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Ford government looks to tweak mining claims in Ontario – by Charlie Pinkerton (The Trillium/Northern Ontario Business – January 24, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The province’s online claims system, which First Nations have argued allows violations of their rights, wouldn’t be impacted by the proposed changes

As it looks for ways to expedite the extraction of Ontario’s natural resources, the Ford government has proposed changes to how prospectors secure lands’ mining rights.

Draft regulatory changes published by the province’s Ministry of Mines last week would tweak certain requirements and timelines that a claimant to a property’s mining rights must meet before the government confirms their claim.

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Gold nears $2,800 all-time high as BoJ rate hike fuels bullish momentum and global inflation concerns -by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – January 24, 2025)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – The gold market is once again within striking distance of all-time highs above $2,800 an ounce as the metal continues to attract international attention. Some analysts suggest that gold’s bullish momentum is just beginning, following its achievement of record highs against the Japanese yen overnight.

Gold rallied against the yen after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) raised interest rates to “around 0.5%,” the highest level in 17 years. At the same time, the central bank signaled the potential for further tightening.

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Chile Keeps Faith in Lithium Expansion Even as Glut Worsens – by James Attwood (Bloomberg News – January 23, 2025)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Chile, home to the world’s biggest lithium reserves, is confident that investors will compete for licenses to drill new deposits even amid a worsening global glut that’s squeezing the battery-metal industry.

“We’re convinced that there’s interest,” Mining Minister Aurora Williams said in an interview late Wednesday — a day before Chile warned that global oversupply is set to increase this year, despite some industry cutbacks.

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US versus China: the battle for rare earth dominance – by Qamar Bashir (Business Recorder – January 24, 2025)

https://www.brecorder.com/

During Scott Bessent’s confirmation hearing for US Treasury Secretary before the Senate Finance Committee, significant concerns were raised regarding China’s dominance in the rare earth elements (REEs) market.

The Committee underscored that China controls approximately 70 percent of global rare earth mining and nearly 90 percent of refining capacity, a near-monopoly that grants Beijing substantial influence over these critical materials. This dominance poses severe risks to US national security, economic stability, and technological independence, given that REEs are essential for industrial, technological, and military applications.

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B.C.’s new mineral claims rules criticized by those most affected – by Akshay Kulkarni (CBC News British Columbia – January 23, 2025)

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

First Nations say B.C. isn’t meeting its obligations, while prospectors worry about delays

Prospectors wanting to make a mineral claim in B.C. will soon have to consult with local First Nations under new provincial rules. But neither First Nations representatives nor prospectors are happy with them, and a mining professor says the rules could leave some community members feeling left out.

First Nations say the development of a new consultation framework — which goes into effect March 26 — was rushed, and its drafting didn’t meet the province’s obligations to consult under the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA).

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Column: Only Indonesia can help nickel recover from price bust – by Andy Home (Reuters – January 22, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

Nickel ended 2024 trading at four-year lows, a spectacular reversal of fortune for a metal that soared so high in 2022 it almost broke the London Metal Exchange (LME). There is no mystery to this dramatic tale of boom and bust.

Indonesia has flooded the world with more metal than it can absorb, crushing the price and leaving a trail of casualties among the rest of the world’s producers. The market’s fortunes this year depend on whether Jakarta can tame the excesses of its nickel sector and align supply more closely with demand.

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Trump says U.S. will ask NATO member countries to boost defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP – by Steven Chase and Mark Rendell (Globe and Mail – January 24, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the United States will ask members of the NATO alliance, which includes Canada, to increase military spending to 5 per cent of annual economic output – levels not seen since the Cold War.

He told the World Economic Forum that the United States, which has the world’s largest military, should no longer have to shoulder so much of the responsibility for collective defence under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, whose membership is almost entirely in Europe.

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NEWS RELEASE: Vale Base Metals launches strategic review for Thompson mine as part of global optimization (January 23, 2025)

TORONTO, Jan. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ – Vale Base Metals has launched a strategic review to explore and evaluate a range of alternatives, including the potential sale, for its mining and exploration assets in Thompson, Manitoba, the Canadian-based subsidiary of Vale SA (NYSE: Vale) announced today.

The Thompson review is part of a process to optimize Vale Base Metals’ global mining portfolio to enable copper growth in the Carajas region and ensure the competitiveness of its vertically integrated nickel portfolio to create long-term value for its shareholders and stakeholders. Vale Base Metals has engaged an external advisor to lead the Thompson review, which is expected to conclude in 2H 2025.

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Ontario’s big EV gamble just lost everything to Trump – by Randall Denley (National Post – January 24, 2025)

https://nationalpost.com/

Ford placed a big bet on increasing American demand for EVs, but the new president’s moves almost certainly ended that possibility

U.S. President Donald Trump hasn’t imposed any tariffs on Canada yet, but he’s already dealt a potentially devastating blow to Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s signature industrial policy.

Ford has heavily touted his plan to make the province a major player in the electric-vehicle industry, especially in the production of batteries. Ontario has promised billions of dollars in government support to make it happen. With the stroke of a pen this week, Trump undermined that plan, perhaps fatally.

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‘It’s a catastrophe’: Southern Alberta’s ag industry concerned over potential coal mining pollution – by Karsen Marczuk (CTV News Calgary – January 23, 2025)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/calgary/

Pushback continues to mount over possible coal mining on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, with the latest being a letter penned to the provincial government over the impact coal mining could have on the agriculture industry.

“We are very concerned with the impact on integrated agriculture in southwestern Alberta,” said Chris Spearman with the Water for Food Group. “We don’t understand — our question to the Alberta government is basically – ‘are they prepared to sacrifice a multi-billion-dollar food industry for a coal mine?’”

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Vale Base Metals considering selling its mining and exploration assets in Thompson, Manitoba – by John Barker (Soundings – January 23, 2025)

https://soundingsjohnbarker.wordpress.com/

Vale Base Metals said Jan. 23 it is considering selling its mining and exploration assets in Thompson, Manitoba. Vale Base Metals is the Canadian Toronto-based subsidiary of Vale SA. Vale Base Metals has launched a strategic review of its options for its Thompson assets, include two mines and an adjacent mill along with other exploration opportunities, Vale said.

The strategic review is expected to be completed later this year, the company said. The strategic review is part of a process to optimize Vale’s global portfolio to enable copper growth in the Carajas region in Brazil. Vale Base Metals has engaged an external advisor to lead the Thompson strategic review.

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Toronto airport gold heist: Air Canada ordered to pay just $18K to Brink’s for $24M stolen crate – by Adrian Humphreys (National Post – January 24, 2025)

https://nationalpost.com/

Poorly completed paperwork on stolen load of gold bars and cash means airline only needs to pay general compensation as if it was a suitcase of clothes

In the messy aftermath of the Toronto airport gold heist — that saw $24 million in gold bars and cash driven away by thieves from an Air Canada warehouse­ — the airline has been ordered by the Federal Court to pay Brink’s transport company just $18,600 in compensation for their huge loss because of poorly completed paperwork on the stolen shipment.

Brink’s, a U.S.-based secure transit company, sued Air Canada, the country’s largest airline, after a large crate Brink’s was moving from Switzerland to Canada was stolen from the airline’s warehouse at Pearson airport shortly after arriving on an Air Canada flight from Zurich in 2023.

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Rio Tinto bets on Trump support for long-stalled Arizona copper mine – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – January 22, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

Rio Tinto said on Wednesday it is very optimistic about US President Donald Trump granting it the final permits for its long-delayed Resolution copper project in Arizona.

The mining giant has faced a 12-year permitting battle to develop the Resolution mine, which has the potential to supply more than a quarter of the US domestic copper needs for decades. “I do think that we have really good chances now to progress that project,” chief executive Jakob Stausholm told the Financial Times. “We have made a lot of progress.”

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Signet, Synthetics, and a Complex Holiday Season – by Joshua Freedman (Rapaport Magazine – January 20, 2025)

New Home

Poor results at the US’s largest diamond retailer reflected a fragmented and changing market rather than a crisis in consumer demand.

Signet Jewelers’ disappointing holiday results had a dampening effect on the industry’s mood. Same-store sales at the US’s largest diamond retailer fell 2% for the 10 weeks that ended January 11. The company slashed its guidance for the fiscal fourth quarter. Its share price fell 22% in one day.

What the results indicated, however, was not so much sluggish consumer demand as a complex US jewelry market that has forced retailers to strategize carefully. The key issue for Signet was product range, the jeweler’s new CEO, J.K. Symancyk, said at the ICR Conference 2025 on Tuesday, a few hours after the sales announcement.

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Ottawa finally rolls out its Ring of Fire assessment plan – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 21, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

With an election looming, feds and First Nations to study the pros and cons of Far North mine development

Almost five years after Ottawa called for a Regional Assessment of the Ring of Fire, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) and 15 First Nations have defined a purpose and a plan.

In what the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change called a “milestone” for sustainable development in a Jan. 20 news release, the terms of reference have been finalized to begin the process of assessing the potential cumulative impacts of industrial development in Ontario’s Far North.

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