Republic of Mining

Electric vehicles are a great story, but oil and gas may be the better investment – by Martin Pelletier (Financial Post – October 5, 2020)

October 5, 2020

Everybody loves a good story especially when it comes to buying and selling certain themes in the market. This phenomenon is more apparent now than ever as investors herd into those segments telling the best story while selling those that tell a bad one.

This type of dualistic thinking is only widening the gap between the have and the have nots, when in reality the truth isn’t black and white but often some shade of grey.

A great example of this is what is happening with the electric vehicle and oil and gas industries. We don’t think it’s a coincidence that companies such as Tesla are setting new highs pushing the boundaries of euphoric valuations as investors are eager to drink the peak oil demand Kool-Aid that is being accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We’re a Long, Long Way From Running Out of Gold – by David Fickling (Bloomberg News – October 1, 2020)

October 5, 2020

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Here’s one potential reason to add some bullion coins or bars to your investment portfolio: They’re not making any more of them.

All the gold that’s ever been mined would fit into a cube with edges 22 meters long — small enough to fit into three Olympic-sized swimming pools. Each year, miners and pawnbrokers add another 4,000 to 5,000 metric tons to an existing 197,576 ton pile, but jewelry demand alone uses up about half of that.

With the metal hitting a record $2,075 a troy ounce in August, the concern we’re heading toward peak gold has reared its head again. The industry needs to commission 8 million ounces of projects by 2025 to maintain last year’s production levels, consultants Wood Mackenzie wrote in June, requiring some $37 billion of capital investment.

After hitting pause on aluminum tariffs, Trump looks to collaborate with Canada on 35 ‘critical minerals’ – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – October 2, 2020)

October 5, 2020

https://financialpost.com/

Executive order opens door for U.S. government investment in projects outside its borders, but Canada likely to be wary

Even as U.S. President Donald Trump labelled Canada a national security threat based on its aluminum exports, his administration is taking steps to strengthen the two countries’ collaboration on critical minerals, possibly including aluminum.

On Wednesday, one night after the first debate with former vice-president Joe Biden, his rival in the run-up to the presidential election in November, Trump signed an executive order that opens the door for potential U.S. government investment in projects related to 35 so-called “critical minerals,” and even projects located outside its borders, in an effort to decrease its dependence on China.

The latest executive order describes its reliance on China as “particularly concerning” and accuses the country of using “aggressive economic practices” to dominate the minerals sector.

Another smoggy Sunday in the town with factories owned by Russia’s richest man – by Thomas Nilsen (The Barents Observer – October 4, 2020)

October 5, 2020

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/

People driving the Kola highway have seen it before. Like in late July when kilometers and kilometers of the nature west of the nickel and copper smelters were covered by smog containing sulfur dioxide and heavy metals.

A week later, the leaves on the few still-alive trees in the lunar landscape started to brown. On Sunday, October 4th, the sulfur gasses were again blowing over the Arctic landscape, a video posted by Navalny’s office in Murmansk shows.

After Nornickel closed its nickel refining factory in Norilsk a few years ago, all refining now takes place in Monchegorsk, a two hours’ drive south of Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula.

Can lab-grown diamonds replace the real thing? – by Laura McCreddie-Doak (The Union Journal – October 4, 2020)

October 5, 2020

https://theunionjournal.com/

This story was produced as part of CNN Style’s The September Issues, a hub for facts, features and opinions about fashion, the climate crisis, and you.

Billy Porter is a man who knows how to rise to a fashion occasion. For the 2019 Met Gala, the “Pose” star dressed as the Pharaoh god Ra and was carried onto the red carpet by six shirtless men, while his 2020 Grammys ensemble included a hat with a crystal-curtain fringe that opened and closed.

Then at this year’s Academy Awards, he donned a 500-strong diamond necklace from British jeweler Lark & Berry, while he performed a medley with Janelle Monae. The diamonds, as flawless as any other worn at that event, weren’t dug out of the ground, they were grown in a laboratory.

Vale in talks with Tesla, EV sector for Canada nickel – executive (MiningWeekly.com – October 5, 2020)

October 5, 2020

https://www.miningweekly.com/

TORONTO – Brazilian miner Vale is in talks with Tesla and others in the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain about securing nickel from its Canadian operations, the head of the miner’s base metals unit said on Friday.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Tesla CEO Elon Musk in July urged miners to produce more nickel, a key ingredient in the batteries that power the company’s electric cars. Musk offered a “giant contract” if supplies could be produced in an environmentally sensitive way.

While EVs are expected to help reduce global carbon emission, environmentalists are concerned that production of EV parts and increased mining may damage the environment.

US grabs stake in battery metals miner to fight Chinese control – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – October 5, 2020)

October 5, 2020October 5, 2020

https://www.mining.com/

The US government is taking a $25 million equity stake in Dublin-based battery metals miner TechMet, as part of a push by President Donald Trump to reduce the country’s reliance on supply chains dominated by China.

The backing from the $60 billion US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) will help TechMet develop a nickel and cobalt mine in Brazil. Both metals are key in the production of the batteries that power electric cars and cell phones.

TechMet’s Brazilian Nickel project, in the north-eastern state of Piauí, is estimated to hold as much as 72 million tonnes of nickel and cobalt.

Why Canada needs to develop its zinc deposits – by Joseph Quesnel (Troy Media – September 30, 2020)

October 1, 2020

https://troymedia.com/

Joseph Quesnel is a research associate with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

Zinc is an important ingredient in disinfectants such as soap, so it plays an important role in preventing the spread of COVID-19. As we know, the twin pillars of COVID-19 prevention are social distancing and washing your hands properly.

So mining this bluish-white metal is important to Canada’s strategy for addressing the pandemic at home.

Beyond soap, zinc is used to galvanize steel to protect it from corrosion. And zinc is an essential element for our health, as over 200 enzymes in the human body require zinc to function.

Trump Moves to Expand Rare Earths Mining, Cites China Threat – by Joe Deaux and Ranjeetha Pakiam (Bloomberg News – September 30, 2020)

October 1, 2020

https://www.bloomberg.com/

President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at expanding domestic production of rare-earth minerals that are vital to many critical manufacturing sectors, reducing dependence on China.

The order, which declares a national emergency in the mining industry, directs the Interior Department to explore using the Defense Production Act to hasten the development of mines. The administration has previously used the law to accelerate production of medical supplies during the coronavirus pandemic.

The president’s actions are a direct consequence of China’s dominance of the sector for decades, said Gavin Wendt, a senior resource analyst at MineLife Pty.

Tesla to meet with Indigenous activists as it plots future supply chain – by Jacob Holzman (SP Global – September 30, 2020)

October 1, 2020

https://www.spglobal.com/

Tesla Inc. will meet with a network of Russian Indigenous activists campaigning for the electric vehicle company to boycott nickel supplied by PJSC Norilsk Nickel Co., the world’s largest producer of high-grade nickel, according to one of the activists involved with the campaign.

Pavel Sulyandziga, president of Indigenous rights group Batani Foundation, told S&P Global Market Intelligence through an interpreter that advocates with the boycott campaign are scheduled to speak with Tesla representatives involved with corporate social responsibility on Oct. 7.

Sulyandziga said the group plans to reiterate a request made in an open letter released in early August that Tesla not engage with Norilsk Nickel, also known as NorNickel, which is facing billions in damages over major oil spills in the Arctic.

China EV ambitions threat to entire US auto industry – report (Mining.com – September 29, 2020)

October 1, 2020

https://www.mining.com/

A bipartisan, federal response is required for the United States to compete with China’s ownership of the next generation of transportation, according to a new report from Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE).

By 2040, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) foresees the global stock reaching 500 million EVs. Even the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) foresees roughly 320 million EVs on the road
by 2040.

Across the industry, automakers will invest $300 billion over the next five to 10 years on EV development and production. Nearly half of this investment spending will occur in China, SAFE reports.

3 decommissioned uranium mines near Bancroft, Ont. deemed protected, no health impacts: study – by Greg Davis (Global News – September 29, 2020)

October 1, 2020

https://globalnews.ca/

A study says three decommissioned uranium sites near Bancroft, Ont., are protected and pose no health impacts on residents.

In 2019 the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) launched an independent environmental monitoring program in the Bancroft area, focusing on the Dyno, Madawaska and Bicroft decommissioned uranium mine sites. Each site processed low-grad uranium ore which left behind tailings — waste generated by the mining and milling of uranium ore.

The commission is licensed to manage the three sites, which are under long-term monitoring and maintenance. The three sites were remediated in the 1980s and 1990s.

Attawapiskat First Nation challenges DeBeers’ proposal for third landfill site (CBC News Sudbury – October 1, 2020)

October 1, 2020

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

DeBeers Canada is decommissioning the Victor Diamond Mine

Attawapiskat First Nation says it’s challenging the construction of another proposed landfill site near the community.

The site would be located about 90 kilometers west of the community and would process demolition waste from the Victor Diamond Mine, which is being decommissioned. It would be the third landfill managed by DeBeers Canada, the company that owns and operates the mine.

Attawapiskat has hired environmental consultant Don Richardson who says the 100,000 cubic metre landfill would be quite large. “The total amount of concrete of the CN Tower is probably about 45,000 cubic metres,” said Richardson. “So you could stick two CN Towers in this facility. It’s not a small landfill.”

China to launch first space mining robot in November – by Anna Golubova (Kitco News – September 28, 2020)

October 1, 2020

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) Chinese company Origin Space is scheduled to launch the world’s first asteroid mining robot in November. But no actual mining will be done on the mission as the goal is to test the equipment.

The Beijing-based private company plans to launch NEO-1, a 30-kg satellite, via a Chinese Long March series rocket as a secondary payload, reported U.S. science magazine IEEE Spectrum.

“The goal is to verify and demonstrate multiple functions such as spacecraft orbital maneuver, simulated small celestial body capture, intelligent spacecraft identification and control,” Yu Tianhong, co-founder of Origin Space, told the magazine.

Poland’s coal-phaseout plans: Fact or fiction? – by Jo Harper (Deutsche Welle – September 30, 2020)

October 1, 2020

https://www.dw.com/en/

After updating its 2040 energy plan in early September, Warsaw moved last week towards ending its dependence on coal after the Polish government, miners’ unions and the state-owned coal firm, Polish Mining Group (PGG), agreed a plan to phase out mines by 2049.

It was the first time Poland has put a timeline on ending coal and puts the country in line to meet the EU’s climate targets of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, which had previously been rejected by Warsaw as unrealistic. But some industry observers doubt the plan will survive the harsh rigors of hardening EU climate policy, alongside financial constraints.

“There is a general agreement between experts on energy and coal mines that the plan of coal mine phaseout is a fiction,” Ilona Jedrasik, energy team lead at ClientEarth Poland, told DW.