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Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas

Ontario mining industry dealing with unclear rules for Indigenous engagement – by Alan S. Hale (The Trillium – March 5, 2025)

https://www.thetrillium.ca/

Ontario mining companies say they’re ready to work with Indigenous communities, but this week’s PDAC conference shows rules for doing so are far from settled

Even with the United States trade war casting a shadow over the event, Indigenous participation in the mining industry was the hot topic at this year’s Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto, which wrapped up on Wednesday.

At least one major deal was signed between a mining company and First Nations this week. Meanwhile, Canadian Mining Association President Pierre Gratton told investors at the conference Monday that the industry is eager to make deals with Indigenous communities and accommodate their needs.

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Doug Ford uses mining conference speech to push for fast-tracking critical mineral extraction (CBC News Sudbury – March 03, 2025)

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

First Nation advocates say it can’t happen at the expense of their rights

Ontario Premier Doug Ford reiterated his promise Monday to speed up mineral extraction in the Ring of Fire, but advocates for First Nations say it can’t happen at the expense of Indigenous treaty rights.

Ford told an audience at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs take aim at the Ontario economy, and Ontario needs to prepare for “anything and everything.” “Together we need to build a stronger, more resilient and self-sufficient economy,” Ford said.

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Advocate raises concerns about Indigenous exclusion during mining conference session – by Sam Laskaris (Windspeaker – March 6, 2025)

https://windspeaker.com/

With a focus on lands, resources, energy, critical minerals, climate policy and reconciliation, Katherine Koostachin has spent the past 15 years advancing Indigenous priorities. Koostachin, a member of Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario, says there are troubling gaps in Canada’s dealings with Indigenous peoples.

Koostachin was a speaker March 3 at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto. The PDAC conference is considered the world’s premier mineral exploration and mining convention.

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Outraged by Toronto mining convention, protestors disrupt opening day proceedings – by Alex Flood (Timmins Today – March 4, 2025)

https://www.timminstoday.com/

Mining Injustice members blocked the northside entrance to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for 30 minutes during the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention on Sunday

TORONTO – The world’s largest mining convention is well underway inside the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, but outside, a lively protest denouncing the companies for their alleged unethical roles with international excavation projects has taken shape.

The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) is expected to bring tens of thousands of representatives from the global mining industry to the city’s downtown core between Sunday and Wednesday.

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Ford sends message to Ottawa on Ring of Fire: Get out of our way – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 3, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Premier delivers sense of urgency in pushing for expedited approvals, development of critical minerals projects

Premier Doug Ford is ready to shove Ottawa out of the way to make progress in the Ring of Fire. Fresh off last week’s provincial election win and armed with a strong majority, an emboldened Ford appeared at the PDAC mining show in Toronto, March 3, ready to pick a fight with the feds in order to expedite critical minerals production in the face of a looming trade war with the U.S.

Calling Ontario as being in a pandemic-like “survival mode,” Ford said he’s taking bold policy steps, backed by investments, to build a resilient economy and to use critical minerals production as leverage against the Trump administration’s expected tariffs on Canadian goods.

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Ring of Fire access roads may not be complete until 2040 – by Alan S. Hale (The Trillium – March 2, 2025)

https://www.thetrillium.ca/

Two of the three Indigenous-led environmental assessments of the access roads to the Ring of Fire are nearly complete, but the third is expected to take three more years, followed by a decade of construction

Despite the Progressive Conservative government’s promises to fast-track the building of roads to the proposed Ring of Fire mining development in northwestern Ontario as a way to build “Fortress Am-Can” with the United States, current estimates suggest the final leg of the all-season road to the project site won’t be completed until sometime between 2035 and 2040.

At the same time, significant progress is being made on all three access roads needed to connect the Ring of Fire, Marten Falls First Nation and Webequie First Nation with the TransCanada Highway.

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Norway House chief says First Nations can help Manitoba’s potential to be global ‘Costco of critical minerals’ – by Ozten Shebahkeget (CBC News Manitoba – March 02, 2025)

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

Manitoba, Canada neglect First Nations mining despite clear benefits, Chief Larson Anderson says

The chief of the only First Nation to fully own a mining company in Manitoba says he wants the provincial and federal governments to recognize his community’s role in boosting critical mineral exploration as a global race to secure those materials heats up.

Norway House Cree Nation Chief Larson Anderson says his community took full ownership of the Minago nickel project on the Thompson nickel belt in November. The mine could enter production within the next five years, he said.

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Indigenous Affairs Minister is nowhere to be seen – by Jon Thompson (Ricochet Media – February 26, 2025)

https://ricochet.media/indigenous/

Greg Rickford’s opponents wanted the opportunity to debate him on the Ring of Fire mining development

Ontario’s election is entering the final stretch and Greg Rickford is nowhere to be found. The Kenora-Rainy River riding incumbent, who was most recently the minister of both northern development and Indigenous affairs, has not submitted to any media interviews or public debates. His NDP opponent finds it familiar.

When Rudy Turtle led the River Run demonstration to march on Queen’s Park in September, the former Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek (Grassy Narrows First Nation) Chief was hoping to meet with the Minister and the Premier.

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No harm from tailings, says McEwen Mining about First Nation allegations – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – February 26, 2025)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Matheson miner argues no share compensation arrangement exists with First Nation

Matheson gold producer McEwen Mining contends there’s no cause for concern regarding its mine waste tailings storage facility that a nearby First Nation claims is causing environment harm and is a human health risk.

In a news release, McEwen responded to a lawsuit that was launched this month by Apitipi Anicinapek Nation (AAN) against the Toronto gold company for allegedly violating an impact benefit agreement (IBA) between the two parties.

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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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