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Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas

Changes to claim staking gives B.C. prospectors the jitters – by Nelson Bennett(Business In Vancouver – January 20, 2025)

https://www.biv.com/

Mineral Tenure Act changes a hot topic at annual Roundup conference for mineral exploration

While many business leaders in the resources sector are exercised over the threats of American tariffs on Canadian exports, a policy creating even greater angst for prospectors and junior miners in B.C. is a domestic one – revisions to the B.C. Mineral Tenure Act – a hot topic at this week’s annual Association of Mineral Exploration (AME) Roundup conference.

Revisions to the “free entry” claim staking process in B.C. are to be implemented in March, and there are fears that it will put a major chill on investment in mineral exploration in B.C.

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Mattagami chief empowering the next generation – by Marissa Lentz-McGrath (Timmins Today – January 21, 2025)

https://www.timminstoday.com/

‘It’s important, I think, in the north, especially, for women, to have a space to have their voices heard, because a lot of times there isn’t a lot of opportunity for that,’ says Chief Jennifer Constant

TIMMINS – Leadership is deeply rooted in Jennifer Constant’s family. The Mattagami First Nation Chief spoke at a virtual leadership lunch on Monday (Jan. 20), sharing her experiences, her vision for sustainable and inclusive mining practices, and her commitment to community empowerment.

The event, hosted by the Timmins Chamber of Commerce and Trimeda Consulting, brought together industry and community stakeholders. Constant, recently recognized as the 2024 Indigenous trailblazer at the Sudbury Women in Mining Awards, discussed her leadership journey.

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The afterlife of Pine Point – by John Sandlos (Canadian Mining Journal – December 13, 2024)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

The gravel highway leading east from Hay River, Northwest Territories, features a relatively uniform (some might say monotonous) landscape of flat, spruce and jack pine forest. About 40 kilometers outside of the highway’s terminus at Fort Resolution, a few rock piles near the side of the highway stand out in bold relief.

A quick left turn on an unmarked paved road, and one enters a grid of streets, sidewalks, and parking lots — but there are no buildings anywhere. Travel around the site, and it is not hard to stumble on one of the many large open pits that have filled with water, often coloured a brilliant azure blue.

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Province needs to cast the net wide on Ring of Fire consultation, says Marten Falls chief – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 17, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Bruce Achneepineskum looks for new regional discussion table and more involvement from Ottawa

Doug Ford’s full-speed-ahead approach to build a Ring of Fire road and mine more critical minerals compelled a council of northwestern Ontario chiefs to tap the brakes on the premier’s enthusiasm.

The Matawa Chiefs Council outlined their stance in a news release this week that more relationship-building with Indigenous communities needs to be done before any industrial development takes place in the James Bay mineral belt.

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Matawa tribal chiefs not so keen on Fortress Am-Can – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – Janaury 16, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Indigenous leaders warn province to think again about granting access to Ring of Fire without proper consent

Fortress Am-Can might be Premier Doug Ford’s plan to expedite critical minerals production in the Ring of Fire, but the majority of chiefs with Matawa First Nations tribal council are pushing back that it certainly isn’t theirs.

In a Jan. 16 news release, the leadership warned that, as they are the inherent, treaty and Aboriginal rights holders to the area in and around the undeveloped Far North mineral belt, the Ontario government’s ability to grant access to critical minerals “within our traditional homelands is precarious.”

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Premier wants critical minerals production accelerated – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 14, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Ford promotes more robust cross-border trade with U.S. as threat of tariffs loom

Expect a major announcement on the north-south road to the Ring of Fire during the PDAC mining convention in March.That was the word from Premier Doug Ford and Mines Minister George Pirie during a Jan. 13 press conference in Toronto to promote Fortress Am-Can, touted as a new strategic alliance between Canada and the U.S. that involves a plan to fast-track critical minerals production.

Critical minerals and the untapped potential of the Ring of Fire received frequent mention by Ford, Pirie and Northern Development and Indigenous Minister Greg Rickford.

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New research explores impact of Ring of Fire mining on First Nations in northern Ontario – by Sarah Law (CBC News Thunder Bay – January 11, 2025)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/

Focus is on embedding reconciliation into corporate polices

A new research project is exploring the human rights impacts of mining operations on First Nations in the Ring of Fire — a vast mineral-rich area in northern Ontario. The partnership, announced Wednesday, is between the Anishnawbe Business Professional Association (ABPA) and University of Toronto Faculty of Law’s international human rights program.

The research has already begun and is examining how mining companies are engaging with First Nations, with the goal of strengthening their policies on Indigenous relations and sustainability. Jason Rasevych is a member of Ginoogaming First Nation and president of the ABPA.

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Wabun Tribal Council boss goes to bat for Newmont – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 7, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Batise respectful of Takywa Tagamou Nation’s position, but disagrees with their portrayal of gold miner

Newmont isn’t the “bad actor” that it’s being made out to be. Wabun Tribal Council executive director Jason Batise reaffirmed his organization’s support that the gold mining company has proven itself as a good corporate citizen and solid First Nations partner in operating its mines in the Timmins and Chapleau area.

Timmins-based Wabun issued a news release last week throwing its support behind Newmont-owned Porcupine Mines in the face of a legal claim filed last November by Takywa Tagamou Nation (TTN).

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Opinion: When resource companies leave a toxic mess, First Nations are stuck with the consequences – by Tanya Talaga (Globe and Mail – December 14, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Na-Cho Nyäk Dun First Nation Elder Jimmy Johnny no longer fishes in the waters that generations of his family members have relied on since memories are remembered.

This past summer, 68 dead fish were found in beautiful Haggart Creek, downstream from the site of an environmental disaster that occurred on June 24 at Victoria Gold Corp.’s Eagle Gold mine, on the Na-Cho Nyäk Dun traditional territory, near Mayo in central Yukon.

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Jobs of the Future: Kenjgewin Teg, Legend Mining partnership ‘breaking down barriers’ to Indigenous unemployment – by Casey Stranges (Northern Ontario Business – December 9, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Mentorship and training partnership touted by organizers as a “bridge” to employment for Indigenous youth in Northern Ontario

Scott Rienguette, general manager for Sudbury-based Legend Mining, says he’s on a mission to show Indigenous youth that the only barriers they’ll face entering the skilled trades are the ones they build themselves.

The Sudbury-based mining company has partnered with Kenjgewin Teg, an Indigenous learning institute on Manitoulin Island, to help get practical, hands-on training to people outside Northern Ontario’s large mining centres.

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Navajo communities seek ‘just transition’ for people affected by coal mine closures – by Arlyssa D. Becenti (Arizona Republic – December 6, 2024)

https://www.azcentral.com/

Nearly 20 years after Peabody Mining closed its Black Mesa Mine and five years after the Kayenta Mine and Navajo Generating Station closed on the Navajo Nation, residents are working toward recovery of what’s left of the land after more than 50 years of coal extraction.

The work includes a land use plan that has been 20 years in the making and a proposal for a community center that will also be instrumental as a climate resilience center. While the coal company initiated reclamation efforts, the post-mining landscape has always appeared different depending on whether it’s seen by someone who resides within the community or someone from the outside.

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The Indigenous Economy Is About to Take Off – by Carol Anne Hilton (MACLEAN’S Magazine – December 3, 2024)

https://macleans.ca/

Carol Anne Hilton is the CEO and founder of Indigenomics Institute.

Reconciliation is becoming Canada’s biggest business story—and its greatest economic opportunity

In 2025, Indigenous communities across Canada will gain more control over their land and resources, opening up new opportunities for development, profit and reinvestment. The result will be a virtuous cycle in the Indigenous economy that’s going to make Bay Street stand up and pay attention.

We’ve seen this trend begin to play out for the past few years. In 2021, for example, seven Mi’kmaw communities obtained a 50 per cent share in Nova Scotia–based Clearwater, one of the largest seafood companies in North America, for $1 billion. Last year, the Haisla Nation in B.C. became the majority owner of Cedar LNG, a natural-gas export terminal and the largest Indigenous-owned infrastructure project in Canada.

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B.C. environmental group files judicial review to challenge Northwest gold mine project – by Quinn Bender (Terrace Standard – December 2, 2024)

https://www.terracestandard.com/

The filing is the second petition in a week against the major gold-copper mine in B.C.’s “Golden Triangle”

A coalition of environmental groups has launched a legal challenge against the province’s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO), contending the proposed KSM mine in Northwest B.C. does not meet the criteria for a “substantial start.”

Ecojustice, representing SkeenaWild Conservation Trust and the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC), filed the petition, arguing the mine’s environmental assessment is outdated and poses significant ecological and cultural risks.

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Indigenous Mining Complicates Brazil’s Fight Against Illegal Gold – by Ricardo Brito and Adriano Machado (U.S. News/Reuters – December 2, 2024)

https://www.usnews.com/

JACAREACANGA, Brazil (Reuters) – The involvement of Indigenous people in illegal gold hunting, lured by the prospect of easy money due to record prices, has made Brazil’s task of cracking down on wildcat mining in the Amazon far harder, environmental agents and police say.

The Munduruku territory, a reservation the size of Switzerland on the Tapajos river, a major Amazon tributary, has become a hot spot for illegal mining, which Brazilian law bans on Indigenous land. But increasingly, Munduruku tribe members are entering the illegal trade that is backed by organized crime.

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The fight’s not over, say anti-nuclear First Nations – by Mike Stimpson (NWONewswatch/Northern Ontario Business – November 29, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Onigaming chief says he received many phone calls after the NWMO selection of Ignace-Wabigoon area as nuclear waste repository site

Onigaming First Nation Chief Jeff Copenace says his Ojibwe community has reacted with strong emotions to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s decision to build a nuclear waste facility in the Ignace-Wabigoon area of northwestern Ontario.

“My reaction is a little bit of anger, a little bit of sadness, but I’m not sure that I’m surprised,” Copenace said Nov. 28 just hours after the NWMO announced its selection of the Revell Lake site for its deep geological repository project.

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