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Newbies to Superior’s north shore can help fill the ranks of the mining industry – by Austin Campbell (Northern Ontario Business – December 11, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Confederation College’s Mining Potential program will offer free entry-level training for newcomers, women, youth

A new program is opening doors for underrepresented groups in the Marathon area of northwestern Ontario. Confederation College, in partnership with Northwest Employment Works, is offering a free training opportunity aimed specifically at women, youth, and newcomers to the mining industry.

The Mining Potential program focuses on developing learners’ non-technical skills, knowledge, and confidence in order to achieve meaningful employment, with the ultimate goal being to provide employers with a safe and well-educated workforce to draw from.

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Barrick gets go ahead for Goldrush mine ramp-up – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – December 11, 2023)

https://www.mining.com/

Canada’s Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX) (NYSE: GOLD) said on Monday that the US Bureau of Land Management has approved the company’s plan of operations for its Goldrush underground mine at the Cortez Complex near Beowawe, Nevada.

The gold operation, run by Barrick’s JV with Newmont (NYSE: NEM) Nevada Gold Mines (NGM), is expected to start ramping up production in 2024 after the commissioning of the initial project infrastructure. The mine is expected to generate 130,000 ounces of gold in 2024 and grow to about 400,000 ounces of the precious metal per annum by 2028.

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Conflict-weary DR Congo votes on December 20: A guide to the election – by Lorraine Mallinder (Al Jazeera – December 7, 2023)

https://www.aljazeera.com/

As the mineral-rich DR Congo prepares to vote for a new president this December, opponents are already crying foul.

Tensions are rising in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as it prepares for presidential and parliamentary elections while struggling to contain myriad armed groups wreaking havoc in the mineral-rich east.

The nation of about 100 million people is a battleground for more than 120 groups fighting for land and resources, some reportedly backed by or intervening in neighbouring countries, such as Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Uganda and Rwanda.

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How to detox coal country – by Kate Morgan (Vox.com – December 11, 2023)

https://www.vox.com/

To clean up poisoned streams, Appalachian researchers are turning acid mine drainage into something unexpected.

The most striking thing about the water tumbling out of the ground behind a small cluster of houses in southeastern Ohio isn’t the smell — a sharp, unmistakable sulfur. It’s also not the color, a vibrant red-orange. The weirdest thing about the Truetown Discharge is the silence.

Just before dark on a warm autumn night, there should be a cacophony of crickets and cicadas in the tall grass along the water. Frogs should be singing and splashing into the shallows. Bats should be circling, owls calling, small mammals and salamanders skittering in the leaves.

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The World’s Copper Supply Is Suddenly Looking Scarce – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – December 11, 2023)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — A forecast surplus of copper going into 2024 has suddenly all but disappeared. The next couple of years were supposed to be a time of plenty for copper, thanks to a series of big new projects starting up around the world.

The expectation across most of the industry was for a comfortable surplus before the market tightens again later this decade, when surging demand for electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure is expected to collide with a lack of new mines.

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China uranium grab poses threat to western energy supply, warns Yellow Cake – by Harry Dempsey (Financial Times – December 9, 2023)

https://www.ft.com/

Prices of nuclear commodity at 15-year high as governments scramble to secure sources of fuel for power stations

China is making an aggressive push to tie up global uranium supply amid a worldwide rush to secure nuclear fuel, warned the boss of Yellow Cake, a London-listed investment vehicle for the radioactive commodity.

André Liebenberg, chief executive of the Aim-traded company, said the west was lagging behind in securing uranium after prices hit a 15-year high and as Chinese firms purchase supplies on the open market, sign long-term contracts and buy up mines.

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G7 to sanction Russian diamonds as of January – by LAURA HÜLSEMANN AND BARBARA MOENS (Politico EU – December 6, 2023)

https://www.politico.eu/

Russian diamonds are one of the last resources not sanctioned by the G7, meaning the profits from selling them can go into the Kremlin’s war chest.

G7 leaders on Wednesday agreed to impose a direct import ban on Russian diamonds as of January, while introducing a tracing system for diamonds during next year.

Russian diamonds are one of the last resources not sanctioned by the G7, meaning the profits from selling them can go into the Kremlin’s war chest.

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‘A decade of free money’ is why the price of gold has continued to rise, says Mark Bristow – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – December 11, 2023)

https://financialpost.com/

Barrick CEO expects the demand for gold to continue increasing

The recent rise of gold to a record US$2,135 per ounce has led to much discussion of the reasons behind the metal’s positive run during the past few years, from central banks investing more in bullion to expectations of rate cuts next year.

Mark Bristow, chief executive of Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s second-largest gold producer, expects the demand for gold to continue increasing, so he’s been looking to expand the company’s reserves. But, according to him, a “decade of free money” is a key reason why the price of gold has continued to rise over the past five years.

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Mining claims have jumped 30% in northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire area since 2022 – by Sarah Law (CBC News Thunder Bay – December 11, 2023)

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

More than 31,000 mining claims are now registered in the area, data shows

Mining claims staked in northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire area have risen by 30 per cent since last year, according to online mining data from the provincial government. The crescent-shaped mineral deposit in the James Bay lowlands has been eyed as a critical source for Ontario’s burgeoning electric vehicle battery industry for years.

But surrounding First Nations say there hasn’t been proper consultation about mining projects on their territories. A number of rallies have been held at Queen’s Park in Toronto this year by members of the First Nations Land Defence Alliance, calling out the province’s free-entry mining system and demanding a meeting with Premier Doug Ford.

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Thermal coal prices diverge as Japan, South Korea buy more, China, India less – by Clyde Russell (Reuters – December 11, 2023)

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Dec 11 (Reuters) – The prices of differing grades of seaborne thermal coal in Asia are diverging as strong demand for high-quality fuel coal by Japan and South Korea drives a rally, but lacklustre imports by China and India mean lower grades stagnate.

Japan and South Korea are the main buyers of thermal coal linked to the Newcastle Index, which assesses coal with an energy content of 6,000 kilocalories per kilogram (kcal/kg) from Australia, the world’s second-largest exporter of the power station fuel.

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Northwestern Ontario lithium miner paints a picture to production – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – December 7, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Green Technology Metals meets with strategic investors to fund $1.2-billion lithium development

A key economic study posted this week by Australia’s Green Technology Metals “validates” their potential to become a large-scale lithium player in northwestern Ontario and Canada. With a proposed two-mine lithium operation valued at $1.2 billion in the works, the hunt is on to secure both private and government funding to make the mines and a Thunder Bay lithium refinery a reality.

Green Tech gave investors and stakeholders a better idea of what their mining and processing operations could look like with the release of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA), Dec. 7.

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The gold market has a big hill to climb as prices lose 3% after hitting all-time highs – by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – December 08, 2023)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – According to some analysts, next week will be an important test for the gold market as a hawkish Fed could put downward pressure on a market that is already sensitive following Monday’s blow-off top.

After hitting a record high around $2,150 an ounce at the start of the week, gold prices are heading into the weekend down more than 3%, testing critical support just above $2,010 an ounce. With a $141 swing this week, the gold market saw the most volatility since mid-August 2020, just after gold established its previous record high.

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Could the DRC become the Saudi Arabia of the electric vehicle age? – by Jason Mitchell (BNE Intellinews – December 7, 2023)

https://intellinews.com/

Perhaps no country has more to gain from the ‘clean’ energy transition than the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which sits atop some of the world’s biggest copper, cobalt, coltan and lithium reserves.

The planet’s cobalt reserves total 7.6mn tonnes of which the DRC has 3.5mn tonnes, followed by Australia with 1.4mn tonnes and Indonesia with 600,000 tonnes, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). In 2022, the DRC produced an estimated 130,000 tonnes of the metal, or 70% of the world’s production (Indonesia, in second place, produced only 10,000 tonnes).

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News Release – G2 Goldfields’ Statement on Regional Geopolitical Affairs (December 8, 2023)

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A message to our shareholders regarding the recent actions by the Government of Venezuela

TORONTO, Dec. 08, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — G2 Goldfields Inc. (“G2” or the “Company”) (TSXV: GTWO; OTCQX: GUYGF) wishes to provide context and comments regarding the recent actions of the Venezuelan Government with respect to Guyana’s Essequibo District. G2 is developing its high grade OKO gold project in Guyana and has been operating in Guyana since 2019.

Additionally, the management team of G2 have led the discovery, construction, and development of the $225 million USD Aurora Gold Project in Guyana, now one of South America’s largest operating gold mines, and have been active investors in Guyana since 1996.

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Newmont pours 8,000th gold bar at Musselwhite mine – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – December 6, 2023)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

The world’s largest gold miner, Newmont has announced another milestone at its Musselwhite mine, in Ontario – 5 million ounces of precious metal production

The world’s largest gold miner, Newmont (NYSE: NEM; TSX: NGT), has announced another milestone at its Musselwhite mine, in Ontario, where it has poured the 8,000th gold doré bar since the operation started with commercial production in 1997.

The mine, one of the world’s largest producers of the metal in Canada and globally, has churned out more than five-million ounces of gold in the last 25 years.

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