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Canada Mining – North of 60

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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City of Yellowknife signs MOU with Chamber of Mines to promote economic development – by Ethan Butterfield (NNSL Media – June 15, 2022)

https://www.nnsl.com/

A newly-signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the City of Yellowknife and the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines promises to be a significant milestone for the mining industry in Yellowknife and the territory.

“Working together in partnership with the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines to proactively promote the economy of the city and the region will ensure economic growth into the future,” said Rebecca Alty, Yellowknife’s mayor. The MOU was signed during the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada 2022 Convention, which took place in Toronto from June 13 to 15.

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Baffinland starts process to lay off up to 1,328 employees in Nunavut (CBC News North – June 6, 2022)

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

Letter to Nunavut government gives notice of mass terminations starting Aug. 31

Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation intends to lay off up to 1,328 employees – including 209 Inuit – later this year, according to a notice the company served to the Nunavut government. The letter, dated June 3, says the mass terminations are expected between Aug. 31 and Oct. 31.

However, Joseph Tigullaraq, the head of northern affairs at Baffinland, said Monday afternoon that the company is still working to get approval from the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) to continue shipping six million tonnes of ore from its Mary River mine this year to prevent the layoffs.

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Northern Affairs ministry says it can’t approve Baffinland’s emergency request (CBC News North – May 31, 2022)

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

The mining company threatened last week to lay off over 1,300 employees if its emergency order is not approved

The office of the minister of Northern Affairs says it has no authority to grant Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation’s request for an emergency order to allow the company to continue to mine six million tonnes of ore this year from its Mary River mine in Nunavut. The current cap is 4.2 million tonnes.

It comes after Baffin land sent the request for the order to Minister Dan Vandal’s office on May 20. On Monday, Kyle Allen, a spokesperson for the ministry, said in an email to CBC News that while it is reviewing the company’s request, granting the order is not within its jurisdiction.

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QIA calling for Baffinland to mitigate damage from existing iron ore mine in Nunavut, as it awaits Federal decision on expansion proposal – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – May 20, 2022)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The Qikiqtani Inuit Association, or QIA, is calling on Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. to make immediate improvements to mitigate environmental damage from its iron ore operations in Nunavut, as stakeholders wait for Ottawa’s decision on whether a planned expansion of the mine is allowed to go ahead.

Earlier this month, the Nunavut Impact Review Board, or NIRB, issued a long-awaited report that recommended against the expansion, saying it has the potential to result in “significant adverse ecosystemic effects on marine mammals and fish, caribou and other terrestrial wildlife.”

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Nunavut hunters urge Baffinland mine to stop icebreaking, citing narwhal decline (CBC News North – May 11, 2022)

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

Nunavut hunters and environmental groups say shipping activity from Baffinland’s Mary River mine is having a real and potentially lasting effect on narwhal numbers in the area.They’re calling on the mining company to, again, alter its shipping plans this year as a precaution.

In a letter to Nunavut regulators last week, the Pond Inlet-based Mittimatalik Hunters & Trappers Organization (HTO) says the abundance of narwhal summering in Eclipse Sound has been in steady decline in recent years and that Baffinland is responsible.

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Some in Nunavut community question where money from mining company has gone – by Emma Tranter (CBC News North – April 29, 2022)

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

Baffinland offering no details on how it spent $42.9 million in Sanirajak, pop. 850

A company that runs the largest mining operation in Nunavut says it has given tens of millions of dollars in contracts to Inuit firms in the hamlet of Sanirajak, but some residents say they don’t know where that money has gone.

An Oct. 18, 2021, memo from Baffinland Iron Mines, which runs the Mary River iron ore mine near Pond Inlet, summarizes community engagement with its neighbours. A section of the memo highlights direct benefits to Sanirajak, a community of about 850 people, including $42.9 million awarded to Inuit firms there since 2018.

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Will the Far North be left out of the critical minerals rush? – by Alisha Hiyate (Northern Miner – April 27, 2022)

https://www.northernminer.com/

When Rio Tinto’s Diavik diamond mine closes in 2025, it’s going to put a major dent in the finances of the Northwest Territories. The mine, now 100% owned by Rio Tinto after it acquired Dominion Diamond’s 40% share last year, following Dominion’s filing for insolvency protection in 2020, was Canada’s second diamond mine, with production starting in 2003.

Now, it is the first of the Northwest Territories’ three currently operating diamond mines to be scheduled for closure. Its impact — as an employer of over 1,000 workers and contractors, more than twice that of Gahcho Kué — will also be the biggest.

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Diamond mines in the Northwest Territories are not a girl’s best friend – by Rebecca Hall (The Conversation – April 21, 2022)

https://theconversation.com/

Almost three years ago, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) released its final report and among its findings, the report identified resource extraction as a site of gender violence.

The relationship between extraction and gender violence has been observed in extractive sites around the globe. And in Canada, this gender violence is shaped by extraction and settler colonial dispossession of Indigenous lands and livelihoods. What is it about extractive projects that creates the conditions for gender violence?

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‘Significant day for the north’: Nechalacho’s first rare minerals shipment leaves Hay River -by Carla Ulrich (CBC News North – April 23, 2022)

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

The rare-earth concentrate is on its way to Saskatoon before moving on to Norway

Tuesday was an exciting day for Cheetah Resources and its Nechalacho mine. Their first shipment of rare-earth concentrate left Hay River and is making its way to Saskatoon.

Once there, it will be turned into mixed rare earth carbonate and then shipped to Norway for further processing. A groundbreaking day not only for the north but the rest of the country as well. This is the first rare-earth mine in Canada and only the second in North America.

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A fresh look at Muskox nickel in Nunavut – by Shane Lasley (North of 60 Mining News – April 8, 2022)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

SPC Nickel Corp., a new Canadian exploration company, April 5 outlined plans for the 2022 exploration program on its Muskox nickel-copper-platinum group metal property in Nunavut.

Located in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Muskox is a 45,200-hectare (111,700 acres) property that covers prospective geological settings with numerous similarities to many of the world’s largest nickel mining camps.

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‘Wild card’ Yukon prospector will be 1st Black person in Canadian Mining Hall of Fame – by Paul Tukker (CBC Canada North – March 12, 2022)

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

The late Yukon legend Peter Risby ‘just had so many unbelievable experiences’

Growing up, Tara Risby heard plenty of stories from her dad, the late Yukon prospector Peter Risby. She heard about how Peter, injured in the Korean War, once spent a few months in a Japanese hospital. Then there was the time he went over a cliff in a truck and came away uninjured. Oh, and there was also that helicopter crash that almost killed him and left him with a permanent scar on his cheek.

“We dubbed him ‘the cat with nine lives’ because he just had so many unbelievable experiences,” Tara recalled. “Yeah, he had quite a storied life.” When Peter Risby finally succumbed to cancer a decade ago, he was a local legend among Northern prospectors. Later this year he’ll be entered into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame — becoming the first Black person to be inducted.

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Sabina to construct Goose mill at 4 000 t/d at outset – by Mariaan Webb (MiningWeekly.com – March 10, 2022)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Precious metals developer Sabina Gold and Silver has announced optimisation to the plan for its Goose mine, at the Back River district in Nunavut. The updated feasibility study of February 2021 contemplated a mill producing 3 000 t/d for the first two years, increasing to 4 000 t/d in year two with a sustaining capital cost for the expansion of about C$17-million.

As part of the updated study, an initial 4 000 t/d mill was considered. However, at the time, the settled tailings density was based on the previous pre-leach thickener test work. This work resulted in a lower Echo openpit tailings capacity and a decision to delay the mill expansion timeline.

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Deadline for Mary River Phase Two expansion extended; lingering environmental concerns remain – by Trevor Wright (Nunavut News – February 14, 2022)

https://www.nunavutnews.com/

On Jan. 31, Baffinland Iron Mines filed its closing statement to the Nunavut Impact Review Board in support of its proposed phase two expansion of the Mary River Mine.

The proposed timeline for the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) to reach its decision and forward findings to the federal minister of Northern Affairs was 45 days from Baffinland’s closing statement being submitted. However, due to the “overwhelming’”quantity of information to digest, the regulatory body concluded an additional 60 days is required.

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Ottawa on the hook for $4-billion tied to abandoned mines’ cleanup in the North – by Kevin Philipupillai (Hill Times – January 20, 2022)

https://www.hilltimes.com/

NDP MP Lori Idlout says the Liberals need to hold companies accountable. ‘Our communities can’t continue to be disregarded when the profit is gone and we’re left to clean up the mess that a multi-billion dollar company made.’

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada is responsible for $4-billion in environmental liabilities for mines abandoned by private operators in the territories, according to the federal government’s public accounts for 2020-21. This figure represents the amount required to bring 162 contaminated sites back up to current minimum environmental standards. But in extreme cases the remediation costs may extend into perpetuity.

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