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Column: South Africa’s 2025 draft mineral bill requires revisions to attract investment – by Staff (Mining.com – June 2, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

The draft Mineral Resources Development Bill, 2025 has been released for public comment. Interested parties have until 13 August 2025 to submit written comments. The Draft Bill was approved by the Cabinet last week together with a Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy.

The statement by the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources on Cabinet’s approval of the Draft Bill indicated, among other things, that that the strategic objective of the Draft Bill includes ensuring policy and regulatory certainty and enhancing investor confidence; and reducing bureaucratic inefficiencies and improving turnaround times for mining rights, permits and regulatory approvals.

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Carney and Ford show two different paths for ‘unleashing’ Canada’s economy – by Tanya Talaga (Globe and Mail – May 31, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The governments of Ontario and Canada are both moving to fast-track development in the Ring of Fire region – but they are going about it in very different ways.

According to a May 23 letter from Canada’s Privy Council Office obtained by The Globe and Mail, Canada has invited Mushkegowuk Council Grand Chief Leo Friday to Ottawa to “consult and cooperate” on proposed legislation around projects identified to be in the national interest. It says new legislation is coming in early June that would facilitate regulations and development by creating a new Major Projects Office.

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Diamond mining industry cracks under pressure – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – May 28, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

The global diamond industry is undergoing a rapid and unprecedented collapse, according to tech entrepreneur and academic Leanne Kemp, though some industry analysts argue that while the downturn is severe, it is not terminal.

Plunging revenues, halted operations and growing doubts about diamonds’ cultural and economic relevance are just some of the symptoms cited by Kemp, who insists the industry isn’t just slumping. She said it’s “disassembling”.

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Ontario ends the Ring of Fire ‘consultation’ quagmire to finally get it done – by Randall Denley (National Post – May 29, 2025)

https://nationalpost.com/

We already know people who live on traditional lands in the north are unlikely to welcome mining. They shouldn’t be able to veto it

Ontario Premier Doug Ford wants to break up the status quo of process, endless consultation and delay that has bogged down major infrastructure project approvals in the province. It’s about time. Ford’s Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, aims to speed things up by creating “special economic zones” that would exempt big projects from many municipal and provincial rules.

The bill would allow cabinet to designate those zones and decide what rules apply. It can take a big club to break up the status quo. Bill 5 is certainly such a club, and no one swings one quite like Ford. This is his “Get It Done” mantra in action.

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Taykwa Tagamou Nation closes a $20-million groundbreaking deal on a Timmins nickel project – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – May 29, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Transaction with Canada Nickel lauded as the largest Indigenous investment in a Canadian critical minerals project

Canada Nickel has banked a $20-million investment by Taykwa Tagamou Nation that’s earmarked for the development of the Crawford nickel mine project, outside Timmins.

The Toronto nickel mine developer announced May 27 that it’s closed the transaction originally announced before Christmas. The investment comes in the form of a convertible note that can be converted into 16.67 million of Canada Nickel common shares.

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Trump Dreams of Minerals: in Ukraine and Greenland – by John Feffer (Foreign Policy in Focus – May 28, 2025)

https://fpif.org/

Trump wants to keep the US in, China out, and everyone else down.

The clean energy transition that the Biden administration touted as the focus of its industrial policy required large amounts of mineral inputs. Batteries for electric vehicles depend on lithium, solar panels contain gallium and molybdenum, and powerful magnets in wind turbines can’t be built without rare earth elements.

Biden’s landmark legislation, such as the 2022 Inflation Adjustment Act, effectively resurrected industrial policy in the United States but this time on the basis of a shift away from fossil fuels. Donald Trump, since taking office in early 2025, has swung U.S. policy back again toward oil, gas, and coal. But the Trump administration is no less interested in securing access to minerals.

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Flooded Mine in Congo Is Latest Threat to Global Copper Supply – by William Clowes, Thomas Biesheuvel and Jack Farchy (Bloomberg News – May 29, 2025)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The status of one of the world’s most important copper mines remains clouded in uncertainty, more than a week after seismic activity caused widespread flooding deep below ground.

(Bloomberg) — The status of one of the world’s most important copper mines remains clouded in uncertainty, more than a week after seismic activity caused widespread flooding deep below ground. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.’s Kamoa-Kakula complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the world’s top sources of copper and was on course to become the third-biggest supplier of the key energy-transition metal this year.

Yet its current condition is a mystery, with contrasting messages from its biggest shareholders. Some information has been disclosed: water levels have risen after pumping and electrical infrastructure in the Kakula underground mine was damaged.

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Nutrien plans new West Coast port infrastructure, eyes sites in U.S. and Canada – by Kate Helmore and Jason Kirby (Globe and Mail – May 29, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Nutrien is planning to build a major terminal at a Pacific Northwest port and is eyeing sites in the U.S. and Canada, according to chief executive officer Ken Seitz. The Saskatchewan-based fertilizer giant is searching for a deep-water port with rail infrastructure that can handle bulk potash exports for fast-growing markets in the Indo-Pacific, including China, India and Japan, Mr. Seitz said in an interview.

Regulations, taxes and approval timelines will influence the company’s decision about whether to choose the U.S. or Canada. “I just want to make sure the downstream infrastructure and the associated regulatory environment continues to be one conducive to us,” he said.

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Last-minute changes to Ontario mining bill are not good enough, First Nations say – by Liam Casey(Canadian Press – May 29, 2025)

https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/

TORONTO – Last-minute changes to a controversial Ontario mining bill are not good enough and ignore a central plea to work together on drafting legislation, First Nations said Thursday.

Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which represents 49 First Nations in northern Ontario, said the province should scrap Bill 5 and write a new law alongside Indigenous leaders that would allow for shared prosperity.

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North Dakota coal mine to become processing site for Minnesota nickel – by Jeff Beach (North Dakota Monitor – May 28, 2025)

https://northdakotamonitor.com/

Project contingent on approval from regulatory agencies

BEULAH, N.D. – A former coal mine in western North Dakota that will be converted into a processing site for nickel mined in Minnesota was touted Wednesday as a way for the U.S. to reduce its reliance on China and other countries for critical minerals needed for electronics and electric vehicles.

The processing plant operated by Talon Metals will bring 150 jobs to Beulah, with processing expected to begin in 2028. Electric vehicle maker Tesla has contracted to buy about half the nickel processed in Beulah. Mike Kicis, president of Talon Metals, said the Department of Defense is another likely user of the nickel and other minerals.

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Frontier feasibility lifts PAK lithium reserves by 37%  (Northern Miner – May 29, 2025)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Frontier Lithium said a definitive feasibility study for the $943-million capex PAK project in northern Ontario boosted reserves by 37%.

The study, which calculates a net present value of $932 million based on a discount rate of 8%, provides a “robust basis” for Frontier to target a final investment decision within two years, according to a statement issued Thursday.

Frontier is making progress on project financing and has started the permitting process, which should also be completed by mid-2027.

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Glencore shifts $30b in assets to Australia in major restructure – by Peter Ker (Australian Financial Review – May 29, 2025)

https://www.afr.com/

Glencore has shifted more than $30 billion in foreign assets into an Australian subsidiary in a huge restructure designed to make it easier to strike a future mega-merger with a rival commodities giant.

Coal mines in Canada, South Africa and Colombia, a copper resource in Argentina and a South African manganese, chrome and vanadium business are among the assets shifted into the local Glencore Investment Pty Ltd. The restructure comes less than a year after Glencore publicly debated the merits of demerging its flagship coal division, and eight months after it tried to engage Rio Tinto in merger talks for the second time in a decade.

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Opinion: The EV fantasy is running out of juice fast – by Kenneth Green (Financial Post – May 29, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

Companies are pausing investments, not because of tariffs but because demand isn’t growing nearly as fast as hoped

The vision of an all-electric transportation sector, shared by so many policy-makers across Canada, is fading fast. The latest failure to charge is Honda’s recent announcement, citing lack of demand, that it will postpone a $15-billion electric vehicle (EV) project in Ontario for two years.

Compounding the hurt, it will move some of its EV production to the United States, partly in response to the Trump tariff wars. The focus on tariffs may be misdirection, however, concealing failures in the electrification agenda that have been evident for years, certainly well before Trump’s tariffs.

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Doug Ford offers amendment to First Nations on mining bill but vows to speed development through ‘economic zones’ – by Jeff Gray (Globe and Mail – May 29, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ontario Premier Doug Ford – facing opposition from First Nations over a bill allowing “special economic zones” where mines or other projects could be exempt from any provincial law – is pledging to include provisions for similar Indigenous-led zones but still vowing to pass his controversial legislation.

Bill 5, which has sparked warnings of protests from First Nations leaders who say they have not been consulted, is aimed at accelerating Ontario’s sluggish mine approval process, particularly in the remote northern Ring of Fire region. The government says critical mineral reserves there are key to Ontario’s future economic resilience in the face of U.S. tariffs.

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US Supreme Court rejects Apache appeal to block Rio Tinto’s Resolution mine – by Staff (Mining.com – May 27, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

The US Supreme Court declined on Tuesday to hear an appeal by the Apache Stronghold seeking to block the development of the Resolution Copper mine in Arizona. The mine is a joint venture between Rio Tinto and BHP.

The advocacy group comprising members of Arizona’s San Carlos Apache Tribe and conservationists challenged a lower court decision that permitted a federal land swap, allowing the mining companies to acquire sacred Apache land for the project.

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