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Sudbury Basin

The Drift: Sudbury mine developer seeks to extract untapped critical minerals – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 23, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Magna Mining completes acquisition of former Inco mine with growth plans afoot in the Sudbury camp

Sudbury is historically known for nickel. But there remain hundreds of millions of tonnes of overlooked and valuable mineral commodities left behind by mining activity over the decades.

An upstart mining company with ambitions to be Sudbury’s next producer is seizing on an opportunity to bring a former INCO mine back into production, possibly by the end of next year.

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‘It makes no sense for Canada’: Industry rebuffs idea of joining an OPEC-like alliance for nickel – by Gabriel Friedman and Naimul Karim (Financial Post – November 21, 2022)

https://financialpost.com/

Canada’s nickel producers are hoping to differentiate their products as cleaner and purer

Mining industry veteran Mark Selby has for years been telling anyone who would listen that the production of nickel — a metal key to batteries and the energy transition — was getting so concentrated in just a few countries that a cartel-like organization to control supply was inevitable.

A slide in the PowerPoint deck he’s shown at investment conferences since 2019 predicted an “ONEC” — the Organization for Nickel Exporting Countries — consisting of Indonesia, the Philippines and Russia, the top three nickel producers.

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News Release: Vale and GM Sign Long-Term Nickel Supply Agreement in Canada Critical to North American EV Supply Chain (November 17, 2022)

TORONTO and DETROIT, Nov. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Vale Canada Limited, a subsidiary of Vale S.A., and General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM), announced today they have signed a term sheet for the long-term supply of battery grade nickel sulfate from Vale’s proposed plant at Bécancour, Québec, Canada. This agreement secures for GM a supply of nickel sulfate from a U.S. free-trade partner to support its fast-growing EV production needs in North America.

Under terms of the agreement, Vale will supply battery grade nickel sulfate, equivalent to 25,000 metric tons per year of contained nickel, for use in GM’s Ultium battery cathodes, which will power a broad portfolio of electric vehicles including the Chevrolet Silverado EV, Blazer EV and Equinox EV, the Cadillac LYRIQ, the GMC Sierra EV, and the GMC HUMMER EV Pickup and SUV. The amount of contained nickel is sufficient to supply approximately 350,000 EVs annually. Deliveries are targeted to commence in the second half of 2026.

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Magna plans drilling at Denison nickel-copper project after ‘considerable’ resource estimate – by Colin McClelland (Northern Miner – November 8, 2022)

Global mining news

Magna Mining (TSXV: NICU) says its first resource for its Denison nickel, copper and platinum group metals project in Ontario’s Sudbury basin shows “significant potential.”

Magna is exploring the restart of a past-producing underground mine and the development of an open-pit operation to the site, also known as Crean Hill. As well, Magna owns the advanced-stage Shakespeare, a similar project in the same region. Denison’s indicated resource for both underground and open pit totals more than 31 million tonnes, Magna said.

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From mine site to pollinators paradise – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – November 7, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Jenny Fortier and Northern Wildflowers plying their expertise to help regenerate mine sites

Jenny Fortier’s booth at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference got a lot of double takes last June.Nestled in amongst the technology experts and equipment manufacturers at the Toronto mining tradeshow, Fortier’s display stood out for its distinctly un-mining-like look and messaging.

A butterfly landing on a purple coneflower, with the company name, Northern Wildflowers, emblazoned across its promotional banner, doesn’t exactly scream “mining.”

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Mining company Glencore plans for new furnace in Sudbury, Ont. (CBC News Sudbury – November 3, 2022)

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

The current furnace was built in 1978 and one of the oldest of its kind in the world

Mining giant Glencore plans to have a new furnace at its Sudbury operations by 2026. The project is expected to cost more than $100 million.

The company’s current electric furnace was built in 1978, which makes it one of the longest-running furnaces of its kind in the world, according to Peter Xavier, vice-president of Glencore’s Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations.

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New mining geophysics firm sets up shop in Sudbury – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – October 13, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Being located in the ‘Canada’s mining centre’ prompted move north for Wireline Services Group (Canada)

Wireline Services Group (WSG) got its start more than 20 years ago working in the historic Kambalda nickel and gold mining region of Western Australia. Now the Perth-headquartered mining tech company has established a firm foothold in Canada’s preeminent nickel mining camp.

The geophysics company recently moved into a spacious 7,500-square-foot office and shop on Valleyview Road in Val Caron last month, hiring two locals and transplanting two others from Toronto.

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Vale’s base metals chief vows to turn around underperforming Sudbury nickel mines – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – October 13, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The head of Vale SA’s base metals group is vowing to turn around its poorly performing Canadian nickel operations, as the Brazilian mining giant makes a play for a bigger piece of the fast-growing EV-battery-minerals market.

Vale entered the Canadian nickel market in 2006 when it paid $19.4-billion to acquire Inco Ltd., a company that had mined the critical mineral in Sudbury for a century.

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Ford: Mine expansion opening ‘a fabulous day’ for Ontario – by Len Gillis (Sudbury.com – October 13, 2022)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Premier was on hand in Sudbury for the official opening of Phase 1 of Vale’s Copper Cliff Mine Complex South Mine, which breathes new life into the shuttered mine and will double ore production at the site, creating 270 new jobs

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said today he was impressed that mining giant Vale has spent $945 million to bring an old mine “back to life,” saying the project was a key part of the province’s critical minerals strategy.

The premier was in Sudbury for the official opening of the Phase 1 expansion to Vale’s Copper Cliff Complex South Mine, a project that connected the South Mine operation to the North Mine creating the new Copper Cliff Mine Complex.

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New Vale Canada mine in Sudbury worth almost $1 billion – by Staff (Sudbury Star – October 13, 2022)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Premier Doug Ford among those to celebrate opening of Copper Cliff Complex South Mine Project

Vale Canada Limited on Thursday officially opened the initial phase of its CDN$945 million Copper Cliff Complex South Mine Project in Sudbury.

“This first phase of the Copper Cliff Mine Complex South Project enhances our supply of low-carbon nickel and other critical minerals and adds to the long-term sustainability of our Sudbury operations,” Deshnee Naidoo, executive vice-president of Vale’s Base Metals business, said in a release. “The successful delivery of this project is a major accomplishment for Vale and great news for Sudbury and the Province of Ontario.”

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Renewed effort promised to remediate [Sudbury] Long Lake Gold tailings – by Len Gillis (Sudbury.com – October 7, 2022)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Mines minister outlines how more action on the remediation process will take place this fall and into next spring and summer

There is a renewed effort in the works to get the old Long Lake Gold property in Sudbury cleaned up and rehabilitated. That’s based on a recent letter from Ontario Mines Minister George Pirie to Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas.

Pirie was responding to an inquiry from Gélinas with respect to whatever progress there might be on the former gold property located in Eden Township, just outside of the City of Greater Sudbury at the at the south end of Long Lake. Gélinas has been pursuing a government solution to the issue for several years.

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Mining battery vehicle expert speaks to importance of training – by Len Gillis (Sudbury.com – October 3, 2022)

https://www.sudbury.com/

If you plan on running battery vehicles in mining, you will need properly trained maintenance technicians and vehicle operator

Sudbury’s Mike Mayhew, a leading consultant on the role of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) in mining, said education and training are the next key steps to the evolution of implementing BEVs in global mining operations.

Mayhew was one of the key speakers at the Maintenance, Engineering and Mine Operators Conference in Sudbury, where part of the focus was discussing the role of BEVs in the Canadian mining industry. The event was hosted by the Sudbury branch of CIM (Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum) and was held at Science North.

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Officials saying little about Tesla-to-Sudbury reports – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – September 20, 2022)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

An online industry publication says officials with the EV giant had scouted Sudbury as a possible site for a factory that would manufacture batteries or battery materials

If Tesla is indeed looking to set up shop in Sudbury, it seems we will have to wait a bit longer for more details. Last month, an online industry publication said officials with the EV giant had scouted Sudbury as a possible site for a factory that would manufacture batteries or battery materials.

Citing “multiple sources with knowledge of the matter,” Electric Autonomy Canada said high-level Tesla reps visited local Vale operations last month as “part of a larger location-scouting mission by Tesla in Ontario and Quebec to seek out potential manufacturing locations.”

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Canada lags behind world nickel producers, says mining exec – by Len Gillis (Sudbury.com – September 19, 2022)

https://www.sudbury.com/

The rest of the world is speeding up production of nickel and nickel refineriess to take advantage of the Battery Electric Vehicle market

Nickel mining executive Johnna Muinonen told mining leaders in Sudbury Monday that Canada has fallen behind in nickel production compared with other countries in the world and she said there are some concerns in the Canadian nickel mining industry that need to be addressed before other countries in the take advantage of the growing demand for the metal.

Muinonen is president of Dumont Nickel, Magneto Investments LP. Along with being a professional engineer (P.Eng) Muinonen has spent more than 20 years as a mining executive and in operational management in nickel mining, including nine years with Vale.

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Canada can build an electric vehicle industry worth $48B a year — but it must act now: report – by Don Pitts (CBC News Business – September 14, 2022)

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

Canada needs a strategy quickly in order to capitalize on payoffs in jobs and economic growth

As climate change shows its growing destructive power in floods and droughts worldwide, even strong advocates for the transition from using fossil fuels to battery-powered electric vehicles know EVs won’t be enough to fix the problem.

But as the North American auto show opens to glitz and fanfare, a new report from two reputable Canadian research groups says that Canada has a brief window to be a major player in transforming an industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars annually into something more climate friendly — and to make money doing it.

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