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Indonesia’s flood of nickel sparks ‘Darwinian’ battle for survival among miners Harry Dempsey, A. Anantha Lakshmi and Mercedes Ruehl (Financial Times – January 29, 2024)

https://www.ft.com/

Western capitals fear closure of unviable mines will increase China’s control of critical resource

Indonesia is flooding the global nickel market with low-cost supplies, forcing rivals to shut unprofitable mines and sowing panic in Washington and Paris that the upheaval will give China more control over the strategic resource.

The country, the world’s largest producer, expanded production by 30 per cent last year to 1.9mn tonnes even though global demand for the metal used in electric car batteries and stainless steel barely grew, according to investment bank Macquarie.

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After years of trouble, can the AFN’s new chief avoid another ‘explosion,’ and unite First Nations? – by Joy SpearChief-Morris (Toronto Star – January 30, 2024)

https://www.thestar.com/

Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak has inherited an organization that has been buffeted by internal strife.

OTTAWA — The emotion in the room was electric as Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak stood in a full buckskin dress to be sworn in as national chief of the Assembly of First Nations in Ottawa last month. In an election that ran to seven ballots, the former regional chief from Manitoba became the youngest person, the first mother and just the second woman elected to head the AFN in its 64-year history.

She also inherited an organization that has been buffeted by internal strife. Among its more than 630 First Nations are some whose members feel the AFN no longer effectively represents them. Many First Nations are divided over legislative moves in Ottawa that, critics charge, promise to advance the self-government rights of some at the cost of others.

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Third Mine Disaster in a Decade Tests ESG Boundaries in Brazil – by Vinícius Andrade, Giovanna Bellotti Azevedo and Mariana Durao (Bloomberg News – January 29, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Investors were swift to dump debt of Braskem SA after the Brazilian petrochemicals maker’s salt mine partially collapsed in December — a situation that has forced tens of thousands to evacuate the city of Maceio since 2019.

The selloff lasted less than a month before the prices recovered. It was a rebound reminiscent of what happened in the wake of Samarco’s tailings dam collapse in 2015 and the rupture of a Vale SA dam in Brumadinho that killed 270 people in 2019: Any punishment levied by the debt markets was short lived.

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Drought in Western Canada means two provinces are having to import power – by Amanda Stephenson (CTV News/Canadian Press – January 29, 2024)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/

Two hydro-rich provinces are being forced to import power from other jurisdictions due to severe drought in Western Canada. Both B.C. and Manitoba, where the vast majority of power is hydroelectric, are experiencing low reservoir levels that have negatively affected electricity production this fall and winter.

There’s no risk in either province of the lights going out anytime soon. But scientists say climate change is making drought both more common and more severe, which means more pressure on hydroelectric producers in the years to come.

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‘The mining rush for green energy’: Why Ontario chiefs are asking for a moratorium on claims – by Matteo Cimellaro (National Observer – January 29, 2024)

https://www.nationalobserver.com/

Today, anybody can make a mining claim on the Ontario government’s website as long as they have a few minutes, a computer and $50. The mineral claims process happens in an electronic heartbeat, and claims are marked on a digitized map.

The result is a flood of claims on First Nations territories, huge administrative pileups and frustration among First Nations that say they are not being consulted and have no capacity to deal with the sheer volume of mineral claims.

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Europe’s thirst for lithium threatens livelihoods, biodiversity in Portugal – by Marta Vidal (Al Jazeera – January 30, 2024)

https://www.aljazeera.com/

Open-pit mines are planned for Portugal’s northern region, worrying locals who say their livelihoods are at risk.

Covas do Barroso, Portugal – Paulo Pires walked up the hill with his flock of sheep and dogs on a warm day in August, as a stream of water gushed down an ancient irrigation channel that has been maintained by local communities over many generations. “There is a lot of wealth here,” said Pires, now resting in the shade of an oak tree by the flowing water.

For centuries, Covas do Barroso’s water, pastures and forests have been managed collectively to integrate farming, livestock and forestry in a sustainable manner. But Pires is worried. Savannah Resources, a company based in the United Kingdom, aims to develop Western Europe’s largest open-pit lithium mine in Barroso, bordering the Peneda-Geres National Park in northeastern Portugal.

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Iron ore rally built on more than just China optimism – by Clyde Russell (Reuters – January 29, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Iron ore is having a strong start to the year, with rising prices and robust imports by China, sparked by optimism the world’s largest buyer of the steel raw material is adding enough stimulus to boost demand.

The optimism in the past week has consigned China’s soft steel production data for December to memory, with both sentiment and fundamentals supporting the iron ore market. Iron ore contracts traded in Singapore ended at $135.31 a metric ton on Jan. 26, posting a weekly increase after declining for the two previous weeks.

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Neskantaga First Nation works to uplift community since suicide crisis 10 years ago – by Liam Casey (Toronto Star – January 30, 2024)

https://www.thestar.com/

NESKANTAGA FIRST NATION, ONT. – Small, white crosses dot a graveyard just outside Neskantaga First Nation in northern Ontario. Some graves are marked with white picket fences, flowers have been placed at others. Most have no names or ages, but some do. A 16-year-old girl rests in one plot, a 13-year-old in another. Suicide brought them there.

Ten years ago, Neskantaga First Nation – a remote community with a population of about 450 – declared a state of emergency after four suicides and several attempted suicides by teens. The state of emergency officially remains, but the community quietly spoke about a small milestone this past summer: no one had killed themselves in Neskantaga in three years.

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Why Bangkok Is the Go-To Spot for Colored Stones – by Richa Goyal Sikri (Rapaport Magazine – January 24, 2024)

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The Thai life: A steady gem supply and a history of expertise continue to attract cutters and dealers to the Asian hub.

Thailand has long served as a center for colored gemstones. Its ruby and sapphire deposits and its strategic location — neighboring the gem-rich nations of Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia and Vietnam — have enabled the Thai gem industry to develop multigenerational knowledge and skills in mining, treatment, cutting, polishing and trading.

Political turmoil in Myanmar — starting with the Japanese invasion in 1942, and later a nationalization spree by the government — led to an influx of ruby merchants and miners from Myanmar to Thailand, further enriching the latter country’s gem industry. Among the arrivals was the family of fifth-generation gem merchant Santpal Sinchawla, managing director of Sant Enterprises.

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Blade runners: how LFP batteries brought EV metal markets back to earth – by Frik Els (Mining.com – January 5, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

It’s January 2024, and unfortunately for said cobalt and nickel bulls the blow from the iron fist is even more severe than feared. And the runaway success has become a battery-powered juggernaut.

During that month nearly four years ago when Elon Musk first announced the move to LFP batteries, the cathode chemistry contributed less than 50 tonnes to overall battery metal demand, according to Adamas Intelligence, Toronto-based research consultants tracking demand for EV batteries by chemistry, cell supplier and capacity in over 110 countries.

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Magna Mining drills to expand nickel resources at former INCO mine – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 29, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Canadian, U.S. government incentives look attractive to Sudbury mine developer

The global nickel price is slumping but Magna Mining isn’t breaking stride in making progress to bring two former Sudbury mines back into production. Magna Mining will be running two winter drilling programs at its Crean Hill and Shakespeare properties at the outset of what the local company anticipates will be an exciting year to make new discoveries on these brownfield properties.

With more than $15 million banked, Magna plans to do 25,000 metres of drilling this year, most of it at Crean Hill, a former INCO mine property containing nickel, copper and platinum group metals that the company acquired in November 2022.

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Norway defends deep-sea mining, says it may help to break China and Russia’s rare earths stronghold – by Sam Meredith (CNBC.com January 29, 2024)

https://www.cnbc.com/

Norway says its controversial decision to approve deep-sea mining is a necessary step into the unknown that could help to break China and Russia’s rare earths dominance. In a vote earlier this month that attracted cross-party support, Norway’s parliament voted 80-20 to approve a government proposal to open a vast ocean area for commercial-scale deep-sea mining.

It makes the northern European country the first in the world to move forward with the process of extracting minerals from the seabed. Norway’s government said the practice could be one way to help facilitate the global transition away from fossil fuels, adding that every country should be exploring ways to sustainably collect metals and minerals at their disposal.

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Albemarle lays off 300 employees on weak lithium prices – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – January 29, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Albemarle (NYSE: ALB), the world’s largest lithium producer, is said to have laid off more than 300 employees, or 4% of its total workforce, across its US and global operations.

The move, reported by The Information, comes as an oversupply of the ultra-light metal used in electric-vehicle (EV) batteries has caused prices to collapse. Lithium has plunged more than 80% from a late-2022 record high, with experts predicting that lithium carbonate prices in top consumer and producer China could fall by more than 30% this year from December 2023 levels.

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One of nation’s only aluminum smelters set to close in Missouri Bootheel – by Allison Kite (Missouri Independent – January 25, 2024)

https://missouriindependent.com/

The Magnitude 7 Metals plant employed more than 400 workers in Marston.

One of the nation’s last primary aluminum smelters, which employs more than 400 workers in the Missouri Bootheel, will reportedly close its doors.

The Magnitude 7 Metals plant, in the southeast Missouri town of Marston, announced Wednesday it would curtail operations, according to Industrious Labs, an industry analysis group. In a press release, Industrious Labs said the plant represents about one-fifth of the nation’s aluminum production.

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Opinion: Don’t raid poor countries’ development budgets to fund climate policy – by Bjorn Lomborg (Financial Post – January 26, 2024)

https://financialpost.com/

Rich countries shouldn’t force unreliable wind and solar power on poor nations where alleviating poverty is the priority

Too many rich-world politicians and climate campaigners seem to forget that much of the world remains mired in poverty and hunger. Yet rich countries are increasingly replacing their development aid with climate spending.

The World Bank, whose primary goal is to help people out of poverty, has now announced it will divert no less than 45 per cent of its funding toward climate change, shifting some US$40 billion annually away from poverty and hunger.

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