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Ontario Mining

Northern Road Link over a decade away from completion – by Nicole Stoffman (Timmins Daily Press – 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.

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Mining the Northwest: Dryden Gold is ready to go public with its story – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – 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.

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

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

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Report identifies ‘generational gap’ within mining ranks on adapting to new tech – by Casey Stranges (Northern Ontario Business – November 9, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Northern workforce boards say industry, schools and government need to play catch-up on industry upskilling

A large segment of the mining industry’s workforce is in danger of being left behind by new, high-tech changes in the field. That’s one of the findings in Balancing the Potential Impact of New Innovations and Technologies, a recent report by Workforce Planning for Sudbury & Manitoulin and the Labour Market Group in North Bay.

According to the paper, changes in the sector are forcing Northern Ontario’s aging labour pool to adopt new skills to stay competitive.

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‘Waiting on government is not a strategy,’ says NW Ontario mine developer – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 11, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Frontier Lithium ramps up pressure on Ottawa to deliver on Berens River bridge and road project

Federal funding appears to be slowly rolling out for the Berens River road and bridge in northwestern Ontario. The long-awaited infrastructure project is a vital link that would connect seven remote First Nations to the provincial highway system for the first time and allow Frontier Lithium, a Sudbury mine developer with two massive lithium deposits, to finally get its product to market.

Indigenous Services Canada told Northern Ontario Business on Friday that more than $7.7 million of the $9.5 million for the design of the bridge and road project has been released with $1.8 million scheduled for released in the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

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Persevering with economic development objectives key to success – by Rick Garrick (Anishinabek News – November 1, 2023)

https://anishinabeknews.ca/

SAULT STE. MARIE — Five Nations Energy Inc. CEO Pat Chilton stressed the importance of persevering with economic development objectives on the second day of the inaugural annual Anishinabek Nation Economic Development Opportunities Forum 2023.

Chilton highlighted how the three James Bay First Nations of Fort Albany, Kashechewan, and Attawapiskat persevered with their concept of building a transmission line on the James Bay coast to get rid of diesel-operated generators in the communities even though the federal and provincial governments and Ontario Hydro said it was not possible during his keynote at the Forum, which was held by the Anishinabek Nation Economic Development Department from Oct. 24-26 at the Quattro Hotel and Conference Centre in Sault Ste. Marie.

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Market uncertainty creates major challenges for critical mineral exploration – by Aya Dufour (CBC Sudbury – November 6, 2023)

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

Some companies are at risk of going under as commodity prices sink

Many in the mining world are used to the cyclical nature of the industry. But prospectors and the smaller junior exploration companies that carry out most of the work to find critical minerals are particularly vulnerable to the whims of the market. Unlike their larger counterparts, most juniors cannot rely on production revenues and depend entirely on the stock market and investors for the money they need to advance projects.

These companies cannot wait for more favourable market conditions before making a move as they must do a certain amount of exploration work every year to hold on to their claims. This is why the current economic slowdown is creating major obstacles for critical mineral exploration.

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Sudbury’s Frontier Lithium awards feasibility study contract (Sudbury.com – November 4, 2023)

https://www.sudbury.com/

Company said this is moving forward on the next step toward project engineering

Frontier Lithium Inc. (TSXV: FL) a Sudbury-based lithium mining exploration company, has announced the first phase of a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for the PAK lithium project in a remote area of Northwestern Ontario.

The contract has been awarded to DRA Americas Inc., a fully-owned subsidiary of DRA Global (DRA). DRA Global is an international multi-disciplinary engineering, project delivery, and operations management group primarily focused on the mining, minerals, and metals industry, said a Frontier news release.

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Gold smuggling the subject of a new book from Timmins, Ont. author Kevin Vincent (CBC News Sudbury – November 5, 2023)

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

‘City of Thieves’ contains 10 stories about gold smuggling in northern Ontario and Quebec

In the late 1940s a mine mill worker named Eddie Clement figured out a way to steal gold from the Delnite Mine in Timmins, Ont. The next decade he orchestrated three major gold heists, and was never caught.

Clement’s early years as a gold thief are the subject of a short story in a new book called City of Thieves, from Timmins author Kevin Vincent.

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Nipigon-area lithium miner sees Red Rock for potential refinery – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – November 3, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Rock Tech LIthium inks MOU with the Veldmans and Red Rock Indian Band

Rock Tech Lithium is eyeing the site of the former Norampac Paper mill site in Red Rock as a potential site for a lithium refinery.

The future mine developer and processor has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the brownfield property owners, BMI Group, and its partners, the Red Rock Indian Band to conduct an assessment for a 50-acre development footprint.

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Two Sudbury mining giants partner as Nickel Rim mine ramps down – by Amanda Hicks (CTV Northern Ontario – November 2, 2023)

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/

Glencore’s Nickel Rim South Mine is winding down operations with an eye on closing in 2024. Vice-president Peter Xavier said the mine has been important to the company since its inception in 2010.

He said exploration extended the mine’s lifespan from 2021 to 2024, but Glencore has been planning its closure for some time. This will create an opportunity to partner with the city’s other mining giant, Vale.

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Glencore says Nickel Rim South mine in Sudbury slowing down, but not closing altogether – by Kate Rutherford (CBC News Sudbury – November 1, 2023)

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

Glencore says feasibility study looking at partnership with Vale is about to begin and will go into next year

It has been a good run at Glencore’s Nickel Rim South mine in Sudbury, but for the time being, mining there is coming to an end. The vice-president of Sudbury operations, Peter Xavier, says the 15-year-old mine will transition to what it calls “care and maintenance” by next spring.

But there is more mining to be done in that area, and the next steps in a potential joint venture with Vale are under the magnifying glass. Xavier explains there’s a portion of the ore body where the property boundaries shared by the two companies intersect, but is difficult for each company to mine separately.

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Ottawa outlines eligibility for companies seeking $1.5B in critical minerals infrastructure funding – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – November 2, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Ottawa is finally getting ready to accept applications for a $1.5-billion infrastructure fund to support critical minerals mines, with stakeholders in Ontario’s Ring of Fire hoping they will be among the recipients.

Natural Resources Canada announced Tuesday that projects eligible to apply for the new Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund include clean energy and transportation projects that support critical minerals mines. Eligible recipients include the private sector, the provinces and territories, and Indigenous groups.

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Ottawa’s murky environmental rules are parking foreign investment in Canadian resource projects, says analyst – Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – October 30, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Overreaching, unconstitutional Impact Assessment Act has Ontario on the offensive to expedite project approvals

Quiet quitting became a cultural buzzword during the pandemic for workplace passivity and resignation. That lethargy now extends to investment in Canada’s natural resources sectors too, said Heather Exner-Pirot.

The mere mention of the federal Impact Assessment Act (IAA) to U.S. firms with Canadian projects can trigger mocking comments like the “Don’t Invest in Canada Act” and “banana republic,” said Exner-Pirot, director of natural resources, energy and environment with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, a national public policy think tank.

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