Stellantis halts construction at Windsor, Ont., EV battery plant

Holly McKenzie-Sutter, BNN Bloomberg

Stellantis NV and battery maker LG Energy Solution have halted construction on an electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor, Ont., claiming the federal government has not met its commitments to the project. 

A spokesperson for multinational automaker Stellantis said the companies are implementing contingency plans because “the Canadian government has not delivered on what was agreed to.”

“Effective immediately, all construction related to the battery module production on the Windsor site has stopped,” Lou Ann Gosselin said in an email.

The plant was announced in March 2022, citing an investment amount of “more than $5 billion” from both companies together. It was touted by the Ontario government as “the largest auto investment in the province’s history,” expected to be operational by 2025 and create about 2,500 jobs.

A Saturday statement from Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said the project is in question due to the federal government not meeting its commitments, “jeopardizing not only the completion of the EV plant but also our efforts to attract additional investment to the region.”

In a letter published on Twitter, Dilkens said he expects the federal government to “follow through” and get the project back on track.

“This counterproductive impasse creates significant challenges and risks thousands of jobs in our community,” Dilkens wrote.

“As the host community, the City of Windsor has the most at risk, and we anticipate the spirit of partnership and collaboration will put us back on the path of completing this significant project.”

 A spokesperson for Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the federal government is still in talks with the companies.

“We continue to negotiate in good faith with our partners.  Our top priority is and remains getting the best deal for Canadians,” Laurie B. Bouchard said in an email. She did not say how much money the federal government offered to Stellantis related to the Windsor plant.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Monday that he’s concerned about the project. He said his government had already made an agreement with Stellantis on financial support of $500 million. Ford said his government offered the same amount of money to Volkswagen AG for that company’s recently announced EV battery plant in St. Thomas, Ont.

He urged the federal government to finalize the details of its financial incentives with Stellantis, and “step up” as it did with the Volkswagen plant, a deal that includes federal subsidies worth up to $13 billion on top of a $700 million grant.

“We need the federal government to come to the table and show their support like they have all along,” he said. “I know Mayor Dilkens is quite concerned as well, and so am I.”

Ford said that the province is not able to compete with U.S. green incentives supporting electric vehicle and other technologies, but he argued that federal government should do so.

Canada’s offer to Volkswagen essentially matched what would have been made available in the United States had the company chosen to set up its battery shop there – but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has since warned that not all companies can expect the same deal.

The president of the union representing about 8,000 Canadian Stellantis workers told Bloomberg News in a Monday interview that time is of the essence for governments to complete negotiations with the company and save the project.

“We’ve dealt with auto companies for a very long time. We know they don’t make threats, they make decisions — and that’s where we are at right now,” Unifor president Lana Payne said.

“The longer this goes on the more precarious it becomes. We’re not dealing with a lot of time here.”

Flavio Volpe, president of Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) of Canada, said he’s not worried about Stellantis pulling out of Windsor, given that construction of the facility has already started.

“What we’re seeing is a public peek into private negotiations,” Volpe told BNN Bloomberg in a television interview on Monday. “We’re really just grinding out the final details.”

The Stellantis Windsor deal is unique, Volpe said, because it came about before the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act and the extent of its green incentives were revealed, which put pressure on government’s like Canada’s to put more money on the table to compete in subsequent deals like the one with Volkswagen.

Volpe said he expects Stellantis is likely making its case for more funding to compete with the U.S. subsidies on offer, but he’s optimistic that both sides will come to an agreement in the end.

“We will be making batteries in Windsor for the cars that my members supply across this country,” he said.

With files from Bloomberg News

LG, Stellantis project hangs in balance as Canada politicians fight over money

Laura Dhillon Kane, Bloomberg News

Canada’s industry minister says the Ontario government hasn’t committed to paying its “fair share” to help advance negotiations with automaker Stellantis NV over an electric-vehicle battery plant.

François-Philippe Champagne said the Canadian government will be competitive with the U.S. when it comes to the auto sector. “What we now need is for Ontario to pay its fair share. Full stop. Windsor is a key place to build our EV ecosystem,” the minister said Monday night on Twitter, referring to the southern Ontario city where the plant would be located.  

Stellantis and LG Energy Solution Ltd. announced the project last year, but said Monday they’ve halted construction as they wage a battle for more public money from Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has already offered up to $13 billion to Volkswagen AG to lure a vehicle battery plant to Ontario, Canada’s most populous province and the heart of its auto industry.

Champagne sent the tweet on his way to South Korea, LG’s home country, where he’s on a trade trip with Trudeau. A spokesperson for Ontario Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Speaking to reporters in Seoul on Tuesday, Champagne said he was looking to Ontario to share in paying for public subsidies for the plant, beyond the typical capital expenditure funding.

“The capital expenditure is the easy part of the equation, which we have always done and we have done with our partners all along,” he said. “What we’re saying now when we say ‘pay their fair share’ is to make sure that they would be with us in terms of production support.”

Stellantis and LG Energy pledged in 2022 to invest more than $4 billion in the Windsor battery facility. Meanwhile, Ontario and Canada promised about C$1 billion to help Stellantis retool two Ontario plants to build electric vehicles. 

However, both announcements came months before U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which contains rich incentives for EV manufacturing. Trudeau subsequently promised more government assistance to help Canadian manufacturers compete.

Champagne said Tuesday that Stellantis asked his government to come back to the table after the passage of the act. He said negotiations are focused on the battery cell manufacturing plant and his government has promised a “fair deal” in line with what it offered to Volkswagen.

He also said he plans to pull aside and talk to the CEO of LG, Kwon Young-soo, at a state dinner on Wednesday.

Asked whether he thought Stellantis was bluffing when it halted construction and threatened to build the plant elsewhere, the minister said he is “old enough” to know when companies are using negotiation tactics.

“There’s a negotiation, that’s fair. But my job and our job is to fight for Canadians,” he said. “So I’m fighting. We got a good deal with Volkswagen, we’re going to get a good deal with LG-Stellantis and we’re going to get a deal that we can afford as Canadians.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford earlier told the Canadian Press that the federal government needs to support Stellantis in the same manner as Volkswagen. He also said his province cannot afford to provide subsidies in line with the US government. “It really worries me,” he said. “We need the federal government to come to the table and show their support like they have all along.”

If built, the 45 gigawatt-hour factory would create 2,500 jobs and supply Stellantis’s assembly plant in Windsor and others across North America.

 

 

Union says WestJet pilots issue 72-hour strike notice, and plan job action Friday

WestJet pilots have issued a 72-hour strike notice to the company and the government, according to the union that represents them, and they warn the airline could be shut down right before the May long weekend.

The Air Line Pilots Association said in a news release late Monday that pilots plan to begin lawful job action early Friday morning, which the release said "could include grounding all aircraft and effectively shutting down operations."

“Flight disruptions are never an ideal outcome, especially given the tremendous support our guests have shown us, and we want to continue being a major contributor to our company’s success by helping WestJet realize its growth strategy,” Bernard Lewall, who heads the union's WestJet contingent, said in the news release.

“However, WestJet pilots will withdraw our services to secure a contract that will fix many of the airline’s labour problems and make it a career destination for pilots once again.”

The WestJet Group responded with a lockout notice, saying a work stoppage could occur as early as Friday at 3 a.m. MDT.

“The decision to issue a lockout notice, in response to the actions taken by the union today, was not one that was made lightly, and we sincerely regret the inconvenience and uncertainty this continues to cause for our guests,” WestJet Group CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech said in a statement. 

The statement noted the lockout notice does not mean a work stoppage will occur, and that both parties remain at the bargaining table. But it said the company would "begin preparations to operate a reduced schedule" and warned it would be "a significant reduction from WestJet and Swoop’s current networks."

WestJet said guests impacted by flight delays or cancellations will be refunded or re-accommodated as applicable.

The union represents some 1,600 flight crew at WestJet and subsidiary Swoop, and had warned Friday that a walkout could come as early as this week as talks dragged on.

Lewall said last week that the workers' issues revolve around job protection, pay and scheduling, with some 340 pilots leaving the carrier over the past year and a half -- mostly to other airlines.

In a statement last week, the Calgary-based airline said its pilots are among the best paid in Canada, but that a contract on par with those recently secured by some U.S. pilot groups would be financially unworkable and put the company's future at risk.

The union said in its news release it could have filed the strike notice over the weekend, but in a bid to keep the airline operating, it agreed to extend negotiations.

The union noted that while progress was made on most non-cost items, both sides have been unable to reach an agreement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2023.

WestJet customers holding their breath as 

strike notice jeopardizes travel plans

The Canadian Press

The travel plans of WestJet customers are up in the air after its pilots' union issued a 72-hour strike notice Monday night.

The gambit by the Air Line Pilots Association kicked off a countdown to a flight crew walkout at 3 a.m. EDT on Friday morning, just ahead of the trip-laden May long weekend.

Vancouver resident Debby Raffard said she's been anxiously checking social media for updates about her May 22 flight to Hawaii, which she booked with WestJet in November.

"I am beyond upset," she said, expressing frustration with both sides.

"I don’t have that extra money to pay for another flight, nor do my travelling companions. So we are essentially screwed here," Raffard said, noting the group made a non-refundable condo booking.

WestJet subsidiary Swoop notified customers there is no impact on operations so far. But WestJet said Monday night it had started preparations to cut the flight schedules of both the flagship and budget carriers.

In the event of a delay or cancellation, customers will be "refunded or re-accommodated, as applicable," the airline said Monday night.

Consumers with travel insurance — via their credit card or purchased from the carrier — could potentially get that reimbursement sooner, said Natasha Macmillan, director of everyday banking at Ratehub.ca, an online comparison platform for financial products. But airlines are required to offer refunds and rebookings, including through rival airlines, in the event of delays and cancellations caused by a labour disruption, she said.

Nonetheless, experts said a strike could taint passengers' view of a sector already rife with customer dissatisfaction after hundreds of thousands of flight cancellations over the past three years that have prompted tens of thousands of complaints around compensation to the transport regulator.

"If WestJet was to go on strike because of an issue with pilots, it will be of course detrimental to the industry overall, (and) to the travellers," said Jacques Roy, a professor of transport management at HEC Montreal business school.

"It's a market where the supply is less than demand. So basically, they are in the driver's seat," he said of the 1,850 WestJet pilots gearing up to strike amid a global pilot shortage.

The pilots, who unionized in 2017, are negotiating with privately-held WestJet after Onex Corp. bought the publicly traded airline in 2019. Privatization has meant the loss of some potential perks for pilots, said Roy.

"The pilots with WestJet used to brag that though they were paid less than Air Canada's pilots, they would still make more money because they could buy WestJet shares at half the price," Roy said, adding that labour issues were once "nonexistent."

Now, union and management are playing hardball under pressure from inflation, labour shortages and rising U.S. pilot wages on the one hand and a pandemic-battered aviation sector on the other. Bargaining between WestJet and pilots has never gone as far as a strike notice — until this week — the union said.

If it drags on, the deadlock could tarnish the airline's reputation and affect its bookings, said Karl Moore, an associate professor with the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University.

"There's that feisty Western approach, more of a sense of humour than Air Canada," he said. "I think overall WestJet has a pretty positive image among Canadians. Now, this might hurt them a bit."

In 1998, a 13-day pilot strike at Air Canada grounded 650 flights and 60,000 passengers daily, costing the company $133 million.

Flair, an Alberta-based ultra-low-cost carrier, seized on the uncertainty around the current standoff to try to nab passengers from its rival, announcing extra flights between Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton starting Friday.

"The airline is creating contingency plans to service more destinations with flight frequencies should the WestJet pilots’ strike continue for an extended period," it said in a statement.

Bernard Lewall, who heads the union's WestJet contingent, said the workers' issues revolve around pay, job security and scheduling, with some 340 pilots leaving the carrier over the past year and a half — mostly for other airlines.

"After nine months of negotiating, management still fails to understand today’s labour market conditions, leading to a mass exodus of our pilots in search of better work opportunities, and more will follow if this agreement does not meet our pilots’ needs,” Lewall said in a statement Monday night.

Last week, Calgary-based WestJet said its pilots are among the best paid in Canada, but that a contract on par with those recently secured by some U.S. pilot groups would be financially unworkable and could put the company's future at risk.

Negotiations are ongoing from 7 a.m. to midnight at a hotel near Toronto's Pearson airport, even after the strike notice — and WestJet's immediate response of a lockout notice.

"The decision to issue a lockout notice, in response to the actions taken by the union today, was not one that was made lightly, and we sincerely regret the inconvenience and uncertainty this continues to cause for our guests,'' WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech said in a statement shortly before midnight Monday.

Yukon government takes over Minto Mine after company ceases operations

The Canadian Press

The Yukon government says it’s focused on protecting the environment after taking control of the Minto Mine located on Selkirk First Nation territory. The Minto Metals logo is seen in this undated handout. 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Minto Metals

The Yukon government says it’s focused on protecting the environment after taking control of the Minto Mine located on Selkirk First Nation territory.

Stephen Mead, the government’s assistant deputy minister of mineral resources and geoscience services, says the government was informed on Friday by Minto Metals Corp. that it intended to cease operations of the mine and remove its staff over the weekend. 

Mead says the government hired JDS Mining to take over the site as a contractor, deploying the firm within 24 hours to secure critical employees and infrastructure. 

He says the mine had around 180 staff and contract employees before the decision Friday by Minto, and that so far JDS has approached around 50 staff members with the intent to hire them to continue working on the site. 

Mead says the government had already been monitoring the mine from an environmental perspective, and while it's too soon to comment on the future of the mine, the current priority is on maintaining the pits that store contaminated water.

Whitehorse-based Minto said in a news release Saturday that it’s working with the government and that it has invested a significant amount of money into improving the water treatment plants at the mine. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2023.

Alta. oilpatch once again shuts in some production as wildfires rage

Amanda Stephenson, 

The Canadian Press

May 16,2023

Some oil and gas companies in Alberta are once again shutting in production as hot and dry conditions exacerbate the wildfire situation in the energy-producing province.

Volatility caused by shifting winds and changing temperature conditions, combined with the sheer size of the geographic area affected, is making it hard even for companies that are directly affected to get a good read on the situation, said Grant Fagerheim, president and CEO of Whitecap Resources Inc.

"You’re trying to stay on top of it. You're in constant communication with your field supervisors," Fagerheim said. "But we're living in real time right now."

Whitecap has drilling operations across central and northern Alberta and into northeast B.C., and Fagerheim has spent the last 10 days assessing and reacting as existing fires move and spread and new blazes pop up in other locations.

The company first moved to temporarily shut in 12,000 barrels per day of production on May 5, then increased that to 40,000 last Sunday. It restarted some of its operations this week as cooler temperatures and rain brought relief in some areas, but conditions worsened again on Tuesday.

The company now has approximately 27,000 barrels per day of production curtailed, and Fagerheim said he estimates that hundreds of the company's employees and contractors have either been evacuated or are prepared to evacuate.

Other employees are working long days in hot, smoky conditions to ensure the safety of infrastructure and equipment. Near the city of Fort St. John, B.C., which is under an evacuation alert, the company's operations are running on back-up power because more than 100 power poles have burned down, Fagerheim said.

While none of the company's infrastructure has been damaged, Fagerheim said in some regions, flames have been "within a road allowance" of Whitecap's operations.

"People are tired. This is tiring. They’re trying to take care of their families, moving their families out of their homes, into temporary housing," he said. "Our number one priority is the safety of our staff and our contractors and their families.”

There are currently 87 active wildfires in Alberta, 24 of which are out of control.

On Tuesday, Crescent Point Energy Corp. said it has once again shut in its entire production in the Kaybob Duvernay area, representing 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), after previously reactivating a portion of that production last week.

Other affected producers include Paramount Resources Ltd. — which has temporarily curtailed approximately 45,000 boe/d in the Grande Prairie and Kaybob regions of Alberta — and Baytex Energy Corp., which has curtailed approximately 24,000 boe/d due to its own shut-ins as well as third-party interruptions.

On Monday, Vermilion Energy Inc. lowered its second-quarter production guidance as a result of the wildfire situation, saying it now expects production in the second quarter of the year to average 80,000 to 83,000 boe/d, down from a previous forecast of 84,000 to 86,000 boe/d.

"On any given day, I think the situation's pretty dynamic," said ATB Capital Markets analyst Patrick O'Rourke. "Back of the envelope, I'd say a couple of hundred thousand boe/d (in total) could be shut in right now."

That works out to about 10 per cent of total production from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, O'Rourke said.

Rory Johnston, a Toronto-based energy analyst and founder of the Commodity Context newsletter, said the companies affected by the fires are much smaller than the massive oilsands corporations that were affected by the Fort McMurray wildfire in 2016.

That event resulted in a temporary 14 per cent decline in crude oil exports from Alberta as oilsands facilities had to be taken off-line and were not fully restored for several months.

But Johnston said while oil and gas prices are not yet seeing much of an impact, the longer the current fire situation lasts, the more likely it is that the affected companies will see their second-quarter earnings suffer as a result.

“My general feeling is that while it’s not going to be material yet for the market, it could be material for some of these producers," he said.

He added that increased wildfire activity in the years ahead will add more volatility to the Canadian energy sector.

“Wildfires are turning into this very unpredictable perennial risk for the sector," Johnston said.

Return of fires in Canada’s gas regions prompts new outages

Sheela Tobben and Natalie Obiko Pearson,

Bloomberg News

May 15,2023

The Bald Mountain Wildfire is shown in the Grande Prairie Forest Area on Friday May 12, 2023 this handout image provided by the Government of Alberta. 

(THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Government of Alberta Fire Service)

A resurgence of wildfires across Canada’s main energy-producing province over the weekend prompted some drillers to suspend portions of their production again.

Paramount Resources Ltd. and Pipestone Energy Corp. both temporarily halted some output starting Friday after blazes resurfaced and shut down third-party gas-processing facilities they use.

There were 84 active wildfires in Alberta as of Monday afternoon, with 23 considered out of control. That compares with 87 active fires and 24 out of control on Sunday.

“The fire danger is extreme,” Josee St-Onge, spokeswoman for Wildfire Alberta, said at a news conference Sunday. “Our peak burning period — which is when the temperatures are at their highest and the fuels are at their driest — is still in front of us.”

Extreme heat warnings were in effect across much of the province. Temperatures in Manning, a town in the province’s north, surged to 30.9C on Sunday — some 14 degrees above normal for this time of the year, according to data from Environment Canada.

“Hot and dry conditions throughout much of Alberta present an ever increasing risk of new wildfires starting and the potential for current wildfires to grow quickly,” said Colin Blair, executive director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.

Crude inventories across monitored sites in western Canada are sitting at 30.69 million barrels, according to data from geoanalytics firm Kayrros SAS. That’s broadly steady from May 1, but about 2 million barrels below volumes on April 15.

The return of the fires has raised prices for some Canadian crudes. The discount for heavy Western Canadian Select versus Nymex oil futures narrowed 35 cents to US$12.50 a barrel on Monday, the smallest in more than a year.

More than 1,500 people were fighting fires on Sunday, while helicopters were deployed to drop buckets of water on hotspots. An additional 200 firefighters had arrived from the US, St-Onge said. More than 19,0000 residents had been evacuated.

In 2016, wildfires tore through Aberta’s oil sands, shutting down more than 1 million barrels of daily crude production and razing whole sections of Fort McMurray, the biggest city in the oil-sands region. This month’s blazes have largely spared the oil sands, but they’ve hammered the province’s drought-stricken west, forcing the evacuation of as many as 30,000 people and curtailing natural gas output.

OPERATIONAL UPDATES

Below is a summary of operational updates from companies working in the area:

• Paramount Resources said it again temporarily cut 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day of production in the Grande Prairie and Kaybob regions Friday. It also said the third-party Wapiti natural gas processing facility was halted that day.
• Pipestone Energy said around 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day production has been temporarily curtailed since Friday.
• Vermilion Energy Inc. has restored 60 per cent of the roughly 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day it shut this month in response to wildfires. The company cut its second-quarter output targets because of the fires.

Dead birds found at Suncor oilsands tailings ponds sites

The Alberta Energy Regulator says a total of 32 dead waterfowl have been found at two separate oilsands tailings ponds operated by Suncor Energy Inc.

The regulator says Suncor reported 27 dead birds — including 7 grebe, a sensitive bird species — at the Syncrude Mildred Lake Settling Basin, a tailings pond located on the north side of the Mildred Lake oilsands site.

The other five birds, all grebe, were found at the Millennium Mine site tailings pond at Suncor's Base Plant north of Fort McMurray, Alta.

All the birds were found between the dates of May 8 and May 13.

The regulator says regional stakeholders as well as the provincial and federal governments have been notified.

It says it continues to assess the situation and will provide updates as required.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2023.

https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/6743

Species Profile for Western grebe(aechmophorus occidentalis) 

This aquatic species is also sensitive to pesticides, to other causes of poor water quality, and entanglement in fishing line. Western Grebes nest in colonies ...

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Western_Grebe/lifehistory

Western Grebe Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of ... 

Like many waterbirds, Western Grebe is sensitive to pesticides, habitat degradation, disturbance by humans (when nesting, especially from motorized watercraft), ...

https://support.ebird.org/en/support/solutions/articles/48000803210-sensitive-species-in-ebird

Sensitive Species in eBird : Help Center 

Apr 21, 2023 ... Some bird species face risks from humans of capture, targeted killing, or significant targeted disturbance. Open-access data can be a risk for ...

https://depts.washington.edu/coasst/news/features/western_grebe.html

COASST : Features : Western Grebe 

Unlike some species, such as murres, gulls, and fulmars that are documented frequently because of their relative abundance as live birds, finding Western Grebes ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_grebe

Western grebe - Wikipedia 

The western grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis) is a species in the grebe family of water birds. Folk names include "dabchick", "swan grebe" and "swan-necked...

Glass Lewis joins call for increased Glencore disclosure on coal
Reuters | May 11, 2023 

Mt Owen coal mine in Australia’s New South Wales. (Image courtesy of Glencore)

Proxy adviser Glass Lewis has urged investors in global miner and trader Glencore to support a shareholder resolution asking for more disclosure on thermal coal production.


Investors including Britain’s largest asset manager Legal & General Investment Management and the fund arm of lender HSBC last week said Glencore’s decision not to support the shareholder resolution seeking detail on how its coal output plans aligned with global climate goals showed a “fundamental lack of willingness to engage”.

Unlike its peers, Glencore mines and trades thermal coal, the fossil fuel used to generate electricity. It has said it plans to run down its coal mines by the mid-2040s, closing at least 12 by 2035.

Glencore said in a statement dated May 3 that it opposed the motion because it risked undermining the board’s responsibility for its climate strategy, given existing disclosures.

Glass Lewis said that, while supporting the board’s responsibility for determining the miner’s climate strategy, “significant disclosure is required for shareholders to understand and make an educated voting decision” on the company’s 2024 climate plan.

“Adoption of this proposal would ensure that it is continuing to provide shareholders with robust reporting on these matters,” it added in its latest proxy paper ahead of Glencore’s annual general meeting on May 26.

(By Clara Denina; Editing by David Goodman)

Quebec energy shortfall hurts EV supply chain, says lithium CEO

Bloomberg News | May 11, 2023 | 

Quebec is home to lithium projects in varied stages of development.

 (Image courtesy of North American Lithium.)

The top executive of Sayona Mining Ltd., which just restarted a lithium mine in Quebec, says there isn’t enough electricity in the Canadian province to power the region’s mining projects.


The province that produces North America’s cheapest power faces a looming energy shortfall after years of marketing its hydroelectric power to US states and wooing industry with cut-rate prices. That poses a dilemma for the miners and manufacturers that have been lured to Quebec to build a domestic supply chain for electric vehicles.


“Only a few years ago, you wanted to build a mine, there wasn’t a question of whether you would get the power or not — it was guaranteed,” Sayona’s Chief Executive Officer Guy Belleau said Thursday in a presentation at a mining industry conference in Palm Springs, California. “Today, there’s not enough power for all the projects in the province.”

The Australian company restarted its Quebec lithium mine in March after jointly investing $100 million into the project with Piedmont Lithium Inc. The project plans to ramp up production over the coming year before shipping lithium to South Korean battery maker LG Chem Ltd. and automaker Tesla Inc.

(By Jacob Lorinc)

Brazil seeks investor-friendly approach to lithium in bid to tap EV boom
Bloomberg News | May 11, 2023 | 

Grota do Cirilo lithium project, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Image: Sigma Lithium Resources

Brazil may have swung to the left politically but that doesn’t mean it will be following the lead of other Latin American nations by handing control of lithium assets over to the state.


Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who replaced Jair Bolsonaro as president on Jan. 1, will use an investor-friendly model similar to Australia’s rather than Chile’s new public-private approach or Mexico’s quasi-nationalization, said the head of Brazil’s mining department.

“We see countries like Chile and Mexico that decided to close themselves internally on lithium. We are very aligned with Australia’s policy,” Vitor Saback, undersecretary of geology, mining and mineral transformation at Brazil’s Mines and Energy Ministry, said in an interview from Bloomberg’s New York headquarters.

Saback is leading a delegation in meetings with prospective investors in the so-called Lithium Valley Brazil as the mineral-rich nation looks to tap booming demand for the key metal used in electric-vehicle batteries. To attract investors to the southeastern region that’s home to Brazil’s largest lithium reserves, he’s touting the country’s track record of legal security and Lula’s well-received message on environmental protection.

But while the Brazilian government won’t be getting into the lithium business, it will be following the lead of its neighbors by pushing for downstream development. The Industry Ministry is studying measures to encourage development of a lithium-based industry.

“We plan to develop the whole lithium supply chain, including batteries,” Saback said.

Still, the main focus for now is attracting investors to produce and export lithium concentrate from Brazil’s hard rock deposits.

Brazil is also the second-largest iron ore supplier and a significant producer of battery metals copper and nickel. The energy transition offers the country an opportunity to double mining’s share of the broader economy, according to Saback.

To do so, Brazil has to eradicate illegal mining, which currently spans an area larger than that of industrial mining, according to non-government organization MapBiomas. Lula’s government has vowed to crack down on Brazil’s illegal gold rush, removing unlicensed miners, known as garimpeiros, from indigenous lands.

“There is no tolerance for illegality,” he said. “It’s a matter for the Ministry of Justice and the police.”

(By Mariana Durao and Gerson Freitas Jr., with assistance from Vanessa Dezem)

Albemarle aims to expand Chile lithium mine in 2028 with new technology
Reuters | May 11, 2023 | 

Brine pools from a Albemarle’s lithium mine. (File image)

Albemarle Corp hopes to expand its lithium operations in Chile’s Atacama salt flat as early as 2028 with direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology under its current government contract, Ignacio Mehech, the company’s Chile manager, told Reuters.


“Depending on environmental and other permits needed in Chile, as well as scaling technologies, we believe (DLE) should be implemented, if everything goes well, towards 2028 or 2029,” Mehech said during an interview at the company’s Atacama lithium mining operations.
Albemarle and SQM, the only two lithium producers in Chile, currently extract the metal using mass evaporation ponds from brine taken from underground reservoirs. President Gabriel Boric has heavily pushed DLE technology. So far commercially unproven, the method could preserve water tables by allowing brine to be reinjected underground after lithium is extracted.

Even so, DLE still requireslarge volumes of freshwater to filter lithium from underground brine. A DLE process developed by Bill Gates-backed Lilac Solutions, for instance, uses 10 tonnes of water for every tonne of lithium produced.

Water is a hot-button topic in Chile, which is suffering a long drought, even more so on the Atacama desert. One of the driest areas of the world, mining water use there can put companies at odds with indigenous communities and threatenflamingo populations and other wildlife.

“We need to get water from other sources,” Mehech said, adding that Albemarle signed a deal with CRAMSA, a local company looking to build a desalination plant in northern Chile and infrastructure to bring desalinated water to the region.

“If more partners sign on, because our demand isn’t enough, we could secure desalinated water for the Atacama basin,” Mehech said, saying that Albemarle’s demands fulfill 500 of the 8,000 liters per second the company needs to supply the area.

When it comes to brine reinjection, Mehech said Albemarle secured environmental permits and plans to have completed a reinjection pilot program by the end of the year.

“With the results we generate from that pilot program, we’re going to start a second bigger pilot campaign to have more certainty about how reinjection should be done in the Atacama salt flat.”

This would allow the Albemarle to increase lithium production under its current agreement with Corfo, Chile’s state development agency the company has a contract with until 2043, he added.

Boric announced a sweeping plan last month to take control of the country’s lithium industry through state-controlled public-private partnerships.

Chile holds the world’s largest lithium reserves, but lost its spot as the top producer as the government failed to expand the industry.

Countries around the world are racing to provide the metal needed to power electric vehicles. Boric’s announcement spooked some investors, sparking interest in competing countries like nearby Argentina.

On Wednesday, lithium producers Livent and Allkem announced a $10.6 billion merger with a focus on Argentina.

“If you want high-quality, low-cost lithium, Argentina is the country with the best assets out there,” said Livent CEO Paul Graves.

Both SQM and Albemarle have expressed interest in expanding operations in Chile, but differ on when to start renegotiations.

SQM’s contract expires in 2030, and the company has indicated it will soon negotiate with Codelco, the state-run copper company tasked with forming the new agreements.

Albemarle CEO Kent Masters told Reuters last week he is open to negotiating before 2043 and would monitor how negotiations with SQM develop “to give us a bit of intelligence.”

Chilean Economy Minister Nicolas Grau told Reuters that conversations in the Atacama salt flat were going to be “defined during this government,” which ends in 2026, but Mehech sees a new deal happening beyond that.

“We don’t think it’s necessary. We’ve been assured by all government actors that our contract will be respected until 2043,” Mehech said.

“When it’s time, in 2038 or 2040, we’ll sit down to negotiate with the state.”

(By Alexander Villegas and Ernest Scheyder; Editing by David Gregorio)

 American Lithium unit gets green light to explore new area in Peru

Reuters | May 11, 2023 | 

The Falchani property in Peru. Credit: Plateau Energy Metals

The Peruvian arm of Canadian miner American Lithium Corp said on Wednesday it received authorization from the South American nation’s authorities to carry out additional explorations near its current lithium project.


The new exploration will allow the firm to expand its existing resources in the southern Puno region, bordering Bolivia, said Ulises Solis, chief executive of the subsidiary, known as Macusani Yellowcake SAC.

Along with Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, Peru forms part of the “lithium triangle,” which is believed to contain more than half of the world’s resources of the metal across extensive salt flats.

Solis said in a speech during an industry event that the company received authorization last Friday to develop exploration activities in the Quelcaya area, located a few kilometers from the company’s Falchani project.

Last month, Peru’s economy minister, Alex Contreras, said “conditions were being established” to develop lithium mining projects in the country, a week after Chile launched a plan to boost state control of the industry.

(By Marco Aquino and Carolina Pulice; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Head of new lithium giant building supply chain for Americas
Bloomberg News | May 11, 2023 | 

Livent CEO, Paul Graves. (Image by NYSE)

The soon-to-be chief executive of what will become the world’s third-biggest lithium producer says the new company will focus on building a supply chain in the Americas, as US automakers look for non-Chinese sources of the battery metal.


“America-centric is a big differentiator for us with customers, with investors,” Paul Graves said in an interview Thursday, a day after it was announced Livent Corp. will combine with Allkem Ltd. to create a $10.6 billion company. China, where US-based Livent has refineries, “will not be a focus of growth for us in the future,” he said.

The as-yet unnamed company will bring together lithium assets from Argentina, Canada and Australia, allowing it to meet growing Western demand, Livent CEO Graves and his counterpart at Allkem, Martin Perez de Solay, emphasized in the joint interview.

President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which supports domestic production of electric vehicle components, had “turbocharged” the move away from China, Graves said. The law, enacted last August, offers tax credits on EVs that use materials made in the US or its free-trade partners, such as Canada and Australia.

The Livent-Allkem deal shows how the IRA is reshaping supply chains for metals like lithium, and how it’s helping Washington challenge Beijing’s leading role in many sectors that are critical to the energy transition. China is the dominant downstream producer of battery materials, and the only part of the lithium supply chain it doesn’t control is extraction, where Australia and Chile are important.

“The growth area is really investing in Argentina, investing in Canada, investing in localized Western supply chains,” Graves said. Australia, a key ally of the US, would also be a focus for the new company, Perez de Solay added.

While Argentina doesn’t have an FTA with the US, Graves said he was hopeful the White House would make an exception.

“It’s in the US’s interest to qualify Argentina and we expect that they will,” he said, adding he was “getting a favorable response from the US government.”

The deal is due to be completed by year-end, with the new company to be listed in New York. Sydney-listed Allkem’s share price rose as much as 17% in trading Thursday, while Livent closed up 5.2% in the US on Wednesday.

(By James Fernyhough)

Faster energy permitting gains traction in US debt-limit talks

Bloomberg News | May 11, 2023

Dalton Highway (Haul Road) and Alaska Pipeline in the Brooks Range, Alaska. 

An agreement on speeding up permits for energy projects is emerging as a key potential component in any deal to avert a US default, lawmakers and officials familiar with talks on the debt limit impasse say.


Aides working behind the scenes to identify potential areas of compromise already have zeroed in on changes to permitting rules that would expedite production of fossil fuels, a priority for Republicans and some Democrats, and clean energy, a progressive priority.

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are scheduled to meet again with other congressional leaders Friday, with a threat of default looming as soon as June 1.

Republican Representative Garret Graves, a key adviser to McCarthy in the negotiations, said chances are “better than 50/50” that a deal will include some agreement on an energy permitting overhaul.

The staff talks are also focusing on clawing back unspent Covid-19 funds and capping spending in the upcoming federal fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, the Louisiana lawmaker said. The White House wants a short-term caps deal, while Republicans want to cap discretionary spending for 10 years, he added.

Meanwhile, the White House so far has indicated it isn’t willing to consider repealing clean energy subsides and tax enforcement increases from last year’s Inflation Reduction Act.

Republicans and Democrats have put forward competing proposals for changes to permitting rules, but there is overlap between them and a strong push from business lobbyists, led by the US Chamber of Commerce.

Graves, one of the architects of the House debt ceiling bill, said a Republican plan on energy permitting was included in the bill in the hopes that it would be a catalyst for forging compromise. He cited comments Biden Climate Envoy John Kerry made last year about the need to speed clean energy projects.

“I do think permitting reform is more likely than a number of things that Joe Biden will have to accept,” said South Dakota Republican Dusty Johnson, another architect of the bill.

The White House is also sending out signals it wants to do a deal. On Wednesday John Podesta, Biden’s senior advisor for clean energy said the permitting process has been “plagued by delays and bottlenecks.”

“We’ve got to fix this problem now,” Podesta added, noting that the White House supports a proposal with West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin “with additional reforms.” He also cited areas of common ground with GOP proposals.

Still, Podesta cautioned that the administration opposed tying the debt ceiling to permitting reform, and with Republicans and Democrats far apart so far a deal could remain elusive. The White House has said all budget talks should be technically “separate” from debt ceiling.

Last year Manchin tried to attach a version of permitting reform to a must-pass spending bill, only to face opposition from some progressives and Republicans who wanted more done.

A person familiar with the debt talks said Republicans have a list of objections to the Manchin proposal. They include a lack of clear time lines to issue permits, lack of litigation criteria, and the fact the streamlined process for just 25 projects along with Equitrans Midstream Corp.’s Mountain Valley Pipeline is not extended more broadly.

While Republican permitting proposals focus on expediting oil, gas, coal and other fossil fuel projects, Democratic plans seek to hasten approvals for clean energy projects and the build-out of high voltage transmission lines needed to carry the power they produce. There is agreement between the two parties about the need to reduce the overall time it takes projects to clear environmental reviews and other bureaucratic hurdles. In addition, the White House’s proposal seeks to expedite some mining projects through reform of a 150-year-old mining law.

Among the toughest pills to swallow for Democrats would be a weakening of the National Environmental Policy Act, a decades-old environmental law considered sacrosanct by environmentalists.

Many Republicans, meanwhile, have voiced reservations about electricity transmission line reforms they said would give too much power to the independent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. That includes changes to how the agency allocates the costs of the multi-billion dollar power lines.

(By Erik Wasson and Ari Natter)

JV Article: Tudor Gold closer to development at Treaty Creek gold-copper project in British Columbia’s Golden Triangle

MINING.COM and Tudor Gold Corp. | May 13, 2023 

Treaty Creek project in British Columbia’s Golden Triangle. Image by Tudor Gold.

After an expanded mineral resource estimate, latest drill campaign begins this week on one of the world’s biggest gold projects

Tudor Gold Corp. (TSXV: TUD) (FRA: H56) is kicking off its 2023 drill program this week at its flagship Treaty Creek gold-copper project in the Golden Triangle of Northwest British Columbia after a significant updated Mineral Resource Estimate in March revealed big increases in both gold and copper.

Treaty Creek, one of the largest gold discoveries in the last 30 years, was named this year to the Mining Intelligence top ten biggest gold projects in the world ranking.

The prime company’s flagship project Treaty Creek, in which Tudor Gold holds a 60% interest, comprises 17,913-hectares which borders both Seabridge Gold’s KSM property to the southwest and Newcrest Mining’s Brucejack property to the southeast

BC’s Golden Triangle has been a hotbed of merger and acquisition activities in recent years. Total transaction value sits at C$4.35 billion ($3.39bn) since 2018, with majors Newmont and Newcrest acquiring assets and interests in the mineral rich and highly prospective region.

Source: Tudor Gold.

The updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) resulted in a 53% increase in the gold equivalent grade and a 20% increase in total gold equivalent ounces in the Indicated category. In addition to the gold and silver, Tudor delineated a total mineral resource of 3 billion pounds of copper.

The MRE (at a 0.5 g/t AuEQ cut-off for open pit and a 0.7 g/t AuEQ cut-off for underground) reported an Indicated Mineral Resource of 23.37 million ounces (Moz) of gold equivalent (AuEQ) within 641.93 million tonnes (Mt) at a grade of 1.13 g/t AuEQ; comprised of 18.75 Moz of gold (Au) at 0.91 g/t, 112.44 Moz of silver (Ag) at 5.45 g/t, and 2.18 billion pounds of copper (Cu) at 0.15 %. The Inferred Mineral Resource includes 7.35 Moz AuEQ within 233.90 Mt at a grade of 0.98 g/t AuEQ; is comprised of:5.54 Moz Au at 0.74 g/t, 45.08 Moz Ag at 5.99 g/t, and 848.00 million pounds (Mlbs) of Cu at 0.16 %.

To further highlight the robust nature of the updated MRE (at a 1.0 g/t AuEQ sensitivity cut-off) for all Indicated Mineral Resources (open-pit and underground) measures 15.18 Moz of AuEQ at a grade of 1.48 g/t AuEQ; comprised of 12.29 Moz of Au at 1.20 g/t, 72.07 Moz of Ag at 7.02 g/t and 1.35 Blbs of Cu at 0.19 %.

Source: Tudor Gold.

“We are very pleased by the results of our updated MRE for the Goldstorm Deposit, which resulted in an impressive 53 % increase in the gold equivalent grade and a 20 % increase in total gold equivalent ounces within the Indicated Mineral Resource category,” says Tudor Gold CEO Ken Konkin, P. Geo.

“These accomplishments are a culmination of two additional years of drilling and refining of our geologic understanding to vector towards higher-grade gold, copper, and silver,” Konkin adds. “These improvements to the Goldstorm Deposit are expected to provide an excellent foundation as the company advances the Treaty Creek Project towards an initial economic assessment.”

Continued definition and expansion drilling will continue in 2023 to target higher gold, silver and copper grades throughout the northern expansion area of the Goldstorm Deposit.”

This year’s exploration program will total a minimum of 20,000 meters at the Goldstorm Deposit and will target the north and northeast mineral extensions.

In addition, the company plans to carry out exploration drilling at the Perfectstorm Zone, which is located approximately 2.5 kilometers southwest of the Goldstorm Deposit and approximately 2.5 kilometers northeast from Seabridge Gold’s Iron Cap Deposit near the southwestern boundary of the Treaty Claim block.

The company recently completed a C$18.5 million capital raise and is fully funded for the 2023 exploration season.

Tudor’s ESG metrics are solid: The company signed an agreement for engagement and opportunity sharing with Tahltan Central Government, which represents the interests of the Tahltan Nation, on whose traditional territory the project is hosted.

Gold has a successful track record for over 5,000 years as a meaning of exchange and store of value worldwide. Investors are also using gold as a rescue boot in times of high inflation and instability of financial markets.

As of May 1,2023, Tudor Gold has a market cap of C$397 million ($297m) based on a share price of C$1.36. The company has 218.56 million shares outstanding. The two largest shareholders are Tudor Holdings (25.3 %) and renowned investor Eric Sprott (17.4 %).

The preceding Joint Venture Article is PROMOTED CONTENT sponsored by Tudor Gold Corp. and produced in co-operation with MINING.com. Visit: www.tudor-gold.com for more information.