Constraint Without Conveyance: Sanctions and Fragmented Control from Moa to Fort Saskatchewan

This article reconstructs the 2026 interruption of the nickel-and-cobalt Metals pathway from Moa, Cuba, to Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. It asks whether the episode changed ownership of the Moa mine or the conditions under which its existing owners and partners could use it. Operating and financial weakness was evident before the United States introduced new sanctions in May, which Sherritt International said led it to suspend direct participation in its Cuban ventures. Moa mining and processing later ceased, and Fort Saskatchewan Metals refining stopped after mixed-sulphide feed was depleted, while fertilizer, sulphuric-acid, and Energas activities continued. The analysis separates sovereign mineral authority, joint-venture rights, issuer ownership, creditor power, regulatory permission, finance, and operating capability. The reviewed public record through 9 September 2026 did not show a completed recapitalization, change of issuer control, or conveyance of the Cuban mine or partner interest. The case demonstrates how one binding constraint can interrupt a serial supply chain while durable restart may require coordination across several institutional and physical conditions. It does not isolate sanctions from pre-existing weakness or estimate their relative causal weight.