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Demand for energy to soar 44 per cent from now to 2050, OPEC head says – by Emma Graney (Globe and Mail – June 11, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

There is no oil demand peak on the horizon, the head of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries says, taking aim at a “flip-flop” in policy from the International Energy Agency, which he says has undercut crucial investments in the oil and gas sector.

Haitham al-Ghais, the secretary-general of OPEC, said Tuesday at the Global Energy Show in Calgary that the group projects global oil demand will surpass 120 million barrels a day by 2050. “In our long-term projections, we see the forecast that global primary energy demand is going to increase by a staggering 44 per cent from now to 2050,” he said.

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China arms itself for more export control battles – by Edward White and Joe Leahy (Financial Times – June 8, 2025)

https://www.ft.com/

Beijing’s success in snarling supply chains with rare earths has shifted the balance of power in trade talks

China’s success in snarling global supply chains by stemming the flow of rare earths has piled pressure on Washington and made clear Beijing’s power to weaponise export controls on a wider range of critical goods, analysts and businesspeople say.

China dominates the supply chain for key minerals and its commerce ministry started requiring licences for exports of rare earths and related magnets in early April. The slow approval process has rocked global supply chains and given Beijing leverage over the US after Donald Trump’s sweeping “liberation day” tariffs.

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‘I want to go home’: Raging wildfires threaten their Northern Ontario community. Now they’re grappling with life in Toronto hotels – by Marco Chown Oved (Toronto Star – June 11, 2025)

https://www.thestar.com/

How do you uproot an entire community and ensure it doesn’t fall apart? How do you help neighbours when they’re stressed and living in cramped confines far from home? How do you give structure to the kids? How do you keep hopes high?

These are not the kinds of questions Chief Leonard Mamakeesic thought he’d be grappling with 10 days ago, when his fly-in community of Deer Lake First Nation was surrounded by wildfire and their only means of escape — the airport — was unable to operate due to the thick smoke.

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Endeavour Mining in ‘unique position’ to deliver both high yields and growth: CEO – by Jordan Fleguel (BNN Bloomberg – June 11, 2025)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

The head of Endeavour Mining says the gold producer, which operates mainly in West Africa, will continue to return significant capital to its shareholders while growing its portfolio of low-cost, high-yield mining assets in the region.

“We’re a big player in the world’s largest producer of gold,” Ian Cockerill, the U.K.-based company’s CEO, told BNN Bloomberg in a Wednesday interview. “In the last eight years, we’ve delivered five projects on time and on budget, much quicker than anywhere else, so in terms of a place to work and operate, it’s great.

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US Interior publicly backs rare earth mine next to Mountain Pass – by (Mining.com – June 10, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

Dateline Resources has gained further political support in its bid to develop what could be America’s second rare earth mine following the public backing of US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, Burgum called the revival of the Colosseum mine project in California a “pivotal step” towards bolstering America’s supply of critical minerals.

This endorsement, says project owner Dateline, “underscores the strategic importance of Colosseum in reducing US reliance on overseas sources for rare earth elements.” It follows an earlier approval by the Interior Department of the company’s existing mining plan.

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Gold poised for new highs by year-end as economic uncertainty supports bullish outlook – Capitalight’s Schieven – by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – June 10, 2025)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – The gold market may be caught in a holding pattern through the summer, but its ability to maintain critical support at elevated levels suggests that it’s only a matter of time before it retests April’s all-time highs, according to one market strategist.

In a recent interview with Kitco News, Chantelle Schieven, Managing Director at Capitalight Research, said it could be difficult for gold to reach new highs as the U.S. economy and labor market remain fairly resilient. She also noted that inflation pressures, while elevated, remain relatively contained—for now.

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Province’s key Ring of Fire road ally not sold on mining in the Far North – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – June 9, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Aroland Chief Sonny Gagnon pushes back on Ford, sides with Ontario First Nations against Bill 5

A key Indigenous ally in the Ford government’s push to build a permanent road to the Ring of Fire is calling out the premier for making misleading statements to the media.

Aroland First Nation issued a June 9 news release that the Premier Doug Ford is putting out “misleading and incorrect statements” to a Toronto media outlet that it’s consenting to mining activity in Ontario’s Far North now that the controversial, pro-mining Bill 5 is now law.

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Industry Minister Joly signals action on steel dumping into Canada coming – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – June 7, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says a crackdown on the dumping of cheap foreign steel into Canada is coming – a move that will help cushion the blow for the country’s big three steel producers that have been hit with U.S. President Donald Trump’s 50-per-cent tariffs.

Algoma Steel Group Inc. chief executive Michael Garcia has argued on multiple occasions that mills from China, South Korea, Malaysia, India, Vietnam, the Middle East and Turkey regularly dump steel into Canada and make it nearly impossible for the company to compete in its home market.

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BC mining must deliver on its potential: PwC – by Colin McClelland (Northern Miner – June 10, 2025)

https://www.northernminer.com/

British Columbia’s mining industry is entering a crucial stage rich in opportunity for critical minerals and gold, but it’s still dogged by slow permitting and widespread uncertainty, according to global accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Revenue from B.C. mining operations fell to $13.9 billion in 2024 from $15.8 billion in 2023, largely due to a drop in metallurgical coal prices, PwC says in its 57th annual BC Mine report, released this month. Coal remains the province’s largest mining revenue contributor at 52% – with 95% of that coal for steelmaking – but volatility continues to challenge the mining sector.

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Freeport CEO says tariffs threaten to hinder US copper mining – by Jacob Lorinc (Financial Post/Bloomberg – June 10, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

The threat of US levies on copper imports has been a boon for Freeport-McMoRan Inc., with North America’s top producer cashing in on selling the metal at a premium. Still, the firm’s top boss warns that broader tariffs could hurt an industry President Donald Trump is trying to help.

“If global growth is disrupted, that could lead to an impact on copper prices,” chief executive officer Kathleen Quirk said in an interview at Freeport’s Phoenix headquarters. “Ironically, if we’re trying to build up the US copper industry, slowing GDP growth, and inflation, could put a lot of pressure on mines here.”

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Auto companies ‘in full panic’ over rare-earths bottleneck – by Kalea Hall (CBC News Windsor – June 09, 2025)

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

Industry’s efforts to find alternative magnet supplies have floundered

Frank Eckard, CEO of a German magnet maker, has been fielding a flood of calls in recent weeks. Exasperated automakers and parts suppliers have been desperate to find alternative sources of magnets, which are in short supply due to Chinese export curbs.

Some told Eckard their factories could be idled by mid-July without backup magnet supplies. “The whole car industry is in full panic,” said Eckard, CEO of Magnosphere, based in Troisdorf, Germany. “They are willing to pay any price.”

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Breaking down what’s in Ontario’s Bill 5, and why it’s controversial – by Marc Benoit (Cornwall Standard Freeholder – June 10, 2025)

https://www.standard-freeholder.com/

Ontario’s Bill 5 has been drawing a lot of attention and making headlines this spring. What’s in the bill that’s so concerning?

A new provincial law aimed at “unleashing” Ontario’s economy will also directly impact local governance, labour laws and environmental protections, which some say will open a “Pandora’s box of bad consequences.”

The bill, was granted royal assent on June 5 and is officially titled the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025. Bill 5 presents a comprehensive set of changes to various aspects of Ontario law, with major implications for the province. The new law amends several key pieces of legislation with the goal of fast-tracking economic development, specifically mining in key regions of the province, like the Ring of Fire located roughly 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.

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Memory Lane: When the 1961 union raid nearly tore Sudbury in half – by Jason Marcon (Sudbury.com – May 28, 2025)

https://www.sudbury.com/

In 1961, Mine Mill Local 598 found itself the target of a raid by the United Steelworkers Union. Perhaps the most powerful union in Canada at the time, Mine Mill found itself fighting for its life and refusing to go down without a fight

There will probably never again be a labour struggle quite like the union war that was fought in Sudbury in 1961. It began as a division among the 17,000 members of the largest union local in Canada and ended by frightening and dividing an entire city. It was a conflict of ideals and loyalties: coworkers, friends, and even families were divided, fighting amongst each other. It was a war of particular passion and bitterness.

On Aug. 26, 1961, the national office of the International Union of Mine Mill and Smelter Workers seized Local 598’s hall after executive member Tom Taylor publicly charged that meetings held by local President Donald Gillis during the summer of 1961 with the Canadian Labour Congress were actually a plot to secede from Mine Mill and deliver the local over to the United Steelworkers of America.

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Clock Ticks as U.S. and China Try to Undo Devastating Trade Curbs – by Ana Swanson (New York Times – June 10, 2025)

https://www.nytimes.com/

Officials from the world’s largest economies will try to strike a deal Tuesday to relax painful export restrictions that they have imposed on each other.

If the United States and China have succeeded at one thing this year, it is finding each other’s pain points. An initial clash over tariffs has grown in recent months into a competition over which country can weaponize its control over the other’s supply chains.

China has clamped down on global shipments of rare minerals that are essential to building cars, missiles and a host of electronic products. The United States has in turn paused shipments to China of chemicals, machinery and technology including software and components to produce nuclear power, airplanes and semiconductors. As the conflict has escalated in recent weeks, it has caused Ford Motor and other companies to suspend some of their operations.

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Carney lays out defence boost, says era of U.S. dominance over – by Steven Chase and Jeff Gray (Globe and Mail – June 10, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada is too reliant on the United States for security as he announced a significant boost in military spending to meet NATO’s 2-per-cent military expenditure target this fiscal year, five years ahead of schedule.

Declaring that the U.S.’s predominant role on the world stage “is a thing of the past,” Mr. Carney said Canada must take matters into its own hands and work more closely with European allies. He said his government will increase the 2025-26 allocation for the Department of National Defence by $9.3-billion, on top of its existing budget of just under $40-billion.

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