Archive | Nickel

Russian indigenous peoples call on Elon Musk not to buy battery metals from Nornickel – by Thomas Nilsen (The Baren Observer – August 7, 2020)

August 7, 2020 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Europe Mining, International Media Resource Articles, Nickel, Norilsk Nickel

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/

The company that recently made international headlines for causing environmental disasters on the Taimyr Peninsula by spilling 20,000 tons of diesel fuel into a river in the fragile Arctic ecosystems is under increased pressure.

In a letter to Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, the Aborigen Forum urge him not to buy nickel, copper and other products from Nornickel until the company conducts a full and independent assessment of the environmental damage caused by its production.

This week, The Barents Observer could tell the story about dying tree leaves caused by massive air-pollution over a several square kilometers large area near Nornickel’s smelters in Monchegorsk on the Kola Peninsula. Continue Reading →

Noront to resume exploration in the Ring of Fire – by Darren MacDonald (CTV News Northern Ontario – August 6, 2020)

August 6, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

SUDBURY — Noront Resources Ltd. Announced Thursday it is reopening its Esker Site and mobilizing its team to resume exploration activities in the Ring of Fire.

The company’s Esker Site, which is located in the James Bay Lowlands, closed in April because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It normally has about 20 workers, the majority of whom are from the remote local First Nation communities of Marten Falls and Webequie.

“We are initiating a late summer field program that will require 12-15 people, during which we’ll employ soil sampling to explore for gold and airborne geophysical surveys to explore for nickel,” Noront president and CEO Alan Coutts said in a news release. Continue Reading →

Column: Elon Musk should invest in Sudbury – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – July 28, 2020)

July 31, 2020 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Nickel, Ontario Mining

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Elon Musk is practically begging nickel miners to boost production as potential future shortages would severely impact his ability to manufacture electric vehicles as the metal is a key component for the batteries on which Tesla Inc. depends.

Historically, nickel has always been a boom/bust metal due to the fact the world only produces about 2.1 million metric tonnes of the material a year as opposed to a more commonly used metal like copper at 20 million metric tonnes. And roughly only half of nickel production is of the Class-1 type that is used in batteries that run electric vehicles.

Currently, the cost of nickel is nearing a cyclical bottom, hence the reluctance of nickel miners to invest the possible near billion dollars it takes to bring on a new mine.

Musk is a multi-billionaire and his company stock is at an all-time high. Instead of whining to the mineral industry to invest “their shareholder money” in new nickel production at a time of low returns here are some suggestions to calm his fear of future shortages: Continue Reading →

Column: Elon Musk should invest in Sudbury – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – July 28, 2020)

July 28, 2020 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery, Stan Sudol Columns/Media References and Appearances, Sudbury Basin

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Elon Musk is practically begging nickel miners to boost production as potential future shortages would severely impact his ability to manufacture electric vehicles as the metal is a key component for the batteries on which Tesla Inc. depends.

Historically, nickel has always been a boom/bust metal due to the fact the world only produces about 2.1 million metric tonnes of the material a year as opposed to a more commonly used metal like copper at 20 million metric tonnes. And roughly only half of nickel production is of the Class-1 type that is used in batteries that run electric vehicles.

Currently, the cost of nickel is nearing a cyclical bottom, hence the reluctance of nickel miners to invest the possible near billion dollars it takes to bring on a new mine. Continue Reading →

Timmins mine developer heeds Elon Musk’s call – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 27, 2020)

July 28, 2020 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Metals and Manufacturing, Nickel, Timmins

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Elon Musk’s plea for mining companies to “mine more nickel” had an apparent effect on Canada Nickel Company.

The Toronto-based exploration company is pitching its future mine project, north of Timmins, as a zero-emissions operation.

The Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur and electric vehicle maker promised a whopper of a Tesla contract for those producers that mine nickel “efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way” as lithium-ion battery demand starts to pick up. Continue Reading →

NEWS RELEASE: VALE COMPLETES TIE-INS OF NEW STACKS (July 28, 2020)

July 28, 2020 in Nickel, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Vale

Signals Completion of Superstack Being Taken Out of Service

SUDBURY, July 28, 2020 – Vale has completed the final tie-in of the flue systems to the new 450’ (137 metre) Stacks and took its Copper Stack out of service at the Copper Cliff Smelter Complex during its planned maintenance period this month. With these project milestones achieved, Vale can complete the process of taking the Superstack out of service.

“Completing this process of taking the Superstack completely out of service is symbolic of Vale’s evolution towards reducing our environmental footprint with innovative and more sustainable Smelter operations ” said Dino Otranto, Chief Operating Officer for Vale’s North Atlantic Operations and Asian Refineries.

The two smaller and more efficient stacks will require far less energy to operate than the Superstack, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Vale’s Copper Cliff Smelter by approximately 40%. At the same time, Vale’s Clean AER Project will reduce particulate emissions by 40% and dramatically reduce SO2 emissions by 85%. Continue Reading →

Canada Nickel aims for zero-carbon emissions at Crawford nickel project – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – July 27, 2020)

July 27, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Junior Exploration Sector, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Timmins

Global mining news

On Tesla’s second quarter conference call last week, Elon Musk entreated the industry to: “Please mine more nickel – Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way.”

Musk’s comments couldn’t have come at a better time for Mark Selby, president and CEO of Canada Nickel (TSXV: CNC), which owns 100% of the Crawford nickel-cobalt sulphide deposit in Ontario.

The company has announced that it is setting up NetZero Metals, a wholly-owned subsidiary that will use existing technologies to produce zero-carbon nickel, cobalt, and iron products. Continue Reading →

As Elon Musk calls for more nickel production, a mining analyst has some suggestions – by Darren MacDonald (CTV News Northern Ontario – July 24, 2020)

July 25, 2020 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Stan Sudol Columns/Media References and Appearances, Sudbury Basin

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

SUDBURY — Earlier this week, Tesla boss Elon Musk called for global mining companies to boost their production of nickel, a key element in making batteries for electric cars.

“Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way,” Musk said Wednesday, as the company announced second-quarter results. “Don’t wait for nickel to go back to some high point you experienced five years ago … Wherever you are in the world, please mine more nickel.”

Musk made the comments as Tesla is boosting its production of electric vehicles. Overall, demand for the type of nickel needed in electric car batteries grew by 28 per cent in 2019 alone. Continue Reading →

Sudbury Basin Nickel Deposits: An Enduring and Extraordinary Resource – by Stan Sudol (July 24, 2020)

July 24, 2020 in Nickel, Northern Ontario History, Ontario Mining, Stan Sudol Columns/Media References and Appearances, Sudbury Basin, Sudbury History

Inco World War Two Poster

Notwithstanding the historical hype of the Klondike Gold Rush in Canadian society, the two most important mining events in our history are the discoveries of the Sudbury nickel mines in 1883 and the Cobalt silver boom of 1903.

Both were the result of railroads – the construction of the Canadian Pacific to British Columbia in Sudbury’s case and the building of the provincial Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway, going through Cobalt, which was for the colonization of northern Ontario.

But the similarities end there. Sudbury was built with U.S. capital and strategic technology. Cobalt was largely built and significantly financed by Canadian business and was the start of Canada’s global reputation as mine finders and builders. The two camps had much overlap but were also very distinct in their own rights.

Ohio-born businessman Samual J. Ritchie was the driving force who really started mining production in the Sudbury Basin with the founding of the Canadian Copper Company in 1886. A subsequent merger in 1902 with the New Jersey-based Orford Copper Company, which had the vital technology to separate the nickel from the copper in Sudbury’s complex ore, lead to the creation of the legendary International Nickel Company. (INCO) Continue Reading →

COLUMN: Advice to Elon Musk About Potential Nickel Shortages – Stan Sudol (July 23, 2020)

July 23, 2020 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Metals and Manufacturing, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery, Stan Sudol Columns/Media References and Appearances, Sudbury Basin

Elon Musk is practically begging nickel miners to boost production as potential future shortages would severely impact his ability to manufacture electric vehicles as the metal is a key component for the batteries Tesla Inc. depends on.

Historically, nickel has always been a boom/bust metal due to the fact the world only produces about 2.1 million metric tonnes of the material a year as opposed to a more commonly used metal like copper at 20 million metric tonnes. And roughly only half of nickel production is of the Class-1 type that is used in batteries that run electric vehicles.

Currently the cost of nickel is nearing a cyclical bottom, hence the reluctance of nickel miners to invest the possible near billion it takes to bring on a new mine.

Musk is a multi-billionaire and his company stock is at an all time high. Instead of whining to the mineral industry to invest “their shareholder money” in new nickel production at a time of low returns here are some suggestions to calm his fear of future shortages: Continue Reading →

Timmins could be hosting a monster nickel deposit – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – July 14, 2020)

July 14, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Junior Exploration Sector, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Timmins

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Poised for a nickel rush, Canada Nickel is confident its Crawford nickel-cobalt sulphide project could be a global-scale producer

Does nickel in Timmins have the glamour of gold? There have been significant nickel finds in the rock formations around the famed northeastern Ontario mining camp but the production results always fell short of expectations.

Canada Nickel Company’s Crawford nickel-cobalt sulphide project could quickly be changing that narrative.

Helmed by one of the world’s foremost nickel experts, company chair and CEO Mark Selby believes the 4,900-hectare property, 40 kilometres north of Timmins, has the potential to be a world-class, district-scale deposit. Continue Reading →

Nickel Shuffle; Russians Go Home And BHP Moves In – by Tim Treadgold (Forbes Magazine – July 3, 2020)

July 3, 2020 in Australia/New Caledonia/Papua New Guinea Mining, International Media Resource Articles, Nickel

https://www.forbes.com/

An environmental incident in the far north of Russia has confirmed the case for nickel as a metal with strong investment appeal and might also play a role in the world’s biggest mining company, BHP, speeding up the sale of its thermal coal assets.

Linking those seemingly unrelated events are the contentious claims about climate change and the need to ween the world off fossil fuels, replacing coal and oil with alternative energy sources and battery storage of electricity.

The case for nickel has been explored in a number of my recent reports including one early last month headed “Nickel Rush Restarts As Steel And Battery Demand Rises”. Continue Reading →

Russian mining giant behind major Arctic fuel spill admits waste ‘violations’ (South China Post – June 29, 2020)

June 29, 2020 in International Media Resource Articles, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines, Nickel, Norilsk Nickel

https://www.scmp.com/

Agence France-Presse – A Russian mining giant behind an enormous Arctic fuel spill last month said Sunday it had suspended workers at a metals plant who were responsible for pumping waste water into nearby tundra.

Norilsk Nickel cited a “flagrant violation of operating rules” in a statement announcing it had suspended employees responsible for dumping waste water from a dangerously full reservoir into wildlife.

The incident occurred at the Talnakh enrichment plant near the Arctic city of Norilsk, the company said, one month after the unprecedented fuel leak sparked a state of emergency declared by President Vladimir Putin. Continue Reading →

New lawsuit targets Minnesota’s copper-nickel mining rules – by Jimmy Lovrien (Minnesota Public Radio News – June 25, 2020)

June 26, 2020 in Copper, International Media Resource Articles, Minnesota Duluth Complex and Iron Range, Nickel

https://www.mprnews.org/

Duluth News Tribune – Opponents of copper-nickel mining are urging Minnesota regulators to change the state’s copper-nickel mining rules to ban that type of mining within the same watershed as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

The Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters announced in a news release Wednesday it was filing a lawsuit under the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act asking a judge to order the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources “to initiate a public process to amend state non-ferrous mining rules that would fully protect the water and air quality, wilderness character and other irreplaceable natural resources of the Boundary Waters” and “to prohibit sulfide-ore copper mining and related surface disturbance in the Rainy River-Headwaters.”

If successful, the rule change would effectively kill Twin Metals’ proposed underground copper-nickel mine, processing plant and tailings storage facility along Birch Lake, which flows into the BWCAW via the Kawishiwi River. Continue Reading →

NEWS RELEASE: In Memory of Dr. Tony Naldrett (Platinum Group Metals – June 22, 2020)

June 24, 2020 in Canada Mining, Nickel

http://www.platinumgroupmetals.net/

It is with sadness and condolences to his family, colleagues and many friends that we write of the passing of Dr. Tony Naldrett, “Tony” this past weekend, in England. We at Platinum Group Metals can trace the company founding all the way back to the teaching and enthusiasm of this amazing man.

President and CEO R. Michael Jones said: I met Tony as an undergraduate student, in 1984 at University of Toronto and he taught me Ore Deposits. His enthusiasm for Copper Nickel and Platinum Group Metals was obvious and we spent more time on this topic than other deposit types. Tony was a former RAF pilot and a leading academic with a background at Cambridge.

He was a gracious, generous and extremely friendly person who could speak to anyone at any level. In his 70’s, cane in hand, he climbed over outcrops with Frank Hallam (CFO and Co-founder of the Company) and I, in Northern Ontario. Tony was brightly explaining a chemical phase diagram he had likely taught me 20 years earlier, as he cheerfully climbed over logs and rocks. Continue Reading →