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The Kimberley Process Has Failed at Its One Job. Let It Do Something Else. – by Rob Bates (JCK Online.com – December 5, 2024)

JCK Online

In mid-November, the Kimberley Process (KP) lifted its embargo against the Central African Republic (CAR); there’s a good backgrounder here. In this special guest editorial, Brad Brooks-Rubin — who has worked for the U.S. government, industry associations, and a nongovernmental organization (NGO) — gives his view on what this means for the certification scheme’s future.

Recently I walked into a jewelry store and asked about blood diamonds. The salesperson, leaning on their training, talked to me about the Kimberley Process certification scheme. Per the standard industry talking points, I was told that 99% of diamonds are conflict-free and that the KP helps support local development in diamond-mining countries.

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Canada Moves to Protect Arctic From Threats by Russia and China – by Ian Austen (New York Times – December 6, 2024)

https://www.nytimes.com/

Ottawa says its focus on the Arctic comes after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “has shaken the foundations” of international cooperation in the northern region.

Citing growing interest by China and Russia in the Arctic as global warming makes the region more accessible, Canada on Friday said it would focus on building stronger alliances with other nations in the region, particularly the United States.

“For many years, Canada has aimed to manage the Arctic and northern regions cooperatively with other states as a zone of low tension,” according to a statement by the Canadian government.

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Navajo communities seek ‘just transition’ for people affected by coal mine closures – by Arlyssa D. Becenti (Arizona Republic – December 6, 2024)

https://www.azcentral.com/

Nearly 20 years after Peabody Mining closed its Black Mesa Mine and five years after the Kayenta Mine and Navajo Generating Station closed on the Navajo Nation, residents are working toward recovery of what’s left of the land after more than 50 years of coal extraction.

The work includes a land use plan that has been 20 years in the making and a proposal for a community center that will also be instrumental as a climate resilience center. While the coal company initiated reclamation efforts, the post-mining landscape has always appeared different depending on whether it’s seen by someone who resides within the community or someone from the outside.

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Mali issues arrest warrant for Barrick CEO, reports say – by Geoffrey York and Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – December 6, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Authorities in Mali have issued an arrest warrant for Barrick Gold Corp. chief executive officer Mark Bristow in a fresh escalation of a tax dispute in the West African country, Malian journalists have reported.

Copies of the arrest warrant, posted by one of the journalists on social media Thursday, show that Mr. Bristow is being charged with money laundering and violating Mali’s financial regulations during the period from 2019 to 2023.

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Rattled by China, West scrambles to rejig critical minerals supply chains – by Amy Lv, Divya Rajagopal and Ernest Scheyder (Reuters – December 6, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

BEIJING/TORONTO/LONDON (Reuters) – China’s trade restrictions on strategic minerals are starting to hit Western companies where it hurts.

Blaming Beijing’s curbs on antimony exports announced in August, German chemicals and consumer goods heavyweight Henkel told customers last month it had declared force majeure and suspended deliveries of four types of adhesives and lubricants widely used by automakers, according to a Nov. 8 letter to clients reviewed by Reuters.

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North Carolina floods threaten mines key to global electronics industry – by Eva Dou (Washington Post – October 1, 2024)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

The high-purity quartz sand that’s mined in the town of Spruce Pine, N.C., is critical for making everything from semiconductors to solar panels.

Flooding in North Carolina has imperiled the operations of mines that produce the world’s purest quartz sand — an irreplaceable ingredient for manufacturing components at the heart of smartphones and other electronic devices.

The town of Spruce Pine, where these unique mines are located, remains in a dire situation, with power, water and cell service largely disconnected early Tuesday. While the floodwaters brought on by Helene have receded, local residents said many roads remained impassable. Some people were still trying desperately to confirm loved ones were safe.

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The role of minerals in Trump’s energy strategy dominance agenda – by Gregory Wischer and Shubham Dwivedi (Mining.com – December 3, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

President-elect Donald Trump has announced that his administration will pursue a path toward “US energy dominance”. He emphasized that “America is blessed with vast amounts of ‘Liquid Gold’ and other valuable minerals and resources,” declaring, “We will ‘DRILL BABY DRILL.’”

Achieving energy dominance will necessitate substantial quantities of minerals, ranging from tungsten in exploration drill bits to copper in electrical transmission lines. Crucially, this goal also requires secure mineral supply chains.

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Trump tariffs could lead to potential job losses in Labrador mines, expert says – by Alex Kennedy 9CBC News Newfoundland & Labrador – December 02, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/

Threats of a 25 per cent tariff sounded alarms in industries around the world

Threats of a 25 per cent tariff on goods exported from Canada into the United States have sounded alarms in industries around the world, including mining and those operating in Labrador. Tamer Elbokl, editor in chief of the Canadian Mining Journal, told CBC Radio Friday that any kind of tariff would be bad news on his industry.

“It will have a huge impact. Not just on iron ore, but all minerals exported from Canada to the United States,” Elbokl said. Canada was the world’s eighth largest producer of iron ore in 2023, with the majority of trade going to the United States.

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Honoring those who built our coal legacy on National Miners Day – by Bobby McCool (Appalachian News- Express – December 2, 2024)

https://www.news-expressky.com/

Bobby McCool is the State Representative 97th District

Electricity, roads, smartphones. What do all these seemingly unrelated things have in common? Their existence is dependent on mined materials, extracted from the earth by hard-working men and women who take pride in the role they play in providing a great quality of life to our nation.

While the products mined can range from rock salt to metals, Kentuckians most often think of mining in terms of the coal industry that accounts for almost 70 percent of our energy portfolio. It is the coal miner that kept our state’s utility rates less expensive than neighboring states.

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China bans exports to US of gallium, germanium, antimony in response to chip sanctions – by Elaine Kurtenbach (Associated Press – December 3, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

BANGKOK (AP) — China announced Tuesday it is banning exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony and other key high-tech materials with potential military applications, as a general principle, lashing back at U.S. limits on semiconductor-related exports.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry announced the move after the Washington expanded its list of Chinese companies subject to export controls on computer chip-making equipment, software and high-bandwidth memory chips. Such chips are needed for advanced applications.

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How GE Vernova plans to deploy small nuclear reactors across the developed world – by Spencer Kimball (CNBC.com – November 30, 2024)

https://www.cnbc.com/

GE Vernova is aiming to deploy small nuclear reactors across the developed world over the next decade, staking out a leadership position in a budding technology that could play a central role in meeting surging electricity demand and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The company’s small modular reactor, or SMR, is designed to reduce the cost of building new nuclear plants, said Nicole Holmes, chief commercial officer at GE Vernova’s nuclear unit GE Hitachi.

GE Vernova is the spinoff of General Electric’s former energy business. The company’s stock has more than doubled since listing on the New York Stock Exchange last April, with investors seeing the Cambridge, Mass.-based company playing a key role in the future of the power industry through a portfolio of divisions that span nuclear, natural gas, wind and carbon capture.

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Wyoming and Montana Republicans vow to challenge Biden decision to block coal mining in area – by Staff (Washington Examiner – December 3, 2024)

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President Joe Biden’s administration approved legislation blocking new coal mining in parts of Wyoming and Montana due to climate change concerns. Republican politicians in both states vowed to challenge and eventually overturn the decision.

The Bureau of Land Management announced its approval of the Resource Management Plan Amendment for the Buffalo Field Office in Buffalo, Wyoming, according to reports. This amendment will prohibit new federal coal mining leases in the Powder River Basin by 2041. The judgment was made over concerns about the amount of greenhouse gas emissions due to coal mining operations, according to documentation.

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Glencore confirms it will close Kidd Creek Mine at the end of 2026 – by Darren MacDonald (CTV News Northern Ontario – December 3, 2024)

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

A spokesperson for Glencore Canada said Tuesday the company will close its Kidd Creek Mine near Timmins at the end of December 2026.

Alexis Segal, head of communications for Glencore Canada, told CTV News the decision comes after a 2021 study found there was no way to extend the life of the mine. “It’s already the deepest base metal mine in the world,” Segal said. There was no way to safely and economically mine deeper, forcing Glencore to close.

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Trudeau’s ‘vibe bribe’ will get the wrong kind of attention abroad – by Greg Quinn (Read The Line – December 3, 2024)

https://www.readtheline.ca/

Greg Quinn OBE is a former British diplomat who has served in Estonia, Ghana, Belarus, Iraq, Washington D.C., Kazakhstan, Guyana, Suriname, The Bahamas, Canada, and Antigua and Barbuda in addition to stints in London.

In my years in the British diplomatic service, I had a chance to experience politics in many countries, including, of course, Canada. Along the way I’ve drawn some conclusions. One of them is that elections are funny things — they tend to make political leaders forget inhibitions about policies they’d previously opposed while suddenly finding money that had presumably fallen down the back of the sofa.

Which is exactly what appears to have happened in Canada recently with the prime minister’s announcement of the temporary removal of GST/HST, from 14 December this year until 15 February next year, plus a $250 per person give away.

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The Indigenous Economy Is About to Take Off – by Carol Anne Hilton (MACLEAN’S Magazine – December 3, 2024)

https://macleans.ca/

Carol Anne Hilton is the CEO and founder of Indigenomics Institute.

Reconciliation is becoming Canada’s biggest business story—and its greatest economic opportunity

In 2025, Indigenous communities across Canada will gain more control over their land and resources, opening up new opportunities for development, profit and reinvestment. The result will be a virtuous cycle in the Indigenous economy that’s going to make Bay Street stand up and pay attention.

We’ve seen this trend begin to play out for the past few years. In 2021, for example, seven Mi’kmaw communities obtained a 50 per cent share in Nova Scotia–based Clearwater, one of the largest seafood companies in North America, for $1 billion. Last year, the Haisla Nation in B.C. became the majority owner of Cedar LNG, a natural-gas export terminal and the largest Indigenous-owned infrastructure project in Canada.

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