Twitter

Canada Mining – North of 60

Northern Canada emerging as a new gold mining and exploration hotspot – by Vladimir Basov (Kitco News – November 10, 2020)

https://www.kitco.com/

According to Wikipedia, “Northern Canada, colloquially the North, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories (NWT), and Nunavut.”

With a total population estimate of 126,566 as of Q3 2020, the North already producing approximately 27 times more gold per capita than, for example, Ontario, the largest gold producing province or territory in Canada.

Nunavut is third largest Canadian gold producing province / territory with 465 koz of gold mined in 2019 and Yukon is eight with 84 koz. The North is a home to the great Klondike Gold Rush from the late 1800s that engulfed the Yukon Territory.

Read more

Russia preparing to beat Canada in race for Arctic resources – by Eugene Gerden (Resource World Magazine – November 9, 2020)

https://resourceworld.com/

Russia plans to beat Canada and the US in the race for Arctic hydrocarbon resources by establishing control of over 60% of them via recognition of its right to the Lomonosov Ridge by the special UN Commission which may take place as early as 2021.

According to earlier statements by Dmitry Medvedev, a member of the Russian Security Council, Russia is planning to “more vigorously defend its claims for the development of Arctic mining fields” amid the attempts of rivals to limit its access to these resources.

Needless to say, the main interest of Russia in the Arctic is related to the Lomonosov Ridge, an underwater ridge of continental crust under the Arctic Ocean that spans 1,800 km from the New Siberian Islands over the central part of the ocean to Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and which, in addition to Russia, could also be considered as an attractive region by Canada and Denmark.

Read more

Nunavut should take another look at uranium policy, MLA John Main says – by Jim Bell (Nunatsiaq News – November 5, 2020)

Homepage

If you thought the demise of the controversial Kiggavik uranium project in 2016 put a lid on the Nunavut uranium debate, think again.

John Main, the MLA for Arviat North–Whale Cove, said on Monday in a member’s statement that it’s time for the Government of Nunavut to take another look at the uranium policy statement it issued in 2012.

“I think we should consult Nunavummiut about whether they support uranium mining or not, and whether we should be talking about this matter, and if Nunavut should have that,” Main said.

Read more

Clyde River mayor braces for legal action over iron mine expansion – by Derek Neary (Nunavut News – November 4, 2020)

https://nunavutnews.com/

Jerry Natanine prevailed in a high-profile 2017 Supreme Court case to prevent offshore seismic testing, and he says he’s prepared to use the legal system again, if necessary, to stop Baffinland Iron Mines from building a railway.

“Absolutely, I’m prepared to go to court,” Natanine says. “They’re just walking all over us.”

The mayor’s primary concern is for wildlife, particularly caribou, in relation to the proposed 110-km railroad that would stretch from the Mary River mine to Milne Inlet.

Read more

Canadian miner Nevsun Resources settles with African workers over case alleging human-rights abuses – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – October 29, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canadian base-metals miner Nevsun Resources Ltd. has reached a settlement with a trio of Eritrean workers who had sued the company for alleged human-rights abuses during the construction of a mine in the African country.

The development comes in the wake of a Supreme Court of Canada ruling earlier this year that Nevsun could be sued in Canada for alleged infractions abroad – a landmark decision that broadened liability for all Canadian corporations with international operations.

“This settlement speaks to the incredible courage of the mine workers who came forward with their horrific experiences,” Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary-General of Amnesty International Canada, said in a release.

Read more

OPINION: The case for greater federal investments in northern mining infrastructure – by Brendan Marshall (Nunatsiaq News – October 23, 2020)

https://nunatsiaq.com/

Brendan Marshall is the vice-president for economic and northern affairs for the Mining Association of Canada.

The old expression “If it isn’t grown, it’s mined,” is taking on new meaning as the supply of minerals and metals critical to 21st century products takes on geopolitical importance.

As demand for mined materials continues to grow, there is increasing focus on what are referred to as “critical minerals”—vital in aerospace, defence, telecommunications, computing, and an array of clean and medical technologies such as solar panels, electric car batteries, ventilators and rapid testing kits.

Canada can play a larger role in this market, particularly given our leadership in sustainable mining practices and high environmental standards, and this opportunity is particularly relevant to mining in the North.

Read more

Misgoverning the Canadian Arctic – by Sergiy Slipchenko (Excalibur – October 24, 2020)

https://excal.on.ca/

York University’s Community Newspaper

The Canadian Arctic region has been often overlooked by the federal government in favour of more populated provinces, despite the importance and potential it holds. In 2020, a year where the COVID-19 pandemic has taken precedence over every other issue, this is more true than ever.

The Canadian North has often been put aside in the national agenda despite making up 40 per cent of Canada and is home to more than 100,000 residents. While the federal government has done extensive extraction of raw materials in Northern Canada, it is far behind when it comes to developing communities, infrastructure, and defence in the region.

Professor Gabrielle A. Slowey, a political science professor at York, neatly summarized Canada’s ventures in the north.

Read more

Mountain Province’s diamond output up despite virus disruptions – by Cecillia Jamasmie (Mining.com – October 16, 2020)

https://www.mining.com/

Canada’s Mountain Province Diamonds (TSX: MPVD), which holds a 49% stake in the remote Gahcho Kué mine, saw production at the operation jump by 30% during the third quarter from the previous three months as crews adjust to covid-19 protocols.

The company churned out a total of 9.88 million tonnes of ore and waste material in the three months to Sep. 30, compared to the 6.84 million tonnes mined during the second quarter of the year.

The figure, however, is about 16% lower than the 11.7 million tonnes the Northwest Territories diamond mine produced in the same period last year.

Read more

Ottawa orders security review of Chinese state-owned Shandong’s bid for Canadian miner TMAC Resources – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – October 16, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ottawa is ordering a formal national security review of state-owned Chinese miner Shandong Gold Mining Co. Ltd.’s proposed acquisition of TMAC Resources Inc., injecting more uncertainty into a deal that had already generated a national debate about sovereignty in Canada’s Far North.

In May, Shandong proposed an all-cash acquisition of TMAC for $1.75 a share, valuing the Toronto-based junior gold miner at $207.4-million, or about 4 per cent more than its market price at the time. Shareholders of TMAC voted overwhelmingly in favour of the deal in June and it received regulatory approval in China.

The enhanced security review by the federal government, which comes at a time of increased tension between China and Canada, raises doubts about whether the transaction will be successful, and at the very least pushes out the timeline for it to close to the first quarter of next year.

Read more

Slave Geological Province Corridor to go ahead after First Nation leaders pull brakes over summer (CBC News North – October 14, 2020)

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

The government of the Northwest Territories and the Yellowknives Dene First Nation have “reset” their relationship and have agreed to move forward with the $1.1-billion Slave Geological Province Corridor project.

The project in part would see a 413-kilometre, two-lane, all-season road built between mineral-rich areas northeast of Yellowknife and western Nunavut.

The idea is to create new economic opportunities that benefit both territories. The road would connect Nunavut to Canada’s highway system and link up to a potential deep-water port on the Arctic Ocean.

Read more

Environmental, human rights questions shadow Hope Bay mine sale – by Derek Neary (Nunavut News – October 13, 2020)

https://nunavutnews.com/

TMAC Resources negotiated a mineral exploration agreement with land claims organization Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and a series of deals with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association (KIA), including a 20-year Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement in 2015.

“All those agreements will stay in place” if Shandong Gold Mining buys out TMAC Resources, said Alex Buchan, TMAC’s vice-president of corporate social responsibility.

Asked whether the change in ownership at the Kitikmeot’s Hope Bay gold mine would open the door to renegotiating the KIA’s agreements as the Qikiqtani Inuit Association did in 2018 with Baffinland Iron Mines and again earlier this year with an Inuit Certainty Agreement – commanding a rising royalty rate, more jobs and training and even daycare provisions for workers’ children – Buchan tapped the brakes on such an idea.

Read more

Baffinland plans further expansion at Nunavut’s Mary River: report – by Jim Bell (Nunatsiaq News – October 14, 2020)

https://nunatsiaq.com/

Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. is likely planning a further expansion of its Mary River iron mine that would see iron ore shipments through its Milne Inlet port increase to 18 million tonnes a year.

That information is contained in a credit report on Baffinland, prepared by Moody’s Investors Service, dated June 2020 and obtained by Nunatsiaq News.

“Baffinland plans to expand the Mary River mine to a capacity of 18 Mtpa [18 million metric tons, or tonnes],” says the report, which repeatedly refers to a “Phase 3” expansion.

Read more

Dominion Diamonds says the proposed sale of Ekati is off (CBC News North – October 9, 2020)

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

The owner of the Ekati diamond mine in the Northwest Territories says the proposed $166 million dollar sale of the mine to affiliates of the Washington Companies is off.

In a press release Friday Dominion Diamonds said it had stopped negotiations around the proposed sale of certain Dominion assets, including the Ekati mine.

In the press release Dominion said it has been advised that surety bond users and the purchaser reached an “impasse in negotiations” with no reasonable chance of reaching an agreement that is satisfactory to all parties before the deal was set to go before the courts for approval on Oct. 14.

Read more

Diamonds found with gold in Canada’s Far North offer clues to Earth’s early history – by Michael Brown (Folio.ca – October 6, 2020)

https://www.folio.ca/

The presence of diamonds in an outcrop atop an unrealized gold deposit in Canada’s Far North mirrors the association found above the world’s richest gold mine, according to University of Alberta research that fills in blanks about the thermal conditions of Earth’s crust three billion years ago.

“The diamonds we have found so far are small and not economic, but they occur in ancient sediments that are an exact analog of the world’s biggest gold deposit—the Witwatersrand Goldfields of South Africa, which has produced more than 40 per cent of the gold ever mined on Earth,” said Graham Pearson, researcher in the Faculty of Science and Canada Excellence Research Chair Laureate in Arctic Resources.

“Diamonds and gold are very strange bedfellows. They hardly ever appear in the same rock, so this new find may help to sweeten the attractiveness of the original gold discovery if we can find more diamonds.”

Read more

More jobs, greater royalty payments attached to Hope Bay sale, company reps say – by Derek Neary (Nunavut News – October 5, 2020)

https://nunavutnews.com/

TMAC Resources is promoting the long-term advantages of selling its assets, including the Hope Bay gold mine, to China’s Shandong Gold Mining amid the unpredictability of Covid-19 and uncertainty over the federal government and the Kitikmeot Inuit Association’s stance on the pending transaction.

Several mine workers at Hope Bay tested positive for the coronavirus in late September and the company subsequently imposed a temporary travel embargo.

TMAC shareholders approved the $149 million (U.S.) sale to Shandong in June, but the Government of Canada still must decide whether a national security review is required.

Read more