The Northern Miner April 4 2022 Issue 7

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Ontario announces long-awaited critical minerals strategy | ‘Follow the others’ plan aims to boost the EV sector

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

A Barrick president and CEO Mark Bristow (fourth from left) with employees at the company’s Veladero gold mine in Argentina. BARRICK GOLD

Barrick seals deal with Pakistan to restart Reko Diq copper-gold project after a decade GOLD

B

| Government expected to acquire Antofagasta’s 50% stake

BY NAIMUL KARIM

arrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) has reached an agreement with the Pakistan government to restart Balochistan’s Reko Diq project, which hosts one of the world’s largest undeveloped open pit copper-gold porphyry deposits, the company says. According to Barrick’s president and CEO, Mark Bristow, the project, which was suspended in 2011 due to a dispute over the legality of its licencing process, could be in production in five to six years. “This is a unique opportunity for substantial foreign investment in the Balochistan province,” said Bristow in a press release. “Reko Diq could also be the springboard for further exploration and other mineral discoveries along the highly prospective Tethyan Metallogenic Belt.” In September 2011, Balochistan’s government said that it considered the mining lease application for the project, which Barrick ran along with Chile’s Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) back then, to be “incomplete and unsatisfactory.” The mining companies, however, considered the decision unlawful and filed arbitration claims at the World Bank International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). In 2019, the ICSID awarded US$5.5 billion in damages

The Reko Diq copper-gold property in southwestern Pakistan. TETHYAN COPPER

to the mining companies with an interest of 1% per annum until the award is paid. As the project sets to restart, the penalty will be waived, Pakistan’s Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said according to a report filed by Thomson Reuters. “If the definitive agreements are executed and the conditions to closing are satisfied, the project will be reconstituted including the resolution of the damages originally awarded by the ICSID,” stated a press release from Barrick. Prior to the denial of the mining lease application, a feasibility study projected Reko Diq would have a mine life of over 50 years with an

estimated initial capital investment of over $3 billion. Studies on the project also envisaged a conventional truck-andshovel open pit operation with comminution and flotation processing facilities producing a copper-gold concentrate. In a separate press release, Antofagasta announced that it had reached an agreement with the Pakistan government to exit the project. The company will be replaced by Pakistani shareholders when the project restarts, while Barrick will hold 50% of the project. “Antofagasta has decided not to See BARRICK GOLD / 6

BY NAIMUL KARIM

s part of its five-year critical minerals strategy announced on Mar. 17, Ontario will invest $24 million over three years in its Junior Exploration Program, half of which will be invested for a critical minerals funding stream, and $5 million for a critical minerals innovation fund. The strategy aims to better connect mines in the north to the manufacturing sector in the south, specifically to Ontario-based electric vehicle and battery manufacturers. It will also look to tap into the EV, batteries, telecommunication and national defence markets and position the province as a “global leader” in supplying the critical minerals. “The Critical Minerals Strategy is our government’s blueprint to connect industries, resources and workers… as we build up homegrown supply chains,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a press release. “Doing so has never been more important as we secure gamechanging investments in our auto sector to build the electric vehicles and batteries of the future.” Ontario has identified 33 critical minerals, including nickel, cobalt, lithium, and rare earth elements. It produced about $3.5 billion worth of critical minerals in 2020 with a mining sector that employs about 75,000 people. The strategy will focus on supporting critical minerals exploration, enhancing geoscience information, improving the regulatory framework, investing in research, building economic development opportunities with Indigenous partners and growing labour supply for the mining sector, the province said in a press release. Support provided under the plan includes: introducing a modernized digital platform for mineral exploration companies to access Ontario’s critical minerals geoscience information; reassessing historical geoscience information to better identify critical minerals deposits; and undertaking new initiatives that target underexplored areas in the province. The government is also committed to investing $250,000 to support the development of two new battery

MINING SECTOR NEEDS TO REBRAND TO ATTRACT GEN Z TALENT / 8

production lines at Electra Battery Materials’ (TSXV: ELBM; OTC: ELBMF) future Battery Material Park near Cobalt, Ont. In addition, it aims to develop a regulatory framework for the recovery of minerals from mine tailings and waste. To attract more workers to the sector, the province will support industry efforts to train underrepresented workers, such as newcomers to Canada and women. The strategy will help Ontario stake “claim to the emerging North American EV battery industry,” said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. Chris Hodgson, president of the Ontario Mining Association said in a press release that the strategy would localize the supply chain and reduce geopolitical risk for Ontario, while adding that the province’s metals and minerals were “essential for low-carbon technologies and to the green economy.” See ONTARIO / 7 PM40069240


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