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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McEwen Mining invests $30 million in Timmins-area exploration – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – June 18, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Toronto gold company funds next mine in its stable of gold properties

McEwen Mining has raised $30 million to fund exploration and development of the next mine in the project pipeline at its Fox Complex, east of Timmins.

The Toronto gold company closed financing last week through a flow-through share offering, which will be earmarked for exploration drilling and construction of an underground access ramp from the surface to reach gold at its Stock East and West properties.

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Indigenous company lands Sudbury mine project contract – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June 17, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Aki-eh Dibinwewziwin LP awarded advanced exploration contract for Magna Mining’s Crean Hill Project

Sudbury’s Magna Mining decided to buy local in picking an Indigenous contractor to extract a bulk sample from its emerging Crean Hill nickel and copper mine project.

Aki-eh Dibinwewziwin Limited Partnership (ADLP) has been awarded an advanced exploration contract that involves pulling a 20,000-tonne surface bulk sample that’s part of Magna’s early test mining scheduled for later this year. The sample will be trucked to Glencore’s Strathcona mill in Sudbury for processing.

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Mining the Northwest: Thunder Bay stakes its claim as a mining supply hub – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June 14, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Labour and skill gaps, suitable land availability are challenges listed in city’s latest mining readiness strategy

Thunder Bay is out to build its brand as a mining supply hub. Four years after tabling its first Mining Readiness Strategy, the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC) revealed the findings from an updated version last month, informed by a survey of industry stakeholders last year.

Northwestern Ontario has always been a precious and base minerals grocery store to the world. Much of the activity surrounding that sector has always flowed, many times sight unseen, through Thunder Bay.

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Vale showcases greenhouse that helped regreen Sudbury – by Len Gillis (Northern Ontario Business – June 12, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Company celebrates 50th anniversary of the Godfrey Drive greenhouse that helped the massive Sudbury regreening project

For more than half a century, Vale’s greenhouse on Godfrey Drive in Copper Cliff has been making a beautiful contribution to the community. Vale Base Metals held a celebration June 6 to mark 50 years for the greenhouse in Copper Cliff and the company’s contribution to the regreening of Sudbury.

The facility on Godfrey Drive was built 50 years ago by INCO, but a previous company greenhouse existed in Copper Cliff before that, providing plants and seedlings throughout the community.

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Yukonomist: Why Alaska has 4 times more people than the Yukon, NWT, Nunavut and Greenland combined – by Keith Halliday (Yukon News – June 10, 2024)

https://www.yukon-news.com/

Everyone knows about the population disparity, but do they know why?

Last week, I looked at Whitehorse’s role as the “moose in the room” when talking about the Yukon population. Almost 80 per cent of Yukoners live in what Statistics Canada charmingly calls the “Whitehorse Census Agglomeration.”

But if Whitehorse was in Alaska, it would only be the fifth largest borough. The Whitehorse agglomeration is significantly smaller than Anchorage, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Fairbanks North Star Borough and Kenai Peninsula Borough.

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Armstrong lithium explorer moving to mine construction decision as CEO departs – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June 10, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Green Technology Metals on the hunt for financing partners, government funding for mine and Thunder Bay refinery

Green Technology Metals, a fast-moving Australian lithium explorer in northwestern Ontario, is on the hunt for a new CEO. Luke Cox is resigning as of July 19. Cameron Henry, the company’s executive director, will step in on interim basis until a successor is named.

The news comes at a pivotal time as Green Tech said it’s preparing to line up financing and carry out the technical studies needed to make a decision on constructing an open-pit mine near the north end of Lake Nipigon.

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Mining and murder: One of the world’s best unsolved crime stories – by Karen Bachmann (Bradford Today – June 8, 2024)

https://www.bradfordtoday.ca/

Sir Harry Oakes was murdered in 1943 and his story is still talked about today

Much has been said recently about the Sir Harry Oakes Chateau in Kirkland Lake. Owned by the Ontario Heritage Trust and operated by the Town of Kirkland Lake, the chateau is a monument commemorating the early days of the Northern Ontario gold rushes, the prospectors who made the discoveries and the men who developed the mines and the communities in the region.

Since 1983, the Museum of Northern History, which originally lived in the assay office of the Wright-Hargreaves Mine, has been housed in Sir Harry’s former abode. The chateau was built in 1929 after Sir Harry’s original Kirkland Lake house was destroyed by fire.

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‘You’re always a drill hole away from an immense discovery’: Pirie – by Nicole Stoffman (Timmins Daily Press – June 10, 2024)

https://www.timminspress.com/

Ontario Minister of Mines excited by new prospects in the region

Timmins MPP George Pirie, Ontario’s minister of mines was engrossed in conversations with three promising junior mining operations in the Prospector’s Tent at the 2024 Canadian Mining Expo on Thursday, June 6. “That’s what excites me about the mining industry,” Pirie told the Daily Press before heading off to give the Ontario State of Mining Address. “You’re always a drill hole away from an immense discovery.”

According to the Ministry of Mines, the Timmins-Porcupine gold camp is the largest producer of gold in Ontario. Last year Ontario allocated $6 million to support junior minors (who explore mining deposits), bringing the province’s total investment in their junior mining program to $35 million since 2021.

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Communities on the Move: Sudbury’s mining landscape ‘never been more exciting,’ says exec – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – June 7, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Stakeholders champion city as leader in critical minerals production

The Sudbury Basin has been a mining hotspot for more than a century, but as demand grows for critical minerals like nickel, there’s never been a more exciting time for the industry than right now.

That’s according to Gord Gilpin, the director of Ontario operations for Vale Base Metals, who led off a Sudbury-themed panel discussion at the BEV In Depth: Mines to Mobility conference May 30 at Cambrian College.

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Don’t underestimate world demand for Nickel, CEO says – by Nicole Stoffman (Timmins Press – June 7, 2024)

https://www.timminspress.com/

Mineral remains a resilient investment for both stainless steel and batteries: Selby

The ever-ebullient CEO of Canada Nickel Company, Mark Selby, is bullish on Nickel, despite Canadian’s growing skepticism about electric vehicles.

According to an April survey from AutoTrader, the number of Canadians interested in buying an EV fell from 68 per cent in 2022 to 46 per cent in 2024. People are concerned about inadequate charging infrastructure, the cars’ limited range, higher cost, and performance in cold weather.

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Emerging Sudbury nickel-copper miner strikes milling deal with Glencore – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June 5, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Magna Mining will extract, ship 20,000 tonne bulk sample to Strathcona mill

Sudbury upstart Magna Mining has signed a toll milling agreement with Glencore in preparation for early-stage test mining at its Crean Hill Project.

The nickel and copper mine development company issued a June 4 news release of its plans to transport a 20,000-tonne surface bulk sample across town to Glencore’s Strathcona mill to make into a concentrate material. The bulk sample is being extracted from a mineralized area at Crean Hill called the 109 Footwall Zone.

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Mining tour allows Sudbury to show off expertise, technology – by Len Gillis (Sudbury.com – June 3, 2024)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Municipality and MineConnect team up to show off mining points of interest for out of town reporters and VIPs who attended the battery electric vehicle conference

The Sudbury-based MineConnect organization showed off during last week’s battery electric vehicle conference. MineConnect, in collaboration with the City of Greater Sudbury, hosted out-of-town mining journalists and others connected with mining and battery electric vehicles as part of the conference.

The mine supply and services association is a not-for-profit agency that represents hundreds of Northern Ontario businesses and services that provide supplies and support to every sector of the mining industry.

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Rarest of Rare: The Legendary Story of Muzo Emerald Colombia – by Katerina Perez (Jewellery Insights by Katerina Perez – May 28, 2024)

https://www.katerinaperez.com/

When the Conquistadors landed in the New World, in their quest for El Dorado at the end of the 15th century, they searched incessantly for emerald mines. It would take another hundred years until the first emeralds were extracted from Muzo at the heart of Boyacá, 60 miles northwest of Colombia’s capital, Bogota.

From the 16th century onwards, Muzo emeralds have held a lofty position in the mineral world thanks to their rich green colours, wonderful clarity and distinctive crystal formation. First, they were prized by the Spanish and European royal courts, followed by the Mughal rulers of India, and then by contemporary waves of celebrities, such as Elizabeth Taylor.

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Mineral processing plant will bring hundreds of jobs, business opportunities to Sudbury area – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – May 29, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

First-of-its-kind $800-$900 million facility, processing Ring of Fire nickel, will give Wyloo an edge in electric battery manufacturing

Hundreds of jobs and economic development opportunities will be created in the region when Wyloo Canada builds its multi-million-dollar minerals processing plant in the City of Greater Sudbury.

Announced on May 29, the facility will be the first in Canada to process nickel sulphate and nickel-dominant precursor cathode active material (pCAM) — minerals needed to make the batteries used in electric vehicles.

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