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BHP to expand into “tougher jurisdictions” in search of battery metals – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – October 8, 2021)

https://www.mining.com/

BHP (ASX, LON, NYSE: BHP) chief executive Mike Henry said the company is ready for a strategic shift out of its geographical, advanced-economies comfort zone into “tougher jurisdictions”, as part of its plans to increase exposure to commodities such as copper and nickel, needed to power the energy transition.

Speaking at the Financial Times conference late on Thursday, the world’s largest miner’s CEO said he was confident the company could manage the risks of investing and operating in politically volatile countries.

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Sudbury group encourages women in mining, ‘shattering stereotypes’ in the process (CBC News Sudbury – October 7, 2021)

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

A new group in Sudbury, Ont., wants to help more women get jobs in the mining industry. Women represent around one in 10 workers in Canada’s mining industry, and number that hasn’t changed much in the last 10 years, according to Jennifer Dallaire, treasurer of the Sudbury chapter of Women in Mining.

The chapter launched in early 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it just recently held its first networking event. About 50 people participated in the event. They ranged from women already working in the industry, to students and business owners.

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Vale sees no near-term spinoff of base metals unit – by Staff (Sudbury Star – October 10, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

The chief executive of Vale SA said on Thursday the Brazilian iron ore miner is not looking into a near-term spinoff for its base metals, and the company later said the unit needs to be “transformed” before that longstanding plan can be carried out.

“We are not talking about a spinoff yet. The problem here is the size of the business,” said Eduardo Bartolomeo, Vale’s chief executive officer, as part of the Financial Times’ Mining Summit.

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Bristow won’t “feed ducks quacking in the market” when quizzed on Barrick share price – by Brendan Ryan (MiningMX.com – October 8, 2021)

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BARRICK Gold would “ultimately prevail” because it was building a long-term, investable business for all its stakeholders and not just the few that were demanding “instant gratification”.

That’s according to Barrick CEO, Mark Bristow who was responding to a question at the Financial Times Mining Summit over why the Barrick share price was down 19% this year compared with only a 9% drop for Newmont Corporation.

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‘We just gave’r’: Exhausted rescuers used double-pulley system to raise trapped Totten miners – by Laim Casey (Sudbury Star – October 7, 2021)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Canadian Press – Danny Taillefer and Jason Leger were in the middle of a first aid refresher course when the phone rang. Shawn Rideout, the chief rescue officer with Ontario Mine Rescue, was on the other end. There were 39 miners stuck underground at Totten Mine near Sudbury, Ont., after the mine shaft was compromised, he said.

There was another way out: climbing a complex warren of ladders at the Vale-owned mine from about a kilometre underground. Taillefer and Leger — mine rescue officers with the non-profit who were based in Timmins, Ont. — were told they were needed for a complicated mission, and instructed to bring several hundred kilograms of rope and other gear.

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If you’re feeling good about your renewable energy stocks, better look away from the rally in coal – by David Berman (Globe and Mail – October 8, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Renewable energy is a growing sector that sits well with investors who want to align their portfolios with environmental solutions to global warming. But have you seen what coal has been doing? Welcome to one of the great conundrums in today’s market.

Funds that conform to environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles are seeing a massive influx of investor dollars. Yet companies involved with fossil fuel extraction are being rewarded with spectacular gains this year, as demand for traditional energy surges against a backdrop of tight supplies that could last for months.

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Anglo progressing with decarbonisation, sustainability endeavours – Cutifani – by Donna Slater (MiningWeekly.com – October 7, 2021)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Diversified major Anglo American continues to take steps to usher in hydrogen-powered machinery, as well as to roll out renewable energy at its global operations as a means of improving its sustainability, CE Mark Cutifani said during a Financial Times Mining Summit on October 7.

He pointed out that the group would fully integrate renewable energy into all its South American operations by the end of 2022. “And we would hope that we achieved the same outcome in South Africa by the end of 2030 with our new strategies.”

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Canada Nickel improves recovery and metallurgical performance at Crawford nickel project – by Daniel Sekulich (Northern Miner – October 6, 2021)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Canada Nickel (TSXV: CNC; US-OTC: CNIKF) has released the results of testing done on samples from its 100%-owned flagship Crawford nickel-cobalt sulphide project in Ontario, about 40 km north of Timmins.

The company says that metallurgical improvements at the project will deliver increased recoveries of nickel, iron and cobalt, as well as enhanced magnetite concentrate quality. These are improvements from the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for Crawford that was released in May.

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Exploration roundup: Fall brings a frenzy of drilling for gold, nickel in the Timmins district – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – October 7, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The Timmins district remains one of the hottest gold and base metal exploration grounds in the world. Fall exploration programs are running at a brisk pace across this historic northeastern Ontario camp as junior miners are eager to develop the next generation of mines.

Class 1 Nickel and Technologies want to bring a former nickel mining property back to life. On the site of the former Alexo Mine, halfway between Timmins and Matheson, the company is performing environmental baseline studies in advance of filing for government permits to move its Alexo-Dundonald Project toward production.

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Deep seabed mining is risky. If something goes wrong, who will pay for it? – by Ian Morse (Mongabay.com – October 8, 2021)

https://news.mongabay.com/

Pelenatita Kara travels regularly to the outer islands of Tonga, her low-lying Pacific Island home, to educate fishers and farmers about seabed mining. For many of the people she meets, seabed mining is an unfamiliar term.

Before Kara began appearing on radio programs, few people knew their government had sponsored a company to mine minerals from the seabed. “It’s like talking to a Tongan about how cold snow is,” she says. “Inconceivable.”

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COMMENTARY: Senator assures industry Nevada will remain a mining colony – by Hugh Jackson (Nevada Current – October 7, 2021)

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Harry Reid must be so proud. “Revision of our mining laws has been a regular topic for more than 100 years,” Reid wrote in 2009 when he was Senate Majority Leader. “During my time in Congress, I have fought against and defeated many ill-conceived reform efforts that would have hurt rural Nevada.”

Reid was being modest. He fought against and defeated every effort, no matter how ill- or well-conceived, to reform the antiquated 1872 Mining Law when he was in the Senate.

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Risk of blackouts, higher bills if Ontario sets 2030 target to phase out natural gas, report says – by Matthew McClearn (Globe and Mail – October 8, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Phasing out Ontario’s natural gas power plants by the end of this decade is not feasible and would lead to rolling blackouts and soaring electricity bills, the body in charge of planning and operating the province’s power system said Thursday in a report that gas opponents have criticized as too pessimistic.

In the report, which responds to demands from municipalities to phase out natural gas by 2030, the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) estimates it would cost $27-billion to build alternative generating facilities and transmission lines, plus additional operating costs of $5.7-billion a year, causing a typical homeowner’s monthly bill to skyrocket by an average of $100, or 60 per cent.

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Column: Europe races to fix its rare earths import dependency – by Andy Home (Reuters – October 8, 2021)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Oct 8 (Reuters) – Europe is on a mission to wrest back control of its rare earth magnet supply chain from China. Permanent magnets, commonly using a neodymium-iron-boron chemistry, are one of the hidden enablers of modern technology, powering everything from robots to refrigerators to laptop speakers.

They also help power electric vehicle (EV) and wind turbine motors, placing them at the heart of the energy transition. However, as the rest of the world has come to realise, these critical minerals are also critically dependent on China, which dominates the global supply chain from rare earth processing through magnet production.

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Vale Opens Door to Base Metal Merger Once Its House Is in Order – by Mariana Durao and James Attwood (Bloomberg News – October 7, 2021)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — If iron ore giant Vale SA decides to separate its base metals operations, it may look at the possibility of merging that business with the assets of another company.

Chief Executive Officer Eduardo Bartolomeo opened the door to such a possibility during the Financial Times Mining Summit on Thursday. The world’s second-largest producer of iron ore continues to weigh up the pros and cons of forming a seperate company with its copper and nickel mines in Canada, Brazil and Indonesia.

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Gold price headed to $5,500 in the long term as central banks won’t be able to exit unorthodox monetary policies – Jefferies – by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – October 5, 2021)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – The Federal Reserve’s potential plan to reduce its monthly bond purchase by the end of the year continues to weigh on the gold market as prices remain tethered to support around $1,750 an ounce. However, one investment firm continues to see gold prices pushing thousands of dollars higher in the long-term.

In a report published Tuesday, investment bank Jefferies Group said that gold and Bitcoin remain essential hedges as the threat of stagflation – an environment of low growth and higher inflation – continues to grow.

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