Twitter

With key permits in hand, Gen Mining ‘closer than ever’ to Marathon construction decision -by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – March 13, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

One provincial permit to go before north shore copper-palladium mine developer can move on $1-billion pit project

Generation Mining is itching closer toward making a final construction decision on its Marathon copper-palladium mine project near the north shore of Lake Superior.

The Toronto mine developer said March 11 it’s finally pocketed three important provincial permits from the natural resources ministry that are key to moving ahead with its proposed open-pit mine, valued at $1.16 billion.

Read more

‘It’s just been chaos’: Steelmakers in Hamilton begin to feel the pain of Trump’s tariffs – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – March 13, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Well before U.S. President Donald Trump followed through on his threat to levy steep tariffs on imports of Canadian steel, Ontario’s National Steel Car was already feeling some pain.

Starting in mid-November, with the newly elected Mr. Trump at that point only threatening to impose tariffs on Canada, a major customer for a rail car put its order on hold, said Frank Crowder, president of USW Local 7135, the union that represents the workers at the company.

Read more

US considers emergency powers to restart closed coal plants – by Ari Natter (Bloomberg News – March 10, 2025)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The US is eyeing emergency authority to bring back coal-fired plants that have closed and stop others from shutting, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Monday.

“Under the national energy emergency, which President Trump has declared, we’ve got to keep every coal plant open,” Burgum told Bloomberg Television in an interview on the sidelines of the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston. “And if there had been units at a coal plant that have been shut down, we need to bring those back.”

Read more

Dig, baby, dig: the global resources groups betting on a Trump mining revival – by Leslie Hook (Financial Times – March 12, 2025)

https://www.ft.com/

It takes 29 years to get approval for a new mine in the US but the industry is hoping that will change

Deep below the rolling hills near Superior in Arizona, a giant copper deposit lies more than a mile underground. It could be one of the first major mining projects to get the go-ahead as the Trump administration seeks to boost US domestic mineral output.

Since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has focused on securing access to critical minerals around the world — from Greenland to Ukraine to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Read more

A $250M investment will help this lithium mine get up and running. That’s bad news for these tribes. – by Anita Hofschneider (Grist.org – March 13, 2025)

https://grist.org/

Tribes have tried and failed to stop the project in court. A new report says it violates Indigenous rights.

A Canadian mining company behind a massive new lithium mine in northern Nevada has received a $250 million investment to complete construction of the new mine — a project that aims to accelerate America’s shift from fossil fuel-powered cars but that has come under fierce criticism from neighboring tribal nations and watchdog groups for its proximity to a burial site.

Lithium Americas is developing the mine in an area known as Thacker Pass where it plans to unearth lithium carbonate that can be used to make batteries for electric vehicles. The area, known as Peehee Mu’huh in the Numu language of the Northern Paiute, is home to what could be the largest supply of lithium in the United States and is also a site that tribal citizens visit every year to honor dozens of Native men, women, and children who fled American soldiers in an 1865 unprovoked attack at dawn.

Read more

U.S. states rely on B.C. to export thermal coal. Should the shipments be taxed? – by Yasmine Ghania (CBC News British Columbia – March 12, 2025)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/

Proposal also brings fear of retaliation after U.S. president lashed out at Ontario

As President Donald Trump’s tariff threats continue to hang over Canada, B.C. Premier David Eby wants the federal government to impose a tax on U.S. thermal coal shipped out of the province as a way to pressure the White House.

But after the president lashed out at Canada for Ontario’s levies, there are also fears that any more retaliation from provinces could backfire.

Read more

Sudbury’s mining companies have to plan carefully: Mark Cutifani – by Hugh Kruzel (Sudbury Star – March 11, 2025)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Vale Base Metals chairman speaks to the Goodman School of Mining about sustainability and caring during difficult times for nickel miners

Lower nickel prices and ore that is harder to get at mean mine companies operating in Sudbury will have to be smarter and more innovative as they plan for the future, the chairman of Vale Base Metals says.

Mark Cutifani made the observations during a talk last week at the Goodman School of Mines Lecture in the Cliff Fielding Innovation Space in Sudbury. “It is a tough time for nickel,” Cutifani told the audience. Because of Indonesian nickel, he said the industry will not see a significant increase in nickel prices before 2030.

Read more

Vale Base Metals chair hopes ‘cool heads will prevail’ in U.S.-Canada trade dispute – – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – March 10, 2025)

https://www.sudbury.com/

International nickel miner has contingency plans in place should U.S. nickel exports be halted.

It’s still too early in the U.S.-Canada trade dispute to determine what impact tariffs will have on Vale Base Metals’ U.S.-bound nickel shipments, given the rapidly changing situation, according to company chair Mark Cutifani. Cutifani’s hope is that federal and provincial parties can return to discussions to agree on a long-term solution.

“We hope that, from a political point of view, the U.S., Canada, Ontario can all come together and sort out what should occur and, at least once the rhetoric sort of settles down a little bit, we hope that cool heads will prevail and we’ll find solutions that work,” Cutifani told Northern Ontario Business in an interview.

Read more

Ontario’s mining sector caught up in tariff uncertainty – by Jonathan Migneault (CBC News Sudbury – March 10, 2025)

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

The Ontario Mining Association says it’s not clear if minerals get a reprieve from U.S. tariffs

Ontario’s mining industry association says it’s unclear whether the latest 30-day reprieve on U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods will apply to the province’s minerals.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Canadian and Mexican goods that are “compliant” with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) would not face 25 per cent tariffs in his country until April 2. Priya Tandon, the president of the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), said the province’s mineral trade with the U.S. falls under a different agreement, which makes the situation more uncertain.

Read more

Trump threatens to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum after Ontario electricity surcharge – by Antoine Trépanier and Stephanie Taylor (National Post – March 11, 2025)

https://nationalpost.com/

The latest outburst from the American president appears to have been triggered by tariffs imposed by Ontario Premier Doug Ford

OTTAWA — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he will impose a 50 per cent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum, up from his previous 25 per cent threat, starting on Wednesday. If Canada does not reverse its retaliation and “immediately” remove its dairy tariffs, he said he will “significantly” increase tariffs on cars coming from Canada to the United States on April 2.

“(That would) permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Read more

Update on top critical mining projects in Ontario – by Diane L.M. Cook (Canadian Mining Journal – March 5, 2025)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

The surging demand for electric vehicles (EVs) is breathing new life into Ontario’s mining industry. Several critical strategic mineral mines will produce the minerals required to manufacture EV batteries and renewable energy storage for the North American market. The following are the top critical strategic minerals’ (CSM) mining projects in the development phase:

Canada Nickel: Crawford nickel sulphide project

Canada Nickel is a Toronto-based company that is advancing the next generation of net-zero carbon nickel-cobalt projects with plans to supply the critical mineral to Canada’s EV battery industry. The company’s Crawford nickel sulphide project is the second largest nickel resource and reserve globally, with 3.8 million tonnes of proven and probable nickel contained.

Read more

What’s so special about Ukraine’s minerals? A geologist explains – by Munira Raji (The Conversation – March 10, 2025)

https://theconversation.com/

Ukraine’s minerals have become central to global geopolitics, with the US president, Donald Trump, seeking a deal with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky to access them. But what are these minerals exactly and why are they so sought after? Ukraine is often recognised for its vast agricultural lands and industrial heritage, but beneath its surface lies one of the world’s most remarkable geological formations, the “Ukrainian Shield”.

This massive, exposed crystalline rock formed over 2.5 billion years ago, stretches across much of Ukraine. It represents one of Earth’s oldest and most stable continental blocks. The formation has undergone multiple episodes of mountain building, the formation and movement of magma and other change throughout time.

Read more

Canadian miners flocking to the ASX – by Kristie Batten (Mining.com – March 6, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

The Australian Securities Exchange is experiencing an influx of Canadian producers seeking dual listings. There has been a trickle of dual listings on the ASX since 2018,, but the trend has significantly accelerated following Canadian uranium developer NexGen Energy (TSX: NXE), adding an Australian listing in 2021.

Capstone Copper’s (TSX: CS) ASX listing in February 2024, however, seemed to have open the floodgates, with a further four Canadian mining companies initiating the listing process since.

Read more

Mining the Northwest: Governments’ moves to fast-track critical minerals projects please lithium company – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 7, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Ottawa, Queen’s Park prepared to throw their support behind Frontier Lithium’s refinery plans for Thunder Bay

The federal and provincial governments are prepared to financially backstop Frontier Lithium’s proposed refinery in Thunder Bay. The Sudbury company said March 4 that it’s pocketed letters of intent (LOI) from the two orders of government to help fund construction at the former site of the Thunder Bay generating station.

The refinery is part of Frontier’s integrated plan to mine and ship lithium from its PAK Project, located in a remote area north of Red Lake, to Thunder Bay for processing. Frontier stresses these LOIs are non-binding and represent only an “initial step in ongoing discussions with the respective government agencies.” The parties are working toward completing a final term sheet.

Read more

What is potash and why is the U.S. dependent on Canada for it? – by Kenn Oliver (National Post – March 9, 2025)

https://nationalpost.com/

Rare mineral found primarily in Saskatchewan, home to the world’s largest mines and deposits

Anyone following the on-again, off-again trade war between Canada and the U.S. will have seen potash mentioned among major Canadian exports to the U.S. subject to President Donald Trump’s new tariffs. But what is potash and why is it integral to the neighbouring nations’ trade relationship? Here’s a guide to understanding the rare earth mineral and its part in the dispute.

What is potash and what is it used for?

Potash is a group of minerals and chemicals that contain potassium – K on the periodic table. Its main form, after deep-earth mining and milling, is as potassium chloride (KCl), almost all of which is used as a fertilizer to improve crop root strength, disease resistance, water retention and yield by protecting and restoring soil fertility, making it essential to global food security.

Read more