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As tensions rise, Canada to lean on U.S. for uranium enrichment – by Matthew McClearn (Globe and Mail – February 24, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Even as U.S. President Donald Trump talks of waging a campaign of “economic force” to persuade Canada to join a political union with the United States, Ontario Power Generation is preparing to construct an American reactor at its Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. The reactor’s uranium fuel would be enriched at a facility in New Mexico, a new vulnerability U.S. administrations could exploit.

Canada’s 17 operating reactors are of the homegrown Candu design, which consume natural uranium. Canada possesses uranium in abundance and has long made its own fuel. But nearly all the reactors promoted for construction now require enriched uranium, which Canada can’t produce.

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How one community in Chile is blessed and cursed with lithium – by John Bartlett (NPR.org – February 23, 2025)

https://www.npr.org/

ATACAMA DESERT, Chile — At the top of a craggy path in Socaire, a hilltop village deep in Chile’s Atacama Desert, a black flag whips in the wind above Jeanette Cruz’s house. The desert sun has bleached it to a dark gray blur, but the defiance it represents remains strong.

Above each house in the village, shimmering in the evening sun, these black flags represent the Indigenous Lickanantay people’s resistance to the lithium mining that many say is tearing their communities apart. The lithium in the brine beneath the brilliant white Atacama salt flat, which stretches out across the valley floor, has become a global resource.

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The 2024 Diamond Crisis: An Industry at Its Breaking Point – by Shimon Gerstensang (Rapaport Magazine – February 13, 2025)

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Systemic flaws and the growing competition from synthetics are combining to bring down polished prices. What can the trade do to ensure its long-term survival?

The global diamond industry is experiencing its deepest crisis in history. The sharp decline in demand and polished-diamond prices, which began in late 2022 and intensified throughout 2023 and 2024, reflects a multidimensional dilemma: unprecedented competition from synthetic diamonds, deep structural weaknesses in the industry, and substantial losses throughout the supply chain, particularly among manufacturers who have failed to adapt their business models to the changing reality.

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Ontario election: Make Laurentian University Ontario’s mining champion – by David Robinson (Sudbury Star – February 24, 2025)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

It’s one of David Robinson’s four pillars as the Green Party candidate for the Sudbury riding

My job as Sudbury’s Green candidate is to get climate change on your agenda and convince you it is part of a real economic development strategy for our city.

My job as your MPP would be to bring together political factions and leading institutions in the city in a unified campaign to get what Sudbury needs. No other candidate has the knowledge, experience or the proven record of working for Sudbury. No other candidate has the contacts and the respect in every corner of the city.

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Column: China’s grip on global nickel supply tightens with Anglo sale – by Andy Home (Reuters – February 24, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

Anglo American’s sale of its Brazilian nickel business to China’s MMG Ltd is a corporate win-win. Anglo gets to deliver on its promise to shareholders to simplify its portfolio and pockets up to $500 million.

MMG, which is already a major producer of copper, cobalt and zinc, gets to diversify into another metal and expand its geographic footprint into Brazil. It is also buying into the one part of the nickel market that is showing signs of price resilience amid a glut of over-supply.

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[ Andrew Forrest] A Mining Billionaire’s Case for Ditching Fossil Fuels – by Justin Worland (Time Magazine – February 25, 2025)

https://time.com/

It does not take long at lunch with Andrew Forrest for him to start seeming less like an Australian mining billionaire and more like a climate activist–meets–zealous prosecutor. His rugged features quickly appear not to reflect the arid expanse of Western Australia’s Pilbara region, home to the core operations of his $38 billion Fortescue iron-ore business.

Rather, they appear the result of a succession of high-stakes court battles. When we meet at a luxurious Paris brasserie, he speaks passionately about a client that he’s been representing for several years: the planet. His case? Corporate bosses must act now—and act fast—to tackle climate change, an argument he delivers with force and the unrivaled credibility that comes from decades in the carbon-spewing industry.

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Mining industry, business groups in NWO call for better support for mining from next Ontario government – by Kris Ketonen (CBC News Thunder Bay – February 24, 2025)

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

More power generation, meaningful consultations with First Nations needed if projects are to move forward

Whichever party is elected as the next provincial government needs to show better support for northwestern Ontario’s mining industry if some of the region’s major developments are to move forward, industry and First Nations groups say.

“We need Queen’s Park to actually recognize us more,” said Garry Clark, executive director of the Ontario Prospectors Association. “We need more money put into exploration to move things forward.”

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OPINION: Arctic security must be a top priority for Canada – not an afterthought – by Ranj Pillai and Ken Coates (Globe and Mail – February 24, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ranj Pillai is the Premier of Yukon. Ken Coates is the director of Indigenous affairs at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

Canada’s Arctic policy has long been founded on delayed and partial responses to American challenges. It started with the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897-98, when the arrival of tens of thousands of American stampeders threatened Canada’s tenuous hold on the Far Northwest.

It hit again in 1942, when the United States launched the construction of the Alaska Highway and other Northwest defence projects in a region almost devoid of effective Canadian governance. The pattern continued after the Second World War, as Canada joined in developing radar defence systems during the Cold War and responded, again half-heartedly, after the American oil tanker SS Manhattan navigated the Northwest Passage in 1969 to test using the seaway to take Alaskan oil eastward.

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NEWS RELEASE: Only Doug Ford Will Protect Ontario by Unlocking the Ring of Fire (February 22, 2025)

A re-elected PC government will make Ontario the most competitive place in the G7 to invest, create better jobs with bigger paycheques and do business, including in the north

Thunder Bay, February 22, 2025 — Today, Doug Ford outlined the PC plan to speed up approvals, cut red tape and invest in infrastructure to unlock the enormous economic potential of Ontario’s critical minerals in the Ring of Fire and protect northern Ontario’s economy and workers.

“Over the past seven years working with First Nations, we’ve made significant progress building the roads to the Ring of Fire,” said Doug Ford. “As we face down the threat of President Trump’s tariffs, we need to do more and we need to do it faster. To protect Ontario, we have to get our critical minerals out of the ground, processed and shipped to factory floors. We have to double down on working with First Nations to speed up approvals and get shovels in the ground on critical mineral projects.”

President Trump is on a mission to suck up every dollar of investment he can for America’s economy. He’s promising major reforms to streamline regulations and speed up approvals.

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The complex legacy of Viola MacMillan – by Ashley Fish-Robertson (CIM Magazine – February 19, 2025)

https://magazine.cim.org/en/

A new book explores the life and scandal of a controversial pioneer in Canada’s mining industry

Viola MacMillan’s life, shaped by remarkable accomplishments and the gripping Windfall scandal that took place in the 1960s, forms the heart of Toronto-based author Tim Falconer’s latest book, Windfall: Viola MacMillan and Her Notorious Mining Scandal.

Born in 1903 in Dee Bank, Ontario, MacMillan left school at the age of 12 to support her impoverished family, working as a cleaner with her mother. After the First World War, MacMillan returned to school and later moved to Windsor, Ontario, where she saved up money for business college by working as a telephone operator and live-in maid. After graduating, she was hired as a stenographer.

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US, Ukraine ramp up talks on minerals deal during envoy trip – by Daryna Krasnolutska and Alberto Nardelli (Bloomberg News – February 21, 2025)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Ukrainian and US negotiators are seeking to move past the breakdown in transatlantic relations this week to finalize a deal on critical minerals, a person with knowledge of the talks said.

Two days after President Donald Trump hectored President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as a “dictator” who needed to move quickly on a peace deal, Ukrainian officials are discussing the minerals issue with US special envoy Keith Kellogg during a visit to Kyiv, the person said on condition of anonymity as talks take place behind closed doors.

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Anglo American and Codelco strike $5B copper deal – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – February 20, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

Anglo American (LON: AAL) and Chile’s state-owned Codelco have signed an agreement to jointly develop their neighbouring Los Bronces and Andina operations, a move that will see the partners produce 2.7 million tonnes of additional copper over 21 years from 2030.

The joint mine plan is projected to generate a net present value pre-tax boost of at least $5 billion, which will be shared equally between the two companies. Despite the collaboration, both Anglo American and Codelco will retain full ownership rights over their respective assets, including mining concessions, plants, and ancillary operations, and will continue to extract resources separately.

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Lab-Grown Diamonds Offer a More Sustainable Jewelry Option in Miami – by Caroline Val (Miami New Times – February 21, 2025)

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/

The trend is growing among younger customers, who see synthetic stones as a cost-effective alternative to natural gems.

Marilyn Monroe once famously sang, “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” and that sentiment still appears to hold true — even if the diamonds aren’t real. Lab-grown diamonds, or synthetic diamonds grown in a lab setting, are becoming much more popular among young people in search of an environmentally and economically friendly alternative to organic gems.

Fifth Avenue-based jeweler Liori Diamonds, which has a store in Sunny Isles, sells both the natural and lab-grown variety. “They’re optically the same, and they are chemically exactly the same,” says Jesse de Leon, one of Liori Diamonds’ founders.

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American farmers will bear cost of Trump’s tariffs on potash, says Nutrien CEO – by Michael Joel-Hansen (Financial Post – February 21, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

Company hikes dividend, though earnings fall 33% on lower prices

Farmers in the United States will be the ones absorbing any additional expenses if Donald Trump’s planned tariffs take effect next month, says Nutrien Ltd. chief executive Ken Seitz.

“The costs of this would be borne by the U.S. farmer; the tariff cost and tariff impact will be passed onto the U.S. farmer,” he said on a fourth-quarter earnings call with analysts, adding that American farmers are very dependent on Canadian potash. “Canadians supply over 80 per cent of that market.”

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Teck signals it’s open to deal with Glencore around combining QB2 and Collahuasi copper mines – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – February 21, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Teck Resources Ltd. chief executive Jonathan Price indicated he is open to a tie-up with former foe Glencore PLC that would combine its giant QB2 copper mine in Chile with Glencore’s neighbouring Collahuasi operation.

QB2 is the mine that underpinned Teck’s revamp to become a fully focused critical-minerals company after it sold its legacy coal business to Glencore. Glencore co-owns another giant copper mine near QB2 called Collahuasi. Billions in cost savings are potentially on the table if QB2 and Collahuasi can be brought under the same ownership and operated as one gigantic facility.

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