Twitter

Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas

As Chile revs up lithium plans, Indigenous groups demand more control – by Daina Beth Solomon (Reuters – April 7, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

Chile’s Indigenous communities in the lithium-rich Atacama Desert are in talks with two of the nation’s biggest miners to gain more influence over plans to increase extraction of the battery metal, according to the companies and community sources.

The negotiations with Chile’s State-run Codelco, the world’s biggest copper producer, and Chilean lithium producer SQM, come as the companies are close to finalizing a partnership that will mark the state’s entry into production of the metal that is crucial for electric vehicle batteries.

Read more

Carney’s former firm Brookfield has been accused of breaching Indigenous rights in 4 countries – by Brett Forester (CBC News Indigenous – April 04, 2025)

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

Allegations in Brazil, Canada, Colombia and U.S. involve dams, wind farm, other operations

Under Mark Carney’s leadership, global investment firm Brookfield was accused of breaching Indigenous rights or harming the environment in at least four countries, CBC Indigenous has found. Carney, who is running for prime minister as Liberal leader, spent more than four years as vice chair and then chair at Brookfield Asset Management, where he focused on green investing and renewable energy.

During that period from 2020 to 2024, Brookfield businesses faced reports of serious human rights abuses in Brazil, Indigenous resistance in Colombia, a First Nation’s $100-million lawsuit in Ontario and an environmental dispute in Maine.

Read more

Low diamond prices raise risk of early closure of N.W.T. mines, experts say – by Luke Carroll (CBC News North – April 4, 2025)

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

All three N.W.T. diamond mines reported millions of dollars of losses in 2024

All of the N.W.T.’s diamond mines are reporting millions of dollars in losses from last year as they deal with inflation and slumping diamond prices.

With just a short time left in the lifespan of the three mines and more potential economic turbulence ahead, experts believe there is risk the mines could close — and leave the territory with no economic replacement plan — earlier than expected.

Read more

Carney, Trump, and the Arctic mining nexus – by Shane Lasley (North of 60 Mining News – April 4, 2025)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

A shared vision for North America’s Arctic could help thaw relations; Greenland and minerals may be keys to securing the North.

While relations between Canada and the United States may be the coldest ever recorded, the leaders of both nations have a common vision that could help defrost tensions – investing in the strategic and resource-rich North to help ensure North American security and prosperity as we progress deeper into the 21st century.

“Our government will strengthen Canada’s Arctic security, bolster partnerships with our closest Allies, unleash the North’s economic potential, and reaffirm reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples,” Mark Carney said as he was preparing to travel to Nunavut just four days after being sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister.

Read more

Nunavut hunters urge for reassessment as Baffinland eyes 2026 construction of Steensby rail – by Samuel Wat (CBC News North – April 01, 2025)

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

The project was approved more than a decade ago. Hunters say a lot has changed since then

Baffinland Iron Mines is now looking at 2026 as a start date for its proposed expansion to an iron ore mine in Nunavut, but local hunters are calling for the project to be reassessed before it can go ahead. The mining company wants to ship iron ore from its existing Mary River mine, by building a railway south to a proposed port at Steensby Inlet.

It’s a plan that was approved by the federal government in 2012. For years, it was put on the back burner with Baffinland favouring a railway to be built from the mine north to Milne Inlet — an option it said would be less costly. That was rejected by the federal government in 2022, causing Baffinland to switch back to the Steensby Inlet track.

Read more

Ring of Fire road will be ‘real opportunity’ for northern Ontario, minister says – by Isaac Callan and Colin D’Mello (Global News – March 31, 2025)

https://globalnews.ca/

Sensing a potential change in tone from the next federal government as U.S. President Donald Trump slaps tariffs on Canada, the Ford government is ramping up its efforts to build a road to the Ring of Fire. Creating a way to mine the mineral-rich area in northern Ontario has been on Premier Doug Ford’s to-do list since he was elected for the first time in 2018, but little progress has been made.

Now, with a federal election in full swing, Ontario sees a potential opportunity to move its long-held ambitions forward. Prime Minister and Liberal Leader Mark Carney has said he wants to create a process for the federal government to support nation-building projects if he’s elected, with the Ring of Fire being one option.

Read more

First Nations slam BC mining claims framework (Northern Miner – March 27, 2025)

https://www.northernminer.com/

British Columbia’s new framework requiring consultation with First Nations before registering mining claims misses the mark for consulting with Indigenous groups, First Nations say. The new consultation Mineral Claims Consultation Framework (MCCF), released last week, outlines processes for consulting with industry and First Nations groups.

But BC Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Terry Teegee criticized the changes, implying they don’t remotely align with the collaborative approach outlined in the province’s Indigenous rights law.

‘Step backward’

Read more

WA’s need for EVs comes at a cost for mining towns – by Isabella Breda (Seattle Times – March 24, 2025)

https://www.seattletimes.com/

THACKER PASS, Nev. — Cody Davis is part of a global energy transition. He mined coal in North Dakota before taking a job at what’s slated to be one of the most productive lithium mines in the world. Davis says miners can help the world dig up resources it needs to expand energy production, including for renewables.

“Mining is what we do,” said Davis, the mine’s operations and safety manager. “Just take that skill set and it’s just a different mineral.” American coal mines are shutting down as coal-fired power plants are yanked offline, making way for cleaner sources of power. Washington state’s last remaining coal power plant in Centralia is set to shutter this year.

Read more

[Ring of Fire] For the love of peat — how Liberals let moss block development of the ‘oilsands of Ontario’ – by Jesse Kline (National Post – March 21, 2025)

https://nationalpost.com/

The Grits have mired the development of vast wealth in a bureaucratic nightmare. The Tories pledge to change that

A video posted by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Wednesday highlights one of Canada’s enduring problems: our chronic inability to get anything done and, by extension, our propensity to handicap our own economic prosperity.

In the video, and at a pre-campaign stop in Sudbury, Ont., Poilievre highlighted a story that should have sparked a modern-day gold rush. In 2007, prospectors found vast deposits of critical minerals — including chromite, which is used to produce stainless steel, cobalt, nickel, copper and platinum — in a remote part of northern Ontario, about 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, that came to be known as the “Ring of Fire.”

Read more

Poilievre criticized for pledging to fast-track Ring of Fire without Indigenous consultation – by Rajpreet Sahota, Faith Greco, Kate Rutherford (CBC News Canada – March 19, 2025)

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

Conservative leader’s ‘proposed shortcuts ignore our rights and our connection to the land’: Alvin Fiddler

Pierre Poilievre’s pledge on Wednesday that a Conservative government would fast-track development of the Ring of Fire has been criticized by Nishnawbe Aski Nation’s (NAN) grand chief, who accused the federal party leader of ignoring First Nations’ rights.

Alvin Fiddler was among those responding to Poilievre’s comments on the mineral-rich area of northwestern Ontario during his visit to Sudbury. NAN is a political organization representing 51 First Nation communities across Treaty 9 and Treaty 5 areas of northern Ontario.

Read more

Pierre Poilievre blasted over pledge to fast-track Ring of Fire permits – by Alex Ballingall and Raisa Patel (Toronto Star – March 19, 2025)

https://www.thestar.com/

The grand chief of a group of northern Ontario First Nations is blasting Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre over his promise to fast-track approvals and pump money into the Ring of Fire mineral region.

OTTAWA — The grand chief of a group of northern Ontario First Nations is blasting Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre over his promise to fast-track approvals and pump money into the Ring of Fire mineral region.

Read more

NEWS RELEASE: Webequie and Marten Falls First Nations Welcome Commitment to Advance Ring of Fire Infrastructure (March 19, 2025)

Project Location & Study Area (CNW Group/Webequie First Nation and Marten Falls First Nation)

A HOME PAGE

Thunder Bay, Ontario – Webequie First Nation and Marten Falls First Nation welcome Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s commitment to invest $1 billion in road infrastructure to the Ring of Fire and to improve the federal permitting process.

This investment responds directly to requests made by both First Nations for funding and aligns with their longstanding efforts to lead the development of sustainable infrastructure that will connect our communities, unlock critical resources, and create long-term economic opportunities. The promise to share tax revenues at the federal level is also a welcomed new commitment and pathway to economic reconciliation.

The Northern Road Link, a project led by Webequie and Marten Falls First Nations, is a crucial component of the broader effort to connect remote First Nations to the provincial highway network. By securing reliable infrastructure, the all-season roads will enable safe transportation, increase access to essential services, and support responsible resource development in the Ring of Fire region.

Read more

Conservative leader vows action on Ring of Fire within six months – by Darren MacDonald (CTV News Northern Ontario – March 19, 2025)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/northern-ontario/

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced Wednesday that within six months of taking power, he would green-light all federal permits for the Ring of Fire and commit $1 billion to build new roads.

Poilievre, who is holding a rally in Greater Sudbury on Wednesday evening, said progress on the Ring of Fire is key to “unlocking billions of dollars in resources and taking back control of our economy from the Americans.” The long-delayed mineral project 500 kilometres east of Thunder Bay in northwestern Ontario includes large deposits of high-grade chromite, cobalt, nickel, copper and platinum.

Read more

New urgency over Arctic defence can’t come soon enough for major gold miner – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – March 18, 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

Northern development could ultimately unlock big growth for Agnico Eagle

Warming temperatures are opening the Northwest Passage as a shipping lane and raising so many concerns about who controls the Arctic that one of Mark Carney’s first trips as Canada’s new prime minister was to Iqaluit on Tuesday as part of an effort “to reassert Canada’s sovereignty in the North.”

It followed a visit over the weekend by NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who also talked about shoring up Arctic sovereignty in the face of threats from United States President Donald Trump. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also visited last September to make his own remarks on the same subject.

Read more

Federal Conservative leader stops in Sudbury with promises of ‘unlocking’ Ring of Fire – by Faith Greco and Kate Rutherford (CBC News Sudbury – March 19, 2025)

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

Pierre Poilievre vowed to approve all federal permits in Ring of Fire within 6 months

The federal Conservative leader is in Sudbury today making promises, if elected, to unlock access to critical minerals in the Ring of Fire and build a new road into the remote mining camp in northwestern Ontario.

“[The Ring of Fire] could make Canada very rich. It would be life changing for northern Ontario towns, galvanizing thousands of paycheques and modern infrastructure,” Pierre Poilievre said at a news conference Wednesday.

Read more