Archive | Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications

Dubreuilville gears up for growth: Gold mine construction means plenty of planning for northeastern Ontario wilderness community – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – October 19, 2020)

October 19, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Ontario Mining

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Melanie Pilon will soon be putting out the call for skilled and entrepreneurial-minded Dubreuilville ex-pats to come home.

That’s the primary audience for the economic development officer in the secluded northeastern Ontario community as excitement builds over news that Argonaut Gold is pressing ahead with construction of its Magino open-pit gold mine next January.

The mine project, 14 kilometres southeast of town, will be the second such operation in the vicinity of the mainly francophone community of 600. Continue Reading →

Canada, Australia and U.S. launch the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative – by Greg Klein (Resource Clips – October 16, 2020)

October 19, 2020 in Australia/New Caledonia/Papua New Guinea Mining, Canada Mining, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals, United States Mining

http://resourceclips.com/

Increasing concern about the need for non-Chinese supply chains has generated much talk but fewer tangible efforts. Recent news, however, outlines plans formulated by two of the world’s major mining countries along with the world’s largest economy.

Canada, Australia and the U.S. intend to work together on the Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative. Following bi-national MOUs that the U.S. signed with each of the others, the CMMI intends to have the trans-national trio pool its knowledge, co-operate on research and provide publicly available info.

The collaboration calls for the three countries to:

-share data
-unify critical minerals analyses
-build on existing datasets
-identify gaps in knowledge
-learn more about critical minerals in different deposit types
-enhance working relationships Continue Reading →

B.C.’s 14 operating mines could shrink to just five in 20 years, report warns – by Nelson Bennett (BIV/Alaska Highway News – October 17, 2020)

October 19, 2020 in British Columbia Mining, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Climate Change, Carbon Taxes and ENGOs

https://www.alaskahighwaynews.ca/

B.C. has a serious carbon leakage problem that could see the mining industry here shrink over the next 20 years, and emissions from mining rise in other countries, a new report by the Mining Association of (MABC) warns.

It warns that B.C.’s 14 operating mines could shrink to just five by 2040. When carbon taxes were first introduced in B.C. by the Liberal government, they were generally supported by B.C.’s mining industry.

But the industry expected other competing jurisdictions would likewise implement carbon pricing. Most didn’t. Moreover, the NDP ended carbon tax neutrality, in which increases in carbon taxes are offset with decreases in other taxes. Continue Reading →

Battery Chat with Parri #1: Prof. Arumugam Manthiram (Nickel Institute – October 15, 2020)

October 16, 2020 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Nickel, Nickel Laterites

https://nickelinstitute.org/

Prof. Arumugam Manthiram, a renowned professor at the University of Texas at Austin, has contributed substantially to the field of energy storage with his research having great impact on the scientific community. In this chat, Prof. Manthiram shares his research path briefly, his perspective on current research performed on high-nickel cathodes, and a glimpse of his future research directions.

Prof. Arumugam Manthiram currently holds the Cockrell Family Regents Chair in Engineering #5 and is the Director of the Texas Materials Institute.

With over 800 publications and 69k citations, his recent papers in Nature Energy and Nature Communications have been accessed by almost 60,000 people. Working on a wide range of high-nickel cathode materials for Li-ion batteries (among other topics), Prof. Arumugam Manthiram’s group recently performed a very interesting comparative study on various high nickel-containing cathode compositions: NMA-89 (89 refers to 89% nickel content) to NMC-89, NCA-89, and Al-Mg co-doped NMC (NMCAM-89). Continue Reading →

Barrick Gold gets good news in Papua New Guinea – by Peter Kennedy (Resource World – October 15, 2020)

October 16, 2020 in Australia/New Caledonia/Papua New Guinea Mining, Barrick Gold Corporation, Canada Mining, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver

https://resourceworld.com/

Barrick Gold Corp. [ABX-TSX; GOLD-NYSE] received some good news on Thursday October 15 when Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said Barrick and its Chinese joint venture partner Zijin Mining can continue to operate the Porgera gold mine.

According to published reports, the announcement follows talks in Port Moresby, the Papua New Guinea capital, and coincides with the release today of Barrick’s third quarter 2020 production results, which were largely in line with expectations.

Barrick shares were virtually unchanged on the news, easing 0.86% or $0.32 to $36.89 on volume of 2.25 million. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $41.09 and $17.52. Continue Reading →

Environmental, human rights questions shadow Hope Bay mine sale – by Derek Neary (Nunavut News – October 13, 2020)

October 15, 2020 in Asia Mining, Canada Mining – North of 60, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver

Front Page

TMAC Resources negotiated a mineral exploration agreement with land claims organization Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and a series of deals with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association (KIA), including a 20-year Inuit Impact and Benefit Agreement in 2015.

“All those agreements will stay in place” if Shandong Gold Mining buys out TMAC Resources, said Alex Buchan, TMAC’s vice-president of corporate social responsibility.

Asked whether the change in ownership at the Kitikmeot’s Hope Bay gold mine would open the door to renegotiating the KIA’s agreements as the Qikiqtani Inuit Association did in 2018 with Baffinland Iron Mines and again earlier this year with an Inuit Certainty Agreement – commanding a rising royalty rate, more jobs and training and even daycare provisions for workers’ children – Buchan tapped the brakes on such an idea. Continue Reading →

Baffinland plans further expansion at Nunavut’s Mary River: report – by Jim Bell (Nunatsiaq News – October 14, 2020)

October 15, 2020 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canada Mining – North of 60, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Iron Ore

https://nunatsiaq.com/

Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. is likely planning a further expansion of its Mary River iron mine that would see iron ore shipments through its Milne Inlet port increase to 18 million tonnes a year.

That information is contained in a credit report on Baffinland, prepared by Moody’s Investors Service, dated June 2020 and obtained by Nunatsiaq News.

“Baffinland plans to expand the Mary River mine to a capacity of 18 Mtpa [18 million metric tons, or tonnes],” says the report, which repeatedly refers to a “Phase 3” expansion. Continue Reading →

Coalition worried about future of Wolf Lake – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – October 15, 2020)

October 15, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Junior Exploration Sector, Ontario Mining

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Mine company, however, promises minimal disruption and commits to maintaining the beauty of the area

Wilderness champions say concerted political pressure is now required to protect Wolf Lake after another permit for mineral exploration was recently granted.

In a post at its Facebook page, the Coalition for a Liveable Sudbury said more than 500 people commented on the permit application through the Environmental Registry of Ontario, with the vast majority — 98 per cent — opposing it.

Nevertheless, “the application was approved with no conditions attached,” the coalition said. Wolf Lake is located northeast of Sudbury in the Chiniguchi waterway chain — a popular area for canoe tripping — and counts the largest contiguous stand of old-growth red pines in the world. Continue Reading →

Mining industry leading the way with new COVID-19 rapid-testing technology – by Len Gillis (Northern Ontario Business – October 13, 2020)

October 14, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Ontario Mining

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Industry and business have responded well to a new Canadian COVID-19 test device that was first put into action at a Northern Ontario gold mine just three months ago.

The portable device, about the size of a bread toaster, is the SARS-CoV-2 Real-Time RT-PCR, distributed by Precision Biomonitoring of Guelph. It was approved by Health Canada on June 30. Two weeks later on July 13, the first test kit was used at the New Gold Inc. mine near Rainy River.

Since then, the test kit has become a success story, said Dr. Mario Thomas, CEO of Precision. Without revealing the names of clients, Thomas said a uranium mining company and an iron ore company also bought test kits. Some test kits have also been distributed to remote First Nations in Northern Ontario. Continue Reading →

Want to have a say on the Marathon mine’s EA? – Staff (Northern Ontario Business – October 9, 2020)

October 14, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Copper, Ontario Mining, Platinum Group Metals

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Ottawa wants your feedback on a proposed open-pit palladium and copper mine near the north shore of Lake Superior.

The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (formerly the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency) and the Government of Ontario are resuming an environmental assessment (EA) for Generation Mining’s proposed open-pit palladium mine near the town of Marathon.

The EA was placed on hold in 2014 at the request of Stillwater Canada, then the proponents of the mine project. The federal and provincial review panel that was established to assess the project was disbanded. Continue Reading →

Will it be Northern Ontario minerals going into Oakville-produced electric cars or Congolese? – by Maija Hoggett (Sudbury.com – October 12, 2020)

October 13, 2020 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals, Copper, Nickel, Ontario Mining

https://www.sudbury.com/

The North needs to ‘seize this moment,’ Timmins-James Bay MP Charllie Angus says

With the government investing in electric vehicles, Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus said the region should “seize this moment.”

At the Timmins Chamber’s town State of COVID-19 townhall Oct. 7, Angus talked about the exciting potential for the area.

The federal and provincial governments announced a combined $590-million investment on Oct. 8 for Ford Motor Company’s $1.8-million retooling of its Oakville assembly plant to start rolling electric vehicles off the line by 2025. Continue Reading →

First Nations involved in energy sector determined to share wealth and see others thrive – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – October 6, 2020)

October 8, 2020 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

When First Nations benefit from big natural resource projects, entire regions across the country seem to thrive.

In the last 10 to 15 years, Indigenous communities in Western Canada have made great strides in participating in the oil and gas sector. Now they’re poised to take the next step, to take an equity stake in massive infrastructure projects, like pipeline developments.

But they need Ottawa to remove some historical barriers and free up access to capital that has constrained Indigenous prosperity and prevented them from participating in industry on an equal footing. Continue Reading →

Diamonds found with gold in Canada’s Far North offer clues to Earth’s early history – by Michael Brown (Folio.ca – October 6, 2020)

October 7, 2020 in Canada Mining – North of 60, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Diamond Mining, Gold and Silver

https://www.folio.ca/

The presence of diamonds in an outcrop atop an unrealized gold deposit in Canada’s Far North mirrors the association found above the world’s richest gold mine, according to University of Alberta research that fills in blanks about the thermal conditions of Earth’s crust three billion years ago.

“The diamonds we have found so far are small and not economic, but they occur in ancient sediments that are an exact analog of the world’s biggest gold deposit—the Witwatersrand Goldfields of South Africa, which has produced more than 40 per cent of the gold ever mined on Earth,” said Graham Pearson, researcher in the Faculty of Science and Canada Excellence Research Chair Laureate in Arctic Resources.

“Diamonds and gold are very strange bedfellows. They hardly ever appear in the same rock, so this new find may help to sweeten the attractiveness of the original gold discovery if we can find more diamonds.” Continue Reading →

Crisis: More studies needed: The U.S. responds to a critical minerals “emergency” with additional reports – by Greg Klein (Resource Clips -October 1, 2020)

October 7, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals, United States Mining

http://resourceclips.com/

A national emergency normally calls for action. But although the U.S. faces “an unusual and extraordinary threat”—not referring to insurrectionary riots but foreign dependency on critical minerals—the country intends to respond with more studies and reports. Such was the gist of President Donald Trump’s September 30 executive order.

Yet he made his awareness of the problem manifest. Referring to 35 critical minerals the U.S. deems essential for uses including national security, economic well-being, electronics, transportation and infrastructure, Trump cited U.S. Geological Survey data showing his country imports over half its supply of 31 of the 35 minerals. For 14 of the minerals, the U.S. depends completely on foreign sources.

That leaves the country vulnerable “to adverse foreign government action, natural disaster or other supply disruptions. Our national security, foreign policy and economy require a consistent supply of each of these minerals.” Continue Reading →

BC’s Quesnel Trough: 1,000 km of mineral potential – by Ellsworth Dickson(Resource World – October 2020)

October 7, 2020 in British Columbia Mining, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Copper

https://resourceworld.com/

The Quesnel Trough, also known as the Quesnel Terrane, is a Triassic/Jurassic-age arc of volcanosedimentary and intrusive rocks that hosts a number of alkalic copper-gold porphyry deposits with copper gold and silver values and sometimes molybdenum.

The Trough runs northwest some 1,000 km from the U.S. border in south-central British Columbia to close to the Yukon border. In addition to the copper-gold porphyry deposits, the Quesnel Trough, the longest mineral belt in Canada, is also known for several types of gold deposits.

The Teck Resources open pit Highland Valley Mine, which is, in fact, located about 50 km southwest of Kamloops, is expected to produce annual copper production of between 155,000 and 165,000 tonnes per year from 2021 to 2023. Continue Reading →