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Ontario’s Darlington SMR project to cost nearly $21-billion, significantly higher than expected – by Matthew McClearn (Globe and Mail – May 9, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ontario Power Generation’s plan to construct the first small modular reactor in a G7 country has an official price tag of $7.7-billion – which independent observers say is higher than necessary to spark widespread adoption.

On Thursday, the Ontario government announced that its wholly owned utility can spend $6.1-billion to build the first BWRX-300 reactor adjacent to OPG’s existing Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. It can spend another $1.6-billion on infrastructure such as administrative buildings and cooling water tunnels the new reactor will share with three additional BWRX-300s to be built later.

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Opinion: Carney must move quickly to attract investment to exploration – by Trish Jacques (Business In Vancouver – May 9, 2025)

https://www.biv.com/

Trish Jacques is board chair of the Association for Mineral Exploration.

Global tensions, trade wars and geopolitics put Canada’s natural resources front and centre in our recent federal election. Last week — and immediately after the election — British Columbia’s mineral exploration and mining sectors gathered in Prince George for the Minerals North conference.

Reaction to the election result, its implications and how we can address systemic issues came up time and time again. For B.C., the numbers speak volumes: A 26-per-cent drop in exploration spending and a 45-per-cent drop in metres drilled in just the past two years and during a commodity boom. Correspondingly, we have not seen a new critical mineral mine open in more than a decade.

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Ontario in ‘critical time,’ must speed up infrastructure projects, Ford says – by Rochelle Raveendran (CBC News Toronto – May 07, 2025)

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

Government won’t skip environmental assessments, premier says

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province must focus on accelerating infrastructure projects as it finds itself in a “critical time” against U.S. tariffs. “We just want to get projects moving forward as quickly as possible,” he said at Queen’s Park on Wednesday.

“There’s no longer time to sit around and wait 10 years as we do an [environmental assessment] and everything else.” His comments come after the government has faced criticism for a proposed bill that would give cabinet power to create “special economic zones” and allow the government to exempt itself from following laws on certain projects.

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Northern Myanmar Poses a Challenge to China’s Critical Minerals Strategy – by Wai Yan Phyo Naing and Lin Sae-phoo (The Diplomat – May 9, 2025)

https://thediplomat.com/

Myanmar is China’s top source of raw rare earth elements. As conflict threatens that supply chain, Beijing is moving more directly to intervene in Myanmar’s civil war.

Amid the ongoing conflicts between Myanmar’s military junta and various ethnic armed groups, two recent meetings – one between representatives of the Kachin Independence Army and Chinese officials, and the other between the Myanmar junta and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) – have taken place in Yunnan, China, which borders northern Myanmar.

China, acting not only as a mediator but also as a stakeholder, has been actively involved in the conflict developments in the northern and northeastern parts of Myanmar.

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Tariffs and their effect on northern Ont. focus of final day of northern municipal conference – by Eric Taschner (CTV News Northern Ontario – May 07, 2025)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/

Provincial cabinet ministers were on hand Wednesday in North Bay for the final day of the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities conference. For the last three days, FONOM has included numerous talks and panels for hundreds of municipal leaders and dignitaries to take back to their towns and cities.

On Wednesday morning, six ministers in Premier Doug Ford’s cabinet converted on the conference, which took place at the Best Western on Lakeshore Drive. They were on hand to listen to municipal leaders about the issues they’re facing – and to bring those concerns back to Queen’s Park.

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A fork in the road: As bifurcation hits the global uranium industry, the secure path leads to Canada: – by Sergey Sukhankin (MacDonald Laurier Institute – May 7, 2025)

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Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has forever changed global commodities markets. The economic sanctions subsequently imposed on Russia exposed multiple risks related to (over)reliance on a single or dominant suppliers of critical materials (Sukhankin 2024a). The European Union (EU) was hit particularly hard thanks to its decades-long reliance on Russia’s inexpensive commodities. The EU’s dependence also made it vulnerable to external pressure and blackmail.

The “Russia sanctions” fallout has revealed a much bigger problem. While natural resources will continue to be used as a geopolitical weapon in the unfolding East-West rivalry, the focus is likely to shift from hydrocarbons to critical minerals in the medium-term. This trend is visible in China’s series of decisions (2023–25) to restrict exports of several types of critical metals and technologies (Shivaprasad, Lv, and Jackson 2024) that are instrumental for innovation and technological sectors of Western economies.

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Amid low prices, Vale could sell off some of its nickel operations – by Staff (Sudbury Star – May 7, 2025)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Options could also include forging partnerships or putting some assets in care and maintenance, company says

Vale is eyeing options amid current market challenges that could include full or partial divestment of some nickel operations. Last week, the Brazilian company’s chief executive told reporters that an oversupply of the metal from Indonesia is causing short-term issues that necessitate a serious look at how to keep this side of its business profitable.

“We are evaluating if some assets in the portfolio could have a strategic alternative,” said Gustavo Pimenta, according to a Reuters story. Options could include selling off nickel holdings, forging partnerships or putting some assets in care and maintenance, the Vale head indicated.

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B.C. mining association heralds $90 billion in potential projects to seize moment of national interest – by Derrick Penner (Vancouver Sun – May 7, 2025)

https://vancouversun.com/

“In the current climate of economic security, B.C.’s mining sector has the ability to secure a stronger, more stable and resilient economic future for all British Columbians.” — Michael Goehring, CEO, Mining Association of B.C.

The Mining Association of B.C. says the industry has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to boost public support for new mines, and it touting $90 billion worth of potential projects at a time other big projects are winding up construction.

A year ago, the association published a list of 17 potential projects at some stage of environmental review and approval, four of which have already been singled out by the province for fast-tracking under the promise Premier David Eby made to kickstart resource projects to defend B.C.’s economy.

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Pakistan: Global Backing For Reko Diq – OpEd – by Dr. Sahibzada Muhammad Usman (Eurasia Review – May 9, 2025)

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The signing of the long awaited $6.4 billion Reko Diq mining agreement is now expected to take place next month. This is regarded as one of the most important projects of Pakistan. Final multi-lateral financing arrangements are nearing completion, with arrangements now in place for financing via the UK and US Export Import (EXIM) Banks, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), all of whom have commitments as part of the agreement between all the major international stakeholders.

One of the largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits in the world is Reko Diq, which lies in Pakistan’s mineral rich Balochistan province. Once operational, it should have an annual output of over 200,000 tons of copper and 250,000 ounces of gold for 40 years.

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Bezos-Backed Firm Signs Deal to Advance Congo Lithium Mine – by Michael J. Kavanagh, James Attwood and William Clowes (Bloomberg News – May 7, 2025)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

KoBold Metals Co. has reached a preliminary agreement to move forward with the development of one of the world’s biggest hard rock lithium deposits in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

(Bloomberg) — KoBold Metals Co. has reached a preliminary agreement to move forward with the development of one of the world’s biggest hard rock lithium deposits in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The firm, backed by billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, reached a framework agreement with Australia’s AVZ Minerals Ltd. to buy the latter’s stake in project on the Manono deposit, according to a letter signed by KoBold Chief Executive Officer Kurt House and his AVZ counterpart Nigel Ferguson.

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Digging to zero? Inside the race to decarbonise mining – by Ben Payton (Reuters – May 7, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

The resources needed to decarbonise the world economy lie buried beneath the Earth. There is no alternative to digging them out if the energy transition is to take place. Without mining, there will be no silicon for solar panels, no steel for wind turbines, no lithium, cobalt or nickel for electric vehicles.

However mining itself accounts for 4-7% of global emissions. While an estimated 75-85% of the sector’s emissions come from methane released from coal mines, this problem is expected to abate over the next 25 years as the world gets on course for net-zero.

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Treaties can’t be relied upon to stop Alberta from leaving – by Jamie Sarkonak (National Post – May 9, 2025)

https://nationalpost.com/

These Lands were never ceded, nor surrendered.” What he meant by “internationally binding”wasn’t clear, and he certainly wasn’t correct about cessation. Treaty land is by definitionceded land — it was surrendered in exchange for benefits provided by the Crown.

Various Indigenous leaders have complained vocally about Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s roundabout way of engaging with the province’s separatist movement by making it easier for organized citizens to arrange for referendums.

But the moment they have me nodding along in understanding, they pull their own sovereigntist card: arguing that the numbered treaties situated in Alberta are a higher, purer form of authority; that secession talk violates treaty rights; and that treaty land is literally their property and thus untransferable.

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Barrick CEO Bristow signals some regret on missing out on Kirkland Lake acquisition – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – May 8, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Mining Corp. chief executive Mark Bristow is signalling some regret that he didn’t buy Canadian gold miner Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd., a multibillion-dollar transaction that would have given the company a much bigger footprint in its home market and a lower risk profile.

Toronto-based Barrick’s shares have underperformed some of the company’s peers over the past few years, in part because of its exposure to risky jurisdictions outside of Canada. Its Malian operations, which accounted for about 15 per cent of its production, were shut down in January, amid a dispute with the West African country over dividing the economic spoils. Mali also jailed four Barrick executives and has an outstanding arrest warrant on Mr. Bristow.

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Opinion: What about processing in this nuclear boom? – by Shaun Spelliscy (Northern Miner – May 9, 2025)

https://www.northernminer.com/

A few months ago, I joined a group of farmers discussing Saskatchewan’s modular nuclear reactor proposal. I supported the idea but raised a simple question: Where will Saskatchewan source the fuel? One farmer shot back, “Are you stupid? We have some of the world’s largest uranium reserves right here in the Athabasca Basin.”

What Farmer Jed didn’t realize is that a Candu nuclear reactor isn’t a coal locomotive. Uranium must be processed before it can be used as fuel. While Saskatchewan mines the raw material, Ontario reaps the economic rewards by refining and manufacturing Candu reactor fuel.

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The underappreciated valor of Canada’s mining industry – by Staff (Canadian Mining Journal – May 5, 2025)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

In recent years, the mining industry has faced substantial criticism on both national and international fronts. Critics often highlight environmental concerns, casting the sector in a negative light, while overlooking its crucial role in sustaining Canada’s high standard of living.

This portrayal is not only unfair but also undermines the efforts of thousands of dedicated professionals who work tirelessly to mitigate the environmental impacts, particularly those involved in reclamation work.

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