Canada uncorks $1.1 billion critical minerals fund

Colin McClelland | November 20, 2023 | 

Canada’s Natural Resources and Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says more funding for critical minerals projects is on its way. Credit: Government of Canada

The Canadian government is looking for critical mineral projects to back with a C$1.5 billion ($1.1 billion) fund.


The Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund is organized to support clean energy and electrification projects as well as transportation and infrastructure construction that helps get the minerals to market.

First off from a C$300 million pool, applicants can seek up to C$50 million per project, while provincial and territorial governments can apply for as much as C$100 million for each project. Applications are being accepted until the end of February.

Information on funding opportunities and the applicant guide are available online. More from the fund is to be distributed over its seven-year life, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources said in a news release on Monday.

Ottawa started a C$3.8 billion critical minerals strategy last year to help develop copper, cobalt, nickel and other metals used in technologies like batteries, wind turbines and solar panels to fight climate change. Canada is among Western nations seeking less dependency on China which controls the majority of critical mineral mining and processing. Governments also see sustainable mining as a means for rural development and employment.

“Demand for critical minerals is projected to rise exponentially as the global economy continues to shift toward low-carbon solutions,” Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in the release. “Canada will make strategic investments in projects to help enable and grow the sustainable development of these minerals.”

About half of mining projects identified in Canada’s Major Projects Inventory Report process or extract some form of critical minerals worth C$60.9 billion in potential investment, according to the ministry.

“The Canada Infrastructure Bank will play an important complementary role by supporting large-scale projects as we continue along the move toward a net-zero future,” Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Transport, said in the release. “Through these investments, we are creating skilled jobs and supporting northern communities for years to come.”

WORKERS CAPITAL

Caisse pumps C$200 million into Swedish EV battery maker Northvolt

Jeffrey Jones - The Globe and Mail | November 16, 2023

Northvolt Ett main production site for battery cells in Sweden.

 (Image courtesy of Northvolt).

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is investing C$200-million in a Swedish electric-vehicle battery maker that is about to break ground on a new manufacturing plant in the greater Montreal area.


With the investment in Northvolt AB, the Caisse joins a number of other Canadian pension plans in backing the company, whose entrance into Quebec has been touted by the provincial government as a key part of a strategy to become a major battery-making hub.

Construction of the plant, which has a price tag estimated at C$7-billion, is expected to start by the end of this year in Saint-Basile-le-Grand and McMasterville, outside of Montreal. It is designed to have an annual production capacity of as much as 60 gigawatt hours, with equipment for cathode active material, cells and recycled materials.

The company announced in late September it had picked the location out of a number of North American options.

Northvolt, which operates a major facility in Sweden, has signed deals to supply such automakers as Volkswagen, BMW, Scania AB, Volvo Cars and Polestar. Investment Management Corp. of Ontario, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System have sizable investments in the company, as does BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager.

The battery industry is a “high-interest sector” for the Caisse because it is expected to expand rapidly as the transition to lower-carbon energy accelerates over the next decade, Kim Thomassin, the public pension plan’s executive vice-president and head of Québec, said in a statement. The investment in Northvolt is in the form of convertible debt in the parent company.

Paolo Cerruti, Northvolt’s co-founder and chief executive of its North American division, said in the statement that the Caisse was involved in the process for wooing the company to Quebec for several months.

In September, Quebec Premier François Legault said the province is seeking to lock up more deals in the battery industry, having already clinched projects representing half of a C$30-billion target.

Among those, General Motors Co. is partnering with South Korean battery material maker Posco Chemical Co. Ltd. on a new cathode factory in Bécancour, Que. Ford Motor Co. is working with South Korea’s EcoProBM and SK On Co. Ltd. on a C$1.2-billion plant that would produce EV battery materials in that same city.

Top companies’ lobbying undermines their climate pledges, study finds
Reuters | November 16, 2023 | 

Credit: InfluenceMap

Glencore, ExxonMobil and Stellantis are among companies lobbying for policies that conflict with their own pledges to cut carbon emissions, a study published by non-profit think tank InfluenceMap on Thursday found.


The report assessed 293 companies from the Forbes 2000 list and found that of those with a net-zero emissions or similar climate target, nearly 60% are at risk of “net zero greenwash” due to their lobbying.

InfluenceMap uses the United Nations’ High-Level Expert Group’s (HLEG) “Integrity Matters” guidance on the need to align lobbying with climate commitments. Lobbying includes companies’ direct policy influencing activities, and that of their industry associations.

Catherine McKenna, chair of the UN’s HLEG on Net Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities, said the findings should be a “wake-up call” for businesses.

“Not only are many companies choosing to undermine their own climate commitments by lobbying against climate action, their net zero commitments are simply not credible,” she said.

InfluenceMap, founded in 2015 to encourage action to tackle the climate crisis, highlighted companies at the most significant risk of “net zero greenwash”. These firms, it said, have climate targets but advocate for weakening climate policies or expanding the fossil fuel industry.

Glencore, InfluenceMap said, opposed the introduction of an ongoing climate policy in the European Union and the proposed design of Australia’s Safeguard Mechanism Reform.

Swiss commodity trading and mining company, Glencore declined to comment.

ExxonMobil had opposed the US Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed power plant rules and pushed for oil and gas expansion in the US, InfluenceMap said.

Asked to comment, a spokesman for ExxonMobil pointed to a series of announcements the oil giant had made in recent months, including plans to become a leading producer of lithium for electric vehicle batteries, and winning a carbon storage licensing round in the UK.

Stellantis, which wants to reach net-zero by 2038, opposed the EU’s proposed 2035 100% carbon dioxide emissions reduction target for new cars and vans and backed efforts to weaken US emissions standards for light-duty vehicles, according to InfluenceMap.

The automaker did not respond to requests for comment.

Faced with similar criticism in recent years, various companies have said they are trying to balance climate goals with the needs of many stakeholders.

The UN, which begins its COP28 climate summit later this month, has said companies must disclose their lobbying and policy engagements and align them with their climate plans.

“Governments are failing to progress climate policy at the speed needed, and corporate influence is a key reason why,” said Will Aitchison, the study’s lead author.

(By Tommy Reggiori Wilkes; Editing by Barbara Lewis and Sharon Singleton)

Union set to strike at Peru’s Las Bambas copper mine next week

Reuters | November 20, 2023 | 

Las Bambas copper mine in Peru. (Image by MMG).

Workers at the Chinese-owned Las Bambas copper mine in Peru will kick off an “indefinite” strike beginning next week after the miner failed to deliver information on profit-sharing protocols, the union’s leader said on Monday.


Erick Ramos, general secretary of the Las Bambas workers union, told Reuters by telephone the union had agreed to go on a strike with no set end date starting Nov. 28.

“A meeting with the company was set for today to explain information regarding profit sharing, but that did not happen,” Ramos said.

Representatives for Las Bambas did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The mine, owned by China’s MMG Ltd, began operations in 2016 and is among the largest copper producers in Peru, the world’s No. 2 producer of the metal.

The union had already kicked off a strike on Sunday, which is set to end Tuesday, over the profit sharing.

The miner, as part of its contract with workers, is to share some profits every year with employees.

However, the mine “had already said that there wouldn’t be any profit sharing this year,” Ramos said. “So they’re going to have to see how to pay the workers. By contract they were supposed to have given us part of that payment in November.”

Las Bambas has pumped out around 221,160 metric tons of copper from January to September this year, a 21.7% boost from the year before, according to sources at the mining ministry.

The mine’s production has steadily increased after having to freeze operations at the beginning of the year due to roadblocks by anti-government protesters following December’s ouster of President Pedro Castillo.

A source close to the mine said the company respects labor rights “and works hard to ensure a safe working environment for its workers,” noting the labor ministry had declared the current strike “inadmissible”.

The union, which represents more than 1,000 workers, is currently registering the strike set for Nov. 28 with the labor ministry, Ramos said.

(By Marco Aquino, Isabel Woodford and Kylie Madry; Editing by Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan and David Gregorio)

AUSTRALIA

BHP train drivers to start ‘restrained’ industrial action on Friday

Reuters | November 20, 2023 | 

BHP iron ore train near Port Hedland. Photo by Bahnfrend, Wikimedia Commons.

Around 400 train drivers for BHP’s Western Australian iron ore division will begin industrial action late this week after rejecting an offer that they said fell short on working schedules, a union representative told Reuters on Monday.


Drivers will from Friday stop using a BHP app for roster changes, meaning each worker must be contacted individually if the world’s biggest miner wishes to change their working hours, Mining and Energy Union WA secretary Greg Busson told Reuters.

Drivers for BHP’s highest earning division were trying to show some restraint by voting for action on the lower end of the scale to start, rather than disrupting operations with stoppages, Busson added.

BHP’s iron ore operations include four processing hubs and five mines that are linked by more than 1,000 km (621 miles) of rail and port facilities. The division accounted for $16.6 billion, or 60% of BHP’s earnings before taxes last year.

BHP said that the proposed action would present logistical challenges but that it had put in place arrangements to mitigate the impact.

“We have put forward a good and comprehensive offer that includes increased base salaries and allowances and recognises the important contribution that the rail team makes to our iron ore business in WA,” it said.

Worries about a strike had lent support to iron ore prices, which are trading at the highest levels since February.

“Concerns over disruptions on the supply side due to the looming strike at BHP in Australia contributed to higher iron ore prices today,” said Pei Hao, a Shanghai-based analyst at international brokerage FIS.

Drivers received an offer from BHP last Wednesday that did not meet their expectations around rostering, arbitration and camp standards, Busson added. Most of Rio Tinto’s trains are now driverless, so rosters are less of an issue.

BHP had asked its train drivers in 2021 to move to a two week on, one week off schedule as iron ore miners strived to ship out as much material as they could while prices were high and amid a squeeze on labour.

(By Melanie Burton and Amy Lv; Editing by Gerry Doyle)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Rio Tinto to pay $28 million fine to settle US SEC fraud case

Reuters | November 20, 2023 |

Image: Rio Tinto Mozambique

Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest mining companies, agreed to pay a $28 million fine to settle a US Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit that accused it of fraud in handling a failed investment in a Mozambique coal project.


The settlement disclosed on Friday in Manhattan federal court would end a civil lawsuit filed in October 2017, and requires approval by US District Judge Analisa Torres.

Rio Tinto also agreed not to violate recordkeeping and reporting provisions of federal securities laws, and to retain an independent consultant for two years to ensure it properly accounts for asset writedowns.

Former chief executive Tom Albanese agreed to pay a $50,000 civil fine to settle related SEC claims. Neither he nor Rio Tinto admitted wrongdoing.

Rio Tinto confirmed the settlement but declined additional comment. Albanese’s lawyer James Loonam declined to comment.

Former Rio Tinto chief financial officer Guy Elliott remains a defendant, and his lawyer on Friday asked Torres to dismiss the remaining SEC claims because they could not be proven.

The defendants had been accused of deceiving investors about the value of Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique (RTCM), which the Anglo-Australian company purchased in 2011 for $3.7 billion through a takeover of the former Riversdale Mining.

According to the SEC, Rio Tinto was later able to raise more than $5.5 billion from unsuspecting US fixed-income investors by overvaluing the coal assets, despite an internal assessment that the assets were worth negative $680 million.

The regulator said Albanese intended to mislead investors in 2012 by describing the Moatize Basin, where RTCM was located, as a world-class basin coal deposit and long-term growth opportunity.

Rio Tinto took a more than $3 billion writedown for Mozambique in January 2013. It sold the assets in late 2014 for $50 million.

In a letter to Torres, Elliott’s lawyer Theodore Wells noted that neither of the remaining claims against his client alleges fraud.

“It is virtually unprecedented for the SEC to file with great fanfare fraud claims against an issuer such as Rio Tinto, only to settle for technical, non-fraud reporting and recordkeeping violations,” Wells wrote.

The case is SEC v Rio Tinto Plc et al, US District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 17-07994.

(By Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Rosalba O’Brien)

 

UK Follows EU in Moving to End Exemption from Antitrust Rules for Carriers

UK regulators provisionally decided to end the exemption for carriers to the antitrust regulations (Port of Felixstowe file photo)

PUBLISHED NOV 20, 2023 4:20 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

UK regulators reversed their earlier decision regarding the oversight of the container shipping segment releasing a provisional decision not to recommend replacement of the current Liner Shipping Consortia Block Exemption regulation. At the beginning of 2023, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was seeking input after reporting it was considering recommending an extension. The UK would be following the European Union which also proposes to end the exemption governing the application of competition regulations.

The UK is currently working on a transition of the existing regulation that was inherited from the UK’s time as a member of the EU. After Brexit, the UK set a transition period and now it is facing the April 2024 expiration of the exemption and must decide its course of action. In January, the CMA asked for comments from the industry and related organizations on its decision to recommend an extension to the then Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy.

The exemption came about after the old shipping conferences gave way to the modern alliances between carriers. The European Commission introduced the exemption in 1995 which permitted carriers greater latitude in steps such as coordinating schedules and sharing capacity exempt from the potential of antitrust violations. The exemption has been renewed at five-year intervals. The EU reported in October that it had decided to let the exemption lapse in April 2024.

The CMA began its independent review of the exemption in August 2022 highlighting the historical arguments that the ability of the industry to work in a consortium produces significant efficiencies, allows smaller companies to compete in the market with the large carriers, and that it reduces the burden of compliance on the carriers.

In reviewing the comments, the CMA reports that the liner industry continued to advocate for the benefits of the exemption. Critics however argue that it fails to deliver benefits to customers and provides more scope of cooperation between competing lines than is necessary. They also argued that with a significant portion of capacity now operated by large carriers that have significant market share, the cost of compliance with self-assessment is manageable.

CMA has come to the same conclusion in its provisional decision. They looked at issues such as routes and the consolidation of the carriers, the position of the UK in global shipping networks, the evolution of the consortia agreements and alliances, and the core issues of efficiency and the effect on competition. Among the CMA’s conclusions was that there was a lack of evidence of the exemption providing benefits to recommend the extension. They looked at the efficiencies that the exemption was to provide and if they outweighed the potential impact on competition.

The CMA notes that if its final decision is to not recommend an extension, it does not mean the carriers can no longer work together but that they would need to conduct additional self-assessments on compliance while having the option to use alternative exemptions. The authority is asking for final input by December 15 and will issue its final recommendation after reviewing the comments.

The liner industry has been vocal in its opposition to the decision in the EU and is reported to be lobbying in London for the extension. They believe it will harm especially smaller carriers and reduce the quality of service and frequency on smaller routes. 

The British International Freight Association issued a statement welcoming the provisional decision by the CMA while calling for members to continue to advocate for the final decision. They argue that the decision would only mean closer scrutiny for the carriers not ending the shipping line consortia and alliances. They point to the cost increases during the surge in volumes during the pandemic and the issues shippers experienced saying the exemption gives the carriers too much power and authority. Ending the exemption, they propose, would lead to a more cooperative relationship between carriers and shippers.
 

 

Quick Action of Chinese Containership Saves Crew from Rafts off Philippines

Crew was saved from two rafts after abandoning ship off the Philippines

PUBLISHED NOV 20, 2023 5:35 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

The Philippines Coast Guard is honoring the crew of a Chinese containership for its brave actions in saving the crew from a chemical tanker that was in distress. The sixteen crewmembers were rescued from two rafts in rough seas after they abandoned their ship.

The MT King Rich registered in Sierra Leone reported the product tanker was taking on water on Saturday, November 18, in the northernmost waters of the Philippines approximately 80 nautical miles from the small Badoc Island. Built in 1990, the 13,925 dwt tanker was traveling empty when it encountered the rough seas.

The captain later told the rescuers that the propeller shaft broke around 13:00 on Saturday, causing the tanker to begin taking on water. The crew initially attempted to control the flooding but soon determined that they could not pump the water out. Fearing the vessel would be overwhelmed, prepared to abandon ship. The Philippine Coast Guard reports the crew secured the fuel tanks and the engine before entering two rafts.

The 13 Indonesians and three Chinese crewmembers were rescued about four hours later when the Hong Kong-registered containership Sheng An came upon the two rafts. The 24,500 dwt feeder containership was sailing from China to the Philippines and was able to position itself to intercept the rafts. Video shot from the deck shows the rough seas bouncing around the two rafts.

 

 

The crewmembers were brought safely aboard the containership which proceeded to Subic Bay in the Philippines where it arrived on Sunday morning. The Coast Guard reports the rescued crew is all in good physical condition thanks to the efforts of the containership.

The Coast Guard Aviation Force overflew the area today and reported the product tanker is still afloat and drifting. The Coast Guard says it is working with the vessel’s owner to secure a tow before the vessel is lost.

 ECOCIDE

Pipeline Spill Releases Up to 1.1 Million Gallons of Oil off Louisiana

Oil slick off Pass a Loutre (USCG)

PUBLISHED NOV 20, 2023 6:10 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

The U.S. Coast Guard says that a pipeline spill off the Mississippi River Delta has released up to a maximum of 1.1 million gallons of oil into the environment, based on engineering calculations. If verified at the upper end of the potential release range, this would be a significant volume, equivalent to roughly 0.5 percent of the Deepwater Horizon blowout or 10 percent of the Exxon Valdez spill.  

Over the weekend, a unified command set up by the Coast Guard organized overflights to establish the extent of the spill. A Thursday afternoon overflight identified a slick about four miles wide, with patches of dark oil throughout. 

NOAA's analysts predict that it is moving off to the southwest, away from Louisiana's shores. By Sunday, the slick was reduced to intermittent surface sheening. The Coast Guard said that assessment flights continue, alongside surface monitoring by Coast Guard cutter assets. 

The pipeline operator shut down MPOG on Thursday morning at 0630, and an oil sheen was spotted at 0900. Operator Third Coast Midstream Pipeline notified NOAA's National Response Center at 0910. 

The spill has ceased and skimmers are working on cleanup. The breach in the pipeline has not been found, and ROV surveys are still under way in an attempt to locate it, weather permitting. The location is believed to be about 20 miles off Pass a Loutre. 

The pipeline in question is the Main Pass Oil Gathering (MPOG) line, which handles about 80,000 barrels per day of crude from the shallow-water fields near Main Pass and Viosca Knoll. MPOG is currently a subsidiary of Texas-based oil firm Third Coast, formerly known as American Midstream.

 

Incorrectly Stowed Explosives Get Vessel 90-Day Ban from Australia

Australia banned its eight vessel this year due to safety concerns (Breise file photo of BBC Jade)

PUBLISHED NOV 20, 2023 3:00 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) reports it has issued a safety ban to a vessel after its inspectors found safety violations. The ban from Australian waters is part of the authority’s strict enforcement of safety regulations and efforts at targeting specific operators which the authority believes are not addressing safety concerns.

“AMSA issued the 90-day ban to the Antigua & Barbuda-flagged general cargo ship BBC Jade, after inspectors in Port Alma found 57 tons of explosive substances had been incorrectly stowed on board the vessel during transit,” they wrote announcing the latest enforcement effort. They also noted that it is the third ban from Australian waters issued to the operator Briese Heavylift GmbH & Co for one of its ships this year. 

The 12,000 dwt vessel, which was built in 2007, is described by the company as a multipurpose tweendecker. In addition to its cargo holds, it can carry large or heavy cargo on deck.

The vessel’s AIS signal shows that it spent all of last week in Port Alma in Australia arriving on November 12 and departing on November 17. It arrived on a trip from India and Singapore and is now berthed in Nouméa, New Caledonia.

“This is a serious maritime safety issue, as well as a major environmental concern, and not something that should be taken lightly,” said Acting AMSA Executive Director of Operations Evan Boyle. At the same time, he encouraged other Australian companies to exercise due diligence and especially to review the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code which outlines standards for the transport of dangerous goods including explosives.

The vessel’s previous history appears to show a few issues identified during inspections but no extended detentions. In March 2023, the U.S. Coast Guard cited issues with a worn engine. U.K. inspectors in August noted a missing pilot’s ladder and inoperative radar.

“We take our role as a regulator seriously, and we expect operators to take their obligations seriously, as well,” said Boyle. “We will not hesitate to take tough enforcement action to keep our seas, and seafarers, safe.”

Briese is one of approximately 15 operators that Australia currently has listed for increased inspections. Briese is under review for a year starting in April 2023 with AMSA highlighting that all the company’s ships are eligible for inspection every three months as part of ongoing compliance activities. The authority reported between May 2021 and June 203, one in five of the company’s ships had been detained reporting that this was three times the average for ships visiting Australian waters.

AMSA in June banned another of the company’s vessels, the BBC Weser saying that inspectors found a significant number of ballast air vents were defective. They reported that they had twice prior contacted Breise to warn them of poor performance. Previous issues had included defective emergency generators and what AMSA deemed “unsafe work platforms.” The 17,290 dwt vessel was banned for 90 days and then in July AMSA banned the BBC Pearl (14,400 dwt) for 180 days after reporting inspectors found multiple failures of the safety management system as well as a defective emergency generator and defective fire dampers.

“Australia will not tolerate this ongoing and blatant disregard for maritime safety,” Boyle said. 

The BBC Jade becomes the eighth ship on which AMSA has issued a ban due to safety issues in 2023. The number of vessels is increasing with by comparison only two bans issued in 2022 and four in 2021.

Other jurisdictions such as the Paris MoU also occasionally issues safety ban for vessels. Last year, there was an effort targeted at expanding safety inspections in part led by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF). Organizations such as the Panama Registry highlighted that the number of inspections however was proportionate to the size of the registry and noted due to the higher average age for the fleet in its registry, it had experienced more detentions while working to purge older and non-compliant vessels for the registry.