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OPINION: Agriculture – a new source of global power for Canada – by William A. MacDonald (Globe and Mail – October 27, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

William A. Macdonald is a corporate lawyer turned consultant with a long history of public service and social engagement.

It is an ill wind that does not blow someone some good. Climate change is an ill wind for the world. However, depending on how Canada responds, it could blow some good our way.

Looking ahead to an increasingly overcrowded planet, strong agriculture could be a renewed source of substantial geopolitical power over the long term. In particular, it could give Canada a great deal more leverage with the two most powerful and problematic countries on Earth: China and the United States.

Climate change is reducing available arable land worldwide. But it is also increasing the arable land in Canada. There is a very big message in this for China.

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Liberals’ plan to replace fossil fuel with wind and solar is technically impossible and economically disastrous – by Gwyn Morgan (Financial Post – October 27, 2020)

https://financialpost.com/

Trying to solve any problem with a fix that defies the laws of physics is bound to fail

The combination of wildfires along the U.S. Pacific Coast, two simultaneous hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, melting glaciers and peat bog fires in Canada and an unusually hot summer in Europe has raised global warming fears to frenzied proportions.

Environmentalists are urging political leaders to legislate the rapid phase-out of fossil fuels. Curiously, the most extreme call for action came from the future King of England.

Prince Charles urged a “warlike footing” that would require the implementation of a centralized global authority to save the planet from catastrophic climate change. Just how such an unelected regime would exert power over the Earth’s 7.8 billion inhabitants wasn’t clear.

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Canada Nickel CEO sees “multi-decade resource base” near Timmins – by Ian Ross – October 22, 2020)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

New discovery, high grades at Crawford Project spur hope of a call from Elon Musk

Canada Nickel Company has made a new discovery on an already blossoming Timmins-area exploration property that’s being studied for an open-pit mine.

In talking about the Crawford Project’s open-ended potential, company chair and CEO Mark Selby said in an Oct. 22 web call to investors that they’re “just getting started” in unlocking the value of this project, and their other prospective properties, north of the city.

The Toronto junior miner released an updated mineral calculation, and its high-grade values, on Crawford’s Main Zone on Wednesday. It places the property into the world’s top 10 list of nickel sulphide projects, not including the strides they’ve made with recent discoveries to the east and west.

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SA’s under-explored Northern Cape “a dripping roast” if Govt. would just open the door – by David McKay (MiningMX – October 26, 2020)

MiningMX

THE lack of minerals exploration in South Africa’s mining sector goes back to its corporatisation more than 60 years ago following the creation of Anglo American and its counterpart, General Mining.

In those days, mining houses did their prospecting in-house where the parent company charged service management fees to the underlying businesses, some of them listed.

Apart from its inefficiencies, the system resulted in an investment tradition that rewarded the mighty and lost comfort in the two-bit entrepreneur; ironic, given the manner of Johannesburg’s own mining town origins.

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OPINION: The case for greater federal investments in northern mining infrastructure – by Brendan Marshall (Nunatsiaq News – October 23, 2020)

https://nunatsiaq.com/

Brendan Marshall is the vice-president for economic and northern affairs for the Mining Association of Canada.

The old expression “If it isn’t grown, it’s mined,” is taking on new meaning as the supply of minerals and metals critical to 21st century products takes on geopolitical importance.

As demand for mined materials continues to grow, there is increasing focus on what are referred to as “critical minerals”—vital in aerospace, defence, telecommunications, computing, and an array of clean and medical technologies such as solar panels, electric car batteries, ventilators and rapid testing kits.

Canada can play a larger role in this market, particularly given our leadership in sustainable mining practices and high environmental standards, and this opportunity is particularly relevant to mining in the North.

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Despite political spotlight, Iron Range town still waiting for economic spark – by Katie Galioto (Minneapolis Star Tribune – October 26, 2020)

https://www.startribune.com/

HOYT LAKES, MINN. – When Donald Trump became president and promised an extraordinary economic resurgence for Minnesota’s Iron Range, this small town of 2,000 seemed poised for a renaissance.

But four years later, Hoyt Lakes is more or less the same. The northeastern Minnesota city that’s home to the proposed PolyMet copper-nickel mine hasn’t gained or lost many jobs since Trump took office. Unemployment remains higher than the state average, while median household income is much lower than in other parts of Minnesota.

Presidential candidates thrust the Iron Range into the national spotlight this election cycle, claiming credit for its recent successes and blaming others for its struggles.

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Mountaintop coal mine hearings to begin amidst fears of pollution, development rush – by Bob Weber (Canadian Press/National Post – October 25, 2020)

https://nationalpost.com/

A proposed coal mine that would create hundreds of jobs but shear off a mountaintop in one of Alberta’s most sensitive environments is to go to a public hearing this week.

Riversdale Resources, proponent of the Grassy Mountain steel-making coal project near the town of Blairmore in the province’s southwest, says the mine would create two decades of solid employment and improve a site scarred by previous development.

Environmental groups and some residents fear it could unleash toxic metals into the headwaters of the Oldman River watershed relied on by everything from endangered trout to downstream cities. They say an approval would open the door to similar large, open-pit mines up and down the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

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Gold company has ‘deep roots’ in Sudbury, Northern Ontario – by Colleen Romaniuk (Sudbury Star – October 23, 2020)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

The Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce welcomed the president and CEO of IAMGOLD to discuss the Canadian mid-tier mining company’s new Cote Gold project, located north of Sudbury.

Last month, Gordon Stothart and his team at IAMGOLD celebrated the official opening of the new open-pit gold mine located about 20 km southwest of Gogama with a ground-breaking ceremony attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

The $1.7-billion project is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs during construction and 450 jobs during operation and generate $5 billion in wages through direct and indirect job creation and $10 billion in economic activity.

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Robert Murray, Outspoken Coal Miner Who Battled EPA, Dies at 80 – by Will Wade and Tim Loh (Bloomberg News – October 26, 2020)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Robert Murray, a fourth-generation coal miner who became one of the embattled industry’s most outspoken advocates, has died. He was 80.

Murray died early Sunday morning at his home in St. Clairsville, Ohio, of a lung disorder, according to Michael Shaheen, the family’s lawyer. He was diagnosed in 2016 with coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, or black lung disease, and had been known to attend industry events with a portable oxygen container.

A native of Ohio coal country, Murray joined a mining company at 17 to help support his family. He rose through the ranks to become chief executive officer of North American Coal Corp., but was fired in 1987 after resisting an effort to trim the company’s obligations to retirees.

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Cenovus Energy to acquire Husky Energy in $3.8-billion deal – by David Milstead and Jeffrey Jones (Globe and Mail – October 26, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Cenovus Energy Inc. is acquiring Husky Energy Inc., creating Canada’s fourth-largest energy company as it copes with chronically low crude prices and investor pessimism about the industry’s fortunes.

Cenovus, known for its Alberta oil sands operations, said on Sunday it will issue shares and stock-purchase warrants to acquire Husky, adding sizable oil-refining capacity in Canada and the United States to reduce its exposure to volatile Canadian oil markets.

The $3.8-billion deal offers a 21-per-cent premium to Husky’s recent share prices, and Cenovus will also take on more than $6-billion in Husky debt.

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Clean energy, EVs and the two sides of the US election – by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud (Mining.com – October 25, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

Market analyst Wood Mackenzie published a report laying the cards on the table as to what the future of clean energy and electric vehicles may look like following the November 3 election.

On one hand, President Donald Trump is promising to maintain the status quo somehow favouring oil, gas and coal and rejecting the idea of cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Contender Joe Biden, on the other hand, promises to launch a “clean energy revolution” whose goal is to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

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How miners from Camborne and Redruth started a Central American football revolution in Mexico – by Aaron Greenaway (Cornwall Live – October 25, 2020)

https://www.cornwalllive.com/

When mention is made of “famous Cornish exports”, it is safe to say that the first things that spring to mind are things we find on our plate – delicacies such as the iconic Cornish pasty, clotted cream, scones made correctly (jam first), Davidstow cheddar and the mighty saffron cake.

It is also true we exported Prime Ministers to Australia, with two Australian Prime Ministers being of Cornish descent – Sir Robert Menzies, the country’s longest-serving PM, was part-Cornish through his maternal grandparents and Bob Hawke, PM between 1983-1991, had links to Kernow as well.

On top of this, at least six Premiers of South Australia were also of Cornish descent. One other thing synonymous with Cornwall is of course mining, with the county being world-renowned for its work during the 1800s and early 1900s – although, you wouldn’t know it now, with the old buildings left behind the only relics of a once-proud past.

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Misgoverning the Canadian Arctic – by Sergiy Slipchenko (Excalibur – October 24, 2020)

https://excal.on.ca/

York University’s Community Newspaper

The Canadian Arctic region has been often overlooked by the federal government in favour of more populated provinces, despite the importance and potential it holds. In 2020, a year where the COVID-19 pandemic has taken precedence over every other issue, this is more true than ever.

The Canadian North has often been put aside in the national agenda despite making up 40 per cent of Canada and is home to more than 100,000 residents. While the federal government has done extensive extraction of raw materials in Northern Canada, it is far behind when it comes to developing communities, infrastructure, and defence in the region.

Professor Gabrielle A. Slowey, a political science professor at York, neatly summarized Canada’s ventures in the north.

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Howard Balsley, uranium pioneer, preserved the past – by Heila Ershadi (Moab Sun News – March 21, 2019)

https://www.moabsunnews.com/

Howard Balsley is known in history books as a Moab uranium pioneer. In the book “The Moab Story: From Cowpokes to Bike Spokes,” author Tom McCourt writes that Balsley is “considered by many to be the father of the uranium industry in the United States.”

McCourt’s account says that Balsley came to Moab in 1908 and primarily made his living as a forest ranger, but also prospected and assisted others in their mining endeavors, even before the WWII uranium boom.

Balsley contracted with a number of small-scale miners across the Colorado Plateau to regularly make 50-ton shipments of uranium and vanadium ores to the Vitro Manufacturing Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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Biden campaign tells miners it supports domestic production of EV metals – by Ernest Scheyder (Regina Leader Post – October 22, 2020)

https://leaderpost.com/

Joe Biden’s campaign has privately told U.S. miners it would support boosting domestic production of metals used to make electric vehicles, solar panels and other products crucial to his climate plan, according to three sources familiar with the matter, in a boon for the mining industry.

The Obama administration enacted rigorous environmental regulations that slowed U.S. mining sector growth during its time in office. Biden, who served as Obama’s vice president and is well-regarded in conservation circles, has been expected to continue in that vein.

The U.S. Democratic presidential candidate also supports bipartisan efforts to foster a domestic supply chain for lithium, copper, rare earths, nickel and other strategic materials that the United States imports from China and other countries, the sources said.

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