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Mining Railway, Road and Other Infrastructure

Driving the ice road: a journey along a community’s disappearing lifeline – by Cloe Logan (National Observer – April 5, 2025)

https://www.nationalobserver.com/

Seen from above, the road could be mistaken for a river or stream. Curving through boreal forest, its palette exists on a spectrum: some parts are white with snow; others dim with muted yellow or glistening blue. When the sun hits, it ceases to hold colour at all and is instead reflective, sending light from above right back to where it came.

The road is an overlapping Venn diagram of synthetic and natural: built from water, manipulated by machine, and at the mercy of weather patterns and temperatures — made increasingly erratic by climate change — even though some humans are utterly dependent upon it.

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‘Long tail’: Rail shutdown ends, but aftershocks ripple amid drawn-out ramp-up – by Christopher Reynolds (Canadian Press – August 25, 2024)

https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/

Rail shutdown ends, but aftershocks persist

MONTREAL – The end of the shutdown at Canada’s two major railways came too late for the workers at Conifex Timber. Some 250 employees felt the impact when the company cut the operating schedule in half at its sawmill in Mackenzie, B.C., starting Monday — the day the work stoppage on the tracks wraps up.

Despite the relatively short rail standstill, Conifex’s reduction to one shift per day from two will last “for the foreseeable future,” said chief operating officer Andrew McLellan last week.

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Scramble for Critical Minerals Spurs an African Rail Revival – by Matthew Hill (Bloomberg News – August 24, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Southern Africa’s railways are suddenly getting global attention and attracting billions of dollars in investment, with a race to secure copper supplies needed for the energy transition at its center.

From Angola on the continent’s west coast to Tanzanian on the east, governments and investors are readying to revive decades-old rail lines that have fallen into disrepair and build new ones. Much of the new demand for freight comes from the central African copperbelt that Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo share.

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First Nation in northwestern Ont. moves ahead with permanent bridge, all-season road – by Darren MacDonald (CTV Northern Ontario – August 23, 2024)

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

The Ontario government is partnering with the Whitefeather Forest Community Resource Management Authority and the federal government to build a permanent bridge across the Berens River and an all-season road to Pikangikum First Nation.

The project will “unleash new economic opportunities, create safer travelling conditions, and improve the safety and quality of life for seven First Nation communities north of Red Lake,” the province said in a news release this week.

The Ontario government is partnering with the Whitefeather Forest Community Resource Management Authority and the federal government to build a permanent bridge across the Berens River and an all-season road to Pikangikum First Nation.

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Feds end Canada’s rail strike – by Blair McBride and Henry Lazenby (Northern Miner – August 22, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Ottawa has stepped in to end a rare strike halting both of Canada’s major railways less than a day after it began. Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon on Thursday afternoon ordered Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway, Canadian National Railway and the labour union, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, into final arbitration.

The companies had locked out about 10,000 employees after the parties failed to reach an agreement. Mining leaders were among scores of industries concerned the stoppage would affect supply lines across the country and over the border with the United States.

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Miners tap trucks, divert shipments to sidestep Canada rail woes – by Jacob Lorinc (Bloomberg News – August 22, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Two mining giants are re-routing shipments and turning to trucks to deal with disruptions from a Canadian railway stoppage that threatens to undermine the industry’s operations.

Rio Tinto Group will rely on trucking and increase usage of its own railway between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador to ship and receive raw materials, the company said Thursday in an emailed statement. Rio produces aluminum, iron ore, diamonds and titanium in Canada.

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NEWS RELEASE: Ontario, Pikangikum First Nation and Canada Partnering to Advance Construction of Berens River Bridge (Ministry of Northern Development – August 21, 2024)

Year-round road access to Pikangikum First Nation and improved winter road connections will enhance quality of life for seven remote communities

PIKANGIKUM FIRST NATION – The Ontario government announced its plan to partner with the Whitefeather Forest Community Resource Management Authority and the Government of Canada to build a permanent bridge across the Berens River and an all-season road to Pikangikum First Nation. The project will unleash new economic opportunities, create safer travelling conditions, and improve the safety and quality of life for seven First Nation communities north of Red Lake.

“From the beginning, our government committed to strengthening opportunities and improving safety for First Nations communities in the North,” said the Honourable Greg Rickford, Ontario Minister of Northern Development and Ontario Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation.

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Canada, BC invest in Golden Triangle roads – by Shane Lasley (North of 60 Mining News – July 16, 2024)

https://www.miningnewsnorth.com/

Governments commit C$195 million to improving highway infrastructure in critical minerals-rich Northern BC.

Heralded as a win for First Nations residents and the mining industry in Northern British Columbia, the federal and provincial governments are investing C$195 million (US$142.6 million) to upgrade highway infrastructure in the critical minerals-enriched Golden Triangle.

“The Northwest BC Highway Corridor Improvements Project will benefit a critical mineral region and First Nations partners,” said B.C. Minister of Transportation Pablo Rodriguez. “It will also improve transportation safety, reliability and access to essential services, and reinforce our government’s commitment to a net-zero future.”

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Sandy Lake celebrates the arrival of power and light – by Mike Stimpson (NWO News Watch – June 24, 2024)

https://www.nwonewswatch.com/

The remote First Nation now has reliable electricity, thanks to the Wataynikaneyap Power line.

SANDY LAKE – Another First Nation celebrated Wataynikaneyap Power “bringing the light” on Friday, National Indigenous Peoples Day. “The Wataynikaneyap Power transmission system means more than reliable electricity for the community,” Sandy Lake Chief Delores Kakegamic said.

“It means we can build new homes and buildings, such as our new health centre, and connect them to power. It means we will no longer need to react, almost daily, to power outages.”

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Province, Aroland First Nation have traction on a Ring of Fire road agreement – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June 19, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Northwest First Nations provided with road improvement, training dollars for future mine development

Greenstone has been long regarded as the gateway to the Ring to the Fire — the logistical crossroads, business and training hub for any future mine development in the James Bay region.

Premier Doug Ford made his second trip in eight months to the rural northwestern Ontario on June 19 to deliver training and infrastructure dollars, and smooth over relations with First Nations that may be on the fence about development in the Far North.

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4 First Nations sign deal with Ontario to build roads near Ring of Fire – by Liam Casey (Canadian Press/Global News – June 18, 2024)

Youtube Video From Office of the Premier of Ontario

https://globalnews.ca/

Four First Nations have signed a deal with Ontario for new roads, other infrastructure projects and skills training as the province lays a foundation for plans to mine the mineral-rich Ring of Fire region.

The province said Animbiigoo Zaagi’igan Anishinaabek, Aroland First Nation, Ginoogaming First Nation and Long Lake #58 First Nation will see their roads that connect to the provincial highway system fortified and renewed.

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Ring of Fire road talks still in ‘early stages’ despite premier’s hints: Aroland chief – by Jack Hauen (The Trillium – April 29, 2024)

https://www.thetrillium.ca/

Chief Sonny Gagnon said he hopes to get a deal done in his two-year term, which began in November

While he’s “optimistic” about getting a deal done at some point in his two-year term, Aroland First Nation Chief Sonny Gagnon said the first part of the road to the Ring of Fire isn’t as close as the premier is making it out to be.

“We had great conversations with Aroland, the Chief of Aroland. We’re about that far away from signing a deal to get the first 80 kilometres of road,” Ford said last week, nearly pinching together his thumb and index finger.

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Baffinland hopes railroad to Steensby is built in next few years – by Jeff Pelletier Nunatsiaq News – April 24, 2024)

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Application to temporarily continue increased iron ore shipments from Milne Inlet submitted to Nunavut Impact Review Board

Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. is applying to continue exporting six million tonnes of iron ore from Mary River Mine through Milne Inlet, its northern marine shipping corridor, until 2030 or its railroad to Steensby Inlet is built.

Megan Lord-Hoyle, the company’s vice-president of sustainable development, shared the news Wednesday during a presentation at the Nunavut Mining Symposium in Iqaluit. The company previously applied to ship 12 million tonnes of ore through Milne Inlet, but the federal government shot that plan down in 2022.

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Impassable winter roads create ‘dire’ situation for Ontario First Nations: NAN (Canadian Press – February 10, 2024)

https://www.cp24.com/

Impassable winter roads are delaying vital shipments and threatening the safety of First Nations across northern Ontario, leaders warned as they pressed the provincial and federal government for support.

An unseasonably warm winter, intensified by human-caused climate change, has left many remote First Nations cut off from an essential road network built over frozen land, lakes and rivers. The situation has prompted recent state of emergency declarations by First Nations in Manitoba and Ontario, as well as repeated requests for support.

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Remote Manitoba First Nations declare state of emergency due to lack of winter road access – by Sarah Petz (CBC News Manitoba – February 06, 2024)

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

Chiefs say they’re not able to bring in hundreds of loads of essential supplies

The chiefs of four isolated First Nations in northeastern Manitoba say this year’s unusually warm weather has made it impossible to bring in hundreds of loads of essential supplies to their communities, via the province’s winter road system.

At a news conference Tuesday morning, the chiefs from the Island Lake region — which is comprised of the Wasagamack, St. Theresa Point, Red Sucker Lake and Garden Hill First Nations — said they are declaring a state of emergency as a result.

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