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How the West was – and wasn’t – won – by Kelly Cryderman (Globe and Mail – September 9, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Globe’s early championing of the region gave way to coverage that sometimes took the tone of reporting on a foreign country

In The Globe’s earliest imaginings, the West was a land of rivers, plentiful game and fertile soil, a “magnificent empire” that lay between the Great Lakes and Rocky Mountains just waiting to be conquered.

“The wealth of 400,000 square miles of territory will flow through our waters, and be gathered by our merchants, manufacturers and agriculturalists,” stated a particularly grandiose 1863 Globe opinion. “Our sons will occupy the chief places of this vast territory, we will form its institutions, supply its rulers, teach its schools, fill its stores, run its mills, and navigate its streams.”

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NEWS RELEASE: Copperstack and superstack dismantling marks final chapter of $1 billion Clean AER project (September 4, 2024)

Stan Sudol Photo

(Photo by Stan Sudol From 1990s)

Sudbury, Ontario (September 4, 2024) – Today, Vale Base Metals (VBM) announces it is moving forward with the dismantling of the copperstack and superstack at the Copper Cliff Smelter Complex.

These structures have been decommissioned following the successful completion of the approximately $1 billion Clean Atmospheric Emissions Reduction (Clean AER) Project, which was a cornerstone initiative in our ongoing, long-term environmental stewardship program for Sudbury. The dismantling of the copperstack and superstack marks the final chapter of this ambitious initiative.

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Nipigon lithium explorer has ‘starting point’ to place a pit – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – September 4, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Imagine Lithium releases its first mineral resource estimate for its Jackpot Project

A Nipigon-area lithium explorer has produced its first resource estimate on a property that shows open-pit mining potential.

Vancouver’s Imagine Lithium released an 8.4-million tonne lithium oxide resource for its Jackpot Project, 40 kilometres north of the town of Nipigon and 150 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay.

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Will Gold’s Tailwinds Be Enough to Overcome September Curse? – by Jacob Reid (Bloomberg News – August 31, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Gold investors returning from their summer holidays will be eager to see whether the precious metal can sustain its record-breaking rally, or if it will succumb to the curse of September.

Bullion has dropped every September since 2017. Over that period, the average decline has been 3.2% in September – easily the worst month of the year, and far below the monthly average gain of 1%.

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The Dark Side of Cobalt: How China Mines Congo’s Treasure – by Dr Monika Chansoria (Japan Forward – September 4, 2024)

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Cobalt powers our smartphones, tablets, laptops, and electric vehicles. It’s time for global action to end child labor and other toxic conditions in the mines.

The central African country, Congo, affects our daily lives like none other. While many may be surprised at this assertion initially, it is true. Cobalt, the most essential component to every rechargeable lithium-ion battery made today, is found and mined predominantly in the Congo.

Roughly 75 percent of the world’s cobalt supply comes from the Congo. This essential element powers our smartphones, tablets, laptops, and electric vehicles. Billions of people around the world cannot conduct their daily lives without it.

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Undervalued and ignored: Why young Canadian firms are looking to foreign investors and buyers – by Tim Shufelt and Sean Silcoff (Globe and Mail – September 3, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The framework for nurturing junior companies through Canadian stock markets has been largely gutted

From the start, ZS2 Technologies Ltd. was built to go public. The Calgary-based business was founded by stock market veterans who put in place the building blocks of a publicly traded company: governance, oversight and financial reporting. When the time was right, an initial public offering would provide the exposure and capital to take it to the next level.

But the plan has changed. ZS2 is no longer destined for the Toronto Stock Exchange. ZS2 specializes in high-tech, sustainable building materials. Demand comes mostly from the U.S. construction industry. There is talk of manufacturing stateside, where ZS2 recently incorporated. There are tax advantages to consider. And calls are coming in from U.S. investors hunting for promising growth stories.

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CHART: Codelco’s QB stake may not be enough to stop BHP taking copper crown – by Frik Els (Mining.com – September 4, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Chile’s state-run miner Codelco on Tuesday made a $500 million offer to buy a 10% stake in the Quebrada Blanca copper mine, controlled by Canada’s Teck Resources, from Enami, another Chilean state miner.

Quebrada Blanca’s expansion – QB2 – is ramping up with a target set by Teck of 285,000 – 315,000 tonnes of annual production by 2026. QB2 reached production of 51,300 tonnes in the second quarter this year, up more than 18% from Q1.

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Biden close to blocking Nippon Steel deal to buy U.S. Steel, sources say – by Jeff Mason, David Shepardson and Alexandra Alper (Reuters – September 4, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

WASHINGTON, Sept 4 (Reuters) – The Biden administration is close to announcing it will block Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel, two sources familiar with the situation said on Wednesday, amid growing bipartisan political opposition to the $14.9 billion deal.

The panel that is reviewing the proposed merger for national security reasons has not sent its formal recommendation to the president, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said. White House spokesman John Kirby declined to comment on Biden’s plans but reiterated the president’s view “that American steel companies ought to be American owned.”

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Who Is Behind the Murder of a Powerful Colombian Emerald Dealer? – by Helen Murphy (Insight Crime – August 23, 2024)

https://insightcrime.org/

Colombia’s emerald trade, renowned for the exceptional quality of its gems as well as its relentless violence, has suffered another blow to its reputation with the professional assassination of a top dealer. The killing has sparked speculation over which criminal powers beyond the jewel business could be at work, and what they may gain from the hit.

Juan Sebastian Aguilar, 58, was shot in the chest by a proficient sniper who reportedly spent days lying in wait in the mountains above his target’s upscale home in northern Bogotá. The marksman, according to media reports, escaped on horseback into the lush mountains behind the housing complex, ending an almost cinematic killing. His exit also complicated police efforts to track his movements.

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Jansen potash mine ahead of schedule, more growth planned – by Shane Clausing (CJME.com – September 3, 2024)

https://www.cjme.com/

Stage 1 of BHP’s multi-billion dollar Jansen potash mine project is halfway complete and ahead of schedule, the company announced last week. The project is being built just outside of Humboldt, and will be part of a multi-stage effort to build the largest potash mine in the world.

The first stage is expected to be complete by 2026. Karina Gistelinck is the asset president of potash for BHP and also in charge of overseeing the mega project. She was nothing but smiles on Tuesday in Saskatoon speaking about how well construction had progressed on the project.

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Poland Seeks to Rethink, Not Quash Coal Spin-Offs, Minister Says – by Maciej Martewicz (Bloomberg News – September 3, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Poland is seeking to amend plans for utilities to spin off their coal assets, according to the minister in charge of managing state assets.

The European Union’s most coal-dependent nation has struggled with its energy transition, with the previous administration failing to complete a plan to separate the coal assets from utilities and move them to a separate entity — known as NABE — all in one go.

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Green steel: Inside Algoma Steel’s massive project to go electric – by Jeffrey Jones (Globe and Mail – September 1, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Algoma Steel Inc.’s smokestacks have been a fixture on the bank of the St. Marys River at the eastern end of Lake Superior for more than a century. Its mill has played a crucial role churning out an essential ingredient for the country’s industrialization as well as jobs for generations in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

That’s meant long-term benefits, as the company provided the region with employment and an economic base. But with that has come uncertainty during a number of flirtations with bankruptcy as steel markets gyrated. The use of coal in its blast furnaces triggered climate-warming emissions along with health concerns among nearby residents.

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From diamonds to coal – The tragedy of trade – by Nandkumar M Kamat (Navhind Times – November 22, 2020)

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The hand of history is sometimes cruel. After enjoying status as an international diamond trading hub, Goa is now concerned about turning into a major coal importing hub in Indo-Pacific. Since there is a lot of attention to coal in local public discourse, people have forgotten the position of Goa in a related commodity- diamonds. Diamond and coal offer stark contrasts.

Diamond and coal are allotropes of carbon. Diamond is defined as a glimmering glass-like mineral that is an allotrope of carbon in which each atom is surrounded by four others in the form of a tetrahedron. Coal is defined as a black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel.

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London’s Jewelry ‘Garden’ – by Rachel Garrahan (New York Times – February 10, 2020)

https://www.nytimes.com/

Hatton Garden has long been known as the center of Britain’s jewelry trade. Now, independent makers and small businesses are trying to ensure it keeps that role.

LONDON — Barry Coumbe was describing operations at F. Sinclair, his polishing business in Hatton Garden, when he recalled that wheelbarrows were piled high with its commemorative gold ingots for Queen Elizabeth’s 1977 Silver Jubilee to move them between the company’s two workshops.

“You’d have 2,000 ingots with the queen’s head stamped on them, and they were always in demand,” Mr. Coumbe, 70, said with a smile.

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Lab-Grown Diamond Prices Are Falling. Here’s Why That’s Not a Bad Thing. – by Nick Scott (Robb Report – September 1, 2024)

https://robbreport.com/

The man-made stone have never had the cachet or complicated romance of mined stones. But perhaps we’re not thinking expansively enough about their best use.

Scientists discovered the ability to create synthetic diamonds back in 1954, and we’ve been arguing about them ever since. Not only about whether a man-made gemstone could be considered the same as one produced by geologic phenomenon over the course of eons—the two are chemically identical, after all, and indistinguishable to the naked eye—but also about whether it should be.

Lab-grown stones have always seemed to solve for certain ethical and environmental conundrums within the diamond industry, but as human beings, we also like our rarities, well, rare. It’s a debate, in other words, over whether diamonds are still “forever” if they’re also for everyone.

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