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Experts warn about potential risks of foreign investment in Arctic mining – by Natalie Pressman (CBC News North – April 26, 2024)

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

With minimal Canadian investment, mining companies have few options

Some representatives of the federal government and northern mining experts are issuing a warning about the risk of foreign investment in Arctic mining.

During a panel at the Nunavut Mining Symposium Thursday, representatives from the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS), the RCMP and the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) discussed foreign companies’ interest in Canadian northern mining, and what that could mean for Arctic security.

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Will Changes to Canada’s Capital Gains Tax Hurt Mining Investment and Innovation? – by Georgia Williams (Investing News – April 26, 2024)

https://investingnews.com/

On April 16, the Canadian government tabled its 2024 budget proposal. Called “Fairness for Every Generation,” it is aimed at helping Millennials and Gen Zs, with C$535 billion earmarked by the Trudeau government for investments in housing, clean economy initiatives, childcare, healthcare and national security. But one section of the document has garnered widespread attention — changes to the capital gains tax scheme.

Starting on June 25, 2024, changes to Canada’s tax system will aim to “enhance fairness” by adjusting the inclusion rate for capital gains. Individuals with over C$250,000 in annual capital gains will see their inclusion rate increase from one-half to two-thirds, while those with gains below this threshold will maintain the 50 percent inclusion rate.

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Agnico’s Nunavut mines start 2024 strong – by Shane Lasley (North of 60 Mining News – April 26, 2024)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

For Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd., the remote but highly mineralized territory of Nunavut offers high rewards, as long as the high risks that come with building and operating mines in Canada’s remote North are managed.

Given the nearly 900,000-ounce-of-gold-per-year pace of production at its Meliadine and Amaruq mines so far this year, coupled with new gold discoveries that bode well for its Hope Bay mine project, Agnico has a grasp on what it takes to reap the rewards and mitigate the risks associated with mining in Nunavut.

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OPINION: Copper is the new oil and Big Mining sees the metal as its lifeblood – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – April 27, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Australia’s BHP, the world’s biggest mining company, considered a bid for smaller player Anglo American about five years ago. BHP coveted only Anglo’s copper, and was put off by the prospect of dismantling a highly complex company to nail the prize. So it passed.

Big mistake. Copper since then has become the new oil, and no big mining house can prosper without the metal considered critical to the transition to a low-carbon future. Everyone wants copper and the price is soaring as supply proves incapable of meeting demand.

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Copper smelters in China wary of BHP-Anglo tie-up – by Siyi Liu, Julian Luk, Mai Nguyen and Melanie Burton (Reuters – April 30, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

Chinese smelters, the world’s biggest buyers of mined copper, are concerned they will lose power to negotiate prices if BHP Group, known locally as “the big miner”, succeeds in its bid for rival Anglo American.

BHP, the world’s largest listed mining group, is fine-tuning an offer that could make it the biggest producer of copper, a metal in high demand as the world seeks to shift towards electric vehicles and a lower carbon economy.The proposed takeover would give BHP control of roughly 10% of global mined supplies, surpassing Chile’s Codelco and Freeport-McMoRan.

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The decline and fall of Canada – by John Ivison (National Post – April 30, 2024)

https://nationalpost.com/

A state’s citizens must have the will for it to exist in the world. Has there been any moment in Canada’s history when that will has been weaker?

In his classic A Short History of the World, H.G. Wells asked why the Roman Empire grew, and why it so completely decayed. He concluded that it grew because the idea of citizenship held it together, creating a sense of privilege and obligation and a willingness to make sacrifices in the name of Rome.

However, the failure to explain itself to its increasing multitude of citizens, or invite their co-operation, led to the demise of its collective mission.

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Top Glencore Shareholders Favor Keeping Coal Over Spinoff – by Thomas Biesheuvel, Dinesh Nair and Jack Farchy (Bloomberg News – April 29, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Several of Glencore Plc’s largest shareholders believe that the company should retain its coal assets, according to people familiar with the matter, throwing a proposed spinoff into doubt.

Glencore, the world’s largest shipper of thermal coal with a market capitalization of about $73 billion, had said it intended to spin the business off within two years of closing a deal to buy the steelmaking coal assets of Teck Resources Ltd.

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Washing away the climate lunatics – by Conrad Black (National Post – April 27, 2024)

https://nationalpost.com/

Canada at risk of turning into Europe

I have written here and elsewhere countless times before of the dangers of responding prematurely to alarmist concerns about climate change. Dr. Benny Peiser of the British Global Warming Policy Foundation spoke to the Friends of Science Society in Calgary earlier this month, warning that Europe’s extremist net zero carbon emission policies may get to Canada even though they are now running into extreme problems in Europe.

The North American media has not much reported on the widespread and often violent farmer protests in Europe, which has caused every government that has been put to the test to scale back their aggressive climate change policies.

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OPINION: Canada needs to have a plan for the U.S., no matter who becomes president. That starts with making us matter more – by Edward Greenspan, Janice Gross and Drew Fagan (Globe and Mail – April 27, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

It’s not just about Donald Trump. It’s about us, the indispensable ally that has allowed ourselves to dwindle into dispensability. That Canada’s neighbour is turning its back on the liberal values and internationalism that propelled the United States up the Billboard charts of world powers over the past century-and-a-half – that’s on the Americans.

We don’t get a vote, after all. That we are less consequential in the face of rising American nationalism and fragmenting geopolitics, however – that’s on us. We have become inward-looking, too. When our long-time allies, such as Germany, Japan and Korea, come seeking our resource-rich assistance with their energy insecurities, we demur.

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BHP’s $39 Billion Copper Play Was Years in the Making – by Thomas Biesheuvel, Dinesh Nair and Paul-Alain Hunt (Bloomberg News – April 27, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — When Mike Henry took over as chief executive officer of BHP Group in 2020, the world’s biggest mining company had lost its swagger. Bruised by a series of painful missteps and a run-in with activist Elliott Investment Management, the Anglo-Australian behemoth was kicking crucial decisions down the road, and increasingly aware that its reliance on fossil-fuel-heavy commodities could start turning investors away.

Detail-focused and exacting, Henry didn’t fit the stereotype of the hard-charging and charismatic mining executive that the industry so often turned to for its leaders. But he moved quickly and methodically, and within 20 months BHP had announced the most dramatic shakeup since its creation two decades earlier.

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Ring of Fire road talks still in ‘early stages’ despite premier’s hints: Aroland chief – by Jack Hauen (The Trillium – April 29, 2024)

https://www.thetrillium.ca/

Chief Sonny Gagnon said he hopes to get a deal done in his two-year term, which began in November

While he’s “optimistic” about getting a deal done at some point in his two-year term, Aroland First Nation Chief Sonny Gagnon said the first part of the road to the Ring of Fire isn’t as close as the premier is making it out to be.

“We had great conversations with Aroland, the Chief of Aroland. We’re about that far away from signing a deal to get the first 80 kilometres of road,” Ford said last week, nearly pinching together his thumb and index finger.

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Anglo American rejects “opportunistic” $39bn takeover bid from BHP – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – April 26, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Anglo American (LON: AAL) has rejected a $39 billion takeover offer from BHP (ASX: BHP) conditional to the target company divesting its platinum and iron ore businesses in South Africa.

BHP’s unsolicited offer “significantly undervalued” the 107-year-old mining company and would be “highly unattractive” to its shareholders, Anglo said on Friday in a response widely expected by analysts. “The BHP proposal is opportunistic and fails to value Anglo American’s prospects,” Anglo chairman Stuart Chambers said in the statement.

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Bombardier also granted exemption from Canadian sanctions on Russian titanium – by Steven Chase and Robert Fife (Globe and Mail – April 26, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Aircraft manufacturer Bombardier Inc. says it too has been granted an exemption from Canadian sanctions targeting Russian titanium that could interfere with its business in Canada.

Based in Montreal, Bombardier is the second aerospace company to be identified as having obtained a waiver from Canadian sanctions targeting Russian titanium maker VSMPO-AVISMA Corp., one of the world’s largest producers of the rare metal. Airbus was the first.

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Rock & Ruler: Golconda’s Trail of Diamonds – by Amrita Amesur (Sarmaya – June 17, 2021)

https://sarmaya.in/

What the chain of diamonds trickling from the marketplaces of Golconda tells us about the dynasties that branded and traded, and won and lost them

When it comes to diamonds, they say, nothing surpasses Golconda. Before the current problematic era of Blood diamonds, Golconda’s rocks shone the brightest. The only known source of the stone till the early 18th century, the mines of Golconda produced diamonds unparalleled in their ability to spawn legends and bewitch the beholder.

These mines put the gem on the world map and marked India as the original home of the adamas, the Greek root word for this indestructible jewel. For this reason, Golconda’s ancient mines, pre-dating dynasties of the last two millennia, were a source of wealth and influence for the powers that controlled them through the ages.

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Northern leaders to build Arctic that lasts – by A. J. Roan (North of 60 Mining News – April 25, 2024)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai discuss the roles they can play to uplift northern neighbor jurisdictions.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska: With an air of joviality and high rapport, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai participated in a plenary discussion hosted during the 2024 Arctic Encounter Symposium to converse on the potential for closer partnerships and improving the cross-border relationship that has existed between northern neighbors Alaska and Yukon for decades.

Held at the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center in downtown Anchorage, the 2024 Arctic Encounter Symposium celebrated not only the rich and diverse cultures throughout the northern hemisphere but also its 10th anniversary as the largest Arctic-focused conference in the United States.

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