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Marketing LNG as a climate saviour at Madrid summit isn’t going to work – by Eric Reguly (Globe and Mail – December 11, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Good news for Canada! It is no longer in the running for the Fossil of the Day Award, which is bestowed by environmental activists on countries going out of their way to ensure the planet achieves burnt toast status. This week, at the Madrid climate summit, Australia and the United States have emerged as the big winners.

The bad news? The Canadian oil and gas industry will probably leave the United Nations climate conference with no prize of its own. It had hoped that exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) would play a role in reducing global greenhouse-gas emissions. Gas burns more cleanly than coal and the industry wanted Canada to earn emission credits by, say, exporting the fuel to China, where it might displace coal in power plants.

The idea seems to be going nowhere. Even Jonathan Wilkinson, the Environment Minister who made his international debut on Tuesday in Madrid, has played down the chances of LNG exports fitting into Canada’s emissions-reduction effort. “I think we have to be very careful about the LNG argument,” he told The Globe and Mail ahead of his arrival at the summit known as COP25.

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Disruptive decade: Ten things the teen years brought world markets (Reuters U.S. – December 23, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – The 21st century’s teen years, bookended by a financial crisis at the start and the fintech revolution at the end, were a decade of disruption. From negative borrowing costs to bitcoin, here are ten trends that have upended traditional economic and investment models in the past decade:

1/FAANG-TASTIC FIVE

If they were a country, they would be the fifth largest in terms of economic output, outgunning Britain and snapping at Germany’s heels. With a $3.9 trillion market value (versus around $100 billion in January 2010), tech giants Facebook, Amazon.com, Apple, Netflix and Google-owner Alphabet — collectively known as the FAANGs — are not only at the vanguard of history’s longest share bullrun but have transformed how humans work, shop, consume news and relax.

FAANGs comprise 7% of the MSCI global equity index today, up from around 1.6% in early 2010. The savvy investor who sank $25,000 in Netflix in 2009 would now be sitting on $1 million.

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Exclusive: Pentagon to stockpile rare earth magnets for missiles, fighter jets – by Ernest Scheyder (Reuters U.S. – December 20, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – The U.S. military plans to stockpile rare earth magnets used in Javelin missiles and F-35 fighter jets, according to a government document seen by Reuters, a step that critics say does little to help create a domestic industry to build specialized magnets now made almost exclusively in Asia.

The Pentagon is seeking proposals to cache a rotating six-month supply of neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) magnets, a type of rare earth magnet essential to weapons manufacturing, according to the document, detailing the latest attempt to weaken China’s control over the rare earths sector.

Beijing has been using that prowess for leverage in its trade war with Washington. The request effectively seeks someone to warehouse a six-month supply of the specialized magnets and maintain it for at least 30 months. It does not offer financial support for NdFeB magnet manufacturing, which industry analysts and executives say is a short-sighted misstep by the Pentagon.

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Ottawa will take your comments on the Ring of Fire road – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – December 19, 2019)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Public comments are being taken as part of a federal environment assessment (EA) of the first leg of the proposed north-south Ring of Fire road. The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (formerly known as the Canadian Environment Assessment Agency) is inviting feedback for the upcoming EA of the Marten Falls Community Access Road Project.

The agency determined an EA was necessary on Nov.29. Ottawa wants the public to provide direction on what specific factors must be addressed for the environmental study and how the public should be engaged during this process.

A provincial environment assessment on the corridor began last March. Both levels of government are expected to coordinate their efforts in this process. Marten Falls First Nation, the road proponent, is a fly-in community of 325 at the junction of the Albany and Ogoki Rivers, about 170 kilometres northeast of Nakina in northwestern Ontario and about 100 kilometres southeast of the mineral deposits in the Ring of Fire.

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THE LOOMING RISK OF TAILINGS DAMS – by Moira Warburton, Sam Hart, Júlia Ledur, Ernest Scheyder and Ally J. Levine (Reuters U.S. – December 19, 2019)

https://graphics.reuters.com/

More than 240 people died this past January in Brazil when a Vale-owned tailings dam collapsed, unleashing a torrent of mud and mining waste on the countryside and the small town of Villa Ferteco, a kilometer (0.62 miles) away.

The Church of England invests in mining companies through its pensions for retired clergy. In the wake of the Vale tragedy, the Church and other funds with investments valued at about $14 trillion requested information from mining companies on their tailings dams, which are embankments constructed near mines to store mining waste in a liquid or solid form. The data from the companies has not been independently verified.

The investor review, which found at least 166 dams have had stability issues in the past, relied on companies’ disclosures about their dams holding tailings. Most Chinese and Indian miners did not provide information, leaving a significant hole in efforts to create a global picture of safety risks posed by these dams and avoid another disaster.

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Ontario’s Ring of Fire: Many Hurdles Yet to Be Overcome – by Jason Unrau (The Epoch Times – December 19, 2019)

https://www.theepochtimes.com/

The Ring of Fire, northern Ontario’s massive chromite mining and smelting development project, continues to face delays due to challenges like the lack of road access and negotiations with First Nations communities.

Premier Doug Ford has said that the mine is “critical for (his) administration,” but without a rail corridor or smelting capabilities, the extensive chromite deposits in the James Bay Lowlands will stay stranded underground, in the middle of nowhere.

“It’s inaccessible for all practical purposes, except by air, and to sell chrome you’ve got to get it to its steel mills of the world,” said Frank Smeenk, CEO of KWG Resources and one of six mining execs and geologists who located the original cache.

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China tightens rules on tailings dam safety – by Min Zhang and Tom Daly (Reuters U.S. – December 19, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/

BEIJING (Reuters) – China has tightened rules covering the safety management of tailings dams, including banning them in some areas, authorities said on Thursday, as the country aims to prevent risks after a fatal disaster in Brazil in January.

Downstream areas with a high density of people – such as residential neighborhoods, industrial premises or markets – or with production and living facilities within one kilometer, will be off limits for new, rebuilt or expanded tailing dams, the Ministry of Emergency Management said in a statement on its website.

Tailings dams are the most common waste disposal methods for mining firms, whether they are extracting iron ore, copper or gold. They can tower dozens of meters high and stretch for several kilometers.

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Time Is Running Out for Deal to Merge African Gold Mines – by Elena Mazneva (Bloomberg News – December 19, 2019)

https://finance.yahoo.com/

Endeavour Mining Corp. suggested the chances of a deal with Centamin Plc are shrinking as the other company seems unwilling to explore the benefits of combining the two Africa-focused gold producers.

Endeavour will only proceed if it can complete a proper and comprehensive due diligence process, which is not possible for now, it said in a statement Thursday.

There’s not enough time to conduct the necessary work before a Dec. 31 regulatory deadline for Endeavour to either commit to making an offer or walk away, the company said. Endeavour said earlier this week it won’t make an offer before that date without the backing of Centamin’s board.

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Open and shut cases: North: How do Canada’s mine openings compare with closures for 2019 and 2020? – by Greg Klein (Resource Clips – December 18, 2019)

http://resourceclips.com/

One indication of the state of mining involves the vital statistics of births and deaths—the new mines that arrived and the old mines that left. To that end we survey each Canadian region for some of the major gains and losses that occurred over the past year or are expected for the next.

The first of this multi-part series looks at the country’s three northern territories, with each distinct jurisdiction contributing to a study in contrasts.

Yukon

Yukon without mining? That might surprise people better acquainted with the territory’s past than its present. But such was the case for nearly a year, following the suspension of Minto, Yukon’s sole remaining hardrock mine up to 2018. Nevertheless operations returned to this fabled mining region in September as Victoria Gold TSXV:VIT celebrated Eagle’s debut. By late November the company reported 10,400 ounces of gold and 1,600 ounces of silver from the heap leach operation.

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Final vehicles roll off the line in Oshawa as GM plant winds down production – by Ian Bickis (Globe and Mail – December 19, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The last vehicles rolled down the line Wednesday at General Motor’s Oshawa Assembly Plant as an era of production comes to a close for the Ontario motor city. “This has been coming in slow motion, and suddenly it’s here,” said Joel Smith, a union organizer with Unifor Local 222.

Outside the plant, workers hugged in the bitter cold as some walked in for the final shift while others walked out into an unknown future.

GM announced in November last year that it would wind down production at the plant, which has been in operation since 1953, while GM first started producing vehicles in the city east of Toronto in 1918.

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Billionaire Eric Sprott dishes on his golden investment spree: ‘It’s like being at a table with a winning run’ – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – December 18, 2019)

https://business.financialpost.com/

One week before Halloween, Canada’s biggest gold enthusiast, the septuagenarian billionaire Eric Sprott, wearing a neatly pressed tuxedo, bounded onto a stage in a downtown Toronto ballroom and accepted his induction into Canada’s Investment Industry Hall of Fame.

He declared himself both humbled and honoured, and then rollicked into the wee hours of the night at his home in a nearby tower with expansive views of the city’s sparkling skyline. The next morning, though 75 and technically retired, he showed up at his office, grumbling about a lack of sleep, but dressed in a magenta-coloured, paisley button-up, ready for a 9 a.m. meeting with a penny stock exploration company.

“I keep reading that people are never making (gold) discoveries, the rate of discoveries is going down,” he said, occasionally rubbing his temples and closing his eyes. “The funny thing, well, I guess I’m the sucker then because I keep buying guys who say they’re making discoveries.”

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Zimbabwe Faces Mining-Asset Seizure Over Canceled Joint Ventures – by Loni Prinsloo, Antony Sguazzin and Godfrey Marawanyika (Bloomberg News – December 18, 2019)

https://finance.yahoo.com/

Zimbabwe, which is banking on investment in its natural resources to arrest an economic free-fall, faces having the assets of the state mining company seized after a final appeal of a 2014 arbitration ruling failed.

Companies linked to British Virgin Islands-based Amari Holdings Ltd. won the right to seize assets worth $65.9 million in compensation for Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp.’s cancellation of nickel and platinum ventures formed in 2007 and 2008. The ruling by the International Court of Arbitration was made after a hearing in Lusaka, Zambia.

The development comes at a difficult time for Zimbabwe, with the government forecasting the economy will contract 6.5% this year because of crippling foreign-currency, fuel, wheat and power shortages.

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RPT-COLUMN-Commodities 2020? Trump, China bring deja vu, all over again – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – December 17, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Dec 17 (Reuters) – As 2020 approaches, the year ends with the tantalising prospect of a trade deal between the United States and China. Again.

Initial agreement to de-escalate the tariff war between the world’s two biggest economies has been interpreted as a positive for the global economic outlook. But it’s worth remembering that 2018 ended on a similar note – leaving the commodities outlook once again hostage to the whims of Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

In November last year, the U.S. President and his Chinese counterpart also reached a trade agreement of sorts at the G20 summit in Argentina. That was also touted at the time as major progress to ending the tariff war that started in the middle of 2018.

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Lithium could help us ditch fossil fuels. But mining is messy – by Stephen Leahy (MACLEAN’S Magazine – December 17, 2019)

https://www.macleans.ca/

The essential element could help us eliminate fossil fuels. But we need to find better ways to mine it.

The world’s electrical power and transportation systems need to become fossil-fuel-free to keep climate change to less than two degrees. Mark Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, says that transitioning to 100 per cent clean, renewable energy is entirely doable by 2050, with much in place by 2030.

“Sixty-one countries have already committed to 100 per cent renewable energy,” Jacobson told participants at an international conference that addressed the question “Can we mine our way out of the climate crisis?” this past November in Ottawa.

But the transition will demand a significant amount of metals and minerals to build the solar panels and wind turbines that will be needed to generate electricity, and make batteries for storing energy and powering vehicles.

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Yes, Virginia, Canada needs more pipelines (Financial Post – December 19, 2019)

https://business.financialpost.com/

Opinion: Demand is what is driving pipeline construction, especially in the United States but also in Russia, China and elsewhere

Early this month, as the federal government returned to work, the Russian and Chinese governments jointly turned on a 3,000-kilometre natural gas pipeline that runs from Siberia to northeast China.

The “Power of Siberia” pipeline is a US$55-billion project whose geopolitical nature the Financial Times noted, characterizing it as “a symbol of Moscow’s diplomatic pivot towards Beijing at a time of worsening relations with the West.” It was that. But it was also a real-time rebuttal to Canadian critics who wonder if Canada “really” needs more pipelines.

As anyone not in hibernation well knows, pipelines have been a political football since at least 2009 when Barack Obama entered the White House. Over the next eight years he artfully blocked Keystone XL.

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