Archive | Ontario Mining

Ontario mining company 1st to try new mobile test that diagnoses COVID-19 in as little as an hour – by Sarah Bridge and Ioanna Roumeliotis (CBC News – August 11, 2020)

August 11, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Gold and Silver, Ontario Mining

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/

Even at the height of summer and amid a global pandemic, days start early at New Gold Inc.’s silver and gold mine in Rainy River, Ont.

As a precaution these days, there are fewer workers on any given shift, but shortly after sunrise a stream of cars and buses begins to arrive at the mine 65 kilometres northwest of Fort Frances.

Nurses stand by to ask questions about COVID-19 symptoms and check the temperatures of those who haven’t been onsite for a few days. Signs remind crews to don PPE. As of early August, the mine hasn’t seen any COVID-19 cases. Continue Reading →

Treasury Metals finalizes Goldlund acquisition – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – August 7, 2020)

August 10, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Ontario Mining

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Dryden-area mine developer begins exploration, environmental work to create district-scale gold mine

Northwestern Ontario mine developer Treasury Metals has finalized the acquisition of a gold property to create a district-sized mine operation, east of Dryden.

Treasury said its addition of the Goldlund gold project from First Mining Gold, announced in June, got the thumbs-up from shareholders at the Toronto company’s annual and special meeting this week.

Treasury’s proposed Goliath open-pit gold property, just 20 kilometres east of Dryden, is next to the Goldlund project, which runs to the northeast toward Sioux Lookout. The combined 300-square-kilometre properties has an estimated resource base of 3.1 million ounces of gold with plenty ofexploration upside. Continue Reading →

Slow process of demolition to start on Vale’s Superstack – by Lindsay Kelly (Northern Ontario Business – July 29, 2020)

August 10, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Vale

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

July 28 decommissioning of the structure makes way for first stage of multi-year project

With the news that Vale’s Superstack is no longer operational, the nickel giant is now poised to start the demolition process on the 50-year-old structure.

On July 28, the company announced it had decommissioned the 1,250-foot (381-metre) stack at its Copper Cliff Complex in Sudbury during a period of regular maintenance.

In the broader context, taking the stack out of service represents a landmark moment of the environmental progress for Vale (formerly INCO) and the mining industry as a whole. Continue Reading →

Noront to resume exploration in the Ring of Fire – by Darren MacDonald (CTV News Northern Ontario – August 6, 2020)

August 6, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

SUDBURY — Noront Resources Ltd. Announced Thursday it is reopening its Esker Site and mobilizing its team to resume exploration activities in the Ring of Fire.

The company’s Esker Site, which is located in the James Bay Lowlands, closed in April because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It normally has about 20 workers, the majority of whom are from the remote local First Nation communities of Marten Falls and Webequie.

“We are initiating a late summer field program that will require 12-15 people, during which we’ll employ soil sampling to explore for gold and airborne geophysical surveys to explore for nickel,” Noront president and CEO Alan Coutts said in a news release. Continue Reading →

Barrick backs new global industry standard for mine tailings dams – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 5, 2020)

August 6, 2020 in Barrick Gold Corporation, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Mining Environmental Accidents, Pollution, Tailing Dams and Abandoned Mines, Ontario Mining

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

North Shore miner Barrick Gold is endorsing a new international standard for managing current and future mine tailings facilities with the aim of preventing waste dam failures.

The Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management was born from a year-long review process by United Nations Environment Programme, Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and the International Council on Mining and Minerals.

With more than 12,000 tailings storage facilities globally, the goal of the review was to establish a standard of the safer management of mine waste, by strengthening environmental, social, governance and technical practices of the mining industry across the entire lifecycle of these facilities. Continue Reading →

Column: Elon Musk should invest in Sudbury – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – July 28, 2020)

July 31, 2020 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Nickel, Ontario Mining

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Elon Musk is practically begging nickel miners to boost production as potential future shortages would severely impact his ability to manufacture electric vehicles as the metal is a key component for the batteries on which Tesla Inc. depends.

Historically, nickel has always been a boom/bust metal due to the fact the world only produces about 2.1 million metric tonnes of the material a year as opposed to a more commonly used metal like copper at 20 million metric tonnes. And roughly only half of nickel production is of the Class-1 type that is used in batteries that run electric vehicles.

Currently, the cost of nickel is nearing a cyclical bottom, hence the reluctance of nickel miners to invest the possible near billion dollars it takes to bring on a new mine.

Musk is a multi-billionaire and his company stock is at an all-time high. Instead of whining to the mineral industry to invest “their shareholder money” in new nickel production at a time of low returns here are some suggestions to calm his fear of future shortages: Continue Reading →

Larder Lake junior miner using AI to find gold targets – by Staff (July 30, 2020)

July 31, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Junior Exploration Sector, Kirkland Lake, Ontario Mining

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Gatling Exploration contracts Windfall Geotek to dig through the data

Artificial intelligence (AI) will play a role in helping Gatling Exploration chase down some gold targets near the established mining camp of Kirkland Lake.

The Vancouver junior miner has engaged AI experts, Windfall Geotek, to use its advanced Computer Aided Resource Detection System (CARDS) to identify targets at the company’s Larder Gold project, 35 kilometres east of Kirkland Lake in McVittie and McGarry Townships.

Gatling said in a July 30 release that the targets will be evaluated and then explored using more traditional exploration techniques. Continue Reading →

Harte Gold back mining with a vengeance – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 29, 2020)

July 30, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Ontario Mining

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

White River miner undertakes expansion feasibility study

Harte Gold is backing mining and stockpiling gold ore at its Sugar Zone Mine, north of White River, in preparation to restart the mill next week.

The once-furloughed workforce appears to have picked up the pace as the Toronto-based miner said in a July 29 operations update that activities are “ahead on all key mining metrics” with backfill, waste and ore development either “meeting or exceeding expectations.”

The pandemic put a halt to all mining, milling and exploration operations at the end of March. The Sugar Zone Mine, 25 kilometres north of White River. The phased restart of operations began July 17. Continue Reading →

Column: Elon Musk should invest in Sudbury – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – July 28, 2020)

July 28, 2020 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery, Stan Sudol Columns/Media References and Appearances, Sudbury Basin

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Elon Musk is practically begging nickel miners to boost production as potential future shortages would severely impact his ability to manufacture electric vehicles as the metal is a key component for the batteries on which Tesla Inc. depends.

Historically, nickel has always been a boom/bust metal due to the fact the world only produces about 2.1 million metric tonnes of the material a year as opposed to a more commonly used metal like copper at 20 million metric tonnes. And roughly only half of nickel production is of the Class-1 type that is used in batteries that run electric vehicles.

Currently, the cost of nickel is nearing a cyclical bottom, hence the reluctance of nickel miners to invest the possible near billion dollars it takes to bring on a new mine. Continue Reading →

NEWS RELEASE: VALE COMPLETES TIE-INS OF NEW STACKS (July 28, 2020)

July 28, 2020 in Nickel, Ontario Mining, Sudbury Basin, Vale

Signals Completion of Superstack Being Taken Out of Service

SUDBURY, July 28, 2020 – Vale has completed the final tie-in of the flue systems to the new 450’ (137 metre) Stacks and took its Copper Stack out of service at the Copper Cliff Smelter Complex during its planned maintenance period this month. With these project milestones achieved, Vale can complete the process of taking the Superstack out of service.

“Completing this process of taking the Superstack completely out of service is symbolic of Vale’s evolution towards reducing our environmental footprint with innovative and more sustainable Smelter operations ” said Dino Otranto, Chief Operating Officer for Vale’s North Atlantic Operations and Asian Refineries.

The two smaller and more efficient stacks will require far less energy to operate than the Superstack, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Vale’s Copper Cliff Smelter by approximately 40%. At the same time, Vale’s Clean AER Project will reduce particulate emissions by 40% and dramatically reduce SO2 emissions by 85%. Continue Reading →

Sudbury column: Northern mining project an example for all – by Marc Serre (Sudbury Star – July 24, 2020)

July 27, 2020 in Aboriginal and Inuit Mining and Oil/Gas, Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Ontario Mining

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Marc Serre is the Liberal MP for Nickel Belt.

The recent confirmation that IAMGOLD received all necessary approvals to start construction at their Côté Gold project site near Gogama was most welcomed news.

This development will greatly benefit Nickel Belt, Greater Sudbury and Northern Ontario socially and economically as we rebuild our economy post-pandemic.

The last few months have certainly been difficult and receiving this positive announcement could not have come at a better time. I’m confident in saying the residents of Gogama are happy this project is moving forward, and I thank them for their patience over the last eight years during the planning period. Continue Reading →

Sudbury Accent: Northern Ontario’s mine sector could help Canada out of recession – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – July 25, 2020)

July 27, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Gold and Silver, Junior Exploration Sector, Kirkland Lake, Ontario Mining

(L to R) Antoine Schwartzmann, Stephen Stewart, Charles Beaudry, Keith Benn, Chitrali Sarkar – Kirkland Lake remains a promising place for future gold mines.

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Accent: Junior companies could lead the way

Who says mining is not sustainable? The recent announcement by IAMGOLD to start building a Cda $2 billion Cote Lake open-pit gold mine 140 km north of Sudbury — which will employ 1,000 workers during peak construction and roughly 450 full-time middle-class jobs — is welcome news. The mine life is expected to be around 18 years; however, ongoing exploration may extend the life of mine.

Vale’s Creighton Mine, which started production in 1901, is still going strong 8,000 feet below the surface. The deeper the company goes, the richer the nickel/copper and PGM content of the ore gets.

Kirkland Lake’s Macassa gold mine started production in 1933. With new discoveries at deeper levels and a roughly $320 million investment for a new mine shaft, Kirkland Lake Gold’s CEO Tony Makuch is extending the mine’s life for another 30 to 40 years. Continue Reading →

Canada Nickel aims for zero-carbon emissions at Crawford nickel project – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – July 27, 2020)

July 27, 2020 in Canadian Media Resource Articles, Junior Exploration Sector, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Timmins

Global mining news

On Tesla’s second quarter conference call last week, Elon Musk entreated the industry to: “Please mine more nickel – Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way.”

Musk’s comments couldn’t have come at a better time for Mark Selby, president and CEO of Canada Nickel (TSXV: CNC), which owns 100% of the Crawford nickel-cobalt sulphide deposit in Ontario.

The company has announced that it is setting up NetZero Metals, a wholly-owned subsidiary that will use existing technologies to produce zero-carbon nickel, cobalt, and iron products. Continue Reading →

First Cobalt decides to go big on refinery restart – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 23, 2020)

July 27, 2020 in Canadian Regional Media and Web Publications, Cobalt Town, Cobalt, Critical, Strategic and Rare Earth Minerals and Metals, Ontario Mining

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Toll processing facility would be first of its kind in North America

A major expansion is definitely in the cards to restart a mothballed refinery in northeastern Ontario that’s gearing up to serve the electric vehicle market.

Toronto’s First Cobalt is skipping a staged approach to reopening the plant, situated outside the town of Cobalt, and is opting instead on focusing their construction efforts on quadrupling production capacity.

The plant is currently configured to process 12 tonnes of cobalt sulphate a day. Expansion would boost that to 55 tonnes and would represent five per cent of the world’s cobalt refining capacity. Continue Reading →

As Elon Musk calls for more nickel production, a mining analyst has some suggestions – by Darren MacDonald (CTV News Northern Ontario – July 24, 2020)

July 25, 2020 in Battery Technology Innovation/Electric Vehicles, Canadian Media Resource Articles, Nickel, Ontario Mining, Stan Sudol Columns/Media References and Appearances, Sudbury Basin

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

SUDBURY — Earlier this week, Tesla boss Elon Musk called for global mining companies to boost their production of nickel, a key element in making batteries for electric cars.

“Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way,” Musk said Wednesday, as the company announced second-quarter results. “Don’t wait for nickel to go back to some high point you experienced five years ago … Wherever you are in the world, please mine more nickel.”

Musk made the comments as Tesla is boosting its production of electric vehicles. Overall, demand for the type of nickel needed in electric car batteries grew by 28 per cent in 2019 alone. Continue Reading →