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Nickel

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

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.

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

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.

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

https://investingnews.com/

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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Cashed-up Forrest swoops on Canadian nickel project – by Brad Thompson (Austrailan Financial Review – December 7, 2020)

https://www.afr.com/

Andrew Forrest is putting his financial might behind the company that controls Canada’s highest-grade nickel discovery since Vale-owned Voisey’s Bay, as he grows his mining footprint beyond iron ore.

Wyloo Metals, owned by Forrest’s private investment arm Tattarang, is set to emerge with a near 38 per cent stake in Noront Resources under the terms of a $US26.5 million ($35.7 million) deal.

Mr Forrest has been building a portfolio of nickel investments in Australia, where his private business arm is a major backer of ASX-listed Poseidon Nickel, and has a 15 per cent stake in Mincor Resources and a smaller stake in Panoramic Resources.

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A low-carbon future means a big demand for key minerals. Can N.L.’s mines cash in? – by Lindsay Bird (CBC News Newfoundland & Labrador – December 6, 2020)

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

As automakers unveil electric vehicle after electric vehicle, and innovation surges around solar panels and other renewable energies, an industry with a long history in Newfoundland and Labrador hopes to position itself to supply more of the materials needed for the green transition.

“It’s a very opportune time for the province. Mining is essential for a low-carbon future,” said Ed Moriarity, the executive director of Mining Industry NL, the province’s industry association.

Not every ore is created equal in the eyes of innovators, as demand focuses on extracting what are sometimes termed “critical minerals,” sometimes labelled “strategic” ones.

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Not enough class 1 nickel in the pipeline – Sherritt CEO – by Amanda Stutt (Mining.com – December 3, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

With the spotlight shining on nickel, Canadian miner Sherritt International’s (TSX:S) CEO David Pathe sees brighter days ahead.

Sherritt, which has significant assets in Cuba, has weathered storms ever since Pathe’s predecessor gambled on partnering with Havana’s communist government in the 1990s, and the miner was pushed to the brink during president Trump’s tenure, when early last year, the White House began ramping up sanctions on Cuba.

Nickel has been a tough business since the financial crisis, and Sherritt’s market value sunk to a record low C$29.8 million ($22.8 million) in March from its 2008 peak of C$4.8 billion, trading at a low of eight Canadian cents.

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Environmentalists in Ontario’s Ring of Fire: Inconvenient Truths – by Stan Sudol (December 1, 2020)

A recent commentary linking Neskantga’s water crisis to the proposed Ring of Fire mining development in Northwestern Ontario’s Far North made little sense except to further delay environmental assessments (EAs) for vital road infrastructure and enormous economic opportunities for the region’s impoverished Indigenous people.

First and foremost, the fact that Neskantaga – with an on-reserve population of slightly less than 300 people – has not had potable water for an astonishing 25-years is a national disgrace.

Almost 150 years ago, Canada was small little country of around five million people and was able to build the longest railroad in the world, at that time, from Ontario to British Columbia, through some of the harshest geography on the planet in less than five years – 1880-1885.

And yet today, a G-7 country with a $2 TRILLION economy is unable to fix ALL the broken water systems in First Nations’ communities across the country in a similar time-period?

Not only does this reflect on the incompetence inside the federal government but it also damages the country’s international reputation and demonstrates Trudeau’s “reconciliation mantra” as nothing but pious hypocrisy.

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Green trend stirs copper and nickel markets as supply tightens – by Rurika Imahashi (Nikkei Asia – November 30, 2020)

https://asia.nikkei.com/

TOKYO — Rising environmental awareness and the global shift to eco-friendly cars and energy sources are raising a question in the market for key metals used in such “green” sectors: Will there be enough supply?

In just the past month, the global mood surrounding the tackling of climate change has changed significantly. In late-October, China said it was planning to phase out traditional combustion engine cars and make all new ones sold in 2035 eco-friendly in the form of electric and plug-in hybrid versions.

Joe Biden’s victory in the U.S. presidential election could bring a huge change to environmental policy in the world’s biggest economy after President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement. Before the Nov. 3 contest, Biden had pledged a $2 trillion clean energy plan.

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Canadian mining can supply the metals for a clean energy future – by Cody Battershill (Northern Miner – November 24, 2020)

https://www.northernminer.com/

If leadership on climate action and environmental best practices are worthwhile pursuits, then the Canadian mining sector is an industry that’s deserving of Canada’s – and the global market’s – full support.

And if a strong regulatory framework for environmental performance, growing Indigenous support and a superior record on human rights are equally important benchmarks, then our country’s mining sector is on the right track.

Beyond the metals that contribute to so much of our modern world, let’s focus for the moment on electric vehicles (EVs). They’re viewed by a growing number of consumers here and abroad as an important way to help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve air quality in many developing cities.

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Nickel, Nickel, Nickel — Diving Into Green Nickel With Talon Metals – by Zachary Shahan (Clean Technica – November 21, 2020)

https://cleantechnica.com/

As you may recall, several months ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk expressed some rather strong interest in nickel, a need for nickel. I talked about the matter a bit with mineral mining and market experts at RK Equity — see here, here, and here. We’ve covered nickel in various other ways as well.

However, more recently, I connected with a top North American company in this arena and was lucky to get the opportunity to dig in much deeper. Below is an interview with Sean Werger, President of Talon Metals Corp., and Vince Conte, CFO of Talon Metals Corp. If nickel interests you, have a look!

1) Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently made a plea for nickel, but especially more “efficiently mined” nickel and environmentally friendly nickel. (“Wherever you are in the world, please mine more nickel and … go for efficiency, obviously environmentally-friendly nickel mining at high volume. Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time, if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way.”) Regarding efficiency, what do you take that to mean? What is he implying?

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How do cobalt and nickel stack up in race to dominate electric vehicle battery market? – by By David McKay (MiningMX – November 23, 2020)

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THERE is agreement that battery metals of all stripes will benefit from the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). According to a report by Morgan Stanley, the EV market will take a 26% slice of the total automotive market by 2030 from 3% today.

The question, however, is that given the pace of scientific development, which metals with battery application today will come to dominate in the future?

There are divided views, however, on the extent to which price changes will influence the usage of two key contenders: nickel and cobalt.

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Rio Tinto, Bluejay to jointly explore for nickel in Finland – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – November 10, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

Explorer and developer Bluejay Mining (LON: JAY) inked on Tuesday a joint venture and earn-in agreement with Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) to advance the Enonkoski nickel project in Finland.

The deal could see Rio progressively earn up to a 75% interest in the project by injecting $20 million into Enonkoski, either by covering expenses or paying cash equivalent amounts, over three stages.

In the first phase, the world’s second-largest miner could secure 51% ownership by spending $5 million by November 2023. Of that total, Rio would have to spend $400,000 by the end of March 2021.

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