Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications – Page 25

Ontario’s first diamond mine in the final stages of closing up – by Maija Hoggett (Timmins Today – May 24, 2023)

May 25, 2023

https://www.timminstoday.com/

Active closure is expected to be done this summer, though the site will be monitored until at least 2039

Before the Victor Mine even had permits to operate, De Beers was working on its closure plan. Today, Ontario’s first diamond mine — located in a remote area of the James Bay lowlands west of Attawapiskat First Nation — fewer than 100 people remain on-site.

That’s far less than the 500 employees and contractors who were there during the height of the mine’s operations, said De Beers head of corporate affairs Erik Madsen. Madsen was the guest speaker at the Timmins Chamber of Commerce’s State of Mining event today (May 24). He talked about the mine’s operations, the work left to be done on-site and the future of De Beers in the James Bay area.

Lithium company points to late 2027 for Thunder Bay refinery startup – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – May 24, 2023)

May 24, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Avalon Advanced Materials seeks to peddle petalite to the electric vehicle manufacturing masses

A lithium player’s aspirations in 2020 to fast-track a refinery project into production in Thunder Bay is being walked back by new management. After some front office reshuffling, Avalon Advanced Materials is now pushing out the start date of a lithium hydroxide processing plant by about four years.

With more pragmatic timelines in place, Avalon is now looking to start mining at its Separation Rapids project, north of Kenora, in late 2025 or early 2026, if government permits and approvals come through a timely fashion.

Reporter’s notebook: Covering the 1980 Val d’Or mine tragedy – by Len Gillis (Sudbury.com – May 24, 2023)

May 24, 2023

https://www.sudbury.com/

The Belmoral gold mine in Val d’Or experienced a collapse that sent more than a million gallons of water, sediment and slime rushing into the underground workings — and claimed the life of eight miners. Sudbury.com reporter Len Gillis was a CFCL TV reporter in Timmins at the time and he recalls the day

I didn’t know what the urgency was at the time but CFCL news director Jim Prince said to grab as much camera gear as I could carry and to bring half a dozen new video tapes. I was just coming in to work at the news office at CFCL TV in Timmins. Jim was busy on the phone trying to charter a plane. That raised my eyebrows real fast.

Camera, video recorder, tripod and tapes. That’s a lot of equipment to carry on a plane. When Jim got off the phone, he said I had to get over to the Northern Quebec mining city of Val d’Or. It was May 21, 1980, the morning after the first ever Quebec separation referendum.

Building a foundation for change among women in mining – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – May 23, 2023)

May 23, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Women in Mining UK panel talks challenges, opportunities in global mining industry

When it was founded in 1997, the Aboriginal Women in Mining program had a simple goal: provide Indigenous women in northeastern Ontario with pre-employment training to help them enter the mining sector.

At the time, Indigenous hiring policies and quotas were uncommon, explained Kathy Lajeunesse, and many Indigenous women were being shut out of the work opportunities that were cropping up at mine projects in and around the North.

Russia’s Global Genocide – by Diane Francis (Blog – May 22, 2023)

May 23, 2023

https://dianefrancis.substack.com/

Vladimir Putin wages genocide, not war, against Ukrainians, as he made clear from the outset of his invasion. His hero, Josef Stalin, did the same and starved to death 3.5 million Ukrainians in 1932 and 1933 for the crime of refusing to leave their farms for collectives.

This “Holodomor” has been condemned by the Vatican, European Union, and recently France’s Senate, as genocide or “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” Now Putin perpetrates a bigger genocide by imperilling the hundreds of millions of poor people who rely on Ukrainian food supplies.

Northwest lithium explorer inks deal with South Korean battery maker – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – May 19, 2023)

May 19, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Green Technology Metals secures a customer in LG Energy Solutions as Lake Nipigon-area deposit advances toward mine production

An Australian lithium exploration company working ground in northwestern Ontario is doing a direct deal with one of the world’s biggest battery manufacturers.

Green Technology Metals (GT1) announced LG Energy Solutions has signed an offtake sheet to receive 25 per cent of the spodumene concentrate production over a five-year period from the start of mining at its flagship Seymour Project, a 9.9-million tonne lithium deposit.

Column: Why tear down the Superstack? Turn it into a tourist attraction – by Judith Van Boxel (Sudbury Star – May 17, 2023)

May 19, 2023

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

We are about to destroy the Superstack. What a wasted opportunity

Some years ago when I was a business owner, I was also a member of the Sudbury Chamber of Commerce. At the time, the chamber was interested in the potential of Sudbury as a tourism destination in Ontario and I was asked to come up with an idea that would explore that possibility.

Together with a few friends who were local lodge operators and with added help from the Sudbury amateur radio operators, local army cadets and others, we attracted several hot air balloon pilots to Sudbury. One weekend in the summer, we hosted the first and only Sudbury Hot Air Balloon Festival that took place from the Lily Creek playing fields .

Book tour contributes debate around uranium mining – by Clint Fleury (NWO News Watch – May 17, 2023)

May 19, 2023

https://www.nwonewswatch.com/

Dr. Warren Bernauer will be touring three locations in northwestern Ontario to promote his new book I Will Live for Both of Us: A History of Colonialism, Uranium Mining, and Inuit Resistance.

WINNIPEG – For those living in Dryden, Ignace and Thunder Bay, Dr. Warren Bernauer will be touring Northwestern Ontario to speak about a book he co-authored with Joan Scottie and Jack Hicks, called I Will Live for Both of Us: A History of Colonialism, Uranium Mining, and Inuit Resistance.

Bernauer, who currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Manitoba in the Department of Environment and Geography and the Natural Resources Institute, still calls Northwestern Ontario his home.

Electra Battery Materials on the hunt for financing partner to finish Temiskaming cobalt refinery – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – May 15, 2023)

May 17, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Toronto developer still ‘bullish’ on the electric vehicle market as its battery recycling business picks up steam

Electra Battery Materials is facing a cash crunch to finish the expansion at its Temiskaming cobalt refinery complex.

Construction at the northeastern Ontario plant has stalled and the Toronto company announced May 11 that it has launched a strategic review process to snag a deep-pocketed partner. In the meantime, Electra said it is in cash conservation mode.

Premier’s pledge to ‘build’ the Ring of Fire questioned at Queen’s Park – by Staff (NWO News Watch – May 15, 2023)

May 17, 2023

https://www.nwonewswatch.com/

Minister Greg Rickford accused MPP Sol Mamakwa of pitting communities against each other

QUEEN’S PARK — Premier Doug Ford’s recent commitment to ‘building the Ring of Fire’ generated criticism in the legislature Monday from the NDP. Kiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa suggested the premier was making a mistake in relying on advice from Greg Rickford, the minister of Indigenous Affairs and minister of Northern Development.

Last week, Ford said building a road to the Ring of Fire and developing a mine there will elevate the standard of living in remote First Nations communities. During Question Period Monday, Mamakwa called the premier’s statements “very concerning.”

BULLETIN: Treaty 9 First Nations To File Claim Against Canada and Ontario Seeking Co-Jurisdiction Over Treaty 9 Lands – by Tracy A. Pratt and Sophie Langlois (Fasken – May 16, 2023)

May 17, 2023

https://www.fasken.com/en/

Recently, several Treaty 9 First Nations[1] announced their intention to commence litigation against the governments of Ontario and Canada challenging the Crown’s exclusive jurisdiction over Treaty 9 lands. Among other things, they assert that Treaty 9 provided that the signatory First Nations would maintain their “way of life”,[2] including co-jurisdiction over, and shared decision-making responsibilities with, the Crown.

Through this action, these Treaty 9 First Nations also will seek to prohibit the governments from granting permits, licences or other approvals respecting land and resource development within the Treaty 9 lands without their consent until a framework for co-jurisdiction is established.

Column: Sudbury impact crater has created modern-day advantages – by Tim Philp (Sudbury Star – May 12, 2023)

May 15, 2023

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Imagine, if you will, a calm, peaceful day in the middle of a shallow sea 1.8 billion years ago in the area of Sudbury Ontario. There was very little in the way of life on the planet, and what was there was mostly tiny life-forms somewhat akin to the bacteria of today. There would be little recognizable in the landscape due to the changes that the earth has undergone due to the shifting of the continents.

Suddenly, everything would have changed. Coming down from the sky, a large comet composed of water, dust, and rock strikes the planet with incredible force. This comet, between 10 and 16 kilometres across would have struck the planet at speeds of tens of kilometres per second, hardly even noticing the earth’s atmosphere as it plunged into the ground, deforming the earth’s crust up to 16 kilometres below the surface, creating a crater more than 250 kilometres across.

Gogama open-pit project on track for early 2024 gold pour – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – May 12, 2023)

May 15, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

New IAMGOLD boss pleased with the pace of progress at Côté project

Construction at IAMGOLD Côté open-pit mine has reached the 80 per cent completion mark. The project is on schedule for a first gold pour and the start of production in early 2024. “All eyes are on Côté,” said IAMGOLD company-CEO Renaud Adams in a May 12 webcall with analysts on the Toronto gold company’s first-quarter 2023 results.

Construction activity is now at the peak period with more than 1,500 workers on site. Adams said the Toronto gold company is “turning the corner” toward becoming a leading mid-tier producer. The Côté deposit, he said, will provide a “substantial” impact as a “cornerstone asset” for IAMGOLD as a potential district-scale operation in northeastern Ontario.

‘We’re building that Ring of Fire,’ says Doug Ford – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – May 12, 2023)

May 12, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Premier said Far North mine and road development will elevate standard of living in remote communities

Threats of litigation and conflict aside, Ontario Premier Doug Ford isn’t backing down from his government’s commitment to develop mines in the James Bay lowlands. “We’re building that Ring of Fire as sure as I’m talking to you,” said Ford in a media scrum in Brampton on May 11 for an unrelated announcement.

Ford responded after one Queen’s Park reporter asked him if his government will rethink its development plans in the Far North and if he’s “prepared to get on that bulldozer?” after absorbing much criticism and protests by Indigenous communities and leadership, and environmental activist groups, over his government’s approach to introducing Bill 71 in early March.

Sudbury: Ancient Apocalypse to Modern Resource – by Ian Burron Ian (Geology For Investors – January 25, 2022)

May 12, 2023

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The Sudbury basin was formed by a 10-15 km wide asteroid or comet impacting a shallow sea in what is now central Ontario, Canada 1.85 billion years ago. The resulting ~200-250 km wide crater is the second largest known in the world, being much larger than the 150 km Chicxulub crater formed by the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. If such as impact were to occur today it would certainly spell the end of life as we know it.

The basin is one of the oldest craters still in existence and has been deformed and eroded into its’ present oval shape and 60 km size. Although the basin itself is not easily recognizable as a crater, smaller scale features such as shatter cones are well known in the area, and a layer of rock fragments blasted out of the crater have been mapped as far away as Minnesota, some 800 km distant. A layer of ash and debris likely encircled the entire planet at the time.