Republic of Mining

As Sudan’s latest conflict intensifies, artisanal gold miners are caught in the crosshairs – by Philip Obaji Jr. (Equal Times.org – May 24, 2023)

May 24, 2023

https://www.equaltimes.org/

On 17 April 2023, just before sunset in al-Ibaidiya, a Sudanese mining town on the banks of the River Nile about 400 kilometres north of Khartoum, four soldiers stormed the home of Omar Sheriff and dragged him out of his house. For hours, according to Sheriff, two of the soldiers searched his home, while the others held him hostage outside of his compound.

“They [the soldiers] falsely accused me of working with Russian merchants to smuggle gold out of Sudan,” Sheriff tells Equal Times. “They were hoping to find documents relating to gold smuggling operations at my home, but they couldn’t find anything incriminating.”

NDP leader aims to boost critical mineral development if he becomes Manitoba’s next premier – by Steve Lambert (CBC News Manitoba – May 2023)

May 24, 2023

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

Manitoba Opposition NDP Leader Wab Kinew promised an economically-focused, fiscally responsible government if his party wins the Oct. 3 election, although his outline to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce was short on details and costs.

An NDP government would balance the budget within a first term, Kinew told chamber members at a luncheon Tuesday, while also expanding child care and promoting immigration. Kinew also promised to enhance the mining sector by boosting critical mineral development.

Ottawa drove China out of Canada’s lithium industry, but questions linger over costs – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – May 23, 2023)

May 24, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Here’s what you need to know about the move’s impact on miners, critical minerals and even the TSX

Last November, the federal government ordered three Chinese companies to divest from three junior Canadian lithium explorers. The step was taken amidst an increasing demand for critical minerals such as lithium and copper that are expected to play a key role in the world’s shift away from fossil fuels.

The move seemed to be a part of a larger step taken by Western nations to offset China’s dominance in the critical minerals sector and divert supply chains towards friendlier countries. It’s been about half a year since Ottawa’s surprise announcement, and the three Canadian miners who were impacted have now managed to fill the gaps left by the ban on Chinese capital.

Ford strikes lithium deals as ‘near-shoring’ trend benefits Canadian miners – by Andrew Willis (Globe and Mail – May 24, 2023)

May 24, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Quebec’s nascent lithium mining industry has won a vote of confidence from Ford Motor Co., with the automaker signing an 11-year contract with Nemaska Lithium for future production from two planned facilities in the province.

Ford announced long-term supply agreements with Nemaska and four other lithium miners Monday at an investor conference, part of a strategy to dramatically increase electric-vehicle production over the next three years.

West Africa: Macron’s Visit to Mongolia Was Focused On Ensuring France’s Uranium Supply – by Jan Van Der Made (Radio France International/All Africa.com – May 23, 2023)

May 24, 2023

https://allafrica.com/

Access to rare earth minerals and Russia’s war against Ukraine topped the agenda on French President Emmanuel Macron’s historic visit to Mongolia. But the joint declaration signed during the meeting also underlines France’s attempts to find an alternative uranium source for its nuclear reactors.

As it stands, France depends to a large extent on uranium sourced in West Africa. That supply chain, however, is under threat because of social and political unrest in the region. The 18-article joint declaration, which trumpets “strengthening political, economic, commercial and defence cooperation”, also notes that both countries will also cooperate in the energy sector.

OPINION: The Philippines should seek to bond with U.S. on metals – by Makoi Popioco (Nikkei Asia – May 24, 2023)

May 24, 2023

https://asia.nikkei.com/

While access to new bases and expanded military cooperation between the Philippines and the U.S. have grabbed headlines, an important economic component, namely collaboration on the processing of critical minerals and green mining, is emerging as another possible area of partnership.

Although details remain sketchy, potential “friendshoring” in this area by the U.S. could be pivotal to Manila’s efforts to expand its critical minerals sector. It could also provide an opportunity for the U.S. to show how it will operationalize President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which is widely perceived as lackluster so far.

Proposed protections for Grand Canyon spark fight over uranium mining – by Maxine Joselow (Washington Post – May 24, 2023)

May 24, 2023

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

To mine or not to mine? That’s the question near the Grand Canyon.

On Saturday, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visited land near the Grand Canyon that tribal leaders and environmentalists want to permanently protect as a national monument. The visit immediately reignited a decades-old debate over the costs and benefits of uranium mining in this iconic landscape.

Tribes and conservation groups argue that new mining threatens to pollute aquifers and contaminate water supplies. The mining industry disagrees and counters that America must reduce its reliance on Russia for uranium, which fuels the nuclear reactors that provide about half of the nation’s carbon-free electricity.

U.S. Apathy Paved the Way for China in Africa – by Howard W. French (Foreign Policy – May 22, 2023)

May 24, 2023

Home

Despite a strong foothold during the Cold War, Washington has since fumbled on the continent.

In April 1997, toward the end of the protracted demise of the United States’ longtime Cold War client Mobutu Sese Seko, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Bill Richardson, flew to the capital of what was then called Zaire to try to persuade the besieged dictator to step down.

As I stood outside the drawing room of the palace where Mobutu and Richardson met in the morning, an aide to Richardson sidled up to me and whispered an invitation in my ear. If I, as the New York Times bureau chief for the region, would like to fly with them to the southern city of Lubumbashi to meet Laurent Kabila, the rebel leader whose Rwanda-backed forces were taking over Zaire, I should walk toward Richardson’s parked motorcade and stand there and stand by, not saying a word to anyone.

Column: Aluminium is the West’s critical minerals blind spot – by Andy Home (Reuters – May 23, 2023)

May 24, 2023

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, May 23 (Reuters) – Aluminium is classified as a critical mineral by both the United States and the European Union. You wouldn’t know it from the perilous state of primary metal production on both sides of the Atlantic.

High energy costs, particularly in Europe, have caused multiple smelters to close or curtail output with the result that run-rates are the lowest this century. Back in 2020 the World Bank identified aluminium as a “high-impact” and “cross-cutting” metal in all existing and potential green energy technologies.

Feeling left out: northern Ontario junior miners want more critical minerals funding (CBC Sudbury – May 23, 2023)

May 24, 2023

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

Provincial and federal governments are investing money to attract electric vehicle battery plants

Junior mining exploration companies in northern Ontario are feeling a little left out of government funding aimed at growing electric vehicle battery production. The federal and provincial governments recently announced they are investing billions of dollars in subsidies to attract and build electric vehicle battery plants in Ontario.

Ottawa is giving the Volkswagen St. Thomas, Ont. plant up to $13 billion in subsidies over the next decade alone. That’s about three times more money than what is being spent on the federal critical mineral strategy, which commits to spending $3.8 billion over the next eight years.

Reporter’s notebook: Covering the 1980 Val d’Or mine tragedy – by Len Gillis (Sudbury.com – May 24, 2023)

May 24, 2023

https://www.sudbury.com/

The Belmoral gold mine in Val d’Or experienced a collapse that sent more than a million gallons of water, sediment and slime rushing into the underground workings — and claimed the life of eight miners. Sudbury.com reporter Len Gillis was a CFCL TV reporter in Timmins at the time and he recalls the day

I didn’t know what the urgency was at the time but CFCL news director Jim Prince said to grab as much camera gear as I could carry and to bring half a dozen new video tapes. I was just coming in to work at the news office at CFCL TV in Timmins. Jim was busy on the phone trying to charter a plane. That raised my eyebrows real fast.

Camera, video recorder, tripod and tapes. That’s a lot of equipment to carry on a plane. When Jim got off the phone, he said I had to get over to the Northern Quebec mining city of Val d’Or. It was May 21, 1980, the morning after the first ever Quebec separation referendum.

Building a foundation for change among women in mining – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – May 23, 2023)

May 23, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Women in Mining UK panel talks challenges, opportunities in global mining industry

When it was founded in 1997, the Aboriginal Women in Mining program had a simple goal: provide Indigenous women in northeastern Ontario with pre-employment training to help them enter the mining sector.

At the time, Indigenous hiring policies and quotas were uncommon, explained Kathy Lajeunesse, and many Indigenous women were being shut out of the work opportunities that were cropping up at mine projects in and around the North.

Will a Russian diamond ban be effective? – by Tom Espiner (BBC.com – May 19, 2023)

May 23, 2023

https://www.bbc.com/

The UK has announced a ban on Russian diamonds as it tightens sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine. Countries in the G7 bloc also want to be able to trace the gemstones to block Russian exports as they try to limit cash flowing into Russia’s war chest. But how effective will these schemes be, and could there be unintended consequences?

How important are Russian diamond exports?

Russia’s diamond trade, worth about $4bn (£3.2bn) per year, makes up a small proportion of its overall exports. Before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s total exports reached $489.8bn in 2021, according to the central bank, with oil and gas making up $240.7bn of that.

Ford to buy lithium for electric car batteries from Quebec’s Nemaska Lithium – by Jacob Serebrin (The Canadian Press/Sudbury.com – May 22, 2023)

May 23, 2023

https://www.sudbury.com/

MONTREAL — A Quebec company building a lithium mine and production plan has signed an 11 year deal to sell products to Ford for use in electric car batteries. The deal announced by the automotive giant and Nemaska Lithium on Monday will see the American automaker become the Quebec company’s first customer.

Ford will buy up to 13,000 tons a year of lithium hydroxide produced at Nemaska’s factory in Bécancour, Que., about 150 kilometres northeast of Montreal, the two companies said in a joint news release.

The View from England: Win their hearts, and minds will follow – by Chris Hinde (Northern Miner – May 19, 2023)

May 23, 2023

https://www.northernminer.com/

I shed tears within 30 pages. I expect you would too and, if you’re a miner, so you should. In a recently-published novel we are taken back to a small mining town in October 1966 when our industry killed children, young children, half a school of them.

Published by Faber & Faber, ‘A Terrible Kindness’ reminds us (as Jo Browning Wroe writes in her opening sentence) of when “something dreadful happened in Wales.” In Aberfan on that dark morning, 116 children (mostly between the ages of seven and 10) went to school and didn’t come back.