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

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

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

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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.

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

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

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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.

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

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Will we have enough nickel for our EVs in 2030? – by Brian Donovan (Globe and Mail – 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.

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

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The Drift: Nickel remains a key exploration driver in the Sudbury basin – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – 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.

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Canada is sitting on a critical minerals mother lode. But is it ready for the new gold rush? – by Christian Paas-Lang (CBC News Politics – April 8,2023)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/

Proponents say Canada must do more to turn aspiration into action

Drive two hours north of Ottawa, put on a hard hat and bright orange vest, descend into a pit — and you find yourself on the frontline in the fight to be part of the new, green economy.

A mining project might not be what comes to mind when you think of the transition to a lower emissions economy. But embedded in electric vehicles, solar panels and hydrogen fuel storage are metals and minerals that come from mines like the one in Lac-des-Îles, Que.

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Battery Metals Snapshot: Eight juniors on the hunt – by Marilyn Scales (Northern Miner – April 7, 2023)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Without adequate supplies of battery metals, the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 cannot be reached. Here are eight companies who are on the hunt for the metals in North and South America.

Brunswick Exploration

Brunswick Exploration (TSXV: BRW) is a junior on a mission to find and develop a hard rock lithium source. This company concentrates its efforts on greenfield exploration, looking for new and undiscovered deposits. It has land packages in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces that host at least 125 pegmatite dykes.

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Green energy tax credits a ‘game changer’ for N.L. operation, Vale CEO says – by Alex Kennedy (CBC News Newfoundland-Labrador – April 5, 2023)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/

Chrystia Freeland touts new budget’s incentives at nickel processing plant

The head of mining giant Vale Canada says the most recent federal budget will be a “game changer” for her company’s operations — including its nickel processing plant in Long Harbour, N.L., which Chrystia Freeland, the finance minister and deputy prime minister, toured on Wednesday.

Vale Canada president and CEO Deshnee Naidoo said the credits and announcements in the budget will be key for the mining industry’s race to lower carbon emissions even further. “It’s an absolute game changer for us,” Naidoo said.

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BHP’s secret nickel clause provides Mincor termination rights – by Peter Ker (Australian Financial Review – April 5, 2023)

https://www.afr.com/

Takeover target Mincor has confirmed its nickel supply deal with BHP contains a “change of control” clause that gives BHP the right to terminate the supply contract in certain circumstances and, by extension, trigger a default on Mincor’s debt.

Confirmation the clause exists came on page 55 of the target statement published by Mincor this week in response to a $760 million takeover bid from billionaire Andrew Forrest’s private company Wyloo Metals.

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Supporting development a focus of Sudbury mayor – by Ian Campbell (CTV News Northern Ontario – April 2, 2023)

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

City officials said there are nine working mines within the city limits right now and that
could easily jump to 15 in the coming years.

Greater Sudbury’s mayor wants supporting development to be a priority for the city as he looks to create a new committee of council. Mayor Paul Lefebvre recently announced that he’ll be creating a committee that looks at supporting the city’s policies and processes around both residential and non-residential development.

“It’s about trying to attract more businesses here and we need more residential development so how can we ensure that we have the best practices here in Greater Sudbury,” he said. “Looking around the province, best practices when it comes to municipal bylaws, investments and when it comes to permitting processes as soon as we can.”

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Excerpt from Ring of Fire: High-Stakes Mining in a Lowlands Wilderness – by Virginia Heffernan (March 27, 2023)

Click Here to Order Book: https://amzn.to/3FVk4hK

A valuable discovery under the world’s second-largest temperate wetland and in the traditional lands of the Cree and Ojibway casts light on the growing conflict among resource development, environmental stewardship, and Indigenous rights

When prospectors discovered a gigantic crescent of metal deposits under the James Bay Lowlands of northern Canada in 2007, the find touched off a mining rush, lured a major American company to spend fortunes in the remote swamp, and forced politicians to confront their legal duty to consult Indigenous Peoples about development on their traditional territories. But the multibillion-dollar Ring of Fire was all but abandoned when stakeholders failed to reach a consensus on how to develop the cache despite years of negotiations and hundreds of millions of dollars in spending. Now plans for an all-weather road to connect the region to the highway network are reigniting the fireworks.

In this colorful tale, Virginia Heffernan draws on her bush and newsroom experiences to illustrate the complexities of resource development at a time when Indigenous rights are becoming enshrined globally. Ultimately, Heffernan strikes a hopeful note: the Ring of Fire presents an opportunity for Canada to leave behind centuries of plunder and set the global standard for responsible development of minerals critical to the green energy revolution.

EXCERPT: Ring of Fire – Geological Richness on a World-Class Supersize Scale – by Virginia Heffernan

Geologists now speculate that the only way Nemis’s ring could contain so much mantle-derived (or ultramafic) magma and metal is if some cataclysmic geological event, such as two continents colliding or separating, had cracked open the basement rocks….

Now cast your mind back 2.7 billion years. The crust is splitting apart just west of the current imprint of Hudson Bay. The crust is thinner and the core hotter than now, creating a lot of melted mantle with nowhere to go. So as soon as a rift opens up, the restless magma lets loose and ascends….

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