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1) During the PDAC Conference, Robert Friedland, the founder and executive co-chair of Ivanhoe Mines said that the West should not go to war with China over Taiwan because it needs the investment from them in order to mine the metals for the green energy transition. “We’re going to have to find capital from Americans or Saudis or sovereign wealth funds, but we need a lot more money coming to junior mining, orders of magnitude more,” Friedland said. “So, I’m all in favor of not going to war over Taiwan.” Friedland said that he sees a rift beginning to form between China and the US and that it would be a very bad idea. Last year, the Canadian government ordered Chinese investors to divest from critical mineral projects in the country at a time when Goldman Sachs says that $2.8 trillion is needed to meet the carbon-zero targets this decade. This order creates a vacuum for the opportunity for other companies or countries to invest in securing their supply chains and help the world transition to a cleaner economy. Robert Friedland says that the capital needed will have to come from "...the Americans or Saudis or sovereign wealth funds..."
2) The government of Ontario has introduced a legislation to amend the Mining Act that will attract more investment in the mining sector. “It shouldn’t take 15 years to open a mine. This process is too time-consuming and costly, leading to project delays and lost opportunities for Ontario’s mineral exploration and mining sector,” said George Pirie, the Mines Minister. He added, “We need to get building. That’s why our government is introducing changes to the Mining Act to help attract more investment and secure the critical minerals that support the made-in-Ontario supply chain for new technologies like batteries and electric vehicles.” The permitting process to open new projects is one of the major obstacles when it comes to building new mines, as seen with examples in the US such as Pebble, Resolution Copper, and Copper World. As the demand for critical minerals exceeds supply, changes in the process will need to be analyzed in order to supply the green transition and hopefully help support the green economy. The US needs to follow suit on what Ontario and Canada is doing in order to secure its own supply chain and achieve the current Administration's climate and green technology goals.