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Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas

Mining and the idea of Canada – by John Sandlos (Canadian Mining Journal – February 24, 2025)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

For me, every January begins with another trip through the key events of Canadian history since 1867, courtesy of a course I have taught for nearly 20 years at Memorial University of Newfoundland. As I write, I just stepped out of a class on Confederation, where we examine all the reasons that four tenuously related colonies decided to become the nation we call Canada.

As most teachers do, I covered off some key factors that produced a new political union: political gridlock and instability in the two Canadas (present-day Ontario and Quebec), fears of an attack from the U.S., dreams of a transcontinental nation, and the mania for railroads that might knit British North America together as a powerful, integrated industrial economy.

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First Nation says McEwen Mining breached agreement, owes almost $1M in unpaid shares – by Aya Dufour (CBC News Sudbury – February 24, 2025)

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

Apitipi Anicinapek Nation is taking the matter before an Ontario court

The Apitipi Anicinapek Nation (AAN) has launched a lawsuit against McEwen Mining Inc., alleging breach of contract and environmental damage.The lawsuit centres around an Impact Benefit Agreement (IBA) signed in 2011 between AAN and Brigus, the then-owner of the Black Fox Mining Complex near Matheson, Ont.

IBAs are agreements between resource extraction companies and Indigenous communities intended to mitigate the impacts of development on traditional territories and ways of life. In this case, the IBA promised AAN financial compensation in the tune of 25,000 shares of the mining company annually.

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Ontario PCs pledge $500-million for critical minerals processing but spending questions loom – by Darius Snieckus (Hamilton Spectator – February 25, 2025)

https://www.thespec.com/

Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives have pledged to set up a $500-million critical mineral processing fund to invest in “strategically located” facilities to develop the province’s vast resources of lithium, graphite, zinc, cobalt and other key minerals and metals.

The fund, a central economic plank in the party’s re-election platform released on Monday, is the biggest government pledge so far to build a network of refining facilities mining experts say are needed to ensure Canada reaps the benefits of producing minerals and metals important for the global energy transition.

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Mining industry, business groups in NWO call for better support for mining from next Ontario government – by Kris Ketonen (CBC News Thunder Bay – February 24, 2025)

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

More power generation, meaningful consultations with First Nations needed if projects are to move forward

Whichever party is elected as the next provincial government needs to show better support for northwestern Ontario’s mining industry if some of the region’s major developments are to move forward, industry and First Nations groups say.

“We need Queen’s Park to actually recognize us more,” said Garry Clark, executive director of the Ontario Prospectors Association. “We need more money put into exploration to move things forward.”

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NEWS RELEASE: Only Doug Ford Will Protect Ontario by Unlocking the Ring of Fire (February 22, 2025)

A re-elected PC government will make Ontario the most competitive place in the G7 to invest, create better jobs with bigger paycheques and do business, including in the north

Thunder Bay, February 22, 2025 — Today, Doug Ford outlined the PC plan to speed up approvals, cut red tape and invest in infrastructure to unlock the enormous economic potential of Ontario’s critical minerals in the Ring of Fire and protect northern Ontario’s economy and workers.

“Over the past seven years working with First Nations, we’ve made significant progress building the roads to the Ring of Fire,” said Doug Ford. “As we face down the threat of President Trump’s tariffs, we need to do more and we need to do it faster. To protect Ontario, we have to get our critical minerals out of the ground, processed and shipped to factory floors. We have to double down on working with First Nations to speed up approvals and get shovels in the ground on critical mineral projects.”

President Trump is on a mission to suck up every dollar of investment he can for America’s economy. He’s promising major reforms to streamline regulations and speed up approvals.

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Mining the Northwest: Indigenous business group calls for greater consent in mine planning – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – February 19, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Anishnawbe Business Professional Association proposes new framework that follows the path of reconciliation

Jason Rasevych would like to see corporate Canada do more to put into practice what they put on paper. The president of the Anishnawbe Business Professional Association (ABPA) notices that mining companies often make statements in their annual sustainability reports about how they’re working progressively with First Nation communities.

Most of it is centred around promises of jobs and business opportunities. What’s missed is how mining activity will impact a community’s culture. While companies often say they are committed to reconciliation, Rasevych asks, “How are they reporting on that each and every year?”

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Doug Ford wants to ‘protect Ontario’ by digging up the Ring of Fire – by Jon Thompson (Ricochet Media – February 2025)

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But consultation isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s international law. And local First Nations want an equitable role in the process

In response to a serious question about municipal revenues during the Northern Leaders Debate last Friday, Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford touted the value of, “unleashing northern Ontario’s economic potential, and I’ll tell you where the potential is: their potential in the north is called the Ring of Fire.”

Ford had planned a northern victory lap to meet with industrial unions in Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay this week, following leaders debates on Friday and Monday. That trip was cancelled after a plane crashed in Toronto, but it was designed to cement Ford’s vision that developing the so-called “Ring of Fire” is somehow a patriotic duty of blue-collar workers.

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New claim-staking process an ‘existential’ threat to mining in B.C., lobby group warns – by Vaughn Palmer (Vancouver Sun – February 14, 2025)

https://vancouversun.com/

Government process adds months of consultation to process after 2023 court decision

VICTORIA — The NDP government’s new policy of consulting First Nations before registering mineral claims threatens the survival of the mining industry, says the Association for Mineral Exploration. The association issued the warning in a letter to Mines Minister Jagrup Brar as the province prepares to implement the new court-ordered consultation framework on March 26.

“The association and its board do not endorse the current mineral claims consultation framework,” association chair Trish Jacques wrote last week. “This is an existential crisis for our industry and has the potential to materially harm our members.

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How Canada supplied uranium for the Manhattan Project – by Peter C. van Wyck (CBC Documentaries – January 10, 2025)

https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/

Ore mined in the Northwest Territories was transported to Port Hope, Ont., then used to develop the bombs that

In the past couple of years, the public imagination has been taken up with all things nuclear — the bomb, energy and waste. The film Oppenheimer recasts the story of the bomb as a Promethean and largely American narrative, while the series Fallout depicts a post-nuclear world. Russia has repeatedly emphasized its readiness for nuclear conflict. Nuclear energy has been regaining popularity as a hedge against climate change.

And yet, the story of Canada’s nuclear legacy — and our connection to the bombs that the U.S. military dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing tens of thousands in an instant — is rarely told.

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First Nation near Sudbury to grow its presence in the mining sector – by Staff (Sudbury Star – February 13, 2025)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Atikameksheng Anishnawbek will receive $1 million from the federal government for two projects

A First Nation just west of Sudbury will receive a little more than $1 million in federal funding to strengthen its place in the mining industry and create new jobs.

Atikameksheng Anishnawbek will get $575,199 so its economic development corporation, Giyak Mashkawzid Shkagmikwe, can buy a new diamond drill. The drill will be owned by GMS and leased to its joint venture, Bagone’an JS Drilling Inc., for use in resource exploration and mine development.

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Opinion | In the fight against Trump, Canada needs First Nations people – by Robert Jago (Toronto Star – February 7, 2025)

https://www.thestar.com/

If you don’t want “O Canada” downgraded from an anthem to a land acknowledgement, then Canadians need to work with First Nations to fight back against Trump. Unfortunately, that’s not the approach that some on Canada’s political right are proposing.

While the proposed tariffs from the U.S. administration are on pause for now, the reaction to them was still revealing. Here’s how the National Post’s editorial board framed the problem: “Industries like mining and fishing […] are increasingly refashioned by governments into welfare and ‘reconciliation’ initiatives, repelling private investment that would have brought prosperity to the country as a whole.”

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Milestone agreement to strengthen Ring of Fire infrastructure – by Ashley Fish-Robertson (CIM Magazine – January 31, 2025)

https://magazine.cim.org/en/

The partnership between Ontario and Aroland First Nation marks the first time agreements are in place to build roads along the whole route to the Ring of Fire region

A historic agreement was signed on Jan. 28 in Toronto by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Aroland First Nation Chief Sonny Gagnon and Greg Rickford, Ontario’s minister of northern development and minister of Indigenous affairs and First Nations economic reconciliation.

The agreement will see the provincial government commit over $90 million to upgrading vital infrastructure in northern Ontario, which will both enable the mining of critical minerals in the Ring of Fire region—with improved roads facilitating the transport of materials to processing plants—and connect multiple First Nations communities to major highways.

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Will new claim staking rules put a chill on mineral exploration in B.C.? – by Nelson Bennett (Business In Vancouver – Janaury 30, 2025)

https://www.biv.com/

First Nations likely to be deluged with claim referrals under upcoming Mineral Tenure Act changes

Twenty years ago, an NDP government triggered a flight of investment from mineral exploration and mining in B.C. that lasted more than a decade when, in 1993, it ring-fenced the massive undeveloped copper-cobalt Windy Craggy deposit with a new provincial park.

Windy Craggy, still a sore point for miners and prospectors in B.C., was invoked last week at the Association of Mineral Exploration (AME) Roundup conference during a technical panel discussion on the new rules coming for claim staking.

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Ontario OKs $90M to upgrade Ring of Fire region – by Colin McClelland (Northern Miner – Janaury 29, 2025)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Queen’s Park and Aroland First Nation have signed a multi-million-dollar agreement to plan a transmission line in the mineral-rich Ring of Fire area in the province’s north. The deal also includes support for upgrades to Anaconda and Painter Lake Roads, which are important connections on the road, which is under study, to the Ring of Fire, the government said Tuesday.

The Ring of Fire, known for vast potential but only a few projects, lies about 540 km northeast of Thunder Bay. The hydro line is planned near Aroland First Nation, located at what is known as the “gateway” to the Ring of Fire, 60 km north of Geraldton on Highway 584/643.

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Shipments of uranium ore can resume under agreement reached with the Navajo Nation – by Susan Montoya Bryan (Associated Press – January 29, 2025)

https://apnews.com/

Shipments of uranium ore from a revived mining operation just south of the Grand Canyon are expected to resume in February after the Navajo Nation reached a settlement with the mining company, clearing the way for trucks to transport the ore across the largest Native American reservation in the U.S.

The agreement announced Wednesday settles a dispute that erupted last summer when Energy Fuels Inc. began trucking ore from the Pinyon Plain Mine to a mill site in Utah. Navajo authorities attempted to put up roadblocks but the trucks already had left tribal roadways.

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