Canada Mining – North of 60 – Page 13

Inuit hunters blockade iron mine in freezing temperatures over expansion – by Leyland Cecco (The Guardian – February 9, 2021)

February 11, 2021

https://www.theguardian.com/

Standoff exposes tensions between large Inuit organizations with power to approve permits and residents of small communities

A group of Inuit hunters have braved nearly a week of freezing temperatures to blockade a remote iron mine in northern Canada, in protest over an expansion plan they say will harm local wildlife.

The blockade, which has prompted solidarity rallies in other Nunavut communities, has also exposed growing tensions between large Inuit organizations with the power to approve development permits – and residents of the small communities where the impact of such projects is felt.

Since 5 February, seven hunters have created a makeshift barrier of snowmobiles and sleds to block the airstrip and service road of the Mary River ore mine, halting operations. Temperatures in recent days have dipped to the low -30sC.

Mary River mine needs a railway to survive, new economic report says – by Jim Bell (Nunatsiaq News – February 8, 2021)

February 9, 2021

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Baffinland Iron Mines Corp.’s Mary River mine is unlikely to survive without a railway to carry greater quantities of ore to Milne Inlet, says a report commissioned by the company.

The report, titled Mary River Project Economics Explained, was submitted to the Nunavut Impact Review Board this month during its public hearing on Baffinland’s expansion proposal for the Mary River mine, which adjourned Feb. 6 and is to resume in March.

The company filed the economic report in response to an earlier economic analysis done for the Oceans North conservation group by a firm called OpenOil, which said Baffinland’s existing truck route is capable of making a profit for the company.

Mary River mine at a standstill as hunters’ blockades enter 5th day – by Dustin Patar (Nunatsiaq News – February 8, 2021)

February 9, 2021

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A blockade of the Mary River iron mine continued into its fifth day, as a group of hunters opposed to the mine’s expansion demanded they be recognized as an Inuit association and be paid a portion of the royalties the mine generates.

“We would like to see actual negotiations with the most impacted communities and have us involved right away,” said Naymen Inuarak, one of the hunters currently at the Mary River mine site, in an interview via satellite phone. “We’ve been ignored way too long.”

Late last Thursday, a group of seven hunters from Arctic Bay and Pond Inlet arrived at the mine site and shut down the airstrip and road that leads to Milne Inlet, in protest of the mine’s Phase 2 expansion.

Commentary: Poor information allowed to be tabled on Mary River economics – by Ken Armstrong (Nunatsiaq News – February 2021)

February 8, 2021

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Ken Armstrong is the President of the NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines.

I write in reference to the Jan. 30 Nunatsiaq News story, “Despite Baffinland’s claims, truck route still makes money, expert says,” discussing the findings of a report commissioned by Oceans North and prepared by a Berlin-based third-party consultant, OpenOil, that was submitted to the Nunavut Impact Review Board public registry.

Stepping back for a moment, the purpose of the current NIRB hearing is to facilitate informed decision-making by the board with respect to Baffinland’s Mary River phase-two proposal.

Under the Nunavut Agreement, the primary functions of the NIRB include review of environmental and socio-economic impacts of project proposals in order to make a determination about whether the project should proceed for subsequent consideration by the minister.

Inuit hunters blockade Nunavut iron ore mine in effort to have environmental concerns heard – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – February 6, 2021)

February 8, 2021

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A small gathering of Inuit subsistence hunters are staging a blockade at the Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. complex in Nunavut, claiming that their concerns about a proposed expansion of the Mary River mine have not been heard.

Privately-held Baffinland said that two groups of hunters had gathered at the mine on Baffin Island on Thursday night – one at the company’s airstrip, and the other on the supply road that leads out of the mine.

The Oakville, Ont.-based miner has proposed doubling its production of iron ore at Mary River to 12 million tonnes a year, from six million tonnes.

Sale of Ekati mine to Arctic Canadian Diamond closes (Canadian Mining Journal – February 4, 2021)

February 5, 2021

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Dominion Diamond‘s sale of Canada’s first diamond mine, Ekati, to Arctic Canadian Diamond Company has been completed.

Full operations at the site, which had been placed on care and maintenance at the beginning of the pandemic last March, resumed on Jan. 20 after a 10-week restart that began in November. A “full recall” of employees is expected to be complete by Feb. 25.

Arctic Canadian is owned by DDJ Capital Management, Brigade Capital Management, LP and Western Asset Management Company, LLC. In a sale that was approved in December, the company acquired the asset in return for assuming US$70 million of Dominion’s outstanding indebtedness under its existing revolving credit agreement, as well as the reclamation obligations for Ekati.

Final hearings extended for Nunavut mine expansion – by Beth Brown (CBC News North – February 3, 2021)

February 4, 2021

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

Environmental hearings for an expansion of the Mary River Mine on north Baffin Island are being extended, again.

An additional hearing is now being planned for March, the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) announced Tuesday, after a two-week technical meeting being held in Iqaluit and Pond Inlet fell a week behind schedule,

“The board is planning to hold the extended session in Iqaluit and plans to bring together up to five community representatives representing the hamlet, hunters and trappers organization, women, youth and elders from each of the seven communities, including representatives from Pond Inlet, all together in one venue,” said Kaviq Kaluraq, chair of the review board, when announcing the schedule changes.

OPINION | It’s about time Yukon Rendezvous dropped the colonialist ‘Sourdough’ – by Lori Fox (CBC News North – February 2, 2021)

February 3, 2021

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

Yukon’s beloved Gold Rush history is ‘a hot mess of highly questionable colonial behaviour,’ argues Lori Fox

Organizers of the one-time Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous festival — either an all-ages winter carnival or a week-long bender, depending on your proclivities — recently announced they are dropping “Sourdough” from their name, and the festival would be hitherto known simply as “Yukon Rendezvous.”

The decision, they said, was the result of public feedback around the colonial nature of the word.

The name change was met with fury from some Yukoners, many of whom took to social media and called it an “erasure” of Yukon history — by which they mean settler history, specifically that of the Klondike Gold Rush, from which “sourdough,” as a moniker denoting a fortune-seeker who overwintered in the territory, originates.

Indigenous opposition to Arctic mine expansion could halt development – by Naill McGee (Globe and Mail – February 1, 2021)

February 2, 2021

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A proposed iron ore mine expansion by Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation is raising environmental red flags among Inuit groups, hamlets, and subsistence hunters and trappers, potentially putting the brakes on one of the biggest industrial developments ever envisaged in the Canadian Arctic.

Privately held Baffinland hopes to double its production of iron ore at its Baffin Island mine in Nunavut to 12 million tonnes a year, from six million tonnes.

The Oakville, Ont.-based miner also wants to build a railroad that would transport ore from its Mary River mine in the Qikiqtani region of North Baffin to Milne Port, about 100 kilometres away.

Mining in northern [Nunavut] territory to rebound – by Rose Ragsdale (North of 60 Mining News – January 29, 2021)

January 29, 2021

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

Nunavut is one jurisdiction in Canada with a favorable economic outlook in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent economic analysis completed by the Conference Board of Canada.

The reason: Nunavut’s mining sector, which remained mostly intact in 2020, accounted for more than one-third of its economy, a higher share than in every other Canadian province or territory.

Projected to have expanded 6.1% last year, Nunavut’s economy is forecast to grow 13.2% in 2021, marking the territory’s fifth and sixth consecutive years of economic growth greater than 5%, the Conference Board reported.

Canada’s national security screening net is cast very broadly – by Laura Rowe (Northern Miner – January 25, 2021)

January 27, 2021

https://www.northernminer.com/

In December the Government of Canada blocked Chinese state-owned Shandong Gold Mining Co. Ltd. from purchasing TMAC Resources and its Hope Bay gold mine in Nunavut.

The proposed $230 million dollar investment was blocked by the government on national security grounds following a review under the Investment Canada Act (ICA).

The government did not provide specific reasons for its decision (which is typical in reviews under the ICA, especially when national security is involved) and only noted that reviews are conducted on a case by case basis.

Pond Inlet calls for slow increase to iron ore output at Mary River Mine (CBC News North – January 13, 2021)

January 18, 2021

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

With final environmental hearings for a production expansion at Mary River Mine set to start in Pond Inlet, Nunavut, in two weeks, the community’s municipal council says it is prepared to support the project if the mine owners agree to gradual production increases.

Instead of seeing output at the mine immediately double from six million to 12 million tonnes of iron ore shipped out annually, the hamlet is asking Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation to only increase output by 1.5 million tonnes each year.

“The Hamlet of Pond Inlet will not support the phase two project unless Baffinland agrees to a proposal to phase in the shipment of 12 million tonnes or ore per year, in yearly increments of 1.5 million tonners per year,” Pond Inlet Mayor Joshua Arreak said in a recent letter to the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

Seven Inuit communities create non-profit to lobby mining industry in Baffin region – by Beth Brown (CBC News North – January 11, 2021)

January 12, 2021

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

A new Inuit led non-profit in Nunavut’s northern Qikiqtaaluk region is hoping to make sure its seven member-communities benefit from industry in the region, including in aviation, fisheries and mining.

The North Baffin Association, or Qikiqtaaluk Uangnangani Katujjiqatigiit in Inuktut, was formed at the end of 2020 “after years of coordination,” it said in a Jan. 7 news release.

“We are very happy and proud to announce to our members that an organization that reflects their needs has been created to represent them,” executive director Neeko Inuarak said. To do this, the association says it will create its own separate business arm.

Major reforms proposed in Yukon mineral development strategy report – by Kelsey Rolfe (Northern Miner – January 10, 2021)

January 12, 2021

https://www.northernminer.com/

Developing new mining legislation, creating a water use tax and completing the Yukon’s six outstanding land use plans in the next five years are among the substantial list of recommendations made by the independent panel in charge of the territory’s mineral development strategy.

The panel’s final report, released Dec. 28, contains 79 recommendations meant to guide future mineral development in the territory. It was developed as part of a 2017 memorandum of understanding on mining between the Yukon government and 11 self-governing First Nations. Yukoners have until Feb. 22 to comment on the report.

“This could shape the way that mineral development’s done in the Yukon for the foreseeable future, so this deserves a lot of attention,” said Yukon Chamber of Mines president Ed Peart in an interview with The Northern Miner.

Inuit groups say they’re happy about Agnico Eagle’s TMAC purchase – Jim Bell (Nunatsiaq News – January 11, 2021)

January 12, 2021

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“Agnico Eagle has a track record of success in Nunavut”

Two regional Inuit associations in Nunavut say they’re happy about Agnico Eagle’s impending acquisition of TMAC Resources Inc. TMAC is operator of the Hope Bay gold project southwest of Cambridge Bay.

In one statement, the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, which controls most of the land the sprawling Hope Bay project sits on, said it is “optimistic and supportive.”

“Agnico Eagle has a track record of success in Nunavut,” said president Stanley Anablak. He added he’s happy a mature mining company will assume control of Hope Bay.