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Northwest lithium project has opposition – by Mike Stimpson NWO News Watch – June 26, 2024)

https://www.nwonewswatch.com/

An online petition started by a Sandy Lake First Nation member has collected more than 12,000 signatures as of June 26.

SANDY LAKE – An online petition against Frontier Lithium’s PAK Project is nearing its goal of 15,000 signatures, but Gary Mamagesic likely won’t be adding his name to the list.

Not that the Sandy Lake First Nation member thinks open-pit lithium extraction south of his community is a good idea. Mamagesic said he grew up in Red Lake, where his father worked at an open-pit mine, so he has seen the ugliness of open-pit mining. Then there are his concerns about environmental impacts.

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The Prospector turns 100: how this workhorse of a canoe helped build Canada – by Joe O’Connor (Financial Post – June 26, 2024)

https://financialpost.com/

A century ago this sturdy, quintessentially Canadian vessel was built to take geologists into the remote north. Today, its descendants are still being paddled by modern-day prospectors in search of that lucky strike

There were clues around the brick bungalow in north Toronto where Deb Scott grew up that hinted at her parents’ adventurous past. Photo albums full of black-and-white images of big lakes, dense northern forests, rocky hills and rushing waters; an old Coleman camping stove tucked away in a basement corner; a pair of heavy, eider-down sleeping bags; wooden crates full of rock samples; and a red, 16-foot Prospector canoe kept in the rafters of the two-car garage.

A heavy, and yet nimble, beast of a canoe, the Prospector — and there is some debate among the experts on this — was introduced to consumers by New Brunswick-based Chestnut Canoe Co. circa 1924, and was so named for its early association with the rock-hunting endeavours of the Geological Survey of Canada.

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Friedland, McEwen back Power Nickel’s “oversubscribed” $15m funding – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – June 24, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Canadian explorer Power Nickel (TSX-V: PNPN) has closed its recent C$20 million ($15m) “oversubscribed” financing round, backed by well-known personalities including billionaire investor Robert Friedland and mining veteran Rob McEwen.

The Toronto-based junior said the funds will be use to expand exploration on its 80%-owned NISK property in Quebec, adding it hopes to take advantage of Canada’s federal tax credit for critical mineral exploration.

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Afghanistan’s Lithium Treasure: China’s Key To EV Dominance – OpEd – by Altaf Moti (Eurasia Review – June 25, 2024)

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The global electrification drive, spearheaded by the burgeoning electric vehicle (EV) industry, has intensified the race to secure lithium, a vital component in EV batteries. This has thrust Afghanistan, boasting some of the world’s largest untapped lithium reserves, onto the center stage.

Often referred to as the “Saudi Arabia of Lithium,” Afghanistan’s estimated lithium reserves are pegged at around 2.3 million tons, making it a highly coveted prospect for countries vying for dominance in the clean energy sector.

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Up to 4,000 Rwandan troops have entered combat in eastern Congo, UN report says – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – June 25, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

As many as 4,000 Rwandan troops with high-tech weaponry have secretly crossed the border into eastern Congo to fight battles that have fuelled a vast humanitarian catastrophe across the region, a new United Nations report says.

The fighting, causing heavy casualties with indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas, has forced at least a million people to flee their homes in the past nine months, many of them now surviving in one of the more than 100 overcrowded camps for displaced people around the besieged city of Goma, near the border with Rwanda, the report says.

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Can Kentucky hatch a clean energy plan to incubate its aluminum boom? – by Annie Sartor (Energy News Network – June 25, 2024)

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A lack of affordable renewable energy jeopardizes a clean aluminum facility slated for Kentucky, which the U.S. needs to scale up clean energy manufacturing.

The clean energy revolution faces a critical bottleneck: a paradox with aluminum. This lightweight metal forms the backbone of electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels, but its production demands substantial clean energy capacity. In order to reduce our overreliance on carbon intensive imports, we need to establish a clean domestic supply chain.

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Hedge Funds’ Bullish Copper Bets Run Into China’s Slowdown (Bloomberg News – June 23, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — As copper surged to record highs last month, several senior Chinese traders started trying to contact western hedge fund managers whose names they’d only read in the press. For years, the veteran traders’ privileged insight into their own economy had given them an edge in the copper market, where China accounts for more than half of global demand.

But now they were bewildered. Everything in China pointed to a market that should be slumping, and yet prices were soaring on a wave of speculative money. What were they missing?

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Sandy Lake celebrates the arrival of power and light – by Mike Stimpson (NWO News Watch – June 24, 2024)

https://www.nwonewswatch.com/

The remote First Nation now has reliable electricity, thanks to the Wataynikaneyap Power line.

SANDY LAKE – Another First Nation celebrated Wataynikaneyap Power “bringing the light” on Friday, National Indigenous Peoples Day. “The Wataynikaneyap Power transmission system means more than reliable electricity for the community,” Sandy Lake Chief Delores Kakegamic said.

“It means we can build new homes and buildings, such as our new health centre, and connect them to power. It means we will no longer need to react, almost daily, to power outages.”

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Gold and silver prices struggling to find any kind of momentum – by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – June 25, 2024)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Gold and silver prices continue to churn in the middle of their respective ranges with little momentum on either side of the trade.

Analysts have said that they expect gold and silver to remain range-bound as traders will be hesitant to take any significant positions ahead of Friday’s Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index.

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Northwest mine developer settles dispute with First Nation neighbour – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June 21, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Cat Lake First Nation accepts government proposal on access road to First Mining Gold’s Springpole Project

First Mining Gold said a resolution has been reached with Cat Lake First Nation involving a disputed temporary access road to the gold company’s exploration camp in northwestern Ontario that halted construction last winter.

In a June 20 news release, the Vancouver company said Cat Lake accepted a settlement offer on June 17 on a proposal from the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF), thus ending a judicial review process.

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Opinion: B.C.’s mining sector is at risk of losing jobs, investments and multi-generational opportunities – by Keerit Jutla (Business in Vancouver – June 24, 2024)

https://www.biv.com/

Keerit Jutla is president and CEO of the Association for Mineral Exploration.

Exploration is the lifeblood of the mining sector, a precursor to discovery and development that has historically propelled B.C.’s economy forward. It’s a catalyst for innovation, job creation and economic diversification.

Each year, exploration contributes hundreds of millions of dollars to B.C.’s economy and supports thousands of direct and indirect jobs. This is not just about economics—it’s about securing a sustainable future for generations to come.

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EU Adds Key Exemptions to Russian Diamond Sanctions – by Joshua Freedman (Rapaport Magazine – June 24, 2024)

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The European Union has extended the “sunrise period” for sanctions on Russian diamonds by six months and added an important concession for goods that predate the rules.

The traceability program for imports of rough and polished natural diamonds will become mandatory on March 1, 2025, and not on September 1, 2024, the EU said in a statement Monday.

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‘Heap leach failure’ leads to slide at Yukon’s Eagle gold mine, no reported injuries (CBC News North – June 24, 2024)

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

Operations halted at Victoria Gold’s Eagle gold mine

A slide after the failure of a heap leach pad at Victoria Gold’s Eagle mine has halted operations at the site in central Yukon.

In a news release on Monday, Victoria Gold confirmed that operations have been temporarily suspended while the situation is assessed. “At this early stage, it can be confirmed that there has been some damage to infrastructure and a portion of the failure has left containment,” the release said.

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Blaze at South Korea lithium battery plant kills 22 workers – by Daewoung Kim, Hongji Kim and Hyunsu Yim (Reuters – June 24, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

HWASEONG, South Korea, June 24 (Reuters) – A lithium battery factory in South Korea was set on fire after multiple batteries exploded on Monday, killing 22 workers, most of them Chinese nationals, fire officials said.

The fire and a series of explosions ripped through the factory run by primary battery manufacturer Aricell in Hwaseong, an industrial cluster southwest of the capital Seoul. The victims likely succumbed to extremely toxic gas within seconds of the blaze getting out of control, the officials said. It was unclear what caused the explosions and the fire was largely extinguished in about six hours.

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Pro-Palestinian group in Sudbury wants Canada to ban nickel sales to Israel – by Staff (Sudbury Star – June 22, 2024)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Petition also targets those who sell arms to Israel; Israel’s supporters say it will do nothing to bring peace to the region

A pro-Palestinian group in Sudbury wants the federal government to ban the sale of Canadian nickel to Israel and the arms manufacturers supplying weapons to Israel.

The No Nickel For Genocide Working Group of Palestine Solidarity (Sudbury) has also launched a petition campaign to back its demands. Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus launched the petition on the House of Commons website and in its first week, obtained more than 200 signatures, the group said in a release.

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