Geraldton mine project offers ‘generational’ opportunities for First Nations – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – September 25, 2020)

September 26, 2020 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Ontario Mining

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Indigenous development group views Hardrock Project as stepping stone to create homegrown workforce, mine service hub

Hopes have been raised – and dashed – over the years in training Indigenous people to take part in mine development in the often-delayed Ring of Fire.

The lack of government, community, and industry coordination has consistently moved back the project completion goal posts, leaving many First Nations trainees with no jobs in the pipeline to graduate into.

Three northwestern Ontario First Nation communities appear to have hitched their collective wagons to more of a sure thing surrounding a shovel-ready, open-pit gold mine project south of Geraldton. Continue Reading →

Pebble Partnership CEO resigns over leaked tape – by Editor (Mining.com – September 23, 2020)

September 26, 2020 in Alaska Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Copper, Gold and Silver, Mining Conflict and Opposition

https://www.mining.com/

Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX: NDM, NYSE: NAK) announced Wednesday that Tom Collier, CEO of its US-based subsidiary Pebble Limited Partnership, has submitted his resignation in light of comments made about elected and regulatory officials in Alaska in private conversations videotaped by an environmental activist group.

The announcement comes as doubts about the proposed Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum mine have steadily risen over recent months.

In September, short seller J Capital Research accused Northern Dynasty management of “gaslighting investors” and said the mine plan “is on its face absurd.” Continue Reading →

Battery metal miners trying to tap electric car boom want Elon Musk to stop killing their buzz – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – September 26, 2020)

September 26, 2020 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Cobalt Town, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals, Lithium, Metals and Manufacturing

https://financialpost.com/

As investor anticipation mounted for Tesla Inc.’s much-hyped, self-proclaimed Battery Day on Wednesday, Trent Mell was upset just thinking about it.

Mell, chief executive of Toronto-based First Cobalt Corp., has spent three years trying to secure a ground floor seat in the burgeoning electric vehicle industry.

In 2017, his company bought a long-forgotten refinery in small-town northern Ontario that could, if everything goes right, produce five per cent of the world’s battery grade cobalt, about 25,000 tons, by 2021. It would be the first, and only, refinery in North America producing battery-grade cobalt. Continue Reading →

OPINION: Canada tramples on First Nations treaty rights as it works to pay off its COVID-19 bill – by Tanya Talaga (Globe and Mail – September 25, 2020)

September 26, 2020 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

This past weekend, I went moose hunting with First Nations youth in Treaty No. 9 territory. Every fall, if we are lucky enough, we head out on the land, where we learn our language and our traditions, and it reminds us who we are.

As we walked during the hunt, it was devastating to come across vast sections of land that were completely barren – clear-cut by forestry companies.

With us was Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler who, until he lost cell service, took call after call on the COVID-19 crisis. The virus had made its way into four of NAN’s 49 First Nations communities – the most it has infiltrated since the pandemic began. Continue Reading →

‘Canary in the coalmine’: Kenney slams Ottawa’s decision to review resource projects after C-69 changes – by Jesse Snyder (National Post – September 24, 2020)

September 26, 2020 in Canada Mining, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Coal

https://nationalpost.com/

OTTAWA — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney criticized Thursday a recent decision by the federal government to launch environmental reviews of a pair of mining projects, saying it was yet another sign of jurisdictional overreach by Ottawa.

As part of a heated rebuke of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s throne speech on Wednesday, Kenney warned that the Liberal move to subject two coal mines to federal environment assessments was a “canary in the coal mine” that threatens to hamper investments in future natural resource projects.

The premier’s comments after years of frustration among some Western leaders over the Liberal government’s Impact Assessment Act, which was introduced under Bill C-69. Continue Reading →

The Sudbury model: How one of the world’s major polluters went green – by Sara Miller Llana (The Christian Science Monitor – September 24, 2020)

September 25, 2020 in Glencore, International Media Resource Articles, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines, Mining Environmental, Water Shortage and Land Reclamation/Revegetation Issues, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Vale

https://www.csmonitor.com/

When the Superstack was constructed in 1972, it was the tallest structure in Canada – and the tallest smokestack in the world. At 1,250 feet, it’s visible from every vantage point in the area. It can be seen from the bustling streets of downtown to the quiet cul-de-sacs of residential neighborhoods. It looms large in the distance from highways that feed into a city that is home to one of the largest mining complexes in the world.

Built by Canadian company Inco before it was purchased by Vale, the Superstack has long stood as a reminder of the environmental devastation that mining wrought here. But this year the chimney is being fully decommissioned.

Residents of Sudbury harbor mixed feelings about the Superstack. Some see it as a memorial to their rise as a center of nickel and copper mining globally. Others see it simply as a familiar landmark that signals they are home. Gisele Lavigne lives in the Copper Cliff neighborhood at the Superstack’s base. Continue Reading →

New program aims to boost Indigenous workforce in mining, construction industries (CBC News Thunder Bay – September 24, 2020)

September 24, 2020 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Ontario Mining, Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

https://www.cbc.ca/

A new program aims to boost the number of Indigenous workers in northern Ontario’s mining and construction sectors.

Minodahmun Development LP announced the launch of its new Readiness and Essential Skills for Employment Training (RESET) program on Wednesday.

The program will let members of Aroland, Animbiigoo Zaagi’igan Anishinaabek and Ginoogaming First Nations to prepare for mining and construction developments in the Municipality of Greenstone and the Ring of Fire. Continue Reading →

The hunt for diamonds dazzles Cruz Cobalt – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – September 24, 2020)

September 24, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Diamond Mining, Ontario Mining

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Vancouver cobalt hunter dusting off northeastern projects to evaluate gemstone potential

One of northeastern Ontario largest landholders of prospective cobalt properties has been transfixed by the discovery of diamonds.

Vancouver’s Cruz Cobalt has emerged from a period of inactivity to announce that the resurgence in diamond exploration near its five properties near Cobalt has swayed them to start searching for these gemstones.

In a recent release, the company said it’s onboard with the “renewed chase” to find the source of the historic Nipissing Yellow Diamond. Continue Reading →

Nunavut government may support TMAC-SD Gold sale, but with conditions – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – September 23, 2020)

September 24, 2020 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Asia Mining, Canada Mining – North of 60, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver

https://nunatsiaq.com/

Nunavut wants to see commitment to respect previous agreements with Inuit

The Nunavut government has made a submission to federal reviewers now looking at the proposed sale of TMAC Resources Inc. to the Chinese-owned Shandong Gold Mining Co. Ltd.

But, speaking on Tuesday in the Nunavut legislature, Economic Development Minister David Akeeagok would not say whether the Government of Nunavut supported the proposed sale in its submission to the federal reviewers.

In response to questions from Gjoa Haven MLA Tony Akoak, he said he did not want to comment more because the federal government is still in the middle of its review process. Continue Reading →

Cobalt will not be taken out of batteries anytime soon – First Cobalt – by Mariaan Webb (MiningWeekly.com – September 23, 2020)

September 24, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Cobalt Town, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals, Ontario Mining

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Canada’s First Cobalt, which owns North America’s only permitted cobalt refinery, is confident that cobalt will continue to play an essential role in batteries, despite Tesla CEO Elon Musk predicting a future with no graphite and no cobalt.

Responding to Musk’s comments at the Tesla Battery Day on Tuesday, First Cobalt president and CEO Trent Mell said that cobalt would not be taken out of batteries anytime soon.

“Despite years of trying to remove cobalt from batteries, it has proven to be a formidable challenge, owing to its importance in keeping batteries safe and extending the life of cells,” he said. Continue Reading →

Wanted: stories, memories and tales from the Inco strike of 1958 (CBC News Sudbury – September 22, 2020)

September 24, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Canadian Mining History, Mining Labour Issues and History – Sudbury and Global, Northern Ontario History, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

Elizabeth Quinlan wants to hear from people who lived through the 3-month strike

A professor of social studies in Saskatchewan is putting a call-out for stories from people who remember the Inco strike of 1958.

The strike involved 17,000 workers who were part of Mine Mill — then, one of the largest unions in Canada — who were pitted against Inco, a powerful company supplying 90 per cent of the world’s nickel.

Elizabeth Quinlan from the University of Saskatchewan is writing a book about the historic event and is looking for anyone who has memories of being affected by the strike. Continue Reading →

Gold’s fall likely to renew doubts about haven status – by Ian McGugan (Globe and Mail – September 24, 2020)

September 24, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Gold’s price tumbled Wednesday and there may be more to come. The decline, which saw gold’s spot price slide 2.2 per cent to US$1,866.60 an ounce, was part of a broad retreat across markets. The S&P 500 index of big U.S. stocks declined by 2.4 per cent while, in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite slipped 2 per cent.

Investors are growing worried about the lack of progress on more fiscal stimulus from Washington as well as the growing threat of a new wave of coronavirus cases in many developed economies. All those factors are likely to weigh on global growth in the months ahead.

Gold’s fall is likely to renew doubts about whether it is the best haven for anxious investors, given the current state of the economy. Continue Reading →

Europe’s Dirtiest Coal Plant Owner Told to Talk to Green Groups – by Marek Strzelecki, Jessica Shankleman and Ewa Krukowska (Bloomberg News – September 2020)

September 24, 2020 in Coal, Europe Mining, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — The owners of Europe’s dirtiest power plant were told to discuss the future of the facility with climate change activists who want it to close earlier than planned, part of a year-long legal dispute in Poland.

A judge at the district court in Lodz said Tuesday that the state-owned utility PGE SA should attempt to reach a settlement with climate activists within three months and, according to the activist group, said climate change is a crisis that requires the company’s attention.

The case highlights increasing pressure on Poland to shift away from its reliance on coal. For ClientEarth, which brought the suit, the ruling is a landmark because it puts environmental experts at the table with energy companies for the first time and sweeps away the utility’s effort to get the case thrown out at an early stage. Continue Reading →

Callinex says Pine Bay could revitalise Flin Flon – by Carl A. Williams (Northern Miner – September 18, 2020)

September 24, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Manitoba Mining

Global mining news

The Flin Flon mining district, which straddles Manitoba and Saskatchewan, hosts Hudbay Minerals’ (TSX: HBM; NYSE: HBM) 777 mine.

The underground mine, which has been producing base and precious metals since 2004 and employs over 800 people, is approaching the end of its life, with final production slated for 2022. This is a cause of great concern for the local community of Flin Flon.

However, Max Porterfield, president and chief executive of Callinex Mines (TSXV: CNX; OTC: CLLXF), believes that the company’s flagship Pine Bay polymetallic project, 16 km from the 777 mine, could help allay the community’s concerns and offer a “bright future” for Flin Flon. Continue Reading →

How much gold is there left to mine in the world? – by Justin Harper (BBC.com – September 23, 2020)

September 24, 2020 in Gold and Silver, International Media Resource Articles

https://www.bbc.com/

Last month the price of gold hit a record high, pushing above $2,000 (£1,575) an ounce. While this price rise was driven by gold traders, it begs the question about the supply of the precious metal, and when it will eventually run out.

Gold is in hot demand as an investment, a status symbol, and a key component in many electronic products. But it’s also a finite resource, and there will eventually come a stage when there is none left to be mined.

Peak gold

Experts talk about the concept of peak gold – when we have mined the most we ever can in any one year. Some believe we may have already reached that point. Continue Reading →