https://smallcaps.com.au/
The call of Canada is being heard clearly by Australian lithium hopefuls, with some of the best-known names from the Aussie mining boom heading north to ride a wave driven by the US Government’s trade protection policies.
Ken Brinsden, the key man in growing Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS) from penny dreadful to $13 billion member of the ASX’s top 50, is the leading Australian lithium export as chairman of the Quebec-focussed Patriot Battery Metals.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Ontario Junior Exploration Program offers exploration funding for junior miners
There’s a looming global crunch for high-tech metals to feed the electric vehicle industry and not enough mines currently in production to meet that increasing demand.
To incentivize more exploration in Ontario, the provincial government announced in Sault Ste. Marie that it has invested $5.8 million to help a handful of exploration companies hunt for critical metals like nickel, copper, cobalt and lithium. The funding will be delivered through the Ontario Junior Exploration Program (OJEP) as part of a special critical minerals stream, launched in 2021.
Lithium Chile regrets losing ‘an incredible shareholder,’ COO says
Lithium Chile Inc., one of three Canadian miners affected by Ottawa’s snap decision to block Chinese investment in critical minerals, said the order has been satisfied, although it regrets losing an “incredible shareholder” that supplied valuable expertise.
Chengze Lithium International Ltd. had purchased a 19.4 per cent stake in Lithium Chile, making it one of the Calgary-based company’s largest shareholders. Chengze sold its shares to Gator Capital Ltd., a Toronto-based firm that focuses on investment consulting and asset management. The transaction was completed for about $34.5 million, or 91 cents per share.
Will bolster Canada Nickel’s plans to build a rare ‘zero-carbon’ nickel mine within two years
Canada Nickel Co. Inc. chief executive Mark Selby called Anglo American Plc’s decision to take a minority stake in his company a “game changer” that will bolster Canada Nickel’s plans to build a rare “zero-carbon” nickel mine within two years.
London-based Anglo American’s $24-million investment in Toronto-based Canada Nickel is the latest example of a major international player making a bet on Canada emerging as a node in the supply chain for electric vehicles, at least in North America and Europe, where governments are spending billions of dollars on subsidies aimed at weakening China’s hold on the market for batteries and the things needed to make them.
Diversified miner Anglo American has agreed to acquire a 9.9% minority interest in Canada Nickel Company, which owns the Crawford nickel project in Ontario, Canada. The major will make a C$24-million investment in Canada Nickel at a price of C$1.95 a common share – a 10% premium to the 30-day volume weighted average price.
Anglo will provide technology expertise to the Crawford project and has the exclusive right to buy up to 10% of recoveries of nickel concentrate, iron and chromium contained in the magnetite concentrates and any corresponding carbon credits from the Crawford project.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
SPC Nickel cuts deal with Vale to combine nickel deposits in Sudbury basin
A Sudbury exploration outfit has taken a great leap forward toward establishing itself as the city’s next nickel miner. SPC Nickel has struck a “cooperation agreement” with mining giant Vale to consolidate ownership of two adjacent nickel and copper deposits —SPC’s undeveloped West Graham and Vale’s Crean Hill 3 — into an advanced exploration project.
The junior miner is calling the deal a “transformational growth opportunity” for a one-time private company that went public two years ago with the objective of becoming the next nickel mining player in the Sudbury camp.
THUNDER BAY — A court hearing scheduled for this Friday in Toronto will determine whether Ginoogaming First Nation is granted an interlocutory injunction to prevent mineral exploration in part of its traditional territory pending the outcome of a lawsuit against Ontario and two mining companies.
In September 2021, the First Nation received an extension of an interim injunction preventing exploration firms connected to Geraldton prospector Mike Malouf from exercising their three-year Ontario government permits to explore in an area that Ginoogaming has declared to be sacred and culturally significant.
Canadian junior SPC Nickel and diversified miner Vale’s Canada subsidiary have announced that they will consolidate their adjacent and contiguous West Graham and Crean Hill 3 nickel and copper deposits, in the Sudbury mining camp of Ontario.
The agreement grants SPC Nickel the right to acquire a 100% interest in the surface and mineral rights of the Crean Hill 3 property. In consideration, certain rights and royalties will be extended to Vale across the combined project.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
The Ministry of Mines issued the order to facilitate negotiations over an Aboriginal title claim filed by the First Nation
GREENSTONE — The Ontario government has withdrawn a large tract of land near Long Lake # 58 First Nation from prospecting and mining claim registration. The order will remain in place indefinitely, subject to review.
On Dec. 15, 2022, the Ministry of Mines issued an order signed by Assistant Deputy Minister Afsana Qureshi, affecting 94,000 hectares or 940 square kilometres.
Intervention risks risked harming free flow of capital on which mining companies rely
The Toronto Stock Exchange has called on Canada’s government to do more to replace lost capital after Ottawa ordered three Chinese companies to divest their stakes in Canadian producers of critical minerals.
Dean McPherson, head of business development for mining at TSX’s operator TMX Group Inc., said the intervention by Justin Trudeau’s government risked harming the free flow of capital on which mining companies rely to explore and develop resources.
Canada has been a leading destination for minerals explorers for hundreds of years, dating back to the gold rushes of the mid to late 19th Century. The country remains one of the hottest places to hunt for minerals, ranging from gold to the critical minerals heavily in demand today.
The most recent Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies has Canada placed a close second in top exploration destinations in the world, with Saskatchewan second, Quebec sixth, and Yukon ninth as the amongst the top 10 most attractive mining regions across the globe.
https://www.northernminer.com/
Acme Lithium (CSE: ACME; US-OTC: ACLHF), a Vancouver-based exploration company targeting lithium deposits in the U.S. and Canada, is compiling geophysical and brine sample results, moving the company closer to expanded exploration and defined resources.
Acme has received a geophysics report outlining potential lithium-bearing clays at its Fish Lake Valley project in west-central Nevada. The company also received a letter of approval from the United States Bureau of Land Management for its upcoming phase two drill program at its Clayton Valley lithium brine project in Esmeralda Cty., NV.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Junior mining companies drill near Batchawana Bay to unlock copper and gold potential
The Algoma district, north and east of Sault Ste. Marie, is an often overlooked area when it comes to mineral exploration. But that doesn’t mean its geology and potential isn’t any less prospective than other areas of Northern Ontario.
The district is checkered with mostly copper properties from past producing mines that operated from the turn of the last century straight into the 1960s and 1970s, their operators’ fortunes raising or falling with the commodity prices of the green metal. Other former mines produced small amounts of gold, silver, nickel, zinc and lead.
Requiring notification on claims would have big impact on exploration: AME
The principal of free, prior and informed consent embedded in UNDRIP must apply to mineral claims in B.C., First Nations will argue in court – something that has the mining and exploration industry in B.C. worried.
First Nations, environmental groups and mining and exploration industry associations are in court today seeking intervenor status in a case that could have wide-ranging implications for mineral exploration in B.C., as well as the federal government’s critical minerals strategy, should the case succeed.
Ontario has created a mess by granting mining claims on land Grassy Narrows aims to make protected Indigenous territory, First Nation’s leaders say.
Barrick Gold Corp. is embroiled in a $100-million lawsuit against two junior mining companies, as an exploration deal between the firms fell apart over a decision to pause work to respect a First Nations’ opposition to mining on what it calls territorial land.
In recent court filings, Barrick says when it first signed on to conduct exploratory drilling in a swath of land 90 kilometres north of Kenora, it was unaware of the importance of the land to Grassy Narrows First Nation. The company says it wanted to first obtain consent before proceeding with its search for gold.
