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Future of deep-sea mining stands at a crucial juncture (France 24.com – November 27, 2024)

https://www.france24.com/en/

“It feels like a real crunch point,” Louisa Casson of Greenpeace International told AFP. “We are seeing surging momentum for a moratorium (on deep-sea mining). But at the same time, the industry is saying 2025 is the year when we’re just going to start applying to mine.”

Greenpeace has warned for years of the risks posed by deep-sea mining to the oceans’ unique, but only partly understood, ecosystems. Until recently, the idea of plunging deep into ocean abyss for the large-scale extraction of coveted minerals like cobalt, nickel and copper seemed a distant possibility.

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OPINION: Election plot twist: Trump and Musk to oversee great US battery boom in red states – by Simon Moores (Benchmark Minerals – November 26, 2024)

https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/

In the alliance between President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk stands the pending electric vehicle (EV) battery boom in the US. Lithium ion batteries are a new mega-industry in-waiting sparked by $110 billion of Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) money.

Three years ago, while China dominated, the US was a bystander in this global battery arms race with only a handful of gigafactories producing batteries for domestic EV production. Today, 40 super-sized battery plants span the country in stages of construction that will soon employ up to 4,000 American workers and spark over 50,000 related jobs per site.

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Climate-obsessed Trudeau has put Canada at the mercy of Trump tariffs – by Geoff Russ (National Post – November 27, 2024)

https://nationalpost.com/

The Liberals have throttled the energy industry, leaving us vulnerable to protectionism

Donald Trump has threatened to slap punishing 25 per cent tariffs on “all” Canadian goods imported into the United States. This is expected to happen soon after the U.S.-president elect moves back into the White House in the new year. No Canadian, even pro-Trump conservatives, should fool themselves about the damage that these tariffs could impose on Canada.

Despite dealing with two protectionist administrations in Washington over the past nine years, the decisions made by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government have not put Canada in a strong position to deal with what could be an existential threat to many Canadian industries.

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Newmont signs $795m deal to sell Éléonore gold mine in Canada to Dhilmar (Mining Technology – November 26, 2024)

https://www.mining-technology.com/

The sale forms part of Newmont’s efforts to divest non-core assets, which have now surpassed its initial $2bn target.

US-based gold miner Newmont has signed an agreement to sell its Éléonore underground gold mine in Quebec, Canada, to UK-based private mining company Dhilmar for $795m (£632.16m) in cash. The sale is a part of Newmont’s divestiture programme aimed at offloading non-core assets, which has now surpassed its initial $2bn target.

Located in Eeyou Istchee/James Bay, in a remote corner of the Northern Quebec region, the Éléonore mine commenced commercial production in 2015. Dhilmar previously collaborated with Newmont in 2016 to acquire the Batu Hijau mine in Indonesia.

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‘Let’s do this’: Crowsnest Pass mayor wants proposed coal mine sooner than later – by Bill Graveland (CTV News Calgary – November 26,2024)

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/

A mayor in southwestern Alberta is hoping for an immediate meeting with Premier Danielle Smith to discuss a coal project his community has voted in favour of being built. “The sooner the better,” said Crowsnest Pass Mayor Blair Painter. “Let’s do this.”

Residents of the municipality, which saw its last coal mine close four decades ago, voted 72 per cent “yes” to a simple referendum question: “Do you support the development and operations of the metallurgical coal mine at Grassy Mountain?”

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Bolivia says China’s CBC to invest $1 billion in lithium plants – by Daniel Ramos and Daina Beth Solomon (Reuters – November 26, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/markets/

Bolivia’s government and Chinese consortium CBC, which includes battery manufacturer CATL, have signed an agreement for CBC to build two direct lithium extraction plants for at least $1 billion, government authorities said on Tuesday.

The government will take a 51% stake in the project, to be located in the Uyuni salt flat in southwest Bolivia, within the so-called lithium triangle shared with Chile and Argentina. The two plants together are intended to produce 35,000 metric tons of lithium a year, said Omar Alarcon, head of state-run lithium company YLB.

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Four Barrick Gold employees detained in Mali in second wave of arrests over foreign miners’ revenues – by Geoffrey York (Globe and Mail – November 26, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. says four of its local employees have been “unjustly imprisoned” in Mali in a second wave of arrests of its staff in the West African country where one of its biggest gold mines is located.

Mali’s military regime, which took power in a 2021 coup, has been putting pressure on foreign mining companies to give the government a bigger share of their revenue. It has been seeking US$417-million from Barrick, alleging that the company failed to pay all its required taxes – a charge the company rejects.

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First Nation accuses Ontario of failing to consult on Timmins mine project – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 26, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Taykwa Tagmou Nation wants government approvals halted on Newmont’s plans to restart Pamour gold mine

A northeastern Ontario First Nation is out to halt the restart of Newmont’s Pamour Mine, outside Timmins, claiming the provincial government has failed in its duty to consult.

Taykwa Tagamou Nation filed claim in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Nov. 20 asking the court to stay any government authorizations, permits and approvals on Newmont’s plan to recommission and return Pamour to production, 15 years after it was last mined.

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Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine – by Frik Els (Mining.com – November 22, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

MINING.COM’s ranking of world’s 50 most valuable miners enjoyed a combined market capitalization of $1.51 trillion at the end of Q3, up by single digits since the start of the year compared to rip-roaring broader US and world markets.

Much of the drag on the index comes from the top – the mining industry’s traditional Big 5 – BHP, Rio Tinto, Glencore, Vale and Anglo American. With the exception of Anglo, which received a fillip from BHP’s approach, the stocks are deep in the red for 2024.

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Cleveland-Cliffs CEO still keen on acquiring U.S. Steel as uncertainty weighs on Nippon bid – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – November 26, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. chief executive Lourenco Goncalves says he is still interested in buying United States Steel Corp. to create an American champion, as regulators continue to deliberate over whether to allow Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. to buy the company.

Cleveland-based Cliffs, which recently acquired Canadian steelmaker Stelco Holdings Inc., attempted to buy its Pittsburgh-based competitor U.S. Steel in the summer of 2023. But Nippon Steel swooped in with a higher bid late last year that U.S. Steel’s board backed.

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Want a Diamond? You’ll Need to Decide on Lab-Grown or Natural. – by Stephanie Cain (New York Times – November 2024)

https://www.nytimes.com/

Consumer misconceptions about diamonds can make the process of engagement ring shopping even more distressing.

With Thanksgiving marking the unofficial start of engagement season — late November through Valentine’s Day is when marriage proposals are common — ring buying is top of mind for many couples considering marriage.

The four Cs — carat, cut, color, and clarity — have traditionally been used to evaluate diamonds. Now, couples buying diamond engagement rings have another choice to make: natural diamonds, which are mined from the earth, or lab-grown diamonds, which are man-made but chemically identical.

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Another wake-up call to ready for war as Canada slumbers on – by John Ivison (National Post – November 26, 2024)

https://nationalpost.com/

A report by the Business Council of Canada notes Canada’s rivals are investing heavily, while Ottawa has failed to spend on military capabilities. On the day that Vladimir Putin said NATO members are now directly involved in the war in Ukraine because they have supplied missiles being used to bomb Russia, Justin Trudeau was announcing a yuletide $6.3-billion GST holiday on Christmas trees, beer and popcorn.

Canada, remember, is the country that can’t afford to hit its NATO spending target of two per cent of GDP for another eight years. The chief of the defence staff, Jennie Carignan, has warned Canadians they may have as little as five years to prepare for emerging threats from Russia and China.

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[Antimony] The Secret Metal That Helped Win WWII is Back, And Prices Are Soaring – by Editor Oil Price (Yahoo Finance – November 24, 2024)

https://finance.yahoo.com/

More than 100 years ago, a ship left a Nova Scotia harbor carrying a precious cargo that few today would recognize as valuable. The crew, full of optimism, was bound for Wales hoping that the metal they carried would lead them to riches. Unfortunately, they never made it.

A German U-boat lurking in the cold Atlantic waters fired a torpedo and the ship went down, sinking to the ocean floor along with its mysterious cargo. At the time, the metal seemed unimportant, but its true value wasn’t fully realized until later. Fast forward to today and that same metal is critical to modern military and industrial applications.

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Donald Trump threatens 25% tariff on products from Canada, Mexico – by Alexander Panetta (CBC News World – November 25, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/

Damaging fee would drive up costs for exporters

Donald Trump has levelled his most severe threat against Canada in years, warning that on his first day in office he might impose punishing economic sanctions across North America.

The U.S. president-elect threatened Monday evening to slap a 25 per cent tariff on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico on Jan. 20, 2025, his inauguration day, unless those countries curb the flow of drugs and migrants across their borders. “This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

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First Nation goes to court, accusing B.C. of not consulting over major gold mine – by Ashley Joannou (Canadian Press/CTV News B.C. – November 25, 2024)

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/

A First Nation says it wasn’t meaningfully consulted before the British Columbia government “effectively greenlit” what has been called the world’s largest undeveloped gold mining project.

The Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation has applied to the B.C. Supreme Court for a judicial review of the province’s decision to issue a “substantial start determination” for Seabridge Gold’s KSM Mine Project in Northwestern B.C., part of the final stage of the environmental assessment process.

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