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Canada Mining – North of 60

Feds slammed at Nunavut land use hearing, critics say it favours development over caribou protection – by Jane George (CBC News North – September 28, 2022)

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

‘These grounds are sacred and need to be respected and protected,’ says Katie Rasmussen

The federal government received pointed criticism for its position on caribou protection under the draft Nunavut Land Use Plan during its presentation Tuesday in Thompson, Man.

Questions from those at the Nunavut Planning Commission hearing saw Spencer Dewar, director of resource management for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, defending the federal government’s position on mineral development, existing rights and conservation under the land use plan.

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Baffinland jobs safe for now – by David Venn (Nunatsiaq News – September 22, 2022)

https://nunatsiaq.com/

Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. has pushed back the date it was to start letting go its Mary River mine employees. The move came Thursday after the Nunavut Impact Review Board issued a positive recommendation on the company’s application for a higher iron ore shipping limit.

The mining company can prevent “potential significant adverse ecosystemic and socioeconomic effects” if it improves adaptive management and monitoring programs, board chairperson Marjorie Kaviq Kaluraq wrote in a letter to federal Northern Affairs Minister Daniel Vandal Thursday.

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[Yellowknife] A city divided – by Rachel Zelniker (CBC News Interactives – September 14, 2022)

https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/

In 1992, a labour dispute that would last 18 months tore Yellowknife apart, culminating in an explosion that killed nine miners. The fallout of one of Canada’s largest mass murders still lingers in this northern city.

Today, Yellowknife only tangentially resembles its history as a gold mining town. The city sits atop the Canadian Shield, a large expanse of ancient bedrock, one of the world’s richest areas in terms of its mineral ores.

But a dilapidated mining headframe is one of the last vestiges of the area’s days as a gold mining capital. The city’s biggest gold mine has been closed for decades.

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Sabina says yes to building a gold mine in western Nunavut – by Jane George (CBC News North – September 13, 2022)

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

‘A milestone decision for the company,’ says CEO and president Bruce McLeod

Nunavut is set to see a third operating gold mine in 2025 with Sabina Gold and Silver Corp.’s recent decision to move ahead on building its Goose gold mine.

Sabina’s CEO and president, Bruce McLeod, called the Sept. 7 construction announcement “a milestone decision for the company,” adding it was exciting “to formally commit to becoming a significant Canadian gold producer.” The Goose mine is located about 400 kilometres south of Cambridge Bay and lies 172 kilometres away from Sabina’s marine laydown facility in Bathurst Inlet.

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A mining icon returns to find Thor Lake a working mine – by Ollite Williams (Cabin Radio – September 4, 2022)

https://cabinradio.ca/

The man who first discovered rare earths by a lake east of Yellowknife returned last month to the working mine that has since developed.

Gren Thomas, an occupant of the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame since 2009, is best known for his role in the diamond discovery that established the NWT’s Diavik diamond mine in the 1990s.

However, in the 1970s, his first major breakthrough in the territory was the discovery of various minerals at Thor Lake, some 100 km east of the territorial capital. Thomas flew back to Thor Lake in August, his first visit in a decade, to see what is now the Nechalacho mine, Canada’s first producer of rare earths and an operating mine since 2021.

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Baffinland promotes proposed production increase at Nunavut regulator meeting – by Jane George (Eye On The Arctic/RCI.ca – August 17, 2022)

https://www.rcinet.ca/

Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. says it will stop production at its Mary River iron mine, end shipping and cut jobs to about 80 on site if its request to increase its 2022 production isn’t approved by the Nunavut Impact Review Board.

About 300 Inuit are now employed at the mine, the company said. “That’s a lot of lives that will be impacted,” said Baffinland’s vice-president Megan Lord-Hoyle Tuesday at the review board’s community roundtable in Pond Inlet.

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Nunavut communities weigh in on Baffinland production increase – by Paul Tukker (CBC News North – August 3, 2022)

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

Arctic Bay, Pond Inlet register support for temporary increase again this year at mine

Baffinland Iron Mines’ request to boost its production again this year at its Mary River mine is getting mixed reaction from some Nunavut communities.

The request — which, if approved, would allow the company to mine up to six million tonnes of ore from its Mary River mine in 2022 — is now before the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB). And behind the request is a threat, with Baffinland saying more than 1,000 people will be laid off starting next month if it’s not approved.

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Over a thousand workers face layoffs in Nunavut as Baffinland permit in limbo – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – August 3, 2022)

https://financialpost.com/

Waiting on ruling from federal government about extraction limits

More than 1,000 workers at Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. received termination notices and might be out of work by October if the Nunavut-based miner’s extraction permit isn’t renewed by the Federal government, the company said on Wednesday.

The workers received their notices on July 31, company spokesman Peter Akman said. He added that the notices would be rescinded if Baffinland receives the permit to increase its annual extraction limit of iron ore to six million tonnes from its original allowance of 4.2 million tonnes.

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Baffinland issues layoff notices to more than 1,100 employees – by David Venn(Nunatsiaq News – August 2, 2022)

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Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. has sent layoff notices to more than 1,100 of its employees. The company sent the notices July 31, said spokesperson Peter Akman. The first round of layoffs is scheduled to happen Sept. 25, and the second on Oct. 11.

“The company has had to take this step out of an abundance of caution,” Akman wrote in an email to Nunatsiaq News. Baffinland operates an iron mine on north Baffin Island, where it employs about 350 Inuit.

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Federal minister delays Baffinland decision by another 90 days (CBC News North – July 12, 2022)

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

Dan Vandal wants to ensure Inuit have ‘adequate time’ to mull NIRB report

The minister of Northern Affairs needs more time to make a major decision on the future of iron mining on Baffin Island. In a letter Monday to the Nunavut Impact Review Board, Dan Vandal says he’ll need an extra 90 days to decide whether a major expansion of Baffinland Iron Mines should go ahead.

On May 13, after four years of intensive review, the board recommended the proposed expansion not be allowed to proceed. Normal procedures give the federal minister 90 days to accept, vary or reject the board’s recommendation. That would have meant a decision by mid-August.

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Uranium exploration plan in Thelon Basin draws some concerns – by David Lochead (Nunatsiaq News – July 7, 2022)

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Some Baker Lake residents and organizations are expressing concerns over planned uranium exploration in the Thelon Basin next year. The majority of comments submitted to the Nunavut Impact Review Board that were made public by the board have expressed concern or questions, with others writing in opposition.

The review board makes recommendations to the federal minister of northern affairs about the economic and social impacts of proposed development projects in the territory. NIRB opened up the commenting period to the public June 14; commenting closed July 5.

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After 125 years Yukon’s gold rush gets bigger and bigger – by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – June 30, 2022)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – People have been pulling gold out of Canada’s Yukon Territory for 125 years. Yet, mining executives say that the jurisdiction’s full potential remains untapped as companies continue expanding their precious metal resources and finding new significant green-field discoveries.

“The beauty of the Yukon is that even with its long history, it is still very much underexplored,” said Heather Burrell, President and Managing Director at Archer Cathro, an independent geological consulting firm. The company has been a prominent explorer in the Yukon for the last five decades and has made significant discoveries, including the Coffee project, which was initially bought by Goldcorp and is now owned by Newmont.

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Sabina moves closer to kick-starting western Nunavut gold mine – by Jane George (CBC News North – June 22, 2022)

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

Goose mine could be open by 2025 in territory’s Kitikmeot region

By 2025, Nunavut’s Kitikmeot region could see a new gold mine enter into production, Sabina Gold and Silver Corp.’s Goose gold mine. The company has been working toward opening a mine in its Back River project for at least a decade.

Sabina plans to make the decision soon about advancing its project to production, said company vice-president Nicole Hoeller. “We wanted to have our financing in place before,” Hoeller said.

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Canadian explorer continues to advance project’s copper-nickel-cobalt plus PGM, clean energy potential (Mining Weekly – June 20, 2022)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

With significant demand and potential in Canada for high-grade palladium, platinum, rhodium, copper, nickel and cobalt, Canadian North Resources Inc. (CNRI) is at late-stage exploration and development of its mining property in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut, in Canada, namely the Ferguson Lake project.

The company, which owns 100% of the project, has a mandate to create shareholder value from the advancement of its Ferguson Lake project, which holds substantial resources of copper (0.46-billion indicated and 0.95-billion inferred pounds), nickel (0.32-billion indicated and 0.55-billion inferred pounds) and cobalt (37-million indicated and 62-million inferred pounds) plus palladium (1.08-million indicated and 2.12-million ounces) and platinum (0.18-million indicated and 0.38-million inferred ounces).

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PDAC 2022: NWT leaders ask Ottawa to help with infrastructure to benefit mining – by Blair McBride (Northern Miner – June 15, 2022)

https://www.northernminer.com/

In the Northwest Territories, infrastructure that lags behind southern Canada is limiting the potential of the territory’s mining development and increasing its costs as well, said leaders of the N.W.T. government at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference in Toronto on June 14.

Premier Caroline Cochrane and Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment Caroline Wawzonek told The Northern Miner in an interview that they want the federal government to step up and provide more support for the territory’s infrastructure needs.

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