https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Russia killed off any doubt that it was using energy as a weapon by shutting down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, Gazprom’s main conduit for natural gas deliveries to Germany, on Wednesday.
While the shutdown, ostensibly for “maintenance,” is scheduled to last only three days – we will see about that – it comes after the Kremlin-controlled gas exporter reduced Nord Stream’s flows by 80 per cent.
https://www.thesudburystar.com/
Among other steps, LU should focus on being ‘Canada’s mining university’
As we get closer to the vote on Sept. 14 that will ultimately decide the fate of Laurentian University following a grueling, agonizing and, at times, nasty CCAA process, I find myself torn between our collective struggle to find closure, the empathy I feel for those whose lives were turned upside down, and mourning what we have lost in our Laurentian and Sudbury community.
As one of the terminated faculty, I have lived the pain of losing my job, my hard-earned academic career, and tenure. Even more difficult has been seeing many of my colleagues and their families leave our wonderful community.
https://www.northernminer.com/
The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame held its 34th annual induction ceremony on Aug. 18 at the Palais Royale in Toronto, welcoming five new honourees. This year’s event was historic.
Not only did the CMHF induct its 200th member, but the slate of inductees was the most diverse in the history of the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame dating back to its origins in 1989. Three of the five that would be considered diverse include the first Black man to be inducted, the first openly gay person, and the sixth woman.
https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/
Rock Tech Lithium will ship northwestern Ontario lithium concentrate overseas to German refinery
Mercedes-Benz is signing a supply deal with a Nipigon-area mine builder to provide lithium needed to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles.
Vancouver-based Rock Tech Lithium announced it intends to enter into agreement with the German luxury car maker to provide up to 10,000 tonnes of processed lithium hydroxide annually over a five-year period, starting in 2026. The Canadian-German mining company delivered the news on Aug. 23 amid much fanfare of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to Canada.
(Kitco News) – Gold prices have fallen to session lows as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell strikes an expected hawkish tone in his much-anticipated speech at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In his speech, Powell reiterated that inflation remains the biggest threat to the economy and the central bank is committed to bringing consumer prices back down to its target of 2%.
“Restoring price stability will likely require maintaining a restrictive policy stance for some time. The historical record cautions strongly against prematurely loosening policy,” he said in his remarks during the central bank symposium.
(Bloomberg) — Rio Tinto Group increased its offer to buy out Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. to $3.1 billion as it moves to gain more control of a giant copper mine in Mongolia.
The world’s biggest mining companies are getting increasingly aggressive in their pursuit of so-called future facing commodities, the natural resources such as copper and nickel that are key for the green energy transition. Yet despite the strong demand outlook, long-term supply may remain constrained by the lack of new mines.
The world is preparing for a lithium boom, mainly due to the anticipated increase in EV production and uptake over the coming decades. Several celebrities and tech billionaires are backing lithium mining in a bid to support a green transition.
In addition, many countries are rapidly developing their mining capabilities to establish their place in the global minerals and metals market, which is expected to expand significantly over the next decade.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s trip to Canada was supposed to be about LNG, not hydrogen
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was in Canada this week and you’d be forgiven for thinking, based on the agenda for his visit, that Germany has an urgent hydrogen shortage it needs to solve.
Scholz and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau journeyed to the western Newfoundland town of Stephenville on Tuesday to sign a deal for the export of “green” hydrogen to Germany in the coming years. But Scholz’s trip to Canada was never supposed to be about hydrogen. It was meant to address liquified natural gas exports, as Germany and the rest of Europe struggle to replace Russian natural gas in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
Danny Metatawabin is calling on the chiefs of Treaty 9 territory to consult with their people before agreeing to any further resource development projects. He did not name any chiefs, but Postmedia has reported Chief Bruce Achneepineskum, of Marten Falls First Nation, is working with the province to build all-season roads to possible mining sites.
“I find that the people are being left out of the picture,” said the Omushkegowuk (Mushkegowuk) activist from Fort Albany, who arrived in Timmins on Tuesday. He has been walking 35 kilometres a day from Ottawa since Aug. 3.
Ontario’s plan to replace electricity generation when an aging nuclear plant closes in 2025 has critics saying the province didn’t get the memo on the growing dangers of climate change. Of six new contracts announced by the province’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) on Tuesday, four are for power to be generated by burning natural gas, while the other two — for wind and energy storage — account for less than 10 per cent of the 764 megawatts under contract.
Energy Minister Todd Smith defended the procurement, made in the wake of last year’s IESO warning that phasing out gas-fired power plants before 2030 would result in rotating blackouts and higher electricity bills because alternate supply and transmission lines could not be built in time.
Shares of Australian coal producer Whitehaven has risen 200% this year. The share price of the Australian-listed miner has risen about 150% since the Russia-Ukraine crisis started in late February, and hit a record high of 7.90 Australian dollars ($5.47) on Wednesday.
In other words, an investor who purchased Whitehaven shares late last year would have seen his or her investment increase more than three times. Chatter among stockwatchers on the popular online Australian stock market forum HotCopper has also increased.
https://www.thesudburystar.com/
Representatives across Northern Ontario’s federal ridings intend to fight a proposed redistribution of federal electoral districts that would result in the region losing a seat. The proposal, released last week by the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for Ontario, would bring drastic changes to Northern Ontario.
Based on the proposal, the region would lose one seat and ridings in the northeast — including Sudbury and Nickel Belt — would be dramatically overhauled. Nickel Belt would disappear and be replaced by the riding of Nickel Belt-Manitoulin. The newly constituted riding would take in part of Greater Sudbury, Elliot Lake, and Manitoulin Island.
Many junior companies remain stuck in the doldrums during one of the best nickel markets in years
On Tuesday, Volkswagen AG chief executive Herbert Diess travelled to Toronto to meet with Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne. After months of emails, texts and meetings in Germany, Deiss rewarded Champagne’s persistence by crossing the Atlantic Ocean to sign agreement that signalled VW’s interest in investing in Canadian mining and exploration companies — a sign that plans to turn Canada into a major player in the electric vehicle industry may amount to more than hype.
While Deiss made no firm commitments to invest in Canada, the agreement marked the latest effort by a Western government to forge closer collaboration between automakers and mining companies, amid growing concerns about dependence on China for much of what’s needed to make batteries.
By the end of 2021, Canadian stocks made up less than 4% of the assets held by the country’s defined benefit plans.
Canadian pension plans control trillions of dollars in contributions from workers, retirees and employers across the country, but in recent years, far less of that money has gone to investments in homegrown companies than in the past.
Peter Letko and Daniel Brosseau, co-founders of the Montreal-based independent investment firm Letko Brosseau, which managed about $27 billion in assets as of 2019, argue elected officials and policymakers should be paying attention to this trend, one they say has been caused by “benign neglect.”
https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/
It’s quiet in Coleman, Alta., a historic coal town located within the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass, a cluster of five communities along Highway 3 in southwestern Alberta. The downtown brims with symbols of this town’s past. Many historic buildings are boarded up, their futures plainly uncertain. The ruins of the town’s coal plant and coke ovens are still visible a short walk away.
The residents here are used to seeing reporters, given how much coal has been in the news over the past two years, but many are done talking about it. Business owners hesitate to take a public side lest they alienate potential customers.
