Twitter

Power shortage poses problem for the mining sector says lobby group – by Clint Fleury (TBnews Watch – February 8, 2025)

https://www.tbnewswatch.com/

The Northwest Energy Task Force says the Ontario government needs to start planning for additional power generation to meet the mining boom in the Northwest.

THUNDER BAY — Northwestern Ontario would need 250 megawatts of additional energy to meet the demand for the 41 potential mines that are expected to start by 2033, according to the Northwest Energy Task Force. Iain Angus, co-chair of the lobby group, said Northwestern Ontario could risk losing investments from some of those mining companies if we are “not prepared to provide the power.”

Ontario needs to start building additional transmission lines now, said Angus. The Northwest Energy Task Force is calling on all provincial candidates in the northwest to seriously consider adding the region’s energy needs to their platforms.

Read more

‘Unclear’ US Diamond Rules Signal Move to Traceability – by Joshua Freedman (Rapaport Magazine – February 4, 2025)

New Home

New requirements to state “country of mining” leave a lot of unanswered questions.

The diamond industry was in mild shock when news came through of the latest US import requirements. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it would be obliging companies to state the “country of mining” when importing diamonds from April 2025. This puts a burden on the trade to step up its traceability efforts.

The new rules emerged quietly in stages. On October 22, 2024, CBP gave 60 days’ notice about the plan and requested comments by December 23. Few in the industry even saw this. Then the federal agency published a Trade User Information Notice, labeled “Last updated: January 14, 2025.” It distributed this in a bulletin on January 23. Shipping company Malca-Amit sent a letter to customers about the update around a week ago. It seems that it was this letter that got the trade’s attention.

Read more

Nickel Industries CEO Justin Werner warns of ‘challenging’ future for Australian mining – by Duncan Evans (News.com.au – February 9, 2025)

https://www.news.com.au/

The man behind a booming mining company in Indonesia has issued a stark warning about 10,000 Aussie jobs.

The shock collapse of Australia’s nickel mining sector has threatened 10,000 high-paying jobs as a leading ASX-listed nickel miner warns bluntly those jobs are probably never coming back. That’s the view of Nickel Industries managing director Justin Werner, who leads the rising $3.3bn company with vast mining and refining operations in Indonesia.

“It is certainly challenging (for Australia) in the foreseeable future,” he told NewsWire from his home in Bali in a wide-ranging interview this week. “Even if the nickel price goes up, it’s about having a sustained nickel price above $20,000 (per tonne).

Read more

Ukraine reels in Trump with mineral riches – by Zoya Sheftalovich, Veronika Melkozerova and Jamie Dettmer (Politico Europe – February 4, 2025)

https://www.politico.eu/

The U.S. president’s relentless pursuit of raw materials is storing up trouble for Greenland, but could well be good news for Ukraine.

After years of arguing its democracy is worth fighting for, Ukraine quickly calculated Donald Trump was likelier to think the country is worth saving because of its abundant mineral wealth.

To win over a United States president who wants to claim Greenland for its vast reserves of raw materials and strategic position in the Arctic, Kyiv has for months been stressing that its rich deposits of everything from titanium to graphite could help Trump beat China in the global race for resources.

Read more

Australia close to breaking China’s critical mineral stranglehold – by Simon Johanson (Sydney Morning Post – February 9, 2025)

https://www.smh.com.au/

Australian firms are edging closer to breaking China’s production stranglehold on the rare minerals used in the world’s critical defence systems, electric vehicles and clean energy transition.

Companies like Iluka Resources, Lynas Rare Earths, and several lithium miners are already refining, or close to producing, the minerals needed for the batteries, electric circuitry and high-strength magnets that underpin the globe’s green energy transition.

Read more

Quebec junior miners pocket more than $43 million in federal critical minerals funding – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – February 7, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

James Bay explorers cash in to carry out studies on road, power and innovation projects

Ottawa wants Canada to be the lead dog when it comes to developing and expanding its critical minerals value chain. That’s why the federal government is ponying up $43.5 million to advance road, power and research projects in Quebec.

Mining proponents on the eastern side of the James Bay region and northern Quebec were the recipients this week of a stream of program funding through the federal government’s critical minerals strategy. Federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson delivered the news on Feb.6.

Read more

As Trump eyes Canada’s resources, Ottawa scrambles to form critical mineral plan B – by John Woodside and Darius Snieckus (National Observer – February 10, 2025)

https://www.nationalobserver.com/

When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to turn Canada into the 51st state was real, fresh annexation concerns were sparked. However, not everyone is in a total panic.

“Trudeau is not a fool. He’s been at this for a long time, and he’s not going to make a statement even in this context that he doesn’t think is going to get out to the media and public,” said Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood, senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. “This was not an ‘Oops I got caught moment,’ this was a statement he was prepared to make.”

Read more

Shhh… I Sort of Regret Not Buying a Lab-Grown Engagement Ring – by Lilah Ramzi (Vogue Magazine – February 7, 2025)

https://www.vogue.com/

Like a thunderclap followed by a jag of lightning—that’s how suddenly the desire to be engaged, and to receive the requisite sparkling diamond, struck me. From that moment, my husband and I became jewelry-obsessed. While he plunged headfirst into the labyrinth of 4Cs and the Diamond District, I agonized over every design detail—right down to the precise curvature of the prongs that would cradle my diamond.

Yet, for all our meticulous deliberations, one possibility never crossed our minds: a lab-grown diamond. We were traditionalists, and tradition dictated a mined stone. (Plus, if I’m really being honest, we were a little snooty about it.)

Read more

Trudeau’s comments that Trump wants critical minerals highlights U.S. reliance on Canadian resources – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – February 8, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s assertion that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to take over Canada to gain access to its critical-minerals riches underlines how much the U.S. depends on this country for its immense resource needs.

Mr. Trudeau made the comments about Mr. Trump’s motivations for annexing Canada on Friday to hundreds of business executives, trade experts and union representatives who gathered in Toronto to try to figure out how to boost growth and attract new investment in the face of continuing tariff threats on Canadian imports.

Read more

Trudeau suggests Trump’s serious about making Canada ’51st state’ to secure minerals – by Tom Blackwell (National Post – February 8, 2025)

https://nationalpost.com/

‘Canada is sovereign, Canada will choose its own destiny, thank you very much,’ one minister said

TORONTO — Federal cabinet members stressed Friday there will be “no messing” with the Canada-U.S. border, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested that President Donald Trump is serious about making this country the 51st state to secure Canada’s critical mineral reserves.

Transport Minister Anita Anand and Employment Steve MacKinnon said the overwhelming mood in the country is to stand firm on Canada’s independence, regardless of pressure from Trump’s threatened 25-per-cent tariffs.

Read more

‘We’re still open for business’: Kidd mine manager talks closure plans – by Amanda Rabski-McColl (Timmins Today – February 7, 2025)

https://www.timminstoday.com/

Environmental remediation jobs will be plentiful after base metal mine closes in late 2026

TIMMINS – Glencore is open for business even as the Kidd Mine site closes. That was the message at the Timmins Chamber’s State of Mining lunch, where Kidd Operations general manager Dawid Myburgh laid out the site’s successes in the last 58 years and the early stages of its closure plans.

The Kidd Mine is slated to close at the end of 2026. Myburgh laid out the opportunities and work left to do as the closure takes place. “We haven’t in our studies found an economically viable way to go on,” he said. “It’s not a farm. Every time we take something out, it doesn’t grow out, so it’s a normal part of mining and it’s something that, as a team we’re looking at being proud of how we do it.”

Read more

Economics, not politics, main reason mines fail to materialize in B.C., researcher suggests – by Marcy Nicholson (CBC British Columbia/Canadian Press – February 06, 2025)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/

Simon Fraser University research survey indicates fast-tracking of project no guarantee of success

The mining industry is applauding the British Columbia government’s decision to fast-track permits for several projects amid the ongoing U.S. tariff threat, but research suggests economic factors have been behind long delays for many other proposals.

Simon Fraser University associate professor Rosemary Collard says research shows that regulatory fast-tracking of mining projects is no guarantee that they will all materialize. She’s the co-lead author of a recent study of 27 B.C. mining projects granted environmental assessment certificates since 1995 and projected to open by 2022, showing that most failed to open on time.

Read more

Donald Trump wants to annex Canada to gain access to its critical minerals, Trudeau says – by Steven Chase and Laura Stone (Globe and Mail – February 7, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told an economic summit on Friday that he believes U.S. President Donald Trump is sincere in his desire to annex Canada and that this stems from the American leader’s interest in gaining access to this country’s critical minerals, a source said.

Mr. Trudeau made the comments to an audience of about 200 business leaders, trade experts and union executives in Toronto who have gathered to map out ways to boost economic growth and attract new capital investment in the face of the looming threat of U.S. protectionism.

Read more

China chokes tungsten exports to the United States – by Annie Lee (Bloomberg News/Financial Post – February 6, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

Tungsten hasn’t been mined commercially in the U.S. since 2015, the nation counting China as its biggest source

The phone has been ringing off the hook for Lewis Black after China imposed export controls on tungsten, a niche metal mined by his firm that’s crucial to weapons manufacturing.

The chief executive officer of North America’s Almonty Industries Inc. said his customers are in a “state of disbelief” following Beijing’s move on Tuesday, one of a suite of measures announced as a riposte to tariffs placed on Chinese goods by the Trump administration.

Read more

Philippine lawmakers to approve bill to ban ore exports – by Cliff Venzon and Neil Jerome Morales (Bloomberg News – February 6, 2025)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The Philippine Congress could ratify a bill banning raw mineral exports as soon as June, the Senate leader said on Thursday, a plan that investors warn could lead to mine closures.

Congress is on a break after this week and sessions resume in June, but Senate President Francis Escudero hopes there would be a bicameral committee meeting with members from both the Senate and the House of Representatives to tackle the bill. “I’m hoping it will be done during the break so we can ratify it when sessions resume,” Escudero said in a briefing.

Read more