In Angola, Catholic Church Steps in to Give a Voice to Mining-Affected Communities (Catholic Register – April 21, 2026)
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe sued after more than 100 homes were demolished in Huíla province, securing new housing for displaced families. The court victory marks a growing pattern of church‑led legal and advocacy actions against mining firms across Angola. Church leaders are positioning themselves as mediators between multinational extractors, government authorities, and vulnerable communities. This intervention reflects the Vatican’s broader strategic focus on Africa’s resource sectors and the social costs of mining.
Why Minerals-for-Security Deals Won’t Save the DRC – by Bram Verelst, Said Abdullahi and Veronica Chepseba (Institute for Security Studies...
In March 2026 the United States imposed sanctions on senior Rwandan army officers for backing the M23 rebel group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The sanctions follow Rwanda’s December 2025 offensive on Uvira, a breach of the US‑mediated...
Indonesia Talks Energy Transition, But Why Does Coal Still Rule? – by Alan Munandar (Modern Diplomacy – April 21, 2026)
Indonesia’s president pledged at the 2024 G20 summit to retire all coal and fossil‑fuel power plants within fifteen years, but days later his envoy softened the promise to a mere “phase‑down.” Despite the rhetoric, the country added the third‑largest amount...
6,000 Meters Under the Pacific, Japan Seeks Independence From China on Rare Earths – by Lorenzo Lamperti (Wired Magazine –...
Japan’s research team successfully extracted rare‑earth‑rich sediments from the seabed 6,000 meters beneath Minamitorishima, a remote Pacific atoll. The operation, carried out with the Chikyu deep‑sea drilling vessel, marks the world’s first sampling of rare‑earth deposits at such extreme depth. By...
Affirming Economic Sovereignty: Resource Nationalism in the Sahel – by Denis M. Tull (German Institute for International and Security Affairs...
Military juntas in the Sahel are intensifying resource nationalism in mining, raising taxes, royalties, and imposing local‑content rules to capture more state revenue. The moves are driven by soaring copper, nickel and gold prices and fiscal pressures, but are implemented...
Greens Gave Iran the Hormuz Stranglehold – by Lawrence Solomon (Financial Post – April 21, 2026)
Lawrence Solomon argues that Europe’s strict anti‑fracking and climate policies have forced the continent to rely on imported oil and gas, giving Iran strategic leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. He points out that abundant shale resources exist worldwide, but...
Rio Tinto Trying to Meet U.S. Aluminum Demand as Middle East War Roils Supply Chains – by Nicolas Van Praet...
Rio Tinto is ramping up production at its six Canadian aluminum smelters to satisfy rising U.S. demand as the Israel‑Iran conflict drives global aluminum prices higher. The Saguenay, Quebec facilities and the Kitimat, B.C. plant are already near full capacity,...
Iran War’s Sulfurous Fallout Spreads to Copper and Nickel – by Andy Home (Reuters – April 17, 2026)
The Iran‑Israel conflict has choked sulfur flow from the Gulf after the Strait of Hormuz closed on Feb. 28, triggering a global sulfur squeeze. Sulfuric acid, essential for solvent‑extraction copper and HPAL nickel processes, is now scarce as China, the world’s...
The Mineral Imperative, Trump, and The Art of the Deal – by Amanda Van Dyke (Substack – April 19, 2026)
Amanda van Dyke argues that while the United States has long relied on China for critical minerals, a new wave of legislation is reshaping the "mineral imperative" and strengthening domestic supply chains. Recent policies, including the Critical Minerals Act, aim...
Afghans Comb Riverbed in Search of Gold Dust (Radio France International – April 16, 2026)
Afghan villagers in Kunar province have turned to manual gold prospecting as formal jobs vanish, sifting dry riverbeds with water‑powered sieves to collect dust‑size nuggets. Men like 45‑year‑old Delawar abandoned construction work to create their own income, hauling rocks and...
Are You Overpaying for a Lab-Grown Diamond? – by Tomi Joseph-Raji, Jeremy McDonald and Asha Tomlinson (CBC News Marketplace –...
In 2024 Toronto couples Daniel Ng and Olivia Chan chose lab‑grown diamonds because they cost about 90% less than natural stones. CBC Marketplace’s investigation reveals that virtually identical lab‑grown diamonds are being sold at widely varying prices, suggesting many shoppers...
Mining Companies Are Using Cosmic Rays to Find Critical Minerals – by Adam Bluestein (Scientific American – April 14, 2026)
Mining firms are turning to cosmic‑ray muon tomography to map deep‑rock mineralization, a technique that can locate copper, gold and other critical ores without invasive drilling. Rising prices and record‑high demand for copper and other key minerals have exposed a...
Moe Looks to Mining Industry, Nuclear Power as Engines of Prosperity – by Keenan Sorokan (CTV News Saskatoon – April...
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe used the Mining Supply Chain Forum to stress that the province’s mineral wealth and emerging nuclear power projects are central to its economic future. He argued that Saskatchewan’s affordable cost of living and diverse trade offerings make...
Facing Diamond Slump, Botswana Expands Mining Ties With Gulf and Europe – by Emiliano Tossou (Ecofin Agency – April 17,...
Botswana is confronting a prolonged diamond downturn that now accounts for about 70% of its exports, a third of government revenue and a quarter of GDP. Production at Debswana fell 40% between 2023 and 2025, contributing to back‑to‑back recessions in...
Canada Opens First Commercial Lithium Refinery – by Staff (Canadian Mining Journal – April 16, 2026)
Canada inaugurated North America’s first commercial electrochemical lithium‑refining plant in Delta, British Columbia, with Veterans Affairs Minister Jill McKnight and Mangrove Lithium executives. The facility marks a pivotal step toward a domestic battery‑material supply chain, reducing reliance on overseas processors....
Senate Republicans Send Trump Resolution to Lift Mining Ban Near Boundary Waters Canoe Area – by Todd Richmond (Associated Press...
U.S. Senate Republicans approved a resolution, 50-49, to lift the federal mining ban near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and forward it to President Donald Trump for signature. The measure, previously cleared by the House, would enable a South...
Aluminium in Crisis: War, Tariffs and a Market Running on Empty – by Andy Home (Reuters – April 16, 2026)
The ongoing Iran war has sparked a severe aluminium shortage, amplified by a missile strike that knocked out Emirates Global Aluminium’s Al Taweelah smelter. Aluminium Bahrain and Qatar Aluminium have already trimmed output due to power constraints, and the conflict has...
Stone Says DRIPA Uncertainty Is Dampening Investment in B.C. Mineral Exploration – by Josh Dawson (Kamploops News – April 15,...
Todd Stone, president of the Association for Mineral Exploration, warned that uncertainty surrounding British Columbia’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) is deterring investment in the province’s mineral exploration sector. He highlighted three headwinds—land access, permitting timelines,...
Indonesia Nickel Makers Trim Battery-Feed Output as Sulphur Squeeze Bites (Mining.com/Reuters – April 14, 2026)
A sulphur shortage triggered by the Iran war has forced Indonesian nickel processors to cut output by at least 10% since last month. The curbs target plants that use sulphuric acid to turn nickel ore into mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP),...
Canada’s Antimony Gap Shows as Iran War Sharpens Focus on Defence Metals – by Henry Lazenby (Northern Miner – April...
The conflict with Iran has thrust antimony into the spotlight as a key defence metal, with the U.S. Geological Survey reporting that 40% of American antimony consumption last year went into ammunition and related applications. Canada classifies antimony as a...
Unclear Permits, Policy Disconnect Slow B.C. Critical Mineral Investment: Experts – by Daisy Xiong (Business In Vancouver – April 15,...
British Columbia is seeking to accelerate its critical minerals sector, but investors remain skeptical about the province’s regulatory environment. Experts at the B.C. Critical Mineral Forum highlighted persistent uncertainty around permitting timelines for greenfield projects. While the government has made...
Hope Downs Ruling ‘Clear Win’ for Gina Rinehart, Prominent Industry Analyst Says – by Samantha Goerling and Andrew Hanlon (Australian...
Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, secured a decisive court victory in the protracted Hope Downs legal battle. Justice Jennifer Smith dismissed all competing claims, including those from Rinehart’s children and the Wright family, affirming Hancock Prospecting’s ownership stake in the...
As De Beers Bid Deadline Looms, Botswana Pushes for Control – by William Clowes, Thomas Biesheuvel, Mbongeni Mguni and Antony...
Anglo American has set an April 16 deadline for bids to sell its De Beers diamond business, as the company moves to exit a market plagued by a deep downturn. Botswana, which already holds a 15% stake and mines two‑thirds of De Beers’...
Energy Is the Economy: And the Economy Is Still Overwhelmingly Fossil Fuelled – by Amanda Van Dyke (Substack – April...
Amanda van Dyke argues that modern civilization is fundamentally an energy system, not an information system, and that despite the rhetoric around clean power, over 80% of global energy still comes from oil, coal and gas. She warns that the...
Dig, Baby, Dig: What It Means for Canada to Build the Mines Its ‘Clean’ Future Depends on – by Falice...
Canada’s clean‑energy ambitions hinge on dramatically expanding domestic mining for critical minerals such as lithium, nickel and rare earths. The article argues that the real bottleneck in the energy transition is supply‑side infrastructure, not demand, and that scaling mining, processing...
Boundary Divide: Beneath the Minnesota Wilderness Lies Untouched Deposits of Critical Minerals. A Town Near the Canadian Border Confronts What...
The U.S. Senate is poised to decide whether to lift the mining ban in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, a region that sits atop the massive Duluth Complex. This undeveloped deposit holds roughly a third of the nation’s copper, 88 % of its...
Fujimori Leads Peru Presidential Vote as Mining Risks Rise – by Cecilia Jamasmie – April 13, 2026)
Keiko Fujimori topped Peru’s first‑round presidential vote with 17.17%, narrowly ahead of former Lima mayor Rafael López Aliaga’s 16.97%, triggering a June 7 runoff. Fujimori positions herself as pro‑U.S. and investor‑friendly, promising clearer mining regulations to attract foreign capital. The election comes...
Prolonged Hormuz Strait Closure Would Have ‘Profound’ Impact on Mining: Friedland – by Frederic Tomesco (Northern Miner – April 13,...
Ivanhoe Mines co‑chairman Robert Friedland warned that a prolonged shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz would sharply tighten global sulfur markets, cutting roughly half of the seaborne sulfur supply. With about 20% of worldwide copper production dependent on sulfuric‑acid leaching,...
Forty Years After Chernobyl, Uranium Market Rebounds but Fragility Persists – by Aurel Sèdjro Houenou (Ecofin Agency – April 12,...
Forty years after the Chernobyl disaster, the uranium market has rebounded, with spot prices climbing to $101 per pound in early 2026. The surge reflects renewed global interest in civil nuclear power as part of the broader energy transition. Higher...
“Rotten Eggs”: The Hidden Role of Sulfur in the Global Economy – by Amanda Van Dyke (Substack – April 13,...
Sulfur, the element behind the smell of rotten eggs, underpins food production, metal refining, battery manufacturing, and data‑center cooling. Most elemental sulfur today is recovered as a by‑product of sour oil and gas refining through the Claus process, feeding the...
‘Energy Dominance’ Agenda Sidelines Tribes – by Anna V. Smith (High Country News – April 13, 2026)
The federal government granted the Velvet‑Wood uranium mine in Utah a permit through a newly created 14‑day NEPA “emergency” review, slashing the usual months‑long environmental analysis. Tribal governments received only a seven‑day window to comment, and the standard public comment...
Tom Peters Was the Grandfather of Regreening in Greater Sudbury – by Dieter K Buse (Sudbury Star – March 31,...
Tom Peters, an Inco agriculturalist, is credited with pioneering the use of farming techniques on the company’s mine‑tailing slag piles in Greater Sudbury during the early 1970s. His work sparked the first wave of regreening that turned barren, black mounds...
Nuclear Past and Present Collide in Ontario’s Port Hope – by Rob Ferguson (Toronto Star – April 13, 2026)
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a 10,000‑megawatt nuclear power station on the outskirts of Port Hope, aiming to secure long‑term, low‑carbon electricity for the province. The town is simultaneously coping with a $2.6 billion (≈ $1.9 billion USD) cleanup of low‑level radiation from...
How Northern Ontario Researchers Are Using Bacteria-Powered Tech to Extract Critical Minerals From Mine Waste – by Faith Greco (CBC...
Researchers at Laurentian University's MIRARCO Mining Innovation are scaling a bacteria‑driven bioleaching process in a 10,000‑square‑foot pilot plant in Sudbury, Ontario. The microbes break down legacy mine tailings to liberate nickel, cobalt and copper—key metals for electric‑vehicle batteries. While bioleaching...
RARE EARTHS: Rare Earths Funding Boom Could Cause Longer-Term ‘Glut’ – by Kip Keen (SP Global – April 9, 2026)
A surge of government and private capital is accelerating rare‑earth production outside China, creating a short‑term supply gap but setting the stage for potential oversupply by the 2030s. Analysts say demand growth and security concerns drive current shortages, while massive...
Indigenous Groups Push for Mine Ownership, Not Just Benefits (Canadian Mining Journal – April 9, 2026)
Indigenous communities across Canada are moving from traditional impact benefit agreements toward direct equity ownership in mining and energy projects. A new report by Thunder Bay‑based Waawoono Consultancy argues that equity partnerships generate greater wealth and project stability than fixed‑payment...
Chile Lithium Dispute Tied to Cold War-Era Nukes – by Tom Azzopardi (Mining.com – April 6, 2026)
France’s Eramet and Chile’s state miner ENAMI are taking their dispute over the Salares Altoandinos lithium deposit to court. The project, backed by a $3 billion partnership with Rio Tinto, could produce enough lithium for roughly 1.5 million electric vehicles each year. Eramet...
China’s Copper Import Slump Marks a Shift in Market Power – by Andy Home (Reuters – April 9, 2026)
A two‑week ceasefire in the Iran conflict eased some macro‑economic gloom, but copper prices remain elevated, with the LME three‑month contract peaking at $14,527.50 per metric ton in January. China, the world’s biggest copper consumer, cut its refined copper imports...
China’s Zijin Clears Canadian National Security Review Around Allied Gold Acquisition – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – April...
China’s Zijin Gold International has secured approval for its $5.5 billion takeover of Canadian miner Allied Gold after the 45‑day national‑security review window lapsed, effectively granting automatic clearance. The approval removes the last regulatory hurdle, allowing the deal to move toward...
Albemarle Lithium Refinery Closure Gives WA Government a Critical Minerals Reality Check – by Jacqueline Lynch (Australian Broadcasting Corporation –...
Albemarle has suspended operations at its Kemerton lithium refinery in Western Australia, ending four years of processing and cutting hundreds of jobs. The company blamed soaring operating costs and prolonged price volatility for the shutdown. The closure mirrors a broader...
Sudbury’s Mining Sector Drives Call for New Funding Model: Mayor – Take Our Poll – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury...
Mayor Paul Lefebvre urged Ontario and the federal government to label Greater Sudbury a special economic zone, citing its role as a critical‑mineral powerhouse. He highlighted that Sudbury produces and refines nickel, copper and other strategic metals that feed Canadian...
New Mineral Discovered Inside Deep-Earth Diamond Now Named After Alberta Geochemist – by Fakiha Baig (Canadian Press/CBC Edmonton – April...
Researchers identified a new mineral, Grahampearsonite, within a deep‑Earth diamond recovered from Brazil. The mineral is named after Graham Pearson, a University of Alberta mantle geochemist renowned for his work on diamond inclusions. The International Mineralogical Association officially approved the...
North America’s First Lithium Hydroxide Plant Goes Live In Texas, Reducing Reliance On China – by Bethany Blankley (Dallas Express...
Tesla’s North American lithium‑hydroxide refinery in Robstown, Texas began full‑scale operations in January 2026, marking the continent’s first battery‑grade plant of its kind. The project, broken ground in May 2023 by Governor Greg Abbott, Elon Musk and state officials, aims...
Paraíba Tourmaline: The Gemstone Outpacing Gold and Inflation – by Adam Edwards (Financial Times – January 22, 2026)
Paraíba tourmaline, one of the planet’s rarest gemstones, has seen prices surge more than 15 times faster than gold, propelled by luxury fashion demand, pandemic‑induced supply shocks, and regional instability. A Mozambican mine that supplies the stone was crippled by...
Digging Deep: Mining Giant BHP’s New Jansen Potash Mine in Saskatchewan Is a Test Case for Canada in How to...
Australian mining giant BHP is investing $18 billion to build the Jansen potash mine in Saskatchewan, a 1,000‑metre deep underground operation that will run for a century. The project will ship product via a 2,000‑km rail corridor to a British Columbia...
Vale Base Metals Bets on Sudbury and Existing Mines to Drive Copper Output – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business –...
Vale Base Metals announced at its Toronto Investor Day that it will double copper production to 700,000 tons annually by 2035, relying on existing operations rather than acquisitions. The Sudbury basin in Ontario is central to this plan, with cost‑cutting and...
The California Lake Billed as the ‘Saudi Arabia of Lithium’ – by Soumya Karlamangla (New York Times – April 6,...
Governor Gavin Newsom called the Salton Sea “the Saudi Arabia of lithium,” citing an estimated $500 billion lithium reserve beneath the lake. The resource could spark a mining boom, delivering jobs and tax revenue to the struggling Imperial County. However, the...
From Endowment to Dependence: Why Canada Still Ships Its Future Offshore – by Sander Grieve and Andrew Disipio (Canadian Mining...
Canada sits atop a broad endowment of critical minerals, covering all 34 items on the federal list and ranking among the top five global producers for ten of them. While the government has introduced the Critical Minerals Exploration Tax Credit...
Rio Tinto’s Matt Holcz Is on a $20b, Two-Decade Mine Opening Treadmill – by Mark Wembridge (Australian Financial Review –...
Rio Tinto’s head of iron ore, Matt Holcz, is steering a $20 billion, two‑decade development plan for the Simandou high‑grade mine in Guinea while still overseeing the Pilbara operation that produces roughly 330 million tonnes of iron ore each year. The Simandou project, slated...
Will a B.C. Copper Smelter Make Economic Sense? – by Daisy Xiong (Business In Vancouver – April 1, 2026)
The federal and British Columbia governments are studying a proposed copper smelter and refinery on the West Coast to capture more value from the province’s copper output. BC produces roughly half of Canada’s copper but currently lacks any domestic processing...