Republic of Mining

Lithium’s Next Big Risk is Grand Supply Plans Falling Short – by Annie Lee and Mark Burton (Bloomberg News – January 15, 2023)

January 16, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Electric-vehicle makers are hoping that an imminent wave of lithium supply will bring relief for their expansion plans after a two-year squeeze, but the battery metal’s die-hard bulls warn of more pain to come if producers fail to deliver.

Rampant lithium demand has caught many forecasters by surprise, with booming global EV sales causing consumption to double over the past two years. With suppliers unable to keep pace, a blistering price rally sent the total spot value of lithium consumption rocketing to about $35 billion in 2022, up from $3 billion in 2020, according to Bloomberg calculations.

France giving emergency payment to SLN to try to save the mining firm (RNZ.co.nz – Janauary 16, 2023)

January 16, 2023

https://www.rnz.co.nz/

An urgent funding boost of $US63 million will be provided to New Caledonia’s SLN to try to save the company. The so-called Urgent Progressional Plan is a short-term measure which could give enough time to formulate a long-term plan to save the company from bankruptcy with the resulting loss of thousands of jobs.

A financial inspection from the Ministry of Finance will be sent to check if the urgent funds are being used to save the company. The Noumea-based mining company has been experiencing serious financial difficulties due to fluctuating global prices of nickel and a lack of investment in company infrastructure.

Quarries must be close to Toronto’s development – by Norman Cheesman (Toronto Star – January 16, 2023)

January 16, 2023

https://www.thestar.com/

Proximity of aggregate to job sites is key. Pits can take up to 10 years to approve and are required to meet needs of Ontarians, says Norman Cheesman.

If you build it they will come … and if you don’t build it, they will come anyway. That’s the reality we face in Ontario.

After years of infrastructure neglect and increasing levels of immigration, will we be ready to welcome an additional four million people in this province by 2043? Will we be ready with the schools, hospitals, housing and other infrastructure we need to maintain vibrant communities?

The Trudeau Liberals are about to tell Alberta workers where to go – by Rex Murphy (National Post -January 4, 2023)

January 16, 2023

https://nationalpost.com/

Will there be a ‘just transition’ for Canadian farmers, too?

National Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson plans to introduce “just transition” legislation early this year to help workers in the oil and gas sector move into green energy jobs. Help?

Well, that’s one way to start the New Year. Send out a second-tier minister, working in concert with another second-tier minister, Seamus O’Regan, and an NDP consort, Charlie Angus, to announce a peremptory, arbitrary, unnegotiated shutdown of a greatly productive province’s principal industry.

Thunberg joins march on German village in protest against coal mine expansion (Reuters – January 14, 2023)

January 16, 2023

https://www.reuters.com/

LUTZERATH, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Around 6,000 protesters – including climate activist Greta Thunberg – marched through mud and rain to the German village of Luetzerath on Saturday, according to a police estimate, demonstrating against the expansion of an opencast lignite mine.

The clearing of the village in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia was agreed between RWE (RWEG.DE) and the government in a deal that allowed the energy giant to demolish Lutzerath in exchange for its faster exit from coal and saving five villages originally slated for destruction.

China note! EU-member Sweden locates rare earth deposits – by Samuel Petrequin (Associated Press – January 12, 2023)

January 16, 2023

https://apnews.com/

KIRUNA, Sweden (AP) — The beginning of the end of Europe’s dependency on China for precious rare earth materials may lie buried deep under the rugged reaches of northern Sweden, well above the Arctic Circle.

Sweden’s iron-ore miner LKAB said Thursday it has identified “significant deposits” in Lapland of rare earth elements that are essential for the manufacture of smartphones, electric vehicles and wind turbines.

Matheson gold builder sees open-ended potential – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – January 9, 2023)

January 11, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Moneta Gold firms up its case for open-pit and underground operation with intensive 2023 drilling campaign

The president of Moneta Gold is predicting many “upside opportunities” for its flagship Tower Gold Project near Matheson. In a recent news release, Gary O’Connor reflected on 2022 being “an extremely rewarding year” for the company.

Moneta posted an updated gold resource estimate for Tower Gold and released a positive preliminary economic assessment (PEA) in September, making the economic case for an open-pit and underground mining operation.

North America’s Top Mining CEOs Anticipate Turbulent Year Ahead – by Jacob Lorinc (Bloomberg News – January 10, 2023)

January 11, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Top executives from North America’s biggest metals producers are bracing for a turbulent 2023 marked by recession, geopolitical risks and an uncertain investment climate that could change the face of mining.

The year “is going to be seen as the start of serious change — in the way mines operate and are held accountable,” Barrick Gold Corp. Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said in an interview.

US, allies should disconnect rare earths supply chain from China — report – by Staff (Mining.com – January 3, 2023)

January 11, 2023

https://www.mining.com/

A recent report from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy suggests that policymakers in the United States and allied countries should start bolstering raw materials supply chains to reduce the country’s dependence on rare earths from China.

The dossier notes that the China Rare Earth Group, a merger of three of China’s state-owned enterprises into one mega-conglomerate, controls up to a quarter of global mineral-bearing rare-earth elements.

Europe has avoided energy collapse. But is the crisis over? – by David McHugh (Associated Press -January 10, 2023)

January 11, 2023

https://apnews.com/

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe has dodged an energy apocalypse this winter, economists and officials say, thanks to unusually warm weather and efforts to find other sources of natural gas after Russia cut off most of its supply to the continent.

Natural gas suppliers in recent days have increased their stocks at a time when they’re usually being drawn down — an unexpected boost that has relieved fears of gas used to heat homes, generate electricity and power factories running out by winter’s end.

Canada’s First Quantum close to securing new deal for Panama copper mine – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – January 11, 2023)

January 11, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Not ‘very far away’ from striking a deal with the Panama government, company says

Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals Ltd. said it isn’t “very far away” from striking a deal with the Panama government to ensure that it can keep its flagship copper mine alive.

The company has been negotiating a new contract for the rights of the Cobre Panama mine, situated about 120 kilometres west of Panama City, for about a year, stopping briefly on Dec. 16 after the Panama government halted discussions and announced plans to suspend Quantum’s operations.

India’s Foray Into the EV Battery Market Lacks Some Key Ingredients – by Swansy Afonso (Bloomberg News – January 10, 2023)

January 11, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — As the world tries to wean itself off dependence on China for crucial battery materials, India is taking bold steps to position itself as an alternative in the electric vehicle supply chain.

The government has unveiled incentives of at least $3.4 billion to expedite its lagging adoption of EVs as Prime Minister Narendra Modi vows to reach net zero by 2070. The idea is that manufacturing the costliest component — batteries — locally will make the end product more affordable for the mass market and set the country up as a potential exporter, tapping into surging global demand.

OPINION: Trudeau’s real North America agenda is reacting to Biden’s industrial strategy – by Campbell Clark (Globe and Mail – January 11, 2023)

January 11, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

It was nice that U.S. President Joe Biden and his Mexican counterpart, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, tacked a Three Amigos summit with Justin Trudeau onto meetings about Mr. Biden’s more pressing issue: the Mexican border.

The idea of a common North American agenda seems a distant thing for the Mexican and U.S. presidents, both of whom are so wrapped up in domestic politics that there hasn’t been a lot of room for continental friendship.

Ruling in Thacker Pass lithium mine case expected within months – by Ernest Scheyder (Reuters – January 5, 2023)

January 11, 2023

https://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – A U.S. judge said on Thursday she will rule “in the next couple of months” on whether former President Donald Trump erred in 2021 when he approved Lithium Americas Corp’s (LAC.TO) Thacker Pass lithium mining project in northern Nevada.

The timeline further delays the company’s plans to build North America’s largest lithium mine even as Washington pushes to boost domestic production of metals crucial to the green energy transition and wean the country off Chinese supplies.

B.C. rejects open-pit mine in caribou habitat. Is this a shift for endangered species? – by Ainslie Cruickshank (The Narwhal – January 10, 2023)

January 11, 2023

The Narwhal

Southern mountain caribou in B.C. are increasingly rare. Rarer still is a mine project rejected under the province’s environmental assessment process. Yet, that’s just what happened to the Sukunka coal mine proposed by Swiss mining giant Glencore in the Peace River region of northeast B.C.

The mine — which would have operated over a lifespan of 20 years and generated 1.5 to 2.5 million tonnes of metallurgical coal each year from six open pits — was soundly rejected in December, primarily due to its impacts on the endangered Quintette caribou herd.