Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery – Page 14

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.

Treasure, conflict, and survival in Canada’s peatlands – by Krista Hessey (Global News – March 4, 2023)

March 6, 2023

https://globalnews.ca/

iking in the Hudson Bay Lowlands is like a game of hopscotch — in a swamp. A tapestry of colourful mosses indicates where it’s safe to step: the green and white spots are drier, while the rich red and copper patches can swallow you whole.

Aside from the stunted black spruce trees that dot the watery landscape, it doesn’t look like there’s much here. It’s quiet, except for the constant buzzing of mosquitoes and black flies. But Michelle Kalamandeen didn’t come all this way for what’s on the surface.

NEWS RELEASE: Ontario Approves First Nations-led Plan for the Road to the Ring of Fire (Ontario Government – March 6, 2023)

March 6, 2023

TORONTO – The Ontario government has approved the Terms of Reference designed and submitted by Webequie First Nation and Marten Falls First Nation for an all-season, multi-use road connecting to the proposed Ring of Fire mining development area. The Northern Road Link will connect the two First Nations communities, and the critical mineral deposits in the Ring of Fire to the Ontario highway network, helping to secure a supply chain for electric vehicle manufacturing in Ontario. The province made the announcement today at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) annual convention in Toronto.

“I want to thank Webequie First Nation and Marten Falls First Nation for leading the Environmental Assessment for this essential road corridor. I value our partnership with these strong leaders who are central to our government’s mandate to develop the Ring of Fire,” said George Pirie, Minister of Mines.

“The Ring of Fire has the critical minerals we need to build our manufacturing supply chain, including nickel for electric vehicles and chromite for clean steel. Our government’s investments in innovation and infrastructure are creating jobs across the entire province, including northern and Indigenous communities.”

Feds won’t match Ontario’s billion-dollar Ring of Fire pledge until assessments are done – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – March 2, 2023)

March 3, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson pledges Ottawa will do better on advancing critical mineral production

Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson vows to make government move faster and more efficiently in expediting approvals to put more Canadian mines into production ahead of the quickening global demand for critical minerals.

“There are a whole bunch of things we can do to make the processes move more effectively than they have in the past,” said Wilkinson.

Partnerships enhancing outcomes for northern communities and resource development (Investing in Mining Report/Globe and Mail – March 3, 2023)

March 3, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

How can northern and remote communities go about improving economic outcomes, for example, through meaningful employment and business and education opportunities? How can they create a better economic reality while staying true to their values and traditions?

Mineral exploration and development can provide answers to these questions, especially when the voices of community stakeholders are included in the decision-making process, proposes Glenn Nolan, VP, Indigenous Enterprises, Ring of Fire Metals, a mining company involved in multiple projects in the Ring of Fire area in the James Bay Lowlands of northern Ontario.

Lawyer says First Nations will fight Ontario government’s proposed mining changes – by Warren Schlote (CBC News Sudbury – March 3, 2023)

March 3, 2023

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

MiningWatch Canada advocate wonders ‘what’s left to cut?’

The Ontario government’s proposed changes to mining regulations are drawing concern among mining critics and advocates for First Nations.

Kate Kempton represents the northern Ontario First Nations of Attawapiskat, Ginoogaming, Constance Lake and Aroland. In 2021, Attawapiskat, Neskantaga and Fort Albany signed a moratorium on new developments in the Ring of Fire mineral deposit, though other First Nations have expressed support for developing the deposit.

NEWS RELEASE: New Leadership Team Heralds New Era at Ring of Fire Metals (Ring of Fire Metals – March 1, 2023)

March 1, 2023March 1, 2023

(L to R) Annie Sismanian, Chief Financial Officer; Kristan Straub, Ring of Fire Chief Executive Officer; Luca Giacovazzi, Wyloo Metals CEO.

https://www.rofmetals.com/

A new leadership team including new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kristan Straub, and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Annie Sismanian, has been appointed at Ring of Fire Metals, bringing with them decades of mining industry experience at a critical time in the company’s history.

The new appointments follow the recruitment of Stephen Crozier, Vice President Sustainability in August last year and long-standing employee Glenn Nolan’s transition to the newly created role of Vice President Indigenous Enterprises. Ryan Weston continues as part of the leadership team in the role of Vice President Exploration.

Federal government has resumed talks with Ontario about the Ring of Fire: document – by Emma McIntosh (The Narwhal – February 27, 2023)

February 28, 2023

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Internal emails obtained by The Narwhal appear to show a shift in relations between the two governments on the Ring of Fire. But some First Nations leaders say they’re still being left out

After a years-long stalemate over the far northern Ring of Fire, the federal government appears to have extended an olive branch to Ontario, resuming talks over the region’s future.

The province has asked with increasing impatience for the federal government to chip in about $1 billion for a road to the remote and environmentally-sensitive Ring of Fire region, 540 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont. — a move that could enable mining there.

GMS: Wyloo hopes to integrate Ontario-based Ring of Fire nickel supply chain – by Henry Lazenby (Northern Miner – February 24, 2023)

February 25, 2023

https://www.northernminer.com/

Multinational Wyloo Metals has reiterated its commitment to establishing an Ontario-centric integrated critical minerals supply chain, CEO Luca Giacovazzi told The Northern Miner’s recent Global Mining Symposium.

The privately-held Australian company, part of billionaire Andrew Forrest’s business empire, has made an early commitment to see the nickel and concentrate produced out of its Eagle’s Nest project in Ontario’s emerging Ring of Fire (RoF) nickel-chromite mining camp processed and beneficiated in Canada.

Impact Assessment Agency opens up public comments on contentious highway that will lead to First Nations, Ring of Fire – by Matteo Cimellaro (National Observer – February 22, 2023)

February 23, 2023

https://www.nationalobserver.com/

Public consultations are now open to determine if a highway leading to two First Nations in northern Ontario will require a federal environmental assessment.

The proposal to the Impact Assessment Agency from Webequie and Marten Falls First Nations was accepted and public comments will be accepted until March 23. The proposed highway will begin 400 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay and will cross the Attawapiskat River. It could end up being anywhere between 117 kilometres and 164 kilometres long.

Sudbury is at the ‘epicentre’ of the electric vehicle boom, says economic development minister – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – February 7, 2023)

February 7, 2023

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Vic Fedeli predicts exciting year ahead for Northern Ontario on the critical minerals development front

There’s a window of opportunity for Ontario to be part of the electrical vehicle revolution, said Vic Fedeli, the province’s economic development minister, and Ontario needs to move fast to secure its global position.

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and Northern Ontario’s place in the global transition to clean energy technologies took up much of Fedeli’s speech before a Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce crowd on Feb. 6.

Canada needs to move quickly on production of critical minerals, IEA says – by Marieke Walsh and Emma Graney (Globe and Mail – February 2d, 2023)

February 3, 2023

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Canada needs to quickly ramp up production of critical minerals and play a global leadership role to defend against energy security crises triggered by countries that use fossil fuels as a weapon, said the head of the International Energy Agency.

During a government-organized panel discussion in Ottawa Wednesday, Fatih Birol warned that the energy shortages currently gripping Europe could be repeated as the world transitions to cleaner fuels, if Western countries do not increase the availability of rare earth minerals and develop friendlier sources of them.

First Nations forge alliance as Ontario’s rush for critical minerals sparks alarm – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – February 2, 2023)

February 3, 2023

https://financialpost.com/

Calling on Premier Doug Ford to end ‘free entry system’ for miners into their territories

Canada’s recent push to speed up mining permits and boost exploration for minerals such as lithium and nickel, needed to feed the growing demand for electric vehicles, have led to concerns among some First Nations that the Ontario government is providing miners with “easy access” to their homelands without proper consent.

Leaders of Ontario’s Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI), Wapekeka, Neskantaga, and Asubpeeschoseewagong Anishinabek (Grassy Narrows) First Nations whose combined homelands cover about 60,000 square kilometres — about 100 times bigger than Toronto — formed an alliance this week to confront what they call an “attack” by Ontario on their communities.

Ontario First Nation hires outside firm to investigate 28-year boil water advisory – by Olivia Stefanovich (CBC News Politics – February 3, 2023)

February 3, 2023

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/

Neskantaga has lived under a boil water advisory longer than any other First Nation

A northern Ontario First Nation that has lived under a boil-water advisory for nearly three decades has hired an outside consultant to find out once and for all what ails the community’s water system.

Neskantaga First Nation, roughly 450 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont., is marking a grim milestone this month — 28 years under a boil water advisory, longer than any other First Nation.