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China deploys rare earths as weapon in trade war with Trump (Bloomberg News – April 7, 2025)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

China has expanded its use of critical minerals as a trade weapon with curbs on exports of rare earths, threatening to shake-up the global supply of key materials used widely in high-tech manufacturing from electric vehicles to weaponry.

As part of its retaliation to President Donald Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs on imported Chinese goods, Beijing said Friday it will tighten controls on exports of seven types of rare earths. The country is by far the world’s biggest supplier of the minerals, which comprise 17 elements in the periodic table.

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CHART: Mining stocks massacre as copper price craters by 9% – by Frik Els (Mining.com – April 4, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

On Friday, the most-actively traded copper contract plunged 9.1% to $4.3880 per pound ($9,670 a tonne) on the Comex market, not far off the day’s lows. Trading was busy with the equivalent of a nominal $11.4 billion worth of the orange metal changing hands.

May delivery copper is now down 18.4% from its record high hit near the end of March on frantic US buying ahead of the tariffs, only just escaping a technical bear market. In London copper did not fare much better, dropping 6.8% to $8,734 per tonne, the lowest since March 2020 at the onset of the covid pandemic.

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Carney’s former firm Brookfield has been accused of breaching Indigenous rights in 4 countries – by Brett Forester (CBC News Indigenous – April 04, 2025)

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

Allegations in Brazil, Canada, Colombia and U.S. involve dams, wind farm, other operations

Under Mark Carney’s leadership, global investment firm Brookfield was accused of breaching Indigenous rights or harming the environment in at least four countries, CBC Indigenous has found. Carney, who is running for prime minister as Liberal leader, spent more than four years as vice chair and then chair at Brookfield Asset Management, where he focused on green investing and renewable energy.

During that period from 2020 to 2024, Brookfield businesses faced reports of serious human rights abuses in Brazil, Indigenous resistance in Colombia, a First Nation’s $100-million lawsuit in Ontario and an environmental dispute in Maine.

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Low diamond prices raise risk of early closure of N.W.T. mines, experts say – by Luke Carroll (CBC News North – April 4, 2025)

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

All three N.W.T. diamond mines reported millions of dollars of losses in 2024

All of the N.W.T.’s diamond mines are reporting millions of dollars in losses from last year as they deal with inflation and slumping diamond prices.

With just a short time left in the lifespan of the three mines and more potential economic turbulence ahead, experts believe there is risk the mines could close — and leave the territory with no economic replacement plan — earlier than expected.

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Gold price down over 2% as safe-haven metal falls victim to market selloff – by Staff (Mining.com – April 4, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

Gold slumped more than 2% on Friday as the metal fell victim to the global markets sell-off following US President Donald Trump’s new round of tariffs that turned out to be more aggressive than expected.

Spot gold fell 2.2% to $3,044.28 per ounce by 10:40 a.m. ET, erasing all of its gains for the week despite setting a new all-time high just two sessions ago. US gold futures lost 1.7% to trade at $3,068.70 per ounce.

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Dow plunges by more than 1,600 points after China retaliates against Trump’s tariffs – by David Goldman and John Towfighi (CNN.com – April 4, 2025)

https://www.cnn.com/

New York – CNN – US stocks were battered by a sell-off Friday after China retaliated against the United States for President Donald Trump’s tariffs in a tit-for-tat that escalates a global trade war. The Dow fell more than 1,600 points, or 4%, and the broader S&P 500 was 4.7% lower. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was 5.3% lower.

Investors had been fearful that a dramatic escalation of the trade war could plunge the US and global economies into a recession. JPMorgan analysts said Thursday that America’s economy and the broader world economy both had a 60% chance of sinking into a recession this year. The analysts also said odds of a recession would rise if countries began to retaliate against the United States — and China did so Friday. Retaliation raises the risk of further escalation and could diminish hopes for negotiation.

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An American mine still has millions of tons of copper, if companies can get to it (Bloomberg/Mining Weekly – April 2, 2025)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Carved into a mountain range in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, where temperatures often reach 118F (48C), a vast mining complex more than a century old is on the front lines of a race to unlock millions of tons of copper.

After 154 years of digging at Morenci, all the easily recoverable copper has been mined. Left behind are towering piles of waste rock that hold nearly ten-million tons of the metal seen as critical to global electrification. It’s a cache that could prove key to President Donald Trump’s ambition to boost US production of critical minerals.

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Trump’s ‘reciprocal tariffs’ are a con – and investors are now waking up to his bigger ambitions – by David Rosenberg (Globe and Mail – April 4, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

There is now certainty that this White House trade strategy is both nonsensical and unachievable. Look, we can all accept that China is a menace and a huge cheater, but it would be preferable if the White House specifically dealt with Xi Jinping.

One can certainly make the case that Mexico was the big winner from the NAFTA sucking sound (not Canada). But when President Trump states that the trade plan is “our declaration of economic independence,” what he is, in effect, saying is that he wants America to be “independent” – or “liberated” – from bilateral deficits with all countries running such gaps against the U.S.

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OPEC-style lithium cartel now unlikely, analyst says – by Frederic Tomesco (Norther Miner – April 3, 2025)

Global mining news

The odds of Latin America’s three lithium powers banding together to form a production cartel have almost evaporated due to contrasting economic models, a leading geopolitical analyst says.

Argentina, Chile and Bolivia have previously held discussions with Brazil about the creation of a group – inspired by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries, or OPEC – tasked with boosting lithium processing capacity and turning more of their mined metal into batteries. Together, Argentina, Bolivia and Chile – dubbed the Lithium Triangle – hold an estimated 60% of global lithium resources.

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B.C. mining firm seeking U.S. approval to dig in international waters -by Inayat Singh (CBC News Science – April 03, 2025)

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

The Metals Company, fed up with sluggish international process, turns to Washington

A Vancouver-based mining company is looking to sidestep the international agency charged with regulating mining in international waters after lengthy negotiations it says have gone nowhere. The Metals Company (TMC) will instead seek permission from the U.S. to start deep-sea mining in the Pacific Ocean, rather than from the UN-affiliated International Seabed Authority (ISA).

Co-founder and CEO Gerard Barron says he believes U.S. could help start mining “much sooner than we would have been under the ISA pathway.” “The United States’ regulator is open. They encourage… dialogue and consultation,” he said. “That’s how companies get projects moving through the permitting process.”

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OPINION: Nigeria’s Illegal Gold Trade – Elites And Bandits Are Working Together – by Dr Oluwole Ojewale (The Nigerian Voice – April 3, 2025)

https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/

Illegal mining activities in Nigeria are devastating the country’s economy, as well as fuelling violence. Strategic minerals mined in the country’s north-west region include granite, gypsum, kaolin, laterite, limestone, phosphate, potash, silica sand and gold.

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has estimated that the legal mining sector contributed N814.59 billion (US$527 million) in 15 years. Earnings were highest in 2021.

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Diamond and Jewelry Trade Braces for Impact of US Tariffs – by Joshua Freedman (Rapaport Magazine – April 3, 2025)

New Home

The US has placed tariffs of 10% on imports from all countries and higher duties on India, prompting concern and uncertainty in the diamond and jewelry industry. US President Donald Trump announced the move on Wednesday, saying the reciprocal tariffs would protect American workers and strengthen the nation’s economy.

The 10% levy will be the baseline for all countries and will go into effect on April 5, the White House explained in a fact sheet. There will be higher reciprocal tariffs on specific countries with which the US has the largest trade deficits, the document continued. These will take effect on April 9.

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Pivotal year for Timmins nickel project, says CEO – by Maija Hoggett (Timmins Today – April 3, 2025)

https://www.timminstoday.com/

With ongoing uncertainty around tariffs, Mark Selby says the company’s net-zero focus means they could sell to Europe with no issues

TIMMINS – It’s a pivotal year for Canada Nickel’s local project, says CEO Mark Selby.

In 2025, Canada Nickel is finalizing permits, pushing for funding, and working on securing a site for its processing plants. With ongoing uncertainty around tariffs from the United States, Selby says it’s in a good position as a net-zero project.

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The US is negotiating a minerals deal with conflict-hit Congo, a Trump official says – by JEAN-YVES KAMALE and MARK BANCHEREAU (Associated Press – April 3, 2025)

https://apnews.com/

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A Trump administration official said Thursday the United States is in talks with conflict-plagued Congo on developing its mineral resources under a deal the Congolese president has said could help make his country safer.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s senior adviser for Africa, Massad Boulos, did not provide details of the potential deal following talks with Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi in Kinshasa, but he said it could involve “multibillion-dollar investments.”

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Building an integrated critical minerals sector in Canada – by Atkins Réalis (Canadian Mining Journal – April 3, 2025)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

A vital investment to meet growing demand and enhance everyday life

It is no exaggeration to say that we could not survive in a modern society without critical minerals; they are found in hundreds of things we use everyday from cell phones and laptops to tea kettles and toothpaste.

Manufacturing, construction, agriculture, artificial intelligence, and clean technologies are just a few examples of the industries that are dependent on this sector, which is set to have a global market value of US$770 billion by 2040.

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