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Canada Mining – North of 60

Baffinland gets OK to ship more ore from Nunavut mine (CBC News Canada North – November 20, 2023)

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

Mining company can ship 6 million tonnes of ore annually until Dec. 31, 2024

Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. has been given the OK to ship more ore from its Mary River mine in Nunavut. The company can ship up to six million tonnes of ore per year until Dec. 31, 2024 — that’s up from 4.2 million tonnes per year.

Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal approved the plan following a recommendation from the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB). Baffinland has in past requested, and been approved for, similar such temporary increases.

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B2Gold delivers the goods at Back River – by Shane Lasley (North of 60 Mining News – November 10, 2023)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

With a successful summer construction and shipping season, B2Gold Corp. says its Back River gold project in Nunavut remains on pace to pour its first gold early in 2025. Upon the April completion of its acquisition of Sabina Gold & Silver Corp., which had already made significant progress on early development at Back River, B2Gold immediately invested the resources necessary to get the first mine on this district-scale gold property into production.

Goose, the most advanced project at Back River, is slated to produce 3.34 million oz of gold over 15 years of mining 18.7 million metric tons of proven and probable reserves averaging 5.97 grams per metric ton (3.6 million oz) gold.

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Pine Point Mining Ltd. says new lead-zinc mine on course for 2029 opening – by Amanda Rumbolt (NNSL.com – November 9, 2023)

https://www.nnsl.com/

The proposed lead-zinc mine at Pine Point is moving along as planned, according to the company behind the new project. Town council received an update during its council meeting on Oct. 30 from Andrew Williams, the environmental manager for Pine Point Mining Limited (PPML).

PPML is a joint venture between Osisko Metals and Appian Natural Resources Fund. Appian announced it had purchased a 60 per cent stake in the project for $100 million over four years this past February. Williams’ presentation to council indicated that the mine’s life is expected to be 12 years with construction scheduled to begin in late spring of 2028. Operations are expected to begin one year later and is set to last until 2040.

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Cast a ballot, learn about Giant Mine: public info session on arsenic trioxide takes place on election night – by Mah Noor Mubarik (CBC News Canada North – November 1, 2023)

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

Session is meant to help people learn about long-term plans for toxic arsenic trioxide

An independent board meant to review the Giant Mine clean-up is holding an information session so people can learn more about long-term plans for the highly toxic arsenic trioxide buried underneath the mine site. The session will be held on the same evening as the territorial election.

The Giant Mine Oversight Board’s chair, David Livingstone, said the date for the meeting was set before wildfires led to the postponement of the election. He said it took four months to set up and would be impossible to reschedule easily.

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People, housing, land: N.W.T. business leaders call for cascade of change from next gov’t – by Sidney Cohen (CBC News Canada North – October 21, 2023)

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

‘Fundamentally, if you want to grow the economy, you need to grow your population.’

The outlook was rather grim. “The recovery from the pandemic returns the economy to its pre-pandemic path of slow decline,” read this year’s budget documents for the Northwest Territories.

The budget goes on to list a raft of challenges: inflation, high interest rates, a shortage of workers, insufficient economic diversification, and the fast-approaching closure of the territory’s three diamond mines. This summer’s devastating wildfires and evacuations haven’t helped the situation.

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Canada’s long-forgotten lithium province – by A.J. Roan (North of 60 Mining News – October 5, 2023)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

Like many other northern regions, Canada’s North was settled because of its mineral resources. When the Canadian Dominion Government first purchased its arctic regions from the British Crown in the late 1800s, the Northwest Territories was seen as a vast stretch of cold, inhospitable land and was thus largely ignored at the time. However, due to the Klondike Gold Rush, the future of these northern lands would change forever. These days, a new rush has arisen, a white gold rush for lithium in Northwest Territories.

With the market for electric vehicles and battery storage technology predicted to skyrocket in coming years, demand for critical minerals continues to grow in turn. With this, lithium appears poised to recharge NWT’s exploration sector.

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Agnico Eagle donates $5M to support breakfast, literacy and arts programs – by Jorge Antunes (Nunatsiaq News – October 2023)

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Executive fills in details of pledge mining company made in 2020

Agnico Eagle is donating $2.5 million to a children’s breakfast program and $2.25 million to Nunavut’s literacy council, a move the mining company called an investment in the territory’s youth. “We firmly believe that to leave a lasting and meaningful legacy in Nunavut, we must support and invest for the next generation,” said Martin Plante, the mining company’s Nunavut vice-president, on Sept. 28.

Plante announced the details for what the company calls its Inunnguiniq project — Inuktitut for “creating a whole human being” — during the closing gala of last week’s Kivalliq Trade Show.

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Nunavut communities look to future as Meliadine mine extension hearings wrap up – by Emma Tranter (CBC News North – September 20, 2023)

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

Participants weigh importance of jobs in small communities with concerns about caribou

After almost a week of technical meetings, communities had their turn to speak at a final public hearing that could determine the future of Nunavut’s Meliadine gold mine, and therefore the entire region.

Agnico Eagle Mines is looking to expand Meliadine near Rankin Inlet, extending the mine’s life by 11 years until 2043 and building 11 wind turbines, among other changes.

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Caribou concerns dominate hearing on Nunavut mine extension – by Emma Tranter (CBC News North – September 18, 2023)

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

‘The value of Qamanirjuaq herd to Kivalliq Inuit cannot be underestimated’: NTI

The first few days of a final public hearing on a Nunavut mine’s proposal to extend its project heard repeated concerns about how those changes would affect caribou.

The answer to those concerns, for the most part, is unknown. That’s because the project includes a proposal to create a wind farm to power the mine, the first of its kind in Nunavut. Qamanirjuaq caribou in the Kivalliq, as hunters speaking at the hearing pointed out, have never encountered wind turbines.

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Final hearing on future of Meliadine gold mine begins in Rankin Inlet – by Emma Tranter (CBC News North – September 12, 2023)

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

Agnico Eagle proposes to install wind turbines, extend mine life by 11 years

Meetings on a proposal that could change the future of Agnico Eagle’s Meliadine gold mine get underway in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, Tuesday. The Nunavut Impact Review board will host technical meetings and a site visit followed by a community roundtable that will run until Sept. 20.

the Meliadine gold mine lies about 25 kilometres north of Rankin Inlet and 80 kilometres southwest of Chesterfield Inlet. It was first approved in 2015. The proposal now under review would extend the life of the mine by 11 years, until 2043.

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Rio to build Canada’s largest solar farm – by Esmarie Iannucci (Mining Weekly – August 11, 2023)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining major Rio Tinto has announced plans to build Canada’s largest solar plant at its Diavik diamond mine.

The solar plant will feature over 6 600 solar panels that will generate approximately 4 200 MWh of carbon-free electricity annually for the mine. The solar power plant will provide up to 25% of Diavik’s electricity during closure work that will run until 2029, with commercial production from the operation expected to end in early 2026.

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Yukon gov’t inspectors find violations at Hecla Mining’s Keno Hill project (CBC News North – July 28, 2023)

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

Report from June notes concerns with tailings facilities, water discharge, and hazardous material storage

Yukon mine inspectors found a series of problems at the Hecla Mining Company’s Keno Hill property, according to a recent report. Inspectors raised a number of concerns, including sediment runoff from tailings facilities, poor storage of hazardous materials, hydrocarbon stains on the ground, and discharged water that was toxic to fish.

“When you say are there lots of infractions found, well, I can tell you there’s 11 different pieces of legislation, all kinds of rules that have to be followed, and we do everything we can to help our companies comply with those requirements,” said Will Tewnion who’s with Yukon’s department Energy, Mines and Resources.

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Geology student wins contest, then inks mining deal that might pay millions – by Tom Blackwell (Financial Post – July 27, 2023)

https://financialpost.com/

Winning the NextGen Prospect Challenge was a big deal for Ryan Burke, but within two years he had done much better

Winning the NextGen Prospect Challenge was a big deal in itself for Ryan Burke, a young geologist just out of university in 2020. The unique Dragons’ Den-style contest — held in Toronto at the world’s largest mining conference — had students and recent graduates pitching ideas for greenfield mines to mining CEOs. The winner claimed a $17,000 prize, connections with industry insiders and the chance to further pursue their dream proposal.

But within two years, Burke had done much better. Barely launched on his career, the Whitehorse native inked a deal in 2022 with one of the sponsors of the event to develop what could be a rich deposit of gold, silver and copper he found in the Yukon mountains.

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OPINION: NWT is rich in critical minerals, but its economy faces neglect and inadequacy – by Caroline Cochrane (Globe and Mail – July 27, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Caroline Cochrane is Premier of the Northwest Territories.

We stand at a critical juncture for the Northwest Territories. Throughout our history, the NWT has thrived on abundant mining activities, boasting a wealth of zinc, gold, diamonds and countless other valuable resources, including oil and gas. We are blessed with a land of immense potential, including being home to 23 of the 31 critical minerals essential for the green economy.

This should be cause for celebration, but instead, we are once again on the outside looking in. The race to supply allied economies with these vital minerals is under way, and unless Canada acts swiftly to invest in transportation corridors, telecommunications infrastructure and cleaner, more affordable energy in the North, the NWT and our people risk being left behind.

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Yukon Gold Miners Just Stumbled Across A Rare Trove Of Hundreds Of Woolly Mammoth Bones – by Kaleena Fraga (All That’s Interesting – Updated February 10, 2023)

https://allthatsinteresting.com/

The fossils belonged to three woolly mammoths that lived some 30,000 years ago. They were likely even part of the same family.

Agroup of miners in Dawson City, Yukon hoped to strike gold. Instead, they came across another sort of treasure. As they sifted through the dirt, they uncovered a stunning trove of woolly mammoth bones.

“It’s probably one of the best days I’ve had working,” said Trey Charlie, who came across the bones alongside another miner at Little Flake Mine. “It’s so much fun to discover these things.” Charlie and his fellow miner discovered the bones while excavating mud from a mine site. As they worked, they uncovered an enormous tusk.

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