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Taking a less alarmist view on climate change – by Derek H. Burney (National Post – May 20, 2021)

https://nationalpost.com/

Canada should take a more pragmatic approach that focuses both on environmental concerns and measures that will bolster, not retard, our economic prospects

Given the Supreme Court verdict validating the Liberals’ carbon tax and the awkward manoeuvre by Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole to emulate a “carbon pricing plan,” one would think the political debate about climate change is over in Canada.

But wait a minute. There are some myths to challenge and some other views to consider and evaluate. Many Canadians see their country as being in the vanguard of those committed to assuage what is widely proclaimed as an “existential threat” to the world.

And yet, despite the implementation of an increasingly costly carbon tax, Canada is, as Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland and an ardent climate change advocate, has bluntly pointed out, “the only G7 country where carbon emissions have increased since the signing of the Paris Agreement (in 2015).” The carbon tax has not delivered and yet the economic costs to many Canadians are growing.

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OPINION: Canada must listen to the stories of the buried, or their deaths will haunt us forever – by Kim Echlin (Globe and Mail – June 8, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

I want to tell you an old Brothers Grimm tale called The Singing Bone. In this story, a jealous man kills his younger brother and hides his body below a bridge. Some years later, a shepherd sees a white bone poking up from the sand and takes it to make into a flute.

To his astonishment, when he blows into the flute, it sings a song about a murder. The shepherd takes the bone and plays it for the king, who immediately recognizes the story. He finds and punishes the murderer.

Then he orders the younger brother’s bones dug up and brought back to be buried in a beautiful place. In this way, order is restored in the kingdom.

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Indonesians Demand Government Match Words with Action and Ditch Ocean Dumping – by Ellen Moore (Earthworks.org – June 7, 2021)

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Less than a year ago, two major nickel EV battery chemical processing plants planned to dump 31 million tonnes of toxic mine waste into the Coral Triangle, threatening fragile and endangered coral reefs and subsistence fishing communities.

Today, both projects have withdrawn their permits to dump mine waste into the ocean, and the Indonesian government has publicly committed not to issue permits for the harmful practice. But there is still work to do.

Earthworks is collaborating with Action for Ecology and People’s Emancipation (AEER) to ensure the Indonesian government uphold its promise to prohibit all future submarine tailings disposal. Until then, the risks to downstream users, financial backers, and most of all communities and the marine environment, remain.

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New book reappraises Silvery Slocan mining rush – by Greg Nesteroff (Nelson Star – July 15, 2020)

https://www.nelsonstar.com/

The book is available at: https://www.silveryslocan.ca/

A new book takes a comprehensive look at an era when the Slocan was at BC’s economic and political forefront.

At more than 600 pages, Peter Smith’s self-published Silver Rush: British Columbia’s Silvery Slocan 1891-1900 may intimidate casual readers. But within its pages lies an epic story of the men and women who flocked to the region to ride a wave of sudden prosperity.

Smith’s interest in the Slocan’s history was whetted when he came to the area from Victoria in the mid-1970s. “I thought wow, this place is incredible. Why have I never heard of it? The deeper I dug, the more important the history became.”

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COLUMN-Asia coal prices surge, but China-Australia dispute means rally is uneven – by Clyde Russell (Nasdaq.com/Reuters – June 7, 2021)

https://www.nasdaq.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, June 8 (Reuters) – Thermal coal prices across Asia have surged to multi-year highs amid strong demand and some supply constraints, but some types of the fuel have done better than others.

The headline-grabbing rally has been for high-quality Australian thermal coal. The weekly index for 6,000 kilocalorie per kilogramme (kcal/kg) coal at Newcastle Port ARGMCCINDX=ARG, as assessed by commodity price reporting agency Argus, hit $121.40 a tonne in the seven days to June 4.

This was the highest in more than a decade. This grade has now climbed 49% since the end of last year, and 162% from its 2020 low of $46.37 a tonne in September, reached amid the economic fallout from coronavirus lockdowns across Asia.

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First real green spring comes to Nikel – by Thomas Nilsen (The Barents Observer – June 8, 2021)

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/

“We, ordinary people living in Nikel, are very happy. The air is fresh, leaves are green,” says Tatiana Bazanova who has lived most of her adult life in what used to be one of Europe’s most polluted towns.

The infamous nickel-smelter shut down its last furnace in late December, ending 75 years of severe industrial air pollution.

Now, locals in the town for the first time experience a real green spring with clear blue skies under the midnight sun. “I love Nikel,” states Tatiana Bazanov who has lived and worked for the local municipality most of her adult life.

“Seeing the town without pollution pleases me,” she tells in a phone interview with the Barents Observer. Today, Tatiana has been in the hills above the town, taking photos of birch trees with green leaves.

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Wyloo Metals would put proposed Sault ferrochrome plant under the microscope, if successful in bid for Noront Resources – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June 7, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/ Australian mining investor focused on mining, processing nickel for Ontario’s electrical vehicle manufacturers The prospective Australian buyer for Noront Resources won’t make any immediate shifts in strategy in the Far North mineral exploration camp should it acquire the Toronto junior mining company. But it will reassess the location of a proposed ferrochrome processing plant …

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Nickel: No longer a forgotten battery metal – by Gerard Peter (Mining Review Africa – June 7, 2021)

https://www.miningreview.com/

Nickel will be the key beneficiary of electric vehicle (EV) adoption against the backdrop of other battery metals such as lithium and cobalt, supported by its dominant long-range capabilities. Furthermore, a wealth of nickel deposits will position Africa to benefit from an uptrend in prices in the coming years writes GERARD PETER.

These are the key findings of a recent Fitch Solutions report that looks at the opportunities and risks for nickel in the battery revolution.

The basis of the report has been founded on a recent Mining Review Africa webinar titled, Nickel: The Forgotten Battery Metal where Fitch Solutions, Carly Cassidy was a participant.

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New Peruvian president to deal with dozens of mining-related conflicts – by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud (Mining.com – June 6, 2021)

https://www.mining.com/

Over 64% of the 191 social conflicts registered in recent months in Peru are linked to social and environmental concerns related to mining operations, the most updated figures released by the Ombudsman Office show.

This is the reality that the new president of the Andean country will have to deal with. According to local media, this is particularly the case in the southern regions of Cusco, Puno, Apurímac, Moquegua, Arequipa y Tacna, which concentrated 30% of the social unrest.

One of the main issues relates to the Southern Mining Runway, which goes through the southeastern Cusco department, the south-central Apurímac department and reaches the southwestern Arequipa department all the way to the Matarani-Arequipa port, where products are shipped to Asia.

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NEWS RELEASE: Wyoming Governor, Officials Break Ground on Coal-to-Product ‘Innovation Center’ in the State’s ‘Carbon Valley’ Region (June 7, 2021)

Nearly 10-acre site in Gillette, Wyo., to accelerate production of new coal-based products, reduce U.S. reliance on foreign imports for rare earth elements

GILLETTE, Wyo. – June 7, 2021 – The Wyoming Innovation Center (WyIC), a 5,500-square-foot coal commercialization facility, has broken ground in Gillette, Wyo., owner Energy Capital Economic Development (ECED) announced today. The 9.5-acre site, located in northeast Wyoming’s coal-rich “Carbon Valley” region, will be home to companies and researchers developing commodities like asphalt, graphene, graphite, agricultural char, carbon fiber, and more – using coal and coal byproducts.

The state-of-the-art WyIC will feature two buildings and seven demonstration sites for pilot plants, for private companies and researchers to advance coal-to-product and rare earth element processes. The region holds 500 billion tons of recoverable coal, making it a desirable testbed for new and proven products made from coal.

WyIC’s first tenant is the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), which focuses on applied research for the production and use of clean energy resources.

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Mark Carney, man of destiny, arises to revolutionize society. It won’t be pleasant – by Peter Foster (National Post – June 5, 2021)

https://nationalpost.com/

What Carney ultimately wants is a technocratic dictatorship justified by climate alarmism

In his book Value(s): Building a Better World for All, Mark Carney, former governor both of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, claims that western society is morally rotten, and that it has been corrupted by capitalism, which has brought about a “climate emergency” that threatens life on earth. This, he claims, requires rigid controls on personal freedom, industry and corporate funding.

Carney’s views are important because he is UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance. He is also an adviser both to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the next big climate conference in Glasgow, and to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Since the advent of the COVID pandemic, Carney has been front and centre in the promotion of a political agenda known as the “Great Reset,” or the “Green New Deal,” or “Building Back Better.”

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Attracting workers to mining remains a challenge, say recruiters – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – June 4, 2021)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Skilled workers in high demand for Northern Ontario’s booming industry

Stacey Rodel admits that, before joining Kirkland Lake Gold (KL Gold) four years ago, her knowledge of the mining industry was limited. Dirty, hard manual labour, and a low-skilled workforce with few chances for career development – that was her perception of the sector.

“What I quickly learned upon joining Kirkland Lake Gold was this is not at all what mining is, in any shape or form,” said Rodel, the company’s human resources business partner.

Instead, she said, she found a sector brimming with opportunity, offering a highly diverse array of career paths, an emphasis on worker safety, and a strong commitment to community.

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Gold prices push higher after U.S. economy created 559K jobs in May, missing expectations – by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – June 4, 2021)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Gold prices are pushing deeper into positive territory as the U.S. economy created fewer jobs than expected in May. Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said 559,000 jobs were created in last month; economists were expecting to see job gains of around 645,000.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate came in at 5.8%, down compared to April’s level at 6.1%; consensus forecasts were calling for a reading of 5.9%.

Gold prices saw some modest gains ahead of the report and have jumped higher in initial reaction to the weaker-than-expected employment numbers. August gold futures last traded at $1,884 an ounce, up 0.57% on the day.

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More Than 2 Billion Tons Of Coal Mining Capacity Is About To Come Online – by Charles Kennedy (Oil Price.com – Jun 03, 2021)

https://oilprice.com/

More than 2.2 billion tons in annual coal mining capacity is currently under development, threatening the Paris Agreement targets, environmental think-tank Global Energy Monitor said in a new report.

The report notes that most of this capacity, or some 1.663 billion tons annually, is in the early stages of development and could be canceled, but the rest is already under construction.

“The prospect of a low-carbon transition puts these projects at risk of up to $91 billion USD in stranded assets,” Global Energy Monitor said, adding “But if they proceed, without unprecedented cutbacks in global production over the next decade, proposed capacity could boost supply to over four times a 1.5°C-compliant pathway.”

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Triple Flag CEO Sees Robust Pipeline for Mining Production Deals – by Yvonne Yue Li (Bloomberg News – June 3, 2021)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Triple Flag Precious Metals Corp. is seeing plenty of good opportunities for mining production deals despite a precious metals rally fueled by the pandemic.

“The pipeline has been really robust and busy,” Chief Executive Officer Shaun Usmar said in a Bloomberg TV interview. “When I look at how we built this business over the five years, we have seen over 500 opportunities for the assets we’ve got.”

Usmar founded Triple Flag in 2016 as a gold-focused streaming and royalty company, and last week the firm made its Toronto Stock Exchange debut after closing its $250 million initial public offering. The Toronto-based company joins a growing list of publicly traded firms that help fund mining projects in return for part of their future revenues.

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