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OPINION: Who owns Teck – its shareholders, or the government? – by Andrew Coyne (Globe and Mail – May 3, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

It’s unclear what the next step in the Glencore-Teck takeover saga will be. Teck’s shareholders having lately rejected the company’s plan to split itself in two – a plan designed to stave off the Swiss-based Glencore’s advances – Glencore has vowed to come back with another offer, even richer than the US$23-billion bid the board has twice rejected. Only this time it says it will take its pitch directly to the shareholders.

That’s nice. Only the company appears to be under the mistaken impression that Teck’s shareholders are in fact the company’s owners. Whatever it may say on their share certificates, they are not. The government of Canada is.

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Gold Fields inks joint development agreement with Canadian miner Osisko – by Marleny Arnoldi (MiningWeekly – May 2, 2023)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Diversified gold producer Gold Fields has partnered with TSX-listed Osisko Mining to develop and mine the Windfall project, in Québec, Canada. The agreement between the companies, with the joint venture (JV) to be called the Windfall Mining Group, involves Gold Fields acquiring a 50% interest in Windfall through a wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary.

Gold Fields has paid a $220-million, or C$300-million, cash consideration on signing, and will pay another $220-million on the issuance of key permits by the Canadian authorities for the project to be built and operated.

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Copper Mine Flashes Warning of ‘Huge Crisis’ for World Supply – by James Fernyhough (Bloomberg News – May 2, 2023)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The transition to clean energy depends on copper, but a vast Mongolian mining project offers a glimpse of the metal’s troubled future.

Accompanied by tinny taped music and overall-clad workers, Rio Tinto Group executives and Mongolian officials gathered a kilometer beneath the freezing Gobi Desert earlier this year to open one of the world’s richest underground copper mines. It was a celebration four decades in the making.

Oyu Tolgoi, in southern Mongolia just north of the Chinese border, is key to Rio’s efforts to move beyond its dependence on iron ore and expand in copper, the metal that underpins the clean energy transition. It’s also a vast deposit whose corporate, political and technical vicissitudes offer a glimpse of the red metal’s troubled future.

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A not-so-green reality behind green transition – by Terence Corcoran (Fiancial Post – May 3, 2023)

https://financialpost.com/

If fossil fuels are destructive, renewable alternatives are maybe even more so

In the rollicking world of net-zero policy-making and initiatives, Canada aims to be a global leader. The country’s bankers, mining executives, auto companies, electricity producers and political leaders have merged into a unified machine around the idea that a new green economy can be achieved via a just transition to a global energy system free of carbon emissions.

The nationalist clatter last week around the possible sale of Teck Resources of Vancouver to Swiss mining giant Glencore reflected the new official Canadian corporatist approach. As a key global player in the business of producing “critical minerals” — copper, zinc, molybdenum — Teck is seen as a vital cog in the wheel of economic fortune swirling around the net-zero objectives.

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Chile’s national lithium strategy raises questions about the environmental and social costs of EVs – by Tushar Khurana (Grist.org – May 3, 2023)

https://grist.org/

There are few minerals that play as pivotal a role in the global energy transition as lithium. The silvery white, soft, reactive metal is particularly good at storing energy, which is why it is used in all commercial electric vehicle batteries today and is unlikely to be replaced by another material anytime soon. The demand for lithium batteries is expected to grow more than five times by 2030.

Recognizing its strategic importance, economic potential, and its environmental consequences, President Gabriel Boric of Chile, the world’s second largest producer of the metal, announced plans in late April to increase state participation in the country’s lithium industry.

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These are the most polluting industries in Canada and the U.S. – by Daniel Otis (CTV News – May 2, 2023)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/

Mining creates more pollutants than any other industry in North America, according to a new report. By analyzing data from approximately 24,000 industrial facilities in Canada, Mexico and the United States, the report, published Tuesday by the Montreal-based Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), tracked over five billion kilograms of industrial pollutants created on the continent each year.

Together, the three countries reportedly released or transferred more than 5.2 billion kilograms of industrial pollutants in 2020 alone, with 46 per cent, or 2.4 billion kg, coming from Canada. Only 18 million kg (0.35 per cent) were reported from Mexico, while 2.7 billion kg (53 per cent) came from the U.S.

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First Nations $95 Billion proposed lawsuit could have sweeping implications for the mining industry – by Melissa (Mel) Sanderson (Investor Intel – April 30, 2023)

https://investorintel.com/

A consequential battle is shaping up in a place you may not know (Thunder Bay, Canada) over an issue you may never have heard of – Free, Prior, Informed Consent. (FPIC for short). The parties to the conflict are 10 of the Treaty 9 First Nations on one side and the Canadian Government on the other.

Why should you care? Here’s what’s at stake: $95 billion dollars that the indigenous nations say they will claim as compensation for past wrongs – and potentially much, much more because the argument essentially is about how mines will be approved in Canada going forward.

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Country singer Corb Lund wants strong stance against coal mines in Alberta election – by Bob Weber (Canadian Press/Global News – May 3, 2023)

https://globalnews.ca/

As Albertans begin what could be a bitter and divisive provincial election campaign, one of the province’s most popular musicians wants to remind them of an issue that brought everyone together a couple years ago.

“All candidates should be unanimous in saying they’ll enact strong legislation to protect anywhere in the Rockies from any coal mines, period,” said Corb Lund. “That’s what Albertans want.” Lund was one of the most prominent opponents of coal mining after the United Conservative Party government revoked the policy that protected the eastern slopes.

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Exclusive: Tesla looking at “opportunities for industrial facility, mineral extraction” in Ontario – by Emma Jarratt (Electric Autonomy – May 1, 2023)

https://electricautonomy.ca/

Tesla gives more hints about the nature of its plans for a Canadian facility in new lobbyist registry documents filed last month, Electric Autonomy exclusively reveals

Tesla is seeking “opportunities for industrial facility, mineral extraction” in Ontario, per new documents filed with the Ontario government, Electric Autonomy can report.

The lobbyist registry, updated in April, indicates that the mineral-hungry automaker is interested in taking more control over its electric vehicle battery supply chain and Ontario is a preferred location.

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Changes to Mining Act expose cracks in Ontario’s duty to consult with First Nations – by Aya Dufour (CBC News Sudbury – April 27, 2023)

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

Ministry of Mines says it engaged with First Nations after Bill 71 was introduced

A First Nation chief was sitting at his desk when he received an email from the Ministry of Mines informing him that the government was working to amend the Mining Act. This was the first he was hearing of Bill 71.

Craig Nootchtai represents the community of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, near Sudbury, Ont. The email explained that, if it passes, the Building More Mines Act will bring changes to mine closure planning, to the recovery of minerals from mining waste and to staffing positions within the ministry.

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Pierre Poilievre urges Trudeau government to block Glencore’s bid to buy Teck – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – April 28, 2023)

https://financialpost.com/

Conservative leader says ‘hostile foreign takeover’ would threaten jobs and critical resources

Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative party, is calling for the federal government to block Glencore Plc’s bid to buy Canada’s largest diversified miner, Teck Resources Ltd., adding yet another political voice against the potential takeover.

The leader of the opposition in a statement on April 27 said that the Glencore takeover would put thousands of jobs at risk and threaten the local critical minerals supply chain. Poilievre highlighted past fines and charges that Glencore has faced and said that his government would have used the Investment Canada Act to stop the “hostile foreign takeover and take into account Glencore’s previous unethical behaviour.”

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Robert Friedland’s bullish predictions on copper and mining in Africa are starting to become reality – by Brendan Ryan MiningMX.com – April 26, 2023)

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DEVELOPMENTS in Chile where the socialist government is looking at nationalising a sector of its mining industry are bearing out the predictions made over the past few years at the Mining Indaba by billionaire mining entrepreneur Robert Friedland.

The fall out is likely to be beneficial for African mining countries – in particular the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia – as investors reduce their exposure to Chile and mining companies start to look elsewhere for new lithium and copper projects.

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Belgian mood turning against Russian diamonds Andrew Rettman (EU Observer – April 26, 2023)

https://euobserver.com/

Nobody in Belgium wants Russian “blood diamonds” any more, but the next round of EU sanctions still won’t ban them. “Consumers don’t want to buy diamonds with blood on them,” said Vicky Reynaert, a Belgian left-wing MP.

“Everybody knows what’s being done with the money by Alrosa [Russia’s biggest diamond firm] — it’s going directly to finance the war against Ukraine”, she said. Reynaert spoke to EUobserver after a Belgian parliament committee, on Tuesday (25 April), backed her resolution calling for the Belgian government to support an EU-wide embargo on Russian stones.

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New Teck Resources bid could go directly to shareholders, Glencore says – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – April 28, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Glencore, the Swiss commodities giant in pursuit of Teck Resources Ltd. has threatened to take any new offer directly to Teck shareholders unless the board of the Canadian company opens negotiations that might lead to the merger of the two companies.

In a statement issued Thursday morning, one day after Teck withdrew a shareholders’ vote to split the company in two, Glencore reiterated its willingness to improve its opening, US$23-billion all-share merger offer.

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We all know Canada has natural resources. So what are we doing with them? – by Matt Gurney (TVO Today – April 27, 2023)

https://www.tvo.org/

OPINION: Justin Trudeau promises we are a nation that can be a good trading partner and provide raw materials. We’ve heard that one before

The prime minister is in New York City on Thursday, touting Canada as a reliable trade partner and, specifically, as a source for raw materials, including minerals and other precious metals that are essential to building out a clean economy.

There is also a lot of pressure on the Western allies to “friendshore” their critical national-security supply chains in an era of renewed great-power competition and armed conflict. You can see why Canada — rich in resources, far from invading armies — is a natural country to step up and meet the needs of our allies while growing our own prosperity at home.

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