Twitter

Australia aims to become a critical minerals powerhouse – by Dylan Brown (Australian Mining – April 28, 2025)

Home

The Federal Government has announced plans to establish a Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve if re-elected, with plans to invest $1.2 billion into the initiative.

The Federal Government is aiming to bolster Australia’s economic resilience and national security, transitioning from a critical mineral supplier to a global market leader, strategically capitalising on the rising demand for rare earths, high-tech manufacturing materials and resources for the energy transition. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve would help Australia unlock its full potential of critical minerals at a critical time in the economy.

Read more

London environmentalists say Ontario’s mining push puts endangered species at risk – by Alessio Donnini (CBC News London – April 26, 2025)

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

One environmentalist points to a 2021 audit that said Ontario should do more to protect wildlife

Environmentalists in London and across the province say the Ontario government’s push to cut so-called red tape to speed up the development of mining and construction projects could have dire consequences for endangered species.

Particularly concerning aspects of this push are moves that, according to researcher and environmental activist Brendon Samuels, weaken environmental protections in the name of short-term economic gain.

Read more

As Pakistan bets on a mining boom, can it equal Indonesia’s nickel success? – by Tom Hussain (South China Morning Post – April 26, 2025)

https://www.scmp.com/

A landmark deal unlocking vast copper and gold reserves has Pakistan eyeing a transformative economic shift

Pakistan is poised to join the ranks of the world’s top producers of critical metals by the end of the decade, thanks to an April 8 deal between the government and Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold.

Together, they aim to unlock the vast potential of Reko Diq, home to the world’s largest known untapped deposits of copper and gold with near-term production potential. Chinese firms are already on the ground, Saudi Arabia is on the verge of investing, and the United States is clamouring for access to Pakistan’s mineral wealth.

Read more

[Ring of Fire] This is why Donald Trump really wants to annex Canada – by Laura Osman (The Logic – April 27, 2025)

The Logic

Indigenous communities in the Ring of Fire stand to benefit greatly or suffer dearly in the race for critical minerals. Locals say their opposition to mining is misund

EABAMETOONG FIRST NATION, Ont. — In April, as Canada geese start to fly home from their winter retreat in the U.S., hunters in the Eabametoong First Nation head to the lakes and nearby creeks. As the sun sets over the remote Northern Ontario community, Dave Keeskitay, 40, returns from a hunt along what’s left of the melting ice road on Lornjack Bay. Sillouetted against a cotton-candy sky, he pulls a sled of goose decoys, his rifle slung over his shoulder. He bagged four birds that morning, but had no luck in the afternoon.

For hunters like Keeskitay in the remote communities south of the Hudson and James Bays, the seemingly endless peatlands and boreal forest are a lifeline. But the land that provides food and water to First Nations in the area also sits atop a potential treasure trove of critical minerals and precious metals, commonly known as the Ring of Fire, that could deliver communities here from poverty—or make survival in the region even harder.

Read more

Uranium Spotlight: Eight companies on the radar – by Staff (Northern Miner – April 28, 2025)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Rising electricity demand from new AI-driven technologies and government support for nuclear power as a base load energy source are ramping up interest in uranium. After years of underinvestment, exploration and development companies are racing to find new sources of the nuclear fuel, and put them into production. Below is a list of eight interesting uranium plays to watch.

Anfield Energy

Anfield Energy owns the Shootaring Canyon mill in southeastern Utah, one of only three licensed and permitted conventional uranium mills in the United States. The company’s portfolio of uranium and vanadium projects stretches across Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.

Read more

First Nation challenges B.C.’s approval to raise Mount Polley mine tailings dam (CBC British Columbia/Canadian Press – April 15, 2025)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/

The Xatsull First Nation has filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court

A First Nation in B.C. has filed a legal challenge over the plan to allow the Mount Polley mine to raise its tailings dam a decade after a similar storage site at the mine gave way, creating one of the province’s largest environmental disasters.

The Xatsull First Nation has filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court requesting a judicial review of the government’s decision to approve the raising of the dam by four metres without “meaningful” conversations with the nation.

Read more

The sinister history of America’s ‘uranium gold rush’ – by Erin Blakemore (National Geographic – July 12, 2024)

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/

The success of the Manhattan Project sent demand for uranium skyrocketing, and enterprising prospectors went out West in search of an overnight fortune. But many were exposed to lethal radiation in the mines.

Armed with picks and shovels, the prospectors turned to the American West intent on finding deposits of the mineral that would make their fortunes. Their pursuit of wealth led to vast riches—and left ghost towns in its wake.

But the year wasn’t 1849, and the miners weren’t in search of gold. Instead, it was the 1950s, and they carried Geiger counters along with their shovels. They were part of the United States’ last big mineral rush—a forgotten race to find uranium deposits at the dawn of the nuclear age.

Read more

Teck stumbles again at QB2 copper mine, while zinc business outperforms – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – April 25, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Teck Resources Ltd. stumbled once again in its latest quarter, as it encountered more ramp-up problems at its giant QB2 copper mine, while its zinc business fired on all cylinders.

Teck put the high-altitude QB2 mine in the mountains of northern Chile into production in 2023, but the US$8.7-billion project went way over budget. The ramp-up has been difficult, with grade shortfalls and production misses among the early challenges.

Read more

Op-Ed: A credible strategy emerging to secure US critical supply chains – by Dominic Raab (Mining.com – April 24, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

Dominic Raab is head of global affairs at Appian Capital, and former UK deputy prime minister and foreign secretary.

Amidst the polarized debate over the new US Administration’s trade policy, President Trump has taken a series of measures – from permitting reform to the nascent peace plan for Ukraine – demonstrating a concerted, new, strategic commitment to securing critical minerals supply chains.

The bedrock of the modern digital economy, from EV cars and smartphones to F-35 fighter aircraft, demand for critical minerals has doubled, creating a $320 billion market, and is set to double again by 2030. So too, today’s cutting-edge military hardware, on which our national security rests, depends on rare earths – from drones to submarines.

Read more

N.W.T. government announces tax break, funding for ailing diamond mines (CBC News North – April 22, 2025)

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

Measures include ramping up local diamond valuations, temporary property tax relief

The Northwest Territories government has announced several new policies aimed at propping up the territory’s diamond mines. The targeted measures are aimed to provide financial relief to diamond mines while low diamond prices, supply chain disruptions and potential U.S. tariffs wreak havoc on the industry.

Mining is the largest private-sector contributor to the N.W.T.’s economy, with the N.W.T. government saying its three operating diamond mines collectively account for about 20 per cent of the territory’s GDP. All three N.W.T. diamond mines reported losses in 2024, and mining companies called for government support earlier this month.

Read more

Chinese takeover of Vancouver gold miner unlikely to be blocked by government, analyst says – by Naimul Karim (National Post – April 22, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

In recent years, the government blocked deals involving Chinese companies and Canadian miners developing critical minerals

A Chinese company’s subsidiary is buying a Vancouver-based gold miner for about $581 million amidst rising gold prices, subject to approval by the Canadian government, among others.

Lumina Gold Corp., which is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, isn’t producing gold yet but is developing the Cangrejos project in Ecuador, which it describes as that country’s “largest primary gold deposit,” based on a study conducted in 2023. The project is being sold to a Singaporean entity of China’s CMOC Group Ltd.

Read more

Bad News for China: Rare Earth Elements Aren’t That Rare – by Zeyi Yang (Wired Magazine – April 23, 2025)

https://www.wired.com/

China is limiting US access to critical minerals in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but the move isn’t as devastating as Beijing wants it to be.

As the trade war between China and the United States continues to escalate, Beijing is responding by turning to one of its favorite retaliation tactics: limiting the export of critical minerals used in many high-tech electronics, from fighter jets to wind turbines.

While China’s mineral restrictions may sound scary, the reality is that they haven’t been very effective in the past and stand to become even less so if the US and other countries finally get their acts together. It all started in July 2023, when the Chinese government announced it would restrict the export of gallium and germanium, two critical minerals that are mostly used in making solar panels and semiconductors.

Read more

Minerals reserve to be used as leverage with Trump, foreign investors – by Phillip Coorey (Australian Financial Review – April 24, 2025)

https://www.afr.com/

The Albanese government says it will use a critical minerals reserve as leverage with the Trump administration over tariffs, as the mining industry warned that establishing the stockpile could push down commodity prices.

The opposition was ambiguous towards the proposal to establish the reserve, with Peter Dutton saying “we’re not supporting the plan because it is a refit and rehash and reannouncement with no delivery”. But he went on to support the concept. “Critical minerals are absolutely essential for us and for our partners and whether that looks like an offtake agreement or whether it looks like an agreement to stockpile it to work with the US, in the UK, in Japan, etcetera, we will work all that detail in government.”

Read more

Trump aims to fight China’s control of minerals by investing in miners – by Spencer Kimball (CNBC.com – April 24, 2025)

https://www.cnbc.com/

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Trump administration is considering investing in companies that mine and process critical minerals in an effort to end U.S. dependence on imports from countries including China, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said this week.

“We should be taking some of our balance sheet and making investments,” Burgum said late Wednesday at a conference organized by the Hamm Institute for American Energy. The U.S. may need to make an “equity investment in each of these companies that’s taking on China in critical minerals,” he said.

Read more

BHP prepares to start succession process for mining’s top job – by Paul-Alain Hunt, Thomas Biesheuvel and Archie Hunter (Bloomberg News – April 22, 2025)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

BHP Group is preparing to begin looking for a new chief executive officer in the coming months, with key lieutenants already jostling for position to succeed boss Mike Henry at the top of the world’s biggest miner.

The understanding at BHP is that Henry is now heading toward the end of his tenure, according to company insiders. They emphasized that no decision has been made. But some people close to the company say a change could come as soon as early next year, and some top executives have begun increasing their interaction with investors and other stakeholders ahead of a likely succession process.

Read more