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Nickel

A new nickel exploration player emerges in the Sudbury basin – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – March 9, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Transition Metals generates interest in battery metals by going public with SPC Nickel

The surge of interest in battery metals has prompted a Sudbury exploration firm to go public with a spinoff company focussed on advancing its nickel and copper exploration properties in the Sudbury basin.

Transition Metals officially launched SPC Nickel Corp on the TSX Venture Exchange on March 8 under the ticker SPC.

With 25 exploration projects on the go across Canada in the gold, copper, nickel and platinum space, Transition bills itself as a ‘project generator,’ always on the lookout to welcome to option agreements or joint ventures.

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BHP moves nickel and copper HQ to Toronto as Canada emerges as new clean-tech mining hotspot – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – March 10, 2021)

https://financialpost.com/

Both metals expected to see increased future demand due to electric vehicle industry growth

Australia’s BHP Group Ltd. is moving its exploration headquarters for nickel and copper — two metals expected to see increased future demand because of electric vehicle industry growth — to Toronto.

The company’s announcement Wednesday comes after a BHP subsidiary Rio Algom Ltd. struck a partnership in August with Canadian junior Midland Exploration Inc. to fund nickel exploration in northern Quebec.

The company has also been exploring for copper in Canada, on and off for years, Laura Tyler, BHP’s chief technical officer, told the Financial Post. But as climate change alters global commodity consumption patterns, she said nickel and copper demand are set to surge, leading the company to reevaluate where to put its people and resources.

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Gold, battery metals exploration brisk in the Sudbury district – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – March 4, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Winter drilling campaigns underway for properties with open-pit potential

The Sudbury Basin is known as one of the world’s most prolific mining camps for nickel and base metals. But on underexplored ground in the outlying areas many exploration-stage junior miners continue to actively drill and sample for gold and metals related to the electric vehicle battery revolution.

East of Sudbury, New Age Metals reported it’s found rhodium at its River Valley Palladium Project. The company is in the advanced stages of planning for an open-pit mine, 60 kilometres east of the city.

In a March 2 news release, New Age calls rhodium is the “rarest and most valuable” of all the platinum group metals. Recent spot prices have reached highs of more than US$24,000 per ounce, the company said.

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EV metal producer DeepGreen to launch on NYSE in US$330-million SPAC deal – by Jaren Kerr (Globe and Mail – March 5, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

DeepGreen Metals Inc., a Vancouver-based producer of minerals used to make electric vehicle batteries, will become a publicly listed company after being acquired by Sustainable Opportunities Acquisition Corp. (SOAC) in a US$330-million deal.

Founded in 2009, DeepGreen sources minerals known as polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor, which are used to power electric vehicle batteries.

The company has exploration contracts in the Pacific Ocean’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone between Hawaii and Mexico. DeepGreen estimates its exploration zone has the potential to power 280 million electric vehicles.

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Rising EV-grade nickel demand fuels interest in risky HPAL process – by Henrique Ribeiro, Jacqueline Holman and Lucy Tang (SP Global – March 3, 2021)

https://www.spglobal.com/

As analysts and industry participants warn of a looming shortage of battery-grade nickel, there is an ample pipeline of projects employing high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) technology to produce nickel chemicals. But scrutiny of the process is also growing, after some facilities ran into difficulties or produced less than expected.

HPAL has its advantages, particularly given a lack of options to convert low-grade nickel laterite ore—the form that represents the larger share of the world’s resources.

However, several challenges—including high capital expenditure (capex) and environmental impact—may not only slow down its adoption, but also lead some projects to failure, sources said.

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Vale returns to profit, eyes ‘dramatic opportunity’ for nickel – by Staff (Mining Journal – March 2, 2021)

https://www.mining-journal.com/

Adjusted EDITDA rose 20% to $4.2 billion, after $4.8 billion in expenses of which $3.9 billion was related to the R37.7 billion (US$7 billion) Brumadinho settlement reached in January.

Vale’s ferrous minerals division achieved its second largest adjusted EBITDA of $8.8 billion, thanks to a 17% rise in realised prices and 26% higher sales volumes compared with the third quarter.

It put its iron ore fines and pellets C1 cash cost ex-third party purchases up slightly, quarter-on-quarter, at $12.70/t, while the cash cost (ex-ROM, ex-royalties) FOB was $15.30/t.

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Minnesota Supreme Court issues mixed opinion on PolyMet’s air permits – by Jimmy Lovrien (Duluth News Tribune – Feb 24th 2021)

https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/

Questions persist over a March 2018 report outlining potential expansion plans.

On one hand, the Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed a lower court’s decision that would have sent PolyMet’s air permits back to state regulators for further review.

But on the other, it instructed a lower court to review whether PolyMet, which is trying to open the state’s first copper-nickel mine, deceived the regulators by withholding a report outlining the potential for a much larger mine.

Both opponents and supporters of PolyMet claimed victory in Wednesday’s Supreme Court opinion written by Justice Margaret Chutich.

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A road to the Ring of Fire is ‘everything.’ Railway? Not so much – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – February 22, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Noront Resources exploration boss digs into the details of the 2021 exploration year

The mineral endowment in the Ring of Fire appears to be vast, deep, rich and long-lasting.

As compelling as the geological picture is of the world-class base and precious metal deposits in the Far North exploration camp, 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, all anyone wants to talk about is, what’s happening with the access roads?

It’s a topic of discussion too with Noront Resources, the leading mine developer in the James Bay lowlands. “The road is everything,” said Ryan Weston, the company’s vice-president of exploration, at a recent web gathering of the Sudbury Prospectors and Developers Association.

“Without the road there’s no Ring of Fire development, which means there’s no exploration.”

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These Metals Are Soaring on a Green Frenzy and Global Recovery (Bloomberg News – February 19, 2021)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Industrial metal prices are powering to the highest in years on bets an economic recovery from the pandemic and worldwide push for cleaner, greener energy will unleash vast amounts of pent-up demand.

From base-metal bellwethers to essential inputs for batteries and home electronics, post-crisis consumption threatens to outstrip near-term supply.

Governments and companies globally are announcing net-zero emissions goals, Europe is rolling out a package of environmental initiatives as part of its growth plan, and President Joe Biden has pledged $400 billion on clean energy research and development over 10 years.

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Mineral development fund providing $230K for diamond drilling of property near Snow Lake (Thompson Citizen – February 18, 2021)

https://www.thompsoncitizen.net/

Wolfden Resources Corporation announced Feb. 18 that it is getting $230,000 from the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund (MMDF) to support diamond drilling at its Rice Island property near Snow Lake.

The 2,611-hectare Rice Island property was explored by drill programs conducted by Inco in 1949-50 and 1967 and Wolfden says the nickel-copper-cobalt deposit has not been explored using modern high-resolution techniques.

“We appreciate the generous grant. It’s a strong endorsement for Wolfden and the potential to expand the deposit,” said Wolfden CEO Ron Little in a press release.

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Battery metals are critical over the next decade, Roskill says – by Carl A. Williams (Northern Miner – February 18, 2021)

https://www.northernminer.com/

The growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is driving the increasing demand for lithium, nickel and cobalt – critical metals used as cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries in the automotive, energy and electronics industries.

According to Deloitte’s Electric Vehicle Trends, EV sales are forecast to grow from 2.5 million in 2020 to 11.2 million by 2025, and to 31.1 million by 2030. Analysts from Roskill, a commodity research firm and a leader in critical materials supply chains, provide an outlook on battery metals’ markets over the next decade.

Lithium

Global demand for lithium carbonate — one of two primary forms of lithium used in EVs — is expected to exceed one million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in 2026, according to David Merriman, an expert on EV and battery materials at Roskill.

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WORLD BANK NEWS RELEASE: Mineral Production to Soar as Demand for Clean Energy Increases (May 11, 2021)

 

For Report: https://bit.ly/3bl6pkb

The more ambitious climate targets, the more minerals needed for a clean energy transition

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2020 — A new World Bank Group report finds that the production of minerals, such as graphite, lithium and cobalt, could increase by nearly 500% by 2050, to meet the growing demand for clean energy technologies. It estimates that over 3 billion tons of minerals and metals will be needed to deploy wind, solar and geothermal power, as well as energy storage, required for achieving a below 2°C future.

The report “Minerals for Climate Action: The Mineral Intensity of the Clean Energy Transition” also finds that even though clean energy technologies will require more minerals, the carbon footprint of their production—from extraction to end use—will account for only 6% of the greenhouse gas emissions generated by fossil fuel technologies.

The report underscores the important role that recycling and reuse of minerals will play in meeting increasing mineral demand. It also notes that even if we scale up recycling rates for minerals like copper and aluminum by 100%, recycling and reuse would still not be enough to meet the demand for renewable energy technologies and energy storage.

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Nickel, graphite to benefit from explosive growth in battery storage market – by Richard (Rick) Mills (Kitco News – February 17, 2021)

https://www.kitco.com/

The challenges most countries are facing right now are daunting. Not only do they need to have a plan for recovering from covid-19, the supply chains that have been interrupted or broken by the virus have to be repaired.

On top of the covid crisis there is a climate crisis, and for lack of a better term, a “technology” crisis. Governments must make funding available for 5G networks so that businesses are not left behind as the world moves more into digitization and automation which require robust internet and cellular infrastructure.

The fossil-fueled based transportation system needs to be electrified, and the switch has to be made from oil, gas and coal-powered power plants to those which run on solar, wind and thorium-produced nuclear energy. If we have any hope of cleaning up the planet, before the point of no return, a massive decarbonization needs to take place.

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Canadian firm to invest US$26m to revive BCL – by MBONGENI MGUNI (MMegi.bw – February 12, 2021)

https://www.mmegi.bw/

Premium Nickel Resource Corporation, a Canadian minerals investor, has reportedly been appointed the preferred bidder for BCL Ltd, the copper and nickel group that closed operations in Francistown and Selebi Phikwe in October 2016.

A memo apparently written by the BCL liquidator, Trevor Glaum, to the remaining workers conducting care and maintenance activities, indicates that the Canadian firm will now conduct a comprehensive due diligence process on the BCL assets.

“This is therefore not the sale of BCL and Tati assets as yet, but a period of six months granted to Premium Nickel Resources in which to make a final decision on the economic viability of extraction and processing of the ore resources or not,” Glaum wrote on Thursday.

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China’s 2020 refined nickel imports slump to 6-year low – by Andy Home (Financial Post – February 11, 2021)

https://financialpost.com/

LONDON — China has bailed out the copper and aluminum markets by importing record amounts of the rest of the world’s surplus metal. Not so the nickel market, however.

Chinese imports of refined nickel fell by 32% year-on-year to 130,700 tonnes in 2020. It was the lowest annual total since 2014.

This has not held back the London Metal Exchange (LME) nickel price, currently trading close to 17-month highs at $18,675 per tonne.

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