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Once the tallest structure in the world, Sudbury landmark to be dismantled piece by piece – by Lyndsay Aelick (CTV News Northern Ontario – June 18, 2025)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/

Dismantling of the famous Superstack in Sudbury will begin in August. While many are sad to see it go, Vale Base Metals said it’s an important step forward in its environmental stewardship program. The Superstack is 381 metres (or 1,250 feet) high, 35 metres wide at the base and 16 metres wide at the top. It is the second-tallest chimney in the world, exceeded only by a power station chimney in Kazakhstan.

When it was completed in 1972, it was the tallest free-standing structure in the world. It dispersed emissions from mining, a critical step in improving Sudbury’s heavily damaged environmental landscape, which used to be dominated by black rock.

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Glencore urges Australia’s support to save Mount Isa smelter – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – June 20, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

Glencore has declared its Mount Isa copper smelter unviable and is awaiting a response from Australia’s federal and Queensland’s governments regarding requests for financial assistance to keep the facility running.

The mining and commodities giant blamed “unprecedented smelting market conditions,” high energy, gas and labour costs, and a shortage of copper concentrates for the smelter’s unsustainable position. The Swiss company first announced the closure of its Mount Isa copper mines and associated operations in October 2023.

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Pro-mining message lands with northern educators – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – June 19, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Ontario Mining Association’s educator tour aims to draw teachers, and students, to the sector

The Ontario Mining Association (OMA) is enlisting the help of a new ally in the ongoing quest to recruit workers to the mining industry: teachers. In April, the organization, in co-operation with Mining Matters and the Canadian Ecology Centre, hosted a group of high school educators at Agnico Eagle’s Detour Lake Mine to get a first-hand look at what it’s like to work there.

It’s part of the OMA’s greater marketing campaign, This is Mine Life, that’s geared toward creating awareness among youth about the benefits of careers in the sector, including stable work and good pay. “We came to the conclusion that we do have to get to educators, and what’s the best way to immerse educators into the sector?

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Ford apologizes for saying First Nations ‘keep coming hat in hand’ amid Bill 5 controversy – by Adam Carter (CBC News Toronto – June 19, 2025)

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

Anishinabek Nation Grand Council chief says Ontario premier has ‘owned what he said’ and ‘corrected himself’

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is apologizing for remarks he made this week saying that First Nations cannot “keep coming hat in hand all the time to the government” for more money. Ford said he apologized during a meeting at Queen’s Park Thursday with several dozen chiefs who are part of Anishinabek Nation, which represents 39 First Nations in the province.

“I sincerely apologize for my words — not only if it hurt all the chiefs in that room, but all First Nations,” Ford said. “I get passionate because I want prosperity for their communities. I want prosperity for their children and their grandchildren.”

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Barrick’s future in Mali hinges on gold mine permit renewal – by William Clowes (Financial Post/Bloomberg – June 19, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

Barrick said it remains committed to negotiating a ‘mutually acceptable solution’

One of the next major hurdles in Barrick Mining Corp.’s saga in Mali will be renewing a key gold mining license, after the state temporarily took over the vast Loulo-Gounkoto complex this week.

The permit for Loulo, where processing facilities are located, expires in February, shortly after the period of provisional administration is supposed to end. Barrick filed a renewal request four months ago, a spokesperson for the company said, adding that a separate license for Gounkoto runs for another 17 years.

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Canada to limit foreign steel imports to help producers hit by U.S. tariffs – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – June 20, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada is cracking down on the dumping of cheap foreign steel into the country by imposing new trade restrictions aimed at helping domestic producers reeling from U.S. President Donald Trump’s punishing tariffs.Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday, said the government will attempt to limit steel imports from countries that don’t have free-trade agreements with Canada to 2024 levels.

Canada currently has such agreements with 51 countries, including the United States, Mexico, the European Union, Australia and Japan. But China, India, Taiwan, Turkey and Russia, all major steel producers, do not have trade deals with Canada.

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Ontario lawsuit underscores Indigenous anger over being left out of resource decisions – by Colin Butler (CBC News – June 20, 2025)

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

Saugeen Ojibway Nation sues province for $167M

Saugeen Ojibway Nation is taking Ontario to court, arguing decades of unpaid salt royalties and a pattern of exclusion from key decisions about stone and sand quarries in its territory reflect a broader problem: resource development that leaves Indigenous nations left out of the conversation.

The First Nation spoke to CBC News on Wednesday, the first time it has spoken publicly about the issue since filing its lawsuit in Ontario Superior Court last July.

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In Canada’s ‘Silicon Valley’ of Mining, Speculators Power a Hunt for Alaska’s Minerals – by Max Graham (Northern Journal/Inside Climate News – June 17, 2025)

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Vancouver, British Columbia, home to dozens of companies searching the world for minerals, has a special interest in the northernmost U.S. state.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia—On a January evening, dozens of people crammed into a banquet space at the glitzy Pan Pacific Hotel overlooking Vancouver’s waterfront. Buttoned-up corporate executives mingled with government officials by a wood-paneled bar. Old-school geologists and mineral prospectors buzzed around platters of chicken-and-waffle sliders.

The crowd was united by a passion for mining and—curiously, given the setting outside the U.S.—an abiding interest in the state of Alaska. It was the final night of Roundup, one of the most anticipated conventions of the year for North American mining companies. Thousands of rock enthusiasts and businessmen had gathered to pitch investors, hear talks about mineral deposits and nerd out over geochemistry.

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Lundin targets top-ten copper miner status in bold expansion plan – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – June 19, 2025)

https://www.mining.com/

Canada’s Lundin Mining (TSX: LUN) has unveiled a strategic growth plan designed to catapult the company to the status of the world’s top ten copper producers. The Vancouver-based miner aims to reach annual output of 500,000 tonnes of copper and approximately 550,000 ounces of gold within three to five years.

The strategy focuses on brownfield expansions at its core assets in Chile, Candelaria and Caserones, as well as Chapada in Brazil. It also includes new developments in the Vicuña district, which spans the Chile–Argentina border and includes the Josemaría and Filo del Sol projects.

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Saskatchewan says Ottawa can’t stop it from extending life of coal-fired power plants – by Emma Graney (June 19, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Saskatchewan government is extending the life of its coal-fired power plants, saying Ottawa does not have jurisdiction over electricity generation in the province. Saskatchewan’s demand for power is facing unprecedented demand growth, SaskPower Minister Jeremy Harrison said in an internal letter to employees, which means the province must take an “all-of-the-above approach” to electricity generation by using every means at its disposal.

That includes coal, as the province intends to use the fossil fuel until it can bridge to nuclear power through small modular reactors or large-scale nuclear generation, Mr. Harrison said in the Wednesday morning memo obtained by The Globe and Mail.

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Rare Earth Boss Sees ‘Long, Hard Process’ to Loosen China’s Grip – by James Mayger and Martin Ritchie (Financial Post/Bloomberg – June 17, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

Western nations will take years to develop enough rare earth processing capacity to limit China’s dominance over the critical ingredients, according to industry veteran and former Molycorp Inc. boss Mark Smith.

Western nations will take years to develop enough rare earth processing capacity to limit China’s dominance over the critical ingredients, according to industry veteran and former Molycorp Inc. boss Mark Smith.

Beijing, which has been curbing some critical mineral exports since 2023, tightened sales of seven rare earths in April, in response to aggressive tariffs from Washington. The squeeze caught key buyers unprepared. The Trump administration is now using Cold War-era powers to prioritize and fund rare-earth mining projects it deems strategic.

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Ford and Carney want to speed up major project approvals — with one key difference – by Jessica Smith Cross (The Trillium – June 17, 2025)

https://www.thetrillium.ca/

Ontario’s law is far broader than the feds’ version and could be unconstitutional: experts

Both Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford are responding to the economic threat posed by Donald Trump with new laws that grant their cabinet ministers the power to exempt projects from the normal rule of law, allowing them to be built faster.

But Ontario’s law, legal experts say, is far broader and lacks the guardrails built into its federal counterpart, and, because of that, could be unconstitutional. Paul Daly, an expert in administrative law and professor at the University of Ottawa, made that case in a recent article, arguing that, while the federal bill could be improved, it is “constitutionally permissible” and could, in his view, be beneficial if used well.

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Recycling gold tailings could be a money machine for mining company – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – June 17, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

STLLR Gold says Hollinger mine waste offers ‘game-changing cash flow potential’

Mineralized tailings from the historic Hollinger mine in Timmins could be an easy-to-reach cash box for STLLR Gold. The Toronto gold company is sitting on 50 million to 60 million tonnes of mine waste material dumped on the surface from the former underground mine that could potentially finance its Tower Gold Project, east of the city.

In a recent investor presentation, the company considers the Hollinger tailings site as a project with “game-changing, near-term, cash flow potential” that could be developed fairly cheaply in providing feed for nearby mills in the Timmins area with excess processing capacity.

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Editorial: BC’s new mining strategy could be Prince George’s lucky strike – by Kennedy Gordon (Prince George Citizen – June 19, 2025)

https://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/

BC’s new push to fast-track mining projects represents more than just an industry shift. It’s an opportunity for Prince George to claim a leadership role in the province’s economic future. As the province accelerates 18 critical mineral and energy projects, worth a combined $20 billion, communities like ours — already connected to northern infrastructure and rich in skilled labour — are poised to benefit in new ways.

With billions of dollars in mining and energy projects lined up and permit-granting processes being streamlined, our city could become a significant hub for mining operations, transportation and supply chain logistics. These projects will require transportation, equipment, housing, repair services, retail support, and workforce accommodations.

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Ontario First Nations ‘keep coming hat in hand’ despite being treated ‘like gold,’ Doug Ford says – by Liam Casey (Canadian Press/National Post – June 18, 2025)

https://nationalpost.com/

‘There’s going to be a point that you can’t just keep coming hat in hand all the time to the government, you’ve got to be able to take care of yourselves’

TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he is willing to give First Nations what they want for their support in developing mines, but they cannot “keep coming hat in hand all the time to the government” for more money. Ford is set to meet Thursday with several dozen chiefs who are part of Anishinabek Nation, which represents 39 First Nations in the province.

First Nations are livid with the province over the passage of Bill 5, which gives cabinet the power to suspend municipal and provincial laws for chosen projects through the creation of so-called special economic zones.

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