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Ontario’s Ring of Fire Mineral Discovery

Mining claims have jumped 30% in northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire area since 2022 – by Sarah Law (CBC News Thunder Bay – December 11, 2023)

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

More than 31,000 mining claims are now registered in the area, data shows

Mining claims staked in northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire area have risen by 30 per cent since last year, according to online mining data from the provincial government. The crescent-shaped mineral deposit in the James Bay lowlands has been eyed as a critical source for Ontario’s burgeoning electric vehicle battery industry for years.

But surrounding First Nations say there hasn’t been proper consultation about mining projects on their territories. A number of rallies have been held at Queen’s Park in Toronto this year by members of the First Nations Land Defence Alliance, calling out the province’s free-entry mining system and demanding a meeting with Premier Doug Ford.

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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)

https://globalnews.ca/

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.

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

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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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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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Ottawa’s interim plan to regulate large resource projects causing confusion for Ring of Fire stakeholders – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – October 27, 2023)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The federal government’s plan to continue to regulate major resource projects despite a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that says those powers are largely unconstitutional is creating confusion and uncertainty in Ontario’s Ring of Fire. A significant Indigenous stakeholder is making a plea for regulatory certainty, while a major mining company is warning that Canada’s weak standing on the global critical-minerals stage will only get worse.

The Supreme Court said earlier this month that the federal government’s broad-based environmental reviews around large mines and major infrastructure associated with those mines are unconstitutional. Ottawa must limit its oversight to certain defined areas clearly defined in the Constitution, the court said, such as fisheries, the bird population, species at risk and certain Indigenous rights.

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Ontario ready to legally rumble with Ottawa over the Ring of Fire – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – October 24, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Attorney General wants a shovel-ready province ‘without delay’ on big infrastructure projects

Last week’s Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling that the federal Impact Assessment Act is unconstitutional should clear a regulatory path toward expediting construction of big infrastructure projects, like the proposed Ring of Fire road network, said Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey in a news release, Oct.24.

In calling the federal act a “duplicative” process, Downey said the Ford government is “taking immediate legal action to bring certainty so that we can get shovels in the ground on infrastructure projects without delay.”

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Ontario court dismisses Neskantaga consultation case – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – October 21, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Court rules it has no authority to determine adequate consultation or rewrite provincial legislation

The Ontario Superior court has dismissed a challenge by Neskantaga First Nation and its claim of inadequate consultation on a proposed section of the Ring of Fire road.

Neskantaga, a remote Oji-Cree community in the James Bay region, filed an application in November 2021 seeking clarity from the court on how the Ontario government should conduct consultation under the provincial Environmental Assessment Act.

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Webequie Supply road to Ring of Fire mine more than a gravel road – by Nicole Stoffman (Sudbury Star – October 20, 2023)

https://www.thesudburystar.com/

Engineering firm shares project details at information session

The Webequie Supply Road would be a 107 km all-season road that would go from Webequie First Nation airport east to McFaulds Lake, and link up to The Northern Road link that would lead to the planned site of the Eagle’s Nest mine.

The mine would be the first in the Ring of Fire, the 5,000 km area south of James Bay rich in critical minerals. The road project is in the sixth year of its impact assessment process, and two years away from potential environmental approval from both levels of government. At that point it would take five more years to build at a cost of $300 to $500 million in public funds.

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Consultations continue as 2 First Nations work toward road to Ring of Fire in northern Ontario – by Sarah Law (CBC News Thunder Bay – October 18, 2023)

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

Series of open houses planned for next few weeks across the region

A project that would create a direct route between the provincial highway network and the lucrative Ring of Fire mineral deposit in northern Ontario is making headway.

Led by Marten Falls First Nation and Webequie First Nation, the Northern Road Link project would connect two other proposed roads: the 200 kilometre Marten Falls First Nation Community Access Road at the south end, and the 110 kilometre Webequie Supply Road to the Ring of Fire at the north end.

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Climate change threatens winter roads connecting northern Ontario’s remote communities – by Michelle Allan (CBC News Thunder Bay – October 12, 2023)

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

Warmth, temperature volatility cutting First Nations off from provincial road network

For many northern Ontario First Nations, apart from air travel, the only connection to the rest of the province is seasonal winter roads built each year on the frozen rivers, lakes, muskeg and earth. As climate change continues to narrow the window during which winter roads are useable, Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) gathered in Thunder Bay to strategize how to keep its communities connected in a rapidly thawing north.

In a summit overview handout, NAN said that climate change has “reduced the length of winter road season from an average of 77 days, to as few as 28 days or less in some areas.”

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Inside the battle over the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario – by Liam Casey (CP24 – October 10, 2023)

https://www.cp24.com/

On a rock-covered beach in the heart of the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario, Alex Moonias gazes east, then north. All he sees is undisturbed land, water and air. Some 100 kilometres from where he stands, the province plans to build a road as part of its pledge to mine the area, which is said to be rich in metals needed for electric vehicle batteries.

Moonias, an elder from Neskantaga First Nation, and many in his community see the provincial government’s ambitions for the Ring of Fire as an existential threat to their way of life. “Mother Earth is hurting,” the 70-year-old says. “If a big needle is pushing into your body, how would you feel?”

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Ring of Fire road projects are ‘sovereignty’ issue, says Anishinaabe documentary filmmaker – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – October 5, 2023)

 

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Thunder Bay’s Tony McGuire wades through the conflict and contradiction of Far North development

When Thunder Bay and Anishinaabe filmmaker Tony McGuire embarked upon a documentary project on the proposed roads to the Ring of Fire, he admittedly struggled with finding a focus. “We weren’t really sure how to tell the story.”

McGuire had been invited by the isolated communities of Marten Falls and Webequie First Nations to take on a lightning rod of a topic among Indigenous people, environmental groups, politicians and industry for the last 15 years.

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Ring of Fire nickel could supply half million cars – by Nicole Stoffman (Timmins Press – October 4, 2023)

https://www.timminspress.com/

CEO remains bullish despite ‘ambitious timeline’

Even if the company aiming to begin mining the Ring of Fire meets its very ambitious production start date of 2030, it will still be “late in the game to capture the increase in the demand for nickel.” Wyloo Ring of Fire CEO Kristan Straub made the comment during a Sept 25 “State of Mining” presentation at the Dante Club hosted by the Timmins Chamber of Commerce.

The worldwide demand for nickel is so great, and the ability for Canada and North America to meet that demand so small, that Straub predicts the world will be moving towards substituting nickel by 2040.

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