Ontario Mining – Page 24 – Republic of Mining

Area covered by mining claims in Ontario’s ‘Ring of Fire’ increased by 30 per cent in one year – by Krista Hessey (Global News – December 4, 2023)

December 5, 2023

The so-called ‘Ring of Fire’ in Ontario’s far north is expanding in size as mining claims spike in the area. More than 31,000 mining claims have been registered to date, an increase of 28 per cent in a year, according to analysis by Wildlands League, a non-profit conservation group.

The rise in the number of mining claims coincides with more land being taken up by surface rights owners. The claims now cover 626,000 hectares of the remote northern landscape, up 30 per cent from September 2022. The area is now nearly 10 times the size of the City of Toronto or double the Greater Sudbury area, the group says.

To achieve a green transition, do we need more mining? – by Zachary Gan (Hamilton Spectator – November 30, 2023)

December 5, 2023

https://www.thespec.com/

As we build more electric vehicles, Ontario’s government must recall what we stand to lose in the climate crisis.

We all know that swapping our gas-guzzling cars for electric vehicles is a crucial step in the fight against climate change.

But how much should we sacrifice in the name of getting more EVs on the road? For Ontario’s government, the answer: quite a lot. In fact, the government’s latest actions call into question whether the EV transition is about fighting climate change at all.

Glencore’s ties to Sudbury run deep. So is its future here – by Hugh Kruzel (Sudbury Star – December 2, 2023)

December 2, 2023

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Top company official tells chamber of commerce deep mining is the key to Glencore’s future operations in Sudbury

The man who leads Glencore’s Sudbury operations told the city’s business leaders this week that his company remains committed to this region, Canada and mining. Peter Xavier, a company vice-president, acknowledged that Glencore Sudbury’s Integrated Nickel Operations will soon close its Nickel Rim South mine, but that should not be a surprise.

Nickel Rim South Mine will close in late March as it goes into care and maintenance mode. The Skead-area mine’s employees will be reassigned to other Glencore operations in Sudbury, such as the Craig/Onaping project. “Mines have a life,” Xavier told the 128th annual general meeting of the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce. “We all know mining one site is finite.

Cat Lake First Nation is ready to take on Doug Ford’s government over unsustainable mining development – by Matteo Cimellaro (National Observer – November 27, 2023)

November 30, 2023

https://www.nationalobserver.com/

When the chief of Cat Lake First Nation gave a button to Ontario’s minister of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development, he apologized. “This is what the activities up until now have amounted to,” said Chief Russell Wesley to Greg Rickford. “I told him: ‘It’s on. I’m sorry, but it had to come to this and here’s a button.’”

The button, presented by Wesley to Rickford, was displayed Wednesday in a Cat Lake First Nation press release. It shows lynx standing tall over a caricature of Ontario Premier Doug Ford on a bulldozer. The art is a dig at Ford’s promise to develop mining in the North, even if he had to “hop on a bulldozer myself.”

Australians confident in the future of idled White River gold mine – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – November 27, 2023)

November 30, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

More gold, more mines to be discovered at Sugar Zone, says Silver Lake Resources

Australian miner Silver Lake Resources is keeping the faith in its idled Sugar Zone gold mine, north of White River.

At its Nov. 25 AGM, the company regards Sugar Zone to be in its relative infancy and believes there’s “significant runway” to prove up more gold while they take a year of down time to tune up the mine’s performance.

Three of Canada’s major critical mineral projects are in Sudbury – by Staff (Sudbury Star – November 22, 2023)

November 27, 2023

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

They are Glencore’s Onaping Depth project, Vale’s Copper Cliff Deep project and KGHM’s Victoria Mine project

The federal government has launched a $1.5-billion fund for critical minerals infrastructure, while simultaneously highlighting close to 500 projects nationwide that are generating jobs and growing a greener economy. The funding announcement this week coincided with the release of an annual report on major projects underway across the country in the fields of energy, forestry and mining.

Three of the big mining projects are in Sudbury: Glencore’s Onaping Depth project, with an estimated capital cost of $1 billion to $2.5 billion; the Copper Cliff Deep project being pursued by Vale, pegged at $750 million to $1B; and a revived Victoria Mine project being undertaken in the Whitefish area by Polish company KGHM, at a projected cost of $1B to $2.5B.

Will the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund have impact? The miners behind 3 northern projects hope so – by Aya Dufour (CBC News Sudbury – November 22, 2023)

November 27, 2023

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

Companies say the money could help accelerate production timelines for priority metals

The long-awaited Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund (CMIF) launched on Monday, and several northern Ontario mining companies are hopeful their projects will be selected by Ottawa.

With $1.5 billion available over the next seven years, there is a lot of money at play. Up to $300 million is available in the first call for proposals, which ends in late February. The program has two streams. One focuses on pre-construction and project development, and the other looks at infrastructure deployment.

Electra Battery Materials waiting on funders to help launch Temiskaming cobalt refinery – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 23, 2023)

November 27, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Toronto plant developer looks to lock up US$60 million to start supplying North American battery manufacturers

Electra Battery Materials will continue to hold off on completing the last phases of construction its Temiskaming cobalt refinery until it can secure the remaining US$60 million to finish the job.

“We’ll be very careful before we press start,” said Trent Mell, the company’s president-CEO in a recent conference call and webcast on its third-quarter performance. Most of the refinery’s remaining equipment, ordered and fabricated overseas, has arrived on site but won’t be installed until project financing comes through.

Crumbling graphite price puts Hearst-area mine development on hold – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 21, 2023)

November 22, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Zentek delays stock market listing, exploring partnerships while waiting for markets to improve

Last spring’s “soaring demand” for graphite has apparently crash-landed to earth. The optimism expressed last May by Zentek, a Guelph-based graphene technology, to develop its graphite deposit near Hearst has dramatically waned as the market for graphite and battery metals “has deteriorated significantly.”

In a news release, Zentek management said its plans to bring its highly pure Albany graphite deposit, near Constance Lake First Nation, into future production, are on hold. In May, Zentek transferred its Albany deposit to a new subsidiary, Albany Graphite Corp., with big plans to raise project financing for a potential mine through a non-brokered private placement and to get the company listed on a Canadian stock exchange.

Researchers bring the ‘Sudbury method’ to Peru, to help clean up mine waste (CBC News Sudbury – November 18, 2023)

November 20, 2023

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

Scientists say work in Sudbury to rehabilitate the landscape damaged by mining is recognized worldwide

Researchers from northern Ontario are in Peru where they are sharing their knowledge of what has become known as the “Sudbury method.” The Sudbury method refers to the community’s work over decades to rehabilitate a landscape damaged by mining and smelting.

“Sudbury has become recognized almost globally now for taking one of the most damaged landscapes on planet Earth and through a lot of work by citizens, community members, industry and government, turning it into actually a really, really nice place to live,” said Graeme Spiers, an emeritus professor in environmental and earth sciences at Laurentian University.

Nipigon lithium companies look to partner for exploration and production – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 15, 2023)

November 17, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Rock Tech, Imagine Lithium see ‘synergies’ in teaming up to feed proposed North Shore refinery

Some consolidation could be in the cards for two lithium explorers near Lake Nipigon. Rock Tech Lithium, the promoter of a lithium refinery on the north shore of Lake Superior, has inked a memorandum of understanding with its exploration neighbour, Imagine Lithium, to team up and collectively bring their properties into production.

That partnership could come in the form of a merger and acquisition arrangement, a commercial partnership, and joint development of their respective projects.

Northern Road Link over a decade away from completion – by Nicole Stoffman (Timmins Daily Press – November 17, 2023)

November 17, 2023

https://www.timminspress.com/

Concerns raised over impact on wildlife of $1billion project

Concerns about Caribou herds, and sturgeon were conveyed at a public information session for the Northern Road Link on Monday, Nov. 13 at the Best Western Hotel in Timmins. “There’s calving areas and two different herds going through there,” Woodhouse said. “They are very sensitive to noise and sound and any disturbance.”

Qasim Saddique, project co-lead, answered that Caribou monitoring has been ongoing through a collaring program. While collaring, they will take a sample, and if a collared animal dies, they go back and investigate.

Mining the Northwest: Dryden Gold is ready to go public with its story – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 14, 2023)

November 14, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

With high-grade expectations at the Dryden Gold Project, local exploration company looks to list on the TSX-Venture

A privately owned exploration company with a high-grade property and a Dryden post office box will be entering the market in December. Dryden Gold announced it’s making preparations for an IPO (initial public offering) some time next month to raise $5 million, of which $2.9 million will go into the drill bit for its 2024 exploration drilling program. The company intends to list on the TSX-V under the proposed ticker of DRY.

In assembling a 48,000-hectare property 30 kilometres east of Dryden, the company’s story is that past mining efforts at the turn of the last century barely scratched the surface of this area’s high-grade gold potential.

Sudbury’s Frontier Lithium secures $2 million to advance its processing technology – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 10, 2023)

November 14, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Mining company scouring the region for site to place its lithium refinery

Despite some unexpected freakish fall weather, Sudbury’s Frontier Lithium had its day in the sun yesterday. The junior exploration company was the recipient of a $2-million grant from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund (NOHFC) to further test out its lithium processing technology to complement its future mine project in northwestern Ontario.

Before touring Frontier’s new corporate headquarters, now under construction in the Val Caron industrial park, Premier Doug Ford, flanked by three Northern Ontario cabinet ministers, endured buffeting winds and a hail storm at an outdoor news conference, prompting Frontier’s president-CEO, Trevor Walker, to extend a “warm, Northern welcome to our premier,” eliciting a chuckle from chilled onlookers.

Ford in Sudbury to announce $4.1M for five mining projects – by Len Gillis (Sudbury.com – November 9, 2023)

November 10, 2023

https://www.sudbury.com/

Major announcement is $2.1 million for Frontier Lithium to develop a new lithium extraction method at its big deposit in Northwestern Ontario

Ontario Premier Doug Ford was in Sudbury with three of his cabinet ministers Nov. 9 to announce more than $4 million from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) to boost five mining supply and service projects.

The announcement was made amidst a cold and blustery late afternoon snow and hail outbreak at the Frontier Lithium yard in the Val Caron industrial park. Premier Ford was accompanied by Mines Minister George Pirie, Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Minister Vic Fedeli, and Northern Development Minister Greg Rickford.