Last leg of Ring of Fire road enters the environmental assessment process

Naimul Karim | April 18, 2022 

Aerial view of lake in Ring of Fire, Ontario. Stock image.

The First Nations of Marten Falls and Webequie have submitted the terms of reference for the proposed Northern Road Link, a piece of infrastructure that Ontario describes as the “final piece” needed to build an all-season road into the Ring of Fire.


The road would link two other roads that are being advanced separately by each community – the Marten Falls access road and the Webequie supply road – to provide access to the mineral rich region in northern Ontario’s James Bay lowlands.

The announcement comes a week after Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo Metals completed the acquisition of the Eagle’s Nest nickel-copper-PGE deposit in the Ring of Fire.

“It’s a start of a journey for us into an economic reconciliation for Martin Falls First Nation and our neighbouring communities,” Marten Falls Chief Bruce Achneepineskum said at the announcement event.

“There’s a lot of work still to do. We are going to be moving on to the actual work of the environmental assessment, moving forward with the actual studies that are going to be happening,” added Achneepineskum. “We want to move forward in a good way… alleviating the conditions of the community, the poverty levels that we have faced in the decade’s past… there’s a lot of work to do.”

Located about 500 km away from Thunder Bay, the Ring of Fire has “multi-generational potential” for the production of critical minerals such as chromite, nickel, copper and platinum, according to the Ontario government.

But access to the region is a challenge as paved roads are at least 300 km away. In 2017, Ontario committed to spend $1 billion for strategic transportation infrastructure development in the region, including a year-round access road into the mining camp.

However, in 2019, after Doug Ford was elected as Premier in 2018, the new Progressive Conservative government scrapped the previous government’s approach, based on a regional framework agreement, in favour of agreements with individual communities.

Marten Falls First Nation’s 200-km community access road and the Webequie Nation’s 107-km supply road have both advanced to the environmental assessment stage under that approach. Together, with the Northern Link, the three roads are expected to connect the region to Ontario’s highway.

But not all Indigenous groups have supported the way Ontario has approached infrastructure development. First Nations including Neskantaga, Attawapiskat and Fort Albany declared a moratorium, which is still in place, on Ring of Fire development in 2021 to protect the region from environmental damage and “catastrophic climate change.”

Kate Kempton, a lawyer who represents the Attawapiskat First Nation, told The Northern Miner that the community won’t support any mining-related development in the region until there’s “informed consent” of all the affected first nations in the area. “Nobody is in a position to consent today… that full-scale investigation isn’t being done,” she said.

Kempton added that the mining claims comprising the Ring of Fire are not just located in the traditional territories of Marten Falls and Webequie, but also of Attawapiskat.

“This doesn’t mean that only those two First Nations have the right to consent or veto,” said Kempton. “It’s like if my neighbour wants to build a bomb factory next door, he is not the only one that gets to say over that… Those who are going to feel the impacts to this need to be at the front of the decision making and I see nothing in this announcement to see that Ontario is going to proceed that way.”

The lawyer expects the matter to end up in the Canadian courts if Ontario doesn’t address the concerns.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that the government is working “side by side” with Indigenous partners to ensure that communities around the Ring of Fire get improved access to every-day essentials like fuel, groceries and health care. Natural Resources minister Greg Rickford expects the project to become a “corridor to prosperity” for communities living in the area.

After completing the acquisition of the Eagle’s Nest project in early April, Wyloo Metals said it aims to develop the project as a net zero emissions mine, spend C$100 million on Indigenous-led businesses and establish a training centre that can help provides jobs for indigenous and regional communities.

It also aims to “investigate” the use of electric vehicles, wind power and ultramafic waste rock to capture and sequester carbon at site.

Canada teams up with Australia to fend off China in EV battery space

Naimul Karim
Mon, March 4, 2024 

CANADA-ENVIRONMENT-AUTOMOBILE-INNOVATION-DISCOVERY

Canada has inked an agreement with Australia to work together in developing the minerals needed for the energy transition away from fossil fuels, as both look to reduce their dependence for raw materials on China and pivot more towards friendlier nations.

The non-legally binding agreement means the two nations will work together to extract these minerals responsibly, improve transparency, build partnerships, conduct joint research and development programs and share industry growth models.

The joint statement said that Canada and Australia share a “like-minded” approach to the development of these minerals and will work together to develop these minerals in a “clean” and “fair” manner.

Canada is looking to build a battery industry as it expects the world to gradually shift away from fossil fuels within the next three decades. Batteries require minerals such as lithium, nickel and graphite, so the government has looked to boost its mining sector in recent years.

It also introduced a policy in 2022 that made it more difficult for foreign companies, especially “non-like-minded” nations, to purchase stakes in Canadian miners involved in producing these critical minerals. For instance, in 2022, it ordered three Chinese companies to divest its shares from three Canadian lithium companies.

Despite this policy, some Canadian junior miners have inked deals with Chinese companies in the last year. Montreal-based SRG Mining Inc. agreed to sell 19.4 per cent of the company to Carbon One New Energy Group Co. Ltd; Vancouver-based Solaris Resources Inc. inked an agreement with Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. to receive $130 million by way of a private placement of common shares; and Vancouver-based Osino Resources Corp. agreed to be bought by Yintai Gold Co. Ltd. for $368 million.

The completion of all three agreements will depend upon the federal government’s approval based on the Investment Canada Act.

Australia miners have a big presence in Canada. For example, North American Lithium Inc., the only major lithium producer in Canada, is owned by Sayona Mining Ltd. and Piedmont Lithium Inc., both of which are listed in Australia.

Perth-based Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd., which is run by Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest, bought Canadian junior miner Noront Resources Ltd. in 2022. Wyloo is looking to build a nickel mine in Ontario’s Ring of Fire region.

Melbourne-based BHP Group Ltd. has agreed to invest $14 billion in Saskatchewan to build one of the world’s biggest potash mines. Another Australian mining giant, Rio Tinto Ltd., inked a memorandum of understanding with Canada last year to look for ways in which the miner can contribute to the country’s low-carbon battery industry during the next decade.

“We will also work together with like-minded partners to respond to changing geopolitical realities so they do not negatively impact our pursuit of these goals,” a statement from Natural Resources Canada said.

Mining giant Rio Tinto eyes Canada in hunt for top-tier lithium property


Naimul Karim
Mon, March 4, 2024


rio-tinto-0304-ph

Mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd. “would love” to produce lithium in Canada, given the right project, says chief executive Jakob Stausholm.

Rio doesn’t currently produce lithium, but Stausholm, speaking at one of the world’s largest mining conventions in Toronto on March 3, said the miner is keen on building a lithium business and is on the hunt for a top-tier property. He said he believes lithium is more likely to dominate the battery market in the future than other metals such as nickel and cobalt.
Volatile market

“We would like to grow lithium, but what’s clear is that lithium is abundant in this world,” Stausholm said at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada convention. “And, therefore, you have seen a very volatile (market). Sometimes very high prices, and now prices have gone down so far.”

Lithium is expected to play a key role in the energy transition away from fossil fuels since it’s used to build batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). Several miners are exploring lithium projects in Canada, but there is just one major company — North American Lithium Inc., which is owned by Sayona Mining Ltd. and Piedmont Lithium Inc. — producing the mineral in the country.

The metal’s price rose manyfold in 2022 and early 2023 on the expected rise in EV demand. But prices have plummeted in the past year due to an increase in supplies, subdued Chinese demand and a poor EV market. The price of lithium carbonate is down more than 70 per cent from the same time last year.

Rio in 2023 dipped its toes into Canada’s lithium exploration industry by signing two agreements. In July, it signed an option agreement for about $115.7 million with Longueuil, Que.-based Azimut Exploration Inc., giving it the opportunity to own at least 75 per cent of the Corvet and Kaanaayaa lithium properties in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region.

An option agreement doesn’t necessarily mean Rio will own the properties, and the company must fulfil several conditions. For instance, to acquire 50 per cent of Azimut’s properties, Rio must spend at least $14 million over four years to explore the projects. To secure an additional 20 per cent, Rio will need to spend an additional $100 million over five years on exploration.

The deal allows the mining giant to spend a few million dollars to test the lithium projects owned by Azimut and assess the financial viability of building mines at the locations.

A month earlier, Rio inked a similar deal with Montreal-based Midland Exploration Inc. to explore 10 lithium properties in the James Bay region, covering a surface area of about 1,000 square kilometres.

Both deals come after Rio entered a memorandum of understanding with the federal government last year to look for ways in which the miner can contribute to Canada’s low-carbon battery industry over the next decade.
Cutting carbon emissions

Aside from the projects in Canada, Rio is actively trying to develop three other lithium projects in Argentina, Serbia and the United States. But lithium continues to be a relatively small segment of Rio’s business. It’s currently more focused on its aluminum and iron-ore businesses in Canada and has made a few investments recently to reduce its carbon emissions.

For example, the company is trying to reduce the amount of heavy fuel oil consumed in the production of iron ore pellets and concentrates by installing an electric boiler in its Canadian operations.

In December, Rio also entered the aluminum recycling industry through a $700-million investment in Brampton, Ont.-based Matalco Inc. Producing secondary aluminum is more energy efficient than producing primary aluminum, but Stausholm believes the way forward is a combination of both.

In June, Rio announced it would invest $1.4 billion to expand its aluminum smelter in Quebec by adding new pots that it said would reduce its carbon emissions by 290,000 tonnes per year — equivalent to removing 63,000 vehicles from the road.

Despite these investments, Stausholm doesn’t think capital markets are properly rewarding companies focused on low-carbon strategies. However, he said the steps taken by Rio will create a difference in the coming decades, if not in the near future. Rio is trying to stay a step ahead of the game by “futureproofing” its assets, he said.

Stausholm said Canada is at least a decade ahead of other Western nations in terms of measures to reduce carbon emissions due to its reliance on hydropower. But he said he hasn’t seen a place where “people are so serious about addressing climate change like in China.”

Nevertheless, Canada and the U.S. are looking to reduce their reliance on China for metals and other raw materials and pivot towards friendlier nations.

Mining giant Rio Tinto dips toes in Canadian lithium projects


Critical minerals sector is 'not healthy,' says Barrick


Canada 'decade or two' ahead in climate change battle: Rio Tinto

In 2022, Canada prevented Chinese companies from investing in three lithium Canadian miners after it announced a policy that made it harder for “non-like-minded” nations to invest here.

Stausholm didn’t specifically comment on that issue, but said politicians serve their societies and companies serve the countries in which they operate, and “we are a global company” with major businesses in China and other nations.

• Email: nkarim@postmedia.com

Exclusive-BHP sets tentative sales deals for Canadian potash, not interested in Cobre Panama



Updated Mon, March 4, 2024 

Small toy figure and mineral imitation are seen in front of the BHP logo in this illustration


By Rod Nickel

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) -BHP has signed non-binding sales agreements for all potash production from both phases of the Canadian mine it is building, and will look to convert those into firm offtakes within 12-18 months, a senior executive told Reuters.

BHP Chief Commercial Officer Ragnar Udd also said the company is not interested in acquiring the idled Cobre Panama copper mine from First Quantum Minerals.

Australia-based BHP's entry into selling potash is expected to shake up the global fertilizer market, which producers in Canada, Belarus and Russia dominate. Fertilizer is a key input for farmers to boost yields of crops such as corn.

BHP expects to begin production at Jansen, Saskatchewan in late 2026, ramping up to 4.35 million metric tons annually. A second phase approved by BHP will boost yearly output to 8.5 million tons, expanding global supply by roughly 10%.

BHP plans to sell potash to distributors, rather than directly to companies that re-sell the fertilizer to farmers, Udd said, declining to name the companies.

BHP has not previously disclosed the sales agreements or how it will market its potash.

Selling to distributors reflects the fact that BHP does not own a potash distribution network and allows it to focus on what it is best at - production, Udd said in an interview.

"A lot of the feedback we've had from customers is how thrilled they are to be seeing a new reliable, stable form of supply coming in from an industry player that's well-known," Udd said.

BHP will turn tentative sales into binding contracts - typically lasting one year - as production comes online, with the first likely in late 2025 or early 2026, Udd said.

BHP will provide stiff competition to Nutrien, Mosaic, Belaruskali and Uralkali. The company's entry may initially be "quite destructive" to prices, said Humphrey Knight, principal analyst of potash and phosphates at consultancy CRU.

Selling to distributors runs counter to how BHP usually operates, controlling much of the supply chain itself, Knight said.

The U.S. is the prime market for Canadian potash due to its proximity, but it has been difficult to penetrate for another producer, Germany's K+S AG, Knight said.

Udd said he would not give specifics about BHP's U.S. plan but said it is "quite comfortable" with its ability to compete there.

BHP, best-known for mining iron ore, copper, nickel and metallurgical coal, is not interested in acquiring First Quantum's Cobre Panama, one of the world's largest open-pit copper mines, which was forced to shut down in December after Panama's top court ruled that its contract was unconstitutional.

"Honestly, while we're always looking for opportunities, I think that's a situation best left for Panama and others," Udd said.

(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg; additional reporting by Divya Rajagopal in Toronto, Editing by Franklin Paul)

Doug Ford's hopes for Ontario's electric vehicle industry hinge on mining its Ring of Fire

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Mining project will be 'massive win' for First Nations, says

premier, despite Indigenous opposition

Mike Crawley · CBC News · Posted: Nov 09, 2021

'We're going to be the number one manufacturer of electric battery operated cars in North America,' said Ontario Premier Doug Ford during a news conference Monday. Opening up mining in the province's north is a key part of that plan. (Mike Crawley/CBC)

Premier Doug Ford's government is touting Ontario as a future electric vehicle manufacturing hub, and linking that to a fresh push for a huge mining development in the northern part of the province. 

Ford's Progressive Conservatives want to lure the big automakers to produce electric vehicles in southern Ontario. A key part of that strategy involves opening up the so-called Ring of Fire mineral deposit, located more than 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay in an area home to Indigenous people.

The Ring of Fire was originally promoted as a source of chromite, an important component in steel. Now the hype centres on its supply of minerals used in EV batteries and energy storage systems, including cobalt, lithium, manganese, nickel, graphite and copper.

Ontario's mini-budget — known as the fall economic statement — featured the Ring of Fire prominently when it was presented last week, and explicitly linked the mining project to EV battery production. 

Ford spoke enthusiastically about both electric vehicles and the Ring of Fire on Monday. 

"We're doing it," Ford said, when CBC News asked about the government's plans for the mining project, during an unrelated news conference in Bradford, Ont., just north of Toronto.

"We're going to be the number one manufacturer of electric battery operated cars in North America," Ford said. "We're not only going to manufacture the batteries here, but also manufacture the cars." 

Ford said First Nations are being consulted about the Ring of Fire. 

"We do nothing up there without making sure there's a buy-in from the vast majority of the communities," Ford said. 

"This is going to benefit so many people from First Nations communities up there. They're going to have good-paying jobs. They're going to be part of the investments. They're going to be able to build roads, not not just to get up to the mines, but also be to get goods up there a lot quicker as well. This is just a massive win for the First Nations community."

However, Ford's enthusiasm is not universally matched among Indigenous leaders in northern Ontario. 

"There is going to be opposition, if this continues the way it is and the Ford government or any future government doesn't recognize the rights of our people, it's going to be a strong stance," said Chief Wayne Moonias of the Neskantaga First Nation in an interview Monday.  

Chief Wayne Moonias leads the Neskantaga First Nation in northern Ontario. He says Ford's plan will meet opposition from Indigenous communities. (CBC)

 

Neskantaga is one of three First Nations — along with Attawapiskat and Fort Albany — that declared a moratorium on Ring of Fire development earlier this year.  

"People are making money, a lot of money, off of our land and there is no consent that has been given by our people, our First Nation," said Moonias. "Rightfully the First Nations people of Neskantaga should be the ones to determine how those things are going to be carried out, if in fact they're going to be carried out." 

Ring of Fire mineral claims cover a territory around 100 kilometres in diameter, including the upper portion of the Attawapiskat River and its watershed.

"I don't think First Nations, whose land this has always been and still is solely, appreciate anybody else telling them what's good for them," said Kate Kempton, a partner with the law firm OKT. She represents Attawapiskat First Nation in a recent court challenge of the province granting mineral exploration permits in the Ring of Fire to the mining firm Juno Corp. 

"This situation with the Ring of Fire is, in my view, explosive, and the public is probably going to see that in 2022," said Kempton. 

Ford's government is proposing significant changes to provincial land-use planning law for northern Ontario that appear designed to clear hurdles to developing the Ring of Fire.

The renewed push for opening up Ontario's Ring of Fire involves its supply of minerals that can be used to make electric vehicle batteries. (Ben Margot/The Associated Press)

One change would scrap a requirement that 225,000 square kilometres of northern Ontario have protected-area status. That's nearly double the size of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia combined. 

The changes that the government itself describes as "the most significant" have to do with the First Nations membership of a joint advisory body on land-use planning in the Far North. The amendments would allow the government to create the advisory body with the participation of just seven of the 31 First Nations in the region.        

The amendments to the Far North Act are part of the omnibus bill tabled last week by Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy along with his fall economic statement.   

The act "creates unnecessary barriers to economic development," said Curtis Lindsay, press secretary to Greg Rickford, Ontario's minister of Indigenous affairs, northern development and mines. 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford shakes hands with Chief Cornelius Wabasse of Webequie First Nation, left, and Chief Bruce Achneepineskum, Marten Falls First Nation, centre, after signing a new deal on the Ring of Fire mining project in northern Ontario. The signing took place at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada's annual convention in Toronto on March 2, 2020. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

He said the revised act will focus on "enabling the development of all-season roads, electrical transmission projects and mineral development while maintaining community-based land-use planning and environmental protections."

Bethlenfalvy drew a direct link between electric vehicles and the Ring of Fire in an interview on Friday with Superior Morning, a CBC Radio program broadcasting from Thunder Bay. 

"We want to build the Ring of Fire," Bethlenfalvy said. "There's critical minerals there [that] go into electric vehicles, and we want to be the leader in North America, in Ontario, building electric cars." 

He described the government's new push for the Ring of Fire as responding to the community. 

Noront Resources Esker Camp is located in Ontario's Ring of Fire. The company's share price has tripled in the past six months as two Australian mining giants offered increasingly larger takeover bids. (Jeff Walters/CBC)

"Prosperity should be in the north," said Bethlenfalvy.  "We just want to open up the north for everyone, and we're going to do it with very sincere and open consultations." 

The mining company that holds the vast majority of the claims in the Ring of Fire, Noront Resources, is currently the focus of a bidding war between two Australian mining firms, BHP Group and Wyloo Metals. Since the rival takeover bids began in May, Noront's share price has tripled, adding some $280 million to the company's value in just six months.

The two firms are now in talks about a joint takeover, with a deadline of Nov. 16 for NorOnt shareholders to accept the latest bid. 

One of the biggest obstacles to getting minerals out of the Ring of Fire is that there are no all-season roads to its location. 

• Why advocates say Canada needs to rev up its electric car adoption

• Australian mining giants ramp up Ring of Fire takeover

• CBC INVESTIGATES
  First Nation calls on auditor general to investigate Ontario's spending on Ring of Fire mineral development

Just last month the government launched two separate environmental assessments for sections of road that would link the Ring of Fire to the Webequie and Marten Falls First Nations and ultimately, to the provincial highway system. 

In 2018, before becoming premier, Ford vowed to get roads built to the Ring of Fire "if I have to hop on that bulldozer myself."

The Ford government has budgeted roughly $1 billion for the road construction, but that commitment is not new for Ontario. Back in 2014, the then-Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne allocated $1 billion for the project as well.

Ottawa’s interim plan to regulate large resource projects causing confusion for Ring of Fire stakeholders

Niall McGee - The Globe and Mail | October 30, 2023 | 

The Eagle’s Nest nickel-copper-PGM project in northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire region. (Image courtesy of Noront Resources.)

The federal government’s plan to continue to regulate major resource projects despite a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that says those powers are largely unconstitutional is creating confusion and uncertainty in Ontario’s Ring of Fire.


A significant Indigenous stakeholder is making a plea for regulatory certainty, while a major mining company is warning that Canada’s weak standing on the global critical-minerals stage will only get worse.

The Supreme Court said earlier this month that the federal government’s broad-based environmental reviews around large mines and major infrastructure associated with those mines are unconstitutional. Ottawa must limit its oversight to certain defined areas clearly defined in the Constitution, the court said, such as fisheries, the bird population, species at risk and certain Indigenous rights.

The decision means that the provinces and territories have primary jurisdiction over regulating mining projects.

Since the ruling from the Supreme Court was in a reference case, one in which a province asked for an opinion, it is non-binding, but governments historically take such rulings seriously.

This week the federal government reiterated that because of the ruling, it intends to introduce legislation to change the 2019 Impact Assessment Act that will limit its oversight over resource projects. But Ottawa has not provided details on when that will happen and what the new regime will look like.

Companies with projects that are already subject to federal impact assessments are now facing major unknowns. The federal government said Thursday it will look at each individual case and determine whether it has jurisdiction over it or not.

Situated in Ontario’s far north, the undeveloped Ring of Fire is one of Canada’s highest-profile critical minerals projects and one of the projects most affected by the uncertainty. Three Ring of Fire road proposals are going through federal impact assessment studies.

Marten Falls, a remote First Nations community located 430 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, is involved in two proposals – leading one of the studies on a road project in the Ring of Fire corridor and co-leading another with Webequie First Nation.

The division of regulatory powers between the federal and provincial governments over the Ring of Fire “has to be clarified,” Marten Falls Chief Bruce Achneepineskum said in an interview.

His community has been working on one of the federal impact assessments for four years, and has been toiling for almost as long on an additional federally mandated regional assessment study on the Ring of Fire.

The regional assessment has been “daunting,” he said, given the huge demands on the community to provide large amounts of data and respond to countless requests around environmental impacts.

Amid confusion over whether some of the bureaucracy was even needed in the first place, Mr. Achneepineskum stressed the importance of timeliness around a massive resource project that could bring significant economic benefits to the community.

But rather than both levels of government working together to clarify the regulatory system in the wake of the Supreme Court decision, they appear instead to be on a “collision course,” he said.

Earlier this week, Ontario applied for judicial review around two large resource projects that are going through the Federal Impact Assessment system. The legal move is an attempt to prevent the federal government from making any further decisions in the areas the Supreme Court has deemed unconstitutional.

The federal government, however, is not backing down. Steven Guilbeault, the federal Environment Minister, said in a news conference on Thursday that the Ring of Fire is “clearly a federal area of jurisdiction,” as he vowed to assert Ottawa’s powers, particularly when it comes toIndigenous land.

Ontario’s legal moves, he said, are a “waste of time,” and something that “will only delay the approval of these projects.”

Both the Supreme Court ruling and the subsequent dispute between Ottawa and Ontario over resource jurisdiction is creating consternation at Ring of Fire Metals, the Australian-owned company hoping to build a nickel mine that could one day feed Canadian battery metals plants.

“It just brings more uncertainty,” said Kristan Straub, chief executive of Ring of Fire Metals. “Specifically at a time when Canada is trying to position itself, and we’re failing to position ourselves, as a safe, reliable supplier of critical minerals.”

Mr. Straub is particularly concerned about the federal government, indicating it may still exert discretionary powers over “designated projects” – large-scale resource projects – even though Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner expressly said Ottawa doesn’t have any constitutional powers in that area.

Earlier this week, Ottawa said it was pausing the environment minister’s power on new designated projects, but stopped short of saying it would do so permanently. Instead, the government said that consideration of new designated-project requests could potentially resume once amended legislation is in place.

“I don’t even think that there’s an ability to understand where the government is positioning themselves,” Mr. Straub said.

Last year, Australian resources giant Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd., which is controlled by billionaire Andrew Forrest, bought Canada’s Noront Resources Ltd. (now Ring of Fire Metals). The company’s Eagle’s Nest project was discovered in 2006 and has been held out repeatedly as Exhibit A for the languid pace of mining development and red tape in Canada.

Robin Junger, who is a partner of Indigenous law and environment with McMillan LLP, said the federal government’s primary focus should be moving forward with new legislation to rewrite fundamentally the Impact Assessment Act, rather than limping along with “unconstitutional legislation,” which opens it up to more legal challenges by the provinces.

“The Supreme Court’s decision is a more profound denunciation of the federal scheme than the government seems to be accepting,” he said.

ONTARIO\ RING OF FIRE
Rail corridor will lead to power grid

Five remote First Nations currently relying on diesel-powered generators could be connected to the provincial power grid if an electrified rail corridor is installed to haul ore out of Northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire mineral belt.

Project proponent KWG Resources said this week that connecting the Marten Falls, Webequie, Eabematoong, Neskantaga and Nibinamik communities to the Ontario power grid, along with related optical fiber networks, “would eliminate diesel-generation except in outage emergencies.”

The costs of the “electrification plan” have been pegged at $960 million for the main corridor, and $788 million for infrastructure required to connect the First Nations to the grid.

Toronto-based KWG said in a news release that $1.5 billion toward the capital costs could come from government sources.

The specialized, 330-kllometre rail line for hauling ore would cost an additional US$657 million, the company said in an earlier news release.

KWG has long argued that hauling chromite, nickel and other Ring of Fire metals by rail would be cheaper in the long run, and more environmentally-friendly, than the use of diesel-powered trucks.

Still, proposals for all-weather access roads into the Ring of Fire are currently being subject to environmental reviews overseen by Webequie and Marten Falls.

Timelines for approvals and construction of both the rail and road proposals have yet to be set.

KWG controls the Black Horse chromite deposit located in the Ring of Fire, about 550 kilometres north-east of Thunder Bay. Chromite is a main ingredient in stainless steel.

Last month, Australia’s Wyloo Metals won a bidding war for control of Noront Resources, which also has substantial chromite and nickel deposits in the remote mineral belt.

Carl Clutchey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal

From green hype to bailouts, the nickel industry has imploded

Bloomberg News | February 3, 2024 |

Abandoned Kaula-Kotselvaara nickel mine in Russia. (Reference image by Alexander Novikov, Wikimedia Commons.)

Just 18 months ago, the world’s biggest mining company was in a nickel frenzy. BHP Group, to much fanfare, had struck a deal with Tesla Inc. to supply it with the crucial ingredient for electric vehicles. It was about to go toe-to-toe with Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest for control of one of the globe’s most prospective mines.


For BHP, nickel offered a bright spot. Its management had earmarked the material as a key pillar of growth, a future-facing commodity that would help offset its exit from fossil fuels and let it tap into new demand driven by the world’s race to decarbonize.

Yet things have quickly soured for BHP and other miners. The nickel market has been thrown into chaos after a flood of new supplies from Indonesia — the result of huge Chinese investment and major technological breakthroughs. Mines across the world are at risk of closing, others are asking for state bailouts or going bust. BHP, for one, is now weighing up the future of its flagship Nickel West mine in Australia.

Until recently, many of the industry’s biggest names couldn’t have been more bullish about the prospects for nickel. The once-boring metal, traditionally used to make steel stainless, is a crucial ingredient for electric vehicle batteries. A supply shortage stretching for years to come was forecast and mining companies jumped at a great opportunity to burnish their green credentials.

Traditionally, nickel has been split into two categories: low grade for making stainless steel and high grade for batteries. A huge Indonesian expansion of low-grade production led to a surplus, but processing innovations have allowed that glut to be refined into a high-quality product that’s hitting the battery market.

As a result, prices for the metal have crashed over 40% from a year ago, adding to hurdles in a market that is also wobbling from weak demand and persistent concerns about China’s economy. Macquarie analysts estimate that more than 60% of the global industry is losing money at current prices.

The scale of the collapse has left some in the industry questioning if there’s a future for most nickel mines outside of Indonesia. It’s also adding to concerns among US and European policymakers about China’s control over key commodities, with its companies leading much of Indonesia’s production.

“After watching the tide go out on the nickel world for over a year – with the halving of its metal price – we’ve got some high-cost assets exposed now,” said Tom Price, head of commodities strategy at Liberum Capital Ltd. He added that mines in Western Australia and the French territory of New Caledonia are likely to be the most vulnerable.

In New Caledonia — the South Pacific island chain that was once seen as the future of nickel production — the French government has been forced to step in to keep mines and plants operating that are essential to the territory’s economy. Officials have been meeting with key shareholders of three processing plants to hammer out a rescue deal, with no breakthrough so far.

The situation has been equally bleak in Australia.

In addition to BHP’s review of nickel assets there, Panoramic Resources Ltd. is suspending a key mine after entering voluntary administration late last year, when it failed to find a buyer or partner. An IGO Ltd. site will be shuttered, as will some operated by tycoon Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd. and First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Producers in Western Australia are also turning to officials for help. At a crisis meeting at the end of last month, miners asked the federal government to provide tax credits for downstream processing.

But even with production pullbacks starting to bite, they’re unlikely to provide imminent support to nickel prices, according to Allan Ray Restauro, an analyst at BloombergNEF. He said, “The flood of supply from Indonesia is projected to continue to exert downward pressure on prices in 2024.”

That’s because Indonesian production — which already accounts for half of global supply — may prove more resistant to output cuts. The Southeast Asian nation has emerged as a global nickel hub after billions of dollars of investment in efficient plants that benefit from inexpensive labor, cheap power and readily available raw materials.

Still, the country’s rapid expansion has drawn criticism. Much of its production comes from coal-powered energy, giving it higher emissions per ton than rival producers, and its rapid expansion is eroding rainforests.

Producers such as BHP have instead trumpeted that buyers paying a premium for so-called green nickel would help lift prices. So far, however, there has been little evidence of that.

The company conceded late last year that automakers remain happy to buy Indonesian nickel, suggesting there will be little relief for miners elsewhere any time soon.

‘What can stop these mine and project closures? A sustained lift in nickel prices, obviously,” said Liberum’s Price. “Typically, only a nickel demand recovery can achieve that.”

(Reporting by Thomas Biesheuvel).

From green hype to bailouts, the nickel industry has imploded

Bloomberg News | February 3, 2024 | l

Abandoned Kaula-Kotselvaara nickel mine in Russia. (Reference image by Alexander Novikov, Wikimedia Commons.)

Just 18 months ago, the world’s biggest mining company was in a nickel frenzy. BHP Group, to much fanfare, had struck a deal with Tesla Inc. to supply it with the crucial ingredient for electric vehicles. It was about to go toe-to-toe with Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest for control of one of the globe’s most prospective mines.


For BHP, nickel offered a bright spot. Its management had earmarked the material as a key pillar of growth, a future-facing commodity that would help offset its exit from fossil fuels and let it tap into new demand driven by the world’s race to decarbonize.

Yet things have quickly soured for BHP and other miners. The nickel market has been thrown into chaos after a flood of new supply from Indonesia — the result of huge Chinese investment and major technological breakthroughs. Mines across the world are at risk of closing, others are asking for state bailouts or going bust. BHP, for one, is now weighing up the future of its flagship Nickel West mine in Australia.

Until recently, many of the industry’s biggest names couldn’t have been more bullish about the prospects for nickel. The once-boring metal, traditionally used to make steel stainless, is a crucial ingredient for electric vehicle batteries. A supply shortage stretching for years to come was forecast and mining companies jumped at a great opportunity to burnish their green credentials.

Traditionally, nickel has been split into two categories: low grade for making stainless steel and high grade for batteries. A huge Indonesian expansion of low-grade production led to a surplus, but processing innovations have allowed that glut to be refined into a high-quality product that’s hitting the battery market.

As a result, prices for the metal have crashed over 40% from a year ago, adding to hurdles in a market that is also wobbling from weak demand and persistent concerns about China’s economy. Macquarie analysts estimate that more than 60% of the global industry is losing money at current prices.

The scale of the collapse has left some in the industry questioning if there’s a future for most nickel mines outside of Indonesia. It’s also adding to concerns among US and European policymakers about China’s control over key commodities, with its companies leading much of the Indonesia’s production.

“After watching the tide go out on the nickel world for over a year – with the halving of its metal price – we’ve got some high-cost assets exposed now,” said Tom Price, head of commodities strategy at Liberum Capital Ltd. He added that mines in Western Australia and the French territory of New Caledonia are likely to be the most vulnerable.

In New Caledonia — the South Pacific island chain that was once seen as the future of nickel production — the French government has been forced to step in to keep mines and plants operating that are essential to the territory’s economy. Officials have been meeting with key shareholders of three processing plants to hammer out a rescue deal, with no breakthrough so far.

The situation has been equally bleak in Australia.

In addition to BHP’s review of nickel assets there, Panoramic Resources Ltd. is suspending a key mine after entering voluntary administration late last year, when it failed to find a buyer or partner. An IGO Ltd. site will be shuttered, as will some operated by tycoon Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo Metals Pty Ltd. and First Quantum Minerals Ltd.

Producers in Western Australia are also turning to officials for help. At a crisis meeting at the end of last month, miners asked the federal government to provide tax credits for downstream processing.

But even with production pullbacks starting to bite, they’re unlikely to provide imminent support to nickel prices, according to Allan Ray Restauro, an analyst at BloombergNEF. He said, “The flood of supply from Indonesia is projected to continue to exert downward pressure on prices in 2024.”

That’s because Indonesian production — which already accounts for half of global supply — may prove more resistant to output cuts. The Southeast Asian nation has emerged as a global nickel hub after billions of dollars of investment in efficient plants that benefit from inexpensive labor, cheap power and readily available raw materials.

Still, the country’s rapid expansion has drawn criticism. Much of its production comes from coal-powered energy, giving it higher emissions per ton than rival producers, and its rapid expansion is eroding rainforests.

Producers such as BHP have instead trumpeted that buyers paying a premium for so-called green nickel would help lift prices. So far, however, there has been little evidence of that.

The company conceded late last year that automakers remain happy to buy Indonesian nickel, suggesting there will be little relief for miners elsewhere any time soon.

‘What can stop these mine and project closures? A sustained lift in nickel prices, obviously,” said Liberum’s Price. “Typically, only a nickel demand recovery can achieve that.”

(By Thomas Biesheuvel)

Chiefs of Ontario ask provincial government for year-long moratorium on mine claims staking

Amanda Stutt | January 26, 2024 | 

Esker camp in Ontario’s Ring of Fire. 

Credit: Noront Resources

The Chiefs of the Canadian province of Ontario this week issued a statement calling for a 365-day moratorium on the Mining Lands Administration System (MLAS), beginning January 24.


The move follows an exponential rise in the number of mining claims being staked over the past year on First Nations territories – some as high as 30% — the highest annual number of mining claims staked in Ontario over the last six years, according to the Chiefs of Ontario.

The Chiefs said the increase in claims led to an “insurmountable” administrative burden for First Nation communities responsible for reviewing and responding to the mining claims.

“In accordance with Resolution 23/30S, which was passed at the Fall Chiefs Assembly 2023, the Chiefs of Ontario are calling on the Government of Ontario to declare a territory-wide moratorium on the Mining Lands Administration System (MLAS) for 365 days,” Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare said in the statement.

“Mining claim-staking continues to grow at a pace that far outstrips the ability for First Nations to respond and directly impacts our inherent, treaty, and constitutionally protected rights.”

Hare said a 365-day moratorium will give First Nations communities the time required to assess the impacts of the MLAS, the effects of the mine claims currently being staked, and develop a process “whereby meaningful and fulsome engagement and consultation can be integrated into the MLAS processes.”

In 2022, the Anishinabek Nation were unsuccessful when they made a similar request. The Ministry of Mines declined, stating a moratorium on mining was not considered an appropriate way to resolve the concerns.

Under the current MLAS system, prospectors can stake a mining claim online, and are not required to engage or consult with First Nations – even if the area in which the claim is staked is within their territories.

As a result, Chiefs of Ontario said, the area of land that has been staked is automatically removed from Treaty and Crown land that First Nations may have otherwise had access to add to reserve land, convert into parks, or is land that is currently undergoing land settlements via claims negotiations.

This week, Wyloo Metals said it is looking ahead to development at its Eagle’s Nest project in Ontario’s Ring of Fire, seen as highly prospective for nickel, copper, platinum and palladium, despite resistance to the project voiced by Indigenous leaders.
Gitxaala v. British Columbia

In April 2023, British Columbia’s Gitxaała Nation launched a legal challenge against the provincial government’s “free entry” mineral claim staking regime.

BC’s current Mineral Tenure Act also permits anyone with a free miner certificate to acquire mineral claims online through an automated system in First Nations’ territories, without their consultation or consent.

While critics challenge the system, the industry argues it violates prospectors’ intellectual property by giving notice that it expects to find mineralization in a given area before any security of tenure is granted.

A September 2023 Supreme Court decision declared that B.C.’s current online mineral claim system breaches the Crown’s duty to consult.

The court gave the province 18 months to design a new system that incorporates consultation — which the Chiefs of Ontario said sets an important precedent for First Nations in other provinces.

Nickel faces existential moment with half of mines unprofitable

Bloomberg News | February 26, 2024 |

A nickel briquette. Image from Sherritt International

Many of the world’s biggest nickel mines are facing an increasingly bleak future as they wake up to an existential threat: a near limitless supply of low-cost metal from Indonesia.


With roughly half of all nickel operations unprofitable at recent prices, the bosses of the largest mining companies last week sounded a warning that there was little prospect of a recovery.



The potential collapse of nickel mining from Australia to New Caledonia comes at a time when western governments are scrambling to secure the supply chains needed to decarbonize the global economy. But in an ironic twist, Indonesia’s coal-fired nickel output is pricing out greener metal that’s so far failed to command a market premium.

Wresting control of strategic metals from China has become a focal point of Joe Biden’s administration. Yet while US officials have dashed around the world looking to strike deals for materials such as cobalt and copper, the heaviest reverse has come in Chinese-backed Indonesian nickel, a key component of electric vehicles.

Indonesia now accounts for more than half of world supply, with the potential to reach three-quarters of all production toward the end of the decade.

“There is a serious structural challenge as a result of Indonesian nickel,” said Duncan Wanblad, chief executive officer of Anglo American Plc, after his company took a $500 million writedown on its nickel business last week. “They don’t seem to be letting up anytime soon.”

Traditionally, nickel has been split into two categories: low grade for making stainless steel and high grade for batteries. A huge Indonesian expansion of low-grade production led to a surplus, and, crucially, processing innovations have allowed that glut to be refined into a high-quality product.

Commodity markets have always been susceptible to cyclical volatility, especially when sudden supply and demand imbalances get a push from wider macro upswings or downturns. But what’s happening in nickel right now is different, with the entire industry undergoing a structural shift that has upended forecasts and models.

For BHP Group, the world’s biggest miner, nickel is a rounding error, contributing mostly losses to profits that routinely break $30 billion a year. Yet in recent years the company has championed the metal, seeing it as a key growth market that will help offset its retreat from fossil fuels.

Instead it’s turned into a disaster.

This week CEO Mike Henry conceded that the company will have to make a decision on whether to shutter its flagship nickel business in Australia within the next few months. Having already written down the business’s value by $2.5 billion, Henry said he expects the market to remain in surplus until at least 2030.

That means the pain is likely just starting.

Macquarie Group Ltd. calculates that about 250,000 tons of annual production — equivalent to about 7% of the total — has been taken out of the market by closures, with another 190,000 of planned output delayed.

Combined with economic slowdowns in China and the US and the choppy adoption of EVs, nickel has been pummeled. The price fell 45% last year, and is currently hovering around $17,000 a ton. According to Macquarie, at $18,000 a ton 35% of production is unprofitable, while at $15,000 a ton that jumps to 75%.

Anglo’s CEO Wanblad, who is reviewing nearly all the company’s mines in bid to cut costs, said that he will give the miner’s nickel business time in the face of the Indonesian threat.

“Our nickel business will undergo a fulsome review in terms of holding its head above water and making a viable profit,” he said. “I’m not giving up on the guys to come up with a plan that might help them readjust themselves into a position where they can function effectively.”

Glencore Plc, which has already moved to shutter its nickel operations on the islands of New Caledonia, is one of the world’s biggest producers with sprawling businesses in Canada and Australia. At current prices, that business will make just $500 million this year, with CEO Gary Nagle expecting prices to remain depressed.

“We see continuing strong production growth out of Indonesia,” Nagle said. “We do not expect significant price recovery in the short to medium term.”

With more than half a decade of oversupply ahead, more mines are likely to close before things get better. Should the market finally rebalance, that will leave Indonesia and China with even more market share then they already have.

Still, Indonesia’s rapid expansion has drawn criticism. Much of its production comes from coal-powered energy, giving it higher emissions per ton than rival producers, and its rapid expansion is eroding rainforests.

With little prospect of a near term recovery, western miners are pinning their hopes on state aid in the short term and a push toward customers — such as carmakers — demanding “greener” nickel in the future and being willing to pay more for it.

BHP this week called for the London Metal Exchange to expand its responsible sourcing policy to include environmental due diligence, helping to differentiate production from Indonesian and Chinese supply.

Still, as conceded by Glencore, so far buyers of nickel are unwilling to pay more.

“Right now there is not much of a premium in the market,” Nagle said.

(By Thomas Biesheuvel)

Fortescue’s Forrest urges LME to separate ‘clean’ nickel contracts

Reuters | February 26, 2024 

Andrew Forrest. (Image by Mines and Money, Flickr).

The London Metal Exchange (LME) should classify its nickel contracts into “clean” and “dirty” ones to give customers more choice, Australian iron ore magnate Andrew Forrest said on Monday.


The comment by Forrest, chairman and founder of Fortescue Metals Group, is part of a push by miners and Australian lawmakers to save the country’s nickel industry after prices collapsed amid a jump in cheaper supplies from Indonesia.


Nickel, a key ingredient in electric vehicle batteries, is typically produced to higher environmental and regulatory standards in Australia than in Indonesia. That has Australian producers calling for a green premium.

“If you’ve got dirty nickel in your battery systems, then you want to know about that because you don’t want to propagate that and you want the choice to buy clean nickel if you can. So the London Metal Exchange must differentiate between clean and dirty,” Forrest told Australia’s national press club.

In an emailed response to Reuters, an LME spokesperson said the exchange “drives and supports the metals and mining industry on several sustainability measures to ensure transparency throughout the supply chain to consumers”.

The LME, the world’s biggest market for industrial metals, has linked up with German online platform Metalshub, which in 2022 developed a price index for class 1 nickel briquette premiums. Briquettes are solid forms of nickel obtained by compressing the metal’s powder or flakes.

“Low-carbon nickel can already be listed on Metalshub today and the transaction data supports identification of a credible ‘green premium’ to the LME price,” the spokesperson added.

Australia’s nickel industry is shedding hundreds of jobs. Forrest’s private investment arm Wyloo Metals said last month it would put its Western Australian nickel operations on care and maintenance at the end of May due to low prices. It bought those assets last year for $504 million.

(By Melanie Burton; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Jan Harvey)

GREENWASHING

LME partner Metalshub plans for ‘green’ nickel price

Reuters | March 6, 2024 | 

The London Metal Exchange (LME) does not plan to launch a separate “green” nickel contract because the market is not large enough, but said its partner was developing an index price that will reflect demand for low carbon nickel.


Calls for a nickel price that reflects strong environmental and governance standards have grown from high-cost producers such as Australia, where low prices have forced miners to shutter operations due to a flood of Indonesian supply, most of which is produced using coal.

“Market participants have expressed concern that there remains significant market debate as to how to define ‘green’,” the LME said in a statement.

“Further, that an LME contract representing a narrower sub-segment of the market would not attract sufficient stocks and trading volumes to be viable.”

The LME sees limited appetite for contracts for segments of the nickel market, so-called class 2 materials, such as nickel sulphate, matte and other materials. Its nickel contract, so called class 1 refined nickel, has a purity of 99.8 pct and above.

Last week, Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest, chairman of Fortescue, said the LME should classify its nickel contracts into “clean” and “dirty” to give customers more choice.

Canada this week joined Australia in calling for robust ESG credentials to be built into global supply chains for critical minerals, Australia’s resources minister, Madeleine King, who is visiting Canada this week, said in a joint statement.
Green specs

While the market is not yet liquid enough to accommodate a green premium, MetalsHub has moved to build an index price that reflects consumer demand for green nickel.

The LME has classified low carbon nickel as that for which a single ton can be produced for 20 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (C02e) or less, it said. Currently, the carbon footprint for a ton of LME nickel varies from 6 tonnes to more than 100 tons of C02e.

Already, any class 1 nickel on the Metalshub platform, which counts Outokumpu and Aperam among its users, can be listed with specific ESG credentials, including its carbon footprint, which allows buyers to filter for carbon intensity.

“This functionality is in place today and there is no need to split the LME contract to assess a ‘green’ premium,” Metalshub managing director Frank Jackel told Reuters.

From this month, Metalshub will start reporting monthly data that includes trades of low carbon carbon nickel, the LME said.

As traded volumes increase, it plans to publish a low carbon index price that could eventually grow to become a “green” nickel premium index reflecting additional sustainability metrics, the LME said.

“CO2 footprint and ESG performance will play an important role and it gives producers the opportunity to market their products with a premium if the market is willing to pay it,” Jackel said via email, adding that Metalshub was keen to work with Australian miners.

(By Eric Onstad and Melanie Burton; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Global producers call for LME to introduce green premium for cleaner nickel

Calls for a differentiation between higher and lower-quality nickel come as Indonesian dominance continues to drive a price crisis in the industry.

Annabel Cossins-Smith

March 7, 2024

Andrew Forrest has been pushing the London Metal Exchange (LME) to formally distinguish between poor-quality nickel and cleaner supplies. 

Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

Mining companies have called for a green price premium to be introduced for sustainably produced nickel traded on the LME as the global sector scrambles for recovery.

Australian mining major BHP and metals magnate Andrew Forrest, the Australian billionaire that owns miner Wyloo Metals, have been pushing the LME to formally distinguish between poor-quality nickel and cleaner supplies.

“We have got to differentiate between dirty nickel and green nickel. The LME must differentiate between dirty and clean. They are two different products, they have two vastly different impacts,” Forrest told reporters at a briefing in Australia.

The move comes as the sector tries to combat an ongoing price crisis arising from an abundance of low-quality, cheap supplies from Indonesia. However, now miners in the country are looking to list their metal as high quality.

On Tuesday, Chinese-Indonesian nickel producer PT CNGR Ding Xing New Energy applied to have its metal supply listed as a ‘good delivery brand’ on the LME for the first time in history, sparking discomfort among western producers.

The LME is likely to approve the request as part of its recovery plan for the nickel market, which is also still reeling from a price crash in 2022.

Last month, BHP chief executive Mike Henry said on an earnings call with reporters that it would “seem sensible” to see a price premium for sustainably sourced nickel. A spokesperson for the miner has said that “an increasingly well-known range of ESG [environmental, social and governance] and responsible sourcing challenges currently exist” in Indonesia.

The Australian market in particular has suffered. Several major miners have suspended or pulled out of nickel operations as a direct result of the drawn-out price slump and subsequent poor profits. Last month, BHP announced plans to shut down its nickel operations in Western Australia citing a lack of hope that prices will recover sufficiently in the short and medium term.

In January, miner First Quantum announced that it will cut production at its Australian nickel mine and slash its workforce amid poor profits. Mining giant Glencore also announced last month that it will sell its entire stake in the Koniambo Nickel SAS joint venture in New Caledonia, which has never turned a profit despite funding interventions from the French Government.

Global miners are now worried that Indonesia’s low-cost nickel supply will wipe out rivals within the next few years and could eventually account for more than three-quarters of the world’s high-quality nickel, if listing on the LME is to go ahead.

The LME told the Financial Times it supports the industry on “several sustainability measures to ensure transparency throughout the supply chain”. It added that low-carbon nickel is listed on its Metalshub platform and “the transaction data supports identification of a credible ‘green premium’ to the LME price”.