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Canada Mining – North of 60

How a massive outbreak at Nunavut’s Baffinland mine sent ‘sparks’ of the Delta variant across the country – by Jennifer Yang (Our Windsor.com – June 12, 2021)

https://www.ourwindsor.ca/

On May 2, the Baffinland mine in Nunavut made a troubling announcement: For the first time in the pandemic, COVID-19 was spreading inside its remote northern work camp. What the press release did not say is that at least one worker had tested positive for Delta, a highly transmissible variant never seen before in the territory.

The mine suspended operations, and workers that the company’s contact tracers deemed “low risk” started flying home. But soon after, some of those employees began testing positive — and Nunavut health officials realized the virus had spread further than initially believed.

Today, Baffinland’s Mary River mine is the site of one of Canada’s largest-known outbreaks of Delta, the variant of concern that first emerged in India and is 50 per cent more transmissible than the Alpha variant that fuelled Canada’s third wave.

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Yukon government, creditor take disputes over Wolverine mine to Supreme Court of Canada – by Jackie Hong (CBC News North – June 7, 2021)

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

The Yukon government and a biotech company that loaned money to the now-bankrupt owner of the Wolverine mine have taken their disputes over who gets what’s left of the mine’s assets to the country’s highest court.

The territorial government, represented by the minister of energy, mines and resources, as well as Welichem Research General Partnership filed separate notices of application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada on May 4.

The files were opened on May 27, although the Supreme Court of Canada has yet to decide on whether it will actually hear either case.

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NUNAVUT MINING: De Beers considers carbon-neutral diamond mine near Iqaluit – by Ezra Black (Nunavut News – June 8, 2021)

https://www.nunavutnews.com/

De Beers has set an ambitious goal to make the Chidliak Project its first carbon neutral diamond mine. Consequently, the company is looking to build a low-impact operation using renewable energy and cutting-edge technology.

The project is located on the Hall Peninsula of Baffin Island, approximately 200 kilometres south of Pangnirtung and about 120 kilometres from Iqaluit.

Due to the large number of kimberlite pipes – carrot-shaped geologic formations that often contain diamonds – De Beers is looking to design the operation using high-tech mining techniques, according to De Beers spokesperson Terry Kruger.

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Greenland officials say Nunavut mine owner hasn’t fully addressed cross-border impacts – by Kevin McGwin (Nunatsiaq News/Arctic Today – May 27, 2021)

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An assessment of the potential impact of increased shipping activity in Baffin Bay stemming from a proposed expansion of the Mary River iron mine in Nunavut has been criticized by Naalakkersuisut, Greenland’s self-rule government, for not fully assessing its concerns.

Because the expanded mining activity would impact other countries, Baffinland, the mine’s operator, is required by international law to compile an assessment of the damage it could cause and grant authorities from the affected countries permission to comment on it.

The Baffinland assessment, together with a series of written exchanges between Greenland authorities and the company’s representatives about its contents was released for public consultation in Greenland on May 18. However, Naalakkersuisut underscored that because Baffinland had declined to take Greenland’s concerns fully into account, the assessment could not be considered to be complete.

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Yukon UNESCO World Heritage bid shifts focus from Gold Rush to colonialism (CBC News North – May 25, 2021)

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

Three years after withdrawing a bid to become a UNESCO World Heritage site, a local committee in Dawson City, Yukon, is trying again — this time shifting focus from mining and the Klondike Gold Rush to the experience of colonialism by First Nations.

“Tr’ondëk-Klondike as a site tells an exceptional story that reflects Indigenous peoples’ — Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in peoples’ —experience and adaptation to what we know as the phenomenon of European colonialism,” said Lee Whalen, of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation’s heritage department.

“So under the criteria for World Heritage, we are illustrating a significant stage in human history.”

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This Arctic mine is a warning the world must heed – by Laura Paddison (Wired Magazine – May 26, 2021)

https://www.wired.co.uk/

Eric Ootoovak remembers a time when the icy waters north of Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic were teeming with narwhals. The mythical-looking sea creatures are woven into the culture of Inuit hunters like Ootoovak, who have caught these marine mammals for millennia, eating their meat, blubber and skin, which are packed with vitamins Inuit rely on to get through the long, dark winters.

“The narwhals used to be abundant, by the thousands, and we don’t see that today,” says Ootoovak, the chair of the Mittimatalik Hunters and Trappers Organization, based in the Inuit hamlet of Pond Inlet on northern Baffin Island.

Things changed when the huge Mary River open pit iron ore mine started operations on Baffin Island in 2014, bringing dust, trucks and ships. Narwhal numbers dropped off, says Ootoovak, along with fish and seals.

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What Pandora’s switch to synthetics means for NWT diamond mines – by Ben Andrews (Cabin Radio – May 13, 2021)

https://cabinradio.ca/

The world’s largest jewellery maker has sparked a debate about ethical mining and the Northwest Territories’ struggling diamond industry is at the centre.

he diamond industry is defending the ethics of mined diamonds after Danish company Pandora announced last week it would use only lab-grown products. Pandora said a combination of renewables and offsets will make its synthetic diamonds carbon-neutral.

Global jewellery organizations responded to Pandora’s announcement in a joint news release arguing the company had smeared natural diamonds by presenting the “misleading narrative” that lab-grown diamonds are an “ethical” alternative to gems pulled from the ground.

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Nunavut economy grows despite global pandemic – by David Venn (Nunatsiaq News – May 11, 2021)

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Nunavut was one of two Canadian jurisdictions to have its economy grow in 2020, as the country’s gross domestic product fell 5.3 per cent, according to a recent Statistics Canada report.

The territory’s GDP increased 3.5 per cent in 2020 – the most of any territory or province in the country, with Yukon trailing with a 1.1 per cent increase – according to the report published Monday.

Economic growth in Nunavut was supported by a healthy year for the gold and silver mining sector, which grew by 23 per cent, and iron mining, which grew by 34 per cent.

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Editorial: The cost of the Wolverine minesite – by Lewis Rifkind (Yukon News – May 9, 2021)

https://www.yukon-news.com/

The price of a decent wolverine fur goes for about $1,000 these days. Wolverine fur trim on hoods is highly desirable because it repels water. This means a frost-free hood on those cold days when Yukoners go outside.

Regrettably, there is a mine in the southeast Yukon of the same name that does not repel water and is costing Yukon residents a lot more than a single animal fur to treat its wastewater. This beast is known as the Wolverine Mine.

The Wolverine Mine site is located in the southeast Yukon on the Robert Campbell Highway between Ross River and Watson Lake. It produced mainly lead, zinc and some other metals for three years, and was last operated back in 2015.

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Agnico Eagle embraces reduced operations for its new western Nunavut mine – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – May 112, 2021)

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Agnico Eagle Mining Ltd. plans to stick to a schedule of reduced operations into 2022 for its recently acquired Hope Bay gold mine, says general manager Eric Steinmetzer.

The new owner’s plans for Hope Bay include completing an overview of the entire operation on the property’s three gold deposits, Doris, Madrid and Boston. Analysts are now on site, looking at the full economic potential of the entire ore body, Steinmetzer said.

That analysis will take at least a year to complete, he said, and suggest whether or not Agnico Eagle needs to design a new mill or simply undertake an upgrade of the existing mill.

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Mary River mine could be mothballed, Baffinland president warns – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – May 4, 2021)

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Baffinland Iron Mines Corp.’s president and CEO Brian Penney says there’s a possibility the company might mothball its Mary River iron mine next year.

Penney explained in an April 30 letter that shareholders are saying they won’t invest any more money because there have been delays securing the approval to expand the operation in northern Baffin Island.

“The letter was sent to all employees and contracting staff,” said Heather Smiles, Baffinland’s manager of stakeholder relations. “This letter is intended from an internal perspective to communicate to our employees on what to expect.”

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Recommended staking moratorium in Yukon land use planning areas misses the mark, critics say – by Julien Gignac (CBC News Yukon – April 21, 2021)

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

Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin First Nation’s chief disagrees with a recommendation included in the Yukon Mineral Development Strategy that suggests staking moratoriums in land use planning areas should be capped at 20 per cent.

Roberta Joseph said the recommendation doesn’t go far enough, adding that too much staking in a given area runs the risk of prioritizing mining before land use plans are completed. “This recommendation is not really a balanced approach,” she said.

“There’s no fairness in a plan that’s already being dictated by all of the permits and licences that are being issued,” she said, referring to the regional land use plan that’s underway in the Dawson area.

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Here’s an inside look at Canada’s first rare earth mining project in the N.W.T. – by Liny Lamberink (CBC North – April 20, 2021)

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

Kyle Bayha says he’s been a minority at all of his past jobs. But for the last five weeks, the Délı̨nę, Northwest Territories man has been working at the Nechalacho demonstration project as an employee of Det’on Cho Nahanni Construction Corporation.

There, about 110 kilometres southeast of Yellowknife, the workforce is 80 per cent Indigenous he said. “Oh, it means lots,” he told reporters.

Cheetah Resources, which operates the project and owns the resources near the surface of the rare earth deposit, invited media for a tour of Nechalacho on Monday.

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Cleanup of Rayrock, the ‘Tłı̨chǫ Giant,’ to receive public scrutiny – by Ollie Williams (Cabin Radio – April 22, 2021)

https://cabinradio.ca/

Federal plans to clean up the former Rayrock uranium mine and its surroundings will be examined at a three-day public hearing to be broadcast live by Cabin Radio next week.

The area around the mine, known as Kwetıı̨ɂ̨aà to the Tłı̨chǫ people, is in some ways the Tłı̨chǫ equivalent of Yellowknife’s Giant Mine. Both left a toxic legacy that’s complex, time-consuming and expensive to deal with.

The Rayrock mine, around 60 km northeast of Whatì, only operated from 1957 to 1959. “The Tłı̨chǫ were never informed of the dangers of uranium mining before the mine was built, or soon after it was closed,” the Tłı̨chǫ Government has said.

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Far North snapshot: Eight companies hunting for minerals in the north – by Magda Gardner (Northern Miner – April 18, 2021)

https://www.northernminer.com/

In their search for future mines, many companies are turning to the Far North as existing resources are depleted. The North features favourable geology, mining-friendly policies and is much less explored than more established destinations to the south. Below, we provide an overview of eight companies focused on the northern portion of this continent.

Gold Terra

Gold Terra Resource (TSXV: YGT; US-OTC: YGTFF) is completing a 12,000-metre first-phase drill program at the Campbell Shear target, on grounds optioned from Newmont (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM). These option grounds are just south of the past-producing Con mine, and adjacent to Gold Terra’s flagship Yellowknife City gold project in the Northwest Territories, 10 km from Yellowknife.

At approximately 800 sq. km, the Yellowknife City project covers an estimated 70 km of the Campbell Shear structure. The historic Giant and Con mines nearby generated a total of 14 million gold oz. from a 7-km section of the shear zone.

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