Republic of Mining

Ottawa considering equity stakes, advancing loans to critical minerals companies – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – March 10, 2023)

March 10, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The federal government is considering taking equity stakes and advancing loans to Canadian critical minerals companies, as it mulls following Quebec’s lead in moving to a much more active role in Canada’s industrial policy.

Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in an interview earlier this week at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) mining conference in Toronto that the equity stakes could come through the soon-to-be-launched Canada Growth Fund, and loans could be arranged through the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

U of T partners with Vale Energy Transition Metals to accelerate sustainable mining solution – by Tyler Irving (University of Toronto Engineering News – March 8, 2023)

March 9, 2023

UofT Engineering News Home

A new partnership between the University of Toronto and Vale Energy Transition Metals will strengthen Canada’s position in the critical minerals sector by developing sustainable mining solutions, as well as fostering Canadian skills and talent.

The framework agreement was signed March 7, 2023, at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) 2023 Convention, held in Toronto. The partnership launches with an initial $1.6 million investment over the next three years and will include several multidisciplinary projects led by experts from both institutions.

Another PDAC mining conference comes to a close: Here are this year’s key themes and takeaways A North American critical mineral supply chain and more – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – March 8, 2023)

March 9, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

One of the largest mining conferences in the world, the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada convention, came and went this week, drawing tens of thousands of geologists, engineers and investors to downtown Toronto.

After several years of interruptions related to the pandemic — in 2020, an outbreak at the conference cast a shadow; in 2021, the conference went virtual; last year, it was moved from March to June — this year’s event took place in its traditional early March time slot and felt like a return to normalcy.

Sudbury nickel juniors build on region’s history as a metal powerhouse – by Kelsey Rolfe (Northern Miner – March 8, 2023)

March 9, 2023

https://www.northernminer.com/

Amid an increasing demand for nickel, driven largely by the growing need for electric vehicle batteries, a handful of exploration companies are making their mark in Sudbury’s historic and prolific nickel mining camp.

Magna Mining (TSXV: NICU), SPC Nickel Corp. (TSXV: SPC) and Archer Exploration (CSE: RCHR), which all have properties in the region of northern Ontario, have announced a series of promising drill results and asset acquisitions in recent months.

Tribes, Fishermen, Businesses, Conservation Groups Respond to New Potential Mineral Exploration in Bristol Bay Watershed – by United Tribes of Bristol Bay (Alaska Native News – March 8, 2023)

March 9, 2023

https://alaska-native-news.com/

ANCHORAGE, AK — Bristol Bay Tribes, fishermen, businesses and allies again reiterated their opposition to mining that jeopardizes Bristol Bay’s cultures and economies in response to the latest mineral exploration efforts in the region.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on February 28 issued a public notice of an application from Stuy Mines LLC for mineral exploration activities along Kaskanak Creek in the Bristol Bay watershed, located southwest of the Pebble deposit. The public notice from the DNR on this proposal for mining exploration (which was submitted in June 2022) in the watershed triggered a two-week public comment period ending March 14.

Sudbury’s mine waste worth billions; new project to find ways of extracting valuable minerals – by Staff (Sudbury Star – March 8, 2023)

March 9, 2023

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Vale, province to pay for new industrial research chair program in biomining and bioremediation to be based in Sudbury

Mine waste in the Sudbury area may be worth billions and it’s Nadia Mykytczuk’s job to find ways using bacteria to extract the valuable nickel, copper and other critical minerals out of them.

Her job got a lot easier Wednesday when Vale Energy Transition Metals and the provincial government announced money to support a new industrial research chair program in biomining and bioremediation that she will lead in Sudbury. Vale Energy committed $875,000 over five years to the Mining Innovation, Rehabilitation, and Applied Research Corporation (MIRARCO) at Laurentian University.

OPINION: How much is Canada willing to pay for a battery plant in the Great Subsidy War? – by Campbell Clark (Globe and Mail – March 9, 2023)

March 9, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Imagine for a moment what would happen if Canada’s auto industry was sucked away into the United States. Tens of thousands of jobs and a big chunk of the $19-billion a year the sector contributes to Canada’s gross domestic product would slip away. How much would a Canadian government pay to stop that?

That’s a question the current government in Ottawa seems to think it is facing. It’s a debatable point in and of itself, but the Liberals are out to secure electric-vehicle battery plants in Canada because they think that is key to keeping an active auto industry in Canada – and also that it will build a battery sector, too.

Hover barges could be low-cost alternative for Ring of Fire road, researcher says (CBC News Sudbury – March 9, 2023)

March 9, 2023

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

Green Party leader resurrects idea of ‘hover barges’ across northern Ontario’s ice roads

A Sudbury mining innovation group says the province should consider the use of hover barges before embarking on a multimillion-dollar road construction project linking the Ring of Fire, a mineral-rich region in northern Ontario, to the provincial highway network.

Doug Morrison, president and chief exeuctive officer of the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI), said the Sudbury-based innovation lab has identified the use of hover barges — large-capacity transport machines that could potentially float on the region’s already-existing ice roads — as one cost-effective alternative to transporting materials.

Incoming chief demands meeting with Ford on Ring of Fire – by Aidan Chamandy (Timmins Today – March 9, 2023)

March 9, 2023

https://www.timminstoday.com/

‘I’m only going to talk to the individual that wants to drive that bulldozer and run over my homelands,’ says Chris Moonias

Incoming Neskantaga Chief Chris Moonias was at Queen’s Park on Thursday demanding a meeting with Premier Doug Ford — and only Ford — over what he considers a lack of adequate consultations on the government’s latest mining bill and the push to develop the Ring of Fire.

“I’m only going to talk to the individual that wants to drive that bulldozer and run over my homelands,” said Moonias, who is set to take over as the first nation’s chief on April 1. “I ain’t talking to anybody else, except him.”

Who wants to hear about White Saviourism gone wrong? – by Ben Radley (African Arguments.org – March 8, 2023)

March 9, 2023

https://africanarguments.org/

A new book on the Congo recycles stereotypes of Africa as a wasteland in need of saving in all its promo. It’s been rapturously received in the West.

Last month, award-winning author and academic Siddharth Kara published Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers our Lives. The book draws attention to labour conditions and living standards in areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that mine cobalt, a metal that will be critical in the hoped-for global energy transition.

Across 250 pages, it argues that by consuming products that contain Congolese cobalt, Western consumers are complicit in a human rights and environmental catastrophe.

First Quantum CEO says tentative tax pact with Panama could be finalized by end of next month – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – March 8, 2023)

March 9, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. has reached a tentative agreement with Panama that would end a bitter tax dispute and head off a shutdown of the company’s biggest copper mine.

The Vancouver-based miner announced on Wednesday it would pay a minimum of US$375-million in taxes a year to Panama, with built-in downside protection that would reduce the payments if there were a steep fall in the price of copper.

Exclusive: Canada will not force Chinese state investors to divest stakes in Teck, First Quantum – by Divya Rajagopal (Reuters – March 8, 2023)

March 9, 2023

https://www.reuters.com/

TORONTO, March 8 (Reuters) – Canada will not force Chinese state-investors in three of its large mining companies to divest stakes, as such a move would create policy uncertainty, the natural resources minister told Reuters.

In November, Canada had asked three Chinese companies to sell their stakes in Toronto-listed lithium explorers following a national security review, drawing criticism from the mining industry and raising questions about the future of other Chinese investments in the Canadian mining sector.

Deal over access to ore dock in Skagway, Alaska, ‘critical’ to Yukon, premier says (CBC News North – March 8, 2023)

March 9, 2023

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

Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai is calling a potential new deal that would secure access to the ore dock in Skagway, Alaska, “very, very good news for Yukon.” “I’m very proud. I mean, this is a great example of our government taking on something … that’s very critical to the Yukon and to Canada and having the capacity, I guess I would say, to come up with a solution and get this done.”

Skagway recently accepted the terms of the agreement that would see the Yukon government put more than $17 million US toward upgrading one of the town’s docks. For the Yukon, it’s a vital facility for companies to be able to ship ore mined in the territory.

NEWS RELEASE: PDAC 2023 Convention Welcomes 23,819 Attendees to World’s Premier Mineral Exploration and Mining Event in Toronto (March 8, 2023)

March 8, 2023

Toronto, March 8, 2023—The Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) is thrilled to welcome pre-pandemic levels of attendance back to its annual convention, drawing 23,819 attendees to Toronto for the best business, investment and networking opportunities in the mineral exploration and mining industry.

In addition to the more than 1,100 exhibitors covering over 600,000 square feet of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, governments, companies and leading experts from around the world made this one of the largest events in the association’s 91 years.

Proposed gold mine for Lynn Lake receives federal approval – by Katherine Dow (CTV News Winnipeg – March 7, 2023)

March 8, 2023

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/

An open-pit gold mine and metal mill proposed for development near Lynn Lake, Man. has received approval from the federal government, a move that a town administrator says could lead to hundreds of jobs and a much-needed economic boost.

In a news release Monday, Canada’s environment and climate change minister Steven Guilbeault said the mine and mill proposed by Alamos Gold were subject to a ‘robust federal review.’