Twitter

Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications

Nickel Rim South Mine wins national safety award – by Len Gillis (Sudbury.com – May 9, 2023)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Sudbury INO Nickel Rim South Mine named as winner of the National Metal Mine John T. Ryan Award for mine safety

Another major Sudbury mining operation has been recognized for a national mine safety achievement. Nickel Rim South Mine (Sudbury INO) has been named as winner of the John T. Ryan National Metal Mine safety award for 2022.

This follows the equally positive announcement that came out last week that Vale’s Coleman Mine won the regional Ryan Award. It was at the same time that Vale revealed the national John T. Ryan Trophy for 2022 in the Select Mines category for outstanding safety was awarded to the Voisey’s Bay Mine.

Read more

Innovation cluster building roadmap for Northern expertise – by Lindsay Kelly (Sudbury.com – May 10, 2023)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Laurentian University-led initiative will harness knowledge of critical minerals, EV, clean-tech development

Advancing an idea from the research stage toward commercialization can be tricky business for mining entrepreneurs, but a new innovation cluster wants to make it easier for Northern Ontario companies to make that leap.

Announced in April, the cluster comprises Laurentian University in Sudbury, which will lead the initiative, Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Nipissing University in North Bay, and Trent University in Peterborough.

Read more

Mining the Northwest: Evolution Mining endures growing pains at Red Lake – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – May 5, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Australian miner seeks to fix operational and cultural issues at Red Lake complex before investing in mill expansion

Evolution Mining executives want to see a better performance out of its Red Lake gold operation before it’s willing to invest on a processing mill expansion. In a recent webcall, Evolution’s CEO Lawrie Conway said when Red Lake consistently mines at a 1.1-million-tonne per year run rate, the Australian company will consider further spending to boost capacity at its milling facilities.

“Red Lake’s gotta earn the right to get the upgrade,” said Conway in an April 20 webcall with analysts to discuss Evolution’s March 2023 quarterly results.

Read more

Magmatic Nickel Deposits: The Needle in the Haystack – by Ian Burron (Geology For Investors – May 5, 2023)

Home

About 30% of the world’s nickel (Ni) comes from magmatic deposits. Despite accounting for a minority of Ni production, magmatic deposits are highly sought-after due to their large tonnage, high grades, and ease of processing relative to Ni laterite deposits. In fact, the world’s most valuable ore body is a magmatic nickel deposit.

Magmatic Nickel Basics

As the name implies, magmatic nickel deposits form directly from molten rock. Mafic-ultramafic (metal-rich, silica-poor) magmas naturally contain higher Ni contents, and when this Ni encounters sulfur the two elements stick together to form droplets of sulfide melt.

Read more

Finish line in sight to complete Dubreuilville’s second gold mine – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – May 5, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

First gold pour weeks away but finding workers is a challenge

Argonaut Gold is approaching the finish line for its Magino gold mine project, outside Dubreuilville. The Toronto mine builder expects to make its first gold pour sometime later this month, pending the arrival of one last provincial permit as the $980-million project shifts from the construction stage to an operating open-pit mine over the next few months.

“Magino is the future of Argonaut Gold,” said Richard Young, the company’s president-CEO, in a May 5 webcall on the mid-tier miner’s first quarter earnings. The company posted a net loss of US$10.4 million in the quarter.

Read more

IAMGOLD’s Côté Gold Project in Northern Ontario is on the move to production (Mining Life – May 3, 2023)

https://mininglifeonline.net/

Construction at Côté Gold, located halfway between Sudbury and Timmins just off HWY 144, began in the summer of 2020. Since that time Côté has undergone a remarkable transformation, with the project approximately 80% complete as of March of this year and on track to commence production in early 2024.

The site is operating at capacity with over 1,500 workers at site and is expected to advance at a rate of 2% to 3% per month through the spring into the fall at which point focus will shift from mechanical completion to commissioning activities. The project recently celebrated over 9 million hours without a Long-Term Injury, which is a testament to the skill and dedication of the Côté Gold teams.

Read more

Temiskaming refiner links with Indigenous partner to build a battery recycling supply chain – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – May 4, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Electra Battery Materials and Three Fires Group are on the hunt to find a southern Ontario site for waste battery shredding plant

Temiskaming refinery operator Electra Battery Materials is partnering with an Indigenous regional economic development group to establish a battery waste shredding plant in southern Ontario.

Electra signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) this week with the Three Fires Group to form a joint venture focused around the recycling of lithium-ion battery waste. The proposed plant would feed black mass material to Electra’s refinery in northeastern Ontario where the valuable minerals would be recovered and sold back into the market.

Read more

Thunder Bay geologist earns industry honour – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – May 2, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Dr. Peter Hollings has spent his career growing understanding of Lake Superior geology

A Lakehead University professor is being acknowledged for his work fostering a greater understanding of the geology of the Lake Superior region. Dr. Peter Hollings, a long-time geology instructor and researcher at the Thunder Bay school, has received the Goldich Medal Award from the Institute on Lake Superior Geology.

The non-profit professional society serves as a forum for the exchange of geological ideas and scientific data, and the promotion of better understanding of the geology of the Lake Superior region.

Read more

First Nations $95 Billion proposed lawsuit could have sweeping implications for the mining industry – by Melissa (Mel) Sanderson (Investor Intel – April 30, 2023)

https://investorintel.com/

A consequential battle is shaping up in a place you may not know (Thunder Bay, Canada) over an issue you may never have heard of – Free, Prior, Informed Consent. (FPIC for short). The parties to the conflict are 10 of the Treaty 9 First Nations on one side and the Canadian Government on the other.

Why should you care? Here’s what’s at stake: $95 billion dollars that the indigenous nations say they will claim as compensation for past wrongs – and potentially much, much more because the argument essentially is about how mines will be approved in Canada going forward.

Read more

Ministerial visit highlights mining investments, and tensions – by Ian Kaufman (Northern Ontario Business – April 24, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

A visit to Thunder Bay by Ontario’s finance and mining ministers highlighted new mining investments, but also demonstrated serious concerns over inadequate consultation from some First Nations

THUNDER BAY — Two high-profile provincial ministers visited Thunder Bay last week, promoting new dollars included in the Ford government’s 2023 budget meant to support mining exploration and development.

The visit also highlighted recent tensions with some First Nations leaders over the government’s approach to mining, with a representative of Gull Bay First Nation speaking out at a press conference on the community’s concerns over new mining exploration in its traditional territory.

Read more

‘We need to do a better job’ promoting sector, say mining execs – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – April 21, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Industry panel discusses changing face of mining during 2023 Mining Health and Safety Conference

As mining companies brainstorm ideas on how to attract new workers to the industry, one thing is clear: the sector has an image problem. “People want jobs that are historically different than what the mining industry would portray,” said Don Duval, the CEO of Sudbury’s NORCAT.

In consultations with mining executives in recent years, Duval said discussions have increasingly turned to how companies can use cutting-edge technology — not to boost productivity and performance, but how to entice top talent to come work for them.

Read more

Timmins’ newest gold mine started operations Easter Monday – by Nicole Stoffman (Timmins Daily Press – April 18, 2023)

https://www.timminspress.com/

Gowest seeking local diamond drillers for exploration planned for later this spring

Gowest Gold’s Bradshaw Mine, 42 kilometres north of Timmins, began operations on April 10. The company’s president Dan Gagnon shared the news at a luncheon hosted by the Timmins Chamber at the Porcupine Dante Club on Tuesday.

“We are the new mine in Timmins,” said Gagnon, adding that the mine will produce 200 tonnes of gold ore a day (from which gold is extracted) this year at 5.6 grams of gold per tonne of ore, and ramp up to 1,300 tonnes a day by its third year.

Read more

Australian junior miner grows its lithium bank in northwestern Ontario – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – April 19, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Green Technology Metals boasts two lithium deposits as Sioux Lookout-area project shows growth potential

Green Technology Metals, an Australian exploration upstart, is boosting its storehouse of lithium resources in northwestern Ontario. The company posted a first-time resource estimate for its Root Project, situated northeast of Sioux Lookout, and one of their two leading properties.

The maiden estimate for Root is 4.5 million tonnes at 1.01 per cent lithium oxide, along with 110 parts per million tantalum pentoxide, all in the inferred category. It stems from an almost 15,000-metre drilling program that the company kicked off on the property last August.

Read more

Remembering Attilio. He was good for a blast (Soo Today – April 16, 2023)

https://www.sootoday.com/

Attilio Berdusco was recognized for engineering a mammoth pillar blast in the Helen Mine in 1955 and he was a pillar of his community

Some men gain recognition for building their communities. Some get notoriety from destroying things. Attilio Berdusco got to do both; in the best possible way. Attilio (or Tillio as he was often called), was born in the Sault in 1929 to Reno and Pauline Berdusco and was the oldest of eight children.

The family lived at the Parkhill Mine until 1939. When the gold mines closed, Tillio’s father then sought work at the Sinter Plant in Wawa while his mother ran a general store at the corner of Broadway and Laurier in Wawa. Attilio’s name appears in the Sault Star regularly in childhood as he excelled at both sports and academics.

Read more

Mining giant hunts copper, nickel, cobalt and lithium in Neebing – by Gary Rinne (TBnewswatch.com – April 13, 2023)

https://www.tbnewswatch.com/

Global mining giant RioTinto has partnered with KoBold Metals to search a site near the Pine River and Crystal Lake

The multi-national mining company Rio Tinto is searching a property near Thunder Bay for copper, nickel, cobalt and lithium — metals that are increasingly in demand as the world ramps up the production of batteries to power vehicles.

Rio Tinto has partnered with California-based mining startup KoBold Metals to explore in the Pine River and Crystal Lake area of the Municipality of Neebing, about 40 km from the city, just west of Highway 61 and just north of the U.S. border.

Read more