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Mining giant Rio Tinto hit by legal battle over sacred Apache site at Oak Flat in Arizona – by Francesca Washtell (Financial Mail/This Money – August 6, 2022)

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/

The serene Oak Flat upland lies in the heart of Arizona. With its beautiful peaks and forest, it is a beloved spot for campers, hikers and rock climbers. Above all, it is the centre of the San Carlos Apache tribe’s religion, a place of devotion where their gods dwell and they still perform traditional ceremonies.

But it is now at the centre of a dispute between the tribe and FTSE 100 giant Rio Tinto. It is also shaping up to be an acid test of the mining group’s claims that it is determined to respect sacred sites.

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Roof is about to cave in on the Canadian economy – by David Rosenberg (Financial Post – August 9, 2022)

https://financialpost.com/

Shaky housing market and high household debt point to a more pronounced recession than many are calling for

With the Bank of Canada’s aggressive rate-hiking cycle well underway despite a shaky residential real estate sector and high levels of household debt, it’s no secret that we believe the Canadian economy is headed for a more pronounced recession than many are calling for. But just how vulnerable is the overall economy to a collapse in the housing market?

Our analysis indicates that a reversion to the mean with respect to housing-related consumption expenditures and residential investment would lead to a 1.4 per cent drop in real gross domestic product (GDP), and keep in mind that this is a best-case scenario, since a pullback after years of excess typically leads to such measures going through the mean to the downside.

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Canadian financier Ned Goodman founded an array of Canadian money managers and mining companies – by Andrew Willis and Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – August 9, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Financier Ned Goodman, a major player on Bay Street who for five decades founded money management firms and backed successful mining companies, passed away on Sunday at age 85.

Mr. Goodman, a native of Montreal, provided the capital and leadership that transformed small resource projects into major companies such as Kinross Gold Corp. and IAMGOLD Corp.

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Climate extremists perpetuate eco-colonialism in the Guardian and Narwhal – by Melissa Mbarki and Chris Sankey (MacDonald Laurier Institute – July 26, 2022)

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RE: “How a conservative US network undermined Indigenous energy rights in Canada,” published in the Guardian and the Narwhal. July 18, 2022, by Geoff Dembicki.

To the Editors of the Guardian and the Narwhal:

On Indigenous rights, the Guardian and the Narwhal have sided with the racists, paternalists and colonialists who have decided that they, and they alone, know what is right for Indigenous peoples and have done so via an article filled with falsehood and innuendo designed to discredit our work.

Indigenous people have a long history of having their rights and liberties denied through colonialism and its legacies. Outsiders who asserted the “superiority” of their own culture sought to impose their world view on us.

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Biggest construction project in Sault’s history is now underway – by David Helwig (Northern Ontario Business – August 8, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Algoma Steel has already sunk $103 million into its $703-million electric-arc furnace facility. New buildings will start to rise either late next month or in October

Algoma Steel Inc. has already spent more than $100 million on a two-year, game-changing technology upgrade that local building officials say will be the most expensive construction job in Sault Ste. Marie’s history.

The massive project, expected to cost $703 million, will replace Algoma’s existing blast furnace and basic oxygen steelmaking processes with two new electric arc furnaces (EAFs), allowing 3.7 million tons in annual raw steel production with something like a 70 per cent reduction in annual carbon dioxide emissions.

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Uranium developer Denison says Phoenix feasibility field test is fully permitted – by Vladimir Basov (Kitco News – August 8, 2022)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Denison Mines (TSX: DML) announced today it has received a License to Possess, Use, Store and Transfer a Nuclear Substance from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission for the In-Situ Recovery Feasibility Field Test planned for the Phoenix uranium deposit at the company’s 95% owned Wheeler River project.

Denison Mines said that the receipt of this license, together with the previously announced approval from the Saskatchewan Minister of Environment, means that the Feasibility Field Test (FFT) is fully permitted to proceed as per the company’s plans.

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Billionaires are funding a massive treasure hunt in Greenland as ice vanishes – by René Marsh (CNN.com – August 8, 2022)

https://www.cnn.com/

Nuussuaq, Greenland (CNN)Some of the world’s richest men are funding a massive treasure hunt, complete with helicopters and transmitters, on the west coast of Greenland.

The climate crisis is melting Greenland down at an unprecedented rate, which — in a twist of irony — is creating an opportunity for investors and mining companies who are searching for a trove of critical minerals capable of powering the green energy transition.

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Lithium projects in Africa increasing, but Americas will still dominate – Fitch Solutions – by Tasneem Bulbulia (MiningWeekly.com – August 8, 2022)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Fitch Solutions Country Risk and Industry Research expects to see an increase in lithium development projects in Africa, particularly from Chinese firms, with investment buoyed by expectations for lithium to resist the downwards trend of most nonferrous metals in the second half of the year amid strong demand.

Fitch Solutions estimates that, currently, there are nine lithium mining projects in development in Africa – in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mali, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – which is still small relative to the number of projects being developed in the Americas, Australia and Europe.

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OPINION: Canada’s paternalistic mindset toward supporting Indigenous communities just doesn’t work – by Ken Coates (Globe and Mail – August 5, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ken Coates is a distinguished fellow and director of the Indigenous Affairs program at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, and a Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation at the University of Saskatchewan.

Despite a decade of dramatic increases in federal funding for Indigenous affairs, a damning report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer released in May revealed a gaping disconnect between the government’s aspirations and the amount of money spent on the one hand, and the actual consequences on the other.

Put bluntly, Canada is not getting what it is paying for – and what’s worse, the massive spending is not improving lives in Indigenous communities. The PBO’s report on Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) and Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) summarized the situation succinctly, in the passion-free language that defines Ottawa’s civil service:

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Carmakers face fierce battle for lithium until 2030, warns top producer – by Harry Dempsey (Financial Times – August 7, 2022)

https://www.ft.com/

US company Albemarle says market will remain tight for the next seven to eight years

Carmakers face a battle for the rest of the decade to secure the lithium needed to help power the electric vehicle revolution, as demand threatens to overwhelm supply, one of the biggest producers of the metal has warned.

Lithium’s use in electric car batteries has put the raw material at the heart of a global competition that has pitted the world’s largest carmakers against each other and drawn in governments as they all race to increase and safeguard supply.

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Canada Nickel begins federal permitting process for Crawford project – by Jackson Chen (Canadian Mining Journal – August 8, 2022)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Canada Nickel Company (TSXV: CNC; OTC: CNIKF) has commenced the federal impact assessment permitting process for its Crawford nickel project, following acceptance

Canada Nickel Company (TSXV: CNC; OTC: CNIKF) has commenced the federal impact assessment permitting process for its Crawford nickel project, following acceptance by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada of the company’s initial project description (IPD).

The agency has determined the IPD conforms to the regulations and it has been posted online for an official 180-day comment period.

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Science North selects a Thunder Bay waterfront site for regional expansion – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – August 5, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Former grain elevator site is the ‘preferred’ location for science attraction

A Thunder Bay waterfront location is the “preferred” spot for a permanent home for Science North’s expansion into northwestern Ontario. In a news release, the Sudbury-based science centre announced that the Pool 6 site in the city’s harbour will be the location to build its 34,000-square-foot attraction.

The property is the former site of the Pool 6 grain elevator, which was demolished and the land repurposed as part of the Marina Park redevelopment years ago. The site also hosts Great Lakes cruise ships.

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Nutrien makes Ken Seitz its third chief executive in less than three years – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – August 8, 2022)

https://financialpost.com/

Seitz takes the helm while Nutrien is benefiting from the tailwind of some of the most favourable market conditions in years

Nutrien Ltd. named Ken Seitz as its next chief executive — the third person to hold the position since April 2021. Seitz had been acting on an interim basis since January, when the Saskatoon, Sask.-based fertilizer giant abruptly announced the termination of its second chief executive in less than a year without providing any context for either exit.

Unlike his predecessors, Seitz takes the helm while Nutrien is benefiting from the tailwind of some of the most favourable market conditions in years, as potash and other fertilizer prices are highly elevated as a result of supply constraints primarily caused by the fallout from the conflict in Ukraine.

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The EV Race Is Turning a Gold Rush Haven Into a Battery Hub – by Harry Brumpton (Bloomberg News – August 8, 2022)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Gold has long dominated the Western Australian city of Kalgoorlie, born in a late 19th Century prospecting rush and home to one of the world’s largest open pit mines, nestled right next to residential streets. Blasts to dislodge precious-metal laced rock from the more than two-mile-long Super Pit still frequently rattle the main street.

As about 2,700 executives, investment bankers, and industry stalwarts gathered in the precious metals hub last week for Australia’s key annual mining forum it was clear where the industry’s focus lies. All attention is on the frantic hunt for battery metals to deliver the world’s shift to electric vehicles.

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Canadian mining star Ned Goodman passes – by Henry Lazenby (Northern Miner – August 8, 2022)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Canadian miners are mourning the passing of industry heavyweight Ned Goodman (1936-2022). Over more than 30 years, Goodman has made transformative and enduring contributions to Canada’s minerals industry and capital markets as a company-builder, merchant banker and investment advisor during a dynamic career spanning almost half a century.

Montreal-born Goodman applied his geological training and business acumen to help build several successful mining companies, perhaps most notably International Corona and Kinross Gold (TSX: K; NYSE: KGC). He also nurtured many other mineral-producing companies through astute and timely investments.

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