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Canada Mining – North of 60

Ukraine’s victory is a bulwark for Canada and NATO against future Russian aggression – by Marcus Kolga (Toronto Star – January 31, 2024)

https://www.thestar.com/

Canada’s economy is larger than Russia’s and combined with our G7 allies, we have the resources to stand up to Putin’s petulant transnational bullying.

As we approach the third year of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the stakes for the security of Canada and our allies has never been higher. Ukraine’s victory is not just a moral imperative: it will prevent Vladimir Putin from expanding his current conflict beyond Ukraine.

In recent weeks, high-ranking allied military officials have sounded alarms about a looming military confrontation with Russia.

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The fatal plane crash in the Northwest Territories this week was rare – but the journey to remote mines is always perilous – by Mike Hager, Niall McGee and Wendy Stueck (Globe and Mail – January 27, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

After a few months or years of working rotating shifts at the Diavik Diamond Mine, flying to the site can become routine.

Employees file into a twin-propeller plane, exchange small talk with the crew and then tend to put their earbuds in and try to catch some shut-eye before their shifts, says Sean Farmer, a pilot who until recently worked with Northwestern Air Lease Ltd. Mr. Farmer flew all over the North, including twice-monthly flights between Fort Smith, NWT, and the Diavik mine, about 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife.

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FIRST READING: Canada signs over an area the size of Western Europe to Inuit control – Tristin Hopper (National Post – January 25, 2024)

https://nationalpost.com/

In ‘largest land transfer in Canadian history,’ Nunavut to now control oil, gas and mineral rights across two million square kilometres

Ottawa has just inked an agreement that constitutes the biggest land transfer in Canadian history — while ranking as one of the largest-ever examples of a government effectively returning territory to Indigenous control.

The Nunavut Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement has gone mostly unnoticed outside the Arctic. But the 239-page agreement — signed last week by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — takes roughly two million square kilometres of Crown land previously under federal control and transfers it to the Government of Nunavut.

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Multiple fatalities reported in crash of plane carrying Rio Tinto mine workers – by Mike Hager and Xiao Xu (Globe and Mail – January 24, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

A plane carrying workers to a Rio Tinto diamond mine in the Northwest Territories has crashed just above the border with Alberta, killing multiple passengers.

A spokesman for the multinational company did not say how many miners have died in the Tuesday morning crash but confirmed late that evening “a number of our people” were on a flight to the Diavik mine when it came down near the town of Fort Smith, where local authorities prepared the hospital to receive multiple wounded patients.

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Nunavut premier full of hope as deal with Ottawa is signed – by Stepanie Taylor (Globe and Mail – January 19, 2024)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

As a child growing up in Canada’s northernmost community, P.J. Akeeagok wanted to be a water truck driver. In Grise Fiord, a community on Nunavut’s Ellesmere Island where just 145 people live as of the 2021 census, the water truck driver served as a role model who delivered an essential public service.

Mr. Akeeagok’s public-service instincts led him in a different direction: The 39-year-old is now the country’s youngest Premier, leading the federation’s youngest territory. And on Thursday, he inked his name to an agreement with the federal government that he hopes will open up more opportunities for coming generations.

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Nunavut is about to sign a devolution deal. Here’s how it worked in the Yukon and N.W.T. – by Liny Lamberink (CBC News North – January 17, 2024)

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

Devolution — transferring responsibilities for land and resources — is unique to each Canadian territory

A final devolution agreement, transferring responsibilities for Crown land and natural resources from the federal government to the Nunavut government, is being signed in Iqaluit Thursday afternoon. The details of the milestone agreement aren’t being made public until the document is signed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

But there are some things we already know. The federal government has gradually transferred responsibility for things like health, education, social services, housing and airports to the three territories since the 1960s. Devolving the responsibility for land and resources in Nunavut, currently held by the federal Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, is the next step.

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Burgundy enters Canadian diamond scene – by A.J. Roan (North of 60 Mining News – January 18, 2024)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

Precious stone mines saw some shuffling in Canada’s North with Burgundy Diamond Mines Ltd.’s acquisition of the Ekati diamond mine.

Already a 40% partner with North Arrow Minerals Inc. at the Naujaat diamond project in Nunavut, Burgundy closed its buyout of Arctic Canadian Diamond Company Ltd. on July 4, which gave the Australian diamond company full ownership of the world-class Ekati Mine and significantly elevating its efforts to deliver high-end cut and polished diamonds mined in Canada’s Arctic to global markets.

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Bigger Storm Copper brewing in Nunavut – by Shane Lasley North of 60 Mining News – January 18, 2024)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

It is hard to decide what to get more excited about at American West Metals Ltd.’s Storm Copper project in Nunavut – the abundance of near surface high-grade copper mineralization with the potential to be upgraded to a direct shipping ore, or the much larger yet still high-grade sediment-hosted copper orebody being unveiled under the zones being outlined on the surface.

Together, these zones on the Storm Copper project on Somerset Island in Canada’s Arctic offer a potential supply of the copper being demanded by a world transitioning to clean energy.

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First Nation ‘encouraged’ by Yukon court ruling on flawed consultations over mine project (CBC News North – January 10, 2024)

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

Ross River Dena Council asked for judicial review of 2022 approval of Kudz Ze Kayah mine project

A Yukon Supreme Court decision about flawed consultations over a contentious mine project in Kaska traditional territory is being welcomed by First Nations, environmentalists, and the mining company involved.

In a ruling issued last week, Justice Suzanne Duncan found that the Crown largely met its duty to consult First Nations throughout the environmental assessment of the proposed Kudz Ze Kayah mine in southeast Yukon. However, she also found that the Crown failed to give proper consideration to a final, 48-page submission from the First Nations before giving the mine the green light.

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Court hands partial victory to First Nations who say they weren’t properly consulted over Yukon mine project – by (CBC News – January 5, 2024)

https://www.cbc.ca/

Supreme Court finds the Crown did reasonably consult with Kaska, ‘in all respects but one’

A Yukon judge has handed a partial victory to First Nations who said they weren’t adequately consulted over a proposed mine project in Kaska territory in southeast Yukon.

But the court also found that the federal and territorial governments largely met their duty to consult throughout the environmental assessment process.

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Board recommends against proposed mining road in central Yukon – by Caitrin Pilkington (CBC News North -January 3, 2024)

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

TMM Goldcorp Inc.’s proposed road west of Pelly Crossing could be bad for caribou, says YESAB

The Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) is recommending against a proposed mining road in central Yukon, citing concerns about potential adverse effects on caribou in the area.

TMM Goldcorp Inc. first submitted the proposal for the Casino-Rude Project in March 2023. The road would be built in a forested area about 100 kilometres west of Pelly Crossing, Yukon, or 380 kilometres northwest of Whitehorse.

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Opinion: Diamonds may be forever but diamond mines aren’t. N.W.T. needs to find a replacement fast – by Darrell Beaulieu, Paul Gruner and Heather Exner-Pirot (Financial Post – December 6, 2023)

https://financialpost.com/

Premier and cabinet need to make clear N.W.T. is open for other kinds of mining and will ease investors’ way

Although it wasn’t much noticed in the rest of Canada, the Northwest Territories had an election last month. Worn down by a series of crises, people voted for change: about half of the MLAs-elect are new. They picked a hard time to get into government.

Compared to what’s coming next, COVID-19 and record-breaking wildfires might not look so bad. The territory’s diamond mining industry, which represents over a quarter of its GDP, is coming to its natural end. And as things stand there is no plan to replace it.

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NWT & NUNAVUT MINING: Going underwater to mine Ekati diamonds with vehicles – by Jill Westerman (NNSL.com – November 21, 2023)

https://www.nnsl.com/

With approximately 165 million carats of diamonds still underground at the former Ekati diamond mine, its new owner, Burgundy Diamonds, is looking to extend the mine’s life by implementing a never-before tried method of kimberlite extraction.

“Not all of those (carats) will be recoverable. But even if we did get a big chunk of those carats, it potentially could extend the life of the asset for many, many years to come,” said Kim Truter, CEO of Burgundy Diamond Mines.

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Yukon government approves more mineral exploration in Whitehorse – by Virginie Ann (CBC News Canada North – November 22, 2023)

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

New permit allows drilling within city limits, in an area near Mount Sima and Copper Haul Road

An mineral exploration company fined earlier this year for mining infractions at a site just outside Whitehorse has received a new permit to pursue more exploration in the city.

The Yukon government approved earlier this month a class 1 exploration permit allowing Gladiator Metals to do up to 10,000 metres of diamond drilling around the Whitehorse Copper Belt. The areas — Little and Middle Chief as well as the Arctic Chief area — are within city limits, close to Mount Sima and Copper Haul Road.

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Nunavut review board says Rankin Inlet mine expansion should not go forward – by Emma Tranter (CBC News Canada North – November 20, 2023)

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

Agnico Eagle “surprised and disappointed” by board’s decision

The Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) says a proposal to extend Agnico Eagle’s Meliadine gold mine should not be allowed to proceed. Agnico Eagle’s proposal would have extended the mine’s life by 11 years, to 2043, and built an 11-turbine wind farm to power the mine.

In a 255-page document released late Friday, the NIRB said the mine, which opened in 2015 and is 25 kilometres from Rankin Inlet, should not expand at this time, “due to the considerable uncertainty of the potential for the proposal to have negative, lasting effects on caribou, and the uncertainty of cumulative effects.”

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