Archive | Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications

Cobalt refinery operators have ambitious plans for ‘Battery Park’ – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 14, 2021)

July 16, 2021 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Cobalt Town, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals, Ontario Mining

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

First Cobalt seeks to bring manufacturing partner to northeastern Ontario for value-added processing

The company refurbishing a mothballed metals refinery near the town of Cobalt are discussing the idea of creating a Battery Park, catering to the supply chain needs of the North American electric vehicle industry.

Toronto’s First Cobalt wants to produce refined cobalt at the facility, along with a used battery recycling plant, but they’re also strategizing to produce nickel sulfate on the same site, five kilometres outside of town, within the next few years. Both nickel and cobalt are used in electric vehicle battery production.

For First Cobalt, this is a US$60-million expenditure to bring the former Yukon refinery back to life. The facility ran for about a decade – producing cobalt, nickel, copper, silver and other products – before being shuttered in 2015. First Cobalt acquired the shuttered building in 2017. Continue Reading →

Mining innovation centre wins ‘long-fought battle’ to secure funds – by Colleen Romaniuk (Sudbury Star – July 15, 2021)

July 15, 2021 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Mining Research, Sudbury Basin

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

The pan-Canadian network, headquartered in Sudbury, will fast-track mining innovations for a more productive and sustainable future

After three years of hard work, Sudbury’s mining innovation centre has secured $40 million from the federal government to launch a pan-Canadian mining innovation accelerator.

The investment will help the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI) implement a $112.4-million project called the Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator (MICA) Network.

The initiative aims to unite stakeholders across Canada’s innovation ecosystem to accelerate the development and commercialization of new technologies to make the mining sector more productive and sustainable. Continue Reading →

The Long Saga of Arrested Development in Northern Ontario – by Livio Di Matteo (Northern Economist Blog – July 14, 2021)

July 14, 2021 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Northern Ontario Politics

https://northerneconomist.blogspot.com/

Ontario has suffered from slowing economic growth over the course of the 20th century but nowhere in the province has the problem been as severe as in northern Ontario.

From 1990 to 2005, total employment in Ontario grew 23 percent and real per capita GDP grew by 17 percent. However, even omitting the pandemic year, going from 2005 to 2019, Ontario’s total employment grew only 15 percent while real per capita GDP grew by 8 percent.

There is a similar trend of slowing employment growth after 2005 on a regional basis but some regions – especially the north – have fared worse than others. The most alarming picture comes from a glance at the overall employment growth picture from 1990 to 2019 (we need to omit 2020 because it is the pandemic year and makes things look even worse). Continue Reading →

Can Environmentalists Handle the Truth about Mining? – by Jack Lifton (Investor Intel – July 13, 2021)

July 14, 2021 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Climate Change, Carbon Taxes and ENGOs, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals

https://investorintel.com/

Solar panels and wind turbines cannot even begin to supply the concentrated
power needed for smelters, steel furnaces, copper refining, aluminum
production, and myriads of other energy intensive necessary processes.

The recovery of the amount of non-fuel natural resources necessary for the world, or even just the USA, or the EU, or China, to go “green” would simultaneously entail the construction of a massively enlarged minerals processing industry the likes of which the world has not seen since the creation and growth of the steel industry, which is and will remain the structural backbone of our civilization.

Much of the sourcing and processing infrastructure that is needed for its own domestic consumption of natural resources has already been accomplished by China.

But for the rest of the world, such resource recovery and processing onto useful forms at that “greening” scale would require the diversion of a significant percentage of national GDPs for decades. Continue Reading →

The Untapped Potential of Nevada’s Cortez Trend (Investing News Network – July 13, 2021)

July 14, 2021 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Nevada Mining

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The Cortez trend is the lesser-known relative of the famous Carlin trend — the Nevada site home to the most productive accumulation of gold deposits in North America.

In the last quarter of a century, the Cortez trend has been a prolific and profitable site, but experts believe that the Cortez fault corridor could be older, larger and far more valuable than Carlin over the longer term.

And with Nevada continuing to be one of the best regions for gold mining, it’s no surprise why companies operating in this region present a desirable investment opportunity. In Q2 2020 alone, Barrick Gold’s (TSX:ABX,NYSE:GOLD) Carlin project was the largest global mining operation, producing 382 koz — a 105 percent increase over Q2 2019. Continue Reading →

Ontario government has made COVID economic pain even worse – by Livio Di Matteo (Fraser Institute Blog – July 13, 2021)

July 14, 2021 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Ontario Economy

https://www.fraserinstitute.org/

With much of the economic attention in Ontario focused on reopening in the pandemic’s wake, it’s easy to lose sight of the long-term picture. While the pandemic was an unforeseen shock to provincial employment and income, it remains that Ontario has seen weak employment and income growth for much of the 21st century with the decline in growth rates settling in after 2005.

Consider this. From 1990 to 2005, total employment in Ontario grew 23 per cent and real per capita GDP grew by 17 per cent. However, even omitting the COVID year, going from 2005 to 2019, Ontario’s total employment grew only 15 per cent while real per capita GDP grew by 8 per cent.

In the case of employment, this pattern of slowing growth repeats itself across Ontario’s economic regions with a range that is alarming. Indeed, all Ontario economic regions saw lower employment growth from 2005 to 2019. Continue Reading →

Sudbury to headquarter new mining network – by Staff (Sudbury Star – July 14, 2021)

July 14, 2021 in Canada Mining, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Mining Research, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Details of $112-million project unveiled on Tuesday

Sudbury will be the centre of a new network aiming to make Canada a leader in sustainable, efficient and safe mining, especially when it comes to so-called critical minerals.

François-Philippe Champagne, the federal minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced Tuesday the federal government will kick in $40 million towards a $112.4-million project put together by Sudbury-based CEMI, the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation Inc.

The money will support the creation of the Mining Innovation Commercialization Accelerator (MICA) Network. MICA is a Canadian initiative bringing together people and companies from a wide range of fields to quicken the development and commercialization of innovative technologies to make the mining sector more productive and sustainable. Continue Reading →

Kirkland Lake Gold boasts record second quarter of production – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 12, 2021)

July 13, 2021 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Kirkland Lake, Ontario Mining

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Massive exploration drilling at Detour Lake should lengthen mine’s longevity

Kirkland Lake Gold is sitting pretty to reach its 2020 gold production targets, thanks to a record second quarter.

In a July 12 news release, the Toronto gold miner said, collectively, its three operations at Macassa in Kirkland Lake; Detour Lake, north of Cochrane, and Fosterville in Australia, produced a total of 379,195 ounces, up 15 per cent from the same quarter last year and up 25 per cent from the first quarter this year.

Gold sales reached an average realized price of $1,814 per ounce. Up to the midway point of 2021, production totalled 682,042 ounces, a 3 per cent increase from the first half of 2020, reflecting higher production at Detour Lake and Macassa. Continue Reading →

Vale, Steel to head back to table with facilitator – by Jim Moodie (Sudbury Star – July 13, 2021)

July 13, 2021 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Vale

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Sudbury members have been on strike since June 1; two sides looking for compromise

With a strike by Vale workers now entering its seventh week, the company and union have agreed to bring in an outside party to help them find common ground.

“Over the past few days Vale and the United Steelworkers Local 6500 bargaining committees have been exploring a path forward to the resumption of negotiations,” said Danica Pagnutti, corporate affairs specialist with Vale, in a message to The Star.

“On that front, we will be returning to the negotiation table on July 19 and utilizing a third-party facilitator that was jointly selected by Vale and the USW to assist in these conversations.” Continue Reading →

Timmins gold explorer makes new discovery – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 13, 2021)

July 13, 2021 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Junior Exploration Sector, Ontario Mining, Timmins

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Galleon Gold intends to release preliminary economic assessment for open-pit mine in September

Galleon Gold has made a new gold discovery at its West Cache Gold Project, west of Timmins, where it wants to develop an open-pit mine.

The Toronto junior miner reports finding multiple gold zones in a mineralized area that it’s calling the South Area Discovery. West Cache is 13 kilometres west of Timmins. Highway 101 runs through the 3,700-hectare property.

The company has been talking up West Cache’s “blue sky potential” since kicking off a 46,000-metre drill program in June 2020 that’s continued well into this year. Continue Reading →

Greenland’s Inuit to use membership of Arctic commerce group to push pro-mining message – by Kevin McGwin (Nunatsiaq News – July 8, 2021)

July 13, 2021 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canada Mining – North of 60, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications

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A group representing Greenland Inuit has joined the Arctic Economic Council separately from its parent organization, as Greenland seeks to address concerns that political opposition to mining radioactive minerals will hobble the development of other mining efforts. The country is hoping to grow its mining sector in hopes that it could supplement its fishing industry as a source of exports.

“Greenland, like other Arctic communities, is in an urgent need for diversifying its economic activities,” said Kuupik Kleist, an ICC-Greenland representative. “We are almost completely dependent on the export of fish, which makes the economy fragile and pushes the limits of resources.”

Founded in 2014, the Arctic Economic Council seeks to promote business opportunities in the region. Continue Reading →

Gold explorers primed for ‘elephant-sized’ gold discoveries in Dubreuilville-Wawa area – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 9, 2021)

July 9, 2021 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Ontario Mining

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Mine construction, expansion and gold exploration revives historic northeastern Ontario gold mining camp

Gold miners and explorers are talking about discovering “elephant” deposits in the months and years to come in the Dubreuilville and Wawa area of northeastern Ontario.

The archean volcanic rocks of the Michipicoten greenstone belt seem to contain all the right geological ingredients to cook up massive new gold deposits in this historic mining camp that could rival the likes of Red Lake, Timmins, Kirkland Lake and Val d’Or.

Underground expansion is taking place at Alamos’ Island Gold Mine near Dubreuilville, surface construction is underway nearby for an open-pit operation by Argonaut Gold, and two exploration companies are finding gold at depth near some past-producing mines. Continue Reading →

It’s been 50 years since NASA’s Apollo 16 astronauts walked on Sudbury – by Colleen Romaniuk (Sudbury Star – July 9, 2021)

July 9, 2021 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Ontario Mining, Space Mining, Sudbury Basin, Sudbury History

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

They were here to train for their moon mission

This summer marks 50 years since NASA dispatched the Apollo 16 astronauts to Sudbury for field training ahead of their trip to the moon. Commander John Young and pilot Charles Duke, whose spacecraft would launch from Cape Canaveral less than a year later on April 16, 1972, teamed up with experts from Inco to study Sudbury’s impact crater and its unique geological structures.

NASA hoped that the field training, which took place from July 7 to 9, 1971, would prepare the astronauts for lunar surface experiments. It turns out, the excursion didn’t prepare them as much as they’d hoped.

“We were very interested, at the time, in trying to work up the geology of the moon. The great debate in the literature prior to our first moon landing was how much of the moon was formed by volcanic activity and how much of it was formed by impact structures,” said Michael Dence. Continue Reading →

(Updated) Environmental group claims legal victory over De Beers for mercury reporting failures – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 6, 2021)

July 7, 2021 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Diamond Mining, Ontario Mining

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Diamond miner contends mercury never used at Victor operation, chemical element is ‘naturally occurring’ in James Bay region

A victory in court against De Beers Canada “sets a precedent” on reporting and regulating mining pollution in Ontario’s Far North, according to an environmental law organization.

Ecojustice said its “eight-year struggle for accountability” from the global diamond producer came to an end when the company pleaded guilty in a Timmins courtroom last week to one count of failing to provide mercury monitoring data from pollution streaming from its Victor Diamond Mine in the James Bay region.

De Beers Canada operated the open-pit Victor diamond mine, 80 kilometres west of Attawapiskat First Nation, from 2008 to 2019. Continue Reading →

Editorial: Mine extension announcement good for remaining Vale employees (Thompson Citizen – July 7, 2021)

July 7, 2021 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Manitoba Mining, Nickel, Thompson, Vale

https://www.thompsoncitizen.net/

Last week’s announcement that Vale Manitoba Operations is spending $150 million on the first phase of a mine extension and exploration project in Thompson is good news, even if it won’t have much effect on the size of the local workforce.

The money being spent to construct a new ventilation raise, extend power distribution underground and increase backfill capacity so that mined areas can be filled in and mining start in new areas faster will go mostly to contractors, Manitoba Operations general manager Gary Annett told the Thompson Chamber of Commerce June 30, but will also extend the mine life by 10 years and result in up to 30 per cent more production.

That provides stability to the people who survived the job-shedding of the past few years at Vale and, perhaps, the possibility of more jobs down the road if nickel prices take off in concert with electric vehicle production and sales. Continue Reading →