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MEDIA RELEASE: MATAWA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2022 – MATAWA CHIEFS COUNCIL SETTING A CLEAR PATH FORWARD ON ISSUES IMPACTING THEIR COMMUNITIES (August 2, 2022)

WEBEQUIE, ON: Following the dialogue and discussions of Chiefs and community delegations at the Matawa Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2022 held in Webequie First Nation last week—formal resolutions were adopted to: advance the process of developing a First Nations driven political process on mining in Ontario, reject NAN-COO-AFN processes moving forward without the consent of Indigenous rights holders and reject Métis assertions into the Matawa homelands and territories.

One of the most significant directions from the Matawa AGM is the rejection of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) proposed Treaty Relationship discussions with Canada, the Chiefs of Ontario (COO) and Assembly of First Nations (AFN) proposed First Nations Economic Growth and Prosperity Tables, and the Government of Canada’s (Natural Resources Canada) National Benefit-Sharing Framework process most recently underway.

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Pope says genocide took place at Canada’s residential schools – by Ka’nhehsí:io Deer (CBC News Indigenous – July 30, 2022)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/

Pontiff concludes ‘penitential pilgrimage’ of reconciliation between Catholic Church and Indigenous people

While the word genocide wasn’t heard in any of Pope Francis’s addresses during a week-long trip to Canada, on his flight back to Rome, he said everything he described about the residential school system and its forced assimilation of Indigenous children amounts to genocide.

“I didn’t use the word genocide because it didn’t come to mind but I described genocide,” Pope Francis told reporters on the papal flight from Iqaluit to Rome on Friday. Over the last week, the Pope visited Edmonton, Quebec City and Iqaluit on a “penitential pilgrimage” of healing, reconciliation and hope between the Catholic Church and Indigenous people.

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Giant sinkhole opens up near Lundin Mining copper mine in Chile – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – August 2, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A giant sinkhole has opened up near a Lundin Mining Corp.copper mine in Chile, forcing the Canadian company to suspend some development work at the site. Authorities are investigating the cause of the sinkhole that appeared on the weekend in the vicinity of Lundin’s underground Alcaparrosa mine in northern Chile.

Chile’s geology and mining regulator, Sernageomin, posted a picture of the 32-metre-wide and 64-metre-deep sinkhole on Twitter on Monday. Sernageomin is analyzing the technical nature of the formation and plans to issue recommendations in due course.

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The Illegal Airstrips Bringing Toxic Mining to Brazil’s Indigenous Land – by Manuela Andreoni, Blacki Migliozzi, Pablo Robles and Denise Lu (New York Times – August 2, 2022)

https://www.nytimes.com/

BOA VISTA, Brazil — From 2,500 feet in the air, the dirt airstrip is just a crack in a seemingly endless ocean of rainforest, surrounded by muddy mining pits that bleed toxic chemicals into a riverbed.

The airstrip is owned by the Brazilian government — the only way for health care officials to reach the Indigenous people in the nearby village. But illegal miners have seized it, using small planes to ferry equipment and fuel into areas where roads don’t exist. And when a plane the miners don’t recognize approaches, they spread fuel canisters along the airstrip to make landing impossible.

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Germany argues over nuclear shutdown amid gas supply worries – by Geir Moulson (Associated Press – August 1, 2022)

https://apnews.com/

BERLIN (AP) — Rising concern over the impact of a potential Russian gas cutoff is fueling the debate in Germany over whether the country should switch off its last three nuclear power plants as planned at the end of this year.

The door to some kind of extension appeared to open a crack after the Economy Ministry in mid-July announced a new “stress test” on the security of electricity supplies. It’s supposed to take into account a tougher scenario than a previous test, concluded in May, that found supplies were assured.

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Gold investors face bind over bars from tarnished Russia – by Peter Hobson (Reuters – August 1, 2022)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) – Some investors want Russian gold off their books but it’s not that easy to remove. A de facto ban on Russian bullion minted after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine — instigated by the London market in early March — does not apply to hundreds of tonnes of gold that has been sitting in commercial vaults since before the conflict started.

Fund managers looking to sell the metal to avoid the deepening reputational risk of holding assets linked to Russia in their portfolios could trigger a costly scramble to replace it with non-Russian gold, according to bankers and investors.

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Glencore Is Cashing In on Coal to Dodge Big Mining’s Slowdown – by Thomas Biesheuvel (Bloomberg News – August 2, 2022)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The world’s biggest miners have spent the past two weeks reporting lower profits, shrinking dividends and a worsening outlook as the year rolls on. Next up: Glencore Plc looks set to buck the trend.

While commodities like iron ore and copper have retreated as gloom settles over the global economy, Glencore is enjoying two key advantages over its mining rivals — a powerful trading business that thrives in volatile markets, and a suite of coal mines now churning out previously unimaginable earnings thanks to the global energy crunch.

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Timmins’ George Pirie takes the helm as mines minister – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 3, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Expediting mine development in critical minerals and the Ring of Fire on the new minister’s radar

“We can’t be green if we’re not mining.” Ontario’s new mines minister, George Pirie, mentioned that phrase a handful of times during an interview this week in commenting on the desire of governments in Canada and globally to rapidly transition into net-zero emission economies over the next decade.

With major multi-billion-dollar investments being made into electric vehicle battery component plants in Windsor and Kingston, Pirie said mining is crucial to supply these facilities with the necessary raw materials to build these clean technologies. “None of this is gonna happen unless we mine the battery minerals, if we’re going to be successful.”

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Gold to be the standout metal for the rest of 2022 – Bloomberg Intelligence – by Anna Golubova (Kitco News – July 28, 2022)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) Following another 75-basis-point hike from the Federal Reserve, gold looks to be the standout metal in the second half of the year, especially in light of lower industrial metals prices signaling deflationary forces coming back to the fore, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

Following the Fed’s July decision, gold jumped around $30, with August Comex gold futures last trading at $1,749.30, up 1.76% on the day. This comes after gold got stuck in consolidation mode following a sudden drop to the $1,700 an ounce level, which was led by a strong U.S. dollar.

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Evolution Mining seeing its turnaround efforts rewarded in Red Lake -by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 26, 2022)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Australian miner posts record quarter for gold production with new mine ready for September

Australia’s Evolution Mining said it’s seeing the results of its three-year turnaround plan to restore Red Lake as a premier gold mining region. Sydney-based Evolution posted its June quarterly results – for the period running May 1 to June 30 – showing gold production is up, grades are higher, and operating costs are coming down.

In a webcast last week, Executive Chair Jake Klein said they’re “making good progress” at Red Lake in achieving a more consistent performance out of the northwestern Ontario mine complex acquired in March 2020.

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New Lithium Mining Technology Could Give Argentina a Sustainable Gold Rush – by Ciara Nugent (Time Magazine – July 26, 2022)

https://time.com/

The Vasquez brothers aren’t used to visitors. Their farm lies in the Puna, a vast plateau region in the Andes Mountains, some 12,500 ft above sea level and a full day’s drive to the nearest city.

The terrain, in the Argentine province of Catamarca, is rough and largely empty; fluffy, big-eyed llamas wander a miles-wide plain between mountains. Only sparse shrubs pepper the ground, glowing yellow-green Technicolor under the close sun. But one day in 2016, a tall man in his 50s, speaking heavily Australian-accented Spanish, pulled up to the Vasquezes’ remote farmhouse.

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Our allies need more access to Canada’s natural resources – by Candace MacGibbon (Globe and Mail – July 25, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Candace MacGibbon is a Canadian mining executive.

Russia has weaponized the supply of natural gas. The state-owned energy company Gazprom has ratcheted down export quantities to Europe and said it can’t guarantee future supply, resulting in serious concerns about shortfalls for the approaching winter.

Last week, the European Commission joined the G7 in agreeing to ban imports of Russian gold. Is Canada ready should future sanctions ban critical minerals such as copper, nickel, lithium and uranium? Not yet.

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Big Oil set for record profit as world reels from high fuel cost – by Kevin Crowley, Laura Hurst and Francois de Beaupuy (Bloomberg News – July 26, 2022)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

Big Oil is poised for a record-breaking US$50 billion profit in the second quarter, but the industry’s stellar performance could contain the seeds of its own decline.

The soaring earnings are direct result of the high energy prices that have stoked inflation, piled pressure on consumers, raised the risk of recession and prompted calls for windfall taxes. Amid this political and economic turbulence, shareholders may have to temper their expectations for rising returns.

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Ford Counting On U.S.-Mined Lithium To Power Its EV Growth Plans – by David Blackmon (Forbes Magazine – July 25, 2022)

https://www.forbes.com/

Management at Ford Motor Company continues to move aggressively to advance the company’s goals of converting its fleet to electric vehicles in the years to come. The Detroit Free Press reported last week that the company plans to lay off 8,000 of its 31,000 salaried workers as part of a plan to implement $3 billion in budget cuts to try to make its’ struggling EV business unit more financially viable.

The company has announced plans to produce 600,000 EVs by late 2023 and as many as 2 million globally by 2025. But the Ford’s EV sales for the first half of 2022 totaled to just around 23,000 units. While that is a significant rise from the same period during 2021, it is a long way from achieving such aggressive goals.

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Mining community mourns the death of Sudbury’s Dick DeStefano – by Len Gillis (Sudbury.com – July 28, 2022)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Sudbury man remembered as a visionary who united the mining supply and technology sector of Northern Ontario and helped grow it into a growing global concern

A Sudbury man who was regarded as a driving force in the development and eventual global reach of Northern Ontario’s mining supply and services sector has died. Community leaders across the North were saddened this week to learn of the death of Dick Destefano. He was 85.

DeStefano was born in Sudbury on March 31, 1937. He attended St. Charles College in Sudbury and Scollard Hall in North Bay. He played quarterback in high school and modestly admitted to being “a reasonably competent hockey player.” He is survived by his wife, Maureen, and his two sons, Joel and Devin.

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