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Junior Exploration Sector

First Nation, mining company announce partnership – by Alexandra Paul (Winnipeg Free Press – February 20, 2018)

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/

A remote Manitoba First Nation has made history by partnering up with a mining company to explore diamond claims staked in the Oxford Lake area.

There’s only an outside chance the deal between Altius Resources Inc. and Manitoba’s Bunibonibee Cree Nation will lead to a new mining source for diamonds, but its chief and the lawyers who mediated the agreement with Altius say the deal breaks ground even if there’s never enough diamonds to open up a mine.

“It is very historic. It is, we believe, the first of its kind in Manitoba. It sets out the conditions for acquiring the First Nation’s consent. Which means the company has acquired it, but has done so on a whole series of protection and compensatory measures that are sufficient for the First Nation,” said Kate Kempton, counsel for the First Nation at the Toronto-based law firm Olthuis, Kleer and Townshend.

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$2 million in mine exploration funds coming from federal, Saskatchewan governments – by Eric Westhaver (Flin Flon Reminder – February 14, 2018)

http://www.thereminder.ca/

Mine exploration around Flin Flon is about to get a boost, courtesy of the federal and Saskatchewan governments. A joint venture between the two sides will provide a total of $2 million in funding for aerial exploration and incentives for junior mining companies.

Under the program, Saskatchewan’s provincial government will spend $1 million on a geophysical survey of the area around Flin Flon, Creighton and Denare Beach. A budget proposal for other parts of the project is in the planning stages.

The surveying will be done jointly by the Geological Survey of Manitoba and the Geological Survey of Canada and Natural Resources Canada. Work on the project is expected to begin before early March.

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Seabridge dealing with damages from previous mining activities in northern BC – by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud (Mining.com – February 12, 2018)

http://www.mining.com/

The Association of Mineral Exploration in British Columbia recently awarded Seabridge Gold (TSX: SEA)(NYSE:SA) the 2017 Robert R. Hedley Award for excellence in social and environmental responsibility at its KSM project, which the company says is one of the largest undeveloped gold projects in the world measured by reserves.

Inspired by the work at KSM, Brent Murphy, Seabridge Vice President of Environmental Affairs, decided to replicate the experience at Iskut, the firm’s second project in northern BC, which was obtained with the closing of Seabridge’s acquisition of SnipGold Corp. in June 2016.

The 29K-hectare property is located some 110 km northwest of Stewart and includes the former high-grade gold Johnny Mountain Mine and the copper-gold Bronson Slope deposit.

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Northern Ontario First Nation awaits ruling over contested mining exploration permit (CBC News Thunder Bay – February 12, 2018)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/

Eabametoong asking court to overturn Landore Resources Canada’s gold exploration permit to

A northern Ontario First Nation now waits for a court ruling over a contested mining exploration permit in its territory after hearings in Toronto wrapped up last week.

Lawyers representing Eabametoong First Nation were in Ontario divisional court on Feb. 7 and 8. The First Nation wants the panel of judges to overturn a permit issued in its territory by the province to Landore Resources Canada in 2016. Eabametoong has argued the province failed in its duty to consult.

“Our position isn’t really anything new that we’re asking the courts to do, in terms of extending the duty to consult beyond what’s already been established,” said Krista Robertson, a Victoria-based lawyer with JFK Law, and legal counsel to the First Nation.

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NEWS RELEASE: Osisko Mining Provides Quebec Exploration Update (February 8, 2018)

http://www.osiskomining.com/

Exploration Budget for 2018: $100 million

(Toronto, February 8, 2018) Osisko Mining Inc. (OSK:TSX) (“Osisko” or the “Corporation”) is pleased to provide an update on the progress of exploration at its 100% owned Windfall Lake, Urban Barry and Quévillon gold projects located in the Abitibi greenstone belt, Eeyou Istchee James Bay, Québec.

Osisko has been conducting new exploration and definition drilling at Windfall for 26 months, since late October 2015. As of the end of January 2018, Osisko has completed 518,000 metres of the planned 800,000 metres to complement the pre-existing 180,000 metres drilled at Windfall by previous operators.

The company is rapidly advancing the Windfall and Lynx deposits through a balance of resource delineation drilling and exploration drilling for extensions and new mineralized zones. Osisko has been successful in the past two years at significantly expanding the known areas of mineralization in the Windfall system and reinterpreting the geological model of the Windfall deposit.

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Exploration agreement aims to help junior mining companies in northern Sask. and Man. – by Bridget Yard (CBC News Saskatoon – January 31, 2018)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/

Future of Creighton, Sask.’s main industry ‘up in the air,’ according to longtime Mayor Bruce Fidler

An agreement between the Saskatchewan and federal governments worth approximately $2 million will aim to help junior mining companies in their exploration of northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The agreement was signed in December 2017.

The future of the mining camps near Creighton, Sask., which is approximately 430 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, is “up in the air,” according to the town’s mayor.

“The forecast put out a year ago by Hudbay [Minerals] was that the 777 mine, the one in operation right now where they’re producing ore, is going to run out and shut down in three or four years,” said Bruce Fidler.

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Alaska mine developer’s shares fall 20 percent; partner pressured – by Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – January 29, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/

VANCOUVER (Reuters) – Shares of mine developer Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd fell more than 20 percent on Monday, the first trading day after a U.S. regulator’s surprise move to keep restrictions on the company’s big copper and gold mine project in Alaska.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reversed itself on Friday by maintaining restrictions on the proposed Pebble copper and gold mine in southwest Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, saying it needed more time to assess the project’s impact on the environment and area fisheries.

Pebble holds one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits. Its development, near one of the biggest sockeye salmon fisheries on earth, has been fiercely opposed by environmentalists, native groups and fisherman for years.

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Northern Ontario First Nation wants gold exploration permit quashed in case that could have impact on Ring of Fire – by Jorge Barrera (CBC News Indigenous – January 27, 2018)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/

Mining company pushed to end consultation after Barrick Gold came knocking

No one kept a record of what was said during the meeting between mining company Landore Resources Canada and the Ontario ministry in January 2016, but at stake was a potential deal with Barrick Gold, the largest gold mining firm in the world.

Landore, a subsidiary of Landore Resources Ltd., based in the Guernsey Islands, U.K., was eyeing potential gold deposits in an area with two lakes about 40 kilometres from Eabametoong First Nation where several families had camps, traplines and burial sites. Eabametoong First Nation is about 350 km northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont.

The mining company requested the “urgent meeting” with the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines because it wanted to wrap up consultations and obtain a permit to explore for gold, according to court records.

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Prospectors look to technology to help along rebound in B.C. mining exploration – by Derrick Penner (Vancouver Sun – January 24, 2018)

http://vancouversun.com/

Michael Burns can take a crew of two or three people with one of his company’s drones out to a remote mining claim and in a day do the survey work it would take a crew of four or five a month to do on the ground.

It’s an innovation that didn’t exist three years ago, said Burns, CEO of Vancouver headquartered Global UAV Technologies, during a presentation at the Association for Mineral Exploration B.C.’s annual Roundup conference.

The conference saw more than 6,500 delegates — its best attendance in three years — from dozens of companies, government agencies, suppliers and financiers gather to examine the next best prospects for mining and how to accomplish exploration in context of a renewed focus on reconciliation with First Nations.

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2018 minerals-focused financings off to slow start – by Henry Lazenby (MiningWeekly.com – January 22, 2018)

http://www.miningweekly.com/

ANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – In the wake of a slow start to mineral-focused financing activity, analysts are predicting more of the same for at least the first four months of 2018.

This year is also not expected to surpass 2017 in the number and value of mineral-focused financings undertaken at the market, data company Oreninc told attendees at the 2018 Vancouver Resource Investment Conference on Sunday. “Share prices will appreciate, but financing levels will probably be below 2017 levels,” said CEO Kai Hoffmann.

Oreninc tracks all Canadian mining and metals and oil and gas equity financings for companies listed on the TSX, TSX-V and CSE. The data is used to create a deal log, which it uses in consulting services and which is available for public scrutiny free of charge.

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Second life for historic Cobalt silver camp – by Karen McKinley (Northern Ontario Business – January 18, 2018)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Historic mining area near Ontario/Quebec border garnering attention for cobalt resources

The land around the town of Cobalt, despite the name, was once one of the richest silver finds in the nation. Decades after that boom ceased, another one is on the horizon, this time for the town’s namesake.

As demand for electric vehicles grows across the world, one company is taking a second look at the cobalt resources that were once thrown away.

First Cobalt Corp. gave a Jan. 16 presentation in Sudbury on their latest findings and plans to drill on several properties they purchased near Cobalt, many of them historical silver mine sites, to determine the scope and quality of the cobalt resources.

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Ontario does away with traditional staking process in mining act modernization – by Kelsey Rolfe (CIM Magazine – January 12, 2018)

http://magazine.cim.org/en/

Updated: Claim staking for prospectors and companies moves online in third stage of Ontario’s new mining act, currently being implemented

Ontario prospectors are no longer able to stake claims the traditional way as of midnight this morning. The province is in the process of implementing the third stage of its modernized mining act, which will involve online claim staking and an electronic system for administering mining lands.

The goal of the updates is to make mining lands administration and management simpler, and make exploration less intrusive to recognize Indigenous and treaty rights as well as better respect private landowners.

With the new system, mining companies or prospectors will be able to stake a claim by selecting the piece of land they want to claim on a digital map using an online registration system.

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NEWS RELEASE: RNC Minerals Plans Initiatives To Allow Decision To Begin Construction Of Dumont Nickel-Cobalt Project In 2019; Highlights Large Nickel And Cobalt Reserves

http://www.rncminerals.com/

TORONTO, Jan. 15, 2018 /CNW/ – RNC Minerals (TSX: RNX) (“RNC”) expects to undertake a series of initiatives during 2018 to position the company to make a decision to begin construction of the Dumont Nickel-Cobalt Project, which contains the world’s largest undeveloped reserves of both cobalt and nickel, in 2019.

With many market participants expecting explosive growth in nickel and cobalt demand from the electric vehicle market over the coming decade, RNC continues to be approached by a number of potential strategic investors, offtake partners and financiers who could provide the financing required to begin construction.

“The Dumont Nickel-Cobalt Project, one of the world’s premier battery metals projects, contains the world’s largest undeveloped reserves of both cobalt and nickel. It also contains the 2nd largest nickel reserve and the 8th largest cobalt reserve of any deposit in the world,” said Mark Selby, President and CEO of RNC Minerals.

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Prospecting enters the digital age in Ontario – by Adam McDowell (TV Ontario.org – January 9, 2018)

https://tvo.org/

Staking a mineral-rights claim will soon be as easy as clicking a mouse — but the new process may end up being hard on small-scale operations

From 1906 until early this morning, the process for staking a mineral-rights claim in Ontario was the same: Starting at the northeast corner of your intended parcel, drive a 10-centimetre-thick wooden stake into the ground, then trudge 400 metres south and do the same.

Continue to move clockwise, heading west to drive the next stake, then north, then east again to complete the square. Record your co-ordinates and report your claim to the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines within 30 days. For the next two years, you enjoyed exclusive mineral rights to a 16-hectare piece of Ontario.

But at 12:01 a.m. on January 9, the old way of calling dibs on Ontario’s mineral deposits became history, as the province took the next step in a long-planned transition to digital claim-staking. After a brief moratorium on all claims, a new online portal will be up and running on April 10. Once it’s in place, anyone with a computer and knowledge of the rules will be able to register a claim by clicking on a digital map.

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Copper Exploration in Northern Mexico’s Sierra Madre Region (Copper Investing News – January 8, 2018)

https://investingnews.com/

This INNspired article is sponsored by VVC Exploration (TSXV:VVC). This article was written according to INN editorial standards to educate investors.

Mexico has a long and storied mining history that dates back to the Aztecs. The nation’s geology represents a treasure trove of natural resources, including gold, silver and copper.

The Sierra Madres region in Northern Mexico was home to many historic artisanal mining camps where precious metals and copper were mined close to surface.

Now, modern exploration technologies such as aerial drones and advanced geophysical surveys are enabling new exploitation in areas of known copper mineralization — much like the oil companies that have sparked a revolution in the country’s oil and gas sector, using modern drilling techniques to revitalize existing wells and add new zones in existing fields.

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