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BHP’s warning on battery minerals is striking – by James Thomson (Australian Financial Review – January 2024)

https://www.afr.com/

Demand from the energy transition was supposed to underpin strong prices for nickel and lithium. But the battery minerals slump appears to be entering a new phase.

The most interesting word in BHP’s December quarter operations update can be found on page 14 – “structural”. That’s how the mining giant describes the changes ripping through the nickel sector, and threatening the viability of its Nickel West project in Western Australia.

“The nickel industry is undergoing a number of structural changes and is at a cyclical low in realised pricing,” BHP said. “Nickel West is not immune to these challenges. Operations are being actively optimised, and options are being evaluated to mitigate the impacts of the sharp fall in nickel prices.” BHP also said it would consider whether it needed to take a writedown on the value of the Nickel West asset.

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Nunavut is about to sign a devolution deal. Here’s how it worked in the Yukon and N.W.T. – by Liny Lamberink (CBC News North – January 17, 2024)

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

Devolution — transferring responsibilities for land and resources — is unique to each Canadian territory

A final devolution agreement, transferring responsibilities for Crown land and natural resources from the federal government to the Nunavut government, is being signed in Iqaluit Thursday afternoon. The details of the milestone agreement aren’t being made public until the document is signed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

But there are some things we already know. The federal government has gradually transferred responsibility for things like health, education, social services, housing and airports to the three territories since the 1960s. Devolving the responsibility for land and resources in Nunavut, currently held by the federal Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, is the next step.

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Burgundy enters Canadian diamond scene – by A.J. Roan (North of 60 Mining News – January 18, 2024)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

Precious stone mines saw some shuffling in Canada’s North with Burgundy Diamond Mines Ltd.’s acquisition of the Ekati diamond mine.

Already a 40% partner with North Arrow Minerals Inc. at the Naujaat diamond project in Nunavut, Burgundy closed its buyout of Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Ltd. on July 4, which gave the Australian diamond company full ownership of the world-class Ekati Mine and significantly elevating its efforts to deliver high-end cut and polished diamonds mined in Canada’s Arctic to global markets.

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Why the U.S. might just set its sights on Canadian-owned Westinghouse Electric – by David Olive (Toronto Star – January 18, 2024)

https://www.thestar.com/

Westinghouse Electric Co., a Canadian-owned company, is at the centre of a geopolitical struggle between the West and Russia for dominance in the global nuclear-power industry.

Westinghouse is among the nuclear industry’s few vertically integrated companies, designing reactors and providing them with nuclear fuel and maintenance services.The U.S. will be looking to Westinghouse to help triple America’s nuclear power capacity by 2050 to meet soaring U.S. power demand and fight climate change.

At some point, Washington is likely to exert pressure on Westinghouse to play a bigger role in the global nuclear-industrial complex, David Olive writes. Westinghouse also stands to gain from an end to Russia’s near-monopoly on nuclear fuel supplies in Eastern Europe.

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Gold miners bring fresh wave of suffering to Brazil’s Yanomami – by Ueslei Marcelino and Anthony Boadle (Reuters – Janaury 18, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

Brazil is losing the upper hand in its battle to save the Yanomami Indigenous people, who are dying from flu, malaria and malnutrition brought into their vast, isolated Amazon rainforest reservation by resurgent illegal miners.

A year after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared a humanitarian crisis among the Yanomami and vowed zero tolerance for illegal mining, environmental enforcers warn that Brazil is jeopardizing last year’s hard-won progress, when about 80% of roughly 20,000 wildcatters were ousted from the Portugal-sized reservation.

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Alberta’s Capital Power partners with Ontario Power Generation to build province’s first nuclear power reactor – by Emma Graney and Matthew McClearn (Globe and Mail – January 16, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

An Alberta power producer aims to build the province’s first nuclear power reactor by 2035. Capital Power Corp., which currently generates electricity using a diversified portfolio featuring natural gas, wind and solar, announced Monday a new partnership with Ontario Power Generation (OPG), operator of a large reactor fleet.

Over the next two years, the companies will jointly assess the viability of building small modular reactors in the Western province. If actually constructed, those SMRs might be jointly owned and operated, OPG says. The announcement is the latest indication that Alberta’s dalliance with nuclear power is gaining momentum. Talk of using reactors to generate steam for industrial processes goes back many years, but none were built.

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Trudeau has weakened Canada — and by extension, the entire free world – by Joel Kotkin (National Post – January 18, 2024)

https://nationalpost.com/

Come back Canada, the world needs you

At a time when the western world desperately needs some backbone, Canada seems to be swaying. It appears to have moved away from its long-term commitment to protect our now wobbling western civilization. This can be seen in how Canada deals with its defence responsibilities, its flaccid stand on Israel and in its belief in the value of its own existence.

These phenomena are all too common in the western world, including the United States and much of the European Union. The causes are familiar. They include the incessant kowtowing to nihilistic progressive ideologies that dominate the media and undermine the very legitimacy of the country.

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Vale going remote in Sudbury to make mining safer – by Staff (Sudbury Star – January 17, 2024)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Among other steps, it has opened its Integrated Remote Operating Center that services its five underground mines in Sudbury

Vale Base Metals Limited and Epiroc Canada have signed a deal to develop, test and use what they call ‘groundbreaking’ techniques to make mining safer.

Vale said it plans to use Epiroc’s technology and digital advances in underground technology to remove employees from the rock face, production drilling areas and ground support locations in support of safe and efficient mining activities.

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Manitoba mining industry looks to the future – by Martin Cash (Winnipeg Free Press – January 16, 2024)

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

Access to potential mineral deposits, partnerships with First Nations vital

A number of new mineral exploration drilling projects have begun this winter, including what is likely the largest lithium exploration project in the province, as Manitoba continues to lag other provinces with similar geologies in exploration activity.

At least two companies are starting lithium exploration work close by the Tanco lithium mine near Lac du Bonnet, the oldest lithium producer in the country and only the second operating mine. New Age Metals Inc. has commenced a 15,000 metre program, funded by is joint venture partner, Mineral Resources, an Australian company that is the fifth largest lithium producer in the world.

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Report outlines cost of Indonesia’s EV dream as Chinese-funded nickel plants linked to pollution, ‘land grabbing’ – by Resty Woro Yuniar (South China Morning Post – January 17, 2024)

https://www.scmp.com/

A new report accuses a massive China-funded nickel industrial complex in Indonesia’s Maluku province of causing “significant” environmental destruction and existential threats to indigenous peoples in the area, adding to the array of issues the nation faces in becoming a major player in the global electric vehicle (EV) supply chain.

Released on Wednesday by the US-based Climate Rights International (CRI) advocacy group, the report also alleges that the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) in Halmahera, Maluku, worked with Indonesian police to protect the interests of some nickel miners by engaging in “land grabbing, coercion and intimidation of indigenous peoples”.

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10 years after the last uranium speculator left Cañon City, an Australian company is on the hunt – by Sue McMillin (Colorado Sun – January 2024)

Homepage 2024

About two dozen property owners in remote northwestern Fremont County neighborhoods are fighting an Australian company that wants to explore known uranium deposits beneath their land.

The residents fear contamination of their water wells, a concern bolstered by the Fremont Conservation District’s recommendation to deny a county conditional use permit because of the potential contamination of Tallahassee Creek, which flows into the Arkansas River about 8 miles northwest of Cañon City. The 10-year permit was approved by Fremont County commissioners in October.

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How did Vale tailings dam burst and kills hundreds? – by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud (Northern Miner – January 17, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Construction details in the tailings dam at Vale’s (NYSE: VALE) Corrego do Feijao iron ore mine in Brazil may have caused the burst that killed at least 270 people when 10 million cubic metres of sludge destroyed neighbouring settlements and took out a railway bridge, according to Swiss researchers.

Why the dam broke in 2019 specifically – three years after the pond was last loaded with new tailings – and why no significant displacements had been detected before the collapse, is the focus of a new paper by scientists at the university ETH Zurich.

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Alamos Gold bumps up the exploration budget at northeastern Ontario mines – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 16, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Consistent gold production, huge upside at Island Gold, Young-Davidson reaps budgetary rewards

Exploration means longevity to a mine’s operating life. Alamos Gold is making substantial investments to extend the successful runs with its two underground operations in northeastern Ontario.

The Toronto gold company’s Island Gold Mine, near Dubreuilville, and the Young-Davidson Mine, outside Matachewan, show no signs of slowing down, and the exploration budget for both underground operations is being boosted this year. Alamos released its fourth-quarter and 2023 year-end production results on Jan. 10, showing record gold production of 529,300 ounces, up 15 per cent from the prior year.

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Albemarle to cut jobs, halt expansions and sell stake in Liontown – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – January 17, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) said on Wednesday it would cut jobs and defer spending on projects, including a massive refinery project in South Carolina, as part of a wide-ranging plan to slash costs in light of falling lithium prices. The world’s top producer of the battery metal said it plans to spend $1.6 billion to $1.8  billion in 2024, down from about $2.1 billion it invested last year.

“The actions we are taking allow us to advance near-term growth and preserve future opportunities as we navigate the dynamics of our key end-markets,” chief executive Kent Masters said in the statement. “The long-term fundamentals for our business are strong and we remain committed to operating in a safe and sustainable manner.” 

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Climate change threatens northern Ontario’s winter road system — so what can be done about it? – by Sarah Law (CBC News Thunder Bay – January 17, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/

Cat Lake First Nation has had to make its own snow this season

Tyler Tyance is all too familiar with the long days, cold nights and dangers of constructing northern Ontario’s winter roads, but this year, his crew faces a new challenge: not enough snow.

Winter roads are a lifeline for remote First Nations, which rely on seasonal routes to get essential supplies to their communities. Tyance, owner of the Rezneck Diesel Crew, has been building the road to Cat Lake First Nation, about 180 kilometres north of Sioux Lookout, over the past several weeks. “You’re pretty much at the mercy of Mother Nature,” Tyance said. “It’s really, really tough on your body and really exhausting.”

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