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Canada Mining – North of 60

East of Yellowknife, a new mine tries to be different – by Ollie Williams (Cabin Radio – April 19, 2021)

https://cabinradio.ca/

Nechalacho, the NWT’s first new metals mine in decades, is about to enter production. Its owners envisage a model of smaller-scale mining, Indigenous involvement, and environmental responsibility.

The mine, around 100 km east of Yellowknife, is the first Canadian producer of rare earth elements – minerals that, in small quantities, power key parts of vehicles (especially electric vehicles) and various green technologies.

Phase one of the mine is small by NWT mining standards, sustaining around 30 seasonal jobs. This summer, 600,000 tons of rock will be mined, of which around 100,000 tons is expected to be valuable.

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‘If not this, then what?’ Nunavut Government in arctic Canada says economy needs controversial mining expansion – by Nick Murray (CBC News/Eye On The Arctic – April 19, 2021)

https://www.rcinet.ca/

Deputy minister tells NIRB expansion could also increase access to country food

The government of Nunavut has painted a gloomy picture of the territory should Baffinland’s Phase 2 expansion not proceed.

Baffinland is seeking approval to double its production at its Mary River iron ore mine south-west of Pond Inlet.

The Nunavut Impact Review Board was holding a final series of hearings last week in Iqaluit to consider the Phase 2 expansion proposal. But the hearings were suspended indefinitely on Wednesday following Iqaluit’s first confirmed case of COVID-19.

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Baffinland’s new commitments too little, too late, critics say – by David Venn (Nunatsiaq News – April 14, 2021)

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Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. has a list of new commitments it has made to communities near its Mary River mine, should its proposed expansion be approved, but critics say it’s not enough.

The Ontario-based mining company wants to build a 110-kilometre railway from its Mary River mine to Milne Inlet, double its iron ore shipments through the Tallurutiup Imanga marine conservation area and add another dock at its port. That proposal is the subject of a Nunavut Impact Review Board hearing underway this week in Iqaluit.

Baffinland has committed to an independent audit of the dust spread by the mine’s operations, to direct how the company will address environmental concerns if its expansion gets the green light.

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Inuit women experiencing harassment, lower pay at Canadian mine sites, report says – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – March 31, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

More than half of Inuit women surveyed by Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada in a report funded by the federal government said they have been sexually harassed at mining sites in Canada’s Far North.

According to the report released on Wednesday by Pauktuutit, a national non-profit Inuit women’s advocacy organization, the most frequent harassment incidents directed at Inuit women were “sexual comments, jokes, unwanted touching and emotional abuse.”

Some of the Inuit reported being the subject of sexual violence as frequently as every shift. Some reported feeling particularly vulnerable because they worked in housekeeping and janitorial positions that often placed them in private areas such as bedrooms and bathrooms.

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Yukon parties debate economic policy in chamber of commerce debate – by John Last and Philippe Morin (CBC News North – March 31, 2021)

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

Yukon politicians faced off Tuesday night in a debate organized by the Yukon Chamber of Commerce. The debate, which lasted over two hours, saw questions focused mainly on economic issues, posed by industry groups like the Yukon Chamber of Mines and the First Nation Chamber of Commerce.

Parties grappled with procurement policy, the future of tourism, and the territory’s recovery from COVID-19. “This election is about who Yukoners trust to lead this territory out of the pandemic, and into … a prosperous future,” said Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon.

“Too many small businesses have suffered,” said NDP Leader Kate White. “We need a government that gets what people are going through…. We need a government that’s pro-people.”

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The only city in Northwest Territories – by A.J. Roan (North of 60 Mining News – March 26, 2021)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

Far to the north lies the second largest of Canada’s three territories, simply named the Northwest Territories, and within this vast region of more than 400,000 square miles lies its only city, the capital called Yellowknife.

Yellowknife, and most of the region of the Northwest Territories, lies within what is known as the Canadian Shield, a large area of Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rock, meaning it dates to the earliest part of Earth’s history.

Scoured down to stone during the last ice age, glaciation has receded over time, revealing a joined bedrock region in eastern and central Canada, stretching from north of the Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean, this shield covers more than half of Canada and most of Greenland, and extends south into the northern parts of the United States.

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Nunavut mining companies defend environmental management despite stiff criticism – by Thomas Rohner (CBC News North – March 25, 2021)

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

The environmental impacts of Nunavut’s two biggest mining companies are not being properly managed, according to Inuit hunters and organizations, governments and non-profits.

That’s what documents on the Nunavut Impact Review Board’s (NIRB) website show about Agnico Eagle’s operations in the Kivalliq, and Baffinland’s Mary River mine in the Baffin region.

The companies mitigate environmental impacts through working groups that include hunters and other Inuit. These working groups monitor those impacts and recommend adjustments to ongoing mining operations. However, the mining companies are not required to act their advice.

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A Nunavut iron ore mine’s expansion exposes unique quandary of Arctic development – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – March 25, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement was supposed to be a game changer for the Inuit, but a controversial expansion proposal for a mine on Baffin Island exposes the vulnerabilities of the historic pact.

Oakville, Ont.-based Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. plans to double its iron ore production at its Mary River mine, which went into production in 2014.

The company also wants to build a railway that would transport ore from North Baffin to Milne Port, 110 kilometres away. Baffinland says the expansion is crucial to ensuring the mine is profitable over the long run.

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Honour of the Crown at stake as Yukon fails to consult on mining application, says Nation – by Shari Narine (Welland Tribune/Windspeaker.com – March 16, 2021)

https://www.wellandtribune.ca/

For the second time in eight years, the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun is challenging the Yukon government in court over a land-use plan.

“This kind of litigation isn’t good for anybody and it’s really disappointing that, now twice, two successive Yukon governments have approached land-use planning in a way that has resulted in judicial action being the only recourse available to the First Nation,” said Nuri G. Frame, legal counsel for Na-Cho Nyäk Dun.

On March 15, the First Nation filed a petition in the Supreme Court of Yukon challenging the Yukon government’s decision to approve Metallic Minerals Corporation’s (MMC) application for quartz mining in the Beaver River land-use area.

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OPINION: Canada’s North: By China for China – by Jessica M. Shadian (Globe and Mail – March 12, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Hey Canada, remember early in the pandemic when China “participated in the pragmatic co-operation” with us to make a vaccine? Well, it is about to happen again in the Arctic.

Last week, China released its 2021-25 strategic plan to engage in “pragmatic co-operation” to build its “Polar Silk Road,” a smaller piece of its overall Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

You know, the one where all global supply chains, infrastructure, trade logistics and resources lead to Beijing, underpinned by Huawei and Alibaba?

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Top defence official says China is a threat to Canadian Arctic – by Robert Fife (Globe and Mail – March 11, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

China is a growing threat to Canadian interests in the Arctic because of its need for natural resources, a top Defence Department official warned.

In frank comments to the Ottawa Conference on Security and Defence, deputy minister Jody Thomas said on Wednesday that Beijing is turning its attention to the Northwest Passage as melting ice opens up Arctic sea lanes to shipping and resource exploitation, including fish, petroleum and critical minerals.

China’s designs on minerals in Canada’s North in part prompted the development of a joint U.S.-Canada strategy to reshape global critical mineral supply chains and reduce reliance on China. Beijing has moved aggressively in recent years to tighten its control of rare-earth minerals, which are crucial for manufacturing high-tech and military products.

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Giant Mine contamination apology discussions underway, says Yellowknives Dene First Nation – by Hannah Paulson (CBC News North – March 4, 2021)

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

‘The destruction of the ecosystem that we have always enjoyed is a very painful history,’ chief says

A First Nation in the Northwest Territories is expecting to receive an apology from the federal government for the contamination of its land.

That’s according to Ed Sangris, chief of Dettah, N.W.T., who says the Yellowknives Dene First Nation (YKDFN) are expecting the process for an apology from the federal government, for the harms caused by contamination from the former Giant Mine, to begin in June.

A spokesperson for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada confirmed that the federal government has never apologized for the harm suffered by Indigenous people following the development and contamination of land caused by mining in the North.

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Nunavut mine’s study on caribou roundly rejected – by Thomas Rohner (CBC News North – March 2, 2021)

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

Agnico Eagle commissions study that finds mining road has virtually no impact on migrating caribou

A scientific analysis commissioned by Agnico Eagle that found the mining road near Meliadine Mine in the Kivalliq region is having virtually no impact on migrating caribou is being roundly criticized by Nunavut agencies.

“It became pretty clear that they’re not analyzing data correctly,” Clayton Tartak, research coordinator with the Kivalliq Wildlife Board, told CBC News.

Community organizations and members near the mine participated in a roundtable discussion held by the Nunavut Impact Review Board last month.

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Key Inuit organization signals it will oppose Baffinland iron ore mine expansion – by Niall McGee (February 22, 2021)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The regional Inuit organization that represents the Inuit on Baffin Island is signalling it will likely oppose the proposed expansion of the Mary River iron ore mine because of the damage it believes would be wreaked on the environment and on the livelihoods of the Indigenous population.

Privately held Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. has proposed doubling its production at Mary River to 12 million tonnes a year.

The Oakville, Ont.-based miner also wants to build a railroad that would transport ore from its complex in North Baffin to Milne Port, about 100 kilometres away. Baffinland says the expansion is crucial to turn a marginal operation into a profit-making one.

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Nunavut mine says it’s not allowed to harm Inuit harvesting – by Beth Brown (CBC News North – February 17, 2021)

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

In the wake of last week’s blockade, Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation says it has heard the call to slow down plans to expand production at the Mary River mine.

“It’s unfortunate that they felt they had to go to those extremes to be heard,” said Udloriak Hanson, Baffinland’s vice-president of community and sustainable development, about the protesters who blockaded the mine’s airstrip and trucking road for a week.

Baffinland wants to double the mine’s output from six to 12 million tonnes of iron ore by building a railway and increasing shipping through a narwhal habitat. The protesters say that would damage the environment, and affect their harvesting rights.

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