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Opinion: Canada can fast-track critical minerals and dodge US tariffs – by Phillip Mackey (Northern Miner – May 21, 2025)

https://www.northernminer.com/

This year’s Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) annual convention will be remembered not just for the discussions that took place in Toronto that first week of March. It also coincided with Canada’s unveiling of strong responses to United States President Donald Trump’s unfair tariffs on Canadian goods – including critical minerals.

Word at the convention was that mining and metallurgy projects in gold, base metals and rare earths are starting to attract investor attention. The 2025 convention also put Canada in the spotlight, and the federal government took the opportunity to announce that the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (METC) would be extended for two years – great news for the mining industry.

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Who will benefit from melting glaciers?- In a remote corner of North America, salmon and mining companies are vying for new territory. – by Max Graham (Grist.org – May 21, 2025)

https://grist.org/

This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center. It was produced by Grist and co-published with Alaska Public Media.

The Tulsequah Glacier meanders down a broad valley in northwest British Columbia, 7 miles from the Alaska border. At the foot of the glacier sits a silty, gray lake, a reservoir of glacial runoff. The lake is vast, deeper than Seattle’s Space Needle is tall. But it didn’t exist a few decades ago, before 2 miles of ice had melted.

On an overcast day, a helicopter carrying three salmon scientists zoomed up the valley. As it neared the lake, the pilot banked to the right and flew over the south side of the basin, whirring over a narrow outlet where it drains into the Tulsequah River. He landed on a beach of small boulders and the researchers clambered out one by one.

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Mining claims in Ring of Fire up 66 per cent over past 3 years: environmental group – by Liam Casey (Canadian Press/APTN News – May 21, 2025)

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Mining claims in the Ring of Fire region are up 66 per cent over the last three years and now total an area 14 times the size of Toronto, an environmental group said Wednesday after compiling the data. There are now more than 43,000 claims in the region that is some 450 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont., said Anna Baggio, the conservation director of Wildlands League.

“The claims are exploding, so that’s a problem,” said Baggio, who extracted the data from the Ontario Geological Survey site. “The problem is that much like the rest of Canada, this is all happening under a free entry system where anyone can register a claim as long as they have a prospector’s licence and do the Mining Act course.”

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Hopes of lithium revival dashed as prices crater to four-year lows – by Alex Gluyas (Australian Financial Review – May 21, 2025)

https://www.afr.com/

Just last week investors betting on a resurgence in lithium were cheering some much-needed positive news after Core Lithium unveiled a plan to revive its mothballed operations near Darwin.

On the surface, it was a momentous decision. Core was the first miner in Australia to consider reopening an idled operation since the downturn began, signalling that sentiment may finally be turning. The news sent the stock surging more than 40 per cent last week.

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The political climate on climate has changed – by Bjorn Lomborg (Financial Post – May 21, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

The era of being cheered for every green promise has ended. Now it’s time for business leaders to get back to business

Over the past decade, the leaders of corporate and international organizations became used to being lauded for making grand but ultimately empty green promises on stages in Davos and at climate summits. How quickly things have changed! Fear of being called out by the Trump administration is forcing many leaders to change course — at least in their rhetoric.

World Bank president Ajay Banga’s first move taking over the institution in 2023 was to extend its mission from ending poverty to dealing with climate change and making the planet “livable.” And last November, as he headed to the COP summit in Azerbaijan, Mr. Banga graced the cover of Time Magazine’s “climate issue,” warning that climate change was “intertwined” with every challenge.

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Ontario launches $3.1-billion critical minerals plan – by Abdul Matin Sarfraz (Canada’s National Observer/Penticton Herald – May 22, 2025)

https://www.pentictonherald.ca/

Ontario’s new $3.1-billion plan for a critical minerals supply chain created in partnership with First Nations is raising concerns about weakened environmental protections and inadequate Indigenous consultation.

Announced Wednesday, the provincial initiative will create a “made-in-Ontario” supply chain and boost First Nations equity, according to the government. But critics say environmental protections and First Nations consultation will be sidelined in the rush to develop the Ring of Fire — a vast region about 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.

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Rare Earth Truce or Trap? China’s Grip Still Chokes Global Supply – by Sohrab Darabshaw (Metal Miner – May 22, 2025)

https://agmetalminer.com/

With the United States and China ratcheting down the tariff war (for 90 days at least), many expected that the export of rare earths and permanent magnets would soon return to pre-trade war conditions, as MetalMiner’s weekly newsletter weighed in on in the past. However, that does not seem to be happening on the ground. Now, alarm bells are going off as market insiders anticipate a major shortage in global rare earth supplies.

There is a bit of positive news: China has granted a few export licenses to some companies, including those that supply to European customers. According to a Reuters report, this includes a rare earth magnet producer that supplies automaker Volkswagen. Quoting unnamed sources, the report stated that export permits had been issued to a total of four magnet producers, the first since China curbed shipments back in April of this year.

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Canada’s crude oil shift to China schools Trump in unintended consequences – by Clyde Russell (Reuters – May 22, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

If there is a law of unintended consequences, then a good example is how commodity markets are adjusting to both the realities and the perceived threats of the tariff war launched by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Mr. Trump’s trade and tariff measures have forced commodity producers, traders and buyers to rethink long-established relationships, adapt to emerging realities and try to predict what may happen. What is becoming clear is that commodity markets are adjusting not only to actual measures imposed by the Trump administration, but also to the possibility of future actions, which has created a desire to limit exposure to the United States.

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Stocks tumble as bond yields jump and worries mount about U.S. debt – by Darcy Keith (Globe and Mail – May 22, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Wall Street suffered its biggest selloff in a month on Wednesday as Treasury yields spiked on worries that government debt would swell by trillions of dollars if Congress passes U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed tax-cut bill.

The slide in U.S. stocks accelerated mid way through the trading session after a US$16-billion auction of 20-year bonds attracted only soft demand from investors, in what was seen as a test of foreign appetite for U.S. debt.

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Objections to ‘special economic zones’ bill pour in ahead of committee review – by Jessica Smith Cross and Sneh Duggal (The Trillium – May 21, 2025)

https://www.thetrillium.ca/

A committee studying Bill 5 has received more than 100 written submissions so far opposing it

Ford government-proposed legislation that would give cabinet ministers broad powers to exempt chosen projects from provincial and local laws has drawn concerted opposition from First Nations, environmental groups, municipalities and concerned citizens.

Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, is scheduled for public hearings at a legislative committee on Thursday and Monday. Ahead of those meetings, the interior committee has received more than 120 written submissions that overwhelmingly oppose the bill.

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Indigenous development corps. will be hit hard by N.W.T. diamond mine closures, report says – by Nadeer Hashmi (CBC News North – May 21, 2025)

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

Analysis finds diamond industry generated $104M for 3 Indigenous development corporations in 2023

With the N.W.T.’s diamond mines facing an uncertain future, some Indigenous businesses are warning of the impact the mines’ closures could have on local communities.

Diamond mining brought in over $104 million in revenue to three N.W.T. Indigenous development corporations and created 355 jobs for local Indigenous people in 2023, according to a new report analyzing the impact of the diamond mines.

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NEWS RELEASE: Diversification is the cornerstone of energy security, yet critical minerals are moving in the opposite direction (Internationsl Energy Agency Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 – May 21, 2025)

For the report: https://shorturl.at/aM8Qa

Emphasising major energy and economic implications, new IEA report identifies vulnerabilities over next decade, notably for copper and other strategic minerals

While today’s critical mineral markets may appear well supplied, with prices well down from the highs seen in 2021 and 2022, a new IEA report finds that a combination of increasing supply concentration in a handful of countries and the spread of export restrictions is raising the risk of painful disruptions.

The 2025 edition of the IEA’s annual Global Critical Minerals Outlook, out today, presents the latest data and analysis on supply, demand, investment and more for key energy-related minerals, including copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements. It is accompanied by an updated Critical Minerals Data Explorer, an interactive online tool that allows users to explore the latest IEA projections.

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Premier Danielle Smith says Alberta won’t allow open-pit mines, pleasing environmental groups – by Stephen Tipper (Calgary Herald – May 20, 2025)

https://calgaryherald.com/

Smith also said she hopes that people would have an open mind about mining

Two Alberta environmental groups are praising Premier Danielle Smith’s comments on banning open-pit mining, just days after the provincial energy regulator approved a coal exploration program for a contentious project in the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies.

The premier said on her weekend radio program that the province has heard “loud and clear” that Albertans do not want mountaintop removal or strip mining. “They’re concerned that when you do that, it exposes the rock face to when it rains, selenium getting into the water system. So we’ve put a policy in place — you can’t do these things,” said Smith.

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India’s steel expansion threatens climate goals and global efforts to clean up industry: report – by Sibi Arasu (Associated Press – May 19, 2025)

https://apnews.com/

BENGALURU, India (AP) — India’s plans to double steel production by the end of the decade could jeopardize its national climate goals and a key global target to reduce planet-heating gas emissions from the steel industry, according to a report released Tuesday.

The report by Global Energy Monitor, an organization that tracks energy projects around the globe, said efforts to decarbonize steelmaking are gaining traction around the world. However, in India, which is the world’s second largest steel-producing nation, overwhelming reliance on coal-based technologies presents a big challenge.

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China isn’t getting rid of its controls over rare earths, despite trade truce with US – by Nectar Gan (CNN.com – May 20, 2025)

https://www.cnn.com/

Despite a 90-day truce in its trade war with the United States, China appears to be maintaining tight control over its rare earth exports – preserving a key source of leverage in future negotiations amid intensifying strategic rivalry with Washington.

As part of last week’s trade agreement in Geneva to temporarily roll back tariffs, China pledged to suspend or remove the “non-tariff” countermeasures it imposed on the US since April 2. That has left businesses scrambling to find out whether that promise applies to China’s export controls on seven rare earth minerals and associated products, which were imposed on April 4 as part of its retaliation against US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs on Chinese goods.

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