Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas – Page 4

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

March 28, 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’

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

March 24, 2025March 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.

[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)

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.”

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)

March 21, 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.

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

March 21, 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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

March 19, 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.

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)

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.

Mine tailings in Sudbury, across Canada worth billions – by Darius Snieckus (Sudbury Star/National Observer – March 18, 2025)

March 18, 2025

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Waste not, profit much: toxic tailings in Canada could ’re-mined’ for billions of dollars in critical minerals, report says

Toxic tailings discarded at some 10,000 abandoned mines together with those currently being produced by 200 others in operation across Canada could hide a multi-billion-dollar market opportunity as demand for critical minerals explodes globally in the coming decades, a new study has concluded.

Tailings – a byproduct of large-scale mining operations – could be changed “from a liability into asset” by monetizing recovered minerals and metals from current waste for use in renewable energy technologies, data centres, and defence applications, said the report from Action Canada, a leader development programme.

Northwestern Ontario’s Ring of Fire central in U.S.-Canada trade war: experts – by Michelle Allan (CBC News Thunder Bay – March 17, 2025)

March 17, 2025

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

How a remote peat bog became a key figure in a global political conflict

The Ring of Fire in northwestern Ontario has become a key figure in the battle to control critical minerals, which experts say is the heart of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Canada.

While a remote Ontario peat bog may not be the stage that first comes to mind when picturing the geopolitical conflict, the critical minerals beneath it are essential to renewable energy and digital technology.

Indigenous Services minister says economic reconciliation essential amid Canada-U.S. trade war – by Sarah Law (CBC News Thunder Bay – March 17, 2025)

March 17, 2025

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

Education, training for Indigenous people key to closing productivity gap: Hajdu

As the new federal government grapples with how to tackle the growing trade war between Canada and the U.S., Patty Hajdu says a key opportunity to strengthen domestic economies lies with reconciliation.

While more than a dozen positions have been cut in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s lean 24-person cabinet — down from 39 members under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — Hajdu has maintained her role as minister of Indigenous Services.

A $250M investment will help this lithium mine get up and running. That’s bad news for these tribes. – by Anita Hofschneider (Grist.org – March 13, 2025)

March 13, 2025

https://grist.org/

Tribes have tried and failed to stop the project in court. A new report says it violates Indigenous rights.

A Canadian mining company behind a massive new lithium mine in northern Nevada has received a $250 million investment to complete construction of the new mine — a project that aims to accelerate America’s shift from fossil fuel-powered cars but that has come under fierce criticism from neighboring tribal nations and watchdog groups for its proximity to a burial site.

Lithium Americas is developing the mine in an area known as Thacker Pass where it plans to unearth lithium carbonate that can be used to make batteries for electric vehicles. The area, known as Peehee Mu’huh in the Numu language of the Northern Paiute, is home to what could be the largest supply of lithium in the United States and is also a site that tribal citizens visit every year to honor dozens of Native men, women, and children who fled American soldiers in an 1865 unprovoked attack at dawn.

Nickel miners dig up Indonesia’s Gebe Island despite Indigenous and legal opposition – by Jaya Barends (Mongabay.com – March 11, 2025)

March 11, 2025

Mongabay – Conservation News

GEBE ISLAND, Indonesia — Abdul Manan Magtiblo watched the excavator dump a piece of Gebe Island into the back of a truck. Barely a thicket remained on the buzz-cut upland above Umera village as the vehicle drove off to the nearby port.

“That’s the PT Bartra Putra Mulia [BPM] nickel mine,” Manan, the village chief, told Mongabay Indonesia. Locals like Manan say life has become harder since 2020, when the company began operating here on Gebe, a remote island of fewer than 6,000 people in the Halmahera Sea, on Indonesia’s Pacific rim.

Ontario First Nation leaders tell resource companies not to negotiate with provincial Métis group (CBC News Sudbury – March 5, 2025)

March 11, 2025March 11, 2025

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

The Métis Nation of Ontario rejects allegations that it’s not a legitimate rights holder

Ontario First Nation leaders used this week’s Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference to demand that resource companies not negotiate with the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO).

They say the Métis group has no legitimate right to be consulted on projects on their lands or to benefit from such projects – an allegation the MNO rejects. “There are no historic Métis in our territories,” said Jason Batise, the executive director of the Wabun Tribal Council.