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Northeastern Ontario glitters with record gold prices and municipal leaders see lots of pluses – by Nishat Chowdhury (CBC News Sudbury – April 15, 2024)

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

Gold prices topped $2,400 US an ounce last week

Record-high gold prices are welcome news for mining operations in northeastern Ontario as the metal continues to surge in the market. Gold prices topped $2,400 US an ounce last week, a 20 per cent increase from the same time in 2023.

Some mayors from northeastern communities say the gold rush has helped local economies. “It’s been excellent for the community,” said Mark Stickel, mayor of Matachewan, home of the Young-Davidson mine located 60 kilometres west of Kirkland.

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Pursuing mining initiatives in Indigenous communities requires balance – by Sam Laskaris (Windspeaker.com – April 8, 2024)

https://windspeaker.com/

Darrell Beaulieu believes it’s a balancing act for Indigenous communities to prosper in the mining industry. Beaulieu is the president and CEO of Denendeh Investments Incorporated, an Indigenous- owned corporation representing the 27 First Nations in the Northwest Territories. He’s also president of the Denendeh Mining and Exploration Company (DEMCo).

Beaulieu was in Toronto in early April as speaker at the two-day “Indigenous Led Projects Forum” held at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel. Beaulieu was part of an opening-day session on April 2 titled Indigenous Ownership.

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Judge orders Alberta to hand over documents related to coal policy – by Emma Graney (Globe and Mail – April 17, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Alberta government has been ordered by a court to hand over a swath of records pertaining to its 2019 decision to quietly nix a policy governing where coal mines can be built in the province.

The case stems back to 2020, when a group of Southern Alberta ranchers requested records around the United Conservative government’s decision to rescind the province’s 1976 Coal Policy without any consultation. The decision caused public backlash so fierce it forced the government to backpedal and introduce new rules around coal mining.

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Codelco Eyes Partnerships to Help Boost Ailing Copper Production – by James Attwood and Jack Farchy (Bloomberg News – April 15, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Codelco is exploring more partnerships with the private sector as Chile’s state copper behemoth looks to recover from a production slump and surging debt.

Chairman Maximo Pacheco expects “some conclusions” this year from teams negotiating an operational tie-up between its Andina mine and Anglo American Plc’s adjoining Los Bronces, he said Monday in an interview. Codelco already has an indirect stake in Los Bronces, shares ownership of the El Abra mine with Freeport-McMoRan Inc. and is negotiating with would-be lithium partners.

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Bjorn Lomborg: Why solar and wind power aren’t winning (Financial Post – April 17, 2024)

https://financialpost.com/

All-in costs too high once you count fossil fuel and battery backups, land requirements and damage their equipment does

We are constantly being told that solar and wind are now the cheapest forms of electricity. Yet governments around the world felt they had to spend US$1.8 trillion on the green transition last year.

Wind and solar only produce power when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. When they are not, electricity from these sources is infinitely expensive and back-ups are needed. This is why fossil fuels still account for two-thirds of global electricity and why, on current trends, we are a century away from eliminating their use in electricity generation.

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Opinion: Canada has all the elements to be a winner in global energy — Now let’s do it – by Mike Rose (Calgary Herald – April 15, 2024)

https://calgaryherald.com/

There has never been a more urgent time to aggressively develop Canada’s massive resource wealth. An increasingly competitive world is organizing into new alliances that are threatening our traditional Western democracies.

Weaker or underperforming countries may be left behind economically and, in some cases, their sovereignty may be compromised. We cannot let either scenario happen to Canada. Looking inward, our country has posted among the weakest economic growth of all G20 nations over the past decade — we are at real risk of delivering a materially diminished standard of living to our children and subsequent future generations.

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Indigenous loan guarantee program could transform resource sector in Canada – by Wendy Stueck and Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – April 17, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The federal government has launched its long-awaited Indigenous loan guarantee program, a move advocates say will help Canadian critical minerals infrastructure get built more quickly, and facilitate increased direct First Nations ownership in resource projects.

Ottawa’s budget released Tuesday outlines a program that would provide up to $5-billion in loan guarantees and be “sector agnostic” – meaning that oil and gas projects could be eligible. In the months leading up to the budget, advocacy groups including the First Nations Major Projects Coalition had worried a federal loan program might rule out oil and gas projects because they don’t line up with Ottawa’s plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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How a US$10 billion mine became a cautionary tale for the energy transition – by Jacob Lorinc (Bloomberg News – April 16, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

When the group of mining executives arrived at Panama’s regal Palacio de las Garzas, they were ushered past the ornate, wood-paneled ceremonial rooms and straight to the private office of the president.

This was December 2016, before the upswell of anti-mining protests that would throw the country into chaos, and the team from First Quantum Minerals Ltd. were greeted as old friends. After all, they were building the country’s most important project since the Panama Canal had been opened a century earlier.

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Gold is back — and it has a message for us – by Rana Foroohar (Financial Times – April 16, 2024)

https://www.ft.com/

The precious metal’s surge may herald a whole new world

It’s easy to mock gold bugs, but their moment may finally have come. The precious metal has been breaking out recently amid higher-than-expected inflation in the United States, and general anxiety over everything from geopolitics to the November presidential elections to where monetary policy and markets go from here.

All these things are predictable reasons for gold to surge. But there are deeper, longer-term messages in this rise that investors should pay very close attention to.

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Lab Grown Diamonds: The Choice for an Ethical Future – by Megan Taylor (Viva Glam Magazine – April 15, 2024)

While lab grown gems have been around since the 1970s, they weren’t popularized in the diamond industry until the early 21st century. People are becoming more conscious of the ethics behind how traditional diamonds are mined. As a result, lab grown diamonds attract enthusiasts because they present an ethical option that aligns with contemporary consumer values.

Learn about the issues with the natural diamond mining industry and how choosing lab made gems is a more ethical choice for your next piece of jewelry.

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Russia’s Nornickel says new Western sanctions raise risk of metals market disruption – by Anastasiya Lyrchikova (Reuters/XM.com – April 16, 2024)

https://www.xm.com/

This content was produced in Russia where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine

MOSCOW, April 16 (Reuters) -U.S. and British sanctions imposed on Russian nickel, copper and aluminium will further increase price volatility and supply uncertainty, Russian metals-producing giant Norilsk Nickel said on Tuesday.

In their latest round of Ukraine-related sanctions, Washington and London on Friday prohibited metal-trading exchanges from accepting new aluminium, copper and nickel produced by Russia and barred the import of the metals into the United States and Britain in order to disrupt Russian export revenue.

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Arrests in $20-million Toronto airport gold heist stem from cross-border gun running plot – by Adrian Humphreys (National Post – April 17, 2024)

https://nationalpost.com/

‘Project 24K’ a secret, joint investigation into the high-profile theft from Pearson airport has made arrests in the theft of gold bars and US$2 million in cash

Three Ontario men and a person from Florida have been arrested in connection to the $20-million Toronto Pearson airport gold heist after U.S. agents uncovered a cross-border gun trafficking plot linked to the heist, National Post has learned.

Police will announce details Wednesday on “Project 24K” — a secret, joint investigation into the high-profile theft of gold from Pearson airport. 24K is short for 24 carats, the measurement for nearly pure gold, which is usually the purity of high-grade gold bars, such as the ones stolen from Pearson.

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Climate warrior Jane Goodall isn’t sold on carbon taxes and electric vehicles – by John Paul Tasker (CBC News Politics – April 13, 2024)

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

‘It’s not something I endorse,’ British primatologist says of carbon taxes

World-renowned primatologist and climate activist Jane Goodall says carbon pricing schemes like the one Canada has deployed aren’t a silver bullet to solve the pressing threat of climate change.

Speaking to CBC News during the Ottawa stop of her cross-country tour of Canada this week, Goodall said the jury’s out on whether levying a consumer price on emissions will meaningfully improve the climate picture over the long term. Goodall, who just turned 90, said a carbon tax can seem punitive to consumers — making a measure to fight climate change seem like a costly chore.

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Nickel developer hires access road consultant – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – April 15, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Tartisan’s Kenbridge Project hold promise of nine years of mine life

Tartisan Nickel, a mine developer in the Kenora area, has retained a Thunder Bay mining services company to help with project management of its Kenbridge Project. Northwest Solutions specializes in catering to the forestry and natural resources sector since 2014. The family-owned Thunder Bay company helps with training, project management support and communication consulting services.

Tartisan said Northwest Solutions, specifically co-owner Kevin Shorthouse, will handle the design, permitting and construction of an access road to the site.

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Is this the right vision for the NWT’s economy? – by Ollie Williams (Cabin Radio – April 13, 2024)

Front Page

It’s been a big week for discussion of the Northwest Territories’ economy. It might be about 15 years overdue.

Economist Graeme Clinton, who lives in Yellowknife, started the week by telling city council an “economic cliff” is coming – and there seems to be no plan.

He was referring to the closure of the NWT’s three active diamond mines, which currently power thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. The first of the three to close will do so in just over 18 months’ time. Financially, diamond mining is the most important industry the territory has. There’s nothing on the radar that comes close to matching it for job creation and profit.

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