Canada Mining – North of 60 – Page 19

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.

Chinese takeover bid had to be stopped – Editorial (Hamilton Spectator – December 28, 2020)

January 8, 2021

https://www.thespec.com/

There are many good reasons the Canadian government didn’t want to pick a new quarrel with China by stopping a Chinese company from buying up a Canadian gold mine.

But as it turns out, the arguments were even more compelling for blocking the takeover of an important natural resource in a strategically sensitive part of this country.

It’s obvious that even without this latest provocation, relations between the two countries have cooled to the point of being glacial. China’s authoritarian rulers are still furious Canada arrested one of their country’s top telecommunications executives, Huawei Technology’s Meng Wanzhou, who is wanted in the United States on fraud charges.

Yukon rejects ATAC Resources application for mining access road – by Jackie Hong (CBC News Yukon – December 1, 2021)

January 8, 2021

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

A mineral exploration company says it is questioning a decision by the Yukon government to reject its application to build an exploration road to one of its gold deposits in central Yukon.

ATAC Resources Ltd. has, for years, proposed bettering access to its Tiger Gold deposit, which is part of its larger Rackla Gold project north of Mayo.

The proposed 65-kilometre-long all-season road would overlap onto two existing trails, as well as 46 creek and river crossings in the Beaver River watershed, all within the traditional territory of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun.

Agnico Eagle CEO explains company’s sudden interest in Hope Bay – by Derek Neary (Nunavut News – January 6, 2021)

January 7, 2021

https://nunavutnews.com/

When TMAC Resources announced in January 2020 that it was prepared to sell its assets to a larger company, only China’s Shandong Gold Mining stepped forward with a bid.

After the federal government rejected that deal in December, Toronto-headquartered Agnico Eagle announced it was making an offer 20 per cent higher than Shandong did – $286.6 million compared to $230 million.

Agnico Eagle’s appetite to acquire the oft-troubled Hope Bay project at a premium are multifold, according to CEO Sean Boyd.

Agnico Eagle Mines to buy TMAC Resources after bid from China’s Shandong rejected by Ottawa – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – January 5, 2021)

January 7, 2021

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. has reached a friendly agreement to buy TMAC Resources Inc. for $289-million mere weeks after the Canadian government rejected Chinese state-controlled Shandong Gold Mining Co. Ltd.’s attempts to buy the struggling Arctic miner.

Toronto-based TMAC operates the Doris gold mine in Hope Bay, Nunavut, near tidewater in the Northwest Passage, a highly strategic shipping route connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.

The attempted takeover of the firm by Shandong generated a national debate about sovereignty in Canada’s Far North and whether China should be allowed to gain an economic foothold in the High Arctic.

Agnico Eagle bulks up Arctic presence with purchase of troubled TMAC mine – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – January 5, 2021)

January 5, 2021

https://financialpost.com/

Deal comes just weeks after Ottawa blocked Chinese bid for goldfield on national security grounds

Toronto-based Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. has agreed to buy a faltering gold mine in Nunavut just weeks after the federal government blocked a Chinese company’s offer for the goldfield on national security grounds.

Agnico will pay $2.20 per share to purchase TMAC Resources Inc., which started producing gold at its Hope Bay Mine in Nunavut in 2017 but has never met performance or output expectations.

The cash deal, valued at $286 million in equity, represents about $60 million more, or a 26 per cent premium, to what China’s state-owned Shandong Gold Group offered for TMAC earlier this year, and a 66 per cent premium to TMAC’s 20-day volume weighted average trading price.