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Vale projects $120 million in 2020 capital expenditure – by Norman Harsono (Jakarta Post – August 27, 2020)

https://www.thejakartapost.com/

Top nickel matte producer PT Vale Indonesia expects to spend about US$120 million on capital this year, lower than initially expected, primarily because of a project delay.

Vale had sought to spend less than $166.6 million this year on capital but further lowered its projection after delaying a plan to rebuild part of its Sorowako nickel smelter in Sulawesi, the country’s nickel mining heartland.

The company moved the start of five-month project from the fourth quarter of this year to the second quarter of next year as a result of logistical delays during the pandemic.

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Opinion: Politics should not block contributions of coal mining – by Robin Campbell (Calgary Herald – August 26, 2020)

https://calgaryherald.com/

Robin Campbell is president of the Coal Association of Canada.

It is high time that we, as individuals, as communities and especially as governments, recognize and appreciate the positive contributions of coal mining in Canada.

Currently, the message is skewed and riddled with inaccurate depictions of coal mines, often ignoring the facts and painting the entire global industry with one brush. Coal mining has become a hot button issue and we are seeing elected officials overturning decisions based on external pressures and ignoring expert analysis from government agencies.

The result is harm to coal mining communities, threats to the full supply chain from shovel to ship, increased regulatory uncertainty and a further chill on investment in Canada’s resource sector that has been worsening over the past number of years.

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The rare plants that ‘bleed’ nickel – by Dyna Rochmyaningsih (BBC.com – August 25, 2020)

https://www.bbc.com/

Sixteen years ago, Aiyen Tjoa was exploring a small mining town of Sorowako in the heart of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Sorowako once had been a home to immense diversity of plants, and most of them were found nowhere else.

But then the small town became the hub of one of the largest nickel mining areas in the world, with one company alone extracting 5% of the global nickel supply.

When Tjoa, a soil biologist and lecturer in Tadulako University in Central Sulawesi, arrived in Sorowako in 2004, most of the lush vegetation had already been cleared for mining, leaving barren soil and dusty roads in its place.

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Discontent in Belarus could benefit Canada’s potash miners – and send this 5% yielding dividend stock soaring – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – August 26, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Pro-democracy protests in Eastern Europe are helping to boost the outlook for Saskatchewan’s potash miners. Investors who fled the bad-news sector in recent years may want to take a fresh look at the situation.

Shares of Nutrien Ltd., Mosaic Co. and other companies with potash mines in Canada have bounced higher over the past month. The jump reflects improving fundamentals in the fertilizer industry.

It also reflects geopolitical turmoil – in particular, the decision of many Belarussians to walk off their jobs as part of mass demonstrations aimed at toppling the country’s long-time dictator, Alexander Lukashenko.

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Northern Dynasty stock plummets further with Pebble project in limbo – by Staff (Mining.com – August 25, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX: NDM) shares continued to crater on Tuesday as doubts grow over whether the company can clear regulatory hurdles for its Pebble project in Alaska.

The stock declined nearly 32% by 2:20 p.m. ET after falling by more than 40% during the previous session, leaving the company with a market capitalization of just over C$410 million.

On Monday, the US Army Corps of Engineers gave the company 90 days to explain how it would offset “unavoidable adverse impacts” to more than 3,200 acres (1,295 hectares) of wetlands were the mine to be developed.

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Traditional Owners Block Access to Australia’s Adani Carmichael Coal Mine – by Gavin Butler (Vice News – August 26, 2020)

https://www.vice.com/en_in/

A throng of more than 20 protesters—including Traditional Owners of local Wangan and Jagalingou country—has blocked the main road to Australia’s Adani Carmichael coal mine in a bid to re-establish control of the land and force the mining giant to abandon the project.

The blockade is preventing workers from accessing the construction site for the thermal coal mine, which, when completed, is set to be one of the world’s largest.

With the capacity to generate an annual output of 60 million tonnes of coal, it’s estimated that the mine could singlehandedly put twice as much carbon into the atmosphere as Tokyo every year.

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State environmental agency requires stricter monitoring of uranium mine near Grand Canyon – by Scott Buffon (Arizona Daily Sun – August 26, 2020)

https://azdailysun.com/

Public outcry pushed an Arizona environmental agency to require Canyon Mine, a uranium mine near the Grand Canyon, to apply for a more strict aquifer protection permit.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) denied a general permit for Canyon Mine, owned by Canadian-based Energy Fuels Resources, after reviewing feedback from the public and reviewing the years of documents available on the mine.

Public comment cited allegations of cultural and environmental damage to water stores, wildlife and land to demand the department issue the stricter permit for the purpose of closing down the mine in September 2019.

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Copper Belt exploration enables diversification – by Cameron Mackay(MiningWeekly.com – May 22, 2020)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Renewed exploration interest in the Kalahari Copper Belt, in Botswana, can help the country diversify its mining economy and industrialise, says mining consulting services provider MSA Group principal consultant Mike Robertson.

He emphasises that diamond mining has been the mainstay of Botswana’s economy since the first diamonds were discovered there in 1966, averaging 75% of the country’s exports. Botswana is second only to Russia, globally in terms of rough diamond production.

The country’s diamond industry is also characterised by high diamond quality, high production volumes and, particularly in the past few years, large diamond sizes.

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Battle North Gold (Rubicon Minerals) raises $61M for mine project and exploration – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – August 27, 2020)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

A Red Lake gold mine development has received a major injection of capital.

Toronto’s Battle North Gold has raised more than $61 million to bring its Bateman Mine project and continue exploration on its extensive property in the northwestern Ontario gold district.

The company announced Aug.27 it’s closed a bought deal financing arrangement through an offering of common shares and flow-through shares to raise $61,368,950 to complete work on the mine development and to expand the gold resource on the property.

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First Nations don’t oppose energy projects – by Gregory John (Financial Post – August 26, 2020)

https://financialpost.com/

Overwhelming majority in support of responsible, sustainable development on their lands

Many people would have us believe Indigenous North Americans are unanimous in their opposition to oil and gas development. Canada has seen a steady stream of protesters travelling from the United States who cite “helping protect Indigenous lands” as their motivation for interfering with oil and gas development projects in this country.

Yet Indigenous people in Canada are far from homogeneous. In Canada there are 633 First Nations, plus the Métis people and the Inuit. In the U.S., there are another 574 Native-American groups.

Nowhere else on the planet would such a diverse group of peoples be expected to be unanimous about anything. The anti-resource development stereotype is false.

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Sudbury base metal explorer lands a big-shot Toronto partner: Sudbury Platinum Corp raises $2.1 million for exploration in Sudbury Basin (Northern Ontario Business – August 25, 2020)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

A top mining investment firm is backstopping an emerging nickel player in the Sudbury Basin.

Toronto’s Dundee Goodman Merchant Partners (DGMP) has formed a “strategic relationship” with Sudbury Platinum Corporation to grow the exploration company and get it publicly listed by year’s end.

Sudbury Platinum (also known as SPC Metals) is a spinoff company of Transition Metals, a Sudbury-based exploration company overseeing more than 25 base and precious metals projects in Northern Ontario, the Maritimes and Western Canada.

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Visit To Virginia City Worth Its Weight In Silver (Escalon Times – August 25, 2020)

https://www.escalontimes.com/

There was a time I would go to Virginia City eight times or so a year. It was back when my idea of fun was driving to the base of Geiger Grade off Highway 395, hopping on a racing bicycle, heading up to Virginia City, dropping down to Carson City, climbing up Spooner Grade, pedaling by Lake Tahoe, struggling up Mt. Rose and then pushing it to the limits downhill often topping 55 mph.

It was 88 miles of pure bicycling bliss involving 8,200 feet of climbing that allowed me to make two trips to the Sizzler’s salad bar for heaping full plates plus dessert in south Reno afterwards.

One time after doing the loop the guys I was with decided it might be nice to see what was in Virginia City instead of pedaling through it at 18 mph without stopping. That is when I fell in love with the place as well as the history of the Comstock.

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According To Tesla CEO Elon Musk, This Metal Is The New Gold – by Charles Morris(Inside EVs – August 24, 2020)

https://insideevs.com/

In the popular imagination, lithium is the element that powers EVs. However, as Elon Musk has pointed out, the term “lithium-ion batteries” is something of a misnomer, because they don’t really contain that much lithium.

“Although [they’re] called lithium-ion, the actual percentage of lithium in a lithium-ion cell is approximately 2%,” Musk explained at Tesla’s 2016 shareholder meeting. “Technically, our cells should be called nickel-graphite, because the primary constituent in the cell as a whole is nickel.”

More recently, Musk reiterated the importance of nickel, and made what sounded to some like an urgent plea for more of the stuff. “I’d just like to re-emphasise, any mining companies out there, please mine more nickel,” said Musk during Tesla’s latest quarterly conference call.

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Lifting of ban on new mining projects can help PH recover from recession – by Madelaine B. Miraflor (Manila Bulletin – August 25, 2020)

https://mb.com.ph/

The immediate lifting of Executive Order (EO) 79, which is the moratorium on new mining projects imposed during the time of former President Benigno Aquino 3rd, can help the Philippine economy recover from the pandemic-triggered recession, a Department of Finance (DOF) official said.

An official at the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP), an organization of some of the country’s largest mining operations, thinks so too, but said the government should forego the conditions of EO 79.

These conditions include the ban on the approval of new mineral agreements until a new tax regime in mining is passed because mining firms are already overburdened by taxes.

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Quebec government, Pallinghurst pledging up to $600-million to recapitalize bankrupt Nemaska – by Nicolas Van Praet (Globe and Mail – August 25, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Quebec government and commercial partner Pallinghurst Group are pledging up to $600-million to recapitalize Nemaska Lithium Inc. and vault the chemical company out of bankruptcy protection in a move that highlights the importance of vehicle electrification to the province’s economic strategy.

Nemaska has accepted a purchase offer structured as a credit bid from a group made up of Orion Mine Finance, its biggest secured creditor; Investissement Québec; and Pallinghurst, the Montreal-based company said in a statement Monday.

Pallinghurst is a U.K.-based mining and metals private equity investor that has also invested in Canadian graphite company Nouveau Monde Graphite.

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