https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
A First Nation in Yukon is calling for a stop to mining in its traditional territory as uncertainty swirls over the scale of environmental damage caused by the failure of a gold processing plant.
Giant piles of cyanide-laced rocks collapsed June 24 at a heap leach facility at the Eagle gold mine in central Yukon operated by Victoria Gold Corp., triggering a landslide that likely released toxic cyanide into the environment.
Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) said on Tuesday its 100% owned Diavik diamond mine in Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT) has successfully completed the installation of its 3.5 megawatt capacity solar power plant.
The project represents the largest off-grid solar power plant across Canada’s territories, the Australian miner said. The Diavik mine is located about 200 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle, at the bottom of Lac de Gras.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Dawna Hope, chief of the Na-Cho Nyak Dun First Nation, is particularly worried about possible contamination of drinking water
The First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun is concerned that Victoria Gold Corp. and the Yukon government are soft-pedalling the impact of a suspected large-scale cyanide spill this week at a gold mine in the territory.
Giant piles of cyanide-laced rocks collapsed on Monday at an outdoors heap leach gold processing facility at the Eagle gold mine in central Yukon, triggering a landslide that likely released the toxic chemical into the environment.
https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/
De Beers Group and Mountain Province Diamonds announced that their joint venture Gahcho Kué diamond mine has surpassed the $2-billion spending threshold with Northwest Territories and Indigenous business.
The milestone represents 61% of the total $3.2 billion spent on the project since 2015 when construction began. Local businesses supply welding, transportation logistics, trucking, passenger and cargo flights, labour, and camp catering.
Nunavut’s qamutik hitched to growing mining revenues; NWT accentuates upside of big government
The tale of two territories remains divergent. Nunavut’s 3.4 per cent growth in gross domestic product in 2023 was the strongest in the country, according to initial data from Statistics Canada in May.
The usual players were front and centre. Mining’s share of Nunavut’s GDP continues to expand, reaching a record high 46.7 per cent in 2023, up significantly from 28.5 per cent in 2019. All of that gold and iron extraction — and the related spin offs — represented $1.37 billion for the economy last year, a slight increase from $1.33 billion in 2022.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
An internal rock collapse at a gold mine in the Yukon was a major factor in the collapse of a gold processing plant operated by Victoria Gold Corp., The Globe and Mail has learned.
Whitehorse-based Victoria Gold on Monday said that its heap leach pad had failed at its Eagle gold mine, and that part of the infrastructure had breached the containment region, raising the possibility of environmental damage from cyanide leaking into the environment.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/
Operations halted at Victoria Gold’s Eagle gold mine
A slide after the failure of a heap leach pad at Victoria Gold’s Eagle mine has halted operations at the site in central Yukon.
In a news release on Monday, Victoria Gold confirmed that operations have been temporarily suspended while the situation is assessed. “At this early stage, it can be confirmed that there has been some damage to infrastructure and a portion of the failure has left containment,” the release said.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/
Vital Metals sells stockpile to Saskatchewan Research Council for $3.3M
Vital Metals announced Monday that it’s selling its stockpiled rare earth material to the Saskatchewan Research Council for $3.3 million. This material comes from the North T deposit at the Nechalacho mine, 110 kilometres from Yellowknife.
Natural Resources Canada, along with Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, directly facilitated this transaction, which has the effect of keeping rare earth materials out of Chinese hands.
The longtime leader of Agnico Eagle is newly focused on his vision of how industry and government can partner to develop the North
Sean Boyd has spent the past four decades building Toronto-based Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. into Canada’s largest mining company and the world’s second-largest gold miner.
Now, having “retired” in December and transitioned to company chair from executive chair, he is making frequent visits to Ottawa to push the federal government to more aggressively assert sovereignty over the Canadian Arctic, where Agnico has built three mines (two are currently producing) and is planning a fourth project.
Everyone knows about the population disparity, but do they know why?
Last week, I looked at Whitehorse’s role as the “moose in the room” when talking about the Yukon population. Almost 80 per cent of Yukoners live in what Statistics Canada charmingly calls the “Whitehorse Census Agglomeration.”
But if Whitehorse was in Alaska, it would only be the fifth largest borough. The Whitehorse agglomeration is significantly smaller than Anchorage, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Fairbanks North Star Borough and Kenai Peninsula Borough.
Akeeagok, leaders from Yukon and N.W.T. meet over 4 days in Pond Inlet for Northern Premiers’ Forum
To strengthen sovereignty and security in Canada’s North, the federal government needs to invest in infrastructure that can also benefit northern communities, Premier P.J. Akeeagok said Thursday. “For many years, as northern premiers, we’ve been voicing the importance that Arctic security and sovereignty [means] seeing our communities vibrant,” he said in Iqaluit.
Akeeagok spoke during a press conference with the premiers of Yukon and Northwest Territories, following their annual Northern Premiers’ Forum where their territories’ shared interests are discussed.
Strong production at Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd.’s Nunavut gold mines played a role in achieving a “record” first quarter this year, the company says. Agnico released its first quarterly financial report for 2024 last week.
CEO Ammar Al-Joundi said in a news release the company is reporting a “second consecutive quarter of record operating margins and record free cash flow.” The company reported an adjusted net income of around US$377.5 million for the first quarter of this year from its mining operations around the world. That’s up from around US$282.3 million the previous quarter.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Diesel is the only way to keep the lights on in many remote Arctic towns. A new project wants to offer a greener option – but first it has to assuage safety and cost concerns and compete with other renewables
The nuclear industry is seeking to establish a beachhead in Canada’s North – literally – with a proposed floating nuclear power plant to serve remote Indigenous communities.
Westinghouse, a U.S.-based reactor vendor, has partnered with Prodigy Clean Energy, a Montreal-based company, to develop a transportable nuclear power plant. Essentially a barge housing one or more of Westinghouse’s eVinci microreactors, it would be built in a shipyard and moved thousands of kilometres by a heavy-lift carrier to its destination in the Far North. There it could be moored within a protected harbour, or installed on land near the shore.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/
Environmental watchdog released audit on northern contaminated sites this week
A chief of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation says an auditor’s report about contaminated sites shows Canada is “missing the mark” when it comes to remediation and reconciliation in the North.
It’s one perspective northerners are sharing after the federal environmental watchdog released a report Tuesday that scrutinizes how Ottawa has managed contaminated sites in the North. A Yukon mining analyst has also agreed with its finding that longer-term plans are needed for some of the North’s big, abandoned mines.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/
Sable proposal needs Tłı̨chǫ sign-off, says Wek’èezhìı Land and Water Board
If the company that owns the Ekati diamond mine in the N.W.T. wants to proceed with an underground mining project, it has to get sign-off first from the Tłı̨chǫ government, a regulatory board has ruled.
Just north of Ekati’s main camp — and 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, give or take — there’s already an open pit to access kimberlite, called the Sable open pit. An underground development would aim to pull out more of that diamond-containing rock.
