African Development Bank chief criticizes opaque loans tied to Africa’s natural resources – by Taiwo Adebayo (Associated Press – March 12, 2024)

https://apnews.com/

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The head of the African Development Bank is calling for an end to loans given in exchange for the continent’s rich supplies of oil or critical minerals used in smartphones and electric car batteries, deals that have helped China gain control over mineral mining in places like Congo and have left some African countries in financial crisis.

“They are just bad, first and foremost, because you can’t price the assets properly,” Akinwumi Adesina said in an interview with The Associated Press in Lagos, Nigeria, last week. “If you have minerals or oil under the ground, how do you come up with a price for a long-term contract? It’s a challenge.”

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Canada, U.S. governments reach deal to address cross-border coal pollution – by Wendy Stueck (Globe and Mail – March 11, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Canadian and U.S. governments have agreed to put the issue of cross-border pollution from B.C. coal mines before the International Joint Commission, a body set up more than a century ago to resolve conflicts over shared waters.

The request, made through what is known as a joint reference under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909, follows years of campaigning by Indigenous peoples and was developed with the Ktunaxa Nation, an Indigenous people whose traditional territory takes in parts of British Columbia, Montana and Idaho.

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What the war in Ukraine means for Asia (The Economist – March 2024)

https://www.economist.com/

Peace in East Asia hangs to a worrying extent on the outcome of the conflict

When Russia invaded Ukraine it jolted the democracies of East Asia—Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, all allies of America. A trip to Japan suggests to Banyan that, as the conflict in Ukraine enters its third year, its implications for East Asian policymakers grow only starker.

In Europe the talk is of whether Ukraine can hold on despite dwindling American financial support and the spectre of a second Trump presidency. The consequences for peace in Asia would be devastating if Ukraine loses. A win for President Vladimir Putin might embolden China to reshape the regional order on its terms.

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Strolling down Ontario’s Electric Avenue – by Tamer Elbokl, PhD (Canadian Mining Journal – March 4, 2024)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

The global demand for lithium is projected to reach 1.5 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) by 2025 and over three million tonnes by 2030. As the world moves away from fossil fuels, the world needs a stable supply of quality lithium to achieve a low-carbon future, and Canada needs lithium (among other critical minerals) to achieve its net-zero target.

In 2022, the government of Ontario announced its first critical minerals strategy, aiming to secure the province’s position as a global leader of responsibly sourced critical minerals, including lithium. The provincial government plan is to work alongside all stakeholders including the federal government, the mining sector, manufacturing Indigenous Peoples, and local communities.

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Argonaut Gold digs into its ramp-up problems at Dubreuilville – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 7, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Magino Mine team looks to get open-pit mine and mill up to speed

A 35 per cent selloff of Argonaut Gold stock last week took CEO Richard Young by surprise. A less-than-stellar performance since the start of mining at Argonaut’s Magino Mine, outside Dubreuilville, hasn’t exactly resonated with investors as the Toronto gold company’s stock has plunged from a high of 72 cents a share last August to 28 cents this week.

The open-pit mine and mill operation has been hampered by a number of start-up issues that’s driven up costs and has the Toronto gold company looking to finance its US$128.7-million debt.

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PDAC 2024: Some junior miners must die so others may live, panel says – by Alisha Hiyate (Northern Miner – March 8, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Canada’s once-mighty junior mining sector crumbled after governments squeezed the middle class and let multinationals buy the country’s big miners, a panel of finance experts told mining’s biggest conference this week.

Large Canadian miners such as Falconbridge, Inco and Noranda (all gone by 2007) would use much as $200 million each a year to shepherd perhaps 100 junior level companies because they made half of the discoveries, Franco-Nevada (TSX: FNV; NYSE: FNV) co-founder Pierre Lassonde said on a panel at the Prospectors and Developers of Association of Canada convention in Toronto on Tuesday.

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Four Questions the US Must Answer on Diamond Sanctions – by Joshua Freedman (Rapaport Magazine – March 10, 2024)

Home

A broader US ban on Russian diamonds went into effect on March 1, but uncertainty remains about key details.

Sanctions on Russian diamonds and diamond jewelry went into effect on March 1 across Group of Seven (G7) nations, expanding the ban to 1-carat and larger polished stones manufactured in a third country from Russian rough. Previously, goods “substantially transformed” (i.e., manufactured) in countries such as India were technically legal in the US. The US and other member countries have released information on how enforcement will work, but many questions remain.

US Customs and Border Protection has ordered importers to use a self-certification statement declaring that the diamonds are not Russian. This is likely a temporary measure while US authorities devise a way to enforce the rules.

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Green premium won’t save Australian nickel – by Elouise Fowler (Australian Financial Review – March 10, 2024)

https://www.afr.com/

The boss of acquisitive copper producer Metals Acquisition says the nickel market has “fundamentally shifted” and it is unlikely the world’s largest buyer, China, will pay a “green premium” for the commodity.

Even if nickel miners could fetch a green premium, it may not be enough to make nickel mined outside Indonesia attractive, said Mick McMullen, who is scouring the globe for mines to add to his portfolio.Indonesian nickel has flooded the market, crashing the price of the metal required for steel-making and batteries.

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We rented a Tesla to explore Ontario’s EV supply chain. We saw the dirty, the clean and everything in between – by Marco Chown Oved and Steve Russell (Toronto Star – March 10, 2024)

https://www.thestar.com/

In the Great Ontario EV Road Trip Part 2, two Star journalists head to the refineries and plants kickstarting the province’s clean revolution.

NORTH BAY—How fast can you get those burgers out? The wait staff appears taken aback by our question. We’re in North Bay and have stopped to charge our EV on the way to Sudbury. We plugged in and hurried over to Syl’s Neighbourhood Kitchen for a quick bite.

But we only have 25 minutes or so before Tesla starts charging us an idle fee for taking up a charger spot when it’s full. Fortunately, Syl’s kitchen is quick and the food’s delicious. We make it back to our car with time to spare. Charging your EV isn’t like gassing up your car.

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Nickel from China, Indonesia could face tariffs over market manipulation concerns, Ottawa says – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – March 7, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says Canada and other Western countries could consider imposing tariffs against Indonesia and China because of the potential for market manipulation stemming from their stranglehold on the global nickel market.

Indonesia has gone from supplying 7 per cent of the global supply of nickel to 55 per cent in the past decade, with much of that new production controlled by China-based mining companies with ties to the authoritarian Beijing government.

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Romania wins legal battle against a Canadian miner over failed plans to open a gold mine (CTV/Associated Press – March 9, 2024)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA – The Romanian government has won a yearslong legal dispute with a Canadian mining company seeking damages over failed plans to open a gold and silver mine in the Eastern European country.

Gabriel Resources was seeking US$4.4 billion (four billion euros) in damages from the Romanian state, which owned a 20 per cent stake in the mining project in Rosia Montana, a mountainous western region that contains some of Europe’s largest gold deposits. The Romanian government withdrew its support for the project in 2014.

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We took a Tesla on a road trip through northern Ontario in the coldest week of the year. Could our EV handle it? – by Marco Chown Oved and Steve Russell (Toronto Star – March 9, 2024)

https://www.thestar.com/

Star journalists drove a Tesla 2,300 km around northern Ontario, exploring the emerging EV supply chain from mine to refinery to battery plant to assembly.

HWY. 11, SOMEWHERE NORTH OF NORTH BAY—It was -12 C and dropping. The snow was blowing diagonally and traffic was crawling in single file, sticking to the ruts between white humps on Highway 11. Then my car started talking to me.

“You’re almost too far from known chargers,” it said. “Plan your next charge. All known charging locations will be out of range soon.” The map on the GPS showed the nearest charger behind us, in North Bay. We were driving north — away from it. Soon, we wouldn’t have enough charge to make it back.

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Oil Fields of Arkansas Are the Newest Locations for a Lithium Battery Rush – by Boyce Upholt (Mother Jones – March 11, 2024)

https://www.motherjones.com/

“Production at existing sites could negate the benefits of the clean technologies they power.”

The town of Smackover, Arkansas, was founded a hundred years ago when a sawmill operator got lucky: his wildcat oil well yielded a gusher. For a time in the 1920s, the oil field beneath the clay hills and swampy creeks in this stretch of southern Arkansas was the world’s most productive site. Now, boosters say the region will help usher the world into an oil-free future, thanks to the discovery of underground brines that are rich in lithium.

Lithium is one of the most important metals in the transition to renewable power. Lithium-ion batteries are, thanks to their lightweight and high energy density, currently the top choice for storing energy in electric vehicles, and a potential tool for grid storage, too. Global production of the metal tripled throughout the 2010s, and demand is projected to increase as much as 40-fold by mid-century.

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BACK ROADS BILL: A mine with an interesting difference – by Bill Steer (Bay Today – March 9, 2024)

https://www.baytoday.ca/

This week Bill takes us inside of mining adit that has significance

It looks like an early spring and because of the mild winter people often ask, “Have you seen any bear sign yet?” They bear their young circa January, mid-winter and they are almost in a slumber. The mother bear nurses them as they are hibernating, she can lactate while not eating or drinking, that’s phenomenal.

From time to time, I venture to the back roads to this not-so-abandoned mining adit to see if there is a sow and her newborn cubs. It is deep into the mine, and from a safe and non-threatening distance, you can see the glare of their sleepy eyes. It is a naturally wonderful birthing site and experience. No photos are taken, they are content, and the quiet retreat ensues from this rock-chiseled tunnel.

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US uranium miners resurrected by nuclear revival and Ukraine war – by Jamie Smyth and Harry Dempsey (Financial Times – March 10, 2024)

https://www.ft.com/

Surging prices for ore and concerns over Russian imports lead to mothballed mines being restarted

Over a 40-year career, Scott Melbye watched the US uranium industry fall from its position as the world’s leading producer of the radioactive ore that powers nuclear reactors to an also-ran with negligible production.

Now, the president of the Uranium Producers of America is leading an industry charge to revive mothballed mines and invest in new production to capitalise on soaring prices and policies aimed at reducing the US’s dependence on Russian imports.

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