Twitter

Russian indigenous peoples call on Elon Musk not to buy battery metals from Nornickel – by Thomas Nilsen (The Baren Observer – August 7, 2020)

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/

The company that recently made international headlines for causing environmental disasters on the Taimyr Peninsula by spilling 20,000 tons of diesel fuel into a river in the fragile Arctic ecosystems is under increased pressure.

In a letter to Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, the Aborigen Forum urge him not to buy nickel, copper and other products from Nornickel until the company conducts a full and independent assessment of the environmental damage caused by its production.

This week, The Barents Observer could tell the story about dying tree leaves caused by massive air-pollution over a several square kilometers large area near Nornickel’s smelters in Monchegorsk on the Kola Peninsula.

Read more

Feds call for impact assessment on Vista Coal expansion project – by Masha Scheele (Yahoo News/Canadian Press – August 6, 2020)

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/

The Vista Coal Mine Phase II Expansion Project near Hinton is facing a review by the new Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.

Jonathan Wilkinson, federal minister of environment and climate change, previously decided against an impact assessment for the project in December but has now reconsidered that decision.

This decision came after groups argued in a public letter that if Canadians are lobbying to phase out burning coal, then Canadians shouldn’t feed thermal coal for consumption overseas.

Read more

Opinion: Canada needs to go nuclear to reach our emissions targets – by Kim Rudd and Sean Willy (Financial Post – August 7, 2020)

https://financialpost.com/

Kim Rudd, an entrepreneur, was parliamentary secretary to the minister of natural resources from 2015-2018. Sean Willy is CEO of Des Nedhe Development in Saskatchewan.

To fight climate change, Canada needs clean energy from a source that delivers carbon-free, reliable power 24/7. If we are to reach our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets, nuclear power simply must be in the energy mix.

Nuclear power already displaces over 80 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually in Canada. That’s equivalent to taking 15 million cars off the road each and every year.

Though Canada has a world-class nuclear industry, we’ve only scratched the surface of its potential.

Read more

Communities resist Baffinland and Ottawa’s push for public hearings – by Thomas Rohner (CBC News North – August 6, 2020)

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

Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation says if a Nunavut regulator further delays its Mary River Mine expansion it would cause “extreme prejudice” against the company and be a “breach of procedural fairness,” according to documents filed on the Nunavut Impact Review Board’s public registry.

The board recently released a suggested schedule of meetings over the next three months to address the company’s Phase 2, which includes using rail lines to transport ore within Baffin Island.

The mine is about 100 kilometres from Milne Inlet on north Baffin Island. Those meetings, which have been suspended since March due to COVID-19, must occur before a public hearing can happen.

Read more

China’s Rare Earth Threat Sparks An International Backlash – by Tim Treadgold (Forbes Magazine – August 7, 2020)

https://www.forbes.com/

China fired a verbal rocket at U.S. arms maker Lockheed Martin last month only to unleash a response which threatens its most strategically important industry, rare earths.

Because rare-earth elements have essential uses in a range of civil and military technologies, such as weapons guidance systems, China’s control of supply is a powerful commercial and diplomatic bargaining chip.

Earlier threats to cut-off supplies of the elements, especially the two most important heavy rare earths, neodymium and praseodymium, have caused short-term disturbances in the market with China eventually backing off in case it pushed too hard and international customers developed their own supplies.

Read more

Canada to retaliate with $3.6-billion in measures against U.S. aluminum tariffs – by Steven Chase and Adrian Morrow (Globe and Mail – August 7, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Canadian government will impose retaliatory measures valued at $3.6-billion on the United States in response to new American tariffs on Canadian aluminum announced by President Donald Trump this week.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the retaliatory tariffs will take effect in 30 days, after Ottawa consults Canadians on precisely which American products to target.

Canada is releasing a list of possible targets, many of which include aluminum, such as American-made washing machines.

Read more

Uncommon ground: The impact of natural resource corruption on indigenous peoples – by Carter Squires, Kelsey Landau, and Robin J. Lewis (Brookings – August 7, 2020)

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/

Around the world, the rights of indigenous peoples[1] are often in tension with the economic interests of extractive companies and governments. Many indigenous communities live in biodiverse and resource-rich regions that also have revenue-generating potential for extracting oil, gas, or other resources.

Resource governance problems are not, of course, unique to indigenous communities; however, abiding legacies of colonization and modern-day exploitation and expropriation have posed distinctive threats to indigenous communities.

On the other hand, growing international and national recognition of indigenous rights can serve as a springboard for future action.

Read more

US economic, political factors to have a big impact on the gold price – by Donna Slater (MiningWeekly.com – August 6, 2020)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Several political and Covid-19-induced factors have resulted in the current gold rally, with the gold price having surged 12% in July and reaching new record levels that have been carried into August with gold tearing above $2 000/oz, says Refinitiv precious metals research director Cameron Alexander.

He says the current trend in the gold price is being driven by its safe-haven appeal as a result of the worsening economic conditions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Further supporting the rally is the fact that central banks around the world continue to inject stimulus to resuscitate domestic economies, which has led, in some cases, to currency devaluation especially dollar and lower interest rates, says Alexander.

Read more

Rio’s Prize for Blowing Up Ancient History: $135 Million – by David Stringer (Bloomberg News – August 7, 2020)

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/

(Bloomberg) — A decision by Rio Tinto Group to destroy Aboriginal Australian heritage sites dating back more than 46,000 years delivered about $135 million in extra value to its iron ore division, according to the miner’s top executive.

Rio rejected three other options that would have avoided damaging two rockshelters in Western Australia in order to access about 8 million tons of high-value ore, Chief Executive Officer Jean-Sebastien Jacques said Friday. The company recorded about $4.6 billion in profits from its iron ore unit in the first half.

“The economic value at the time of the decision, or the net present value, was around $135 million,” when mining plans for the site in the Juukan Gorge region of the Pilbara district were decided in around 2012 or 2013, Jacques told a hearing of an Australian parliamentary committee investigating the blasts.

Read more

Heading back to camp: Mineral exploration camps are resuming in British Columbia amidst new health and safety protocols in the COVID-19 pandemic -by Tijana Mitrovic (CIM Magazine – July 23, 2020)

https://magazine.cim.org/en/

Mineral exploration companies in British Columbia are heading into the field this summer after months of sheltering in place. But in the midst of a global pandemic, what will exploration camps look like?

Governments, industry organizations and companies continue to release and develop new COVID-19 health and safety protocols to protect communities and control the spread of the virus.

In May, the provincial government announced that all workplaces would be required to have a COVID-19 safety plan before resuming or beginning work.

Read more

U.S. to reimpose tariff on some Canadian aluminum products, Trump says – by Beatrice Britneff (Global News – August 6, 2020)

https://globalnews.ca/

The United States is reimposing a tariff on some Canadian aluminum products, Donald Trump announced on Thursday.

A statement from the White House later confirmed the Trump administration reinstated a 10-per cent tariff “on imports of non-alloyed unwrought aluminum from Canada.”

A senior official told Global News the Canadian government is working behind the scenes to try to prevent the new tariff before it takes effect.

Read more

Noront to resume exploration in the Ring of Fire – by Darren MacDonald (CTV News Northern Ontario – August 6, 2020)

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

SUDBURY — Noront Resources Ltd. Announced Thursday it is reopening its Esker Site and mobilizing its team to resume exploration activities in the Ring of Fire.

The company’s Esker Site, which is located in the James Bay Lowlands, closed in April because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It normally has about 20 workers, the majority of whom are from the remote local First Nation communities of Marten Falls and Webequie.

“We are initiating a late summer field program that will require 12-15 people, during which we’ll employ soil sampling to explore for gold and airborne geophysical surveys to explore for nickel,” Noront president and CEO Alan Coutts said in a news release.

Read more

US coal miners’ options fading fast as planned retirements narrow customer base – by Taylor Kuykendall and Krizka Danielle Del Rosario (S&P Global Market Intelligence – August 5, 2020)

https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/

Adding to domestic sector stress, recent weakness in export markets has further exacerbated coal producers’ problems as tons that were going abroad try to wedge back into the U.S. market.

Despite drastic cuts in production, U.S. domestic thermal coal markets could continue to face oversupply for the foreseeable future as about a quarter of U.S. coal production is bound for power plants where customers have already set a future retirement date.

An S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis showed that nine coal basins across the U.S. produced about 683.5 million tons of coal in 2019. Of that, producers delivered 174.3 million tons to power plants that have already set retirement dates.

Read more

MINING WATCH NEWS RELEASE: Mine Waste Safety: New Global Industry Standard Will Not End Disasters (August 5, 2020)

https://miningwatch.ca/

TORONTO and NEW YORK and LONDON, Aug. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In response to the new Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (the Industry Standard) launched today, a group of scientists, community organizations, and non-governmental organizations say the Industry Standard does not go far enough to adequately protect workers, communities, and ecosystems from future mine waste failures.

Together with Earthworks and MiningWatch Canada, the group released a “Scorecard” comparing the Industry Standard to the 16 Safety First Guidelines. Those guidelines were launched in June by 142 scientists, community groups, and non-governmental organizations from 24 countries. The group concludes that over half (nine) of the 16 guidelines are not met, six are partially met, and only one is fulfilled (see also an assessment of B.C. regulations here).

Their analysis highlights that the Industry Standard is voluntary and mostly management-based, not performance-based, with no implementation or enforcement mechanisms, and no set of consequences or penalties if companies fail to meet the Standard.

Read more

Gold price nearing $2,100 as bulls keep foot on the gas – by Jim Wyckoff (Kitco News – August 6, 2020)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Gold prices are again sharply higher and hit a record high of $2,064.90, basis October Comex futures, in early U.S. trading Thursday. Silver prices are also sharply higher and hit a more-than-seven-year high of $28.54, basis September Comex futures.

October gold futures were last up $25.00 an ounce at $2,062.10. September Comex silver prices were last up $1.45 at $28.34 an ounce.

Importantly, while there are no early chart clues to suggest the gold and silver markets are close to major tops, both are now getting short-term overbought, technically, and are due for downside corrections in the uptrends.

Read more