The Northern Miner May 2 2022 Issue 9

Page 1

WESTERN AUSTRALIA UNSEATS NEVADA AS TOP MINING DESTINATION / 5 Geotech_Earlug_2016_Alt2.pdf 1 2016-06-24 4:27:20 PM

SPECIAL FOCUS MINING & EXPLORATION IN

.com

THE FAR NORTH

expert advice from exploration to closure

VTEM™ | ZTEM™ | Gravity | Magnetics 905 841 5004 | geotech.ca

11-15

DELIVERING QUALITY EXPERTISE GLOBALLY ACROSS THE ENTIRE MINING LIFE CYCLE WWW.SGS.COM/MINING

MINERALS@SGS.COM

MAY 2 — 15, 2022 / VOL. 108 ISSUE 9 / GLOBAL MINING NEWS · SINCE 1915 / $5.25 / WWW.NORTHERNMINER.COM

Mexico passes bill nationalizing lithium industry REGULATORY ISSUES

| Move could violate USMCA trade agreement

Shelby Yee and Alex Dorsch named Young Mining Professionals of the Year HONOURS

| Winners recognized for

contributions to technology, new discovery

Shelby Yee, co-founder and CEO of RockMass Technologies.

Alex Dorsch, managing director and CEO of Chalice Mining.

ROCKMASS TECHNOLOGIES

CHALICE MINING

The operations team at Banacora Lithium’s Sonora pilot plant in Mexico. The government says it will review all lithium contracts, including projects already being developed in the country. BACANORA LITHIUM

BY CARL A. WILLIAMS BY CECILIA JAMASMIE

M

exico has officially nationalized its lithium industry after the Senate approved by 87 votes in favour, 20 against and 16 abstentions the mining reform proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which gives the state exclusive rights over the battery metal. The law, which came into force on Apr. 21, was approved in record time — only two days after being introduced by López Obrador to Congress. The bill elevates lithium to the category of “strategic mineral,” declaring the exploration, exploitation, and use of lithium to be the exclusive right of the state. It also includes a clause allowing the state to take charge of “other minerals declared strategic” by Mexico. The executive has now 90 days to create a new, decentralized body to deal with all lithium-related matters. Since taking power in 2018, López Obrador has fought to reverse resource reforms under previous governments that opened up the oil and electricity sectors to private investment. He has pushed a resource exploitation model that gives priority to state-controlled companies. The president said his administration will review all lithium contracts, which casts a shadow of doubt over projects already being developed in the country, including the one held by Bacanora Lithium (LSE: BCN) in the country’s northwest. The company, owned by China’s Genfeng Lithium,

SINCE TAKING POWER IN 2018, PRESIDENT LÓPEZ OBRADOR HAS FOUGHT TO REVERSE RESOURCE REFORMS UNDER PREVIOUS GOVERNMENTS THAT OPENED UP THE OIL AND ELECTRICITY SECTORS TO PRIVATE INVESTMENT. The Mexican Senate building. ABALCAZAR/ISTOCK

owns the giant Sonora project, which is slated to produce 35,000 tonnes of the metal per year starting in 2023. The law would likely bring trade tensions with the country’s northern neighbours as it is said to violate the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Kenneth Smith Ramos, who headed technical negotiations for the now defunct North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), told local media that declaring lithium a strategic mineral is an issue as lithium was not designated as such when the three nations signed the accord. The Mexican Association of Min-

ing Engineers, Metallurgists and Geologists said in a statement that “clays containing lithium have been located” in the country. “To the best of our knowledge, no country has produced and commercialized lithium from clays,” it added. Most of the world’s current lithium output is locked away in long-term deals as downstream chemicals producers, battery makers and electric vehicles makers are frantically trying to secure future supply. Mexico’s reserves of the soughtafter metal positions it in the 10th place among the world’s top producers, data from the U.S. Geological Survey shows. TNM

T

Special to The Northern Miner

he winners of this year’s Young Mining Professionals (YMP) awards are Shelby Yee of privately held RockMass Technologies and Alex Dorsch of Chalice Mining (ASX: CHN; US-OTC: CGMLF). The awards are named after two iconic entrepreneurs in the mining industry, Eira Thomas and the late Peter Munk. Shelby Yee has won the 2022 Eira Thomas award and Alex Dorsch the Peter Munk award. This year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the awards ceremony has been moved to Sunday, June 12, and will be an outdoor event at the Jump restaurant in downtown Toronto. Since last year’s awards were presented online, the organizers invited Maggie Layman and Matthew Fenton, that year’s winners. The sponsors of this year’s event are Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD), KPMG, Cassels Brock & Blackwell, and The Northern Miner. Each of the winners were nominated in a public submissions process. They were then discussed and selected by a panel of YMP chapters, including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Perth, Australia, London, U.K., and an equal vote from The Northern Miner. Stephen Stewart, chairman of YMP and CEO of Orefinders Resources (TSXV: ORX) and QC Copper & Gold (TSXV: QCCU; US-OTC: OTCQB), notes that this is the first time an Australian has won the award. “Alex was a runaway choice for

CYBERSECURITY THREATS ON THE INCREASE / 7

the Peter Munk award, and there was no doubt that he would receive my nomination,” he said in an interview. “I’ve been following Chalice closely, and their Julimar project in Western Australia is exactly the kind of project that keeps our industry alive. Alex and his team have done a tremendous job creating a See YMP / 6 PM40069240


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.