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Canada Mining – North of 60

Cast a ballot, learn about Giant Mine: public info session on arsenic trioxide takes place on election night – by Mah Noor Mubarik (CBC News Canada North – November 1, 2023)

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

Session is meant to help people learn about long-term plans for toxic arsenic trioxide

An independent board meant to review the Giant Mine clean-up is holding an information session so people can learn more about long-term plans for the highly toxic arsenic trioxide buried underneath the mine site. The session will be held on the same evening as the territorial election.

The Giant Mine Oversight Board’s chair, David Livingstone, said the date for the meeting was set before wildfires led to the postponement of the election. He said it took four months to set up and would be impossible to reschedule easily.

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People, housing, land: N.W.T. business leaders call for cascade of change from next gov’t – by Sidney Cohen (CBC News Canada North – October 21, 2023)

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

‘Fundamentally, if you want to grow the economy, you need to grow your population.’

The outlook was rather grim. “The recovery from the pandemic returns the economy to its pre-pandemic path of slow decline,” read this year’s budget documents for the Northwest Territories.

The budget goes on to list a raft of challenges: inflation, high interest rates, a shortage of workers, insufficient economic diversification, and the fast-approaching closure of the territory’s three diamond mines. This summer’s devastating wildfires and evacuations haven’t helped the situation.

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Canada’s long-forgotten lithium province – by A.J. Roan (North of 60 Mining News – October 5, 2023)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

Like many other northern regions, Canada’s North was settled because of its mineral resources. When the Canadian Dominion Government first purchased its arctic regions from the British Crown in the late 1800s, the Northwest Territories was seen as a vast stretch of cold, inhospitable land and was thus largely ignored at the time. However, due to the Klondike Gold Rush, the future of these northern lands would change forever. These days, a new rush has arisen, a white gold rush for lithium in Northwest Territories.

With the market for electric vehicles and battery storage technology predicted to skyrocket in coming years, demand for critical minerals continues to grow in turn. With this, lithium appears poised to recharge NWT’s exploration sector.

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Agnico Eagle donates $5M to support breakfast, literacy and arts programs – by Jorge Antunes (Nunatsiaq News – October 2023)

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Executive fills in details of pledge mining company made in 2020

Agnico Eagle is donating $2.5 million to a children’s breakfast program and $2.25 million to Nunavut’s literacy council, a move the mining company called an investment in the territory’s youth. “We firmly believe that to leave a lasting and meaningful legacy in Nunavut, we must support and invest for the next generation,” said Martin Plante, the mining company’s Nunavut vice-president, on Sept. 28.

Plante announced the details for what the company calls its Inunnguiniq project — Inuktitut for “creating a whole human being” — during the closing gala of last week’s Kivalliq Trade Show.

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Nunavut communities look to future as Meliadine mine extension hearings wrap up – by Emma Tranter (CBC News North – September 20, 2023)

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

Participants weigh importance of jobs in small communities with concerns about caribou

After almost a week of technical meetings, communities had their turn to speak at a final public hearing that could determine the future of Nunavut’s Meliadine gold mine, and therefore the entire region.

Agnico Eagle Mines is looking to expand Meliadine near Rankin Inlet, extending the mine’s life by 11 years until 2043 and building 11 wind turbines, among other changes.

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Caribou concerns dominate hearing on Nunavut mine extension – by Emma Tranter (CBC News North – September 18, 2023)

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

‘The value of Qamanirjuaq herd to Kivalliq Inuit cannot be underestimated’: NTI

The first few days of a final public hearing on a Nunavut mine’s proposal to extend its project heard repeated concerns about how those changes would affect caribou.

The answer to those concerns, for the most part, is unknown. That’s because the project includes a proposal to create a wind farm to power the mine, the first of its kind in Nunavut. Qamanirjuaq caribou in the Kivalliq, as hunters speaking at the hearing pointed out, have never encountered wind turbines.

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Final hearing on future of Meliadine gold mine begins in Rankin Inlet – by Emma Tranter (CBC News North – September 12, 2023)

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

Agnico Eagle proposes to install wind turbines, extend mine life by 11 years

Meetings on a proposal that could change the future of Agnico Eagle’s Meliadine gold mine get underway in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, Tuesday. The Nunavut Impact Review board will host technical meetings and a site visit followed by a community roundtable that will run until Sept. 20.

the Meliadine gold mine lies about 25 kilometres north of Rankin Inlet and 80 kilometres southwest of Chesterfield Inlet. It was first approved in 2015. The proposal now under review would extend the life of the mine by 11 years, until 2043.

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Rio to build Canada’s largest solar farm – by Esmarie Iannucci (Mining Weekly – August 11, 2023)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining major Rio Tinto has announced plans to build Canada’s largest solar plant at its Diavik diamond mine.

The solar plant will feature over 6 600 solar panels that will generate approximately 4 200 MWh of carbon-free electricity annually for the mine. The solar power plant will provide up to 25% of Diavik’s electricity during closure work that will run until 2029, with commercial production from the operation expected to end in early 2026.

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Yukon gov’t inspectors find violations at Hecla Mining’s Keno Hill project (CBC News North – July 28, 2023)

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

Report from June notes concerns with tailings facilities, water discharge, and hazardous material storage

Yukon mine inspectors found a series of problems at the Hecla Mining Company’s Keno Hill property, according to a recent report. Inspectors raised a number of concerns, including sediment runoff from tailings facilities, poor storage of hazardous materials, hydrocarbon stains on the ground, and discharged water that was toxic to fish.

“When you say are there lots of infractions found, well, I can tell you there’s 11 different pieces of legislation, all kinds of rules that have to be followed, and we do everything we can to help our companies comply with those requirements,” said Will Tewnion who’s with Yukon’s department Energy, Mines and Resources.

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Geology student wins contest, then inks mining deal that might pay millions – by Tom Blackwell (Financial Post – July 27, 2023)

https://financialpost.com/

Winning the NextGen Prospect Challenge was a big deal for Ryan Burke, but within two years he had done much better

Winning the NextGen Prospect Challenge was a big deal in itself for Ryan Burke, a young geologist just out of university in 2020. The unique Dragons’ Den-style contest — held in Toronto at the world’s largest mining conference — had students and recent graduates pitching ideas for greenfield mines to mining CEOs. The winner claimed a $17,000 prize, connections with industry insiders and the chance to further pursue their dream proposal.

But within two years, Burke had done much better. Barely launched on his career, the Whitehorse native inked a deal in 2022 with one of the sponsors of the event to develop what could be a rich deposit of gold, silver and copper he found in the Yukon mountains.

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OPINION: NWT is rich in critical minerals, but its economy faces neglect and inadequacy – by Caroline Cochrane (Globe and Mail – July 27, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Caroline Cochrane is Premier of the Northwest Territories.

We stand at a critical juncture for the Northwest Territories. Throughout our history, the NWT has thrived on abundant mining activities, boasting a wealth of zinc, gold, diamonds and countless other valuable resources, including oil and gas. We are blessed with a land of immense potential, including being home to 23 of the 31 critical minerals essential for the green economy.

This should be cause for celebration, but instead, we are once again on the outside looking in. The race to supply allied economies with these vital minerals is under way, and unless Canada acts swiftly to invest in transportation corridors, telecommunications infrastructure and cleaner, more affordable energy in the North, the NWT and our people risk being left behind.

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Yukon Gold Miners Just Stumbled Across A Rare Trove Of Hundreds Of Woolly Mammoth Bones – by Kaleena Fraga (All That’s Interesting – Updated February 10, 2023)

https://allthatsinteresting.com/

The fossils belonged to three woolly mammoths that lived some 30,000 years ago. They were likely even part of the same family.

Agroup of miners in Dawson City, Yukon hoped to strike gold. Instead, they came across another sort of treasure. As they sifted through the dirt, they uncovered a stunning trove of woolly mammoth bones.

“It’s probably one of the best days I’ve had working,” said Trey Charlie, who came across the bones alongside another miner at Little Flake Mine. “It’s so much fun to discover these things.” Charlie and his fellow miner discovered the bones while excavating mud from a mine site. As they worked, they uncovered an enormous tusk.

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B2Gold hunting for more assets after Sabina Gold deal – by Felix Njini (Reuters – July 2023)

https://www.reuters.com/

B2Gold Corp said it would consider further opportunities to acquire gold assets to accelerate growth even after its recent purchase of Sabina Gold, which gave it its first project in home country Canada.

B2Gold’s C$1.1 billion ($832.1 million) acquisition of Sabina Gold, completed in April, included Sabina’s untapped mineral-heavy Back River Gold district in Nunavut, Canada, which is expected to start production in 2025.

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‘Stampede’ Review: An Attack of ‘Klondicitis’ – by Andrew R. Graybill (Wall Street Journal – April 5, 2021)

The above WNED PBS production premiered in January 2015.

https://www.wsj.com/

The average haul for a Gold Rush prospector was about five dollars. Only a few hundred dug out enough to come home rich.

Brian Castner’s “Stampede: Gold Fever and Disaster in the Klondike” begins in medias res, with the harrowing tale of Robert Henderson, a solitary prospector panning for gold in the Yukon Valley in the spring of 1895. Picking his way over a tree trunk lying across a frigid stream, Henderson fell and skewered his calf on one of the branches.

After freeing himself and reaching shore, he convalesced in a tent for three weeks, leaching pus from his wound with strips of bacon that, when discarded, were devoured by wolves. Although Henderson’s leg healed, his “Klondicitis” never broke; once he could hobble he went right back to his quest, and in June 1896 struck paydirt on a stream he christened Gold Bottom Creek. But his dreams came to naught—Henderson missed out on a far bigger strike nearby and didn’t meet the deadline to file his own claim, which went to another man.

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Ekati sale official, new owners hopeful the future is bright – by Jenna Dulewich (CBC News North – July 7, 2023)

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

New owners want to extend mine life, hire more northerners

The Ekati diamond mine officially has new owners. The sale, which carries a price tag of $150 million US, was finalized on Tuesday — transferring 100 per cent of the Arctic Diamond Company Limited shares to Burgundy Diamond Mines, an Australian-based company. It is the third company to own the mine since 2017.

“I think it is exciting for everyone,” Kim Truter, CEO of Burgundy Diamond Mines told CBC News. The company wants to extend Ekati’s mining life and hire more northerners. “I think the North desperately needs these diamond mines to continue,” Truter said.

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