Canada Mining – North of 60 – Page 34

De Beers makes further inroads into Canadian diamond market as global discoveries prove elusive – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – September 17, 2018)

September 17, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

De Beers Group has high hopes for a small Canadian diamond project, as the world’s biggest diamond producer by value seeks to redress a global dearth in new discoveries and further diversify outside of its African base.

Last week, De Beers, which is controlled by global diversified miner Anglo American PLC Group, closed its acquisition of Vancouver-based Peregrine Diamonds Ltd., owner of the Chidliak project in Nunavut. De Beers paid $113-million for the junior, which was founded by Eric Friedland, brother of famed mining financier Robert Friedland.

Chidliak has 74 known kimberlite formations, a rare type of rock that can contain diamonds. According to a preliminary economic estimate (PEA), the inferred resource contains about 22 million carats, about two-thirds of De Beers annual production. It’s not yet known whether the resource can be profitably developed, but the PEA pegs the cost of building a mine that would last 13 years at $521-million.

[Yukon Mining] Coffee Gold project prepares for 2021, with support of Tr’ondek Hwech’in – by Philippe Morin (CBC News Canada North – September 13, 2018)

September 14, 2018

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

First Nation says Coffee Gold owner Goldcorp is hearing its concerns

Leaders from Yukon’s Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation got a tour of Goldcorp’s Coffee Gold project near Dawson City this week — and so far, they like what they’ve seen. The exploration camp at Coffee Creek, about 130 kilometres south of Dawson City, is a busy place these days, with crews already working in shifts 24-hours a day.

In a few years, it could be even busier — Goldcorp is proposing to open a large-scale gold mine by 2021, employing hundreds of people. The project is still under review by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB).

The Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation is now on board with the project. Last April, it signed a “collaboration agreement” with Goldcorp, which includes a number of benefits for the First Nation — such as jobs, contracts, and training for First Nation citizens.

Reaching arctic mines by sea: Operating in northern Canada often means creating your own transportation routes – by Greg Klein (Resource Clips – September 10, 2018)

September 11, 2018

http://resourceclips.com/

Amid all the controversy over spending $4.5 billion of taxpayers’ money to buy a pipeline project whose $9.3-billion expansion might never go through, Ottawa managed to come up with some good, if relatively minor, infrastructure news.

Rehab work will begin immediately on an idled railway connecting with a port that together linked Churchill, Manitoba, with the rest of Canada by land and the world by sea. Should all go to plan the private-public partnership would be one of just a few recent success stories in northern infrastructure.

Denver-based owner OmniTRAX shut down Churchill’s deep-water port in 2016, blaming the demise of grain shipping through that route. The following year the company said it couldn’t afford rail repairs after a flood washed out sections of the line.

Coffee mine proposal clears information adequacy stage – by Julien Gignac (Yukon News – September 5, 2018)

September 6, 2018

Yukon News

Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) says it now has adequate information about Goldcorp’s proposed Coffee gold mine to proceed to an assessment.

A public comment period opened late last month and will close on Oct. 15, after which the public will have the opportunity to parse through a draft report. This development marks a big shift in a roughly two-year saga.

The mining company had an incomplete proposal package until this point. The board found that the company didn’t properly consult with First Nations, nor did the board have adequate information to move ahead. But now it does.

Environmental permitting needs more flexibility, says Yukon placer miner – by Dave Croft (CBC News Canada North – September 4, 2018)

September 5, 2018

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

Stuart Schmidt says the adversarial nature of the permitting process is dividing Yukoners

A longtime Yukon placer miner says the territory’s environmental regulations are dividing Yukoners when they should be building bridges.

Stuart Schmidt is reacting to concerns about placer mining’s effects on wetlands in the Indian River and its tributaries, about 30 kilometres south of Dawson City.

The Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation is asking the Yukon Water Board to hold a public hearing about mining on undisturbed wetlands in the Indian River valley. The request is part of an intervention on 5582 Yukon Ltd.’s application for water and land use approvals on hundreds of claims.

NEWS RELEASE: NWT Diamond Mines Celebrate Milestones NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines – August 24, 2018)

August 27, 2018

http://www.miningnorth.com/

(Yellowknife, NT – August 24, 2018) The Northwest Territories (NWT) diamond mining industry celebrated two milestones this month, milestones gratefully acknowledged by northern government, Indigenous and industry leaders.

On August 9, Dominion Diamonds celebrated the 20th year of diamond mining at Ekati, the first diamond mine to have opened in Canada in 1998. An unexpected and initially unbelieved discovery of diamonds by geologists Chuck Fipke and Stu Blusson in 1991 proved that the ground they staked held significant deposits of jewellery grade diamonds.

In partnership with a major global mining corporation BHP-Billiton, they would see the new Ekati mine approved, constructed and producing high quality diamonds a short seven years later. The mine is owned and operated today by the Washington Group.

The Unheralded Potential for Lithium Mining in the Northwest Territories (Investing News Network – August 21st, 2018)

August 23, 2018

Investing News Network

This Investing News Network article is sponsored by Equitorial Exploration TSXV:EXX

As the market for rechargeable batteries, electric cars and solar panels continues to expand, so does the market for one their instrumental materials: lithium.

As such, mining firms are searching the globe for economically viable lithium deposits to fulfill the burgeoning market deficiency and meet the explosive demand for the metal. Some companies are turning their efforts towards a jurisdiction historically associated with diamonds and gold, but with massive untapped potential for lithium extraction: the Northwest Territories (NWT).

The NWT’s latent potential for mineral production

Much of the history of mining in the NWT is in the southern region of the territory; the north remains one of the largest untapped mining areas in the entire world.

NEWS RELEASE: Rio Tinto celebrates opening of new diamond pipe at Diavik (August 20, 2018)

August 21, 2018

http://www.riotinto.com/

YELLOWKNIFE, Aug. 20, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ – Rio Tinto today celebrated the opening of a fourth diamond pipe, known as A21, at the remote subarctic Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories of Canada.

The new open pit pipe will provide an important source of incremental supply over the next four years to sustain production levels at the Rio Tinto operated mine.

The Honourable Wally Schumann, Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment with the Government of the Northwest Territories was guest of honour at the celebration attended by Indigenous community representatives, joint venture partners and Rio Tinto employees.

Canada needs to focus on infrastructure in the North, Nunavut tells ministers’ conference – by Michelle Pucci (CBC News North – August 15, 2018)

August 16, 2018

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

Ministers responsible for energy and mining across Canada wrap up meetings in Iqaluit

Canada says it wants to increase mining and development in the North, as discussed at a conference in Iqaluit this week, but Nunavut is calling for better infrastructure to make it happen.

Ministers responsible for energy and mining from across the country met in Iqaluit for the Energy and Mines Ministers’ Conference from Aug. 12 to 14.

Delegates from across Canada, except Ontario and Saskatchewan, came to an agreement that natural resources industries need to be more competitive globally while also considering environmental sustainability and ecosystems in the Arctic that are vulnerable to climate change.

Yukon safe, possibly filled with treasure, unearthed in Gold Rush capital – by Tristin Hopper (National Post – August 15, 2018)

August 15, 2018

https://nationalpost.com/

A crew in Dawson City, Yukon, was digging what is delicately termed a “lifting station” — essentially, a pumping facility designed to move the community’s human waste from one place to another.

Until, an excavator struck something with a clang. “Two metres deep, they hit something hard and metallic,” said Mark Dauphinee, the town’s public works superintendent.

Digging up strange things is relatively common for Dawson City work crews. The community owes its existence to buried gold, of course, but the region is also home to a rich trove of Ice Age fossils. A uniquely pungent aroma wafting over a work site is often all that’s needed for crews to realize that they stumbled upon the long-buried carcass of a prehistoric horse.

Agnico Eagle improves 2018 guidance, sees ‘enormous’ potential in Nunavut – by Mariaan Webb (MiningWeekly.com – July 26, 2018)

July 26, 2018

http://www.miningweekly.com/

Canadian gold major Agnico Eagle Mines has added 50 000 oz to its gold production guidance for 2018, after a strong operational performance from its mines during the June quarter.

The NYSE- and TSX-listed miner, which operates in Canada, Finland and Mexico, increased its guidance to 1.58-million ounces of gold, from 1.53-million previously estimated, after the second-quarter production came to 404 961 oz at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $921/oz.

The unit cost guidance for the full year remained unchanged, with total cash costs of between $625/oz and $675/oz and the AISC in a range of $890/oz to $940/oz.

Industry upset by proposed changes to mining laws – by Palak Mangat (Whitehorse Daily Star – July 23, 2018)

July 25, 2018

http://www.whitehorsestar.com/

The territory is mulling amendments to the Quartz Mining Act that could allow First Nation governments greater control in who can enter into an area for staking, prospecting and mining purposes.

The possibility has raised some “alarm bells” with the Yukon Chamber of Mines. That’s according to Samson Hartland, the chamber’s executive director, who worries it could change the free-entry approach that the territory has long permitted.

Noting that a significant portion of his membership’s livelihoods depend on this, he told the Star today the amendments looks “like the potential erosion of that system as we know it.”

Mining industry fears changes to legislation could end free entry staking in Yukon – by Nancy Thomson (CBC News Canada North – July 2, 2018)

July 24, 2018

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

Prospectors association worried changes to Quartz Mining Act will give rights exclusively to First Nations

The Yukon Prospectors Association and the Yukon Chamber of Mines fear that proposed amendments to the Quartz Mining Act will jeopardize “free entry” staking in the territory.

The Yukon Prospectors Association sent a letter to Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources Ranj Pillai on July 18, revealing deep anxiety about the proposed changes.

In the letter obtained by the CBC, the association said the information it received from the government about the changes was vague, but that it believes the changes will give staking rights exclusively to First Nations, excluding everyone else. Currently, Yukon’s free entry system allows any prospector to enter onto public lands and explore for minerals.

Agnico Eagle gets water licence for new Nunavut gold mine (Nunatsiaq News – July 18, 2018)

July 20, 2018

http://nunatsiaq.com/

Gold production at Whale Tail, near Baker Lake, set to start in fall of 2019

Agnico Eagle Mines can start construction at its Whale Tail gold deposit, following the federal government’s approval of its water licence on July 11. The green light comes following approval by the Nunavut Water Board.

Whale Tail is an open-pit gold deposit that’s part of the company’s Amaruq project. That’s a satellite deposit found 50 kilometres northwest of Agnico Eagle’s Meadowbank mine, near the Kivalliq community of Baker Lake.

With a water licence now in hand, the company says it remains on schedule to begin production at Whale Tail next fall in 2019.

INTERVIEW: Agnico’s Sean Boyd says Meliadine on track to produce in Q2 2019 – by Trish Saywell (Canadian Mining Journal – July 19, 2018)

July 20, 2018

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Agnico Eagle Mines hosted a site visit in late June to its advanced-stage Meliadine gold project in Nunavut, which is expected to start production in the second quarter of 2019 — about three months sooner than initially planned.

Meliadine is Agnico’s largest gold deposit in terms of resources (3.1 million measured and indicated ounces and 2.7 million inferred ounces) and is expected to produce about 170,000 oz. gold in 2019 and about 385,000 oz. gold in 2020.

The high-grade project, 25 km from Rankin Inlet near the western shore of Hudson Bay, is part of a strategic operating platform that the gold miner is building in Nunavut, where its Meadowbank mine, 300 km west of Hudson Bay, is expected to produce 220,000 oz. gold this year, and where it is also developing Amaruq, a satellite deposit 50 km northwest of Meadowbank.