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Zinc, Lead and Tin

Shakeup at Metallum Resources as CEO departs – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – October 4, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Vancouver junior miner wants to put former Schreiber-area zinc mine back into production

The head of a junior mining outfit, with ambitious plans to put a former zinc mine near Schreiber back into production, has abruptly left the company. Vancouver’s Metallum Resources announced Oct. 3 that Kerem Usenmez has resigned as president, CEO and his seat on the board of directors.

In an Oct. 3 news release, the company said board chair Tony Wonnacott will step into the CEO’s role on an interim basis. Wonnacott was appointed chair back in July.

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Column: Third European smelter closure compounds zinc conundrum – by Andy Home (Reuters – October 6, 2022)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Europe’s energy crisis is taking a rising toll on the region’s industrial capacity with another zinc smelter going into care and maintenance. Glencore (GLEN.L) is curtailing production at its Nordenham plant in Germany citing “various external factors affecting the business and wider European industry.”

It’s the third West European zinc smelter to close over the last year as operators struggle to cope with surging power prices. Smelting has turned out to be the weakest link in the global zinc supply chain this year, creating pockets of extreme tightness in the physical market.

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Canadian-owned mining company and executives found guilty of involuntary homicide after Burkina Faso flood disaster – by Geoffrey York and Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – September 14, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A Canadian-owned mining company and two executives at its zinc mine in Burkina Faso have been convicted of involuntary homicide in connection with a flooding disaster that killed eight mine workers.

The flooding, which followed a sudden torrential rainfall at the site in April, trapped the workers underground and led to a 66-day search that eventually found them dead, several hundred metres below ground, after 165 million litres of water had been pumped out of the mine.

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Ivanhoe, Gecamines kick off construction at Kipushi zinc mine in DRC – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – September 12, 2022)

https://www.mining.com/

Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) (OTCQX: IVPAF) and Congo’s state mining company Gécamines have begun construction activities at the historic Kipushi underground zinc-copper mine, which they plan returning to production by late 2024.

In a breaking-ground ceremony, the companies’ joint venture, Kipushi Corporation, said pre-production capital cost, including contingency, was estimated in $382 million.

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Troubled Trevali idles Canada mine, suspends Namibia expansion – by Mariaan Webb (MiningWeekly.com – August 22, 2022)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Financially troubled Trevali Mining has suspended operations at its Caribou mine, in Canada, and placed the expansion of its Rosh Pinah mine, in Namibia, on hold, as the miner filed for protection from its creditors.

Trevali was on Friday granted an initial order for protection from the British Columbia Supreme Court under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). The zinc miner last week defaulted on a $7.5-million debt payment, having suffered several setbacks lately, including a flooding event that shuttered its Perkoa mine, in Burkina Faso, and low productivity rates and equipment availability at Caribou.

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Owner of Caribou Mine near Bathurst granted creditor protection (CBC New Brunswick – August 22, 2022)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/

Trevali Mining says there’s no timeline for a potential restart of operations

The news just keeps getting worse for the Caribou Mine near Bathurst. After suspending operations last week, Trevali Mining Corp. has been granted creditor protection by the British Columbia Supreme Court on Friday.

On Monday, the company announced that trading of its shares had been halted on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Trading is also expected to be halted on three other exchanges as well.

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New Brunswick: Caribou Mine near Bathurst stops all production (CBC News New Brunswick – August 17, 2022)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/

Mayor says news of layoffs is ‘disheartening’

The owner of the Caribou Mine in northern New Brunswick has suspended the extraction of all minerals at the site while it reviews its operations. Trevali Mining Corp. announced Tuesday it would explore all options for the future of the mine near Bathurst after reporting low productivity rates and a steep drop in revenue.

In an email Wednesday, Jason Mercier, Trevali’s director of investor relations, confirmed the decision to halt production. The news comes after the Vancouver-based company released its second-quarter financial results, which showed it recorded a 44 per cent decrease in revenue compared to the previous quarter.

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Column: Glencore’s smelter warning galvanises the zinc price – by Andy Home (Reuters – August 9, 2022)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) – The London Metal Exchange (LME) zinc price jumped to a six-week high last week after Glencore (GLEN.L) warned of the continuing margin squeeze on its European smelters. The commodities powerhouse idled part of its Portovesme smelter in Italy at the end of 2021 due to high power prices.

Europe’s power crunch has got much worse in the intervening months after Russia launched what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine at the end of February.

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Europe’s Power Crunch Cuts Zinc and Aluminum Capacity in Half – by Mark Burton (Bloomberg News – July 20, 2022)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Europe has lost about half of its zinc and aluminum smelting capacity within the past year, and a further surge in power prices could knock more plants offline over winter, the region’s biggest metal producers warned.

Eurometaux, which represents miners, smelters and fabricators employing 500,000 people in Europe, is underscoring the risks that lie ahead for the industry as the European Union urges member states to cut gas usage to avert a drastic escalation of the region’s energy crunch over the winter months.

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Blog: The US is using a mine in Greenland to counter China – by Mia Bennett (Eye On The Arctic – June 27, 2022)

https://www.rcinet.ca/

The U.S. has offered $657 million to develop the world’s northernmost mine in Greenland to counter China. Is it worth it?

In a remote fjord in northwest Greenland, an Australian company is scouting beneath a permafrost-laden beach for zinc. The price of the silvery element, which is used to galvanize other metals to prevent rusting, has doubled since March 2010 to nearly $2 a pound in March 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

As a result, remote deposits of the commodity are now even more lucrative than they were 15 years ago, when Ironbark Zinc was formed in Perth, one of the world’s most remote cities, to tap resources in an extreme frontier.

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Hudbay ends Flin Flon era with closure of 777 mine – by Jackson Chen (Canadian Mining Journal – June 22, 2022)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Hudbay Minerals (TSX: HBM; NYSE: HBM) has announced that mining activities at the 777 zinc-copper mine in Flin Flon, Man., have concluded after the reserves were depleted following 18 years of steady production. Closure activities at the mine have commenced, and employees and equipment are transitioning to the company’s operations in Snow Lake.

“777 was a state-of-the-art mine that represented the pinnacle of a century of shared success for Hudbay and Flin Flon,” stated Peter Kukielski, Hudbay’s president and CEO, in a news release. “Though the closure of 777 marks the end of a mining era in Flin Flon, we will continue with exploration activities in the region.

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Zinc mine builder willing to share benefits with First Nation – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – June 14, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Metallum Resources signs agreement with Pays Plat First Nation

A would-be zinc mine builder has signed a “negotiation agreement” with a First Nation community on the north shore of Lake Superior.

Metallum Resources calls the agreement with Pays Plat First Nation (PPFN) a “major milestone” that puts the wheels in motion toward early-stage development at the site. It also moves the relationship along toward signing a more fruitful impact benefit agreement (IBA) later this year.

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Mining the Northwest: Developer looks to fast track former Schreiber-area zinc mine into production by 2023 – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – June 3, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Metallum Resources talks up global commodity traders in preparing to restart Winston Lake mine

A mine developer looking to restart a shuttered high-grade zinc mine near the north shore of Lake Superior reports it’s in talks with “multiple global metal traders” for off-take agreements for the much-in-demand metal.

Vancouver’s Metallum Resources calls its Superior Lake Zinc Project, near the town of Schreiber, one of the highest grade zinc development projects in North America, if not the world. The company is in the mine permitting stage on the path toward reopening of the former Winston Lake zinc mine and fast-track it to production as early as next year.

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Column: European smelter squeeze keeps zinc close to record highs – by Andy Home (Reuters – March 29, 2022)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) – London Metal Exchange (LME) zinc recorded a new all-time high of $4,896 per tonne earlier this month, eclipsing the previous 2006 peak of $4,580 per tonne.

True, the March 8 spike was over in a matter of hours and looked very much like the forced close-out of positions to cover margin calls in the LME nickel contract, which was imploding at the time before being suspended. But zinc has since re-established itself above the $4,000 level, last trading at $4,100 per tonne, amid escalating supply chain tensions.

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US government mandate to support nickel and zinc production (Mining Journal – February 23, 2022)

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

The latest list, released by the United States Geological Survey, contained 15 more commodities than the first list of critical minerals, which was created in 2018. The list has been officially updated after draft proposals were issued in November.

The list is designed to act as a trigger for government initiatives to improve domestic production, and diversity of supply, of key mineral. In practice this could unlock government support for junior minors and refining businesses in the US.

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