Article by North Sweden Business

SKELLEFTEÅ Battery manufacturer Northvolt announced on Thursday that it will build a battery factory outside Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The new plant outside Montreal, named Northvolt Six, will produce batteries, cathode materials and recycle batteries.

The factory will produce batteries with a total capacity of 60 GWh, which is four times more than the first phase in the factory in Skellefteå, Sweden. Construction will start at the end of 2023 and production will start in 2026 at an estimated cost of USD 5 billion. According to the company, this is the largest ever private investment in Quebec. The factory is expected to employ 3,000 people.

“In the seven years since Northvolt was founded, we have pursued a singular goal — to establish a new, sustainable model for battery manufacturing. Today, we are expanding our ambitions by bringing Northvolt to Canada”, says Peter Carlsson, CEO and Co-Founder of Northvolt.

Northvolt Co-Founder Paolo Cerruti will lead the project as CEO of Northvolt North America, which will have its head office in Montréal.

“We have in Northvolt Six enormous potential, not only to rapidly expand our ability to bring sustainable batteries into markets of North America, but to accelerate Quebec’s emergence as a key actor in the global energy transition. With its unique access to renewable power and raw materials, we see this as the ideal base of operations for Northvolt’s first gigafactory outside of Europe”, says Paolo Cerruti.

The prerequisite for the establishment is that Canada has introduced investment support to match the US support package.

Northvolt’s first factory in Skellefteå in northern Sweden is in production now and will increase capacity in the coming years. Two more factories are planned in Sweden, in Gothenburg and Borlänge, and a factory in Germany.

Two Toronto entrepreneurs say they have a solution to Iqaluit’s water supply needs: They’ll ship it in from Greenland.

Fred Grootarz and Mark Albert want to use tankers to transport the water to Iqaluit’s port, where it would be stored year-round in electrically heated tanks.

Albert calls the plan “a perfect fit” for Iqaluit.

Greenland is close by and wants to export its water, he says, and Iqaluit would get dependable access to water year-round.

“The simple fact is that Nunavut is a four-day transit time from our supply,” Albert said.

According to government-owned Greenland Travel, the Greenlandic Ice Sheet contains about seven per cent of all the fresh water reserves on Earth, a fact the region has been trying to exploit since 2001.

Greenland issues licenses to its glacier melt and companies can use them to collect water and export it.

The pair are continuing to knock on doors seeking support for their proposal but so far response appears to be lukewarm.

The proponents

Between them, Grootarz and Albert have more than 100 years of international cargo shipping and logistics experience.

Grootarz was an instructor and continues to lecture for the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association and has run his own shipping agencies.

Albert previously ran a company that shipped general cargo to Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, the U.S., and parts of South Asia. In 2000, he says, his company began shipping desalinated water from California to Israel. That company was eventually sold.

Albert said he and Grootarz reached out to Canada’s federal government to provide funding for their idea, including Toronto-area Liberal MP James Maloney who chairs the Ontario Liberal MPs’ caucus.

He said Maloney expressed interest in the proposal, adding Conservative MPs Melissa Lantsman, Gary Vidal and Bob Zimmer also seemed interested.

Despite numerous requests, none of the four MPs responded to Nunatsiaq News’ requests for interviews to discuss the Albert-Grootarz proposal.

Nunatsiaq News also reached out to Navarana Beveridge, Denmark’s honourary consul for Nunavut, as well as the Nunavut Water Board with requests to discuss the Albert-Grootarz plan.

Neither agreed to speak.

Does Iqaluit fit the plan?

Albert and Grootarz say they have not yet contacted anyone at the Government of Nunavut or the City of Iqaluit to discuss their proposal.

The growing city of Iqaluit has been aware of water-supply issues since 2005. Leaders set up a task force to deal with low water levels in the city’s reservoir, Lake Geraldine, in 2018, and called states of emergencies in 2019 and 2022 when the problem arose again.

In April 2022, the federal government committed $214 million to improve Iqaluit’s water infrastructure, including funding for a second reservoir near Lake Geraldine.

Interest at the federal level waned after this announcement, Albert said.

“My feeling is the Liberals felt they’d done their duty,” he said.

The target set by the city and the federal government for Iqaluit’s new reservoir — to effectively double Iqaluit’s water supply with an additional 1.2 billion litres — is still three years away.

Water licenses for both Apex River and Unnamed Lake will expire in 2025 and the city will have to apply for renewal. However, there is no reason to believe that if the city needed to extend its license that it wouldn’t be able to, says Kent Driscoll, spokesperson for the City of Iqaluit.

Speaking of the Grootarz-Albert proposal, Driscoll said, “They want to put [the water] in tanks that we have to pay for; at a tank farm that we have to pay for; with a specific docking facility, that we would have to pay for.”

He noted the tanks would have to be heated using electricity, which would require diesel generators.

“They want to create a city-sponsored sole-source business that’s going to increase greenhouse gases,” Driscoll said.

That said, Driscoll said if Grootarz and Albert submit a proposal, the city would consider it.

Located in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada, Nunatsiaq News is dedicated to covering affairs in Nunavut and the Nunavik territory of Quebec since 1973. It has been a partner to ArcticToday and its predecessors since 2016.

You can read the original here.

Press release from EntrepreNorth

EntrepreNorth, a project with a mission to empower Indigenous entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses and livelihoods across the North, is thrilled to announce the extension of its partnership with the Mastercard Foundation.

The partnership, which honours Indigenous knowledge systems, creates social change, and generates new economic pathways, was first established in 2020 for an initial three-year period.Now a five-year partnership, this collaboration will drive a movement of Indigenous entrepreneurship that uplifts Northern leadership, mobilizes a community of changemakers, empowers the spirit of innovation, and makes financing more equitable for underserved communities.

The initial partnership, through the Mastercard Foundation EleV Program, allowed EntrepreNorth to get rooted and take its programming to the next level. Initiatives included the cohort-based Entrepreneur Growth Program, Business Ideation Workshops, and a pilot Indigenous Facilitator Certification Program. There was also a strong focus on storytelling through the production of business impact videos and EntrepreNorth’s podcast series, Venture Out.“We believe that Northern Indigenous entrepreneurs and social innovators can become catalysts of prosperity and drivers of social change within their own communities, and that the development of sustainable enterprises can create local economic opportunities to help break through poverty, address social challenges, and strengthen Northern ways of life,” says Benjamin Scott, EntrepreNorth Founding Project Director and Co-Lead.

“Our continued work with the Mastercard Foundation is a catalyst for bringing greater resources and partnerships to the North, which is critical for breaking down systemic barriers. There are longstanding socio-economic gaps in education, employment, digital equity, and income levels between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations; and in the flow of capital to Indigenous-owned businesses. As a Northern and Indigenous-led project we are innovating solutions to these problems while ensuring that the benefits of our project reside in the North.”

Through this five-year partnership, Indigenous young people will gain access to culturally relevant business education and capacity development; wrap-around supports and technology; community and ecosystem building; resources for driving policy change and thought leadership; platforms for sharing impact stories; and greater access to capital.

“Indigenous youth see entrepreneurship as a path to a meaningful livelihood and a way to contribute to their communities,” says Jennifer Brennan, Director of Canada Programs at the Mastercard Foundation. “EntrepreNorth’s unique approach grounded in Indigenous worldviews and values delivers what Indigenous youth are seeking. We are excited to partner with EntrepreNorth, enabling the right support at the right time to unlock growth and possibility.”

“Ultimately,” says Scott, “our vision is a movement of Northern Indigenous entrepreneurs who are innovating solutions to strengthen economic resilience and community wellbeing for generations to come. The Mastercard Foundation is getting behind this vision in a meaningful way and demonstrating how philanthropy is done right. We hold immense gratitude for their support and we’re looking forward to catalyzing transformative change that has a powerful ripple effect across the North.”

About EntrepreNorth

EntrepreNorth empowers Indigenous entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses and livelihoods across the North. The project offers culturally-grounded business programming to early-stage entrepreneurs in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Yukon who are ready to elevate their business and community impact. EntrepreNorth is a project on MakeWay’s shared platform.

For more information on EntrepreNorth, please visit entreprenorth.ca.

About the Mastercard Foundation
The Mastercard Foundation is a registered Canadian charity and one of the largest foundations in the world. It works with visionary organizations to advance education and financial inclusion to enable young people in Africa and Indigenous youth in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work. Established in 2006 through the generosity of Mastercard when it became a public company, the Foundation is an independent organization separate from the company, with offices in Toronto, Kigali, Accra, Nairobi, Kampala, Lagos, Dakar, and Addis Ababa. Its policies, operations, and program decisions are determined by the Foundation’s Board of Directors and leadership.
For more information on the Foundation, please visit www.mastercardfdn.org.

________________________________

For more information, please contact:
Tanya Roach
Marketing Specialist
EntrepreNorth
[email protected]

Candice O’Grady
Partner, Public Affairs and Communications, Canada Programs
Mastercard Foundation
[email protected]

Originally published on 18 September. 

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – Canadian regulators on Monday kicked off a two-day hearing to weigh up a controversial route change request from the Trans Mountain expansion (TMX) project that has sparked Indigenous opposition and may lead to further delays for the key oil pipeline.

After years of environmental opposition, regulatory hold-ups and ballooning costs, Canadian government-owned TMX is nearing completion and due to start shipping an extra 590,000 barrels per day of crude from Alberta to Canada’s Pacific coast in the first quarter of 2024.

Canadian producers are eagerly awaiting the increased export capacity that will open up access to markets in Asia and the U.S. West Coast and help support heavy oil prices.

But last month Tran Mountain Corp (TMC), the crown corporation building the expansion, asked the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) to change the approved route on a 1.3-kilometre (0.8 mile) section of pipeline near Kamloops, British Columbia, to avoid planned micro-tunneling construction that it now says is unfeasible.

TMC’s proposal to instead lay the pipeline through a different area nearby, using horizontal directional drilling and a conventional open trench, is being opposed by the Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation (SSN) First Nation, whose territory the pipeline crosses.

Last week, TMC said being forced to continue with the micro-tunneling option could mean that segment of the pipeline is not completed until December 2024, versus a January completion date if the route adjustment is granted. Building the micro-tunnel could cost as much C$86 million ($63.64 million), the corporation added.

Earlier this year, TMC estimated the entire expansion project would cost C$30.9 billion, more than four times its original budget, and warned the price tag could rise further.

Concerns about TMX being delayed have already started weighing on Canadian crude prices, as traders worry rising oil sands production could get bottlenecked in Canada.

The dispute will also likely complicate the Canadian government’s plan to sell the pipeline once construction is finished. Trans Mountain was bought by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government from Kinder Morgan Inc in 2018 to ensure it got built.

“It truly is a nightmare come true for the Canadian government,” said Morningstar analyst Stephen Ellis. “The response of the SSN First Nation seems quite compelling and detailed, and lays out Trans Mountain’s shortfalls in a very clear fashion.”

In letters already filed with regulators, the Indigenous group says altering the route would disturb lands that hold “profound spiritual and cultural significance”, and it only agreed to allow TMX to cross its territory in the first place because of assurances the micro-tunneling would work.

“Any support or consent that SSN has provided for the Project has been based on conditions that explicitly protect the Pípsell (Jacko Lake) Corridor from disturbance or harm,” the SSN said in an August filing.

Ellis said it seemed likely the expansion project would be delayed even if regulators grant TMC’s request, echoing a letter filed last week by Canadian Natural Resources Ltd, a major shipper on the pipeline.

The CER will hear arguments and cross-examinations from both the SSN First Nation and TMC over two days in Calgary, and extend the hearing to a third day if required.

A CER spokeswoman said regulators will issue a decision as soon as possible after considering all the evidence, and recognized the time sensitivities associated with hearing.

($1 = 1.3548 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

(Reuters) – Alberta, Canada’s largest oil-producing province, will finalize an investment incentive program for emissions-cutting technologies like carbon capture and storage in “coming months,” the province’s energy minister, Brian Jean, said on Tuesday.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is seen as a key tool in helping Canada’s high-polluting oil and gas industry slash emissions without cutting back on production, but companies are holding back on final investment decisions because of the high costs involved and have been lobbying for more government support.

An Alberta incentive program, which would work alongside a federal government investment tax credit first announced last year, would be a key step forward for Canada’s nascent CCS industry and could spur projects forward.

Jean said the incentives, which will be similar to the existing Alberta Petrochemical Incentives Program, should be designed properly, and he is having conversations with stakeholders.

“We’re going to make sure we do a robust consultation to get it right,” Jean told Reuters in an interview. “If we get it right, that means that we’re going see another economic boom here in Alberta.”

Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal government is aiming for net-zero emissions by 2050. But oil producers in Canada, the world’s fourth largest producer, are also the country’s biggest polluters.

A number of companies including Enbridge Inc, TC Energy and a group known as the Pathways Alliance, consisting of Canada’s six largest oil sands producers, are proposing to build major CCS storage hubs.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith instructed Jean in a mandate letter in July to develop an incentive program for technologies including CCS, lithium for batteries and geothermal development.

However Alberta, which also has a net-zero 2050 target, has repeatedly clashed with Ottawa over interim targets and a promised cap on oil and gas emissions that is supposed to be announced later this year.

Since last year, Ottawa and the Alberta government have been urging each other to contribute more public funding to support CCS technology.

(Reporting by Nia Williams, editing by Timothy Gardner)

Press release from NEAS Group Inc.

IQALUIT, NU and MONTRÉAL and KUUJJUAQ, QC, Sept. 11, 2023 /CNW/ – Transport Nanuk inc. and the NEAS Group Inc. (“NEAS”) (Nunavut Eastern Arctic Shipping Inc./Nunavik Eastern Arctic Shipping Inc. /NEAS Inc.), marine services providers specializing in Eastern Arctic marine resupply, are pleased to announce the appointment of Daniel Dagenais as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective October 10, 2023. A seasoned maritime executive, Mr. Dagenais will bring his strategic mindset and strong operational knowledge to the NEAS Group. Mr. Dagenais will replace Suzanne Paquin, who announced her decision to retire.

“We are pleased to welcome Mr. Dagenais to the NEAS Group,” said Leo Charriere, Chairman of the Board of Transport Nanuk inc., managing partner of NEAS Group Inc. “His extensive background and profound knowledge of the marine industry will contribute to NEAS’s mission to deliver superior customer service in the northern communities that we serve. I thank Suzanne Paquin, President of the NEAS Group for the past 25 years, who will be retiring after a brilliant career. Mrs. Paquin has led the growth of the company through forging strong partnerships with communities, customers and stakeholders and I wish to honor her leadership, her dedication and her legacy,” added M. Charriere.

With 30 years of experience in the maritime industry, Mr. Dagenais is known for his in-depth expertise and his ability to foster operational excellence. He was most recently Vice-President, Port Performance and Sustainability at the Montreal Port Authority, where he oversaw port planning, innovation, marine and security operations.

“Mr. Dagenais is a collaborative leader with a strong commitment to people and communities”, said Mr. Raymond Mickpegak, Chairman of NEAS Group inc. He will be an important asset to NEAS’s industry-leading performance to deliver goods to the Arctic communities, while leading our efforts towards a sustainable future.”

“I am really excited to be joining the NEAS Group and look forward to working with the team in place to further develop these essential services for our Northern communities in Canada,” said Daniel Dagenais. “The Arctic region offers great opportunities, and I am thrilled to be part of a company that is a leader in its development.”

SOURCE NEAS Group inc

Originally published on 12 September. 

Press release from Greenland Resources Inc. 

TORONTO, ONTARIO — (August 23, 2023) – Greenland Resources Inc. (NEO: MOLY |FSE: M0LY) (“Greenland Resources” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the Company’s ongoing 2023 summer progress on its Malmbjerg Molybdenum Project (the “Project”).

Highlights:
• The Company continues to be very active with the process for debt and equity on capex financing with the banks that provided letters of intent as previously announced.
• Molybdenum remains one of the best performing metals this year where molybdenum prices quoted by the London Metal Exchange closed yesterday at US$24.97/lb Mo, nearly 40% higher than the base case price used in the Company’s NI 43-101 Feasibility Study.
• The Company scheduled five trips to Greenland this summer. The first trip in July included a visit to the Project site from a global integrated mining company. WSP Denmark also joined the trip and conducted field work as part of comments received by the Environmental Agency for Mineral Resource Activities (EAMRA).
• During the second trip in August, a mini bulk sample of 200 kg was taken from historic core storage in Kangerlussuaq for further metallurgicaltesting in a saline process water environment. The third trip this week consists of the Company’s financial advisors and their team visiting the Project site as part of the work required by the banks that have expressed written interest in financing the project capex. Draft reports for the banks are expected to be ready during the month of September.
• The fourth trip next week will include a visit to the Minister of Mineral Resources and meetings with EAMRA in Nuuk, to provide an update on the project permitting process. The fifth trip in early September is expected to include collecting additional saline and fresh water samples from the planned Noret tailings management facility in the Project area as part of the environmental studies.
• On July 12, 2023 the Company closed a financing with one of Denmark’s leading asset management and private equity companies. Also on June 28, the Company, beyond legal obligations, expanded the scope of the financial sponsorship agreement to support the local community of Ittoqqortoormiit, the only nearby settlement.
• The Greenland government has invited the Company to present the Project in relation to the upcoming EUGreenland strategic partnership on raw material value chains in an event to be held in October with the participation of the Greenland government and the European Commission.
• During the summer, the Company engaged the Danish international engineering and environmentalconsulting group COWI A/S on wind and solar energy alternatives. The study looks promising and could also help Ittoqqortoormiit. Currently, the Project is expected to require zero energy in nearly 45% of its operation due to the transport of the ore using gravity with an aerial rope conveyor, and the Company is committed to decarbonize at the same pace as end users.
• The Company is scheduled to attend the 35th International Molybdenum (IMOA) Annual General meeting September 3-8 in Santiago Chile and is expected to meet, among others, the metallurgical steel and chemical companies that have signed with the Company documentation related to offtakes.

About Greenland Resources Inc.

Greenland Resources is a Canadian public company with the Ontario Securities Commission as its principal regulator and is focused on the development of its 100% owned world-class Climax type pure molybdenum deposit located in central east Greenland. The Malmbjerg molybdenum project is an open pit operation with an environmentally friendly mine design focused on reduced water usage, low aquatic disturbance and low footprint due to modularized infrastructure.

The Malmbjerg project benefits from a NI 43-101 Definitive Feasibility Study completed by Tetra Tech in 2022, with Proven and Probable Reserves of 245 million tonnes at 0.176% MoS2, for 571 million pounds of contained molybdenum metal. As the high-grade molybdenum is mined for the first half of the mine life, the average annual production for years one to ten is 32.8 million pounds per year of contained molybdenum metal at an average grade of 0.23% MoS2, approximately 25% of EU total yearly consumption. The project had a previous exploitation license granted in 2009. With offices in Toronto, the Company is led by a management team with an extensive track record in the mining industry and capital markets.

For further details, please refer to our web site (www.greenlandresources.ca) and our Canadian regulatory filings on Greenland Resources’ profile at www.sedar.com.

The Project is supported by the European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA) as stated in their press release EIT/ERMA_June 13, 2022 Press Release, a Knowledge and Innovation Community of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.

About Molybdenum and the European Union

Molybdenum is a critical metal used mainly in steel and chemicals that is needed in all technologies in the upcoming green energy transition (World Bank, 2020; IEA, 2021). When added to steel and cast iron, it enhances strength, hardenability, weldability, toughness, temperature strength, and corrosion resistance. Based on data from the International Molybdenum Association and the European Commission Steel Report, the world produced around 576 million pounds of molybdenum in 2021 where the European Union (“EU”) as the second largest steel producer in the world used approximately 24% of global molybdenum supply and has no domestic molybdenum production. To a greater degree, the EU steel dependent industries like the automotive, construction, and engineering, represent around 18% of the EU’s  US$16 trillion GDP. Greenland Resources strategically located Malmbjerg molybdenum project has the potential to supply in and for the EU approximately 25% of the EU consumption, of environmentally friendly high quality molybdenum from a responsible EU Associate country, for decades to come. The high quality of the Malmbjerg ore, having low impurity content in phosphorus, tin, antimony, and arsenic, makes it an ideal source of molybdenum for the high-performance steel industry lead worldwide by Europe, specifically the Scandinavian countries and Germany.

For further information please contact:
Ruben Shiffman, PhD Chairman, President
Keith Minty, P.Eng, MBA Engineering and Project Management
Jim Steel, P.Geo, MBA Exploration and Mining Geology
Nauja Bianco, M.Pol.Sci. Public and Community Relations
Gary Anstey Investor Relations
Eric Grossman, CPA, CGA Chief Financial Officer
Corporate office Suite 1410, 181 University Av. Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 3M7
Telephone +1 647 273 9913
Email [email protected]
Web www.greenlandresources.ca

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains “forward-looking information” (also referred to as “forward looking statements”), which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management’s current expectations and assumptions. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “hopes”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved. Such forward-looking statements reflect management’s current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements or information in this news release relate to, among other things: the Company’s objectives, goals or future plans; construction and engineering initiatives for the Malmbjerg molybdenum project; statements, exploration results, potential mineralization, the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, and their valuation, exploration and mine development plans, timing of the commencement of operations and estimates of market conditions.

These forward-looking statements and information reflect the Company’s current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant operational, business, economic and regulatory uncertainties and contingencies. These assumptions include: future planned exploration and other activities on the Project; planned energy requirements of the Project; obtaining the permitting on the Project in a timely manner; no adverse changes to the planned operations of the Project; continued favourable relationships with local communities; current EU and other initiatives remaining in place into the future; expected demand for molybdenum in the EU and abroad; our mineral reserve estimates and the assumptions upon which they are based, including geotechnical and metallurgical characteristics of rock confirming to sampled results and metallurgical performance; tonnage of ore to be mined and processed; ore grades and recoveries; assumptions and discount rates being appropriately applied to the technical studies; estimated valuation and probability of success of the Company’s projects, including the Malmbjerg molybdenum project; prices for molybdenum remaining as estimated; currency exchange rates remaining as estimated; availability of funds for the Company’s projects; capital decommissioning and reclamation estimates; mineral reserve and resource estimates and the assumptions upon which they are based; prices for energy inputs, labour, materials, supplies and services (including transportation); no labour-related disruptions; no unplanned delays or interruptions in scheduled construction and production; all necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals are received in a timely manner or at all; and the ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws. The foregoing list of assumptions is not exhaustive.

The Company cautions the reader that forward-looking statements and information include known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release and the Company has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: the favourable results of the SIA and EIA; favourable local community support for the Project’s development; the projected demand for molybdenum both in the EU and elsewhere; the current initiatives and programs for resource development in the EU and abroad; the projected and actual effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus on the factors relevant to the business of the Corporation, including the effect on supply chains, labour market, currency and commodity prices and global and Canadian capital markets, fluctuations in molybdenum and commodity prices; fluctuations in prices for energy inputs, labour, materials, supplies and services (including transportation); fluctuations in currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. dollar versus the Euro); operational risks and hazards inherent with the business of mining (including environmental accidents and hazards, industrial accidents, equipment breakdown, unusual or unexpected geological or structure formations, cave-ins, flooding and severe weather); inadequate insurance, or the inability to obtain insurance, to cover these risks and hazards; our ability to obtain all necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in a timely manner; changes in laws, regulations and government practices in Greenland, including environmental, export and import laws and regulations; legal restrictions relating to mining; risks relating to expropriation; increased competition in the mining industry for equipment and qualified personnel; the availability of additional capital; title matters and the additional risks identified in our filings with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com).

Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described or intended. Investors are cautioned against undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.

These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required by applicable securities regulations, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update the forward-looking information. Neither the NEO Exchange Inc. nor its regulation services provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

Originally published on 23 August. 

(Reuters) – A busy oil sands maintenance season and early summer wildfires put a dent in Canadian crude production in the second quarter, but oil companies are ramping up growth over the next two years and will add nearly 8% to Canada’s total output, analysts estimate.

The roughly 375,000 barrel per day (bpd) increase in two years would be more than Canada, the world’s fourth-largest oil producer, has managed to add over the last five years combined, even after promising European allies it would boost crude output in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

According to Canada Energy Regulator data, Canadian oil production averaged 4.86 million bpd in 2022, up from 4.61 million bpd in 2018.

Much of the growth will come from oil sands producers like Cenovus Energy and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd (CNRL) tweaking operations to boost efficiency.

Companies are also moving forward on so-called “step-out” or “tie-back” oil sands thermal projects, where instead of building an entirely new facility to steam bitumen deposits, they are linking new areas with existing plants to speed up development and lower costs.

The move to boost output – while continuing to funnel free cash to shareholders – shows producers are confident prices will stay firm, analysts said.

“Companies can finally say things have recovered enough in the industry that we can maintain returns to shareholders and put some money into production growth,” said RBN Energy analyst Martin King.

Benchmark North American crude has averaged $75.64 a barrel year-to-date, declining from 2022 highs, but above the five-year average of $65.89 a barrel.

Increasing production would be at odds with the Canadian government’s effort to meet its goal of cutting carbon emissions by 40-45% by 2030, given oil and gas is the country’s highest-emitting sector.

RBN expects total Canadian crude output to increase 175,000 bpd this year and another 200,000 bpd in 2024, while S&P Global Commodity Insights analyst Kevin Birn said annual oil sands production alone will rise around 350,000 bpd by 2025.

Two-thirds of Canada’s crude comes from northern Alberta’s oil sands.

STEP-OUTS AND TIE-BACKS

Following a lacklustre second quarter, Cenovus downgraded its full-year production forecast due to wildfires, while Suncor Energy, CNRL and MEG Energy warned that output would come in at the lower end of their 2022 guidance after big maintenance turnarounds.

Output is expected to pick up in the second half of the year, and companies are making progress on tie-in projects.

Cenovus is building a 17-km (11-mile) pipeline connecting its Narrows Lake site to its Christina Lake processing facility that will add up to 30,000 bpd in 2025 , while CNRL is planning to develop the Pike project, purchased from BP in 2022, by stepping out from its Jackfish and Kirby facilities.

“It’s a great opportunity and quite innovative. Rather than building a central processing facility all way up at the site, we’ve been able to tie it back to our existing plant,” Norrie Ramsay, Cenovus’s executive vice-president upstream, told an earnings call this month.

The new volumes will coincide with the planned start-up of the 600,000 bpd Trans Mountain expansion (TMX) pipeline project in the first quarter of 2024. However, delays to TMX could result in pipeline congestion and force producers to ship crude by rail, adding costs.

“It’ll have to be done by the middle of next year or we’ll have to have more rail,” said Eight Capital analyst Phil Skolnick.

(Reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by Denny Thomas and Sephen Coates)

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) – Alberta’s seven-month pause on approving new renewable power projects in the Canadian province has caused four major international companies at various development stages to stop work on their plans, an industry official said.

Alberta’s surprise move this month has also prompted some domestic companies to consider whether to refocus investment on other provinces and the U.S.

Wind and solar energy producers have criticized Premier Danielle Smith for creating business uncertainty and jeopardizing billions in potential investments.

Alberta, the country’s main oil and gas producing province, paused approvals on Aug. 3 of new renewable electricity generation projects over one megawatt until Feb. 29, chilling investment in the fast-growing industry. The pause is necessary to address concerns about renewables’ reliability and land use, said a spokesperson for Alberta’s utilities minister.

The move has increased tensions between Smith and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, which is drafting regulations to force provinces to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from their grids on a net basis by 2035.

One of the international companies that has paused its work had applied to build a renewable power project in the province, said Jorden Dye, acting director of the Business Renewables Centre, a Calgary-based organization that matches renewable developers and buyers.

A second company has paused design work on its first Alberta project, Dye added.

A third company delayed plans to secure Calgary office space, while a fourth was making preliminary inquiries about investing in Alberta before deciding to wait, he added.

“Those investment decisions … are not going to move forward until the government clears this up,” Dye said.

He said he could not name the companies because plans are confidential.

THE ALBERTA WAY

Alberta has led the country in building renewable capacity and is on track to eliminating combustion of coal for power next year, six years ahead of plan.

Along with domestic firms, foreign companies like Berkshire Hathaway’s BHE Canada, EDF Renewables and Enel Green Power generate renewable power in Alberta. Companies have invested nearly C$5 billion ($3.7 billion) since 2019, according to the Pembina Institute.

The pause directly affects 15 projects in the approvals queue, the government spokesperson said. But Pembina said the freeze puts at risk a total of 91 projects at early development stages.

Calgary-based BluEarth Renewables is reviewing the 400 megawatts’ worth of early-stage wind and solar projects it was considering for the province, although it has no projects currently in Alberta’s approval queue, said CEO Grant Arnold.

“Without certainty as to what the outcome of this pause will be, we will prioritize investment into other jurisdictions,” Arnold said. BluEarth also operates in three other provinces and the U.S.

Alberta Utilities Commission is deliberating whether to stop receiving applications during the pause period, rather than just halting approvals, a move that would suggest it may freeze development even longer, Dye said.

“You could see a scenario where an investor says, ‘Alberta is now a risky place to invest so I need a higher return to justify the political risk,'” said Dan Balaban, CEO of Greengate Power, which built Canada’s biggest solar farm in southern Alberta with fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, producing power for Amazon.com.

“We need to get back to the Alberta way, which is very pro-business.”

($1 = 1.3550 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; additional reporting by Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Denny Thomas and Marguerita Choy)

Press release from Novo Nordisk

Bagsværd, Denmark and Montreal, Canada, 10 August 2023 – Novo Nordisk A/S and Inversago Pharma today announced that Novo Nordisk has agreed to acquire Inversago for up to 1.075 billion US dollars in cash if certain development and commercial milestones are achieved. Inversago Pharma is a private, Montreal-based developer of CB1 receptor-based therapies for the potential treatment of obesity, diabetes and complications associated with metabolic disorders.

The acquisition of Inversago includes the company’s lead development asset INV-202, an oral CB1 inverse agonist. INV-202 is designed to preferentially block the receptor protein CB1 – which plays an important role in metabolism and appetite regulation – in peripheral tissues such as adipose tissues, the gastro-intestinal tract, the kidneys, liver, pancreas, muscles and lungs.

INV-202 demonstrated weight loss potential in a phase 1b trial and is currently in a phase 2 trial for diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Additional pipeline assets are also being developed for metabolic and fibrotic disorders. Novo Nordisk intends to investigate the potential of INV-202 for obesity and obesity-related complications.

“The acquisition of Inversago Pharma will further strengthen our clinical development pipeline in obesity and related disorders,” said Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president for Development at Novo Nordisk. “This promising class of medicine pioneered by the Inversago team could lead to life-changing new treatment options for those living with a serious chronic disease and, in particular, may offer alternative or complementary solutions for people living with obesity.”

CB1 plays an important role in appetite regulation and other cardiometabolic pathways. The mechanistic and preclinical therapeutic effects of peripheral CB1 receptor blocking are well-studied across a range of cardiometabolic and fibrotic diseases, supporting the potential treatment of many people with current unmet needs.

“We are delighted to join forces with a global leader in the obesity and metabolic disorder space,” said François Ravenelle, chief executive officer of Inversago Pharma. “We believe this combination will help unlock the full medical potential of our CB1 blockers and may one day expand treatment options for people living with metabolic syndrome, obesity and related complications. Novo Nordisk has world-class research facilities, significant global reach and a rich culture of collaboration seeking to bring our therapeutic treatments to market.”

Inversago employs 22 people, who will continue to focus on the successful completion of the ongoing and planned trials, while working closely with Novo Nordisk to drive Inversago’s technology forward in future clinical trials. The closing of the acquisition is subject to receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and other customary conditions and is expected to happen before the end of 2023.

About Inversago Pharma
Based in Montreal Canada, Inversago Pharma, is a privately owned, clinical stage company, and leader in the development of next generation CB1 receptor blocker therapies designed to help patients with complications associated with metabolic and fibrotic diseases. Inversago aims to provide new treatment options that improve the lives of patients affected by a wide range of cardiometabolic disorders. For more information, visit inversago.com.

About Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk is a leading global healthcare company, founded in 1923 and headquartered in Denmark. Our purpose is to drive change to defeat serious chronic diseases, built upon our heritage in diabetes. We do so by pioneering scientific breakthroughs, expanding access to our medicines, and working to prevent and ultimately cure disease. Novo Nordisk employs about 59,000 people in 80 countries and markets its products in around 170 countries. For more information, visit novonordisk.com, Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Contacts for further information

Originally published on 10 August.