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Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications

Ford says Northern Ontario mines will help create economic boom – by Staff (Sudbury.com – January 24, 2024)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Premier addresses municipal leaders at the annual meeting of the Rural Ontario Municipal Association

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he is counting on the Northern Ontario mining industry to help build Ontario into an economic powerhouse for the battery electric vehicle (BEV) industry.

Ford was speaking Jan. 23 at the annual conference of the 2024 Rural Ontario Municipal Association(ROMA) when he spoke about the importance of the Ontario critical minerals strategy for the future of EVs in Ontario.

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Done deal: $10-billion Robinson Huron Treaty settlement finalized – by James Hopkin (Soo Today – January 23, 2024)

https://www.sootoday.com/

Historic agreement officially signed by all parties; it is anticipated that funds from settlement with Canada, Ontario will begin to flow into First Nations as early as this spring

The $10-billion settlement agreement for Robinson Huron Treaty annuitants has now been signed by all parties — officially making the historic compensation package for 21 First Nations in northeastern Ontario a done deal. Chiefs and trustees signed off on the agreement during a Jan. 3 meeting, according to an update from the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund made Tuesday.

First announced in June 2023, the multi-billion dollar settlement provides past compensation to treaty beneficiaries after not seeing an increase to annuity payments for a period of nearly 150 years, as wealth generated in the territory through resource revenues from the mining, forestry and fishing sectors continued to grow.

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Report reveals huge impact from mining in Prince George – by Sam Bennison (CKPG Today – January 18, 2024)

https://ckpgtoday.ca/

PRINCE GEORGE— A new report by the Mining Association of British Columbia (MABC) and the Mining Suppliers Association of BC (MSABC) shows that in 2022, Prince George received $237 million through mining and smelting sector purchasing goods and services from business in the area.

In total, British Columbia’s mining and smelting sector contributed $3.7 billion to 200 local and First Nations communities by purchasing goods and services from nearly 4,000 BC-based businesses in 2022.

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Junior miner shows more nickel to be had in the Sudbury basin – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 19, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

SPC Nickel posts maiden mineral estimate on West Graham Project

An emerging Sudbury nickel mining company has posted a first-time mineral estimate of its deposit in the Sudbury basin. SPC Nickel released a maiden estimate of its West Graham Project on Jan. 17, one of two deposits on its Lockerby East nickel and copper property in an area which has seen previous mining operations.

The company said in the news release that West Graham has the potential to be developed quickly as a low-cost, open-pit operation in its initial stages of mining. But with more exploration, West Graham has huge mineral upside at depth.

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Kuya Silver taps into high-grade system in historic Cobalt mining camp – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 18, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

What the old silver miners left untouched, Toronto exploration outfit sees opportunity for new deposits

Toronto’s Kuya Silver is discovering new zones of silver veins in its re-exploration of the historic Cobalt mining camp.

High-grade silver is showing up in the assay results from a drilling program the company is running at its Silver Kings Project near the town of Cobalt. Kuya is drilling on the northern part of its 16,000-hectare property, just south of the town, where eight mines produced 60 million ounces of silver between 1905 and 1950 around Kerr Lake.

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Alamos Gold bumps up the exploration budget at northeastern Ontario mines – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 16, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Consistent gold production, huge upside at Island Gold, Young-Davidson reaps budgetary rewards

Exploration means longevity to a mine’s operating life. Alamos Gold is making substantial investments to extend the successful runs with its two underground operations in northeastern Ontario.

The Toronto gold company’s Island Gold Mine, near Dubreuilville, and the Young-Davidson Mine, outside Matachewan, show no signs of slowing down, and the exploration budget for both underground operations is being boosted this year. Alamos released its fourth-quarter and 2023 year-end production results on Jan. 10, showing record gold production of 529,300 ounces, up 15 per cent from the prior year.

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‘No recent discussions’ on Sudbury mining merger, says Vale operations boss – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 15, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Gord Gilpin says companies discussing ‘strategic alternatives’ are part of ‘normal course of business’

Vale’s head of Ontario base metal operations, Gord Gilpin, is tamping down media speculation of a potential merger with Glencore, its crosstown mining neighbour in Sudbury.

Gilpin issued a Jan. 12 notice to its employees — Clarification of Synergy with Glencore — that it’s business as usual and no talks are underway.

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Merger talks about the Sudbury mining camp long overdue, says industry watcher – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 12, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Stan Sudol sees synergies and cost savings if Glencore and Vale form mining joint venture in the Sudbury basin

Vale Base Metals chairman Mark Cutifani’s remarks this week to Reuters new agency about a pursuing a business combination between his company and Glencore in the Sudbury basin has mining analyst Stan Sudol wondering, “What took them so long?”

The Sudbury-raised and Toronto-based owner of the Republic of Mining website is a keen observer of the global nickel industry and of the Sudbury camp. Now is the “perfect time” for a business combination between Sudbury’s two largest miners, and one that’s long overdue, he said.

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Mining the Northwest: Former Pure Gold shareholders take management to task over Red Lake fiasco – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 12, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Investors of insolvent gold mining company expanding class action suit

The former management team and underwriters of a collapsed Red Lake gold mining company are being held to account by out-of-pocket shareholders.

A proposed securities class action suit filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia against the former directors and officers of Pure Gold Mining of Vancouver is being expanded to seeking compensation for damages and losses incurred from their investments in Pure Gold Mining.

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Conversion facility with links to massive Dumont Nickel project planned for Quebec – by Emma Jarratt (Electric Autonomy Canada – January 11, 2024)

https://electricautonomy.ca/

NiVolt Technologies says it has mixed hydroxide precipitate production capabilities and is scouting locations for a hydrometallurgical facility in Quebec

A new hydrometallurgical conversion facility to process nickel concentrate may be coming to Quebec. The news comes from an announcement by NiVolt Technologies of successful production testing and advancement of a project feasibility study.

NiVolt is a portfolio company of Kinterra Capital, a Toronto-based private equity firm. Kinterra recently closed a US$565-million battery metals mining fund. Its holdings include a stake in the Dumont Nickel project, located about 60 kilometres north of Val-d’Or.

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Winter road time could be short for some First Nations – by Mike Stimpson (Northern Ontario Business/NWOnewswatch – January 5, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

“It’s almost like you’re sending out search parties looking for winter. And of course, this has implications for Northern Ontario because of the ice roads.”

CAT LAKE FIRST NATION — City dwellers may have welcomed the unseasonably warm December weather, but it made Cat Lake’s chief a tad nervous. Chief Russell Wesley estimated in a recent interview that his remote community northeast of Red Lake might see a winter-road season of just four weeks, with half that time safe for light vehicles only.

That wouldn’t leave much time for the big trucks to deliver gasoline and building supplies for the homes he hopes to see put up in 2024.

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Government funding expected soon to complete Temiskaming refinery build – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – January 3, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Electra Battery Materials ponders Quebec invite to build refinery in Becancour

Electra Battery Materials fully expects government funding to roll in shortly to finish its incomplete cobalt and nickel refinery expansion in Temiskaming. The Toronto company issued a Dec. 29 news release that it expects government funding “very early in 2024” to resume construction that was brought to a halt last year.

Electra is short US$60 million to finish its refurbishment and expansion of the former Yukon refinery located between the town of Cobalt and Temiskaming Shores.

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Ontario chiefs seek halt to online mining claim-staking – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – January 3, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Chiefs of Ontario resolution calls for year-long moratorium pending review

Indigenous leaders in Ontario are calling for a moratorium on the virtual staking of mining claims while they review the process to ensure that impacted First Nation communities are being properly consulted.

In a resolution passed last November during the organization’s annual fall assembly, the Chiefs of Ontario say the Mining Lands Administration System (MLAS) puts pressure on First Nations to participate in potential mineral development opportunities while also reducing the amount of land available for land claim settlements that are already underway.

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Bio-mining company to begin testing Sudbury mine waste – by Staff (Elliot Lake Today – December 28, 2023)

https://www.elliotlaketoday.com/

BacTech Environmental to run six-month pilot plant of its bioleaching mineral extraction technology

Testing of an innovative ‘green’ mining technology to extract valuable metals out of mine waste will start in Sudbury in early 2024. BacTech Environmental has a proprietary and environmentally friendly bioleaching process that it wants to test on mine tailings to extract small amounts of cobalt and nickel while it simultaneously cleans up the environment.

The bioleaching process involves using native and naturally occurring and harmless bacteria that can be trained in the lab to target certain ores and contain other substances that are harmful to humans.

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Mining the Northwest: Ottawa went too far on regulating mining, infrastructure projects: experts – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – December 21, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Legal experts say ball’s in Ottawa’s court to revamp and make legal Canada’s Impact Assessment Act

The Canadian government’s environmental assessment process is in disarray. On Oct. 13, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in a 5-2 decision that most of Ottawa’s controversial Impact Assessment Act (IAA) was unconstitutional and far outside the government’s authority to assess and make decisions on major resource and infrastructure projects

Only 10 out of 188 sections in the Act — passed in 2019 — were deemed valid. And that was a narrow section of the IAA concerning projects on federal land and that are federally financed.

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