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Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals

Metals Behind EV Revolution to Resume Volatile Rally – Again – by Annie Lee and Eddie Spence (Bloomberg News – January 14, 2021)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Battery metals are set to rebound this year as an electric-vehicle boom is bolstered by post-pandemic push for a green economic recovery.

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has indicated the sector could get a boost, while China wants new energy vehicles to account for about 20% of total new car sales by 2025. Germany has extended subsidies on EVs for an extra four years, and the U.K. will ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030.

The markets for metals such as lithium and cobalt, which soared in 2018 before slumping on concerns about oversupply, will be underpinned by a step change in battery demand. Global EV sales are projected to surge 60% this year, according to BloombergNEF.

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Rio Tinto, Quebec bet on critical mineral scandium with new plant – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – January 15, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Rio Tinto Group, with aid from the Quebec government, is investing a combined US$6-million to bring a new environmentally friendly scandium project into production, which will be the first steady North American source of the extremely pricey rare earth mineral.

Currently produced as a byproduct of mining other elements such as uranium and titanium, scandium is in tight supply worldwide. China and Russia dominate the market, leaving North American companies at the whim of unreliable and potentially hostile suppliers.

The silvery white metal is used as an alloy to strengthen and lighten aluminum, and in fuel cells as a backup power source.

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Northeastern Ontario refinery could accept Congo cobalt by late 2022 – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – January 12, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The owners of a renovated cobalt refinery in northeastern Ontario have signed a supply agreement with Glencore to receive unprocessed cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by late 2022.

Toronto’s First Cobalt announced it has signed a five-year supply contract with Glencore AG to ship material from Kamoto Copper Company, its subsidiary in the DRC, starting in the fourth quarter of 2022. Glencore has helped finance First Cobalt’s plant-reopening plans.

A second supply agreement is in the works after First Cobalt inked a memorandum of understanding with IXM S.A., a subsidiary of China Molybdenum Co. (CMOC), to source cobalt from the Tenke Fungurume Mine in the DRC. The parties are working toward reaching a definitive contract.

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Quebec crafts plan to advance critical and strategic minerals sector – by Erik Richer La Flèche (Canadian Mining Journal – January 6, 2021)

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Quebec has a modern, diversified, and somewhat dirigiste economy, where the Quebec government is not afraid to assume a central role. For decades now, the provincial government has attempted to identify economic sectors that – in its opinion – have a promising future.

On Oct. 29, 2020, the government added the exploration and mining of minerals to the list when it released the Quebec Plan for the Development of Critical and Strategic Minerals (2020-2025).

The critical and strategic minerals sector now joins several others that the government has recently recognized as growth opportunities, including food production and transformation, electricity exports, green hydrogen, the electrification of transportation and batteries.

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Chinese companies are betting heavily on Democratic Republic of Congo’s mines – by Jevans Nyabiage (South China Morning Post – December 27, 2020)

https://www.scmp.com/

Chinese companies are betting big on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s mining industry as copper prices surged to a seven-year high driven by China’s strong recovery and the push for electric cars.

Chinese mineral mining and exploration giant, China Molybdenum Co. (CMOC), cemented its grip on the DRC’s mining industry after it acquired Arizona-based mining company, Freeport-McMoRan’s indirect 95 per cent interest in the Kisanfu copper-cobalt deposit for US$550 million.

The Chinese company said Kisanfu, located in Lualaba province, was one of the world’s largest, highest-grade undeveloped cobalt and copper projects, containing about 6.3 million tonnes of copper and 3.1 million tonnes of cobalt.

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Cobalt explorer primed for action in 2021: Fuse Cobalt expects to follow up on “spectacular” drill results from 2018 – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – January 8, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

An anticipated surge of interest in electric vehicles and the revival of a cobalt refinery has lit a fire under Vancouver’s Fuse Cobalt to get back into the field in northeastern Ontario.

The rebranded junior miner is preparing for an active year on its exploration properties, northeast of the town of Cobalt.

The company, formerly known as LiCo Energy Metals, changed its name last year and took complete ownership of two properties after negotiating the termination of an option agreement with Surge Exploration.

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USA Rare Earth outlines domestic mine-to-magnet strategy – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – January 6, 2021)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Since founding privately held USA Rare Earths three years ago, Pini Althaus has focused on turning his vision of creating a secure supply of rare earth elements in the United States a reality.

The New York-based CEO is equally determined to establish REE separation and processing capability in the U.S. and build manufacturing facilities for magnets containing the critical elements that are used in everything from American Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets to electric vehicles and wind turbines.

It’s essential, he said, in order to wean the world from its dependence on processing REEs in China, which in recent years has also become a net REE importer.

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NEWS RELEASE: Government of Canada and Province of Ontario invest $10 Million to establish North America’s first cobalt refinery in Northern Ontario (FedNor – December 16, 2020)

FedNor and NOHFC investments to create more than 100 full-time jobs, improve Canada’s supply chain and reduce import dependency for electric vehicle battery production

The Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario are each investing $5 million in the First Cobalt Corporation to accelerate domestic production of battery-grade cobalt sulfate, a required element needed to produce long-range electric vehicles (EVs).

The announcement was made today by Terry Sheehan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages and Minister responsible for FedNor and the Honourable Greg Rickford, Ontario’s Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines, and Minister of Indigenous Affairs.

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Critical materials markets 2021 outlook – by Daniel Sekulich (Northern Miner – December 10, 2020)

https://www.northernminer.com/

For 20 years, analyst Jon Hykawy has been looking at the global critical materials markets and providing advice to companies about the sector. The president of Toronto-based Stormcrow Capital spoke to The Northern Miner about what he thinks the new year will hold for this part of the mining industry.

The Northern Miner: What do you think the critical materials markets are generally going to be like in 2021?

Jon Hykawy: Well, I hope they will be improved. There’s an old adage that the best cure for high prices is high prices, and the best cure for low prices is low prices.

On the battery materials side we obviously had a weak period here with Covid striking demand in China, first, and then everywhere else thereafter. Lithium has been at a low ebb for a period of time.

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OPINION: Down to rare earth: Canada ignores China’s resource power grab at its own peril – by Steven Fletcher (Globe and Mail – November 28, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Steven Fletcher was the member of Parliament for Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia from 2004 to 2015 and Canada’s first permanently disabled federal cabinet minister. He resides in Manitoba and is the principal of Fletcher Focus International.

Every day, amid the wilderness of boreal forest, Canadians driving along Manitoba’s Provincial Road 315 pass by Bernic Lake, just 165 kilometres outside Winnipeg.

They have nary a clue that they’ve driven past the world’s largest mining operation for a rare and highly valuable resource – one that’s worth more than gold, yet is little-known in the world at large.

Cesium – a soft, alkali metal that is element 55 on the periodic table – is categorized as a “rare earth mineral,” one of the vital elements for the technology we use today and will use tomorrow, from solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles and fast-charging batteries that could be the key to a clean-energy future to cutting-edge military tech and weapons.

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Videogames have a conflict mineral problem – by Jini Maxwell (Arts Hub.com.au – November, 24 2020)

https://www.artshub.com.au/

On 28 November 2019, a post on the subreddit r/showerthoughts went viral: ‘lamps in video games use real electricity.’ The line quickly made the rounds of the internet, perfectly and whimsically expressing a hard truth around which there is a growing consciousness: while playing videogames might be a form of escapism for some, they are still part of the real world, use real resources, and are impacted by the unequal social structures of human societies.

It’s an uncomfortable but important thing to acknowledge: consumer technologies, including gaming consoles, do rely on real resources, and the specific minerals they require to function can stoke real-world conflicts.

This issue is so prevalent that the major consumer tech companies release annual reports on their conflict mineral supply chains. We’re going to examine those reports here.

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Canadian mining can supply the metals for a clean energy future – by Cody Battershill (Northern Miner – November 24, 2020)

https://www.northernminer.com/

If leadership on climate action and environmental best practices are worthwhile pursuits, then the Canadian mining sector is an industry that’s deserving of Canada’s – and the global market’s – full support.

And if a strong regulatory framework for environmental performance, growing Indigenous support and a superior record on human rights are equally important benchmarks, then our country’s mining sector is on the right track.

Beyond the metals that contribute to so much of our modern world, let’s focus for the moment on electric vehicles (EVs). They’re viewed by a growing number of consumers here and abroad as an important way to help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve air quality in many developing cities.

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China’s control of rare earth minerals another challenge for President-elect Biden – by Tom Jurkowsky (Capital Gazette – November 22, 2020)

https://www.capitalgazette.com/

Tom Jurkowsky is a retired Navy rear admiral who served on active duty for 31 years.

In a recent presentation, Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite said he thought “China is probably the greatest threat to our country that Americans do not understand.”

He added he believes what we are seeing emerge is a threat beyond any comparison ever in the history of our country.

Braithwaite was addressing the military threat that China poses. We have addressed the exponential growth of the Chinese military on these pages, along with other issues such as our dependency on China for pharmaceutical products; our reliance on China for countless consumer products, due in part to our diminished manufacturing base; and even Wall Street investing in Chinese companies.

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How do cobalt and nickel stack up in race to dominate electric vehicle battery market? – by By David McKay (MiningMX – November 23, 2020)

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THERE is agreement that battery metals of all stripes will benefit from the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). According to a report by Morgan Stanley, the EV market will take a 26% slice of the total automotive market by 2030 from 3% today.

The question, however, is that given the pace of scientific development, which metals with battery application today will come to dominate in the future?

There are divided views, however, on the extent to which price changes will influence the usage of two key contenders: nickel and cobalt.

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Opinion: Strategic vigilance and rare earth elements – by Mackubin Owens (The Providence Journal – November 17, 2020)

https://www.providencejournal.com/

Mackubin Thomas Owens is a senior fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia.

On Sept. 30, President Donald Trump signed an executive order declaring a national emergency in the mining industry with the goal of incentivizing “the domestic production of rare earth minerals [also called rare earth elements (REEs)] critical for military technologies while reducing American dependence on China.”

The EO states that the country’s heavy reliance on critical minerals from foreign adversaries constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.

Trump ordered the appropriate departments to study the matter, examining the feasibility of government grants for production equipment, as well as tariffs, quotas or other import restrictions against China and other foreign adversaries.

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