THANK TRUDEAU & FRIEDLAND

Federal and provincial governments commit $485M to Saskatchewan agriculture programs

By Brody Langager  Global News

Posted March 20, 2023 10:03 

READ MORE: Agriculture ministers reach deal on new Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership

“Through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, we are investing in the economic, environmental and social sustainability of the agriculture sector, while ensuring the resilience of supply chains,” said Gudie Hutchings, federal minister of rural economic development.

“These programs and initiatives will create new ways for producers in Saskatchewan and processors to continue to improve their competitiveness while protecting our environment.”

The province said under this agreement, there is a focus on agricultural research, support for water development, an increased funding cap in the Farm and Ranch Water Infrastructure Program and a larger per-acre payment under the Irrigation Development Program.

“The Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership will help build on the great work already happening in the agriculture industry in Saskatchewan,” said Saskatchewan agriculture minister David Marit.

“This investment will see enhancements to existing programs and the introduction of new programs to position us to continue on our sustainability journey, while ensuring the sector continues to grow, prosper and remain competitive.”

READ MORE: APAS shows support for Sask. producers ‘right to repair’ bill

The province said the programs will focus on five areas:

• $176.6 million for building sector capacity, growth and competitiveness
• $53.4 million for climate change and environmental sustainability
• $40.2 million for resiliency and public trust
• $2 million to assist the industry with market development and trade
• $175 million for science, research and innovation

Applications for federal programs started being accepted on March 6, with programs going into effect at the beginning of April.

The new agreement also goes into effect on April 1, and will be in place until March 31, 2028.

Ian Boxall, president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, said this money shows that both the feds and the province see the value of the agriculture sector.

“You’re always going to see now with funding from the federal government, there’s always going to be an environmental spin on all of it. I’m hoping that is rolled out in a way that benefits producers,” Boxall said.

He said he’s hoping it’s done in a way that’s useable, and that the research going into this shows where those environmental benefits can be made.

Boxall noted that Saskatchewan farmers don’t get recognition for the moves towards sustainability they make, adding he’d like to see some of the research focus on how environmentally sound some of their practices are.

Back in July when the updated partnership was announced, concerns were brought up regarding high input costs, labour shortages and supply chain shortages within agriculture.

Boxall said concerns towards high input costs remain.

“We’re still seeing some pretty high prices for inputs that we use every day on the farm.”

Sustainable agriculture partnership will see

$485M invested in Sask.: Province

 Canada is the world's sixth-largest producer and one of the largest exporters of wheat, annually producing an average of over 25 million tonnes and exporting around 15 million tonnes. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)

Allison Bamford
Video journalist at CTV News Regina

David Prisciak
CTV News Regina Digital Content Producer

Updated March 20, 2023 

A new federal/provincial deal will see a total of $485 million invested over the next five years to assist with sustainable agricultural projects in Saskatchewan.

The new Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP) is a five-year, $3.5 billion investment by federal, provincial and territorial governments to improve competitiveness, innovation and resilience to the nation’s agricultural sector, a news release explained.

“It’s a way forward as we look at food security and how we support it,” said Gudie Hutchings, federal minister of rural economic development, during a press conference in Regina on Monday.

Federal programs account for $1 billion of the funding, while the remaining $2.5 billion is through cost-shared programs and activities by all three levels of government.

RELATED STORIESSask. land value rose higher than national average in 2022: Farm Credit Canada

In Saskatchewan, $89.4 million will go toward strategic programming for farmers, ranchers and agri-business annually.

“What it really means is we have the opportunity to grow the Ag sector even further in the province of Saskatchewan,” Saskatchewan's Minister of Agriculture, David Marit, told CTV News.

“We want to grow more product here, that’s our growth strategy. We also want to increase value-added processing here, but the big thing we want to do is make sure we’re doing it in a sustainable manner, too.”

Federal funding accounts for 60 per cent of the partnership while the province provides the remaining 40 per cent.

The province revealed that the funding would surround five key areas over the next five years.

These include: Building Sector Capacity, Growth and Competitiveness: $176.6 million investment to build the agriculture sector capacity, ensuring growth and competitive advantages.
Climate Change and Environment: $53.4 million to support the long-term resiliency and sustainability of the sector.
Resiliency and Public Trust: $40.2 million to support the sustainability of the sector by anticipating, mitigating and responding to risks while building public trust.
Market Development and Trade: $2 million to assist industry in expanding domestic and international trade opportunities.
Science, Research and Innovation: $175 million invested in research and development activities, enhancing the diversification and profitability of agriculture.

Additionally, $37.8 million will be allocated to support national activities such as AgriMarketing and AgriAssurance over the course of the partnership.

Marit said in the last year the province consulted stakeholders, including the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association (SCA), to help fine tune the programs.

SCA CEO Grant McLellan said the group brought forward ways to improve the current farm and ranch water infrastructure program. The renewed Sustainable CAP expands that program and increses the cap from $50,000 to $75,000.

“[The expansion] is really huge for our producers,” McLellan said.

“In particular the last few years where we’ve been experiencing drought in large swaths of the province, access to clean, reliable water is a huge boon for our members and our producers because ultimately we have to get that good quality material into our animals to get that good quality protein back to the people here.”

The partnership also enhances programs aimed to improve soil health and water quality, according to the province.

An estimated $3 billion in support is expected over the lifespan of Sustainable Cap.

Applications are currently being accepted for programs under the partnership, which is expected to last until March 31, 2028.

Foran closes C$100m private placement for Saskatchewan exploration

Staff Writer | March 27, 2023 | 

Proceeds from Foran’s private placement will go toward further exportation at McIlvenna Bay project. Foran Mining photo

Foran Mining (TSXV: FOM) has completed its C$100 million private placement. The offering consisted of over 20 million common shares of the company at an issue price of C$3.70 for gross proceeds of C$75 million, and over 4.4 million flow-through shares at C$5.66 per share for gross proceeds of C$25 million.


The net proceeds will be used for exploration and development of the company’s projects in Saskatchewan, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Foran owns the McIlvenna Bay project in Saskatchewan, located entirely within the documented traditional territory of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. The company also owns the Bigstone project, a resource development stage deposit located 25 km southwest of its McIlvenna Bay project.

McIlvenna Bay is a copper-zinc-gold-silver rich volcanogenic hosted massive-sulphide (VHS) deposit intended to be the centre of a new mining camp in a prolific district that has already been producing for 100 years. McIlvenna Bay is the largest undeveloped VMS deposit in the region.

A feasibility study on Feb. 2022, outlined that current mineral reserves would potentially support an 18-year mine life producing an average of 65 million pounds of copper equivalent annually.

Thungela seeks more coal assets as rail woes worsen
Bloomberg News | March 27, 2023 |

Landau Collieries, South Africa. (Image by Elaine Banister Photography. ©Anglo American 2016.)

Thungela Resources Ltd. is seeking to buy more overseas assets, as rail bottlenecks hobble shipments by South Africa’s largest exporter of thermal coal.


Thungela — spun off from Anglo American Plc two years ago — posted record profit last year as European demand for coal surged following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, the miner’s shares fell as much as 12% in London trading on Monday, after the company said it expects sales to drop for a second year as South Africa’s state-owned rail operator Transnet SOC Ltd. faces increasing problems on its main coal export line


Thungela chief executive officer July Ndlovu said the Johannesburg-based producer will consider purchasing both thermal and metallurgical coal assets amid worsening logistical challenges at home. Under a deal announced last month, Thungela and its co-investors agreed to acquire 85% of the Ensham mine from Idemitsu Australia Ltd. for A$340 million ($226 million).

“We said we wanted to diversify for good reason and therefore will continue to look outside South Africa to future-proof our business,” Ndlovu said in an interview. “If we do get Ensham over the line, it contributes toward that cash generation potential which will allow us to look at all these opportunities.”

The CEO declined to say whether Thungela has found more assets to buy after agreeing to the Ensham deal.

Thungela’s coal shipments fell 10% to about 13 million tons last year, even as higher prices buoyed the miner’s revenue and profit. Those sales are expected to fall further as Transnet grapples with a shortage of locomotive spare parts and vandalism on the line that runs from coal fields in Mpumalanga to Richards Bay Coal Terminal on the east coast.

The miner’s profit more than doubled to about 18 billion rand ($990 million), boosted by record coal prices. Thungela said it will pay a total dividend of 13.8 billion rand, as it sees coal prices remaining strong despite softening this year.

The company said it could ship between 10.5 million to 12.5 million tons this year, which would be the lowest on record, Ndlovu said. Thungela has 3.2 million tons of stockpiled coal at its mines and another 400,000 tons at the port. The uncertainty regarding Transnet’s performance means Thungela couldn’t provide guidance for 2024, it said.

Thungela slumped 11% as of 11:42 a.m. in London. RMB Morgan Stanley said the miner’s guidance this year “is a little disappointing.”

(By Felix Njini)

NOT SO GREEN BC
British Columbia eyes economic boost with three new gold mines

Nelson Bennett - Business in Vancouver | March 27, 2023 

The Cariboo gold project is located in the historic Wells-Barkerville mining camp in British Columbia. (Image courtesy of Osisko Gold Royalties.)

It has been six years since the last new gold mine – Brucejack – went into production in British Columbia.


Now, as many as three could be pouring first gold next year: Premier, Blackwater and Cariboo Gold.

While the Premier and Cariboo Gold mines are brownfield projects with historical mining, the new Artemis Gold Blackwater project south of Prince George is a large greenfield project that will generate a significant number of jobs and economic activity in an area hard hit by sawmill and pulp mill closures.

Combined, the three new mines represent an initial capital investment of C$1.5 billion over the next couple of years, and hundreds of new jobs.

Premier mine – low volume and high grade

The first of the three new gold mines to go into production will be the Premier underground gold mine near Stewart, B.C. Ascot Resources is aiming to pour first gold by the first quarter of 2024. The capital cost of the project is C$300 million, and much of the new works are already built or nearing completion.

The mine is located within Nisga’a treaty lands. An agreement with the Nisga’a provides the First Nation with cash payments, training, employment and business opportunities. Sprott Streaming is helping to finance the mine with a $110 million gold and silver streaming agreement.

The Premier gold mine has been mined since the early 1900s, most recently as an open-pit operation until the late 1990s, so a lot of the infrastructure needed to operate a mine is in place.

“We have a lot of strategic infrastructure advantages that a greenfield site doesn’t have,” said Ascot CEO Derek White. “That’s why we’re able to go much quicker. We’re benefiting from all the historical infrastructure.”

Ascot has designed a hub-and-spoke approach, with one central mill near the historical Premier mine site, and four distinct deposits, all to be mined underground. The furthest deposit is 44 kilometres away by road.

Since a lot of the infrastructure is already in place, most of the capital investment has been in refurbishing the mill and a tailings pond and water treatment system.

“In 2023, the big things for us are putting in a new state-of-the-art water treatment plant,” White said.

Ascot expects the mine to produce 150,000 ounces a year, with average grades of 7.5 grams of gold per tonne. To put that in context, Blackwater’s average annual production would be just under 400,000 ounces per year with gold grades of 0.75 grams per tonne.

“These are high-grade underground deposits,” White said. “So small volume, high grade.”

Ascot will be ramping up to about 200 workers this summer. Once in operation, the mine will employ 230 to 250 miners. While some of the miners may live in camp at the site, others may end up living in Stewart, B.C., White said.

Blackwater Gold – locally owned and low carbon

With an initial capital cost of C$645 million – and up to C$1.4 billion total over a 22-year mine life – Artemis Gold’s Blackwater open-pit gold mine south of Vanderhoof will be largest new mine built in the region in more than a decade. Plus, it is largely locally owned, with 41% of the owners being board members or management, including Vancouver developer Ryan Beedie, who is a director and major shareholder.

“We live here,” said Artemis Gold CEO Steven Dean. “This is our home and our decisions are made here in Vancouver, and not in Toronto or some other head office outside of the province or even outside of the country.”

The Blackwater project was green-lit just last week with the issuance of a Mines Act permit. Early works construction has already started.

“We’re already well into construction,” Dean said.

The Blackwater project will create 500 jobs during an 18-month construction period, with production expected later in the second half of 2024. It will employ 300 miners in the first phase of operation and up to 450 in later phase expansions. The project will expand in phases, with the expansions focused on processing, starting at six million tonnes annually in Phase 1, 12 million tonnes in Phase 2 and 20 million tonnes in Phase 3.

The mine will be in a region of B.C., south of Prince George, that has been hard hit in recent years by sawmill and pulp mill closures, so it will provide a welcome injection of jobs and tax revenue.

“British Columbians will benefit from hundreds of new jobs of this new mine, with both its construction and multiple decades of operation,” said Josie Osborne, minister of energy, mines and low carbon innovation.

“We’re hoping to be able to support employment and re-employment of some of those people in the forestry sector, maybe with a little bit of retraining into our sector,” Dean said. “Whether it be operators, truck drivers, maintenance people in the mill, there are some common skills between the two industries.”

Wheaton Precious Metals is staking the project with a $141 million streaming agreement.

“We think it’s a robust asset that has some potential upside even beyond what they’ve identified so far,” Wheaton CEO Randy Smallwood said. “It looks like a really good asset that will deliver a lot of gold and silver to us. It’s a strong team that’s had great success building other operations and other mines around the world.”

An economic impact study by KPMG estimates the mine will contribute C$13 billion to the B.C. economy over its 22-year life, including C$2.3 billion in provincial revenue.

The Blackwater will have a lean carbon emissions profile. Its processing plant will be fully electric, and therefore zero emission, and the company has an agreement with Caterpillar in which the mine’s haul trucks can switch to fully electric in 2029.

“We have an agreement whereby we will be one of the first to receive these pieces of equipment,” Dean said.

Cariboo Gold – bringing Barkerville back to life

Osisko Development has plans to bring the historic gold mining region of Barkerville back to life. The company had planned to have a new mine in operation last year, but it has been delayed, and the company is now aiming to pour first gold in 2024.

The project has a total capital cost of close to C$600 million – C$137 million for the first phase and $451 million for expansion. In January, Osisko published a new feasibility study that estimates the mine will produce an average 163,695 ounces of gold a year over a 12-year period, with gold grades of 3.72 to 4.43 grams per tonne.

“This feasibility study demonstrates that the Cariboo Gold project will be a large-scale, long-life and profitable gold mine,” said Osisko Development CEO Sean Roosen. “It will also produce significant quantities of gold in its initial years at a capital cost below C$140 million.”

(This article first appeared in Business in Vancouver)

Biden tees up a supply chain rethink with challenge to China’s EVs
Bloomberg News | March 28, 2023 | 

Battery Benchmarking and Test Laboratory in Allen Park, Michigan. (Credit: Ford)

Seven months after President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, the magnitude of the challenge it will be for the US to loosen China’s grip on the electric vehicle supply chain — a key objective of the legislation — is coming into sharper relief.


Ford, the top US car producer, confirmed last month that it will tap technology from China’s battery-making behemoth CATL for a $3.5 billion plant it’s building in Michigan. Tesla is expecting the base version of its cheapest car, the Model 3, to lose the entirety of the $7,500 tax credit it’s been eligible for because its cells come from China. And barring big surprises later this week, many other EVs currently qualifying for credits will be eligible for $3,750 incentives, at most, after the Treasury Department finalizes content requirements that have been the subject of heated debate and frantic lobbying.


Days before those rules are released, a Washington think tank whose mission is aligned with the IRA’s goals is releasing a detailed report delving into China’s command of the supply chain, and the corners it says the country cut on the way to dominance. The group — Securing America’s Future Energy, or SAFE — argues that China has been winning out in part because of failures to account for the toll that the extraction and processing of critical minerals including lithium, nickel and cobalt are taking on workers and the environment, often in lower-income countries.

For example, SAFE points to how China pulled far ahead of the US in producing the rare earth used in EV motors, and how Indonesia has built a huge lead over Australia in producing nickel.

The US was the top producer of rare earth elements in the 1990s until Chinese suppliers flooded the market with lower-cost supplies. Those rare earths were cheaper in part because suppliers were allowed to dispose of radioactive waste into the Yellow River that flows through Western China, SAFE says, citing a report by the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security.

As for nickel, some miners in Indonesia are able to produce nickel at lower cost by cheaply dumping their waste into the ocean, SAFE says, citing a German lobby group’s report. While Australia is roughly tied with Indonesia among countries with the largest nickel reserves, it bans these disposal practices. Roughly half of the world’s nickel comes from Indonesia, while Australia supplies only 5%, according to SAFE.

“This uneven playing field, where producers compete on cost alone and visibility into how things are sourced is low, has created a global race to the bottom for critical minerals that not only disadvantages communities, the environment, and responsible producers, but also threatens American national security,” the authors of the report write.

SAFE lays out policy measures that it says would flip this phenomenon on its head. In its report, titled A Global Race to the Top, the group urges the US to band together with the European Union and Japan and agree to only source minerals produced with high standards, arguing that the rest of the world would be forced to follow suit.

There’s an analogous precedent for what SAFE is calling for: The US Agriculture Department visits international sites to ensure imported food products comply with safety regulations. The group calls for Congress to enlist the Bureau of Land Management, the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and other relevant federal agencies to similarly visit mines to make sure they’re complying with US standards.

SAFE also recommends that greater transparency of where minerals are coming from — and their human and environmental cost — at the consumer level by adding that information to the window labels that lay out information including pricing and battery range.

“We see responsible mining as being key to diversifying,” Abigail Wulf, the vice president and director of SAFE’s Center for Critical Minerals Strategy, said in an interview. “Right now, it’s incredibly difficult to diversify supply chains, because it’s incredibly difficult to compete on cost. And it’s difficult to compete on cost because where you’re getting these minerals from are ostensibly degrading the environment and exploiting workers in ways you would not be allowed to in the US, Canada, the EU and Australia.”

The IRA, Wulf said, represents a “first critical step” toward the transparency SAFE is calling for. With the global transition to EVs still in its relative infancy, the group argues there’s still an opportunity to shape the future of this market and its impact on economies, geopolitics and the environment.

Botswana partners with gem trader HB Antwerp, seeks to loosen De Beers’ grip

Reuters | March 27, 2023 |

The Jwanend diamond mine in Botswana. (Image courtesy of Debswana)

Botswana will take a 24% stake in Belgian gem processing firm HB Antwerp as it seeks to gain more value from its diamonds, President Mokgweetsi Masisi said Monday, a move which might start to loosen De Beers’ grip on the country’s diamond industry.


Botswana’s state-owned diamond trading company, Okavango Diamond Company (ODC), will also enter into a five-year agreement to supply rough diamonds to HB Antwerp as part of the deal.

“The key commercial terms of the deal have been agreed and the deal will be signed in the coming weeks. Today is the dawn of a new era for the diamond industry in Botswana, as we begin this journey with HB Antwerp,” Masisi said during the official opening of HB Antwerp’s cutting and polishing facility in Gaborone.

Botswana, which jointly owns Africa’s largest diamond producer Debswana with global giant De Beers, a unit of Anglo American Plc, is moving to explore other options outside the 54 year-old De Beers partnership.

The two partners are currently in talks to renew a 2011 sales and marketing agreement which entitles De Beers to 75% of the production from Debswana.

Masisi has threatened to walk away from the talks if Botswana does not get a bigger share of Debswana’s output for marketing outside the De Beers system. The government has not publicly stated what share it seeks, but it is believed to be as high as 50%, double the current allocation.

Founded in 2020, HB Antwerp is currently in partnership with Lucara Diamond Corp, buying stones of 10 carat quality and above from the Toronto-listed miner’s Karowe Mine in central Botswana at prices based on the estimated polished outcome of each diamond, determined through state-of-the-art scanning and planning technology.

HB Antwerp says this model, which it seeks to replicate with ODC, allows Lucara to earn 40% more than it would from selling at rough diamond market prices.

“It’s a strategic partnership, it will add more value to Botswana not just in terms of price or money, but empowering the people of Botswana,” HB Antwerp co-founder Rafael Papismedov told Reuters.

(By Brian Benza; Editing by Nelson Banya and Christina Fincher)

Trapped miners in east Congo tumble out of rubble intact in viral video

Reuters | March 27, 2023 |

A mine in eastern Congo

 (Photo by Sasha Lezhnev. Courtesy: ENOUGH Project/Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

A video showing nine Congolese miners unexpectedly popping out of a collapsed gold mine and tumbling down a steep slope as onlookers cry out in joy has gone viral in Democratic Republic of Congo, a rare happy ending to an all-too-common story.


Mining accidents are rife in the giant Central African country, especially at small, artisanal sites such as the one in South Kivu province that collapsed on Saturday following heavy rain.

The video shows a man precariously perched on the side of a steep slope of rubble, frantically digging with a spade while a group of other men stand in a large circle around him, watching.

All of a sudden, a miner pops out of the rubble and slides down the slope, borne by his own momentum, as the onlookers break out in cheers of surprise and delight.

Disclaimer: The origin of the video has not been verified

The rescuer is then seen redoubling his efforts, forsaking the spade to dig through the rubble with his bare hands. Another miner soon appears, then another, and within two minutes a total of nine men have come out alive and well.

Reuters has verified the video, which was widely shared on social media.

A lack of safety procedures and proper equipment are at the root of frequent tunnel collapses at Congolese mines, in which miners are trapped underground with slim chances of survival.

Two miners died in a similar incident at a nearby informal digging site in early March.

Against that backdrop, hopes were dim as rescue efforts began after Saturday’s incident.

“We quickly mobilized people to clear the rubble that was blocking the entrance. It was on the morning of this Saturday… that they managed to save these nine souls,” local civil society representative Crispin Kayuka told Reuters via telephone.

(By Sonia Rolley; Editing by Sofia Christensen, Estelle Shirbon and Sharon Singleton)

Researchers closer to understanding how orogenic gold belts are formed

Staff Writer | March 28, 2023 |

The Sunrise Dam gold mine built on and orogenic gold deposit in Western Australia. 

(Reference image by Calistemon, Wikimedia Commons.)

Chinese researchers have discovered that the lithosphere architecture characterized by crust-mantle decoupling controls the formation of orogenic gold belts.


In a paper published in the journal National Science Review, the scientists explain that orogenic gold deposits account for approximately 30% of the world’s gold resources, but opinions about their mineralization mechanism are mixed.

Such gold deposits were previously thought to have developed extensively in the Precambrian greenstone belt while their gold-bearing fluids were considered to have been generated by the dehydration of crustal rocks during metamorphism. However, there is growing evidence for large amounts of epigenetic orogenic gold deposits on the margins of the Tertiary Craton, where the mineralizing fluids show substantial mantle origin.

To test this hypothesis, the research team chose the Ailaoshan orogenic gold belt on the western margin of the Yangzi Craton, located in the southeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau.

Based on the geological, geophysical, and geochemical data from this gold mining area, the team proposed that lithospheric crust-mantle decoupling on the southeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau controls the formation of orogenic gold deposits and establishes a model for mineralization.

They believe that continental subduction triggered the upwelling of the soft current circle, partial melting of the mantle, and decoupling of the crust-mantle movement.

Control mechanisms of crust-mantle decoupling on orogenic gold systems on the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. (Image by University of Science and Technology of China).

“The melt-generated basal magma converges at the crust-mantle decoupling and generates mineralizing fluids, which migrate along supra-crustal fractures to precipitate mineralization in the upper crust,” the team said in a media statement.

In their view, the geodynamic model of crust-mantle decoupling controlling gold mineralization can explain the formation of several large epigenetic orogenic gold provinces.

“The orogenic gold mineralization model proposed in this study can be useful for the integrated geophysical and geochemical investigation of similar gold systems,” the group noted.

The new study is a continuation of the long-term geophysical advanced imaging algorithm development and related research on structural imaging in different regions by Zhang Haijiang’s team at the University of Science and Technology of China.

The group has been working on a series of advanced geophysical imaging algorithms, including the joint imaging algorithms for seismic body wave travel time, surface wave dispersion, and receiver function, and constructed the high-resolution unified velocity model USTClitho1.0 and USTClitho2.0 for the Chinese continental lithosphere.

LITHIUM

Liontown rejects $3.7 billion proposal from Albemarle

Reuters | March 27, 2023 

Kathleen Valley lithium project. Credit: Liontown Resources Ltd.

Australia’s Liontown Resources rebuffed an indicative offer from top lithium producer Albemarle Corp that valued the lithium developer at A$5.50 billion ($3.66 billion) on Tuesday, sending its shares soaring 59%.


Albemarle had offered A$2.50 per share, Liontown said in an exchange filing. The offer represented a 63.9% premium to the ASX-listed company’s last close. Its shares climbed 59% in early trading to A$2.42.

“(The Liontown board) unanimously determined that (the proposal) substantially undervalues Liontown, and therefore is not in the best interests of shareholders,” the company said.

Lithium demand is expected to soar in coming years as supplier scramble to meet surging demand from automakers switching to electric vehicles.

Benchmark lithium prices have jumped more than six-fold over the past two years, before turning down lately due to a drop in electric vehicle sales in top market China.

Liontown said it had received two prior proposals from Albemarle. The first offer of A$2.20 per share was on Oct. 20 last year and the second of A$2.35 was earlier this month.

Albemarle did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Liontown controls two major lithium deposits in Western Australia, including its flagship Kathleen Valley project. The project is one of the world’s largest and highest-grade hard rock lithium deposits, according to the company’s website.

First production at the project is expected in the second quarter of 2024.

Liontown has inked supply agreements with Ford Motor Co , Tesla and the battery unit of South Korea’s LG Chem.

Liontown also said RT Lithium Ltd, a subsidiary of Albemarle, had built a stake through on-market purchases. RT Lithium now holds a near 2.2% stake in Liontown.

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Albemarle is the world’s largest lithium producer with major facilities in Chile, China and Australia.

($1 = 1.5033 Australian dollars)

(By Harish Sridharan; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Melanie Burton and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

Lundin Mining pays $950m for controlling stake in Caserones copper mine in Chile

Lundin Mining grabbed headlines last year when a sinkhole opened up near one of the company’s mines in Chile — 

Cecilia Jamasmie | March 28, 2023 | 

Caserones copper mine is located in Chile’s arid north, close to the border with Argentina. (Image courtesy of Minera Lumina Copper Chile.)

Canada’s Lundin Mining (TSX: LUN)) is buying a majority stake in the Caserones copper-molybdenum mine in Chile for about $950 million, adding to a flow of deals as miners seek to increase their exposure to the metal, crucial for the world’s energy transition.


The miner will acquire a 51% stake in the company that operates Caserones from its owner Japan’s JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corp

Lundin said it will pay $800 million in cash upfront, plus $150 million over six years from the deal’s completion.

The deal also gives the Toronto-based miner the right to purchase an additional interest of up to 19% in the copper-molybdenum mine for $350 million over five years.

“The initial controlling interest increases our exposure to what we believe is a growing top-tier copper mining district. We retain the option to further increase our ownership over the next few years at an attractive price,” Lundin’s chief executive, Peter Rockandel, said in the statement.

JX Nippon Mining & Metals said the decision to sell part of Lumina Copper, its subsidiary and operator of Caserones, was part of an asset portfolio review.

The firm became the majority owner of the Chilean mine in November 2020, when it acquired the stakes from its partners in the operation Mitsui & Co and Mitsui Mining and Smelting.

The operation has suffered a series of ramp-up delays and cost overruns since it began producing in May 2014. Its annual production of roughly 100,000 tonnes still falls short of the 150,000 tonnes a year intended when construction of the mine began.

Completion of the deal is expected by June 2023, Lundin said.

Caserones is located at an altitude of 4,200m to 4,600m above sea level in Chile’s Atacama desert, close to the Argentina border.

Lundin Mining grabbed headlines last year when a sinkhole opened up near one of the company’s mines in Chile — Alcaparrosa.