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Lithium

Winsome Resources confirms Canadian lithium project’s potential – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – September 17, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Australia’s Winsome Resources  said a scoping study for its $259 million Adina lithium project in Quebec, Canada, has reinforced the asset’s potential as a capital-efficient mine with a 17-year productive life.

The company inked a deal in April to acquire the Renard diamond mine and plant in northern Quebec with the goal of repurposing the existing infrastructure for processing ore from Adina. The lithium explorer and developer bought itself in August an extra three months to decide whether it would buy the past-producing mine, and today’s announcement suggests it would move in that direction.

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Argentina’s Economic Crisis Thwarts Bid to Go Nuclear With Lithium Bounty – by Jonathan Gilbert (Bloomberg News – September 17, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Nuclear scientists eager to add value to Argentina’s lithium bounty are being stymied by the country’s notorious economic problems.

For decades, the nation’s world-renowned atomic researchers have toiled on projects in Buenos Aires and Bariloche in Patagonia. Now, with Argentina emerging as the fastest-growing producer of lithium needed for the global shift to electric energy, they’re working on innovations to convert the battery metal into something scarcer than gold: lithium-6 isotopes that have key nuclear applications.

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What will Ottawa do about a wave of deals for junior lithium miners? – by Andrew Willis (Globe and Mail – September 17, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A wave of takeovers is poised to reshape the lithium mining industry, with global giant Rio Tinto Ltd. projected to become the dominant producer of an essential metal in a decarbonized economy.

With analysts predicting acquisitions are coming, how is the Canadian government that’s previously pledged to build a domestic critical mineral industry to going to react when foreign buyers begin circling a handful of domestic lithium producers? Based on deals done so far, Ottawa will sign off on any acquisition that doesn’t involve a China-based buyer.

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Lithium World Asks If Surprise Mine Shutdown Can Arrest Slump (Bloomberg News – September 12, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — An unexpected shutdown at one of China’s biggest lithium mines has left the industry scrambling to judge if the move will be enough to end the battery material’s prolonged price slump.

The share prices of lithium miners from Australia to South America spiked Wednesday after reports that Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., the world’s biggest battery producer, was suspending a mine that accounts for about 5% to 6% of global supply. Citigroup Inc. boosted its price forecasts, while Chinese futures for the metal surged.

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Nipigon lithium explorer has ‘starting point’ to place a pit – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – September 4, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Imagine Lithium releases its first mineral resource estimate for its Jackpot Project

A Nipigon-area lithium explorer has produced its first resource estimate on a property that shows open-pit mining potential.

Vancouver’s Imagine Lithium released an 8.4-million tonne lithium oxide resource for its Jackpot Project, 40 kilometres north of the town of Nipigon and 150 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.

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Lithium prices have crashed this year, squeezing margins at Australian miners – by Clint Jasper (Australian Broadcasting Corporation – September 2, 2024)

https://www.abc.net.au/

It is an essential element of the green energy transition and just a few years ago Australia was in the front seat of a lithium boom, but a new wave of supplies has put their competitive edge under pressure.

Consumers are increasingly opting to drive EVs, and governments continue to invest in solar and wind projects, yet lithium miners have spent the last year watching the price of their ore sinking. Last week, the financial pain inflicted by a year of declining lithium prices was revealed as Australia’s major producers opened their balance sheets up for investors.

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Lithium mine closures just ‘tip of the iceberg’ – by Alex Gluyas (Australian Financial Review – August 26, 2024)

https://www.afr.com/

The lithium sector is facing a wave of mine closures as prices for the battery material continue to decline despite some companies already delaying future projects.

UBS slashed its lithium price forecasts for the 2025 and 2026 calendar year by up to 23 per cent on Monday as it cautioned that not enough supply was being deferred, and global demand for electric vehicles was softening.

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Judge blocks Arizona lithium drilling that tribe says is threat to sacred lands – by Scott Sonner(Associated Press – August 21, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

A federal judge has temporarily blocked exploratory drilling for a lithium project in Arizona that tribal leaders say will harm land they have used for religious and cultural ceremonies for centuries.

Lawyers for the national environmental group Earthjustice and Colorado-based Western Mining Action Project are suing federal land managers on behalf of the Hualapai Tribe. They accuse the U.S. Bureau of Land Management of illegally approving drilling planned by an Australian mining company in the Big Sandy River Basin in northwestern Arizona, about halfway between Phoenix and Las Vegas.

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First Nation in northwestern Ont. moves ahead with permanent bridge, all-season road – by Darren MacDonald (CTV Northern Ontario – August 23, 2024)

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

The Ontario government is partnering with the Whitefeather Forest Community Resource Management Authority and the federal government to build a permanent bridge across the Berens River and an all-season road to Pikangikum First Nation.

The project will “unleash new economic opportunities, create safer travelling conditions, and improve the safety and quality of life for seven First Nation communities north of Red Lake,” the province said in a news release this week.

The Ontario government is partnering with the Whitefeather Forest Community Resource Management Authority and the federal government to build a permanent bridge across the Berens River and an all-season road to Pikangikum First Nation.

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Berens River bridge, road funding will be regional catalyst for northwest First Nations – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 22, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Spring construction start will bring road access to seven remote communities and a proposed lithium mine

The wheels are finally starting to roll on the planned construction of the long-overdue Berens River bridge and an initial 25-kilometre stretch of all-season road to reach Pikangikum First Nation, north of Red Lake.

Kenora-Rainy River MPP and cabinet minister Greg Rickford announced Aug. 21 that the province is partnering with the Whitefeather Forest Community Resource Management Authority and the federal government to build the bridge and an all-season road to Pikangikum.

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SQM profit down 63%, anticipates continued weak lithium prices – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – August 21, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Chile’s SQM (NYSE: SQM), the world’s second-biggest lithium producer, reported a sharp 63.2% decline in quarterly profit on the back of slumping prices of the key metal used in the batteries that power electric vehicles and high tech devices.

The company, which also manufactures fertilizers and industrial chemicals, said it expects the downward trend in lithium prices to continue for the rest of the year. SQM’s second-quarter net profit came in at $213.6 million, or 75 cents per share, falling short of analysts’ prediction of $296.7 million, or 95 cents per share, according to LSEG data.

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Northwestern Ont. lithium explorer inks strategic development partner – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 20, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Green Technology links with global battery giant EcoPro to joint venture on Nipigon-area lithium mine and Thunder Bay refinery

Australia’s Green Technology Metals has found a South Korean development partner to bring its two lithium deposits in northwestern Ontario into production and help build a refinery in Thunder Bay.

Perth-based Green Tech announced a strategic partnership with South Korean battery giant EcoPro Innovation through a framework agreement that involves an $8-million investment (Australian dollars) into the junior miner.

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Alberta government feeds $5 million to Calgary-based lithium company preparing to build $2.4B facility – by Matt Scace (Calgary Herald – August 15, 2024)

https://calgaryherald.com/

A Calgary-based company that extracts lithium from old oilfields has received new funding from the Alberta government that it says will help the company bring its multibillion-dollar project to market. E3 Lithium Ltd. announced Thursday it has received $5 million from the provincial government — yet another round of government funding for the company that turns wastewater from oil and gas into lithium.

Countries across the globe, including Canada, have become increasingly focused on lithium extraction, a resource needed to facilitate greater adoption of electric vehicles and other technologies.

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China’s Lithium Expansionist Interests Extend Beyond the Argentina-Bolivia-Chile Triangle – by Maria Zuppello (Dialogo Americas – August 12, 2024)

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In a recent report, China in Peru: The Hidden Costs of an Unequal Relationship, the United States Institute of Peace denounces the harm of Chinese expansion in Peru, particularly in the mining sector.

“The combination of a permissive political and legal environment in Peru, the poor social responsibility of Chinese companies and banks, and the absence of real control — in China or in Peru — of Chinese actors’ activities have devastating consequences,” writes the report’s author, Juan Pablo Cardenal, a research associate at the Argentina-based Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL), whose writings focus on content about China.

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Serbian Police Disperse Protesters Opposed To Lithium Mining (Radio Free Europe – August 11, 2024)

https://www.rferl.org/

BELGRADE — Serbian police have removed protesters opposed to lithium mining from two railway stations in the capital, Belgrade, where they were blocking train traffic.

Riot police used shields to disperse the protesters at the Prokop and Novi Beograd railway stations at around 5.30 a.m. on August 11, participants told RFE/RL.

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