Canada Mining – North of 60 – Page 36

Gold mining company options Inuk prospector’s find, Inuit organization may prohibit development – by Sara Frizell (CBC News North – April 25, 2018)

April 25, 2018

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

John Tugak found gold not too far north of his home town of Arviat, Nunavut, while prospecting land he had rights to. He only began prospecting in 2013, but last year Agnico Eagle Mines Inc., an international mining company with eight mines including two in Canada, optioned the property.

It was the first time the company had partnered with an Inuk prospector. It would mean royalties for Tugak — maybe even riches — if the deposit were to be developed and mined.

But the notable agreement may come to nothing in the face of a land-use moratorium imposed by the Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA).

NEWS RELEASE: Sabina & Kitikmeot Inuit Association Finalize Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement and Long Term Land Tenure Agreements for Back River Project

April 25, 2018

http://www.sabinagoldsilver.com/

VANCOUVER, British Columbia and CAMBRIDGE BAY, Nunavut, April 23, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. (TSX:SBB) (“Sabina”) and the Kitikmeot Inuit Association (“KIA”) announced today that they have finalized agreements relating to the Binding Term sheet announced on October 18, 2017. The parties have entered into 20 year benefit and land tenure agreements under a Framework Agreement (“FA”) setting out rights and obligations with respect to surface land access on Inuit owned land on the Back River Project (“Back River” or the “Project”).

Additionally, these agreements provide Inuit of the Kitikmeot Region with financial and socio-economic benefits including, training, jobs, initiatives to create additional opportunities outside of the mining industry, share ownership in Sabina and a 1% net smelter royalty on future production from the proposed mine on the Goose property.

These are comprehensive milestone agreements that provide the long-term certainty of tenure required to de-risk, finance, develop and ultimately mine at Back River. These agreements enhance KIA and Sabina’s existing relationship of mutual respect and demonstrate that Nunavut is a pro-responsible development/mining region and underscore its “open for business” strategy.

Baker Lake, Nunavut woman fulfills goals at Agnico Eagle’s Meadowbank mine – by Michele LeTourneau (Nunavut News – April 16, 2018)

April 17, 2018

http://nunavutnews.com/

Natasha Nagyougalik began work at Meadowbank in 2010 as a young mother to a three-year old son. Now Aidan is 11 and mom has climbed the Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. career ladder to a top rung.

She works as a dispatcher, but has also learned to operate the $2-million RH120 shovel, one of the largest and most sophisticated pieces of equipment in the global mining industry. “In high school, I started off working at the local Northern store,” Nagyougalik said.

Then she saw job openings advertised by Agnico as either a dishwasher or housekeeper. She went for dishwasher. Five months later, she saw a posting for a month of heavy equipment training in Morrisburg, Ont. That was before Agnico brought simulator training to the mine site.

Grays Bay project dealt huge blow as federal funding denied – by Nick Murray (CBC News North – April 16, 2018)

April 17, 2018

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

Government of Nunavut pulls out of project that would connect proposed deep-water port to diamond mines

The Nunavut government has pulled its resources out of the Grays Bay Road and Port Project, after its request for federal funding to cover three-quarters of the estimated $527-million price tag was denied by Ottawa last week.

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 Northwest Territories’ richest areas in minerals.

The project has the potential to create 2,250 full-time equivalent jobs in Nunavut and contribute $665 million to the territory’s mining operation revenues, according to a January 2018 economic assessment report.

ATAC Resources rebounds with expanded Yukon exploration plan – by Dave Croft (CBC News North – April 9, 2018)

April 9, 2018

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

ATAC working with Barrick Gold plans extensive drilling at the Rackla property north of Mayo

ATAC Resources is planning its biggest drilling program in more than five years at its Rackla gold property north of Mayo in central Yukon, according to company president Graham Downs.

The 1,742 square kilometre property consists of three zones — Rau, Orion and Osiris — which in turn contain a number of gold deposits and targets for ongoing exploration.

ATAC plans to “build on and expand on all the gold zones we have out there, and to be able to demonstrate we have, kind of, the critical mass to make things work there,” said Downs. He expects about 50 people will be working for ATAC.

ATAC, Barrick to invest C$13M at Rackla (North of 60 Mining News – April 6, 2018)

April 6, 2018

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

ATAC Resources Ltd. April 4 outlined plans for roughly 20,000 meters of drilling at the Rackla Gold property in the Yukon.

At roughly C$13 million, this program included a C$6 million investment by Barrick Gold Corp. for exploring the Orion gold project at the center of the massive Rackla property and C$7 million from ATAC, which will explore Osiris and Rau, located on the east and west ends of Rackla, respectively.

“We are excited to get started on what will be the largest drilling campaign since 2012 on the Rackla Gold property,” said ATAC President and CEO Graham Downs.

Canadian author’s ‘atomic memoir’ links H-bomb to Great Bear Lake – by Soma Basu (The Hindu – April 6, 2018)

April 6, 2018

http://www.thehindu.com/

Dr.Julie Salverson, is an anti-nuclear activist, scholar and artist, who works as Assistant Professor of Drama at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada.

Dr.Julie Salverson’s book Lines of Flight is about a little known aspect of Canada’s connection to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945

All of us are constantly living in the middle of something happening somewhere. As a witness to increasing violent events in the world, how do we live life with courage?

Dr.Julie Salverson’s book Lines of Flight delves into how humanity is inextinguishable no matter what in the light of her accidental discovery of the connection between the small village Deline outside Toronto and the bomb that fell on Hiroshima.

The shock value of the little known information put her on a 10-year radioactive trail from Canada to Japan in 2002. “I arrived in Hiroshima for the first time in the middle of a Christmas party. Overwhelmed I was with the pain and loss of the sufferers but I realised the city was not just about the bomb.

Agnico Eagle prepares for automated Kivalliq mine sites – by Derek Neary (Nunavut News – April 2, 2018)

April 3, 2018

http://nunavutnews.com/

Mining company Agnico Eagle is researching how it can integrate automated technology at its Kivalliq sites. By later this year or early in 2019, the company plans to start testing sensors that would eventually allow three or four driverless long-haul trucks, similar to tractor trailers, to follow a lead truck driven by a human, said Dominique Girard, Agnico Eagle’s vice-president of Nunavut operations.

Automated technology is also expected to be used for scoop loaders, which can be controlled remotely by joysticks, and possibly for drills, he said.

“To operate a mine in Nunavut is more expensive so we need to find a way to mitigate that… going into automation is a way to do it,” said Girard, who added that it will take several years before the technology is full adopted for day-to-day operations.

The Northwest Territories and Nunavut’s share of mining exploration spending is on the decline – by Walter Strong (CBC News North – March 28, 2018)

March 28, 2018

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

The Northwest Territories and Nunavut’s share of expected spending on resource exploration and deposit appraisals in Canada is on the decline, and has been for a few years.

The most recent numbers from Natural Resources Canada indicate spending in the N.W.T. is expected to decline to $81.3 million this year, down from $90 million last year. Exploration spending in the territory peaked in 2007 at $194 million.

In Nunavut, the decline is more dramatic. Spending there is expected to decline by more than $58 million — from $169 million last year to $110.7 million this year. In 2007, companies spent $338 million on mining exploration in Nunavut.

It’s full steam ahead for Victoria Gold’s Eagle Gold project – by Mike Rudyk (CBC News North – March 13, 2018)

March 13, 2018

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

Company says getting $505 million in financing was a make it or break it deal for the Yukon mine

Closing a $505 million deal with investors was tough, but the president of Victoria Gold, John McConnell, says persistence paid off.

Orion Mine Finance, Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd., and Caterpillar Financial came up with the bulk of the financing needed to move the Yukon’s next gold mine forward. Construction began last year, but now Victoria Gold has the cash needed to finish the job.

“It is a very important summer for us, we hope to get 60 to 70 per cent of the construction complete,” said McConnell. The company’s Eagle Gold project is located about 85 kilometres northeast of Mayo. There will be two open pits, and gold will be recovered by a heap leach process.

OPINION: North America must seize its Arctic opportunity – or risk being left out in the cold – by CLINT DAVIS, JESSICA SHADIAN and MEAD TREADWELL (Globe and Mail – March 12, 2018)

March 12, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Clint Davis is managing director of Acasta Capital Indigenous (ACI), an Indigenous-owned subsidiary of Acasta Capital. Jessica Shadian is director of Arctic 360, a partnership with the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History, Trinity College and the Munk School of Global Affairs. Mead Treadwell is a former Lieutenant Governor of Alaska and president of Pt. Capital.

Last summer, the icebreaker Xue Long (Snow Dragon) became China’s first vessel to transit the Northwest Passage, travelling from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic through the Arctic Ocean archipelago.

Then, in January, China officially included the Arctic region in its massive Belt and Road Initiative, making Northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland eligible for Chinese investment in railways, roads, pipelines and utility grids.

China understands the Arctic will be part of a new global trade infrastructure system. Does North America? According to the U.S. investment firm Guggenheim Partners, the Arctic will require close to US$1-trillion of infrastructure investment over the next decade, including transportation, telecommunications and social services to support a new era of economic opportunity from energy, fishing and mining, to defence and tourism.

Kivalliq Inuit Association plans for mining royalties of up to $100M (CBC News North – February 27, 2018)

February 28, 2018

http://www.cbc.ca/

Education and cultural centres are top priorities for organization

The Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA) is planning how to invest anticipated mining royalties of up to $100 million.

David Ningeongan, KIA president, said the organization now has $23 million in a variety of endowment and operating funds, but he said the association could earn $100 million in royalties over the next 10 years. The association began consulting with communities on the plan in August.

Last week, the association held a public meeting in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, to discuss plans for an education fund. Ningeongan estimated more than 100 people showed up for the meeting.

Hudson Bay communities hold first meeting to talk climate, development (Hamilton Spectator/Canadian Press – February 27, 2018)

February 28, 2018

https://www.thespec.com/

MONTREAL—The 27 communities that ring Hudson Bay are scheduled to meet Tuesday for the first time to talk about climate change, environmental protection and the impact of development in their vast and complex region.

“It’s always been the Arctic region that falls through the cracks,” said Joel Heath, a scientist with the Arctic Eider Society, which is helping organize the inaugural Hudson Bay Summit.

Responsibility for Hudson Bay and its shorelines is divided between Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Nunavut, as well as the federal government. There are also at least five land claims that cover the region, all of which have overlapping agreements.

Prosperous 2017 for De Beers means N.W.T. diamond industry warming up: Chamber of Mines – by Gabriela Panza-Beltrandi (CBC News North – February 26, 2018)

February 27, 2018

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

De Beers Canada brought in close to $260 million in earnings in 2017

A prosperous year for De Beers Canada could mean the diamond industry is warming up in Northwest Territories, according to the executive director of NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines.

In the 2017 fiscal year, De Beers Canada brought in close to $260 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. “We had a tremendous production year. We had the biggest ever production output from Canada,” said Kim Truter, CEO of De Beers Canada.

“We’re looking at another bumper year from Canada, something we’re very excited about.” Truter said it’s thanks in large part to the Gahcho Kue mine, located about 280 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife.

Apple deal to buy cobalt directly from miners could provide path for struggling Canadian companies – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – February 22, 2018)

February 22, 2018

http://business.financialpost.com/

With cobalt prices soaring and fears of a potential shortage mounting, reports emerged Wednesday that Apple Inc. is in talks with a mining company to secure a direct supply of the scarce metal — a critical component of batteries.

It’s the type of deal that Fortune Minerals Ltd.’s chief executive Robin Goad has been trying to broker for years. Since 1996, Goad has raised tens of millions of dollars and completed a feasibility study that showed his project in the Northwest Territories could produce 1,615 tonnes of cobalt annually — about 37 per cent of what Canada produced in 2017.

But he couldn’t obtain financing to build the mine, so now he’s hired the consulting firm PwC to find a strategic investor to help finance construction in exchange for a share of the cobalt production.