Canada Mining – North of 60 – Page 35

Rejection of controversial project ‘a pretty hard blow,’ says Yukon miner (CBC News North – July 19, 2018)

July 19, 2018

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

Second application to mine claims near Judas Creek rejected for Yukon miner

Nicolai Goeppel said he’s ready to throw in the towel after his second attempt to operate a placer mine south of Whitehorse was rejected by the Yukon government. “I really don’t know if it’s worth putting any more money and time into it,” Goeppel said.

Goeppel’s initial application for a placer mine in the Judas Creek area was rejected by the government in 2016, largely because of a potential negative impact on the Carcross caribou herd.

His second application reduced the number of claims to be mined from 45 to 15, the period of mining was reduced from 10 years to five years, and the timing of the operations was adjusted to minimize impact on the caribou.

De Beers Canada acquires Peregrine Diamonds, to take over Nunavut diamond project (CBC News North – July 19, 2018)

July 19, 2018

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

De Beers Canada says it plans to take over the company behind the Chidliak diamond mining project in Nunavut. In a Thursday morning news release, the corporation announced it has entered into an approximately $107 million agreement to acquire all outstanding securities of Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. at $0.24 per share.

Peregrine owns and operates the Chidliak diamond exploration project, located 120 kilometres northeast of Iqaluit on Baffin Island.

De Beers Canada, which is headquartered in Calgary, previously declined to invest in the project in 2013 after signing an option agreement with Peregrine the previous year. If it had agreed to the joint venture, it would have invested almost $60 million in Chidliak over five years, operating and having majority interest in the project.

Fortune Minerals considers putting Saskatoon-area refinery plans on ice – by David Shield (CBC News Saskatoon – July 18, 2018)

July 18, 2018

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

Mining company says businesses are talking about buying ore concentrate straight from proposed mine in N.W.T.

Plans for a controversial refinery project in the RM of Corman Park may be deferred by Fortune Minerals.

For years, the company has been talking about building a mine in the Northwest Territories that could produce ore containing cobalt, gold, bismuth and copper suplhate. The concentrated ore would then be refined at a facility near Langham, Sask., 30 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.

However, Fortune has now said those plans might be changing. “We’ve been approached by large mining and refining companies with interest in directly purchasing the concentrate that we’d produce in the Northwest Territories,” said spokesperson Troy Nazarewicz. If that happens, the refinery wouldn’t be immediately needed.

N.W.T. premier says Tlicho should have known about Fortune Minerals court application – by Richard Gleeson (CBC News North – June 27, 2018)

June 28, 2018

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

Bob McLeod defends government’s decision to help settle negotiation over access road to NICO project

The premier of the Northwest Territories says his government did nothing wrong in applying to the courts to settle a negotiation between a mining company and the Tlicho government.

Bob McLeod was responding to the Tlicho government’s suggestion that the territorial government is siding with a junior mining company against the First Nation. “It seems a stretch to me,” he said during an interview Monday. “If you negotiate a process in a land-claim agreement, how can you impute motives? Any project that comes along, are they going to accuse us of siding with a mining proponent?”

Fortune Minerals wants to build a 49-kilometre road from the end of the proposed Tlicho all-season road to its NICO project. According to an affidavit from a government official, Fortune wrote to the government to say its attempt to negotiate an access agreement with the Tlicho to allow construction of the road has stalled.

NEWS RELEASE: Royal Canadian Mint issues first coin minted of pure Nunavut gold

June 26, 2018

A celebration of the North from the coin’s design to its gold content

OTTAWA, June 26, 2018 /CNW/ – The Royal Canadian Mint is proud to issue its first collectible coin crafted entirely of Nunavut-sourced gold. Designed by Inuk artist Andrew Qappik, the reverse image highlights the walrus, ptarmigan, polar bear, bowhead whale and narwhal, all framed within the outline of a maple leaf. The beautifully crafted coin is available for purchase as of today.

In another innovation, the 1/10 oz. gold coin is struck on newly developed blanks that are thinner and wider than usual, yet with the same relief, allowing for a larger canvas for the Arctic-themed design. The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.

“In anticipation of Nunavut’s 20th anniversary, the Mint is very pleased to celebrate the beauty and talent that Nunavut and its people add to the Canadian fabric,” said the Mint’s Vice President of Sales Chris Carkner. “From the responsibly-mined gold, to the artist and his design, Canadians can be proud of this 100% Canadian coin.”

Weddings of the gold rush era – by Laurel Downing Bill (KTVA.com – June 18, 2018)

June 20, 2018

http://www.ktva.com/

June was a popular month for weddings long before the Klondike gold rush. People of medieval times often took their annual baths in May, which meant a bride would still smell fresh in June. To be safe, she carried a bouquet of flowers to hide any body odor. That’s where the custom of carrying a bouquet down the aisle comes from.

Many miners who came north in search of riches may have chosen brides at the beginning of summer for practical reasons. Once the ground thawed, and a miner found a plot that showed promise, he drove stakes into the ground to lay claim to mining rights. By 1897, only one claim per person was allowed in a district.

But a loophole in the mining laws allowed married couples the right to register a separate claim in the wife’s name, thus doubling the amount of land for prospecting. So taking a wife could mean untold riches from the ground.

Diamonds in Canada Editorial: The next diamond boom – by Alisha Hiyate (Northern Miner -June 18, 2018)

June 18, 2018

http://www.northernminer.com/

We’ve timed the release of our June issue to coincide with Diamonds in Canada’s first-ever event. The inaugural Diamonds in Canada Symposium, hosted by The Northern Miner, will take place on June 11 at the Royal York in Toronto.

The event will look at the diamond market and industry trends, and involve some of the biggest players in the sector — including Grenville and Eira Thomas.

Each had a central role in the founding and building of Canada’s diamond sector: Gren Thomas was the founder of Aber Diamond (now Dominion Diamond) and is still deeply involved in diamond exploration through North Arrow Minerals. His daughter Eira Thomas was part of the exploration team at Aber that found the Diavik mine, as well as a founder of Stornoway Diamond and Lucara Diamond.

Nunavut gov’t pulled out of Grays Bay Road and Port Project before federal funding decision – by Nick Murray (CBC Canada News North – May 31, 2018)

June 4, 2018

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

Government says in line with new mandate, Kitikmeot Inuit Association says based on inaccurate information

The Nunavut government pulled out as a co-proponent on the federal funding application for the Grays Bay Road and Port Project, before learning whether the application was successful or not.

The move is significant as it’s one of the Quassa government’s first visible public policy shifts away from the previous government under Peter Taptuna. But the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, now the project’s sole proponent, says the government made its decision to pull out based on inaccurate information.

The proposed project is a 227-kilometre all-season road to connect a proposed deep-water port at Grays Bay — on the Northwest Passage between Bathurst Inlet and Kugluktuk — to the winter road that services the N.W.T.’s diamond mines. It’s one of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories’ richest areas in minerals.

Stan Sudol: Ontario politicians disregard mining issues, to the province’s peril – by Greg Klein (Resource Clips – June 1, 2018)

June 4, 2018

http://resourceclips.com/

One of Canada’s greatest mineral discoveries since 1883, the Ring of Fire offers tremendous potential to a region plagued by endemic poverty and to a province burdened with the world’s largest sub-national debt.

Meanwhile Ontario law requires mining companies to monitor carbon emissions from portable toilets. With a provincial election coming on June 7, something’s terribly lacking in campaign discussion, not to mention political vision, says Stan Sudol.

Backing up his insights with factual detail, the Sudbury native, former mine worker, communications consultant and mining commentator presents a highly informed perspective at his website, The Republic of Mining. Are the hurdles to Ring of Fire development insurmountable? Sudol points out:

Drills confirming zinc at Pine Point – by Shane Lasley (North of 60 Mining News – May 10, 2018)

May 11, 2018

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

Osisko Metals Inc. May 8 said its winter drilling continues to confirm historical zinc mineralization at its newly acquired Pine Point zinc-lead project in Northwest Territories.

Located near the community of Hay River, the Pine Point project benefits from substantial infrastructure that includes road access, rail head in Hay River and hydro-electric power available on site. A preliminary economic assessment completed in 2015 examined several development scenarios and settled on a mining plan where 10 open-pit deposits are mined in sequence.

The deposits included in the mine plan host 25.8 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 2.9 percent zinc and 1.1 percent lead, plus 3.7 million metric tons of inferred resources averaging 2.9 percent zinc and 0.8 percent lead.

No land claim means we’re ignored in Yukon mine assessment, First Nation says (CBC News North – May 2, 2018)

May 3, 2018

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

The White River First Nation says it wants more input into the review of Goldcorp’s Coffee project

Yukon’s White River First Nation is pushing for a stronger review of a proposed mining project, saying the current environmental assessment process is “unfair,” and excludes the First Nation’s input.

Mining giant Goldcorp has applied to the Yukon Environmental and Socioeconomic Assessment Board (YESAB) to build a gold mine near Coffee Creek, about 130 kilometres south of Dawson City.

“This area is important to WRFN [White River First Nation] history, culture and way of life,” said the First Nation’s chief, Angela Demit, in a statement. “We don’t want another repeat of the Faro mine where the First Nations were not adequately consulted… and now look at the mess all Canadians are paying to clean up.”

Northwest Territories economic future ‘grim,’ says report – by Emily Blake (CBC News North – May 1, 2018)

May 2, 2018

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

Mining output expected to drop and unemployment to rise by 2040

The economic future for the Northwest Territories is “grim,” according to the Conference Board of Canada’s newest forecast for all three territories.

According to the independent research group’s report, peak diamond production came last year for the N.W.T and will begin to fall in the coming years. All three operating diamond mines in the territory — Ekati, Diavik and Gahcho Kué — will close by 2034.

“When Ekati closes in 2034, it will be the end of 43 years of diamond mining in the Northwest Territories unless a new mining diamond project sees the light of day,” the report stated.

Pebble Mine Investor Again Needs Time to Finish Deal – by Stephen Lee (BNA.com – May 1, 2018)

May 2, 2018

https://www.bna.com/

The backer of an Alaska copper and gold mine project said May 1 it needs another month to finish an agreement with the mine’s owner.

Should financier First Quantum Minerals Ltd. and Pebble Mine owner Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. fail to come together, the project would be in trouble. Northern Dynasty needs First Quantum’s $150 million cash infusion to file its application for permitting and to cover its legal and consulting costs, while the Army Corps of Engineers writes its environmental impact statement.

Meanwhile, Northern Dynasty’s financial filings sketch a picture of a company operating close to the bone. The company only has roughly $50 million in cash on hand, according to a March 29 financial statement.

Federal government takes control of abandoned zinc mine in Yukon – Canadian Press (Financial Post – May 1, 2018)

May 2, 2018

http://business.financialpost.com/

WHITEHORSE — The Federal government has taken control of cleaning up a lead and zinc mine in Yukon, 20 years after the former operators declared bankruptcy and abandoned the site.

Yukon’s abandoned mines director, Stephen Mead, says Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada officially took the Faro Mine over Tuesday. He says Parsons Corp., the company that has been managing site, has a contract to continue its work until April 2020.

Mead says a two-year, $100-million construction project will begin this summer to better manage water in the area, collecting and treating contaminated water and diverting away clean water.

Northwest Territories gets shortest end of straw as mining boosts Nunavut, Yukon economies – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – May 1, 2018)

May 1, 2018

http://www.miningweekly.com/

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – A lack of new mining projects in the development pipeline of Canada’s Northwest Territories (NT) is threatening to derail the region’s economic growth outlook, the latest ‘Territorial Outlook’ by The Conference Board of Canada (CBoC) has found.

The independent Ottawa-headquartered think tank points out that the NT has a “more muted” outlook compared with its counterparts, as fewer developments in mining and declining diamond output are expected to weigh on economic prospects.

In contrast, the board expects the Yukon and Nunavut Territories of Canada to benefit from new mining investment in next two years, giving the respective domestic economies a much-needed kick-start.