Abitibi Metals drills 3.5% copper in Quebec – by Colin McClelland (Mining.com – February 29, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Abitibi Metals (CSE: AMQ) says its first two drill holes at the B26 polymetallic deposit in northern Quebec bode well to earn most of the project from the provincial government and develop an open-pit mine.

Drill hole 1274-24-293 intersected 22.7 metres grading 3.5% copper, 0.7 gram gold per tonne, and 6.6 grams silver from 120 metres depth including 10.6 metres at 5.4% copper, 1.3 grams gold and 9.6 grams silver, Abitibi reported on Thursday. Drill hole 1274-24-294 cut 34 metres at 3% copper, 1.5 grams gold and 6 grams silver from 135 metres depth, it said.

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First Quantum seeks US$20 billion from Panama in free trade case – by Jacob Lorinc (Bloomberg News – February 20, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. is seeking US$20 billion from Panama in a free trade arbitration case after the Central American nation shut down the company’s flagship copper mine late last year.

The amount represents the “minimum value” sought by the Vancouver-based company in an arbitration process under a Canada-Panama free trade agreement, First Quantum Chief Executive Officer Tristan Pascall said Wednesday in an earnings call.

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First Quantum gets financial boost from Chinese company after Panama production pause – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – February 22, 2024)

https://financialpost.com/

Receiving a US$500-million prepayment from a Chinese shareholder

A Canadian miner is receiving a US$500-million prepayment from a Chinese shareholder with hopes of strengthening its balance sheet after its key copper mine in Panama was forced to stop production late last year. In return, Toronto-based First Quantum Minerals Ltd. will annually supply Jiangxi Copper Corp. with 50,000 tonnes of copper for three years from its Kansanshi mine in Zambia. The Canadian miner will also have to pay interest on the prepayment, the company said.

The Panamanian government ordered First Quantum to shut down its lucrative copper mine in December following protests from environmentalists and a Supreme Court order that annulled a mining contract the company had signed with the country.

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First Quantum launches US$1B bought deal as Panama closure pushes miner to the brink (Canadian Press/Ottawa City News – February 21, 2024)

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TORONTO — First Quantum Minerals Ltd. said it will raise roughly US$1 billion through a bought deal offering and use the proceeds to repay debt and bolster its liquidity as it says its operations could be threatened by the closure of its Cobre Panamá mine.

The deal is being underwritten by a syndicate led by RBC Capital Markets, BMO Capital Markets and Goldman Sachs, where the underwriters have agreed to purchase 121,680,000 common shares of First Quantum at a price of C$11.10 each.

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Quebec opposition attacks the CAQ on copper smelting plant’s future (Canadian Press/CTV News Montreal – February 14, 2024)

https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/

Opposition parties in Quebec City are urging the government to react to reports that Glencore is considering closing the Horne smelter if investments to meet air quality targets are too high.

Horne smelter issue in Rouyn-Noranda is once again taking a political turn after Radio-Canada revealed that Glencore’s board of directors was due to meet shortly to decide on the smelter’s future, despite the fact that the estimated cost of reducing arsenic emissions has risen by 50 per cent.

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Impossible for Panama’s next government to ignore mining, says First Quantum CEO – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – February 13, 2024)

https://financialpost.com/

Canadian miner holds out hope May elections will bring change in fortune for its besieged Cobre Panama mine

The Panamanian government’s order to shut down Toronto-based First Quantum Minerals Ltd.‘s lucrative copper mine in December seemed like the final straw for the company, which has faced several issues in the Central American country in recent years.

Panama and First Quantum initially tussled over the terms of a new contract to run the mine. Although a deal was reached, thousands of protestors demonstrated against it on environmental grounds. The nation’s Supreme Court then intervened and annulled the deal, which led to the order to close the Cobre Panama mine, about 120 kilometres west of Panama City.

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Zambia set to negotiate bigger stakes in new mining projects – by Felix Njini and Veronica Brown (Reuters – February 6, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

CAPE TOWN, Feb 6 (Reuters) – Zambia is keen to negotiate larger holdings in new mining projects in order to raise its revenue and boost spending by investors on social projects, mines minister Paul Kabuswe said. The push by Lusaka through state-owned ZCCM-IH, would apply to future agreements, but does not include existing mines and should not unnerve investors, Kabuswe told Reuters.

Zambia is Africa’s second-largest copper producer after neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and ZCCM has interests of 10% to 20% in mines including those owned by Barrick Gold, Vedanta Resources and First Quantum Minerals.

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Copper Giant Freeport-McMoRan Names Kathleen Quirk as CEO – by Kevin Orland (Bloomberg News – February 7, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Freeport-McMoRan Inc., the world’s largest listed copper producer, has named veteran Kathleen Quirk to succeed Richard Adkerson as chief executive officer, a shift set to signal continuity at the top at a time of industry consolidation and heightened focus on metal supply.

The change is effective June 11, the company said. Adkerson, an industry heavyweight who has been at the helm for more than two decades, will remain chairman.

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Chile’s mining sector needs 34,000 new professionals by 2032 – report – by Staff (Mining.com – February 4, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

The mining industry in Chile, the world’s top copper producer and second-largest lithium producer, will need more than 34,000 new workers by 2032, according to a study released this week.

The report by the CCM-Eleva Alliance, a joint initiative between the Mining Council and Fundacion Chile, analyzed workforce trends and challenges of 27 mining and supplier companies in the country, representing 96% of the sector.

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State of Michigan could invest in Canadian mining company’s copper project – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – February 5, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Highland Copper in the running for US$50-million development grant

A Canadian company with a copper mine project in northern Michigan is in the running for a substantial subsidy from the State of Michigan.

Highland Copper Company announced the Michigan Economic Development Corporation has proposed a US$50-million grant for its Copperwood mine project in the Upper Peninsula. The money would come from the Strategic Site Readiness Program. But it’s not a done deal. Final approval still has to come from the state’s Application Committee in both the Michigan legislature’s house of representatives and senate.

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Old Tyrone a mining utopia in wartime – by Robert L. Conley (Silver City Daily Press – February 5, 2024)

https://www.scdailypress.com/

Known today for their vast resources of copper ore, the Little Burro Mountains of Grant County were first famous for their deposits of turquoise. For countless generations, until interrupted by non-Indigenous visitors, Native Americans operated shallow mines to extract the decorative blue-green stone.

The name of the first white man to discover turquoise here is unknown, but it is said that anyone who entered the area before the early 1870s was never seen alive again. The Apache were thought to blame. But by 1879, prospectors had staked out workable claims and, perhaps due to safety in numbers, were less prone to disappearing. The turquoise found here, just a dozen or so miles southwest of Silver City, was judged to be at least equal with the stones from the best mines in Persia — and good enough to gift President McKinley during his tour of New Mexico in 1901.

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Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos-backed startup discovers large-scale copper deposit in Zambia – by Sam Meredith (CNBC.com – February 5, 2024)

https://www.cnbc.com/

KoBold Metals, a California-based metals exploration company backed by billionaires including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, said it has discovered a vast copper deposit in Zambia.

The rare discovery of a large-scale copper deposit could help in the global race to secure a supply of materials critical to the energy transition. Copper is in high demand due to its use in renewable energy and electric vehicles.

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Slowdown in financing affords opportunity for Thunder Bay mining company to gain ground – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 31, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Clean Air Metals on the hunt for ‘distressed’ mineral projects in northwestern Ontario

It’s a lousy financing environment in junior mining, but Thunder Bay’s Clean Air Metals sees a strategic opportunity to go big. The owners and mine developers of the Thunder Bay North palladium-platinum project are out to enlarge its mineral holdings and are scanning the North for acquisition targets and partnership deals.

Northwestern Ontario is the place to be, the company said in a recent news release. Given the significant nickel, copper and palladium group metals showings, it “remains one of the best places in the world to explore for this suite of metals.”

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Closure of Panama copper mine threatens e-transition – by Jack Mintz (Financial Post – February 2, 2024)

https://financialpost.com/

Forced shutdown of $10-billion mine signals to companies: invest in rule-of-law countries only

Canada’s First Quantum Minerals, sixth largest copper producer in the world, has learned the hard way: a US$10-billion mining project can be cancelled after several years in operation with the support of several successive governments.

In December, the Panamanian government ordered the closing of FQM’s Cobre Panamá mine, which produced 350,000 tonnes of copper in 2022. This represents 1.5 per cent of global copper supply and five per cent of Panama’s GDP, neither a trivial number.

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Activists, Hollywood take down top 50 mining company – by Frik Els (Mining.com – January 31, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

The ranks of the most valuable mining companies in the world were throughly scrambled in 2023 as governments intervened, lithium and nickel prices tumbled, gold hit records and a new listing went ballistic.

At the end of 2023, the MINING.COM TOP 50* ranking of the world’s most valuable miners reached a combined $1.42 trillion, up a healthy, if far from spectacular $48.7 billion over the course of 2023. Mining’s top tier is also worth $330 billion less than in March 2022.

Metal and mineral markets are volatile at the best of times – the nickel, cobalt and lithium price collapse in 2023 was extreme but not entirely unprecedented. Rare earth producers, platinum group metal watchers, iron ore followers, and gold and silver bugs for that matter, have been through worse.

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