Twitter

North America’s bid to onshore rare earth supply – by Luisa Moreno (PV Magazine – March 7, 2023)

Home

Dr Luisa Moreno is president of Vancouver-based rare earth miner Defense Metals Corp.

With the electric vehicle market expected to drive demand for 200,000 tons of rare earth elements in North America through 2030, work is being put in by industry and policy makers to restore the region’s rare earth element supply chain.

Efforts are being made in Canada and the US to shift dependency away from Chinese rare earth element reserves. There are many reasons why North America is looking to onshore its processes, one of the biggest being concern around potential supply chain choke points in the event China decides to cut off rare earth element supply due to geopolitical wrangles.

Read more

OPINION: Look beyond grocers such as Loblaw: Food insecurity is going to get a lot worse – by Todd Hirsch (Globe and Mail – March 8, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Todd Hirsch is the former Calgary-based chief economist of ATB Financial and author of The Boiling Frog Dilemma: Saving Canada from Economic Decline.

Food is getting so expensive that grocery executives such as Loblaw Cos. Ltd. chairman and president Galen G. Weston are being hauled before a House of Commons committee this week – after dodging a previous informal invite.

But cast aside this bit of political theatre and the role of Canadian grocers. Not only is this issue so much bigger than them, everything is also going to get much worse.

Read more

Ring of Fire takes next step over some First Nations’ objections – by Aidan Chamandy (Timmins Today – March 7, 2023)

https://www.timminstoday.com/

The environmental assessment on a portion of the road to the Ring of Fire is being led by two First Nations, but another affected community isn’t pleased with the announcement

A plan by two First Nations to build a road to Ontario’s Ring of Fire has been approved by the provincial government — but another First Nations community affected by the project is not on board.

Last year, Webequie First Nation and Marten Falls First Nation published a 253-page document outlining the terms of reference for an assessment of Ontario’s proposed road to the Ring of Fire. On Monday, Ontario approved the terms at the massive Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) mining conference in downtown Toronto.

Read more

Opinions: How Western scholars overlooked Russian imperialism – by Botakoz Kassymbekova (Al Jazeera.com – January 24, 2023)

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/

Botakoz Kassymbekova is an Assistant Professor of Modern History at the University of Basel

For far too long, Western academia has ignored the legacies of the Russian Empire and colonisation.

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, discussions emerged about the imperial nature of the war. Scholars who spoke up about it were quickly dismissed in certain Western academic and political circles.

Some, especially the self-professed “anti-imperialists”, claimed Russia was “provoked” and portrayed Ukraine’s resistance as a “Western imperial” plot. Others considered analyses of Russian imperialism as having a pro-war, hawkish agenda or being a reflection of narrow ethno-nationalist sentiments.

Read more

South America looks at creating “lithium OPEC” – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – March 6, 2023)

https://www.mining.com/

Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Brazil are analyzing the creation of a lithium cartel of sorts in charge of expanding South America’s processing capacity, turning more of their mined lithium into batteries and tapping into the electric vehicles (EVs) manufacturing sector.

The group would emulate similar schemes, such as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), in terms of coordinating production flows, pricing and good practices, representatives of the Argentinean delegation said at the annual PDAC Convention, held this week in Toronto, Canada.

Read more

Curiosity spurred Virginia Heffernan to write a Ring of Fire book – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 4, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Toronto mining journalist hits PDAC 2023 with a primer on arrested development in the Far North

“Keep the faith.” It was an oft-used phrase by Richard “Dick” Nemis, a Sudbury native and colourful mining promoter whose company, Noront Resources, secured one of the largest land positions in the mineral-rich area of the James Bay known as the Ring of Fire.

Nemis clung to that motto even as he was being ousted by shareholders as the president of the junior mining company he helped establish in October 2008. It was personal blow since the exploration outfit was named after his father’s industrial fabrication company, started in the Nickel City in 1945, and still in operation today.

Read more

‘Lithium rush’ boosts sales of mineral claims in N.S. – by Catherine Morasse (CBC News Nova Scotia – March 5, 2023)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/

For as long as she has lived in New Ross, Nova Scotia, Ruth Veinotte has seen different prospectors come and go. What they seek has changed through time, says the woman who has lived in the Lunenburg County community for 67 years. From manganese, which was exploited until the 1930s, the region later drew exploration for tin, uranium and other minerals.

Veinotte looks across the rural landscape that has drawn such interest as she finishes refuelling her pickup truck on the community’s quiet main road.

Read more

Neskantaga First Nation says it wasn’t adequately consulted in key Ring of Fire environmental study – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – March 6, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Neskantaga First Nation says it wasn’t adequately consulted in a key Ring of Fire environmental study, and is warning Ring of Fire Metals, the Australian mining company bent on developing the region, that it will have to use force against members of the First Nation before they would allow development.

Ontario and two other First Nations, Webequie and Marten Falls, agreed on Monday on terms of reference related to an environmental assessment for the last of the three proposed roads into the Ring of Fire.

Read more

Gov’t urged to incentivize downstream nickel processing – by Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat (Manila Bulletin – March 5, 2023)

https://mb.com.ph/

Imposing a ban or tax on the export of raw ore is not the solution to attract middle to downstream nickel processing in the country, but the granting additional incentives to investors, according to a top industry player.

Martin Antonio G. Zamora, president and CEO of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC), the country’s lone nickel mining company with a processing operation of its raw ore, said during a media round table that incentives may be granted in the form of additional tax breaks on top of what has been given to manufacturing firms at present to attract more downstream processing operations.

Read more

Panic Over Metals for EVs Goes All the Way to Automakers’ C-Suites – by Danny Lee, David Stringer and Jacob Lorinc (Bloomberg News – March 3, 2023)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The merry-go-round of private meetings at an annual mining industry conference at Florida’s Hollywood Beach had a cast of new faces this year: auto sector executives increasingly anxious about surging prices and tighter supply of metals used in electric vehicle batteries.

Tesla Inc., Ford Motor Co. and Mercedes-Benz Group AG were among automakers which sent senior staff to mingle with about 1,500 delegates at the BMO Global Metals & Mining Conference, an event normally attended mainly by iron ore and aluminum producers.

Read more

Politics Meets the Minerals Rush at the World’s Biggest Mining Convention – by Charlie Angus (Policy Magazine – March 6, 2023)

January-February 2024

Investors from all over the world are in Toronto this week for the annual Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada Conference (PDAC) convention. It is the biggest mining expo in the world. This year’s conference is taking place amid a global rush to secure critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt and key base metals such as copper and nickel.

The climate crisis has arrived and our hope for survival is dependent on a dramatic transformation in energy sources. This is why critical minerals are key. They are essential for the development of battery and renewable technology.

Read more

Two-thirds of European battery production at risk – analysis (Transport Environment.org – March 6, 2023)

Homepage

More than two-thirds (68%) of lithium-ion battery production planned for Europe is at risk of being delayed, scaled down or cancelled, new analysis shows. Tesla in Berlin, Northvolt in northern Germany and Italvolt near Turin are among the projects that stand to lose the greatest volumes of their slated capacity as the companies weigh up investing in the US instead.

Transport & Environment (T&E), which conducted the research, called for both EU-wide financial support to scale up battery production and faster approvals processes to capture projects at risk from American subsidies.

Read more

‘It shouldn’t take 15 years to open a mine’ – by Staff (Sudbury Star – March 4, 2023)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Vale and Glencore officials say they support changes the government says will make it easier and quicker to open a mine

Saying it takes too long to get a new mine approved, the Ontario government on Thursday introduced legislation to speed up the process.

“It shouldn’t take 15 years to open a mine. This process is too time-consuming and costly, leading to project delays and lost opportunities for Ontario’s mineral exploration and mining sector,” George Pirie, the province’s minister of Mines, said in a release. “We need to get building.

Read more

Treasure, conflict, and survival in Canada’s peatlands – by Krista Hessey (Global News – March 4, 2023)

https://globalnews.ca/

iking in the Hudson Bay Lowlands is like a game of hopscotch — in a swamp. A tapestry of colourful mosses indicates where it’s safe to step: the green and white spots are drier, while the rich red and copper patches can swallow you whole.

Aside from the stunted black spruce trees that dot the watery landscape, it doesn’t look like there’s much here. It’s quiet, except for the constant buzzing of mosquitoes and black flies. But Michelle Kalamandeen didn’t come all this way for what’s on the surface.

Read more

South America Steps Up Efforts to Turn Lithium Into Batteries – by James Attwood, Jonathan Gilbert and Mariana Durao (Bloomberg News – March 5, 2023)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — South American nations are stepping up efforts to propel themselves further down the electric-vehicle supply chain by leveraging their vast mineral wealth, expanding processing capacity, and targeting vehicle manufacturing.

Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Brazil plan to coordinate action on turning more of the region’s mined lithium into battery chemicals, as well as moving into manufacturing of batteries and EVs, according to Argentina Mining Undersecretary Fernanda Avila.

Read more