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Canada Mining – North of 60

Why this town in the Northwest Territories was called the ‘Village of Widows’ – by Nina Dragicevic (CBC Docs – October 25, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/

The discovery of a rare rock amidst the tundra of Canada’s Far North nearly 100 years ago set in motion one of mankind’s most destructive legacies: Decades of mining, workers getting sick and, finally, a pair of atomic bombs that killed tens of thousands of civilians in an instant — and changed the world forever.

As author and professor Peter van Wyck says in the documentary Atomic Reaction: “This is a piece of Canadian history that doesn’t get talked about much.” It all started near Délı̨nę, a community on Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories, where the Sahtu Dene people have lived for thousands of years. Originally a nomadic people, they started settling more firmly at Délı̨nę in the 1940s.

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Meliadine gold mine: The ‘largest hotel’ in Nunavut – by Arty Sarkisian (Nunatsiaq News – October 21, 2024)

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Mine has more employees than the population of many Nunavut hamlets

Agnico Eagle’s Meliadine gold mine has approximately 1,500 employees. That’s about half the size of the population of nearby Rankin Inlet and slightly more than Clyde River. But only about 700 people live and work on the site at all times, which is still more than the populations of Grise Fiord, Resolute Bay and Chesterfield Inlet put together.

The mine’s employees live side by side in what they call the “biggest hotel in Nunavut” and their collective efforts produce about one gold brick a day that is roughly the size of a loaf of bread.

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Baffinland cuts 10% of workforce to focus on Steensby rail – by Samuel Wat (CBC News North – October 19, 2024)

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

Mining company will reduce amount of iron ore shipments out of Milne Inlet

Baffinland Iron Mines is laying off 10 per cent of its workforce in Nunavut due to weak iron ore prices. Senior adviser Paul Quassa said the company is diverting its resources to the $5.7-billion railroad from the Mary River Mine south to Steensby Inlet.

“We would be rationalizing our equipment and supplies… and reducing the number of permit fronts to concentrate folks on the Steensby authorization,” he said.

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N.W.T.’s new net-zero climate target necessary for its mining future says MLA – by Liny Lamberink (CBC News North – October 19, 2024)

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

MLA Shauna Morgan says bringing in renewable diesel will make the N.W.T. more attractive

The MLA for Yellowknife North says the government’s new commitment to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 is “exciting,” and something that will need to be taken seriously if the territory wants mining to be part of its future.

Shauna Morgan pointed out in the Legislative Assembly on Friday that De Beers and Rio Tinto have both already made commitments to making their mining operations around the world net-zero.

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Agnico Eagle’s Meliadine mine close to extracting 2M ounces of gold – by Arty Sarkisian (Nunatsiaq News – October 16, 2024)

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Milestone expected to be reached in November; Nunatsiaq News takes tour to learn how ore is transformed

Agnico Eagle’s Meliadine gold mine is nearing a milestone. In November, the company projects the mine located near Rankin Inlet will have produced two million ounces of gold, said Pujjuut Kusugak, director of Nunavut affairs for Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd.

Two million ounces is just under 57 tonnes — or perhaps a more appropriate measurement for such occasions, approximately 28.5 small elephants. Nunatsiaq News was given a tour Oct. 2 of the above-ground part of Meliadine mine to learn how rock gets blasted, excavated, crushed and transformed via chemical reaction into such an enormous amount of gold.

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N.W.T. gov’t to review impact benefit agreements between mines and Indigenous groups – by Nadeer Hashmi (CBC News North – October 08, 2024)

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

Indigenous groups will have say over whether agreements should be renegotiated

The N.W.T. government says it’s aware some mining companies are not happy with uncertainty brought by changes to mining legislation — particularly when it comes to their impact benefit agreements with Indigenous governments and stakeholders.

The forthcoming Mineral Resources Act may require these companies to pay more to communities and Indigenous groups affected by mining operations.While the act was passed back in 2019, the government is still working on developing regulations. An initial draft is expected to be released by the end of the year or in early 2025.

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N.W.T.’s mining future could be in gold or lithium, say companies – by Jocelyn Shepel (CBC News North – October 2, 2024)

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

Exploration efforts steady among resource sector

While the price of gold has been climbing steadily, now selling for more than $2,600 USD per ounce, one mining CEO says financing is still hard to come by.

The future of the N.W.T.’s mining industry remains far from certain. Current exploration projects are focused on gold and lithium. Both had company representatives in Yellowknife this week for presentations and to strengthen community relationships.

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Burgundy Diamond Mines pauses plan for critical Ekati expansion (CBC News North – September 25, 2024)

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

Company also asking N.W.T. gov’t to reduce burden of ‘onerous’ mining regulations

The company that owns the Ekati diamond mine in the N.W.T. has paused a plan to develop an underground project at one of the mine’s pits — a plan it previously said was critical to Ekati’s future.

Burgundy Diamond Mines notified the Wek’èezhìı Land and Water Board Tuesday that it would be withdrawing its application for the Sable Underground development. It previously said its entire business could hinge on that project, and without it, Burgundy “risks the financial viability and sustainability of the business.”

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The pressing need to invest in, and protect, our Arctic territories – by Jesse Kline (National Post – September 25, 2024)

https://nationalpost.com/

If we hope to prevent our adversaries from encroaching in the North, Canadians will have to start taking the region far more seriously

As southern Ontario’s hot, sticky summer starts to wind down, the last thing on most people’s minds is the vast, frozen tundra of Canada’s Far North. But on Sept. 18, a group gathered in downtown Toronto to hear a broad range of experts discuss Arctic sovereignty and security.

Granted, the Far North has always been a very niche area of interest in Canada, which is curious for a country that prides itself on being a northern nation. But perhaps that’s to be expected when 90 per cent of our population lives within 160 kilometres of the U.S. border, many in cities such as Vancouver and Toronto that have relatively temperate climates.

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Grays Bay road and port could be $1B project, proponent estimates – by Jeff Pelletier (Nunatsiaq News – September 18, 2024)

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GN, West Kitikmeot Resources Corp. sign MOU at Nunavut Trade Show

The estimated cost of the proposed Grays Bay road and port project, which would connect resource-rich western Nunavut to the rest of Canada, has nearly doubled according to its proponent.

Brendan Bell, CEO of West Kitikmeot Resources Corp., provided a new cost figure to Nunatsiaq News after signing a memorandum of understanding to continue support for the project at the Nunavut Trade Show in Iqaluit on Wednesday. “I would estimate that it’s at least a billion-dollar undertaking at this point,” Bell said.

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Yukon appeal court hears case over approval of Kudz Ze Kayah mine project – by Jackie Hong (CBC News North – September 16, 2024)

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

Lawyers representing Kaska Nation maintained Thursday that proper consultation did not happen

A major mining project in southeast Yukon, and whether Kaska Nation was properly consulted on it, was back in court last week — this time, in front of the Yukon Court of Appeal.

Lawyers representing Kaska Nation maintained Thursday that proper consultation did not happen on BMC Minerals’ Kudz Ze Kayah project and that a ruling from a lower court that found otherwise should be tossed. Lawyers for the attorney general of Canada, the Yukon government and the company, meanwhile, argued Friday that Kaska Nation’s appeal was without merit.

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Eagle mine cleanup efforts hit stumbles after Victoria Gold put into receivership, former top engineer says – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – September 16, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Efforts to clean up a massive cyanide spill at the Eagle gold mine in the Yukon have faltered after the receivership of Victoria Gold Corp., potentially posing new threats for the environment, a former top engineer at the company says.

Four million tonnes of cyanide-laced rocks collapsed at the company’s outdoor gold-processing facility in late June, causing massive damage to mine infrastructure and contamination. About two million tonnes of contaminated materials broke through the company’s containment zone and spilled into the local environment, killing fish and raising concerns about groundwater pollution.

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Port Radium and the atomic highway – John Sandlos (Canadian Mining Journal – September 11, 2024)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Gilbert LaBine is one of the most celebrated heroes in Canada’s mining history. He began his career prospecting around Cobalt, the Porcupine and Kirkland Lake, but his success was limited. Everything changed, however, when LaBine found pitchblende near Great Bear Lake in 1930, a discovery that cemented his legend as a plucky explorer, willing to brave the harshest northern environments to strike paydirt.

LaBine created a company, Eldorado Mines, to develop extremely valuable radium mines at Cameron Bay (later re-named Port Radium). This first mining development in the Northwest Territories (NWT) created a huge amount of excitement within the government and the industry about the potential of mining north of the sixtieth parallel.

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Diamond finds could extend NWT’s Misery mine ‘well past 2026,’ Burgundy says – by Blair McBride (Northern Miner – September 10, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Results from summer drilling at Burgundy Diamond’s (ASX: BDM) Ekati mine in the Northwest Territories could help extend production at the underground Misery mine much longer than expected, the company says.

Out of 710 metres drilled across six holes in July, the crew found a fancy yellow diamond about 25 metres below the last planned mine level. Drilling that targeted Misery’s main ore body confirmed the company’s belief that there’s a larger body at depth.

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Protest concert in Carmacks, Yukon, calls for a ban on heap leaching – by Caitrin Pilkington (CBC News North – August 27, 2024)

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

Headliners included Snotty Nose Rez Kids and Love and a .38

First Nations across the Yukon are coming together in support of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun following the Eagle Gold mining disaster. On Aug, 24, crowds from across the Yukon gathered in Carmacks for a concert series — called Cyanide in the Water —in support of the First Nation, and to protest heap leach mining facilities in the territory.

The idea for a concert came to Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation Chief Nicole Tom in the weeks following the heap leach failure on June 24, which saw hundreds of millions of litres of cyanide-contaminated solution escape containment at the mine site.

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