Republic of Mining

One-half of the critical minerals story – by Sander Grieve, Steven D. Bennett, Zirjan Derwa, and Martin Ignasiak (Canadian Mining Journal – January 9, 2023)

January 10, 2023

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

While it is not clear the world has changed, a recent frenzy of activity demonstrates the way Ottawa sees the world has vastly changed. Observers of Canada have borne witness for many years to many foreign and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) sizing up middle powers like Canada with increasing appetite.

The Government of Canada has come to the public revelation that critical minerals are, for lack of a better word, critical to economic growth, energy transition and transformation and the security of Canada and its allies.

Vale weighs offers for stake in base metals business – by Madeleine Bruder (World News Era – January 10, 2023)

January 10, 2023

https://worldnewsera.com/

Vale has received multiple bids for a stake in its base metals business after talks with parties from carmakers to sovereign wealth funds, its chief executive said, as he predicted the division could become “even bigger” than the Brazilian mining group itself.

Eduardo Bartolomeo said “non-binding offers” had been made for the slice of up to 10 per cent of the unit, which produces materials vital for the energy transition and is being carved out as a standalone entity separate from Vale’s main iron ore operations.

Investors look for green ways to cash in on battery metals boom – by Kenza Bryan and Harry Dempsey (Financial Post/Financial Times – January 9, 2023)

January 10, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Tainted by decades of environmental disasters, shattered communities and ravenous water consumption, mining companies — including those that dig up battery metals — are not traditional darlings of the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) crowd.

Veteran mining executive Sir Mick Davis — who led the resources company Xstrata PLC until its merger with Glencore PLC in 2013 — knows this all too well. Now running Vision Blue Resources Ltd., a fund focused on clean-energy-related mineral and metal companies, he’s looking to ride a new wave in the sector as it seeks to up its game on sustainability while meeting huge demand for battery metals.

Canadian Exploration Activity Surging – by Colin Sandell-Hay (The Assay – January 8, 2023)

January 10, 2023

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Canada has been a leading destination for minerals explorers for hundreds of years, dating back to the gold rushes of the mid to late 19th Century. The country remains one of the hottest places to hunt for minerals, ranging from gold to the critical minerals heavily in demand today.

The most recent Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies has Canada placed a close second in top exploration destinations in the world, with Saskatchewan second, Quebec sixth, and Yukon ninth as the amongst the top 10 most attractive mining regions across the globe.

Alaska’s EPA Recommends Further Protection For Bristol Bay From Pebble Mine – by Chris Cocoles (Alaska Sporting Journal – January 9, 2023)

January 10, 2023

Alaska Sporting Journal

Calling it the “the third step in (a) four-step Clean Water Act Section 404(c) review process,” the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 10 announced a recommendation to restrict mining use in Bristol Bay watersheds.

That Dec. 1 news was welcome relief in one of the world’s last great salmon spawning waters, where fishermen and locals are pushing to permanently protect the region’s pristine rivers from projects like the Pebble Mine.

First Quantum at loggerheads with Panama over tax regime for 2026 and beyond – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – January 10, 2023)

January 10, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and the government of Panama are at loggerheads over hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties the Canadian copper miner is expected to pay from 2026 onward, with the two sides unable to agree on the treatment of tax credits.

Panama and First Quantum have been in talks for more than a year, trying to hammer out a new pact on royalties on Cobre Panama, a giant copper mine 120 kilometres west of Panama City. Talks broke down last month with no agreement in place, and Panama’s President ordered Cobre Panama to shut down amid the spat.

A Canadian mining giant has long been fighting U.S. pollution rules. Now Montana is on its side – by Francesca Fionda (The Narwhal – January 9, 2023)

January 10, 2023

The Narwhal

The intricacies of how big corporations lobby government bodies can be hard to untangle. But at a recent environmental review board meeting in Montana, those efforts were in plain sight. For years, Canadian mining giant Teck Resources has been fighting against U.S. water standards, which target pollution flowing from its Elk Valley coal mines in southeast B.C. downstream to the Kootenai watershed in Montana and Idaho.

Those standards were approved by the Montana’s Board of Environmental Review in 2020. It was a process the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency commended “for collaborating with multiple stakeholders for over five years.” The state’s adopted standards were based on “sound science” specific to Lake Koocanusa, the Environmental Protection Agency wrote in its approval.

Peru’s mining south, rocked by violence, braces for ‘endless battle’ – by Marco Aquino (Reuters – January 10, 2023)

January 10, 2023

https://www.reuters.com/

LIMA, Jan 10 (Reuters) – In Peru’s south, a mining region that has been roiled by deadly protests over the ouster of former leftist President Pedro Castillo, protest leaders say they are ready for an “endless battle” against the government, threatening to destabilize the deeply divided Andean nation.

Seventeen protesters were killed on Monday in the southern province of Puno in the worst day of violence since Castillo’s Dec. 7 dramatic removal, which has seen a total of 39 people killed in protests and seven more in related accidents.

Nickel market faces new shock as ‘Big Shot’ boosts metal output – by Alfred Cang, Jack Farchy and Mark Burton (Bloomberg News – January 2023)

January 10, 2023

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

The billionaire at the center of last year’s nickel short squeeze is planning a major shift in his production mix, in a move that could reshape global supply dynamics and inject fresh volatility into the battered nickel market.

Xiang Guangda’s Tsingshan Holding Group Co. is seeking to profit from an unusually large premium in the price of refined nickel metal – the type that is deliverable on exchanges in London and Shanghai – over the intermediate forms that Tsingshan supplies for battery manufacturing, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mystery of why Roman buildings have survived so long has been unraveled, scientists say – by Katie Hunt (CNN.com – January 9, 2023)

January 9, 2023

https://www.cnn.com/

The majestic structures of ancient Rome have survived for millennia — a testament to the ingenuity of Roman engineers, who perfected the use of concrete. But how did their construction materials help keep colossal buildings like the Pantheon (which has the world’s largest unreinforced dome) and the Colosseum standing for more than 2,000 years?

Roman concrete, in many cases, has proven to be longer-lasting than its modern equivalent, which can deteriorate within decades. Now, scientists behind a new study say they have uncovered the mystery ingredient that allowed the Romans to make their construction material so durable and build elaborate structures in challenging places such as docks, sewers and earthquake zones.

The View from England: When copper production was dominated by the Welsh -by Chris Hinde (Northern Miner – January 5, 2023)

January 9, 2023

https://www.northernminer.com/

The U.K. no longer springs to mind as a mining giant, but we used to have a dominant role in the global industry. The extraction of non-ferrous metals on these islands, particularly copper and tin, dates back to before 2000 BC, and surface workings for coal and iron ore were widespread after the beginning of the Iron Age around 750 BC. This mineral wealth was one of the things that attracted the attention of Rome.

The nation’s mining history comes to mind with the recent news (courtesy of the ‘North Wales Live’ website) that after 37 years of clearance work, volunteers are nearing their goal of breaking through to an unexplored section of Llandudno’s Ty Gwyn copper mine.

COMMENTARY: Hope for the Iron Range economy, but we must put the past behind us – by Aaron Brown (Minnesota Reformer – January 9, 2023)

January 9, 2023

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At the hunting shack this year, my grandfather Ward Brown, Jr., told how a high school friend saved him from getting beat up by a Chisholm gang back around 1952. Not long after, this friend lay dead in the wreck of his restored ’32 Chevy on the road between Side Lake and Hibbing.

No “Leave It To Beaver” utopia here; the 1950s were wild on northern Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range, wild because it seemed like it was all coming to an end. This happened more than 70 years ago. But it’s not just grandpa’s friend who’s gone, it’s also the road where he died.

Nickel Smelter Industry Activity In South Sulawesi Generates Public Protests – OpEd – by Silvanah (Eurasia Review – January 9, 2023)

January 9, 2023

Home

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) noted that Indonesia has a nickel mine of 520,877.07 hectares (ha). The mines are spread across seven provinces, including Maluku, North Maluku, Papua, West Papua, South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi.

In 2020 the export value of Indonesia’s raw nickel ore is around $200 million. But in 2021 President Joko Widodo instituted a new ban on the export of raw ore in an effort to catalyze the domestic nickel processing industry.

This $136m lithium deal may be just the start of something big – by Peter Ker (Australian Financial Review – January 9, 2023)

January 9, 2023

https://www.afr.com/

They are the majority owners of Australia’s best lithium address, but now IGO Group and Chinese company Tianqi want to spend $136 million muscling into a second lithium province in Western Australia.

The companies, which have acted in partnership on lithium matters since late 2020, agreed to pay $136 million to acquire lithium explorer Essential Metals under a plan to get a foothold in the lithium production zone between Kalgoorlie and Norseman.

Top 50 mining companies in 2022: coal, lithium win big, China investors lose out – by Frik Els (Mining.com – January 9, 2023)

January 9, 2023

https://www.mining.com/

World’s top 50 mining companies end 2022 rock solid but Chinese stocks slide down the rankings despite surging coal and lithium prices, and Russian miners trading in Moscow finally succumb.

Commodity prices are always volatile, but in 2022 metal and mining markets reached new levels of turbulence, as the pandemic played out in China, inflation plagued the developed world and the Ukraine war upended global energy.