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Canada Mining – North of 60

Western Nunavut gold miner deals with fallout from COVID-19 pandemic – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – May 6, 2020)

https://nunatsiaq.com/

For more than a month, under new COVID-19 restrictions, TMAC Resources Inc. has managed to operate its Hope Bay gold mine complex with reduced staff and operations.

Now the junior mining company has obtained some temporary relief from meeting its 2020 Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. exploration requirements due to the challenges in fielding exploration crews this year.

“Under this agreement, we are required to explore on tenured Inuit owned lands a minimum amount per hectare per year. This is just not logistically possible at this moment,” Alex Buchan, TMAC’s vice-president for corporate social responsibility, told Nunatsiaq News.

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Mining resumes under COVID-19 but faces slow return: GlobalData – by Greg Klein (Resource Clips – April 28, 2020)

http://resourceclips.com/

As of April 27 some 729 mines worldwide remain suspended, down from more than 1,600 shutdowns on April 3. The numbers, released by GlobalData, reflect government decisions to declare the industry an essential service, as well as implementation of new health standards and procedures. Those efforts, often involving staff reductions, contribute to “a slow return for the industry,” stated the data and analytics firm.

“Silver production is currently being severely damaged by lockdown measures,” pointed out GlobalData mining analyst Vinneth Bajaj. “As of 27 April, the equivalent of 65.8% of annual global silver production was on hold.

Silver mining companies such as First Majestic, Hochschild, Hecla Mining and Endeavour Silver have all withdrawn their production guidance for 2020 in the wake of the outbreak.

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North-OPINION – N.W.T. mines are COVID-19 time bombs — let’s put people over profit – by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen (CBC News North – April 28, 2020)

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

Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen is an organizer with Our Time Yellowknife, the local chapter of a grassroots, youth-led climate justice movement for a Green New Deal in Canada.

COVID-19 has forced everyone to make sacrifices. Beyond the human impacts, many businesses in the N.W.T. have closed or curtailed their operations, leaving owners in a cash crunch and sending employees to the online unemployment line.

But in the Northwest Territories, one sector is largely exempt from the travel restrictions and ban on indoor gatherings that keep us safe.

Two diamond mines still operate in the territory. They are ticking time bombs that risk causing a COVID-19 outbreak. This could overwhelm our health-care system and extend the current measures by months.

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A look inside the finances of Dominion Diamonds, the mine company now under court protection – by Alex Brockman (CBC News North – April 25, 2020)

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

When the Washington Companies, a U.S.-based conglomerate bought Dominion Diamonds in 2017, a curtain fell over one of the world’s largest diamond companies and significant employers in the Northwest Territories.

After the sale, Dominion became a private business and faced far fewer requirements on what it had to share with the public, and was able to operate with little scrutiny as it ran the Ekati mine and a 40 per cent stake in Diavik, two of the territory’s three diamond mines.

For the past three years, the company hummed along, freed from the obligation to report on its business to shareholders or the public.

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Greenland wants its say in huge Canadian Arctic mining project – by Marc Montgomery (Radio Canada International – April 22, 2020)

https://www.rcinet.ca/en/

High up in the Canadian Arctic a giant open pit mine is extracting millions of tonnes of iron ore which is then shipped to destinations in Europe and Asia.

The Baffinland company’s Mary River site on Baffin Island, originally began extracting 4.2 million tonnes in 2015, increased to 6mt by 2018. Phase 2 of the project seeks to double that to 12mt. with some reports saying they plan to seek approval for 18mt.

In 2018 there were 71 giant cargo ship voyages to and from the site and Phase 2 seeks to increase that to 176 trips from July to mid-November.

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North: Diamond mines exempt from coronavirus travel restrictions due to economic importance – by Richard Gleeson (CBC News North – April 22, 2020)

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

A glaring exception to travel restrictions placed on those entering the Northwest Territories during the COVID-19 pandemic is the one made for workers at the territory’s three diamond mines.

At the mines, people from the N.W.T. work alongside those from provinces where there have been far more confirmed cases of the highly contagious respiratory disease. None of the workers from outside the N.W.T. are required to self-isolate for two weeks like most others arriving in the territory.

In an email, the territories’ chief public health officer said the mines are allowed to continue operating because of the huge role they play in the N.W.T.’s economy.

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North: ‘All bets are off’ as Dominion Diamond Mines faces severe cash crunch – by Walter Strong (CBC News North – April 22, 2020)

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

Dominion Diamond Mines has been granted a reprieve after filing for insolvency protection, the company announced Wednesday in a press release.

According to the release, the company and some of its affiliates “have filed for insolvency protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA)” and has received an order from the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench granting protection to the company under the act.

“Dominion intends to use the CCAA process to engage in discussions with its lenders, creditors, equity owner and other stakeholders and to solicit and evaluate strategic alternatives to restructure the company financially and operationally, and position it for long-term success when global economic and industry conditions improve,” the press release states.

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Northern miners concerned federal coronavirus wage subsidy leaves them in the cold – by Bob Weber (Canadian Press/Globe and Mail – April 14, 2020)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Northern miners have told the federal government that the wage subsidy program brought in to get the country through the COVID-19 pandemic leaves them out in the cold.

“We urgently request the federal government take the unique circumstances of Canada’s North into account and ensure the companies active in its most important and largest private sector industry are provided the supports they need to survive,” says a letter from territorial mining associations to federal Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal.

The letter, co-signed by the Yukon Chamber of Mines, is being supported by all three territorial governments. Tom Hoefer of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Chamber of Mines said Monday the program is a poor fit for the northern mining industry.

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Struggling mining industry can’t access federal wage subsidy, advocates say – by Hilary Bird (CBC News North – April 7, 2020)

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

Requirements ‘problematic’ according to Nunavut, N.W.T., and Yukon chambers of mines

While last week’s boost to the new Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) was supposed to prop up struggling businesses — and the workers they employ — during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s doing nothing for the North’s now stagnant mining industry, mining advocates say.

In a letter obtained by CBC to the Minister of Northern Affairs, the president of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines Ken Armstrong and the Yukon Chamber of Mines president Ed Peart say the vast majority of companies they represent aren’t eligible for the subsidy. They’re calling on Ottawa to change requirements so that those in the northern mining industry, and their employees, can benefit.

Last Wednesday, Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced the federal government would offer a 75 per cent wage subsidy to all businesses that have lost 30 per cent of their revenue as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal government had previously said it would only offer a 10 per cent subsidy.

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COVID-19 could have big implications for Nunavut’s mining industry – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – April 6, 2020)

https://nunatsiaq.com/

Nunavut’s mining industry faces some big challenges due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, says Ken Armstrong, the president of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Chamber of Mines.

Over the past few weeks, every mine in Nunavut has moved to reduce its Nunavut-based workforce and production. “We are not really sure how best to determine the cost of the pandemic so far but it will be significant,” Armstrong said.

“With companies having higher operating costs to ensure employee safety and compliance with government and health officer orders, paying salaries of Nunavummiut employees that have returned to their communities, combined with lower production, in some cases, at least, the impact will be significant.”

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Put mining on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, say Yukon First Nations – by Mike Rudyk (CBC News North – March 31, 2020)

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

Mining camps with fly-in workers pose risk to communities, says Na-Cho Nyak Dun chief

Some Yukon First Nations want the territorial government to put a stop to any mining or staking in the territory during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Na-Cho Nyak Dun First Nation says Victoria Gold’s Eagle Gold Mine operations, with hundreds of workers on a rotating shift schedule, are an enormous risk to the community.

The mine is about 85 kilometres from Mayo. Many of the hundreds of workers come from outside Yukon. Na-Cho Nyak Dun Chief Simon Mervyn wrote an open letter to Premier Sandy Silver last week, saying that having mines open during the pandemic puts the nearby community of Mayo in danger, particularly the elders who live there.

“We are calling on the Yukon government to immediately implement stronger measures to protect remote and Indigenous communities such as [Na-Cho Nyak Dun],” the letter reads. “We cannot protect our citizens alone; we need your help.”

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Nunavut Mining: From pickups to bulldozers and haul trucks, Ola Arnaquq has learned to operate massive vehicles – by Derek Neary (Nunavut News – March 30, 2020)

https://nunavutnews.com/

Sometimes at 5:30 a.m. sometimes at 5:30 p.m., Ola Arnaquq climbs up into giant bulldozers to begin her 12-hour shift at the Mary River iron mine, 160 km south of Pond Inlet. She’s also capable of operating massive rock trucks and haul trucks.

“I was in awe of (these vehicles) and knew as soon as I saw one on site that I’d love to learn to run them,” says Arnaquq, who has been working at the mine for six years. “(It’s) different getting into the seat of one for sure, a bit tense to start but it got easier. Seat time is what helps confidence with operating equipment. Remembering how that feels definitely helps coaching newcomers.”

Prior to starting work with Baffinland Iron Mines, the largest vehicle Arnaquq had ever driven was a pickup truck. Beyond size, the biggest difference between driving a pickup and operating a bulldozer or a haul truck is the elaborate safety precautions for the latter, she says.

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Nunavut mine goes into “lockdown” to reduce risk of COVID-19 – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – March 29, 2020)

https://nunatsiaq.com/

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. says its Meliadine mine in Nunavut is in “complete lockdown” for the next 28 days, with no movement of personnel except for emergency situations, to help prevent the potential spread of COVID-19.

The measures, which take effect on Monday, March 30, were announced by the company following a social media uproar created by an employee of one of the mine’s contractors who made dismissive remarks about the mine’s efforts to screen for the new coronavirus.

That’s although the company told Nunatsiaq News that the measures had already been decided on beforehand. These are the comments that angered many in Rankin Inlet who have been worried about the spread of the new coronavirus into their community of about 3,000. (Screen shot)

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Nunavut’s Baffinland gears up its crisis management plan for COVID-19 – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – March 16, 2020)

https://nunatsiaq.com/

Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. has clamped down on travel to and from its Mary River iron mine site in an effort to stave off the spread of the new coronavirus. To date, there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nunavut, the company said today.

“However, given the possible risk of infection throughout the North and more specifically, our neighboring communities with whom we share the closest relationship, we are making arrangements to limit the potential exposure of our Nunavummiut (Inuit and non-Inuit in Nunavut) employees to the coronavirus,” said the company.

To do this, Baffinland said it is temporarily instructing all Nunavummiut to not report for work and to remain in their home communities.  “Nunavummiut currently at site will return home during the coming week,” Baffinland said in its release.

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Review board grants Baffinland’s request to extend its production limit – by Emma Tranter (Nunatsiaq News – March 11, 2020)

https://nunatsiaq.com/

Mining company can continue producing six million tonnes per year until end of 2021

The Nunavut Impact Review Board has granted Baffinland Iron Mines Corp.’s request to temporarily extend its production limit at the Mary River mine.

In a March 5 news release, Kaviq Kaluraq, the chair of the NIRB, said the mining company’s request to extend its production limit from four to six million tonnes of iron ore is granted until Dec. 31, 2021. Baffinland had requested only a one-year extension, until the end of 2020, in its letter to the NIRB, dated Dec. 19, 2019.

But in its release, NIRB said a one-year extension “would have the effect of imposing undue limits on the timelines and manner in which the board’s assessment of the phase two development proposal proceeds.”

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