
Monday February 3, 2025 | NORTH VANCOUVER, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Tariffs are the theme but economic adjustment and diversification is the message.
Premier David Eby addresed media from the Pembina shipping terminal in North Vancouver today after a tour of the PKM Canada Marine Terminal.
Behind him a large ship was loading up with copper concentrate; it was an example of carrying BC-sourced minerals that will be shipped across the Pacific Ocean to Asia to be made into various products that will be shipped around the world.
“It’s an example of the integrated nature of the global economy and British Columbia’s contributions to it,” said Eby.
He pointed out the large number of workers employed there, as part of keeping the global economy moving. “It supports families, these are good jobs. It’s an example of the kind of work we’re going to expand,” said Eby today.

“We face some pretty serious threats from the Untied states right now, from the president, in terms of jobs that support families in British Columbia and right across Canada,” said Eby.
Standing at the shipping site, Eby said: “This site takes in zinc and lead shipments and sends them down to the smelter in Trail where they’re smelted.”
Germanium and more:
The smelter facility at Trail also produces critical minerals like germanium that are essential to US industries like the defence industry, said Eby — something he has mentioned before.
Germanium is a chemical element between silicon and tin in Group 14 (IVa) of the periodic table, a silvery-gray metalloid, intermediate in properties between the metals and the nonmetals thus being useful as a semiconductor.
Germanium oxide has a high index of refraction and dispersion. This makes it suitable for use in wide-angle camera lenses and objective lenses for microscopes. This is now the major use for this element.
Both germanium and germanium oxide are transparent to infrared radiation and so are used in infrared spectroscopes.
Germanium is also used as an alloying agent (adding 1% germanium to silver stops it from tarnishing), in fluorescent lamps and as a catalyst.
Germanium is used in the manufacture of night-vision goggles. This is highlighted as a way of showing the importance of this mineral to the US economy and military. The only other source of Germanium is presently China, according to BC.
Germanium ores are very rare. They are found in small quantities as the minerals germanite and argyrodite.
Germanium minerals are also present in zinc ores, and commercial production of germanium is carried out by processing zinc smelter flue dust. It can also be recovered from the by-products of combustion of certain coals.
===== RELATED:
- US tariffs now postponed for about 30 days to March 2025 (February 3, 2025)
- Tariff pushback: Ontario to drop Starlink deal, encourages inter-provincial & international free trade (February 3, 2025)
- American liquor still on many BC retail shelves (February 2, 2025)
- BC Premier David Eby on Feb 1 US tariff announcement (February 1, 2025)
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses Canadians about US tariffs (February 1, 2025)
- Feb 1 tariff announcement by US President Trump (February 1, 2025)
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