USA and Canada

North America might be reluctant to end its love affair with gasoline, but a new Canadian venture is ready for when it inevitably happens, as Alan Swaby learns.

Lithium, apparently, is one of the most abundant minerals on earth. It has a role to play in the manufacture of ceramics and glass as a flux, in the foundry business as a casting aid, and as the core ingredient of lithium grease. But before the advent of mobile phones and laptop computers, not one in a hundred people would have heard of it.

Gold prices remain at high levels, which is great news for mining companies. But mines are fundamentally a depleting resource and as reserves decline at one mine, another must be found to take its place. Andrew Cormier at Northgate Minerals Corporation tells Andrew Pelis how his company has dealt with the forthcoming closure of its flagship operation, the Kemess South Mine in British Columbia, and is building a new cornerstone, the Young-Davidson Mine in northern Ontario.

North American Gem is setting its sights on becoming a major coal mining presence in Kentucky. The path to that door leads through a rare type of coal that is used in the production of silicon chips and solar panels, as Keith Regan learns.

As phase II of the Queenston plaza redesign nears completion, traveling between the US and Canada is set to become a whole lot easier. Gay Sutton talks to Lew Holloway, general manager of the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, about the challenges of doing construction work at an active border crossing.

Nyrstar has long been one of the world's top zinc smelters, but found itself facing the prospect of future supply and margin pressures. That prompted a move upstream into direct zinc ore mining, a process that Keith Regan learns also involves rebuilding the trust of employees, communities, partners and regulators.

One of the world’s largest airline parts distributors is poised for take-off to a whole new level, as senior vice president of asset management and operations Alain Berube tells Pamela Derringer.

VAS Aero Services (formerly Volvo Aero Services), now has the freedom and the financial backing to become a one-stop-shop for surplus new and used airplane parts, just as the airline industry has come to recognize the value of what the company has to offer.

Some say that the last great hydrocarbon deposits lie within the Arctic Circle, and if so, it’s going to place extra demands on those extracting them, such as Technip Canada, Alan Swaby learns.

The “serial entrepreneur” Keith Maxwell, CEO of Spark Energy Gas & Electric, was named yesterday as national winner of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year 2010 in the energy, chemicals and mining category.

Now in its 24th year, Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year encourages entrepreneurial activity and recognizes leaders and visionaries who demonstrate innovation, financial success and personal commitment as they create and build world-class businesses.

GE intends to purchase 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015 for use in its own fleet and its Capital Fleet Services business—the largest-ever single electric vehicle commitment—to help boost the market for electric vehicle infrastructure development.

GE offers a portfolio of solutions for electric vehicles including charging stations, circuit protection equipment and transformers.

GE will initially purchase 12,000 GM vehicles, beginning with the Chevrolet Volt in 2011, and will add other vehicles as manufacturers expand their electric vehicle portfolios.

Western Coal Corp. has declared its strategy and delivery plan are on track after second quarter results revealed net income of $40.8 million, up 18-fold from $2.2 million a year earlier. Revenue was $220.4 million, up 105 percent from $107.6 million.

"Our record production in the second quarter demonstrated strong growth and that our strategy and delivery plan is working," said Keith Calder, president and chief executive officer.