Archive | Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications

Lake trout’s return reflects success of Sudbury’s regreening efforts – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – January 23, 2020)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

‘Sudbury is an example to the world of what can be done’

All herald the mighty lake trout. This cold-water, oxygen-loving fish is a sign that Sudbury’s regreening efforts have really taken root.

“We’re trying to educate people about local species and local biodiversity in ecosystems,” Tina McCaffrey, supervisor of the city’s regreening program, says. “For myself and my parents, growing up 40 years ago, we know the landscape was black and lifeless. But children today – they miss out on that. They don’t always know what we’re talking about when we say Sudbury used to be like a moonscape.”

Sudbury’s regreening efforts are impressive. There is a hill in the Little Britain area where you can climb and look out over the slag pours of Vale in one direction, and the expanse of leafy neighbourhoods and verdant woods in the other. Sudbury no longer resembles the moonscapes of past decades. Certainly, our rocks are still black, but now they are covered in mosses, lichens, trees and shrubs that speak to the pioneering efforts of the VETAC committee. Continue Reading →

As MacLean Engineering’s electric mining vehicles start to be deployed in real-world applications, work at the company’s Sudbury test site is helping to forge the next phase in mining’s transformation – by Devin Arthur (Electric Autonomy – January 21, 2020)

January 22, 2020 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Green Mining, Mining Supply and Services Sector, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://electricautonomy.ca/

Last November, I visited a test site run by one of the world’s leading manufacturers of zero-emissions mining technology. MacLean Engineering’s Sudbury, Ontario facility is being used to test battery-powered electric mining vehicles, which the Canadian company has been working to develop since 2015.

The impressive site consists of a 300-metre long underground ramp and an excavated cavern, in which enormous electric vehicles are tested for levels of energy use and heat generation.

A deep history

Nickel and copper mining has been ongoing in Sudbury for over 100 years, so at this point many of its mines are quite deep. Typically, ventilation requirements for mines of a certain depth are significant. Continue Reading →

New Coal-Killing Energy Storage Challenge Also Dings Natural Gas – by Tina Casey (CleanTechnica.com – Janaury 9, 2020)

January 15, 2020 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Climate Change, Carbon Taxes and ENGOs, Coal

https://cleantechnica.com/

It’s no secret that the Trump Administration has presided over the collapse of the US coal industry, but do they have to rub it in? The answer appears to be yes. On Wednesday, newly minted Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette announced an all-hands-on-deck initiative to push the energy storage envelope farther into coal-killing territory. For good measure, the new $153 million “Energy Storage Grand Challenge” will probably bump off natural gas, too. And all this under a President* who pledged to save coal jobs!

The Jig Is Up: Trump Hates Coal, Loves Energy Storage

Considering all the promises Trump made to coal miners, their families, and their communities, one would think that a major coal-killing announcement would get buried in a Friday evening news dump. After all, energy storage is the key that accelerates the renewable energy revolution.

Nope. Secretary Brouillette made the announcement in the brilliant light of day exactly in the middle of the week, on Wednesday afternoon at CES 2020 in Las Vegas. The annual event, which is owned and produced by the US Consumer Technology Association, bills itself as “the world’s gathering place for all those who thrive on the business of consumer technologies.” Continue Reading →

Nunavut review board seeks comments on Baffinland production extension (Nunatsiaq News – January 14, 2020)

January 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/

The Nunavut Impact Review Board is accepting comments on Baffinland Iron Mines Corp.’s request to extend its production limit at its Mary River mine.

The board issued a call for comments from interested parties on Jan. 8. Comments will be accepted until Feb. 3. Baffinland requested this extension, to continue mining up to six million tonnes of iron ore per year through 2020, on Dec. 16.

This follows a production cap increase granted in 2018, up from the 4.2-million-tonne cap set in the project certificate amendment that allowed trucked shipping to Milne Inlet under the company’s “early revenue phase.” That two-year production cap expired on Dec. 31, 2019. Continue Reading →

Organization gearing up to promote Indigenous-mining relationships – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – January 14, 2020)

January 14, 2020 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Minerals Development will be based in Sudbury

Dawn Madahbee Leach is hopeful that a newly forged partnership between Waubetek Business Development Corp. and Rio Tinto will be just the first of many positive working relationships between Indigenous people and the mining industry.

In November, the global mining giant announced it would invest $1 million over five years into Waubetek’s Centre of Excellence for Indigenous Minerals Development, which is being established in Northern Ontario.

“Our partnership aims to grow the opportunity for Indigenous communities to participate in a meaningful way in the benefits that can come from responsible mineral development,” said Simone Niven, Rio Tinto’s group executive of corporate relations, in a Nov. 27 news release announcing the partnership. Continue Reading →

Court sides with environmental groups in ongoing De Beers lawsuit – by Elena De Luigi (Timmins Press – January 13, 2020)

January 14, 2020 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Diamond Mining, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines

https://www.timminspress.com/

“There needs to be accountability. We need our regulators to step up and do their job.”

The courts have ruled in favour of an environmental group that accused De Beers Canada of allegedly failing to report mercury monitoring data collected at the Victor Diamond Mine to the provincial regulator. The Victor Diamond Mine is located on wetlands along the Attawapiskat River near Attawapiskat First Nation on the James Bay Coast.

Timmins provincial court Justice David A. Thomas granted the appeal made by Trevor Hesselink, the director of Wildlands League, the non-profit organization that accused De Beers in 2015 of breaching a section of the Ontario Water Resources Act on an ongoing basis between June 2009 and July 2016.

Hesselink alleged DeBeers failed to self-monitor and report on the mine’s “effluent discharge,” specifically the levels of mercury and methyl mercury seeping into the Attawapiskat River. Continue Reading →

Inventus trades heavily on Sudbury update (Resource World – Janary 13, 2020)

January 14, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Junior Exploration Sector, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://resourceworld.com/

Inventus Mining Corp. [IVS-TSXV] shares advanced in heavy trading Monday January 13 after the company said it has updated the terms of a previously announced non-brokered private placement that aims fund projects in the Sudbury, Ontario region.

It said the updated private placement will be for up to 12.4 million units at 10.5 cents per unit, raising gross proceeds of $1.3 million.

Each unit will consist of one common share and one common share purchase warrant, each of which will entitle the holder to acquire one common share for 17 cents for a period of two years after the closing date of the offering. Continue Reading →

Lac des Iles exploration boss joins base metal junior miner – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – January 13, 2020)

January 14, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Junior Exploration Sector, Ontario Mining, Platinum Group Metals

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Grid Metals seeks to advance platinum-palladium project near Sudbury

North American Palladium’s former head of exploration has found a home with a Toronto outfit looking for base metals in northeastern Ontario. Grid Metals Corp. has appointed Dave Peck to be its vice-president of exploration and business development.

Peck is regarded as a world expert in platinum group metals (PGM) and nickel-copper sulfide projects, mining districts and markets. He is credited as one of the senior managers that led the turnaround of North American Palladium (NAP) culminating in its $1-billion acquisition by Impala Platinum of South Africa last October.

From 2012 to 2019, Peck worked the exploration side at NAP’s Lac des Illes palladium mine, north of Thunder Bay, finishing as vice-president of exploration. Continue Reading →

Group wants Long Lake plan to move forward – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – January 10, 2020)

January 10, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Despite concerns raised by some residents, most people living on Long Lake support a new plan to tackle contamination from an old gold mine, according to the head of a stewardship group.

“You can’t satisfy everybody 100 per cent of the time,” said Scott Darling, chair of the Long Lake Stewardship Committee. “But our position is this is the best plan we have seen in close to 10 years for getting the problem solved, and the problem is the arsenic in the lake.”

A cleanup and tailings-containment strategy put forward in 2017 by the Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines was met with more resistance, he said, as it would have resulted in a high volume of truck traffic on area roads. The ministry went back to the drawing board, however, considering four alternatives to the original plan. Continue Reading →

Rise of the robots in Northern Ontario? Not so much, study says – by Mary Katherine Keown (Sudbury Star – Janaury 8, 2020)

January 8, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Ontario Mining

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Automation is the new buzzword in many mining circles these days and a new report by the Northern Policy Institute is shedding light on how the advent of robotic technologies could impact the economy in Northern Ontario.

Some say automation could result in increased productivity, income and standards of living; however, others are concerned new technologies could accelerate the pace of change and bring unprecedented occupational disruption and unemployment.

The impact of automation could be profound, the NPI says. It changes the nature of work and the demand for skills, and it benefits some workers while putting others at risk. The report also mentions that the substitution of jobs by robots raises concerns about the government’s ability to collect taxes. Continue Reading →

Marathon palladium deposit could be mineable – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – January 6, 2020)

January 7, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Ontario Mining, Platinum Group Metals

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Generation Mining economic study estimates 14-year production life

A base metal deposit outside the town of Marathon has the potential to be an open-pit mine. Toronto’s Generation Mining is placing a 14-year mine life on its Marathon Palladium and Copper Project after releasing the results of a favourable preliminary economic assessment (PEA).

The company bills the deposit as North America’s largest undeveloped platinum group metal (PGM) mineral resource.

Once known as the Marathon PGM property, the 22,000-hectare parcel of land is 10 kilometres from the community near the north shore of Lake Superior, and has seen a plenty of exploration activity over the years by a succession of companies. Continue Reading →

Pirie’s 2020 vision: Jobs, growth – by Elena De Luigi (Timmins Daily Press – December 31, 2019)

January 6, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Ontario Mining, Timmins

https://www.timminspress.com/

More jobs and industry projects are coming to Timmins in 2020, according to Mayor George Pirie. In an interview, he told The Daily Press his New Year’s resolutions for the city involve stimulating the economy with more jobs and industry projects to move the city forward.

Pirie detailed a number of initiatives, including an announcement on the status of IAMGOLD Corporation’s Côté Lake Gold Project. The billion-dollar mining project is close to getting its environmental permits approved while continuing its development by de-risking, drilling and adding resources.

Access to Côté Lake was also the reason the city asked the Ministry of Transportation to increase the speed limit from 80 to 90 kilometres per hour on Hwy. 101 West. Continue Reading →

Accent: Sudbury’s impact on Lake Huron (hint — it’s major) – by Joe Shorthouse (Sudbury Star – December 21, 2019)

December 23, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Sudbury is part of the Great Lakes Ecosystem. Water in toilets flushed in Sudbury, along with waters from mine tailings, flows into Lake Huron and pass under the swing bridge on Manitoulin Island

The new partnership of residents who live year-round on the islands in the Great Lakes, called the Great Lakes Islands Alliance (GLIA), held its third annual Summit on Mackinac Island in Lake Michigan in October.

As with previous gatherings, participants reminded themselves that the Great Lakes hold about 20 per cent of the world’s fresh water and living on islands comes with the responsibility of protecting the integrity of this critical resource.

Participants have come to visualize the five Great Lakes as gently sloping eastward from the west coast of Lake Superior to the east coast of Lake Ontario, and as a result, Great Lakes waters eventually flow into the St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic Ocean. Continue Reading →

Ottawa will take your comments on the Ring of Fire road – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – December 19, 2019)

December 20, 2019 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Mining Railway, Road and Other Infrastructure, Ontario Mining, Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Public comments are being taken as part of a federal environment assessment (EA) of the first leg of the proposed north-south Ring of Fire road. The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (formerly known as the Canadian Environment Assessment Agency) is inviting feedback for the upcoming EA of the Marten Falls Community Access Road Project.

The agency determined an EA was necessary on Nov.29. Ottawa wants the public to provide direction on what specific factors must be addressed for the environmental study and how the public should be engaged during this process.

A provincial environment assessment on the corridor began last March. Both levels of government are expected to coordinate their efforts in this process. Marten Falls First Nation, the road proponent, is a fly-in community of 325 at the junction of the Albany and Ogoki Rivers, about 170 kilometres northeast of Nakina in northwestern Ontario and about 100 kilometres southeast of the mineral deposits in the Ring of Fire. Continue Reading →

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