It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Sunday, May 24, 2026
Indonesia’s radical export experiment upends its commodity trade
Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto. Credit: Prabowo Subianto via X
Indonesia’s radical plan to take control of key commodity exports has left the country’s coal miners, palm-oil producers and traders racing to understand details of a policy that throws into upheaval one of the country’s biggest industries.
Rumors of an unprecedented shake-up began circulating on Tuesday and sent shares in Indonesian miners and palm producers sliding. Traders and producers questioned whether President Prabowo Subianto would take such a step — extreme even for an administration has already sought to centralize state assets into a sovereign-wealth fund which answers to the president.
Then, during a speech to lawmakers on Wednesday, Prabowo announced that starting with palm oil, coal and ferroalloys, one of the world’s top commodity producers would require all shipments to go through a government-created company. The effort, he said, was intended to curb “under-invoicing and under-accounting” and to have a greater say in price.
“This is resource nationalism on steroids,” said Tom Price, senior commodities analyst at investment bank Panmure Liberum Ltd. “The policy will eventually retard mining investment in Indonesia. It’s a warning shot for nickel.”
Southeast Asia’s largest economy has introduced audacious export policies before, banning some metal ores in 2020 and 2023, for example, in order to encourage foreign investment in processing operations. It has occasionally stepped in to protect domestic consumers too — during the last major energy crisis four years ago, Indonesia restricted both coal and palm oil exports.
Prabowo has also repeatedly taken aim at foreign entities and the country’s wealthy, and has seized millions of hectares of plantations and mining operations since coming to power in 2024.
But Indonesia is the world’s largest producer and exporter of palm oil, the top seller of thermal coal and a dominant source of nickel, a vital battery material — ensuring the latest step to remake an entire industry comes with global ripple effects.
“If the exports are not managed properly, we may lose our export market,” said Eddy Martono, chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Association, known as Gapki.
Palm stocks fell on the announcement, with First Resources Ltd. sliding as much as 9.3% in Singapore, while Golden-Agri Resources Ltd. fell to a five-month low. MP Evans Group Plc and AEP Plantations Plc, which both have plantations in the country, fell more than 15%. Buyers of the vegetable oil, used for everything from fuel to ice cream, said the move would mean a restricted and opaque market, encouraging them to look elsewhere.
Just as large consumers like China periodically assert their clout, major producer nations have also sought to take greater control of their resources. Indonesia has long struggled to turn its natural wealth into sustained economic growth, in part because of trades routed outside the country to cut tax and maximize profit.
Outside command economies, however, few have sought a degree of export control akin to what Indonesia has announced.
“A state-linked sole export structure would be a major break from today’s market, shifting power from private traders — some already saying they may lose their jobs — toward a politically managed export channel, with echoes of Suharto-era gatekeeping instincts,” said Khor Yu Leng, an economist at Segi Enam Advisors in Singapore. “End users will be asking whether Indonesia remains a market-driven supplier or a politically mediated one.”
Traders at risk
Currently, Indonesia’s exports are handled by a mix of domestic and foreign commodity merchants who link disparate suppliers, customers and manage the risks involved in bringing them together. Much of the country’s production is also tied up in long-term contracts with foreign buyers.
The future of those deals — and of the work of commodity traders who have decades of experience in Indonesia, including from international heavyweights like Glencore Plc, Trafigura Group Pte Ltd. and Wilmar International Ltd. — is unclear. There has been no official communication to companies, according to producers reached by Bloomberg.
Some traders said the contracts may remain in place for now, explaining Wednesday’s relatively muted market reaction. They asked not to be named as they are not authorized to speak publicly.
Others said the market was already bracing for the next development. Exporters will be required to report their sales to Danantara, the fund set up by Prabowo, starting June 1, according to chief executive officer Rosan Roeslani.
Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said Danantara would begin handling contracts, shipping and export-payment processes for strategic commodities from September.
Previous attempts to interfere with exports have been met by buyer strikes from China, a vital market. Last year Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia attempted to force foreign sellers to use a government coal price benchmark that Chinese traders saw as inflated, causing them to cease purchases until the government backtracked on the policy.
Indonesia has far greater clout in nickel and palm oil. Futures for the battery metal have rallied more than 30% over the past five months since the government announced plans to cut mining quotas to lift prices.
(By Eddie Spence and Anuradha Raghu)
Moody’s warns Indonesia commodity export plan a risk for miners, may distort market
Aerial view of a tugboat pulling a barge filled with coal in the waters of South Kalimantan, Barito River. Stock image.
Moody’s Ratings said on Thursday that it views Indonesia’s centralization plan for commodity exports as credit negative for miners and the plan raises risks of market distortion.
It said the move could support foreign exchange inflows and the rupiah currency, but it may also weigh on investor sentiment on the broader policy environment.
(By Gayatri Suroyo and Ananda Teresia; Editing by Martin Petty)
Chalco plans to build a 1.2Mt alumina project in Guinea
Shipment of bauxite ore from mining trains to bulk carrier ships in Kamsar, Guinea. Stock image.
The Aluminium Corporation of China (Chalco) said on Friday the board has approved a Hong Kong subsidiary’s plan to invest in a 1.2-million-ton per year alumina project in Guinea.
The Guinean alumina project is the company’s first such program abroad.
The overall investment is estimated at around $1 billion.
The planned investment was approved by the board on June 26, 2025, but the disclosure was deferred as per some regulatory rules as the company was afraid a then-disclosure could adversely impact the project progress, Chalco said in an exchange filing.
Three of the company’s subsidiaries signed the amended and restated mining agreement with the government of Guinea on Thursday.
The agreement is still subject to review by the company’s shareholders and approvals from related government agencies in Guinea.
The Hong Kong subsidiary and the mining and ports subsidiaries in Guinea signed a mining agreement with local government in 2018, which enabled the mining subsidiary to secure the bauxite mining rights to the Boffa north and south deposits in Guinea.
Shares at Chalco rose by 2.86% on Friday.
(By Amy Lv and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
Zimbabwe bars foreign operators from small-scale gold mining
Ball mill & stamp mill, gold ore processing centre, Shamva, Zimbabwe. Photo by Kevin Walsh, Wikimedia Commons, under licence CC BY 2.0.
Zimbabwe banned foreign companies and individuals from small-scale gold mining in a move aimed at protecting local jobs and benefiting the domestic economy.
All foreign investors and entities participating in small-scale mining must either increase production capacity and investment or halt their operations by January, Mines Minister Polite Kambamura said in Harare on Friday.
“The small-scale gold-mining sector in Zimbabwe is reserved exclusively for Zimbabwean citizens,” he said. It’s for producers whose monthly output is no more than 20 kilograms and capital investment totals less than $15 million.
Small-scale miners produce 65% of the country’s gold. In the first four months of this year, Zimbabwean output totaled about 12,637 kg, up 1.3% from a year earlier.
(By Godfrey Marawanyika)
Pentagon doubts over rare earths deal provoke White House clash
The North Portico of the White House in Washington, DC. Stock image.
The Pentagon is weighing whether to scrap an $80 million conditional loan offer to rare earths refiner ReElement Technologies Corp., touching off a clash with the White House over an agreement that was meant to help break China’s chokehold on critical minerals.
The Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital announced the agreement with ReElement in November. Since then, officials vetting the company have raised doubts about its ability to scale its technology, as well as its long-term revenue forecasts, according to people familiar with the process.
The ReElement deal hasn’t been canceled and may still go ahead, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing matters that aren’t public. At the time the agreement was announced, the Pentagon made clear that ReElement still needed to undergo due diligence before getting any money. The Pentagon hasn’t disbursed the loan yet, according to one of the people.
The deal, part of a bigger $1.4 billion critical minerals agreement that also included Vulcan Elements Inc., was heralded as part of the Trump administration’s multibillion-dollar drive to develop domestic production of rare earth elements. They are used in products from microwave ovens to missiles and have become a key source of Chinese leverage in trade talks with the US.
The administration has employed a variety of financial tools in the effort including offering loans and taking equity stakes and warrants to buy stock in many of the companies involved. It’s emphasized the need to move fast and make big bets given the severity of the problem.
The desire to act quickly and conduct rigorous vetting has spurred tension with the White House.
Shortly after Bloomberg News contacted ReElement for comment, Peter Navarro, the White House senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, reached out independently to Bloomberg to criticize the Pentagon’s handling of the deal.
“The due diligence cops within OSC with a private equity background have no experience how to manage a crisis at warp speed,” Navarro said, referring to the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital.
“Their over-burdensome due diligence disproportionately penalizes small innovative emerging companies,” he said. “ReElement represents exactly the kind of asymmetric bet we should be making.”
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell called the team overseeing the agreements “the finest private equity dealmakers in the world, professionals whose unmatched expertise and qualifications stand second to none.”
The Office of Strategic Capital “expertly balances lightning speed with rigorous diligence to close high-impact deals that directly strengthen America’s defense and empower our warfighters,” Parnell said. The critical-minerals effort is being overseen by Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, the private equity billionaire who co-founded Cerberus Capital Management.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the administration is working together — as well as with private industry — on the matter. The official praised ReElement as one of many great emerging companies working with the government.
Mark Jensen, ReElement’s chief executive officer, declined to address questions about the loan but said the company is proud to partner with the government. He said the company is going ahead with a facility in Indiana to refine critical minerals and produce rare earths oxides.
“From ReElement’s perspective, we confirm that our work with the US government is ongoing,” Jensen said. “Nobody else in the country can or has produced the products we produce today at ReElement which are needed for defense, commercial and the energy transition.”
When the Pentagon announced the deal, it said it would get warrants in Vulcan and ReElement.
But it also cautioned that the loan agreement specified steps Vulcan and ReElement must take to fulfill “financial, legal, technical, and other due diligence requirements.”
It was unclear if the Pentagon ever received warrants for ReElement or Vulcan. ReElement didn’t respond to inquiries about the warrants. Vulcan didn’t respond to a request for comment.
According to the agreement, ReElement was to produce high-purity rare earth oxides from electronic waste and end-of-life magnets. Vulcan would then manufacture new magnets from those oxides. The Pentagon earlier said the companies anticipated producing up to 10,000 metric tons of magnet materials in the next several years.
It’s unclear if Vulcan will need to find a new supplier of the oxides if ReElement doesn’t get the loan. Two of the people familiar with the matter said pulling funds from ReElement wouldn’t affect Vulcan’s deal.
Even with the caution about due diligence, the government’s plan amounted to an early vote of confidence in ReElement, which has yet to produce oxides at scale. At a critical minerals summit in February, the State Department touted how the deal had “crowded in” an additional $200 million in private funding for ReElement.
That appeared to be a reference to ReElement having secured $200 million in strategic equity from Transition Equity Partners, an agreement announced in January. Transition Equity cited ReElement’s “collaboration” with the government. TEP didn’t respond to a request for comment.
While the Pentagon has only announced a small number of deals aimed at locking down critical supply chains, the potential ReElement loan is among hundreds of tie-ups the agency is currently considering, according to one of the people familiar with the matter.
In September, the Pentagon’s industrial buildout program, known as IBAS, made a two-year $2 million investment in ReElement.
ReElement was until last year a subsidiary of Nasdaq-listed American Resources Corp. It described ReElement in an October 2025 filing as being in a “pre-revenue development stage.”
(By Joe Deaux and Kate O’Keeffe)
AML awarded $2M US defense contract for domestic heavy magnets
Advanced Magnet Lab (AML) has been awarded a $2 million Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) contract for the qualification of domestically made high-grade sintered NdFeB (neodymium-iron-boron) magnets.
The Florida-based, privately held company said it will use the funds to develop manufacturing solutions for domestic production and qualification of sintered permanent magnets for defense and commercial industries — with plans underway to rapidly scale manufacturing across end-use applications.
AML said it has longstanding work with US government agencies, including the Department of War and Department of Energy, for permanent magnet-based solutions and manufacturing.
The award is facilitated by a two-year contract with the DLA for supply chain management, alloying, and permanent magnet manufacturing, including alloy composition optimization for NdFeB magnet grades such as N48SH and N35EH by implementing advanced manufacturing techniques.
AML said its novel manufacturing process, PM-Wire, simplifies the production of permanent magnets, while expanding the possibilities for magnet design, materials, and performance characteristics, the company said, adding that the process is built for rapid industrialization within an existing magnet making framework.
In addition to sintered NdFeB permanent magnets, the company is developing permanent magnets with other magnet materials and alloys, including samarium iron nitride (SmFeN), manganese bismuth (MnBi), anisotropic NdFeB and (Mischmetal-Nd) FeB.
AML said its approach with (Mischmetal-Nd) FeB allows for permanent magnets with less critical rare earth elements and clear traceability of inputs for end-use customers.
The company is currently collaborating with a group of US and European rare earth suppliers and innovators, including Phoenix Tailings, a Massachusetts-based rare earth metals producer, Ionic Rare Earths, a miner, refiner and recycler of traceable magnet and heavy rare earths, and Momentum, a Dallas, Texas-based critical minerals processing company.
“We are at a true turning point for the US rare earth magnet industry, and AML is immensely proud to be partnering with the US government, the defense industry and supply chain partners to meet the problem head-on,” AML president Wade Senti said in a news release.
South Australia’s Olympic Dam copper, gold, uranium mine. (Image courtesy of BHP.)
BHP (ASX: BHP) must assess whether rare earths and other critical minerals at its Olympic Dam mine complex can be commercially produced under a new agreement with South Australia signed this week.
The pact is part of a broader plan aimed at unlocking as much as $16.7 billion in investment in the state’s copper sector.
South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas on Tuesday tabled a revised 78-page “indenture agreement” in parliament, marking the first overhaul in nine years of the legislative regime governing the Olympic Dam copper, gold and uranium operation.
The revised framework adds new obligations requiring BHP to study the recovery of minerals deemed critical or strategic by Canberra, including rare earth elements such as neodymium and praseodymium used in magnets for electric vehicles and wind turbines.
The world’s largest miner must submit a report within two years outlining whether those minerals can be commercially extracted. If they are judged technically or economically unviable, BHP must allow third parties an opportunity to commercialize them.
The updated arrangement also clears the way for BHP to consider a $4 billion expansion of the Olympic Dam copper refinery near Roxby Downs, with additional investment decisions worth as much as $12.7 billion by 2032 for mine and concentrator expansions across the state.
“This milestone agreement enables South Australia to deliver on the promise of a world-class copper province,” South Australian Infrastructure and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said. “The pathway to a net zero future requires copper, and South Australia can play a transformative role as a major supplier to a world that is desperate for strategic and critical minerals.”
Olympic Dam, primarily a copper operation, also produces gold, silver and uranium as byproducts. The orebody contains another 131 minerals, including rare earth elements, that are currently discarded in waste streams because of their low concentrations.
Interest in those materials has surged as governments in Australia and the US intervene to support critical minerals supply chains and reduce reliance on China.
Doubling down on copper
BHP is considering doubling copper output in South Australia to 650,000 tonnes annually by the mid-2030s. Olympic Dam has consistently produced more than 300,000 tonnes of copper a year over the past three years and it’s considered central to BHP’s long-term growth strategy and Australia’s ambitions to remain a leading copper supplier for the low-carbon transition.
“We commend the South Australian Government for its leadership in making this indenture update happen, as well as for its strong long-term support for the mining industry,” BHP CEO Mike Henry said. “More efficient approval pathways and stable regulatory settings give us the confidence to invest and continue building South Australia’s world class copper province.”
Copper SA, BHP’s South Australian division, operates Olympic Dam alongside the Prominent Hill and Carrapateena mines, acquired through its A$9.6 billion takeover of OZ Minerals in 2023.
Exploration at Oak Dam could eventually support a fourth operation in the province. Combined with Escondida in Chile, BHP controls the world’s largest known copper resources.
The company produced more than two million tonnes of the metal in fiscal 2025, up 28% over three years, and expects output of 1.9 million to 2 million tonnes in fiscal 2026.
BHP has repeatedly floated and shelved Olympic Dam expansion plans over the past 15 years as costs, market conditions and technical challenges shifted.
The revised pact also addresses long-running concerns over water use. BHP must submit a plan by May 2031 detailing how it will end groundwater extraction from the Great Artesian Basin by May 2036.
The miner and the South Australian government are jointly advancing a seawater desalination project near Port Augusta to support plans to expand copper production over the next decade.
Arafura Rare Earths plans $250M share sale backed by Gina Rinehart
Gina Rinehart, executive chairman of Hancock Prospecting. (Image courtesy of Gina Rinehart.)
Australia’s Arafura Rare Earths said on Friday it plans to raise about A$350 million ($249.83 million) in a share placement backed by Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting to help fund its Nolans project.
Arafura will issue shares worth about A$175.5 million at A$0.260 apiece in the initial tranche, representing a 16.1% discount to the stock’s last close on Thursday. A second tranche worth A$174.5 million is subject to shareholder approval.
“It’s a real positive and shows how serious investors and governments are about derisking global supply chains from Chinese control of rare earths,” said David Tuckwell, CIO at ETF Shares.
“The discount is effectively the cost of securing significant capital quickly with execution certainty.”
Hancock Prospecting, owned by Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart and also Arafura’s largest shareholder, has committed to investing about A$85 million in the raising.
Upon completion of the fundraising, Hancock’s stake in Arafura will rise to roughly 17.5% from 15.5% at present.
Arafura said proceeds from the placement will fully fund the equity component required to develop the Nolans project.
The miner has secured financing commitments from export credit agencies in the United States, Canada, Germany and South Korea, among others, amid efforts by Western countries to diversify away from China.
The swift and seamless capital raise signals broad market confidence and marks a rare instance of the stock exchange minting a new mid‑tier miner, Tuckwell said, expecting the project to become one of the few large-scale rare earths operations outside China.
Arafura has now secured about 93% of its binding offtake target for neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide from the project, following recent supply agreements and support from export credit agencies.
Shares of the firm were on a trading halt.
($1 = 1.4010 Australian dollars)
(By Rajasik Mukherjee, Kumar Tanishk and Jasmeen Ara Islam Shaikh; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
Arafura Rare Earths said on Thursday it had approved the development of its $1.6 billion Nolans project in Australia’s Northern Territory, which is set to be the country’s third-biggest rare earths operation by the end of the decade.
The project is designed to deliver 4,440 metric tons of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide annually, targeting markets outside China amid growing demand for rare earths used in electric vehicles and wind turbines.
Arafura secured financing commitments from the export credit agencies of the United States, Canada, Germany and South Korea, alongside global trading houses and manufacturers as Western countries step up efforts to diversify away from dominant rare earths producer China.
Arafura will supply South Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia, Germany’s Siemens Gamesa RE, and commodity trader Traxys’ Luxembourg and US units.
Shares of Arafura rose as much as 13.6% to A$0.335 in their biggest intraday gain since March 11. The benchmark stock index was up 1.5%, as of 04:40 GMT.
Construction on the project, which has been in the making since the deposit was discovered three decades ago, will begin in September, with first production expected from mid-2029.
Arafura secured a $1.6 billion funding package including a significant buffer and is backed by Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, whose Hancock Prospecting owns a 15.5% stake.
Raising global supply
Arafura will become Australia’s third-biggest rare earths producer after Lynas Rare Earths, the world’s largest producer outside China, which produced 6,600 metric tons of NdPr in the last financial year, and Iluka, which has 5,500 tons of NdPr capacity and is expected to start production next year.
Australia is pushing to be the top supplier of rare earths to its allies, and Arafura is slated to supply 500 tons of NdPr to the country’s strategic minerals reserve, which is set to be up and running by year-end.
The project itself is set to meet as much as 5% of world demand, according to Australian government projections.
“This announcement today is a really important step forward for the Australian rare earths industry,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.
“Rare earths are an absolutely golden opportunity for our country. This is essential to our economic security and to our national security.”
Arafura said engineering contractor Hatch has been engaged to support development.
The final investment decision came after a multi-year financing and offtake strategy.
($1 = 1.3988 Australian dollars)
(By Rajasik Mukherjee, Melanie Burton and Christine Chen; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Jamie Freed and Lincoln Feast)
Europe must break China’s grip on rare earths pricing to spur investment, sector body says
Europe must build its own pricing system for specialty metals and rare earths to reduce reliance on China and unlock investment in mining and processing, industry expert Bernd Schaefer of the EIT told Reuters on Wednesday.
China dominates critical mineral supply chains and sets prices through opaque domestic markets, leaving Western developers without clear benchmarks, complicating investment decisions and delaying already higher-cost projects in Europe.
The EU has a target to mine at least 10% of its annual requirements of strategic raw materials by 2030 and rely on a single third country for no more than 65% of its annual needs.
EIT Raw Materials, an agency partly funded by the EU, is collaborating with digital platform Metalshub, it said last month, to create a European index to foster innovation in new minerals mining, refining and recycling projects in the bloc.
Schaefer said it would, however, take time to create an index with representative prices. The index would aim to provide transparent, market-based price benchmarks for critical minerals traded outside China, giving investors clearer signals on profitability and helping underpin financing for new projects.
“My understanding is that this would require trading a volume of a minimum 10% of the traded volume (non-China)…depending on the raw materials,” Schaefer said. “What we are getting from China is neither representative nor, in strict microeconomic terms, a price,” Schaefer said.
Schaefer said an index could be broader than just Europe, with collaboration from other traders, such as in the United States, Australia, Canada or Britain.
It was difficult to say whether the EU would meet its critical mineral diversification goals due to a lack of transparent data on volumes and growth expectations, he said.
The EU announced its 3 billion euro RESourceEU action plan in December to speed up diversification of the bloc’s supply chains and reduce its overreliance on China.
Concrete action has been slow with the exception of a pilot joint EU stockpile led by Italy, France and Germany. The countries have shortlisted metals including tungsten and gallium as the first to go into storage.
Without building domestic processing and transparent pricing, Europe risks remaining dependent on Chinese benchmarks — and seeing any new raw material output flow straight back into China’s supply chain, Schaefer said.
(By Julia Payne; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
MAX Power secures $18M from Sprott in boost to plans for Canadian hydrogen
MAX Power Mining (CSE: MAXX) says it is accelerating the commercial validation of what would be Canada’s first natural hydrogen system after securing a C$25 million ($18 million) investment from mining billionaire Eric Sprott.
In a press release on Friday, the energy exploration junior said it has defined the first series of high-priority targets for follow-up drilling at the Lawson natural hydrogen system in Saskatchewan. The drilling, part of an expanded multi-well program, aims to confirm what the company considers to be the world’s first large-scale commercial discovery of this emerging new primary energy source.
In addition to hydrogen, the Lawson complex — located in the heart of the Genesis Trend adjoining the Regina-Moose Jaw Industrial Corridor — is also showing strong potential for helium deposits, the company said.
A survey was conducted this week at six proposed initial well locations at Lawson, after which the MAX Power team finalized its first three drill targets through analyzing 3D seismic data to define structurally optimal locations where the potential for gas flow, volume and concentrations of natural hydrogen and helium could support commercial validation.
Using information collected through the drilling campaign, the exploration and production models will be optimized and refined in real time, with the help of geoscientists, geophysicists, engineers and technicians, to fast-track the timeline for potential commercial discoveries, MAX Power said.
In addition, the MAX Power team has also planned a 2D seismic data acquisition program across the 475-km-long Genesis Trend to further assess dozens of preliminary and more advanced natural hydrogen prospects while also identifying potential new target areas.
Sprott backing
These plans will be funded by the C$25 million announced a day before. Under a private placement, a Sprott-owned entity would acquire 12.5 million units of the company at C$2 per unit. Each unit carries one common share and one warrant to buy shares at C$2.75 each.
Sprott currently holds more than 10% of MAX Power’s outstanding stock, and has agreed to not exceed its shareholder above 19.9%.
“MAX Power is entering the most important execution phase in its history, and Eric Sprott’s fresh investment of $25 million expands and accelerates this execution phase. Lawson confirmed Canada’s first subsurface natural hydrogen system,” MAX Power CEO Ran Narayanasamy said in a press release on Friday.
Shares of MAX Power initially surged on the Sprott investment, but fell during Friday’s trading, down about 5% to C$2.36 by 1 p.m. ET. The Vancouver-headquartered company has a market capitalization of about C$357 million ($259 million).
Canada Nickel, GeoRedox launch first-of-its-kind hydrogen initiative at Crawford
Examining core at the Crawford project in Ontario. (Image courtesy of Canada Nickel)
Canada Nickel Company (TSXV: CNC) has partnered with GeoRedox Corporation to develop the world’s first stimulated geologic hydrogen well on the site of the company’s Crawford nickel project near Timmins, Ontario.
In January, the Ontario government named the polymetallic project as the second to be advanced under its One Project, One Process framework for fast-tracked permitting.
The project will test GeoRedox’s proprietary technology for producing zero-carbon hydrogen from ultramafic rock formations — the same geology that underlies Canada Nickel’s projects in the Timmins district — and represents a foundational step toward a zero-carbon industrial cluster in Northeast Ontario, the companies said.
“The ultramafic rock that hosts our Crawford deposit and 20-plus projects across the Timmins nickel district is precisely the geology GeoRedox’s technology is designed for,” Canada Nickel CEO Mark Selby said in a news release.
“This partnership brings us a significant step closer to a zero-carbon industrial cluster in Northeast Ontario — one that converts our concentrates into finished critical mineral products including nickel, chromium and cobalt, while leveraging the region’s significant carbon storage capacity,” Selbey added.
GeoRedox will fund the demonstration program in full, while Canada Nickel will contribute site access, rock samples, technical expertise, data and other resources necessary for project planning and implementation.
The demonstration is the first phase of a program that, if successful, has the potential to provide a large-scale, carbon-free hydrogen supply for a zero-carbon industrial cluster in the Timmins nickel district.
Once constructed and in operation, Crawford is expected to rank among the Western world’s largest nickel sulphide projects and among the world’s lowest-carbon nickel operations, Canada Nickel said.
Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith has said Canada’s oil province will go ahead with a referendum on whether to remain in the federation or secede, stating that “Alberta’s future will be decided by Albertans, not the courts.”
“The fact is that between the “Forever Canada” petition requesting a referendum on Alberta remaining in Canada, and the “Stay Free Alberta” petition requesting a referendum on leaving Canada, approximately 700,000 Albertans have signed petitions requesting a vote on this issue,” Smith said, as quoted by Canadian media.
“And I, as Premier, will not have a legal mistake by a single judge silence the voices of hundreds of thousands of Albertans. That’s not the Alberta way. Alberta’s future will be decided by Albertans, not the courts.”
CBC reported earlier in the week that the outcome of the referendum, to be held in October, would not automatically lead to a change in the province’s status, should the vote go the secession way. What it would do is clear the way for another referendum, whose results would be binding.
Talk about a separation between Alberta and Ottawa has been growing louder over the past couple of years as the oil province grows increasingly frustrated with federal policies seen to put Albertans and their businesses at a disadvantage. Earlier this month, a judge even stopped a petition by a pro-cession group called Stay Free Alberta that called for a referendum on whether the province should become independent. The ruling prompted Premier Smith’s remark about “a legal mistake by a single judge”.
Alberta is a major contributor to federal budget revenues thanks to its oil and gas industry, which recently returned to the spotlight as a hero rather than villain, as Ottawa’s new cabinet changed the previous administration’s tune on emission reduction above all else, now prioritizing the profitable development of the country’s oil and gas wealth.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
Carney fast-tracks $1.5B Nouveau Monde Graphite mine — Canada’s answer to China’s 80% supply control
Prime Minister Mark Carney marked the start of construction of Noveau Monde Graphite’s Matawinie mine in Quebec. Photo by Daniel Pereira / Office of the Prime Minister of Canada.
The company is now advancing Phase 2 of the development, which Carney said will become the largest graphite mine in the G7 and bolster Canada’s critical minerals supply chain. China is the world’s leading producer, accounting for nearly 80% of global supply.
Located about 120 km north of Montreal, Matawinie is expected to produce as much as 106,000 tonnes of graphite annually once completed. Ottawa said the mine will create more than 1,000 jobs and attract nearly C$2 billion ($1.5 billion) in investment as Canada pushes to expand domestic battery materials production amid rising geopolitical and trade tensions.
The announcement NMG’s recent release of $96.5 million from escrow.
“Canada has what the world wants — and we’re moving at speed to get it to market,” Carney said in a statement. “It will create more than a thousand good career opportunities, strengthen our supply chains and build a stronger, more competitive, more independent Canadian economy for all.”
Federal ministers including Environment Minister Julie Aviva Dabrusin also praised the development, calling it an important step in supporting low-carbon manufacturing and resilient supply chains.
Ottawa has committed financing support through Export Development Canada, the Canada Infrastructure Bank and the Canada Growth Fund, alongside a seven-year offtake agreement for 30,000 tonnes annually of graphite concentrate.
Battery ambitions grow
According to Natural Resources Canada, Canada produced 12,000 tonnes of graphite in 2024, or 0.7% of global supply, ranking eighth worldwide. China dominated production with 79.4% of global output, while Madagascar ranked second at 5.6%, underscoring the concentration of supply the West is trying to diversify.
The project moves ahead as demand for battery-grade graphite accelerates alongside electric-vehicle growth and new US trade measures reshape global supply chains.
Canada and its allies are increasingly seeking secure, lower-emission sources of critical minerals as they work to reduce reliance on Chinese supply.
Matawinie is expected to anchor a broader North American graphite ecosystem tied to battery, defence and advanced manufacturing industries.
Canadian steel sector faces deeper pain than aluminum as tariff uncertainty clouds outlook
“The US actually cannot produce enough to satisfy its own needs,” she said. “It’s the US manufacturers that are going to be paying more for that.”
Canada’s steel industry is facing a more severe and potentially longer-lasting disruption from U.S. tariffs than the aluminum sector, according to a senior PwC economist who says Ottawa’s recently announced support measures are primarily designed to buy companies time rather than solve the underlying problem.
In an interview with MINING.COM this week, Gemma Stanton-Hagan, director of economics and policy at PwC Canada said the federal government’s support package — including $1 billion in loans and $500 million for business diversification initiatives — is significant politically but modest compared with the scale of losses facing producers.
Canadian steel export values to the US have collapsed to roughly a third of pre-tariff levels.
“So far this year on a monthly basis, steel exports are about $500 million lower than they were pre-tariffs,” Stanton-Hagan said. “That’s every month revenue is $500 million lower than it would have been.”
Stanton-Hagan described the funding as a “relatively short-term solution,” noting that many of the affected companies are large multinational firms with deeper capital reserves and longer-term operational strategies.
The comments come as Canadian producers continue grappling with trade volatility tied to U.S. tariff policies and uncertainty surrounding the upcoming review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
Steel sector particularly vulnerable
While aluminum producers have been able to redirect some shipments to Europe, the steel industry faces more structural challenges because of global oversupply and its heavy dependence on the US market, Stanton-Hagan said.
Historically, between 85% and 90% of Canadian steel exports went to the United States before tariffs were imposed, according to the interview. Aluminum exports were even more concentrated, with roughly 94% destined for the U.S. market.
For aluminum, however, producers have managed to recover some export volumes by increasing shipments to Europe.
“We’ve seen actually a really good bounce back in aluminum exports, mostly because of growing exports to Europe,” she said, while cautioning that Europe is unlikely to become a major long-term growth market.
Steel producers have had far fewer alternatives.
“There’s global oversupply of steel,” Stanton-Hagan said. “Canada produces steel for domestic usage and then also mostly for the U.S., so we really don’t have those other trade relationships.”
The result has been mounting financial pressure across the sector, with companies reporting significant quarterly losses and reassessing investment plans.
Liquidity support versus long-term adaptation
Stanton-Hagan said Ottawa’s support package is effectively divided into two policy objectives.
The $1-billion loan program is aimed at easing immediate liquidity pressures caused by lower revenues and weaker export demand.
“That’s really about stopping the bleeding,” she said.
Meanwhile, the $500-million regional tariff response initiative is intended to help smaller and medium-sized businesses diversify into new export markets and build greater resilience against future trade shocks.
Stanton-Hagan suggested the federal government is still trying to determine whether the tariffs represent a temporary disruption or a more permanent restructuring of North American trade flows.
“Is this a blip we’re waiting out … or is this everyone needs to pivot to not sell anything to the US?” she said. “Those are very different policy questions.”
Strategic importance beyond jobs
Beyond employment concerns, Stanton-Hagan said the steel and aluminum industries are increasingly being viewed as strategically important sectors for Canada’s broader industrial and national security objectives.
The federal government’s push for housing, transportation, energy infrastructure and mine development depends heavily on domestic supplies of steel and aluminum, she pointed out.
“These are also strategic inputs for defense,” Stanton-Hagan added, noting policymakers must weigh the consequences of allowing domestic capacity to erode.
Stanton-Hagan also suggested US manufacturers may eventually push back more forcefully against tariffs if elevated metal prices continue feeding into inflation and production costs.
“The US actually cannot produce enough to satisfy its own needs,” she said. “It’s the US manufacturers that are going to be paying more for that.”
With U.S. midterm elections approaching and concerns about high living costs already weighing on voters, the political sustainability of the tariff regime may increasingly come into question, Stanton-Hagan said.
Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto. Credit: Prabowo Subianto via X
Aerial view of a tugboat pulling a barge filled with coal in the waters of South Kalimantan, Barito River. Stock image.
