Canada Mining – North of 60 – Page 43

Diamond Hunting In The Arctic [Canada] – by Ludovic Hirtzmann (World Crunch – July 9, 2017)

July 10, 2017

https://www.worldcrunch.com/

GAHCHO KUÉ MINE — The old Jumbolino, a small, 1980s-model British plane, circles above the pack ice and its multitude of frozen lakes. Aboard, the 90 passengers, all of them miners, are waking up. “Welcome to Gahcho Kué,” the purser chants in a hoarse voice.

Gahcho Kué means “place of the big rabbits” in the indigenous Chipewyan language. But for outsiders, the name is synonymous with diamonds. The Gahcho Kué mine, owned by the De Beers company, is located in Canada’s Northwest Territories, about two-hour by plane from Edmonton, Alberta. It looks a bit like a lunar base, stranded on the tundra, endlessly flat and white.

After they land, the miners make their way onto a pair of school buses. The men are quiet. Later they arrive at the entrance of the camp, which is made of prefabricated huts arranged in parallel lines. A stern young man calls for silence.

Are the feds ready to buy into the Ring of Fire? – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 7, 2017)

July 7, 2017

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Transport minister launches national $2-billion transportation infrastructure fund

It’ll be a wait-and-see proposition if Ottawa is finally ready to invest in mining-related transportation infrastructure for Northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire. Federal transport minister Marc Garneau announced some of the details behind the Trade and Transportation Corridors Initiative (TTCI) as part of the government’s “nation-building infrastructure plan” on July 4.

The feds said they’re prepared to spend two billion dollars over 11 years on trade-oriented transportation infrastructure through investments in ports, waterways, airports, roads, bridges, border crossings, and rail networks.Up to $400 million is earmarked to support transportation infrastructure for the movement of people and goods in Canada’s Northern territories under a merit-based program.

Proponents are now being invited to tap into this fund by submitting an expression of interest to support transportation projects. Last March, no mention was made in the federal budget of any kind of investment toward building mining-related infrastructure for the Ring of Fire.

MAC lauds initiative to improve transportation infrastructure in Northern Canada – by Megan Van Wyngaardt (MiningWeekly.com – July 5, 2017)

July 5, 2017

http://www.miningweekly.com/

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) has welcomed the launch of the federal government’s Trade and Transportation Corridors Initiative (TTCI), which will include an allocation of up to $400-million in dedicated funding for transportation infrastructure in Northern Canada.

The acute lack of infrastructure in Canada’s remote and northern regions is inhibiting further sustainable mineral development owing to the high costs of exploring, building and operating in these regions.

A recent study co-authored by the MAC had found that it cost about two- to two-and-a-half times more to build a gold or base metals mine in northern Canada than in the south, as a result of the lack of infrastructure.

YUKON – A STAMPEDE OF GOLD HUNTERS – by Eduardo Arcos (Global Business Reports – June 6, 2017)

July 4, 2017

http://gbreports.com/

ALL OF A SUDDEN MAJORS AND JUNIORS ALIKE ARE SNAPPING UP PROPERTIES IN YUKON.

For decades, Yukon has failed to live up to its mining potential. This territory, roughly as large as Spain, currently hosts only one major operating mine – Capstone’s Minto copper mine. Despite its widely acknowledged mineral wealth, companies have been reluctant to invest heavily in Yukon as they focused on overseas acquisitions during the boom years and cited high operational costs in this territory during the downturn.

However, recent developments suggest that a paradigm change is in the works. Vancouver-based giant Goldcorp acquired Kaminak Gold in July 2016 through a $500 million transaction. Its Coffee Gold project is a high-grade, heap leach project and Goldcorp is currently in the process of reviewing and optimizing Kaminak’s feasibility study along with developing infrastructure.

Another major with an established presence in Yukon is Kinross Gold, which acquired the White Gold property in 2010 with an inferred resource of 400,000 oz at its Golden Saddle zone. Last December, Agnico Eagle announced the acquisition of 19.3% of White Gold Corp, the largest landholder in the prolific White Gold district.

A CANADIAN DIAMOND PLAY WITH DISCOVERY, DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL – by James Kwantes (Resource Opportunities – June 2017)

July 1, 2017June 30, 2017

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The November 1991 discovery of diamonds in the Northwest Territories by Chuck Fipke and Stu Blusson put Canada on the global diamond map. It also triggered one of the largest staking rushes in the world, as hundreds of companies hurried north to find treasure.

A few years later, many had retreated to warmer climes. One company that remained in the hunt was Gren Thomas’s Aber Resources, with a large land package staked by Thomas and partners at Lac de Gras near the Fipke find. In the spring of 1994, an Aber exploration crew led by Thomas’s geologist daughter, Eira Thomas, raced the spring melt to drill through the ice in search of kimberlite — the rock that sometimes hosts valuable diamonds.

It was a longshot. Since the Fipke find, the great Canadian diamond hunt had virtually ground to a halt — despite the millions of dollars spent in search of the glittery stones. But the drill core from that final spring hole had a two-carat diamond embedded in it. The Diavik discovery meant it was game on for Aber — and Canada’s nascent diamond industry.

CANADA 150: Yellowknife’s toxic history through the eyes of the Betsina family – by Hilary Bird (CBC News North – June 28, 2017)

June 28, 2017

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

This story is part of a series from CBC North looking at Canada 150 through the eyes of northern families.

‘The government spoiled our lives,’ says Muriel Betsina. ‘Giant Mine spoiled our lives’

Muriel Betsina’s voice is soft and nurturing as she explains, step by step, how she makes the perfect piece of bannock. But ask her about the old mine site you can see out of her kitchen window in N’Dilo, N.W.T., and her voice drops. Her fists clench.

This tiny Dene elder has a rage that boils deep. “The government spoiled our lives,” says Betsina. “Giant Mine spoiled our lives.”

During more than half a century of mining, 19,000 tonnes of toxic arsenic trioxide dust went up the stacks of smelters at the Giant and Con mines and settled on the once-pristine land and lakes in and around Yellowknife. The gold mining industry began in the late 1930s. Giant Mine closed in 2004, leaving a toxic legacy that has deeply changed the lives of people in N’Dilo.

A NEW YUKON GOLD PLAY – by James Kwantes (Resource Opportunities – June 21, 2017)

June 28, 2017June 23, 2017

A Message From the Editor

The Yukon is now one of the hottest jurisdictions globally for gold exploration. Goldcorp kicked things off in the spring of 2016 with its $520-million purchase of Kaminak Gold and the 5-million-ounce Coffee project. Since then Barrick, Newmont and Agnico Eagle have also entered through investments in Yukon projects.

As the Yukon’s largest claims holder, Strategic Metals is poised to capitalize on the upsurge in interest. But the company wasn’t getting much value in the market for some prime projects in the highly prospective Dawson Range gold belt. It is now.

Strategic packaged four of the properties — Eureka, Trident, Triple Crown and Treble — into a new company called Trifecta Gold, which began trading on the TSX Venture last Thursday with the symbol TG. The new exploration play has just 23.15 million shares outstanding and Strategic retains a 9.19 stake. The rest of the shares were distributed to Strategic shareholders, on the basis of 1 Trifecta share for every 4.5 Strategic shares.

Head north to understand why Canada needs an infrastructure bank – by Pierre Gratton (Globe and Mail – June 18, 2017)

June 28, 2017June 19, 2017

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Pierre Gratton is president and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada.

Any government initiative with a $35-billion price tag is bound to drum up political debate, and the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) has been seeing its fair share. But I stand with the International Monetary Fund, Canadian and global business groups, and aboriginal organizations who say that the CIB, if well structured, is exactly what Canada needs to grow the economy over the long term. Bold action is needed to address an area that we’ve been failing at: constructing strategic, nation-building infrastructure.

Many of you are probably reading this on a digital device connected to wireless high-speed Internet. And I’ll assume that many of you are reading this at work, a place that you travelled to on roads, and that is powered by the electrical grid. Pretty mundane stuff, right? But it’s not if you’re living or working in remote and northern areas of Canada.

I should know. I represent a major Canadian industry whose opportunities for growth are increasingly in areas where infrastructure simply does not exist, or is severely lacking.

KIA signs gold mine benefit deal with Agnico Eagle (CBC News Canada North – June 16, 2017)

June 28, 2017June 16, 2017

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

The KIA and Agnico Eagle have signed an Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement regrading the Whale Tail gold deposit

Officials from the Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA) and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. signed the Whale Tail Inuit impact benefit agreement (IIBA) in Baker Lake, Nunavut, on Thursday. In 2019, the mining company hopes to begin open pit operations at the Whale Tail gold deposit, approximately 50 kilometres north of the Meadowbank gold mine.

The Whale Tail agreement includes a $6.5 million payment to KIA — including $3 million given on June 15 to a community initiative fund. Other benefits include a 1.4 per cent cut of net gold production, $3.6 million in funding for annual training programs (with an additional $1 million in training investment if Inuit employment goals are not reached), and a preference point system to Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. registered companies.

“KIA has strived to balance the need to protect the environment with the promotion of economic development,” stated David Ningeongan, KIA president, in a press release.

Sabina finds deeper mineralization at Back River in Nunavut – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – June 14, 2017)

June 28, 2017June 15, 2017

http://www.northernminer.com/

Drilling during Sabina Gold and Silver’s (TSX: SBB) spring exploration program has extended mineralization 300 metres down plunge of the Back River project’s existing resources in southwestern Nunavut.

Drill hole 17GSE513 stepped out about 300 metres down plunge of the existing resource structure at the project’s Llama deposit and intersected 48 metres of altered and mineralized iron formation that included an intercept of 6.52 grams gold over 8.3 metres from a depth of 618.90 metres. Another hole, 17GSE512, cut 6.30 grams gold over 2.65 metres from a depth of 603.5 metres.

“Results bode well for future resource growth,” Andrew Kaip of BMO Capital Markets wrote in a research note. “We continue to believe that the Back River project represents an attractive feasibility study stage project, at an advanced stage of permitting, in a safe jurisdiction, and with a large reserve base containing above-average grade.”

A changing landscape: Diamonds in Canada Editorial – by Alisha Hiyate (Northern Miner – June 8, 2017)

June 28, 2017June 9, 2017

http://www.northernminer.com/

Outside of the two new mines opening up in Canada — Stornoway Diamond’s Renard and De Beers and Mountain Province Diamonds’ Gahcho Kué — there hasn’t been a lot to celebrate in the diamond world of late.

In Canada, De Beers flooded its Snap Lake mine in the Northwest Territories in January. The underground mine, which has never been profitable, had been put up for sale after being put on care and maintenance last April, but failed to find a buyer. The mine was the diamond giant’s first mine outside of Africa when it opened in 2008.

In Ontario, De Beers has put an expansion of its Victor mine on hold after failing to get the support of the nearby Attawapiskat First Nation to conduct a bulk sample at the Tango kimberlite. Production from the mine is slated to end in 2018, but De Beers is studying ways to delay closing Victor by processing lower-grade stockpiles or mining deeper into the pit. It’s also considering a sale of the asset.

Caribou again dominate Western Nunavut gold mine project review – by Jane George (Nunatsiaq News – June 8, 2017)

June 28, 2017June 8, 2017

http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/

Sabina Gold and Silver Corp. pitched its gold mine project again last week in Cambridge Bay with a 72-page exhaustive new plan to mitigate, manage and monitor any impacts to the three caribou herds and other wildlife near its proposed Back River gold mine in western Nunavut.

This was the second round of environmental hearings on Sabina’s Back River project in Cambridge Bay. The first, which took place in 2016, resulted in a negative recommendation from the Nunavut Impact Review Board—and, with the additional mitigation, management and monitoring efforts, Sabina says it’s even, “more confident that there will be no impacts on caribou herds.”

Sabina’s plans for Back River include a chain of open pit and underground mines at its Goose property, located 400 kilometres south of Cambridge Bay and 520 km north of Yellowknife. The pits would operate for at least 10 years and involve filling, damming or draining lakes and streams, and building a 157-km road from the mine to a seasonal port facility and tank farm in Bathurst Inlet.

Nunavut’s Hope Bay mine celebrates commercial production with Inuit landowners – by Kate Kyle (CBC News North – June 7, 2017)

June 28, 2017June 7, 2017

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

50 guest expected on site today to celebrate the ramp up of the Doris North mine at Hope Bay

After decades of exploration, numerous owners and the complex logistics of getting a gold mine up and running in the Arctic, Nunavut’s Hope Bay mine is finally celebrating its ramp up toward full commercial production.

And they’re throwing a party. Fifty people, including Inuit landowners and mining executives, plan to fly to the remote site for a ceremony and tour. “It’s about being thankful for what we have been able to do there… [and to] recognize the people who have come before us, especially the Inuit,” said Catharine Farrow, TMAC Resources CEO.

t’s been more than a decade since there’s been an operating mine in the mineral rich Kitikmeot region. Hope Bay is about 125 kilometres southwest of Cambridge Bay, encompassing about 1,100 square kilometres.

‘State-of-the-art’ caribou protection plans draw broad support for Sabina gold mine – by Sara Minogue (CBC News North – June 05, 2017)

June 28, 2017June 6, 2017

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

Warm feelings for Back River gold project at round 2 of final hearings in Cambridge Bay

An unprecedented second set of final hearings into a proposed gold mine in Nunavut’s Kitikmeot region ended with broad consensus that the Back River project could provide jobs and opportunity — without harming already vulnerable caribou herds.

“I will be returning to my community with very good news,” said Shin Shiga, who travelled to the hearings in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, to represent the N.W.T.’s North Slave Métis Alliance. He arrived wary about the risks the project posed to caribou, and left confident in what he called a “very progressive project.”

Vancouver-based Sabina Gold and Silver wants to build an open-pit and underground gold mine about 150 kilometres south of Bathurst Inlet. The Nunavut Impact Review Board initially rejected its plans after hearings in 2016 left open questions about caribou and climate change.

Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in FN and Goldcorp spar over mine proposal – by Dave Croft (CBC News North – June 5, 2017)

June 28, 2017June 5, 2017

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

Yukon First Nation says mining company is pushing its Coffee Mine project too fast through screening

Goldcorp says the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation in Dawson City has refused to allow the company to speak directly to First Nation citizens about its gold mine proposal south of the Yukon community.

The comment is made in a document filed with the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board and in response to documents filed by the First Nation complaining about consultation by the company. Goldcorp filed its 19,000 page application with the environmental screening agency at the end of March.

The assessment board is currently determining if the proposal contains enough information to allow the board to make recommendations about whether it should be permitted to move forward. There will also be a public comment phase.