Although the later two are today's problems that the ROF won't help solve, if you add up some of the comments from various articles from today's news, you'd think BHP and Wyloo, and likely others, must be getting a little anxious for more nickel and copper reserves.

Isn't a future Great Canadian Mining District worth a lot more than a few pennies? Surely it's better than trying to set up shop in the DRC?

Nickel production would need to increase nearly fourfold to meet expected demand for electric and hybrid vehicles, the company estimates. Likewise, copper output would also need to grow exponentially to meet demand from renewable power generation, battery storage, electric vehicles, charging stations and related grid infrastructure.  

Tesla boss Elon Musk has expressed worries about a looming nickel shortage. He pleaded with miners last year to produce more nickel, promising a “giant contract” for supply produced efficiently and in an “environmentally sensitive way.”  

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/news/battle-for-noront-heats-up-with-bhp-sweetened-offer/ 

Nickel surged to a seven-year high in London amid concerns that there’ll be less supply of the key industrial metal to meet resilient demand from economies reopening as the pandemic retreats

https://www.mining.com/web/nickel-price-surges-to-highest-in-seven-years-as-supply-dwindles/ 

What happens when the London Metal Exchange runs out of metal? That’s the question the exchange is urgently trying to address for its flagship copper contract, which sets the global price for one of the world’s most important commodities.

https://www.mining.com/web/what-happens-when-the-worlds-key-metal-exchange-has-no-metal/  

Hobbit