Archive | Nickel

Scrap metal company must pay for buying stolen nickel worth millions, Manitoba judge rules – by Cameron MacLean (CBC News Manitoba – February 1, 2021)

February 2, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Manitoba Mining, Nickel, Vale

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/

A Manitoba metal recycling company is on the hook after buying hundreds of thousands of pounds of stolen nickel worth millions of dollars, a judge ruled.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Shauna McCarthy awarded mining company Vale Canada Ltd. a summary judgment against Urbanmine, Inc., which purchased and resold 483,396 pounds of nickel stolen from a compound in Thompson, Man., over the course of nearly 10 months between July 2012 and May 2013.

In her decision on Aug. 27, 2020, McCarthy also awarded Vale a default judgment against the Schwartz Bros. construction company and a number of its employees, all but one of whom pled guilty to criminal charges related to the thefts and were ordered to pay restitution. Continue Reading →

Contract talks ‘long and hard,’ Mine Mill says, but members approve contract – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – February 2, 2021)

February 2, 2021 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Glencore, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

The leader of a union representing Glencore workers said he was comfortable with the tentative deal reached over the weekend on a new contract, although it would up to the workers to decide.

And they did Monday, voting in favour of the new contract by a 67.8 per cent again. “The bargaining was very long and hard — many long nights,” said Eric Boulay, vice-president and acting president of Mine Mine Local 598/Unifor. “Our committee is confident they reached the most fair agreement that could be reached at this point.”

One of the sticking points in the talks, which went throughout the weekend, was a concession the company wanted regarding benefits, “but we were able to get that off the table,” said Boulay. Continue Reading →

Provincial consultation deadline pushed back for two proposed roads in Ring of Fire (CBC News Thunder Bay – January 27, 2021)

January 27, 2021 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Nickel, Ontario Mining

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/

The Ontario government says it has heard concerns from Indigenous communities about the challenges of consulting on proposed developments for two access roads into the Ring of Fire area, and have extended deadlines for both projects after pushback from some First Nations in the area.

Both the Webequie supply road and the Marten Falls community access road are working their way through the province’s environmental assessment process. That process will answer the questions of if, when and how work can proceed on the proposed developments.

Webequie and Marten Falls have each submitted their terms of reference — or the roadmap laying out how the proposed projects should be studied during the environmental assessment — to the provincial government and are awaiting its approval before the studies can begin. Continue Reading →

All the mines Tesla needs to build 20 million cars a year – by Frik Els (Mining.com – January 27, 2021)

January 27, 2021 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Metals and Manufacturing, Nickel, Nickel Laterites

https://www.mining.com/

Elon Musk and his merry band of executive vice presidents had plenty of advice for the mining and metals industry at the company’s Battery Day event in September, where the road map to a $25,000 Tesla was laid out.

How easy it is to mine lithium (just add salt), just how much of it there is in Nevada (enough for 300 million EVs), how to be environmentally friendly (“put the chunk of dirt back where it was”) and, given these facts, why miners haven’t been trying harder.

Since lithium is “just like widely available” and Tesla’s scientists have eliminated other hard to come by metals like graphite (replace it with sand, obvs) and cobalt from batteries (at least in theory), Musk’s prime raw material worry is nickel. Continue Reading →

[Kabanga Nickel/Tanzania] Green technology boost for African mining – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – January 26, 2021)

January 27, 2021 in Africa Mining, Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals, International Media Resource Articles, Nickel

https://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The key to unlocking value of Kabanga Nickel and enabling the full beneficiation of new era metals in Tanzania is an environment-friendly hydrometallurgy process that eliminates smelting and thus slashes the need for electricity.

The Kabanga Nickel Hydromet process – which takes ore to refined metals at lower capital and operating costs cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emission by 80% and eliminating sulphur dioxide (SO2) emission altogether – is seen as a game changer for Tanzania, by providing the maximum in-country value-add to the East African nation.

Once developed, Kabanga will produce class 1 nickel and cobalt products – two of the key elements used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries – and London Metal Exchange grade A copper cathode. Continue Reading →

Silver Elephant acquires nickel project in Thompson belt – by Mariaan Webb (MiningWeekly.com – January 25, 2021)

January 25, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Manitoba Mining, Nickel, Thompson

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Toronto-listed Silver Elephant has high hopes and aspirations for its new Minago project, in Manitoba, which could supply the “insatiable” demand for Class 1 nickel from the electric vehicle (EV) industry.

The company announced on Friday that it had entered into a binding agreement to acquire the project, located in the Thompson nickel belt (TNB), from Victory Nickel for $11.68-million, consisting of $6.68-million in credit against secured debt owed to Silver Elephant and $5-million in shares.

“The Minago acquisition immediately propels Silver Elephant to the forefront of the nickel sulphite mining space to supply much needed Class 1 nickel for long-range, high-intensity, fast charging NMC 811 (80% nickel, 10% manganese, 10% cobalt) cathode standard in lithium batteries to fuel mass EV adoption,” Silver Elephant’s VP exploration and Canadian operations, Dan Oosterman, said in a statement. Continue Reading →

Nickel rally being fuelled by batteries ‘hype’, analysts warn – by Henry Sanderson (Financial Times – January 2021)

January 25, 2021 in International Media Resource Articles, Nickel, Nickel Laterites

https://www.ft.com/

Metal up 70% since last March despite forecasts that supply will continue to exceed demand

Nickel’s dramatic rally is being fed by “hype” over electric vehicles and faces a challenge from new sources of supply in the coming years, traders and analysts have warned.

The price of nickel on the London Metal Exchange has risen by about 70 per cent since its low last March to $18,410 a tonne, as speculators bet it will benefit from rising sales of electric vehicles — which are increasingly using batteries with a higher nickel content.

Forecasts of sharp EV growth, encouraged by policymakers’ push for a “green” recovery, have lifted a range of input metals in recent months, including copper and lithium. Continue Reading →

Kabanga, Tanzania to develop world’s largest nickel deposit – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – January 19, 2021)

January 19, 2021 in Africa Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Nickel

https://www.mining.com/

British miner Kabanga Nickel, formerly known as LZ Nickel, has inked a framework agreement with the government of Tanzania to develop the world’s largest battery-grade nickel sulphide deposit, in the country’s northwestern.

As part of the deal, the parties have created a joint company called Tembo Nickel Corp., which will mine, process and refine class 1 nickel with cobalt and copper co-products.

Kabanga Nickel is the new entity’s majority owner with an 84% stake. Tanzania owns the remaining 16%, which is the government’s usual stake in all of the country’s mining projects. Continue Reading →

Metals Behind EV Revolution to Resume Volatile Rally – Again – by Annie Lee and Eddie Spence (Bloomberg News – January 14, 2021)

January 15, 2021 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals, International Media Resource Articles, Lithium, Nickel, Nickel Laterites

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Battery metals are set to rebound this year as an electric-vehicle boom is bolstered by post-pandemic push for a green economic recovery.

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has indicated the sector could get a boost, while China wants new energy vehicles to account for about 20% of total new car sales by 2025. Germany has extended subsidies on EVs for an extra four years, and the U.K. will ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030.

The markets for metals such as lithium and cobalt, which soared in 2018 before slumping on concerns about oversupply, will be underpinned by a step change in battery demand. Global EV sales are projected to surge 60% this year, according to BloombergNEF. Continue Reading →

Nickel Soars And Could Keep Flying As Demand Rises And Supply Falls – by Tim Treadgold (Forbes Magazine – January 14, 2021)

January 15, 2021 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, International Media Resource Articles, Nickel, Nickel Laterites, Steel and Stainless Steel Industries

https://www.forbes.com/

Demand up. Supply down. Price heading for a 10-year high. It doesn’t get much better for nickel—except for the potential to get a lot better for a metal which has a well-earned reputation for extreme highs (and lows).

Since suffering a Covid-19 collapse last March when the price fell to $10,800 a ton, nickel has been on a largely uninterrupted rise to last sales at $18,244/t, up almost 70% in 10 months.

Next target for nickel, which is a critical ingredient in high quality stainless steel and the batteries used in most electric vehicles (EVs) is $20,000/t, a level reached in the early 2012. Continue Reading →

Canada Nickel signs deal to process at Kidd Met site – by Andrew Autio (Toronto Star – January 11, 2021)

January 13, 2021 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Timmins

https://www.thestar.com/

Upstart mining firm Canada Nickel Company said it is very excited about a new MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) they have entered into with Glencore Canada Operation to potentially use the Kidd concentrator and metallurgical site for its exciting new nickel project north of Timmins.

The non-binding agreement was officially announced on Monday. “We’ve been in discussions over the last couple of months,” Canada Nickel Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark Selby told The Daily Press.

Canada Nickel Company has a 100 per cent ownership in the Crawford Project located approximately 40 kilometres north of the city. Continue Reading →

Nickel Outlook 2021: Strong Demand Recovery Ahead, Supply to Increase – by Priscila Barrera (Nickel Investing News – December 17, 2020)

January 13, 2021 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Nickel, Nickel Laterites

Home

Despite the uncertainty brought by the coronavirus pandemic, nickel rebounded sharply this year from Q1 lows seen after COVID-19-related lockdown measures.

Positive investor sentiment around the use of nickel in electric vehicle (EV) batteries surged, although analysts still expect demand from the battery industry to lag behind steel demand for some time.

As the year comes to a close, the Investing News Network (INN) asked analysts in the field for their thoughts on what’s ahead for the base metal. Read on for their predictions. Continue Reading →

Deep dive to new resources – by Graham Lloyd (The Australian – January 1, 2021)

January 8, 2021 in Australia/New Caledonia/Papua New Guinea Mining, Deep Sea Mining, International Media Resource Articles, Nickel

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/

Gerard Barron wants to secure a battery-powered future — from the sea floor.

In the global race to remake the world for a low emissions future, Gerard Barron just may be Australia’s Elon Musk.

Where Musk is obsessed with electric cars and deep space, Barron is focused on the abyssal plains located 4500m below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

Barron is leading a gathering push to exploit a base metals resource that has been known about a long time but has been too difficult to exploit for political, environmental and logistic reasons. Continue Reading →

What Joe Biden’s Cabinet picks mean for northern Minnesota’s Twin Metals mining project – by Walker Orenstein (MinnPost – January 4, 2021)

January 5, 2021 in Copper, International Media Resource Articles, Minnesota Duluth Complex and Iron Range, Nickel

https://www.minnpost.com/

In 2016, the administration of Barack Obama halted a controversial mining project near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. President Trump revived it once he took office.

What will President-elect Joe Biden do? Since his campaign for president began, Biden hasn’t said anything about the Twin Metals Minnesota proposal, but two of Biden’s Cabinet picks may offer the best hint yet.

The president-elect chose Tom Vilsack, who was secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture under Obama, to return to the job. The USDA oversees the Forest Service, which manages the Superior National Forest, where Twin Metals wants to mine. Continue Reading →

Australian mining investor takes controlling position in Ring of Fire mine developer – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – December 8, 2020)

December 8, 2020 in Australia/New Caledonia/Papua New Guinea Mining, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Chromium/Platinum Group Metals, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Western Australia’s intense interest in the exploration and mining potential of northwestern Ontario has now stretched north into the Ring of Fire.

Noront Resources, the leading mine developer in the James Bay region, landed a new “cornerstone” strategic partner in Wyloo Metals Pty., the mining division of Tattarang, one of Australia’s largest private investment groups.

They take over from Resources Capital Fund (RCF) as Noront’s biggest shareholder at nearly 38 per cent. Wyloo invests in operating mines and exploration projects in mostly nickel, copper, platinum group metals and potash in Western Australia. Continue Reading →