https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
More than 16 years have passed since a small mining company discovered a rich nickel deposit in a remote part of northern Ontario and christened the region with a name that has stuck: the Ring of Fire.
Successive governments and companies have touted the potential of the region, entranced by optimistic estimates of tens of billions of dollars of minerals – including those critical to electric vehicle battery production – buried in the wetlands.
Businesses and organizations from Thunder Bay and throughout the North heard a presentation from Ring of Fire Metals CEO Kristan Straub at the Italian Cultural Centre on Jan. 23.
THUNDER BAY — Kristan Straub provided an update on the proposed Eagle’s Nest mining project on Tuesday at the Italian Cultural Centre. The chief executive officer of Ring of Fire Metals delivered a presentation describing how far the project has come.
Ring of Fire Metals is the Canadian subsidiary of Australian company, Wyloo Metals. One concern about the Eagle’s Nest project is the fact that it is being built on treaty-protected lands, meaning any development in the region needs to happen in consultation with and approval from surrounding First Nations communities.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/
Some First Nations still opposed to development as need for critical minerals grows
As the demand for critical minerals grows, the CEO of the main company involved in northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire says it’s developing a nickel deposit that could be producing minerals for two decades.
Wyloo Metals CEO Kristan Straub gave the update Tuesday in a speech to business leaders in Thunder Bay, where he outlined the company’s plans for the Ring of Fire and discussed how his company is engaging with First Nations in the region now and into the future. “[Eagle’s Nest] is Canada’s best opportunity for a new nickel sulphide deposit,” Straub said.
Billionaire Andrew Forrest is shutting the West Australian nickel mines his private company, Wyloo, bought for $760 million six months ago, bowing to the supply glut that has crashed nickel prices and triggered the loss of around 1000 jobs across WA.
The mines near Kambalda will go into care and maintenance from May 31 amid a steep decline in nickel prices that Australia’s producers have blamed on a glut from China-backed operations in Indonesia. Dr Forrest wants to see a shake-up of the 147-year-old London Metals Exchange, which does not distinguish pricing for nickel material produced under high environmental, social and governance standards in Australia, and what he calls dirty nickel mined from Indonesia.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
SPC Nickel posts maiden mineral estimate on West Graham Project
An emerging Sudbury nickel mining company has posted a first-time mineral estimate of its deposit in the Sudbury basin. SPC Nickel released a maiden estimate of its West Graham Project on Jan. 17, one of two deposits on its Lockerby East nickel and copper property in an area which has seen previous mining operations.
The company said in the news release that West Graham has the potential to be developed quickly as a low-cost, open-pit operation in its initial stages of mining. But with more exploration, West Graham has huge mineral upside at depth.
Demand from the energy transition was supposed to underpin strong prices for nickel and lithium. But the battery minerals slump appears to be entering a new phase.
The most interesting word in BHP’s December quarter operations update can be found on page 14 – “structural”. That’s how the mining giant describes the changes ripping through the nickel sector, and threatening the viability of its Nickel West project in Western Australia.
“The nickel industry is undergoing a number of structural changes and is at a cyclical low in realised pricing,” BHP said. “Nickel West is not immune to these challenges. Operations are being actively optimised, and options are being evaluated to mitigate the impacts of the sharp fall in nickel prices.” BHP also said it would consider whether it needed to take a writedown on the value of the Nickel West asset.
https://www.thesudburystar.com/
Among other steps, it has opened its Integrated Remote Operating Center that services its five underground mines in Sudbury
Vale Base Metals Limited and Epiroc Canada have signed a deal to develop, test and use what they call ‘groundbreaking’ techniques to make mining safer.
Vale said it plans to use Epiroc’s technology and digital advances in underground technology to remove employees from the rock face, production drilling areas and ground support locations in support of safe and efficient mining activities.
LONDON, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Nickel was the worst performer among the London Metal Exchange’s (LME) base metals last year by some margin as the market priced in a wave of new Indonesian supply.
Indonesia’s mined production rose by 29.2% year on year in the first 10 months of 2023, according to the International Nickel Study Group. Nickel demand is rising fast thanks to its use in electric vehicle batteries but nowhere near the pace of supply growth.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Gord Gilpin says companies discussing ‘strategic alternatives’ are part of ‘normal course of business’
Vale’s head of Ontario base metal operations, Gord Gilpin, is tamping down media speculation of a potential merger with Glencore, its crosstown mining neighbour in Sudbury.
Gilpin issued a Jan. 12 notice to its employees — Clarification of Synergy with Glencore — that it’s business as usual and no talks are underway.
https://www.thesudburystar.com/
Pierre Poilievre also says Sudbury and its minerals have a big role to play in providing clean energy
Pierre Poilievre took advantage of the bracing conditions in Sudbury on Saturday to stress his plan for cheaper heating bills, as well as take some shots at his main political rival, who recently returned from a vacation in Jamaica.
“While Justin Trudeau flies around in a taxpayer-funded private jet, burning fuel and passing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, he punishes people for heating their homes,” said the Conservative leader, against the backdrop of an Axe the Carbon Tax billboard on Lorne Street. “He is a high-tax, high-carbon hypocrite.”
https://www.northernminer.com/
Alamos Gold (TSX: AGI; NYSE: AGI) announced on Monday that it will acquire Quebec-focused junior Orford Mining (TSXV: ORM) in an all-share transaction valuing the company at $24 million or 10¢ per share.
Alamos already owns 27.5% of the company’s shares. If the acquisition is approved by Orford shareholders at a meeting scheduled for March, they will receive 0.005588 of an Alamos share for each Orford share held.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Stan Sudol sees synergies and cost savings if Glencore and Vale form mining joint venture in the Sudbury basin
Vale Base Metals chairman Mark Cutifani’s remarks this week to Reuters new agency about a pursuing a business combination between his company and Glencore in the Sudbury basin has mining analyst Stan Sudol wondering, “What took them so long?”
The Sudbury-raised and Toronto-based owner of the Republic of Mining website is a keen observer of the global nickel industry and of the Sudbury camp. Now is the “perfect time” for a business combination between Sudbury’s two largest miners, and one that’s long overdue, he said.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Canada Nickel Company Inc. (CNC-X) chief executive Mark Selby sees the potential for a major mining company to buy the firm after it attracted yet another strategic investment from a global power player.
Toronto-based Canada Nickel on Friday announced an US$18.8-million equity financing from Korean electric car battery maker Samsung SDI Co., Ltd. The funds will be used to develop an Ontario electric vehicle battery minerals mine that Canada Nickel hopes to have in production before the end of the decade.
NiVolt Technologies says it has mixed hydroxide precipitate production capabilities and is scouting locations for a hydrometallurgical facility in Quebec
A new hydrometallurgical conversion facility to process nickel concentrate may be coming to Quebec. The news comes from an announcement by NiVolt Technologies of successful production testing and advancement of a project feasibility study.
NiVolt is a portfolio company of Kinterra Capital, a Toronto-based private equity firm. Kinterra recently closed a US$565-million battery metals mining fund. Its holdings include a stake in the Dumont Nickel project, located about 60 kilometres north of Val-d’Or.
The biggest nickel producer on the ASX says Australia is no longer competitive in the sector and its miners will never attract a so-called green premium for their product.
Nickel Industries managing director Justin Werner issued the dire warning with more than 1000 jobs in the balance in Australia after a plunge in nickel prices and forecasts Indonesia will flood the market with supply for years to come.
