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Ontario Mining

Feds to review Kinross’ Great Bear gold project – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 26, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Federal Impact Assessment Agency launching environmental assessment of Red Lake pit plans

One of Red Lake’s next generation of gold mines is undergoing federal scrutiny. In a March 22 notification, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) has determined that a federal impact assessment of Kinross Gold’s Great Bear Project is warranted.

The agency said its opinion is based on a review of the detailed project description for the mine project and the comments received from Indigenous communities, federal authorities, provincial ministries and the public. Kinross proposes to build an open-pit mine, 23 kilometres southeast of Red Lake, not far off Highway 105. The Toronto-headquartered gold miner finalized its acquisition of the very promising gold project in February 2022.

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Mining the Northwest: ‘Times are changing’ as Red Rock preps for lithium refinery – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 20, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Rock Tech Lithium expects to break ground on lithium conversion plant in 2025

The BMI Group said it’s spending millions to prepare and remediate the former Red Rock paper mill site to make it shovel-ready for new industrial use by 2025. The southern Ontario brownfield redeveloper chose the PDAC mining show to formally announce Rock Tech Lithium will be its anchor tenant built around a proposed lithium refinery.

The Canadian-German mining company’s Georgia Lake deposit is only 60 kilometres north of town, up Highway 11. “We believe in the north shore of Lake Superior,” said Peter Whitby, general manager of BMI’s Red Rock Developments subsidiary, in explaining their upcoming industrial and holistic community-building plans for the north shore town on Lake Superior.

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Indigenous consultation is key to the Ring of Fire becoming Canada’s economic superpower – by Andrew Grant, Badriyya Yusuf, Dimitrios Panagos and Matthew I. Mitchell (The Conversation – March 20, 2024)

https://theconversation.com/

Many of the 30,000 attendees of the March 2024 Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention harbour a “wild desire” to extract the mineral riches of Canada’s $67 billion Ring of Fire, in the words of Johnny Cash’s well-known song of the same name.

While some might be attracted by the desire to make money, others could be driven by concern for our planet and the belief that the region’s minerals can help reduce carbon emissions and support a just energy transition. As some Indigenous groups have pointed out, however, the construction of roads and mining in the Ring of Fire represents a significant disruption to traditional ways of life and fragile ecosystems.

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OPINION: Ford government ignores vital exploration sector – by Gino Chitaroni (Northern Ontario Business – March 21, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Gino Chitaroni is president of Kirkland Lake’s Northern Prospectors Association and is an Ontario Prospectors Association board member.

Junior mining sector needs support, province needs to get more competitive to spawn next generation of mines, says industry leader

Without a doubt, one of the most important challenges facing the next generation is global warming and the need to decarbonize the transportation sector. This can only happen with the sustainable development of new mines that produce the copper, nickel, cobalt, lithium and other critical minerals that can be found throughout Northern Ontario’s rich geology.

However, it is the junior exploration sector that has traditionally found economic mineral deposits that are sold to majors who have the financial capacity to build these new mines. This important and vital part of the mining ecosystem is largely being ignored by the Ontario government.

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Sudbury developer to test mine former INCO property – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 13, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Magna Mining moves into advanced exploration at Crean Hill Project

Magna Mining, a home-grown Sudbury mine developer, is putting the paperwork in place to test mine a former INCO mine. The company said it filed an amended closure plan for its Crean Hill Project with the provincial mines ministry in late February.

This opens the door for Magna to begin an advanced exploration program that will shape the project’s economics and life of mine. Crean Hill is located in the southwest corner of the Sudbury basin. Under the Inco flag, it ran from 1900 to 2002. Magna acquired the asset from Vale in November 2022 and put 19,000 metres of drilling into the property last year.

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Sudbury developer to test mine former INCO property – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 13, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Magna Mining moves into advanced exploration at Crean Hill Project

Magna Mining, a home-grown Sudbury mine developer, is putting the paperwork in place to test mine a former INCO mine. The company said it filed an amended closure plan for its Crean Hill Project with the provincial mines ministry in late February.

This opens the door for Magna to begin an advanced exploration program that will shape the project’s economics and life of mine. Crean Hill is located in the southwest corner of the Sudbury basin. Under the Inco flag, it ran from 1900 to 2002. Magna acquired the asset from Vale in November 2022 and put 19,000 metres of drilling into the property last year.

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Remediation project at Long Lake gold mine expected to finally begin to clean up arsenic tailings – by Angela Gemmill (CTV News Northern Ontario – March 13, 2024)

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

An environmental cleanup project is expected to finally get going in Sudbury this year. It was in 2015 when arsenic was discovered in an old gold mine site near the extreme western part of Long Lake, but several delays prevented the project from moving forward until now.

The two tailings ponds above the glory hole are what will be remediated. “What they’re doing is scraping all of the tailings together and putting them together into a compound,” chair of the Long Lake Stewardship Committee, Scott Darling explained.

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Strolling down Ontario’s Electric Avenue – by Tamer Elbokl, PhD (Canadian Mining Journal – March 4, 2024)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

The global demand for lithium is projected to reach 1.5 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) by 2025 and over three million tonnes by 2030. As the world moves away from fossil fuels, the world needs a stable supply of quality lithium to achieve a low-carbon future, and Canada needs lithium (among other critical minerals) to achieve its net-zero target.

In 2022, the government of Ontario announced its first critical minerals strategy, aiming to secure the province’s position as a global leader of responsibly sourced critical minerals, including lithium. The provincial government plan is to work alongside all stakeholders including the federal government, the mining sector, manufacturing Indigenous Peoples, and local communities.

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Argonaut Gold digs into its ramp-up problems at Dubreuilville – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 7, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Magino Mine team looks to get open-pit mine and mill up to speed

A 35 per cent selloff of Argonaut Gold stock last week took CEO Richard Young by surprise. A less-than-stellar performance since the start of mining at Argonaut’s Magino Mine, outside Dubreuilville, hasn’t exactly resonated with investors as the Toronto gold company’s stock has plunged from a high of 72 cents a share last August to 28 cents this week.

The open-pit mine and mill operation has been hampered by a number of start-up issues that’s driven up costs and has the Toronto gold company looking to finance its US$128.7-million debt.

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We rented a Tesla to explore Ontario’s EV supply chain. We saw the dirty, the clean and everything in between – by Marco Chown Oved and Steve Russell (Toronto Star – March 10, 2024)

https://www.thestar.com/

In the Great Ontario EV Road Trip Part 2, two Star journalists head to the refineries and plants kickstarting the province’s clean revolution.

NORTH BAY—How fast can you get those burgers out? The wait staff appears taken aback by our question. We’re in North Bay and have stopped to charge our EV on the way to Sudbury. We plugged in and hurried over to Syl’s Neighbourhood Kitchen for a quick bite.

But we only have 25 minutes or so before Tesla starts charging us an idle fee for taking up a charger spot when it’s full. Fortunately, Syl’s kitchen is quick and the food’s delicious. We make it back to our car with time to spare. Charging your EV isn’t like gassing up your car.

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We took a Tesla on a road trip through northern Ontario in the coldest week of the year. Could our EV handle it? – by Marco Chown Oved and Steve Russell (Toronto Star – March 9, 2024)

https://www.thestar.com/

Star journalists drove a Tesla 2,300 km around northern Ontario, exploring the emerging EV supply chain from mine to refinery to battery plant to assembly.

HWY. 11, SOMEWHERE NORTH OF NORTH BAY—It was -12 C and dropping. The snow was blowing diagonally and traffic was crawling in single file, sticking to the ruts between white humps on Highway 11. Then my car started talking to me.

“You’re almost too far from known chargers,” it said. “Plan your next charge. All known charging locations will be out of range soon.” The map on the GPS showed the nearest charger behind us, in North Bay. We were driving north — away from it. Soon, we wouldn’t have enough charge to make it back.

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BACK ROADS BILL: A mine with an interesting difference – by Bill Steer (Bay Today – March 9, 2024)

https://www.baytoday.ca/

This week Bill takes us inside of mining adit that has significance

It looks like an early spring and because of the mild winter people often ask, “Have you seen any bear sign yet?” They bear their young circa January, mid-winter and they are almost in a slumber. The mother bear nurses them as they are hibernating, she can lactate while not eating or drinking, that’s phenomenal.

From time to time, I venture to the back roads to this not-so-abandoned mining adit to see if there is a sow and her newborn cubs. It is deep into the mine, and from a safe and non-threatening distance, you can see the glare of their sleepy eyes. It is a naturally wonderful birthing site and experience. No photos are taken, they are content, and the quiet retreat ensues from this rock-chiseled tunnel.

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NEWS RELEASE: Juno and Marten Falls First Nation Sign Exploration Agreement (March 7, 2024)

TORONTO, March 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Juno Corp. (“Juno” or the “Company”) and Marten Falls First Nation (“MFFN”) are pleased to announce a new cooperation agreement to foster economic participation opportunities and advance exploration and potential mining partnerships in Northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire. The Exploration Agreement (the “Agreement”) was signed on March 6, 2024, in Toronto, Ontario between Chief Bruce Achneepineskum and Jacob McKinnon, President & COO of Juno.

Chief Achneepineskum of Marten Falls First Nation said, “Marten Falls First Nation Chief and Council are pleased to announce with Juno an exploration agreement on Marten Falls First Nation traditional territory. It is the start of a productive and beneficial agreement that fosters goodwill and open engagement on exploration initiatives and issues.”

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Province shuts down Chiefs of Ontario’s request for a moratorium on staking mining claims – by Jonathan Migneault (CBC News Sudbury – March 5, 2024)

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

The Chiefs of Ontario say a moratorium would offer some breathing room to catch up on claims

The office of Ontario Mines Minister George Pirie says a one-year moratorium on staking mining claims in Ontario is off the table. The Chiefs of Ontario were in Toronto on Tuesday to reiterate their request for the moratorium, which they initially asked for in January.

They’ve said processing the claims puts an administrative burden on First Nations, which often have limited resources available to them. The Chiefs of Ontario say some First Nations have seen up to a 30 per cent increase in claims staked in their territories over the past year.

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PDAC: Faster permitting key to advancing critical mineral projects, panel warns – by Blair McBride (Northern Miner – March 6, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Governments must help cut permitting and production timelines if Canada is to produce enough minerals to reach net zero goals by 2050, says the CEO of Ring of Fire project developer Wyloo Metals Canada.

“There are a lot of projects near to approval. The big ask is the shortening of the time frame,” Kristan Straub, CEO of Wyloo Metals Canada said on Monday at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention in Toronto.

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