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‘We now face guns’: Small-scale miners fear Wagner’s advances in CAR – by Philip Obaji Jr. (Al Jazeera – July 10, 2024)

https://www.aljazeera.com/

Local miners in the Central African Republic face eviction and violence as the Russian group takes over gold and diamond mines.

Beloko, Central African Republic – When Sadock arrived in the northwestern Central African Republic (CAR) town of Koki in November 2022, he thought he had finally found a safe place to live and work. For years, small-scale miners like him have been displaced and forced to relocate over and over again whenever foreigners entered a local area, seized surrounding gold mines and evicted local miners.

“Some of us [artisanal miners] decided to move to Koki because we thought at the time that no one was disturbing artisanal miners in the [northwest] region,” Sadock, who wanted to be identified by only his first name for fear of retribution, told Al Jazeera.

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Yukon gov’t orders Victoria Gold to provide plans aimed at treating, monitoring contaminated water – by Julien Greene (CBC News North – July 10, 2024)

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

Government spokesperson says company submitted plans, which aren’t public

The Yukon government has given Victoria Gold marching orders to deal with toxic chemicals in and around its Eagle mine, following last month’s major failure of a heap leach pad at the site.

A new report written by a government inspector states there’s “reasonable grounds” to believe the company has violated laws that govern water use.

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First Nation court action against Ontario could invalidate all mining claims in the province – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – July 12, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A court action launched by Grassy Narrows First Nation against Ontario could invalidate all mining claims in the province, a lawyer representing the Indigenous group said – a scenario that could cause havoc for the industry.

Grassy Narrows on Friday served Ontario with a notice of application asking the Ontario Superior Court to mandate individuals and companies to consult with the First Nation before seeking mining claims. The Globe and Mail earlier in the week reported that the legal action was pending.

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Would Canada allow Rio Tinto to buy Teck? Miners aren’t so sure – by Alisha Hiyate (Northern Miner – July 12, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

The federal government’s attempt to clarify its rules for foreign investment in mining is instead causing more confusion as the industry grapples with changing rules under the Investment Canada Act. But Rio Tinto’s interest in buying Teck Resources, as reported by Sky News, could serve as a test for what the feds will allow as it tries to keep critical minerals available for Canada.

Last week, the federal government formally approved Glencore’s purchase of a 77% stake in Teck’s coal business. At the same time, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne issued a statement saying the government would only greenlight future foreign takeovers of “important Canadian mining companies engaged in significant critical minerals operations… in the most exceptional of circumstances.”

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Wawa gold explorer ready to move beyond assay tampering scandal – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – July 12, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Red Pine Exploration resets Wawa Gold Project with a clean assay database, new CEO, and hopes for an underground mine

After a drill data tampering scandal in May, Red Pine Exploration said it’s scrubbed its assay library clean and is ready to move on with new CEO to steer its Wawa Gold Project. The Toronto junior miner endured a harrowing two months when it retracted years of reported drill results, dating back to Red Pine’s acquisition of the project in 2014.

The company points the finger of blame at former CEO Quentin Yarie for having selectively altered results coming back from the assay lab, recording them as higher grade than they actually were, and then filing them into the company’s drill database.

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Madagascar: for better or for sapphire – by Lola Fourmy and Martin Huré (Equal Times – July 12, 2024)

https://www.equaltimes.org/

Madagascar is the fifth poorest country in the world, yet it accounts for almost 40 per cent of global production of one of the most sought-after precious stones: sapphire. Several deposits discovered in 1998 in the south of the country continue to attract miners and buyers. These stones are prized by investors as “safe haven” assets, and the emergence of the middle classes in China and India has sent the prices soaring.

The mines in the south of the island are the scene of outdated working conditions and proven cases of child labour, and violent crime is plaguing the region. French journalists Lola Fourmy and Martin Huré take us on a journey to the heart of dreams of economic emancipation that, for many Malagasy people, has turned into a nightmare.

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After another boom and bust, where next for lithium? – by Andy Home (Reuters – July 11, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, July 11 (Reuters) – Lithium boom has turned to lithium bust over the last two years as a wave of new supply overwhelms weaker-than-expected demand for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.

The CME contract for lithium hydroxide has collapsed from a 2022 high of $85,000 per metric ton to $11,930. The CME carbonate contract was above $40,000 when it began trading in July 2023 and has since slumped to $12,850.

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India’s Diamond Trade Is Suffering. Why Isn’t America’s? – by Joshua Freedman (Rapaport Magazine – July 11, 2024)

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Weak demand and a supply glut have created a perfect storm for manufacturers. But the only true solution is at the consumer level.

Indian manufacturers view the current market situation as something close to a crisis. The desperation is similar to that during last year’s deep downturn. Polished prices are falling, and sightholders are losing money on rough.

But American dealers are happier. They say there is demand from retailers, albeit not at the peak levels they saw in 2021 and early 2022. They enjoyed decent sales at the Las Vegas shows, and trading is better now than before the exhibitions. So why the discrepancy?

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BHP to Shut Australia Nickel Business as Glut Upends Market – by Paul-Alain Hunt, Thomas Biesheuvel, and Mark Burton (BloombergBNN News – July 11, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — BHP Group Ltd. will close its loss-making nickel business in Australia until at least early 2027, after a global glut of the metal spread havoc through the market.

The company will place its Nickel West business on “care and maintenance” from October due to low prices of the metal used in electric-vehicle batteries, it said in a statement Thursday. It will also halt the development of its West Musgrave nickel mine.

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Rio Tinto mulls potential bid for Teck — report – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 12, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) is said to be studying potential takeover bids for smaller rivals, including Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.A, TECK.B) (NYSE: TECK), Canada’s largest diversified miner, which successfully fended off Glencore’s (LON: GLEN) $23 billion attempt to buy the company last year.

The world’s second largest mining company has held talks with bankers over a potential offer for the Canadian target, but is not immediately planning to launch a bid, Sky News reports citing unnamed sources.

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Can Frank Callaghan strike gold twice in B.C.’s Cariboo? – by Nelson Bennett (Business In Vancouver – July 8, 2024)

https://www.biv.com/

The Barkerville prospector-promoter is again staking a claim in a region he helped develop

Frank Callaghan, the colourful and effusive prospector-promoter who assembled B.C.’s Barkerville Gold mine district, is back.

Several years after his company, Barkerville Gold, was acquired by Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. (TSX,NYSE:OR) for $338 million, Callaghan has come out of retirement to promote a new gold project 70 kilometres north of Osisko’s Cariboo Gold mine.

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World would need 55 per cent more copper mines to meet EV transition goals: study – by Theresa Balocating (National Post – July 12, 2024)

https://nationalpost.com/

‘I think there’s a disconnect between, what the intentions are to meet the global warming challenges and the reality of the materials that are going to be required’

The transition to greener, more sustainable transportation is impracticable as copper mine production cannot keep up with the rising global demand for electric vehicles, according to a new study.

“I think there’s a disconnect between, what the intentions are to meet the global warming challenges and the reality of the materials that are going to be required,” said Dr. Lawrence Cathles, an earth and atmospheric sciences professor at Cornell University.

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Glencore warns of nickel job losses unless labour costs controlled – by Brad Thompson, Tom Rabe and James Hall (Australian Financial Review – July 12, 2024)

https://www.afr.com/

Global mining heavyweight Glencore says the future of its nickel and cobalt operations in Australia will hinge on keeping a lid on labour and energy costs and access to infrastructure.

In what shapes as another blow to Anthony Albanese’s critical minerals ambitions, Glencore warned it was closely monitoring the situation and the future of its Murrin Murrin mine in Western Australia, which employs about 1500 people and is the nation’s biggest source of cobalt.

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OPINION: To stop the violence in Congo, we need to end the black market for the minerals in our phones – by Robert Rotberg (Globe and Mail – July 12, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Robert Rotberg is the founding director of the Harvard Kennedy School’s program on intrastate conflict, a former senior fellow at CIGI and president emeritus of the World Peace Foundation.

Africa has more than its fair share of horrendous humanitarian emergencies. Today, half of Sudan’s 47 million people are experiencing severe hunger; 755,000 face starvation. Somalis and northern Ethiopians are also food-short, as are many millions of Malawians, Zambians and Zimbabweans. However, after Sudan, the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the neediest region. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), a staggering 23.4 million Congolese suffer from severe hunger.

The peoples of the three eastern Congolese provinces of South Kivu, North Kivu and Ituri are especially endangered. In North Kivu alone, the WFP says that 720,000 people have lost their homes and livelihoods due to regional violence. It estimates that nearly 3 million children in the region are acutely malnourished. Cholera is rife, too, and epidemics of Ebola recur.

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No one in Washington believes Trudeau’s empty NATO promises anymore – by John Ivison (National Post – July 12, 2024)

https://nationalpost.com/

Trudeau has lost his power to seduce and Canada’s standing has been lost, as allies far poorer than this country live up to their promises

Justin Trudeau is so schooled in the art of denial that he now tries to deflect inescapable truths. In Washington Thursday, at the conclusion of the NATO summit there, the prime minister unveiled what his defence minister, Bill Blair, called a “credible, verifiable path to two per cent” spending of gross domestic product on defence by 2032.

Let’s leave aside the fact that the plan is neither credible nor verifiable. Trudeau was asked if he was worried that the political problems that have dogged him this week will now hang over this country for the next eight years.

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