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SQM profit down 63%, anticipates continued weak lithium prices – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – August 21, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Chile’s SQM (NYSE: SQM), the world’s second-biggest lithium producer, reported a sharp 63.2% decline in quarterly profit on the back of slumping prices of the key metal used in the batteries that power electric vehicles and high tech devices.

The company, which also manufactures fertilizers and industrial chemicals, said it expects the downward trend in lithium prices to continue for the rest of the year. SQM’s second-quarter net profit came in at $213.6 million, or 75 cents per share, falling short of analysts’ prediction of $296.7 million, or 95 cents per share, according to LSEG data.

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China is backing off coal power plant approvals after a 2022-23 surge that alarmed climate experts – by Ken Moritsugu (Associated Press – August 20, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

BEIJING (AP) — Approvals for new coal-fired power plants in China dropped sharply in the first half of this year, according to an analysis released Tuesday, after a flurry of permits in the previous two years raised concern about the government’s commitment to limiting climate change.

A review of project documents by Greenpeace East Asia found that 14 new coal plants were approved from January to June with a total capacity of 10.3 gigawatts, down 80% from 50.4 gigawatts in the first half of last year.

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A trip to El Teniente, the largest underground copper mine in the world – by María Victoria Agouborde (English El Pais – August 16, 2024)

https://english.elpais.com/

The red metal deposit located in the Chilean region of O’Higgins, which is controlled by the state copper company Codelco, is moving towards green mining: it reuses tires and uses 100% electric buses

Just over 30 miles east of the city of Rancagua, in the O’Higgins Region in central Chile, after traveling a zigzagging road with the semi-white hills of the Andes mountain range as a backdrop, you reach El Teniente, the largest underground copper deposit on the planet. The mine, which has 2,800 miles of underground tunnels, is controlled by the state copper company Codelco, the largest copper supplier in the world.

From the surface, with wind blowing relentlessly, it is difficult to imagine the bustling world under the 2,200-meter-high hill, which began to be mined in 1905. From El Teniente, around 350,000 fine metric tons (ft) of copper are mined each year: it is the Codelco division that provides the largest contribution of the red metal.

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B.C. is a burgeoning oil and gas powerhouse – by Geoff Russ (National Post – August 19, 2024)

https://nationalpost.com/

The LNG revolution will be a boon for the province and its First Nations

Outside of small pleasures and personal adventures, life in British Columbia has offered little that can be celebrated as of late. For proponents of Canadian energy, however, B.C.’s transformation into a major player in oil and gas has been a triumph.

No, vast quantities of fossil fuels are not being extracted from the ground like in Alberta, but the westernmost province has become the great bridge that connects Alberta’s oil and gas to global markets. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities are springing up along B.C.’s coastline, driving technological innovation and unprecedented reconciliation with First Nations.

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NEWS RELEASE: Sandy Lake First Nation Energized by Wataynikaneyap Power (Watay Power – June 21, 2024)

https://www.wataypower.ca/

(June 21, 2024 – Fort William First Nation, Ontario) Wataynikaneyap Power is pleased to announce the energization of Sandy Lake First Nation. The northern Ontario community was connected to the provincial power grid on April 18, 2024.

“It is wonderful to be able to celebrate the community’s connection to the power grid on Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” Sandy Lake Chief Delores Kakegamic comments. “The Wataynikaneyap Power transmission system means more than reliable electricity for the community. It means we can build new homes and buildings, such as our new Health Centre, and connect them to power.

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Maximizing the Benefits of the Renewed Global Interest in Africa’s Strategic Minerals – by Folashadé Soulé (Carnegie Endowment – August 15, 2024)

https://carnegieendowment.org/

Negotiations between African governments and foreign investors are often characterized by the various skills, technical capacities, and information asymmetries that shape the balance of power and influence outcomes. The dynamics of these negotiations—in pursuing extractive and infrastructure projects, in particular—merit a special focus, as agreements to carry them out often bind African countries for several decades.

Africa is home to a substantial share of the world’s reserves of mineral resources needed for the clean energy transition and could therefore be the main theater for the global race among China, the United States, European countries, Persian Gulf countries, and others to secure access. The International Energy Agency estimates that manufacturers of clean energy technologies will need forty times more lithium, twenty-five times more graphite, and about twenty times more nickel and cobalt in 2040 than in 2020.

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Revival of the Rockies’ once-prosperous coal industry clashes with those who say it will harm the land – by Emma Graney (Globe and Mail – August 19, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Grassy Mountain has become a battleground between those who see the economic benefits of coal development and those who warn about the risks to the environment

The wind rips across Grassy Mountain as the truck rumbles slowly along a crude track that, for decades, carried miners and coal around this part of the Crowsnest Pass, Alta. Remnants of the region’s coal industry, which dates back to 1900, litter the mountain; an old cart, twisty rusted metal, pockmarked buildings, weathered planks of wood and a mountaintop carved by decades of open-pit mining.

It’s also a battleground, pitting those who support coal development in the region against those who are firmly opposed. A lead proponent is Northback Holdings Corp., which owns a huge swath of land that was, until the 1960s, teaming with coal mines above and under the ground.

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‘We don’t want your garbage’: Northern township in shock after hearing Ontario is sending it radioactive waste – by Aya Dufour (CBC News Sudbury – August 20, 2024)

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

Communities asking the province to halt its transport plan while it holds consultations

Residents of a small northern Ontario township 40 minutes west of Sudbury say they were blindsided by Ontario’s decision to transport radioactive waste from an abandoned mill 200 kilometres away to the tailing facilities in their community in the coming weeks.

Nairn and Hyman, with a total of about 300 residents, became aware of the province’s plan when work began on the back roads leading to the Agnew Lake Mine last month, after there hadn’t been much action on that property since the Ministry of Mines took over in the 1990s.

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US Gives Tiny Canadian Firm Electra $20 Million to Build Cobalt Plant – by Jacob Lorinc (Bloomberg News – August 19, 2024)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Canada’s Electra Battery Materials Corp. has received a $20 million award from the US government to build a cobalt plant close to North America’s automotive heartland.

The funds will support construction of a cobalt sulfate facility in Ontario that will be North America’s only refinery for the material used in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, Electra said Monday in a statement. The $250 million project is about 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of Toronto at Temiskaming Shores.

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NEWS RELEASE: Ontario, Pikangikum First Nation and Canada Partnering to Advance Construction of Berens River Bridge (Ministry of Northern Development – August 21, 2024)

Year-round road access to Pikangikum First Nation and improved winter road connections will enhance quality of life for seven remote communities

PIKANGIKUM FIRST NATION – The Ontario government announced its plan to partner with the Whitefeather Forest Community Resource Management Authority and the Government of Canada to build a permanent bridge across the Berens River and an all-season road to Pikangikum First Nation. The project will unleash new economic opportunities, create safer travelling conditions, and improve the safety and quality of life for seven First Nation communities north of Red Lake.

“From the beginning, our government committed to strengthening opportunities and improving safety for First Nations communities in the North,” said the Honourable Greg Rickford, Ontario Minister of Northern Development and Ontario Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation.

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Northwestern Ont. lithium explorer inks strategic development partner – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 20, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Green Technology links with global battery giant EcoPro to joint venture on Nipigon-area lithium mine and Thunder Bay refinery

Australia’s Green Technology Metals has found a South Korean development partner to bring its two lithium deposits in northwestern Ontario into production and help build a refinery in Thunder Bay.

Perth-based Green Tech announced a strategic partnership with South Korean battery giant EcoPro Innovation through a framework agreement that involves an $8-million investment (Australian dollars) into the junior miner.

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Mining the Northwest: North Shore phosphate deposit could have open-pit potential – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 16, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Higher-grade resource has Nuinsco Resources examining a quarry operation

A northwestern Ontario junior miner, eager to get into critical minerals mining, has posted a substantial boost in the grade of the phosphate rock at its exploration property northwest of Marathon.

Toronto-based Nuinsco Resources believes it has a more valuable and higher-grade asset than originally reported in 2022 since adopting a five per cent cut-off grade for mineralization at its Prairie Lake deposit.

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Replacing China in copper supply chain is ‘unfeasible,’ warns WoodMac, as the West seeks shift – by Dylan Butts (CNBC.com – August 16 2024)

https://www.cnbc.com/

Western countries seeking to diversify away from China’s dominance in copper could delay the energy transition besides raising costs, while its complete replacement would be ‘unfeasible,’ according to Wood Mackenzie. China leads the world in key segments of the copper supply chain, with the critical metal serving as an important component in emerging technologies such as renewable energy, energy storage and electric vehicles.

As the U.S., Canada, Australia, and European countries seek to displace the country’s hold on copper through subsidies and investment, Wood Mackenzie warns that the dual aims of decarbonization and reduced dependence on Beijing are at odds with one another.

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Mpox Risks Spreading in Congo’s Crowded Mines, Refugee Camps – by Antony Sguazzin, Michael J. Kavanagh, and Janice Kew (Bloomberg News – August 16, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — For medical and aid workers scrambling to contain an outbreak of mpox on the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern flank, the location couldn’t be worse. A strain of the virus — which causes lesions that can result in disfigurement, blindness, and even death — has erupted around the gold-mining town of Kamituga, where about a quarter of a million people live.

It’s an area that thousands of small-scale, individual miners travel in and out of, attracting scores of sex workers while truckers ply routes between Congo and the neighboring nations of Burundi and Rwanda, and on to Tanzania.

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Canada invests over $11 million in critical minerals research in Saskatchewan – by Staff (Mining.com – August 14, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson announced on Wednesday over C$16 million ($11.6m) in new funding to support the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) in Saskatoon. The funding builds on earlier support of nearly C$13.5 million ($9.8m) from Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan) and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) for SRC to establish its rare earth processing facility and develop new rare earth mineral processing technologies.

Wednesday’s announcement includes C$15.96 million through PrairiesCan to enable SRC to acquire bastnaesite (a type of ore containing rare earth elements) from Canadian sources and create new domestic capacity for bastnaesite processing, which will be integrated into SRC’s rare earth processing facility.

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