Nickel – Page 16 – Republic of Mining

Decarbonization ambitions ignite debate over mining, permitting – by Robert Zullo (Iowa Capital Dispatch – May 31,2023)

June 1, 2023

Home

The decarbonized, electrified future envisioned by the Biden administration, state governments, automakers, utility companies and corporate sustainability goals depends to a huge degree on minerals and metals.

Lots more lithium will be needed for car and truck batteries, as well as the big banks of batteries that are increasingly popping onto the electric grid to balance the intermittency of wind and solar power. Those batteries, as well as wind turbines and solar panels, also need copper, cobalt,, nickel, zinc and “rare earth” elements used in electric car motors and other clean technologies, among other materials.

Industry, business groups optimistic on nickel mining bordering Lake Superior – by Bruce Walker (The Center Square – May 26, 2023)

May 30, 2023

https://www.thecentersquare.com/

(The Center Square) – Geologists and mining experts say Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula may provide a solution for an obstacle facing the electric vehicle transition. Minerals are needed, and this area has them.

U.S. manufacturers are largely dependent on foreign countries like China, Russia and Indonesia for critical minerals like nickel and cobalt, which are key materials for electric vehicle batteries. Automakers increasingly are looking for domestic supplies, and northern Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as Michigan’s Upper Peninsula – a geological area bordering Lake Superior dubbed the Midcontinent Rift – may provide the solution.

Nickel’s price paralysis could see mines ‘gobbled up’ cheap – by Peter Ker (Australian Financial Review – May 25, 2023)

May 25, 2023

https://www.afr.com/

Miners say pricing mechanisms for nickel have struggled to keep pace with the industry’s shift to supplying the specialised needs of battery and electric vehicle makers, creating an opportunity for acquisitions on the cheap.

Australian nickel was traditionally sold to stainless steel producers in briquettes or powders, but miners such as BHP now sell the bulk of their nickel to electric vehicle manufacturers like Tesla, which want nickel for the cathodes of lithium-ion batteries.

Column: Why tear down the Superstack? Turn it into a tourist attraction – by Judith Van Boxel (Sudbury Star – May 17, 2023)

May 19, 2023

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

We are about to destroy the Superstack. What a wasted opportunity

Some years ago when I was a business owner, I was also a member of the Sudbury Chamber of Commerce. At the time, the chamber was interested in the potential of Sudbury as a tourism destination in Ontario and I was asked to come up with an idea that would explore that possibility.

Together with a few friends who were local lodge operators and with added help from the Sudbury amateur radio operators, local army cadets and others, we attracted several hot air balloon pilots to Sudbury. One weekend in the summer, we hosted the first and only Sudbury Hot Air Balloon Festival that took place from the Lily Creek playing fields .

Future of Canada’s mining industry hangs on who gets U.S. subsidies, with nickel the ‘litmus test’ – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – May 17, 2023)

May 17, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Execs worry a quirk in the Inflation Reduction Act could allow nickel powerhouse Indonesia to qualify for tax incentives, making it almost impossible for North American companies to compete

Last month, Republican congressman Pete Stauber of Minnesota penned a pointed letter to United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai before she embarked on a trip to Asia.

“I write to express concern over recent comments by Indonesian government officials that the country is seeking to enter a limited free trade agreement with the U.S., to increase trade of critical minerals needed for EV batteries and other renewable technologies,” Stauber said in the letter, dated April 14.

LME Fights to Regain Trust After Last Year’s Nickel Crisis (Bloomberg News – May 16, 2023)

May 17, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The embattled London Metal Exchange is still trying to rebuild faith in its nickel contract after an epic short squeeze last year, according to Chief Executive Officer Matthew Chamberlain.

The crisis last March, when the metal used in stainless steel and electric vehicle batteries spiked 250% in little more than 24 hours, brought the venerable LME to the brink of collapse. It raised doubts about the exchange’s viability as the world’s benchmark pricing mechanism for nickel and was followed by plunging trading volumes and frequent wild price swings.

Column: Sudbury impact crater has created modern-day advantages – by Tim Philp (Sudbury Star – May 12, 2023)

May 15, 2023

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Imagine, if you will, a calm, peaceful day in the middle of a shallow sea 1.8 billion years ago in the area of Sudbury Ontario. There was very little in the way of life on the planet, and what was there was mostly tiny life-forms somewhat akin to the bacteria of today. There would be little recognizable in the landscape due to the changes that the earth has undergone due to the shifting of the continents.

Suddenly, everything would have changed. Coming down from the sky, a large comet composed of water, dust, and rock strikes the planet with incredible force. This comet, between 10 and 16 kilometres across would have struck the planet at speeds of tens of kilometres per second, hardly even noticing the earth’s atmosphere as it plunged into the ground, deforming the earth’s crust up to 16 kilometres below the surface, creating a crater more than 250 kilometres across.

‘We’re building that Ring of Fire,’ says Doug Ford – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – May 12, 2023)

May 12, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Premier said Far North mine and road development will elevate standard of living in remote communities

Threats of litigation and conflict aside, Ontario Premier Doug Ford isn’t backing down from his government’s commitment to develop mines in the James Bay lowlands. “We’re building that Ring of Fire as sure as I’m talking to you,” said Ford in a media scrum in Brampton on May 11 for an unrelated announcement.

Ford responded after one Queen’s Park reporter asked him if his government will rethink its development plans in the Far North and if he’s “prepared to get on that bulldozer?” after absorbing much criticism and protests by Indigenous communities and leadership, and environmental activist groups, over his government’s approach to introducing Bill 71 in early March.

Sudbury: Ancient Apocalypse to Modern Resource – by Ian Burron Ian (Geology For Investors – January 25, 2022)

May 12, 2023

Home

The Sudbury basin was formed by a 10-15 km wide asteroid or comet impacting a shallow sea in what is now central Ontario, Canada 1.85 billion years ago. The resulting ~200-250 km wide crater is the second largest known in the world, being much larger than the 150 km Chicxulub crater formed by the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. If such as impact were to occur today it would certainly spell the end of life as we know it.

The basin is one of the oldest craters still in existence and has been deformed and eroded into its’ present oval shape and 60 km size. Although the basin itself is not easily recognizable as a crater, smaller scale features such as shatter cones are well known in the area, and a layer of rock fragments blasted out of the crater have been mapped as far away as Minnesota, some 800 km distant. A layer of ash and debris likely encircled the entire planet at the time.

Nickel Rim South Mine wins national safety award – by Len Gillis (Sudbury.com – May 9, 2023)

May 11, 2023

https://www.sudbury.com/

Sudbury INO Nickel Rim South Mine named as winner of the National Metal Mine John T. Ryan Award for mine safety

Another major Sudbury mining operation has been recognized for a national mine safety achievement. Nickel Rim South Mine (Sudbury INO) has been named as winner of the John T. Ryan National Metal Mine safety award for 2022.

This follows the equally positive announcement that came out last week that Vale’s Coleman Mine won the regional Ryan Award. It was at the same time that Vale revealed the national John T. Ryan Trophy for 2022 in the Select Mines category for outstanding safety was awarded to the Voisey’s Bay Mine.

Magmatic Nickel Deposits: The Needle in the Haystack – by Ian Burron (Geology For Investors – May 5, 2023)

May 8, 2023

Home

About 30% of the world’s nickel (Ni) comes from magmatic deposits. Despite accounting for a minority of Ni production, magmatic deposits are highly sought-after due to their large tonnage, high grades, and ease of processing relative to Ni laterite deposits. In fact, the world’s most valuable ore body is a magmatic nickel deposit.

Magmatic Nickel Basics

As the name implies, magmatic nickel deposits form directly from molten rock. Mafic-ultramafic (metal-rich, silica-poor) magmas naturally contain higher Ni contents, and when this Ni encounters sulfur the two elements stick together to form droplets of sulfide melt.

Exclusive: Tesla looking at “opportunities for industrial facility, mineral extraction” in Ontario – by Emma Jarratt (Electric Autonomy – May 1, 2023)

May 2, 2023

https://electricautonomy.ca/

Tesla gives more hints about the nature of its plans for a Canadian facility in new lobbyist registry documents filed last month, Electric Autonomy exclusively reveals

Tesla is seeking “opportunities for industrial facility, mineral extraction” in Ontario, per new documents filed with the Ontario government, Electric Autonomy can report.

The lobbyist registry, updated in April, indicates that the mineral-hungry automaker is interested in taking more control over its electric vehicle battery supply chain and Ontario is a preferred location.

Will we have enough nickel for our EVs in 2030? – by Brian Donovan (Globe and Mail – April 18, 2023)

April 18, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Nickel demand is increasing with the shift to electric vehicles. Let’s take a look at what is happening with this commodity.

Pricing:

Nickel prices were very volatile in 2022. On March 8, 2022, the metal topped US$100,000 a tonne before the London Metal Exchange halted trading, something that has never happened in the nickel market. The spike was driven initially by the outbreak of war in Ukraine, which led to a short squeeze and margin calls for Tsingshan Holding Group Co., a large stainless-steel manufacturer in China.

JPMorgan Has Made Deep Cuts to Metals Business After Nickel Crisis – by Alfred Cang, Jack Farchy and Eddie Spence (Bloomberg News – April 13, 2023)

April 14, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. has cut dozens of base metals clients and slashed bankers’ bonuses, as the business remains under harsh internal scrutiny in the wake of last year’s nickel crisis.

JPMorgan, Wall Street’s biggest player in metals, has been reviewing its commodity exposure for over a year after it played a prominent role as the biggest counterparty of the Chinese company at the center of the nickel short squeeze on the London Metal Exchange. It was also a financier of the top Chinese copper trader whose business ground to a halt after a liquidity crisis last year.

The Drift: Nickel remains a key exploration driver in the Sudbury basin – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – April 11, 2023)

April 11, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Two junior miners look to breathe new life into dormant metal properties

Nickel remains the driving force in Sudbury’s mineral exploration scene. A pair of local junior miners with big ambitions to put two former mine properties into production are posting some encouraging exploration results.

Magna Mining reported high-grade nickel and copper drill hits from a diamond drilling program carried out last fall at its Crean Hill property on the west end of the Sudbury basin. The last of the assay results were released last month.