Ontario Mining – Page 43 – Republic of Mining

Hearing looking into Mining Act changes to be held in Timmins (Timmins Daily Press – March 16, 2023)

March 17, 2023

https://www.timminspress.com/

Committee intends to hold public hearings in Timmins on Wednesday, April 5, and in Sudbury on Thursday, April 6.

A provincial committee studying proposals to make the opening of new mines easier and quicker will hold hearings in Sudbury and Timmins next month. The Standing Committee on the Interior will be meeting to consider Bill 71, An Act to amend the Mining Act.

The committee intends to hold public hearings in Timmins on Wednesday, April 5, and in Sudbury on Thursday, April 6. Those who wish to be considered to make an oral presentation on Bill 71 are required to register by noon on Monday, March 27.

Mineral-rich North energized by news of VW battery plant – by Ron Grech (Timmins Daily Press – March 15,2023)

March 16, 2023

https://www.timminspress.com/

‘It’s all about connecting our critical mineral producers in the North’ with manufacturers in the South – Pirie

ST. THOMAS — Volkswagen’s announced plans to establish a battery cell plant in Southern Ontario is good news for Northern Ontario, says Mines Minister and Timmins MPP George Pirie. “If we’re going to secure our supply chain (for the electric vehicle industry) we have to get the minerals out of the ground in Northern Ontario,” Pirie told The Daily Press.

“Nickel is a critical mineral, copper, niobium, rare earths, lithium – we’ve got them all. There are four huge low-grade deposits in the Timmins vicinity including Canada Nickel … It’s a hugely exciting time.

A Modern Klondike: Northern Ontario’s fiery ring – by David Marks Shribman (Literary Review of Canada – April 2023)

March 15, 2023March 15, 2023

Home

To purchase Ring of Fire book: https://www.amazon.ca/Ring-Fire-High-Stakes-Lowlands-Wilderness/dp/1770416749

Consider the major collisions of contemporary life in North America: the tensions between financial investments and social ideals; the threat of climate change in conflict with the thirst for energy sources; the rights of Indigenous people versus the prerogatives of elected governments; the rivalries with trading partners in competition with the hunger for goods from abroad; and the impulses of the regulatory state in full combat with the appeal of free markets.

Then consider that all of these clashes — the stuff of debate in Ottawa and provincial capitals, the topics of animated conversation in universities and coffee shops across the country — are playing out, every one of them and all at once, in a remote 5,000-square-kilometre swath of northern Canada. It’s a place that’s home to the second-largest temperate wetland in the world, that’s packed with nickel and copper, and that’s known as the Ring of Fire.

Northwestern MPP jumps on proposed changes to the Mining Act – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 10, 2023)

March 13, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Sol Mamakwa accuses Ford government of not consulting with First Nations

Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa took the Ford government to task in the Ontario Legislature March 9 for proposing changes to the provincial Mining Act, accusing them of not consulting with First Nations.

Mines Minister George Pirie announced the first of an upcoming raft of amendments to the act with more industry-friendly measures designed to put into new mines into commercial production faster.

Change in federal assessment won’t slow pace in the Ring of Fire, says mines minister – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 10, 2023)

March 10, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Federal environment minister wants more Indigenous involvement in Far North industry impact assessment

Ottawa’s decision to scrap plans for a Ring of Fire regional assessment process won’t interfere with the province’s intentions to get new mines into production faster.

Provincial Mines Minister George Pirie said they have guarantees from the federal government that assessments for the proposed roads into the James Bay region to connect two remote communities to the Ontario highway system will not impact any timelines to put new mines into production.

Sudbury’s mine waste worth billions; new project to find ways of extracting valuable minerals – by Staff (Sudbury Star – March 8, 2023)

March 9, 2023

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Vale, province to pay for new industrial research chair program in biomining and bioremediation to be based in Sudbury

Mine waste in the Sudbury area may be worth billions and it’s Nadia Mykytczuk’s job to find ways using bacteria to extract the valuable nickel, copper and other critical minerals out of them.

Her job got a lot easier Wednesday when Vale Energy Transition Metals and the provincial government announced money to support a new industrial research chair program in biomining and bioremediation that she will lead in Sudbury. Vale Energy committed $875,000 over five years to the Mining Innovation, Rehabilitation, and Applied Research Corporation (MIRARCO) at Laurentian University.

Incoming chief demands meeting with Ford on Ring of Fire – by Aidan Chamandy (Timmins Today – March 9, 2023)

March 9, 2023

https://www.timminstoday.com/

‘I’m only going to talk to the individual that wants to drive that bulldozer and run over my homelands,’ says Chris Moonias

Incoming Neskantaga Chief Chris Moonias was at Queen’s Park on Thursday demanding a meeting with Premier Doug Ford — and only Ford — over what he considers a lack of adequate consultations on the government’s latest mining bill and the push to develop the Ring of Fire.

“I’m only going to talk to the individual that wants to drive that bulldozer and run over my homelands,” said Moonias, who is set to take over as the first nation’s chief on April 1. “I ain’t talking to anybody else, except him.”

Clean and green mining in Sudbury takes a step forward – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – March 7, 2023)

March 8, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Vale and Queen’s Park offer up $1.6 million to tackle mining waste and advance bio-mining innovation

A new and environmentally benign form of Sudbury’s mining industry just took a great leap forward with a more than $1.6 million contribution from international nickel miner Vale and the Ontario government.

Mining Innovation, Rehabilitation, and Applied Research Corporation (MIRARCO) at Laurentian University and its research leader Dr. Nadia Mykytczuk are the recipients of this largess that will be earmarked for the organization’s bio-mining and remediation efforts in tackling mine waste.

PDAC 2023: Focus on Ring of Fire overshadows ‘several other’ more advanced projects, says Wilkinson – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – March 8, 2023)

March 8, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

‘Enormously bullish on the mining sector,’ natural resources minister tells conference

The fascination with the Ring of Fire region in northern Ontario is quite evident in the country’s business pages.

Few mining zones receive more press, even though no mine yet exists in the region 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay. Ontario Premier Doug Ford is anxious to change that, asserting a number of times in the last few years that it was time to “hop on a bulldozer” and start building roads to what have been described as one of the “most promising” critical minerals deposits in Canada.

Scratch that: feds to rethink Ring of Fire environmental assessment after First Nations criticism – by Emma McIntosh (TheNarwhal – March 7, 2023)

March 8, 2023

Home

‘There is no access to critical minerals in Canada without Indigenous Peoples being at the table in a decision-making position,’ Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has agreed to scrap a draft framework for a regional assessment in the Ontario Ring of Fire region and start over, working with First Nations.

For over a decade, governments and companies have sought to mine in the remote and environmentally-sensitive area known as the Ring of Fire. Accessible only by plane, or ice road in the winter, it’s located in the James Bay Lowlands and has deposits of key minerals that some people want to mine to fuel the production of electric vehicles.

Northern Ontario’s critical minerals all the buzz at PDAC conference (CBC News Sudbury – March 6, 2023)

March 8, 2023

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

Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference is one of the largest mineral exploration events

Jeff Laferriere, mayor of Temiskaming Shores, says he’s been “overwhelmed” by his first Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference.

But it’s not just about the number of participants, Laferriere said. There’s a palpable buzz in the convention centre where industry players — PDAC estimates 30,000 people — are gathering in Toronto to discuss the mining industry, tour the latest wares and test out new tech. “It’s shocking to see the innovation that’s happening right in our backyard,” Laferriere said.

Ontario approves environmental assessment terms of reference for 3rd and final road to Ring of Fire – by Logan Turner (CBC New Thunder Bay – March 6, 2023)

March 8, 2023

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

Plan co-developed and submitted by 2 First Nations in the area, but faces pushback from others in region

The province has approved the terms of reference for an environmental assessment (EA) on the third and final road leading to the mineral-rich Ring of Fire in northern Ontario.

The terms of reference lay out the work plan — including the scope and issues to be considered — for the EA on the Northern Road Link, a proposed two-lane, all-weather road.

Ring of Fire takes next step over some First Nations’ objections – by Aidan Chamandy (Timmins Today – March 7, 2023)

March 8, 2023

https://www.timminstoday.com/

The environmental assessment on a portion of the road to the Ring of Fire is being led by two First Nations, but another affected community isn’t pleased with the announcement

A plan by two First Nations to build a road to Ontario’s Ring of Fire has been approved by the provincial government — but another First Nations community affected by the project is not on board.

Last year, Webequie First Nation and Marten Falls First Nation published a 253-page document outlining the terms of reference for an assessment of Ontario’s proposed road to the Ring of Fire. On Monday, Ontario approved the terms at the massive Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) mining conference in downtown Toronto.

Curiosity spurred Virginia Heffernan to write a Ring of Fire book – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 4, 2023)

March 6, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Toronto mining journalist hits PDAC 2023 with a primer on arrested development in the Far North

“Keep the faith.” It was an oft-used phrase by Richard “Dick” Nemis, a Sudbury native and colourful mining promoter whose company, Noront Resources, secured one of the largest land positions in the mineral-rich area of the James Bay known as the Ring of Fire.

Nemis clung to that motto even as he was being ousted by shareholders as the president of the junior mining company he helped establish in October 2008. It was personal blow since the exploration outfit was named after his father’s industrial fabrication company, started in the Nickel City in 1945, and still in operation today.

‘It shouldn’t take 15 years to open a mine’ – by Staff (Sudbury Star – March 4, 2023)

March 6, 2023

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Vale and Glencore officials say they support changes the government says will make it easier and quicker to open a mine

Saying it takes too long to get a new mine approved, the Ontario government on Thursday introduced legislation to speed up the process.

“It shouldn’t take 15 years to open a mine. This process is too time-consuming and costly, leading to project delays and lost opportunities for Ontario’s mineral exploration and mining sector,” George Pirie, the province’s minister of Mines, said in a release. “We need to get building.