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Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

NEWS RELEASE: Ontario Completes Building Highway Upgrades at the Gateway to the Ring of Fire (Premier’s Office – November 13, 2024)

First Nations partnering with province to unlock multi-generational economic opportunities in Northern Ontario

GREENSTONE — Today, Premier Doug Ford and Greg Rickford, Minister of Northern Development and Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation, joined regional First Nations Chiefs to mark the completion of critical highway infrastructure improvements in the Greenstone area in Northern Ontario.

These highway upgrades at the gateway to the Ring of Fire region will improve connections to the provincial highway network for First Nations in the Greenstone area while also supporting the province’s ongoing work to unlock the economic potential of Ontario’s critical minerals in partnership with First Nations.

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Federal watchdog snaps at climate, Indigenous gaps in Ottawa’s critical minerals strategy – by Colin McClelland (Northern Miner – November 7, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Canada’s auditor general criticized the federal critical minerals strategy for not adequately probing the impact increased mining will have on the environment and Indigenous communities.

The government program issued in 2022 budgets $3.8 billion on critical minerals support over eight years. Yet, the strategy doesn’t properly measure results and progress on ecosystems and First Nations, the Office of the Auditor General, the government’s own watchdog, said in a report on Thursday. The matters included greenhouse gas emissions, the protection of culturally significant sites and improvements to local living conditions, it said.

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Conservationists raise alarm bells over James Bay lowlands (Timmins Daily Press – October 26, 2024)

https://www.timminspress.com/

First Nation says plan is crucial for global climate goals

Mushkegowuk Council released a statement Thursday, Oct. 24, urging Ontario to join as a partner on a conservation plan they say is crucial to the global efforts to protect land and water. For their part, the province says their talks with the federal government on conservation efforts are ongoing.

“Minister Rickford has met with Mushkegowuk council on several occasions to discuss shared priorities,” wrote Curtis Lindsay, spokesperson for the minister of Indigenous affairs, in an email. “Ontario is continuing discussions with the federal government on how to move forward collaboratively on conservation projects that fall under provincial jurisdiction,” Lindsay wrote.

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‘We believe Canada needs more nickel,’ Wyloo boss says – by Nicole Stoffman (Sudbury Star – October 13, 2024)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Nickel produced and processed in Northern Ontario and the Ring of Fire would be destined for the EV market

Kristan Straub, CEO of Wyloo Ring of Fire, provided an update on the Eagle’s Nest Mine at the State of Mining luncheon in Timmins recently. The mine site in the Ring of Fire in northwestern Ontario has a ‘small footprint’ of one square kilometre or half the size of the Timmins Airport, Straub said.

The site contains a deposit of 17 million tonnes at 3.3 per cent nickel, copper and platinum group elements. It also has some of the world’s largest chromite deposits outside of South Africa, Straub said.

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Is Ontario holding back the Ring of Fire? Federal natural resources minister says so – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – October 8, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Accused of stalling Far North mineral development, province says it waits on $1-billion commitment from Ottawa

Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Ottawa offered a $40-million sweetener to entice Queen’s Park for a formal sit-down to discuss how to make progress in the Ring of Fire. So far, Wilkinson said, they’ve been rebuffed by the province.

“To date, Ontario has not taken us up on that, but I continue to urge Ontario to do that. I think it’s an important conversation, but there are really important issues to be addressed before we actually talk about mines.”

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NEWS RELEASE: Wyloo and Metalshub Partner for Green Nickel Transparency (October 1, 2024)

Wyloo and Metalshub have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve transparency of the carbon dioxide (CO2) footprint, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) credentials, pricing and provenance in international nickel markets.

Wyloo intends to use Metalshub for the sale of its low-carbon nickel and nickel concentrate products following a re-start of its Kambalda, Western Australia nickel operations. The collaboration also aims to develop a price index for low-carbon nickel concentrate and nickel sulphate, to be referenced in future sales contracts.

Wyloo CEO, Luca Giacovazzi, said the collaboration would set a new global standard for sustainably produced nickel products and enable greater transparency of low carbon nickel pricing.

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Wyloo CEO makes Timmins stop to talk Ring of Fire – by Maija Hoggett (Timmins Today – October 3, 2024)

https://www.timminstoday.com/

Efforts to get the province to the table to talk about conservation planning processes remain at a stand-still

TIMMINS – With a nickel mine in Ontario’s Far North aiming to be in production in six years, the Timmins business community had a chance to learn more about the project. Wyloo CEO Kristan Straub talked about the ongoing work at the proposed nickel and chromite mine in the Ring of Fire today (Oct. 3) at the Timmins Chamber’s State of Mining series.

The proposed Eagle’s Nest Mine is located 500 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay in a minerally enriched area of the James Bay wetlands.

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Inside the Fight for the Ring of Fire – by Laura Trethewey (MACLEANS Magazine – September 30, 2024)

https://macleans.ca/

In Ontario’s hinterlands, a battle is brewing between First Nations, prospectors and the provincial government over a multi-billion-dollar motherlode of metals

Coleen Moonias grew up in the 1980s in Lansdowne House, a tiny Ojibwe community in northwestern Ontario. In winter, when the temperature plunged to 50 below zero, the interior walls of her home glittered with frost. Her parents hung blankets as insulation.

In summer she foraged with her cousins for berries, fending off swarms of mosquitoes that rose from the surrounding peatlands. The nearest neighbouring community was nearly 100 kilometres away; Coleen’s entire world was this small place bound by blood and marriage. But Lansdowne House was sinking into Attawapiskat Lake, and so, when Coleen was eight years old, its residents moved to a new location nearby, which became Neskantaga First Nation, home to about 400 people.

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‘There will be nobody … monitoring the land’: Grand chief urges Ontario to meet – by Maija Hoggett (Timmins Today – September 20, 2024)

https://www.timminstoday.com/

‘Despite our best efforts to work with the province of Ontario, we have yet to see meaningful signals of their willingness to work with us’

If Ontario doesn’t come to the table soon, years of work to protect the land and water of the Far North are at risk. Mushkegowuk Council Grand Chief Leo Friday issued a statement today urging Premier Doug Ford to meet with their chiefs. They want the province to agree to immediately protect the coast of Western James Bay and southwestern Hudson Bay, and the North French River.

The ask isn’t for money, in 2022 the federal government committed $800 million to create up to four Indigenous-led conservation areas, including Mushkegowuk.

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‘Massive investments’ coming for Far North infrastructure, says Ford – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – August 12, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Province set to announce news on Ring of Fire road infrastructure in September

It may be curtains for the Terrace Bay pulp mill under the AV Group flag, but Premier Doug Ford suggested late last week bigger and better developments are in store for northwestern Ontario.

Ford was in Thunder Bay at the LiUNA Local 67 training centre on Aug. 9 to drop $17 million from the province’s Skilled Development Fund toward training and facility upgrades to support the mining, construction, energy and forestry industries. Agnico Eagle Mines pocketed $10 million for training partnerships with Matachewan First Nation, Taykwa Tagamou Nation and Moose Cree First Nation.

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Ring of Fire roads inch closer as four First Nations sign deals with Ontario – by Jack Hauen (The Trillium – June 20,2024)

https://www.thetrillium.ca/

Roads far south of mineral deposits to be improved by First Nations workers starting this year, Ford said

Four First Nations have signed an agreement with the province to improve roads from their communities to the provincial highway network — part of the Ford government’s plan to unlock key mineral deposits in Ontario’s north.

Premier Doug Ford announced deals on Tuesday with Animbiigoo Zaagi’igan Anishinaabek, Aroland First Nation, Ginoogaming First Nation and Long Lake #58 First Nation that will see Ontario improve all-season roads that connect the communities to the provincial road network and add money for training and infrastructure.

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Province, Aroland First Nation have traction on a Ring of Fire road agreement – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June 19, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Northwest First Nations provided with road improvement, training dollars for future mine development

Greenstone has been long regarded as the gateway to the Ring to the Fire — the logistical crossroads, business and training hub for any future mine development in the James Bay region.

Premier Doug Ford made his second trip in eight months to the rural northwestern Ontario on June 19 to deliver training and infrastructure dollars, and smooth over relations with First Nations that may be on the fence about development in the Far North.

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4 First Nations sign deal with Ontario to build roads near Ring of Fire – by Liam Casey (Canadian Press/Global News – June 18, 2024)

Youtube Video From Office of the Premier of Ontario

https://globalnews.ca/

Four First Nations have signed a deal with Ontario for new roads, other infrastructure projects and skills training as the province lays a foundation for plans to mine the mineral-rich Ring of Fire region.

The province said Animbiigoo Zaagi’igan Anishinaabek, Aroland First Nation, Ginoogaming First Nation and Long Lake #58 First Nation will see their roads that connect to the provincial highway system fortified and renewed.

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Mining the Northwest: Thunder Bay stakes its claim as a mining supply hub – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – June 14, 2024)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Labour and skill gaps, suitable land availability are challenges listed in city’s latest mining readiness strategy

Thunder Bay is out to build its brand as a mining supply hub. Four years after tabling its first Mining Readiness Strategy, the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC) revealed the findings from an updated version last month, informed by a survey of industry stakeholders last year.

Northwestern Ontario has always been a precious and base minerals grocery store to the world. Much of the activity surrounding that sector has always flowed, many times sight unseen, through Thunder Bay.

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Sudbury column: Geopolitics, global warming make the Ring of Fire as important as ever – by Stan Sudol (Sudbury Star – June 8, 2024)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Construction of a road to the mine site needs to start now

Without a doubt, the Ring of Fire camp and its many strategic minerals that include nickel, copper, platinum group metals, chromite and titanium – just to mention a few as explorers have just scratched the proverbial surface – is the most important mining discovery in Canadian history. It may even exceed the legendary Sudbury Basin someday.

Discovered in 2007, the region is located approximately 450 km northeast of Thunder Bay in the isolated and vast peatlands of Hudson Bay, which itself is roughly the size of Norway but with only about 10,000 people. Contrary to fanatical ENGOs, sustainable mineral development and exploration practices will have minimal impact on the environment and provide the critical minerals needed to stop global warming.

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