Ontario Mining – Republic of Mining

The long climb out of Totten – by Angelica Zagorski (CIM Magazine – November 25, 2021)

November 26, 2021

https://magazine.cim.org/en/

The evacuation and investigation of the Totten mine incident

his was not your typical mine rescue, Ted Hanley, general manager of Ontario Mine Rescue, recalls thinking when he received a call from Vale’s Totten mine in Sudbury at 2 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 27. At that time, Vale decided it would bring its workers out of the mine via secondary egress after a scoop bucket was slung into the Totten mine and became lodged in the shaft trapping 39 miners at the 650-foot level.

Even though what the miners were doing was common, the incident was not. Hanley said this rescue mission was different because of the atypical use of the ladderways in the mine. Miners are used to climbing 100 to 200 feet to another level, where they can get a ride in a vehicle and travel via a ramp system out or to their next workstation.

Neskantaga First Nation taking province to court over lack of consultation on Ring of Fire mine road – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – November 25, 2021)

November 26, 2021

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Ojibwe community accuses government of disregarding their consultation protocols on development

Neskantaga First Nation, a remote Ojibwe community in the James Bay region, is launching a legal challenge against the Ontario government to oppose, what it calls, “reckless mining development in the Ring of Fire.”

The community leadership tweeted the announcement Nov. 25 with additional details on their action provided through the Raven Trust website, an online portal that raises legal funds for Indigenous people to defend their rights and title to their traditional lands.

BHP continues talks with Wyloo on acquiring Noront’s Ring of Fire assets – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – November 24, 2021)

November 25, 2021

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Melbourne miner extending bid offer to mid-December

BHP, the world’s largest mining company, said it needs more time to reach an agreement with rival Wyloo Metals on taking over Noront Resources and its Ring of Fire mineral assets in Ontario’s Far North.

In a news release, BHP said it continues to have discussions with Wyloo Metals, Noront’s largest shareholder at 37 per cent, regarding its potential support of BHP’s C$0.75 per share offer to acquire Noront. Noront is siding with the BHP bid.

‘Certainly better than nothing’: lukewarm reaction from northern Ontario leaders to new revenue sharing plan – by Erik White (CBC News Sudbury – November 25, 2021)

November 25, 2021

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

Premier Doug Ford promised resource revenue sharing during 2018 election campaign

The Ontario government has fulfilled a campaign promise by returning some mining and forest revenue to towns and cities in the north, but some municipal leaders say it isn’t enough.

The new Northern Ontario Resource Development Support Fund will split $15 million among the 144 cities and towns and townships of the north every year for the next five years.

Trends troubling for north’s economic future (Kirkland Lake Northern News – November 24, 2021)

November 25, 2021

https://www.northernnews.ca/

For report: https://bit.ly/3l6vkNO

Northern College has released an in-depth economic study outlining key barriers to economic expansion and recovery in Northern Ontario following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 24-page study, entitled Coming Back From Covid: A Plan to Rebuild Northern Ontario, was created in partnership with The StrategyCorp Institute of Public Policy and Economy, and was designed to provide an overview of past, current and future economic issues being faced by Ontario’s north.

One of Mark Selby’s ‘most exciting days’ as Canada Nickel expands – by Staff (Mining Journal – November 24, 2021)

November 25, 2021

https://www.mining-journal.com/

The company completed 18 separate transactions to acquire or earn in to 13 target properties – including Sothman from Glencore – to consolidate district-scale potential in the Timmins region.

“Why are we doing this now?” Selby asked analysts rhetorically on a conference call, given Crawford was “already the largest nickel sulphide discovery since the 1970s”. “Very simply, nickel deposits generally fall into one of two categories, one-off deposits, or occur where you have multiple deposits occurring in clusters,” he said.

Stop the injury and insult. Ontario should back off on mining at Grassy Narrows – by Star Editorial Board (Toronto Star – November 20, 2021)

November 23, 2021

https://www.thestar.com/

If there’s a shorthand expression in Ontario for the betrayal of Indigenous citizens, their rights, health and well-being, it is probably two words: Grassy Narrows.

The Northern Ontario community bedevilled by mercury pollution in the English River system for a half-century has heard enough empty promises over the decades to last an eternity. In Grassy Narrows, mercury contamination in fish — the result of dumping by a pulp and paper company, dating back to 1962 — continues to poison people.

Robert “Bob” Stuart Middleton Obituary (1944-2021) (November 23, 2021)

November 23, 2021

Robert (Bob) Stuart Middleton, P.Eng., was born on July 7, 1944 in Hamilton, ON to parents, Florence Ironside (born in Troy, ON) and Mearle Middleton (born in Lucknow, ON). He passed away from heart failure on November 19, 2021 at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre in Thunder Bay, ON at 77 years of age.

Robert was a highly accomplished Geologist, Geophysicist, and Professional Engineer (P.Eng.), registered in Ontario. He has more than five decades of field work, mine discoveries, and company building experience. Robert encompassed the formation of seven junior mining companies and set-up projects in 40 countries with the most recent project located in Namibia. He was credited with putting the Penhorwood Talc Mine into production for Steetley Minerals Canada Ltd. in 1977 and played a role in putting seven other mines into production.

Grassy Narrows First Nation seeks repeal of mining permits – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – November 18, 2021)

November 22, 2021

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Permits issued by province without community’s consent, First Nation claims

Grassy Narrows First Nation is asserting the province should have first consulted with the community before issuing nine permits to mining companies giving them the right to drill on the First Nation’s traditional territory.

The community, located in northwestern Ontario in the area of northern Kenora, issued a news release on Nov. 16 indicating it had begun legal action through the Ontario Divisional Court against the province, in an effort to get the permits cancelled.

The Evolution of the Red Lake Gold Mining Camp (Mining Life & Exploration News – October 2021)

November 22, 2021

https://mininglifeonline.net/

The historic Red Lake Gold Mining district is evolving again into a premier goldmining district in Northern Ontario after a decade long decline – leading the reinvigorated Red Lake mining scene is the appropriately named Evolution Mining.

In the two years since Evolution Mining bought the gold mining assets from Newmont Goldcorp in 2019, the Australian-based company has helped to revive, the dormant mining district with its pledge to keep on investing in the area.

Northern Ontario plays integral part in auto supply chain – Fedeli – by Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles (North Bay Nugget – November 19, 2021)

November 22, 2021

https://www.nugget.ca/

Northern Ontario has become an integral part of the auto supply chain, says Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli. The industry, mostly centralized in southern Ontario, is moving north thanks to the increase in production of electric cars.

The provincial government released the next phase of its auto strategy Wednesday that is expected to secure production mandates for hybrid and electric vehicles, to create a domestic battery ecosystem, and position Ontario as a North American automotive innovation hub.

Miners competing over Ontario’s Ring of Fire have contentious relationships with Indigenous communities in Australia – by Emma McIntosh (The Narwhal – November 13, 2021)

November 22, 2021

The Narwhal

Beneath the peat of the James Bay lowlands, about 540 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, lie mineral deposits at the heart of a bidding war between two Australian mining giants.

Wyloo Metals and BHP are facing off to gain control of Canadian junior mining firm Noront Resources. At stake are the nickel deposits in the Ring of Fire that Noront controls — a key component of electric vehicle batteries, and a resource miners are rushing to secure ahead of a forecasted burst of demand.

Junior miner hunts for ‘missed’ silver in historic Temiskaming camp – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – November 18, 2021)

November 18, 2021

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Kuya Silver takes a second, in-depth look near former Silver Centre mines

Vancouver silver explorer Kuya Silver is on its second round of deeper drilling in the historic Silver Centre mining camp, south of the town of Cobalt. The company announced recently it has started a 2,000-metre drill program at its Silver Kings Joint Venture.

Kuya has an option to acquire a 70 per cent interest in the land holdings of Electra Battery Materials (formerly known First Cobalt) in on a jointly held area known as the Silver Kings Project.

Ontario EV plan aims for more production, battery plants – by Jeff Gray and Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – November 18, 2021)

November 18, 2021

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has unveiled an electric vehicle strategy that aims to have the province produce 400,000 electric cars and trucks a year by 2030 and attract two or three battery plants.

The plan, released on Wednesday at a campaign-style event at auto parts maker Linamar in Guelph, Ont., about 100 kilometres west of Toronto, says the province will partner with the industry to prepare it to make the “car of the future” and “establish and support a battery chain ecosystem” using the mineral wealth in Northern Ontario.

Grassy Narrows takes Ontario to court for issuing mining exploration permits – by Logan Turner (CBC News Thunder Bay – November 17, 2021)

November 17, 2021

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/

Grassy Narrows says it wasn’t consulted before province granted 9 permits

Members of a First Nation in northwestern Ontario are accusing the government of breaking the law in granting nine permits for mineral exploration in traditional territory without consulting them — a requirement under the Canadian Constitution and Ontario’s Mining Act.

Asubpeeschoseewagong (Grassy Narrows) First Nation wants all nine permits quashed and a declaration that the government “breached the honour of the Crown,” according to legal documents filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Monday.