into the lives of almost everyone on the planet, turning up in everything from hard drives and cellphones to elevators and trains.

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