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Yellowknife emerging as EV metals hub – by Shane Lasley (North of 60 Mining News – April 10, 2023)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

The Northwest Territories capital city of Yellowknife is emerging as a northern link in North America’s electric vehicle supply chain. Already home to Canada’s only rare earths mine, a 160-kilometers (100 miles) area around this northern mining town happens to be enriched with the lithium and cobalt that is in massive demand for EV batteries, along with numerous other minerals critical to both Canada and the United States.

A roughly 9,600-square-kilometer (3,700 square miles) area that extends 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Yellowknife to Vital Metal Ltd.’s Nechalacho rare earths mine is riddled with hardrock lithium sources known as pegmatites.

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The sale of Teck to a foreign buyer would be a loss for Canada, critics say – by Amanda Stephenson (Canadian Press/Toronto Star – April 17, 2023)

https://www.thestar.com/

CALGARY – The hostile takeover of Canada’s largest diversified mining company by a foreign entity would weaken this country’s chances of becoming a leader in critical minerals, according to industry watchers.

Critics of the recent unsolicited proposal by Swiss commodities giant Glencore to buy Vancouver-based mining company Teck Resources Ltd. say such a transaction would mean a “hollowing out” of Canada’s mining industry at a time when the sector could be poised for a boom.

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Will we have enough nickel for our EVs in 2030? – by Brian Donovan (Globe and Mail – April 18, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Nickel demand is increasing with the shift to electric vehicles. Let’s take a look at what is happening with this commodity.

Pricing:

Nickel prices were very volatile in 2022. On March 8, 2022, the metal topped US$100,000 a tonne before the London Metal Exchange halted trading, something that has never happened in the nickel market. The spike was driven initially by the outbreak of war in Ukraine, which led to a short squeeze and margin calls for Tsingshan Holding Group Co., a large stainless-steel manufacturer in China.

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Analysis: Earning First Nations’ trust on resource projects – by Donna Kennedy-Glans (National Post/Wiarton Echo – April 16, 2023)

https://www.wiartonecho.com/

The Ring of Fire region in northern Ontario is one lynchpin in America’s green energy moonshot. Unearthing mineral deposits more than 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay is essential to Ontario’s future as an electric vehicle manufacturing hub. But what happens if some local First Nations want nothing to do with mining critical minerals?

In western Canada, we’ve struggled at times to develop resources, build energy infrastructure, and export oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) — with the support of Indigenous communities. There’s no straight-forward path. When a successful project emerges, it’s worthwhile taking a closer look.

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Russian mercenaries in Sudan: What is the Wagner Group’s role? (Al Jazeera – April 17, 2023)

https://www.aljazeera.com/

The Russian mercenary group has been accused of plundering Sudan’s gold resources to bankroll operations in Ukraine.

After battles have broken out in Sudan between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), questions have arisen over the involvement of the Wagner Group, a powerful Russian mercenary organisation that has been active in Sudan for years.

Here is what you need to know about the group and its involvement in the African country:

What is the Wagner Group?

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Remembering Attilio. He was good for a blast (Soo Today – April 16, 2023)

https://www.sootoday.com/

Attilio Berdusco was recognized for engineering a mammoth pillar blast in the Helen Mine in 1955 and he was a pillar of his community

Some men gain recognition for building their communities. Some get notoriety from destroying things. Attilio Berdusco got to do both; in the best possible way. Attilio (or Tillio as he was often called), was born in the Sault in 1929 to Reno and Pauline Berdusco and was the oldest of eight children.

The family lived at the Parkhill Mine until 1939. When the gold mines closed, Tillio’s father then sought work at the Sinter Plant in Wawa while his mother ran a general store at the corner of Broadway and Laurier in Wawa. Attilio’s name appears in the Sault Star regularly in childhood as he excelled at both sports and academics.

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Major drop in lithium prices could mean cheaper electric vehicles – by Philippe de Montigny (CBC Sudbury – April 17, 2023)

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

Key ingredient in batteries down more than 65 per cent after two-year rally

The significant drop in lithium prices since the beginning of the year could mean cheaper electric vehicles (EVs) down the road. After soaring for two years, the price of lithium carbonate — a key ingredient in EV batteries — sank by more than 65 per cent since January, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

“Prices peaked at over $85,000 US in November,” mining industry analyst Jean-Charles Cachon said, a level he deemed “unsustainable.” Today, one metric tonne of the battery-grade lithium salt sells for less than $30,000 US.

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Teck CEO confident biggest B shareholder China Investment Corp. will support split, not side with Glencore – by Naill McGee (Globe and Mail – April 18, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Teck Resources Ltd. chief executive officer Jonathan Price expressed confidence its biggest B-shareholder, China Investment Corp. (CIC), will vote for the Canadian miner’s proposed split and not back Glencore’s hostile takeover proposal, as he battles to correct misinformation that has seeped into the market.

Mr. Price disputed a Bloomberg news article on Friday that cited unnamed sources who claimed CIC was leaning toward voting down Teck’s split. The article, which did not carry a byline, also claimed that Glencore executives had already spoken with CIC executives about the matter.

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Germany Retires Last Nuclear Plants in Hopes of Greener Pastures – by Carolynn Look, Petra Sorge and Josefine Fokuhl (Bloomberg News – April 15, 2023)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — At 10 p.m. on Saturday, the Isar-2 nuclear plant near Munich will begin winding down its power generation in steps of 10 megawatts per minute. After about 45 minutes, it will drop to 30% capacity and automatically sever from the national electricity grid.

The other two plants still in operation, Neckarwestheim-2 and Emsland, will by then be in the midst of a similar process. By midnight, all three will be offline, ending Germany’s tumultuous six-decade reliance on nuclear energy.

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Book excerpt: How the sparks of conflict in Ontario’s Ring of Fire set alight (Northern Miner – April 13, 2023)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Click Here to Order Book: https://amzn.to/3FVk4hK

The following is an excerpt from Chapter 10, “From backrooms to bulldozers,” of Ring of Fire: High Stakes Mining in a Lowlands Wilderness, written by Virginia Heffernan and published by ECW Press. This chapter details how a clash between Indigenous rights, Ontario’s Mining Act and hapless politicians sets the stage for conflict in the mineral-rich region.

Dalton McGuinty was Ontario premier in 2007 when the Ring of Fire was discovered. At the time, the courts were starting to consistently side with First Nations across Canada over the right to be consulted about development on their traditional lands. The province was clumsily playing catch-up.

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Crown lawyer suggests negotiations process if province loses mining claims challenge – by Bob Mackin (Business In Vancouver – April 14, 2023)

https://biv.com/

The Gitxaala Nation wants the B.C. Supreme Court to overturn mineral claims granted between 2018 and 2020 on Banks Island because it says there was no consultation

If a B.C. Supreme Court judge rules in favour of the First Nation challenging B.C.’s online mining claims program, a lawyer for the provincial government says the court should order the two sides to negotiate a new system.

The Gitxaala Nation, based in Kitkatla, wants the court to overturn mineral claims the province granted between 2018 and 2020 on Banks Island because it says there was no consultation. Gitxaala lawyers say that breached the Crown’s constitutional duty to First Nations and was contrary to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which B.C. adopted in 2019.

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Despite Friday’s selloff, gold’s uptrend is in place, but sentiment doesn’t point to all-time highs next week – by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – April 14, 2023)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – What started as some technical selling pressure in gold early Friday has become a full-on rout as the precious metal gave up most of its weekly gains Friday.

However, heading into the weekend, many analysts said the market has been overdue for a healthy correction, and this could lead to a long-term sustainable rally to new all-time highs. The latest Kitco News Gold Survey shows that retail investors remain solidly bullish on gold in the near term; however, Wall Street analysts are taking a more cautious stance.

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OPINION: How Glencore, the shark in the resources pond, could still win Teck – though it’s a long shot – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – April 14, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ivan Glasenberg was known as the great white shark of global resources industry when he was running Glencore, the world’s biggest commodities trader and one of the biggest mining companies. He never shied away from tough, even seemingly impossible, takeover battles and won more than he lost.

Take the epic fist fight in 2005 and 2006 for Canada’s premier nickel mining companies, Falconbridge and Inco. At the time, Glencore was private but owned 40 per cent of Xstrata, which in effect operated as Glencore’s listed machine for mergers and acquisitions. (In 2011, Glencore joined the London Stock Exchange and bought all of Xstrata two years later.)

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Asteroid mining startup AstroForge readies first mission – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – April 13, 2023)

https://www.mining.com/

AstroForge, a startup with plans to mine asteroids, is getting ready to launch the first of its two missions on Friday, of which the main objective is to test the firm’s technique for refining platinum from a sample of asteroid-like material.

The startup has placed a payload on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, pre-packed with elements similar to those found in asteroids. Working in Earth’s orbit, the OrbAstro-built cubesat will attempt to vaporize and sort the materials into their elemental components.

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JPMorgan Has Made Deep Cuts to Metals Business After Nickel Crisis – by Alfred Cang, Jack Farchy and Eddie Spence (Bloomberg News – April 13, 2023)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. has cut dozens of base metals clients and slashed bankers’ bonuses, as the business remains under harsh internal scrutiny in the wake of last year’s nickel crisis.

JPMorgan, Wall Street’s biggest player in metals, has been reviewing its commodity exposure for over a year after it played a prominent role as the biggest counterparty of the Chinese company at the center of the nickel short squeeze on the London Metal Exchange. It was also a financier of the top Chinese copper trader whose business ground to a halt after a liquidity crisis last year.

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